July highlights

July has come and gone, it flew by so quickly I can't believe it's over.  These are just a few of the highlights from the month.  Mornings were lovely and mild with beautiful sunrises, then the heat arrived and the only thing I had energy to do was sit in front of the fan and drink tall glasses of iced tea.

I practiced with my new camera and long lens taking pictures of the fireworks.  The city puts on a really nice display practically in our backyard.

I did some photo shoots for friends, these early risers watched one of my morning shoots in the park.

I played with paper and stamps and die cuts in the studio and participated in a card exchange.

We took the train to Santa Fe and wandered around the plaza and thru several galleries.  We had a great lunch at The Shed and rode the train back home.  I'm back to school in just a few short days but July was fun I am sorry to see it go.

Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

Cookies

I was craving a little something sweet and baked.  These chocolate chip cookies with crushed pecans hit the spot and they whipped up pretty quickly.  I used the traditional toll house recipe but food processed the nuts to a really fine chop almost to meal stage.  They were perfect!

Have a great day, I'll talk to you again soon.

Smile

Today it's a quick little post about a thinking of you card. I hope it will bring a smile to the recipient's face.  I had a bit of sunny plaid in my scrap bin that caught my eye the rest of the card coordinated from that.  I didn't want to add more twine for the buttons so I did a little cheater move, I used a fine tip sharpie and drew in the stitch lines for the buttons.  You have to look really closely to tell and of course, there are polka dots which always make me smile.

Happy Wednesday!  I'll talk to you again soon.

BIG, little project...

I have a dear friend who goes to a conference with her team every year. Last year she asked me if I would put together a little gift for each of her team members.  Well, she is going again this year and asked me if I would like to put together another gift this year since last year was such a big hit, (she is so sweet!)  So, I have been working on this big project of little gifts and they are 95% completed.  

 Here's a peek at what's inside.

But a bit of a surprise, today a friend of her's contacted me and asked if I could make her some as well, so it's back to the store for more supplies.  This should keep me out of trouble for a few days, right?!

Have a great day! I'll talk to you again soon.

A day to soar!

I've been working in the craft room off and on this past week, in between organization projects and taking care of the dog.  I'm working on some card ideas for a card exchange I'm participating in later this week.  It has been so nice being able to wander into the craft room during the day, to sit down and play with different mediums without any real direction.  This card includes painted and glittered die cuts, dry brush with paint, a little glittery color mist and stitching using the sewing machine.  A little bit of everything, a chance to just let my creativity soar!  Got to love summer vacation!

Have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you again soon.

Felt flower card

I had a few felt flowers left from another project and decided to use them on a thank you card.  These little flowers are so easy to put together that before I knew it I had a good pile of them.  I think they look sweet with all the different layers of stamping, paper, ribbon.

Have a great day and I'll talk to you again soon.

Mini cards

 Today it's a set of spring inspired mini cards for tucking into gifts.  Each one is only 1.5 inches square, with it's own little handmade envelope. These little characters stamped up very quickly, then I had to add lots of embellishments. Glitter on their wings, wire antenna, tiny googlie eyes and small glass beads to add a little texture.  Click on the pic to see it up close.  So fun!

I hope you're having a great weekend I'll talk to you again soon.