BACK TO SCHOOL CHALLENGE

Over on the OUTLAWZ the Copic / Promarker challenge this week is to do with Back to School . You can find the challenge here . Well being my kids are well out of school ( I didn't say they had all grown up though did I ? LOL ! ) I had to think more along the lines of my Grandkids ! Back to school for our oldest granddaughter means one of two things ....... her birthday at the end of the month ( she will be 16 !!!! ) and her volleyball is going to be in full swing for the next 4 or 5 months ! She is gung ho about volleyball and is playing on the Grade 12 A team this year as setter ! She is hoping the team goes to Provincials then on to Nationals this year again !!!  Needless to say , we are proud of her and Grandma was more then stocked about the new Magnolia Tilda image she just received !!! I had to get her inked up immediately !

Did I mention that I am a very YOUNG Grandma ? LOL ! So much fun to watch my Grands grow up .... much more fun to watch MY kids squirm because they are raising teenagers !!! LOL ! Guess the learner's license is coming soon too !!!! Happy Birthday Courteney !!!!


Happy creating  and have a good week !!! We are off for another couple of weeks holidays in the RV  but Fall is definitely here so the Taj is being brought home at the end of this camp and put away for the winter ! Sad summer missed us but looking forward to being at home on a more regular bases and getting back in my room !

 Pop on over to The Outlawz and join in the fun ! My card is just getting in under the wire for this week but they have a challenge every day so there is no excuse for not joining and playing along !

Please bear with me !

 Sometimes the brain becomes mush and things don't come together like you think they should ... namely changing by template on my BLOG ! Please bear with me while I try straighten out the mess I have created so I can get back to some real creating !

Time to create ........ and be an OUTLAW !

 I haven't had time to play much this summer ( though the weather sure didn't feel like SUMMER ! ) and we are heading out yet again for a few days to visit family . The holiday will consist of visiting my parents and celebrating their 60 years of marriage ! What a feat that is in today's society but they have also given their kids the same longevity of marriage as both my sister and I have " stuck with " the same husband through thick and thin .... my sister and husband have been married 40 years and my husband and I going on 38 years ! The holiday will also be a celebration of birthdays as my sister has a birthday while we are there ( and I wouldn't tell you how OLD she is even though she IS the oldest ! LOL ! ) and my brother has a birthday just after we leave !

 I decided it was time I became an OUTLAW again and try do at least one of their challenges ! I will be back in full force by October . My family may tell you I am not and OUTLAW but more of a rebel in my later years ! Teehee ! I am THRILLED to be able to add my card to the Monday card challenge over on THE OUTLAWS . The Monday challenge can be found HERE . The card is for my sister's birthday and the sentiment says DISCOVER .

I had a lot of fun making this card and hope she likes it ! It is colored with Copic markers and the magnifying glass has Glossy Accents on it ! Lots of " stash  stuff " used on this Magnolia Tilda and paper from Magnolia !

TFL and have a great week !

Crocheted Creations and a couple of cards

  A few years ago I injured my rotator cuff ( shoulder ) and was having trouble sitting crocheting ( another love of mine ! ) for any length of time . Needless to say , the yarns got tucked away as did the crochet hooks . About 2 years ago I dug them out and a few of my books ( I have a HUGE Rubbermaid tote of these from small crocheted ornaments to large afghans ! There is nothing I wouldn't tackle ..... unless it had mofits which I DETEST doing ! LOL ! ) .Unfortunately I dug them out about the same time as I was doing some ordered Christmas cards that required a LOT of small circle punches ( the cards were beautiful ) ............... to make a long painful story short ...... I pulled the ligaments and tendons in my right thumb ! Yse it looked like I had a broked thumb for WEEKS with it's weird hang and " click " every time I moved it !!! Well the gist is it took a GOOD 2 years to get my thumb back to almost normal ! It is amazing what you use your thumb for !!!!!  About 6 weeks ago , I dug out my crochet hooks and small bucket of yarn ( which keeps growing in amount..... use up one ball by 2 more to replace  ! LOL ) . It thrilled me to be able to grip my hook and my ball of yarn and just mindlessly whip up something . I have discovered I LOVE to crochet while we travel as the miles just go by quickly ..... and I can watch the scenery and crochet as I can multi-task quite easily ( well unless DH asks me to do something I don't want to then I suddenly couldn't possible multi-task ! )

 I have whipped up a number of baby / toddler afghans in the 6 weeks I have held my hook !

I was looking at my stack of baby / toddler afghans this afternnon wondering WHAT I was going to do with them so I took some photos and threw them on my FaceBook and said FOR SALE ! Within 5 minutes I had a friend phone and tell me she would buy the blue / white afghan ! Woo Hoo !!!! So if anybody is interested in any of these just let me know as they are ALL for sale and I will probably have a few more before long ! Camping season isn't over yet ! LOL !

 I haven't just been sitting crocheting this past week . I have had to make a few cards ( and have a few more to do before next weekend ! )

 This card is for a friend's daughter who is getting married this weekend . I had a lot of fun playing with this one and I hope they like it !

 And this card is for my parents anniversary on August 31 ....... They will have been married 60 years !!!!! Mom told me not long ago that she loves my cards but miss my " flowery " cards though loves my little girl ( Magnolias ) cards too . So after much thinking I decided to go very plain on the outside and use just a mini Tilda on the inside ! We are heading down to see my parents next weekend so it will be a hand delivered " special delivery " . By request , their anniversary will be low key as all they asked for is their 3 kids to sit at the same table for supper ( with their spouses and a few of their kids and grandkids - though none of mine will be there .... as usual ! )

Oh and before I forget , my furry kids want to say HI

 My dog / house sitter took this ! I don't know how she managed to get them all together but it must have been fun because they never cooperate and sit together ! LOL !

Have a great weekend everybody !

Spread your wings

The robins have spread their wings and gone leaving an empty nest and the wonder of Nature in my heart . Our neighbour grew his wings today and is at peace . His widow is strong and will be starting her new life with the help of family and friends . It could be said she is growing her own set of wings as she starts a new journey in her life  . So the next thunderstorm we hear will be the newest angel driving a big machine moving mountains of clouds . He is in his glory !

R.I.P. Ron . You will be missed Handsome Guy of the neighbourhood . Hugs to you Judy and know he is watching you and saying " You Go Girl " ! 

A smile for all of you !

 Our summer has been dismal to say the least but the past 4 days has brought sunshine which has brought everybody a smile ! Our neighbour has rallied for a few days as his boys came up to see him . Amazing what the power of love can do ..... and a set of Mustang car keys can do ! One of the boys ( okay he is still their boy even though he is 40 ! ) dropped his Mustang keys into Handsome Man's hands when he became aggitated and suddenly a huge smile came across his face as he lovingly rubbed the keys . You see Handsome Man is a trucker from way back when and anything that represents anything that has wheels on it makes him happy ! One day soon Handsome Man will be driving the BIGGEST and Prettiest truck through those Pearly Gates and will have his own special lineup of fancy cars to race from cloud to cloud .... and he will be happy and at peace .

 We also have our own little smile in our lilac bush which is right beside our deck .... in the form of 3 little robins ! Daddy and Momma Robin have not been too worried about us being there as they fly in and out of our tree with bugs , worms and moths to feed these little guys . Every day they grow bigger and bigger and it wouldn't be long before they have spread their wings and gone . By the way , this is the third year Momma has used this nest ! Talk about recycling ! LOL ! In the early spring she was cleaning it but then the rain came and she diasapeared . Imagine our surprise to see she had laid eggs later on !

 Just a few days old .... beginning of August , balls of fuzz

 Small nest and a strange pillow

 The nest from the ground

 3 little baby robins

 Feed us ! These little guys are always hungry ! aug 9th , they have grown feathers and are getting their colors . Wouldn't be long before they are flying in the wild blue yonder !

  It can be said that humans and birds are a lot  alike  ....... We all need our wings so we can fly ...... or maybe some of us would rather have MUSTANG keys ! Love you Ronnie and hope that you get the best set of wings and that Mustang !




August 11 ........ baby robin #1 flew out of the nest this afternoon  and by evening they had all flown out of it . They didn't go far ... just across my yard to the retaining wall and 2 made it into the trees . Papa and Momma Robin were watching the whole time ......... One little robin is still trying to figure out how to get up the wall as he landed on the grass . I will have to keep the dogs in until I find out whether he figured out how to get up there .........

Struggling !!!!!

  We are going on the second week of August already and the weather has been struggling to bring us some sun shine . July brought so much rain that rivers have flooded , creeks that are usually dry right now are still high and there is still snow in some of the mountains ! It is crazy ! today we have been blessed with some sun and some heat which is awesome ! I should be down at the RV and relaxing but unfortunately I had a lot to do this week so had to come home after spending the weekend down at the campground ..... in the rain and cooler weather !

 This week I have a stack of cards I have to get done before the end of the month . I am struggling with all of them ! Just not in the creative mood ..... too much going on that has my mind in a jumble .One of our neighbours is fighting to live just one more day and will leave a young widow ( anybody under 100 is young to lose a spouse ! ) and every time I have the phone ring I wonder if that will be THE call . So sad as the BIG C is claiming another young man of 60 . Only 3 years ago we lost my husband's brother at the same age to this terrible disease . DH has been down with another flare-up and I wonder how much is brought on by memories of losing his brother ...... and watching our neighbour slowly slip away .

 One good thing I have managed to do in the past month is pick up a crochet hook and do a few things that will eventually end up in my ETSY shop . I haven't crocheted in over 4 years ( because of shoulder problems then my thumb )  so it has been so relaxing to just sit and mindlessly keep busy ! Stay tuned for photos once I get threads sewn in and photos taken . I am not re-opening my ETSY shop until September at the earliest though as we wouldn't be around much with being at the RV . I would rather stay " closed " then not be able to fill an order as soon as it comes in .

This little duck came to visit when we were at the campground on Dragon Lake in Quesnel , BC . I think he thought he should come for tea ! And the lake was calm the evening we camped there ! Pretty lake and nice that we got to visit 3 of our grandkids for a day !


Enjoy your week everybody and remember to give your loved ones a hug ................

Stay-cation or VACATION ????

 Tomorrow we have decided to load the RV and head out for a brief holiday ........ in search of some sun........ or we may just stay PUT in our campspot ! LOL ! July in the Interior of BC has been anything BUT summer weather ! Rain , cool , flooding , road washouts .... you name it , we have had it ..... and I even heard one area had FROST and a smattering of that horrible white stuff ! I did stay at the RV in the campground a couple times this past 4 weeks and though the forecast both times was for sunny weather it just didn't happen !!!!

The creek camp up YET again !

The family of geese made their presence known

and stayed hidden for the most part

 The wild roses were wet

The pansies are wet

 The petunias are wet and rotting .....................

And the baby Canadian geese were getting their adult feathers and markingsand eating the field across the creek .Momma keeps a close watch on them ........................... and my dogs stayed bured under a blanket in the RV for the most part as they hate the rain !!!!

 See you all in a couple of weeks .... hope you see some sunshine where you are . Can't do nothing about the weather so get out and enjoy life as it is far too short to wait for the good weather days ! Make some great memories !

Gone fishin' .............................

  DH has gone salmon fishin' for a few days to the coast of BC out of Prince Rupert and is hoping to bring home some fresh salmon for us ! We love salmon ..... especially on the barbeque ! YUMMY !!!!

 I chose to stay home and not go to the campground  because our weather has been just NASTY ...... rainy and cold ! Yesterday we just hit the teens and today isn't much better as the breeze feels like October !!! I think summer FORGOT to arrive just like our spring did !!! Oh well , at least this stuff doesn't have to be shovelled and we are heading down to the RV when DH gets home . He is on holidays until the 4th of July !!! Maybe the sun will decide to come out by then !!!!

 With being home I did manage to catch up on a few things other then housewok ! My daughter called and asked me to do a card for the grandson's pre-school teacher Ms Sherri so yesterday I FINALLY sat in my room and created a card . I dug into some of my older Magnolia stamps for this one !

This is the outside of the card . I used my Copics to color my image ( sorry not sure what colors I used as it was a huge pile by the time I was finished ) , some Prima flowers , Deco Pearl Pen , glitter swirls ( thanks E ! ) , Sakura White gell pen ( love this pen ! ) , Spellbinders Nesties , Martha Stewart punch and some Tim Holtz Distressing ink ! The note paper I hand wrote on like a page from her journal .

This is the inside of the card .... I LOVE this little guy and he reminds me of my Grandson so I just had to add him ! I hope Ms Sherri likes the card !

On Thursday our 3rd Granddaughter turned 12 and as I am heading down there for the day for a belated birthday campfire and burnt weiners ! LOL ! That is what she wanted as she didn't want a birthday party ! This is the card I JUST finished for her . I LOVE the new release Magnolias as they are totally adorable !

 I used some Kaiser Craft paper and finally broke into the packaging of my new Spellbinder dies which have been sitting on my desk for a month at least ! Flowers are K & Company and from my stash that I have had FOREVAH !!!! LOL ! Lace is from Wild Orchid and Martha Stewart butterfly punch was used . Butterfly was decorated with a touch of Deco pearl pen ( so much fun to use ! ) and if you look amongst the flowers you will find a stickpin with a bow ..... the stickpin is from the Webster's Pages collection . Of couse Tilda is colored with Copics and the raindrops are dabs of Glossy Accent !

 Have a great week everybody and I hope you have some sunshine in your life !

Happy Holidays ................ or feeding the mosquitoes 2011 !

 Our 10 days of holidays are coming to a close and they have been anything BUT what we had planned ! My husband has been plaqued with health issues relating to his Crohn's Disease and  so we decided earlier in the year that we would just stay close to home and camp in our favorite spot for the majority of the summer . The first long camp ( not just a couple nights at the RV ) was supposed to start on May 20th... the first evening of the May long weekend in Canada  . Thursday DH arrived home from work and said he felt like he needed to go to the ER ( a good indication that something is REALLY wrong ! ) as he was having chest pains ............. Thankfully our oldest came over and took him down immediately . 8 hrs later he was released with a clean bill of heart health ........ could be Crohn's related ! Ugggg !!!! Not MORE worries !!!!!!


 When he came in at 2 am I had another little bomb to drop on him . His 88 year old Mother had been admittied to the hospital where she lived and it looked like she wouldn't make it though the night ..... Well again , she lived through the night so DH booked a flight down to see her and our relaxing was put on hold indefinitely ! DH was away for 5 days and Mother pulled through to the amazement of the doctors ..... She is now home and every day seems to be getting stronger ! The Old Gal is going to outlive ALL of us as she has a very strong will and is just not ready to go ! I keep telling DH that she will live until she sees 100 as her oldest sister was a week shy of 101 and her next sister will be 97 this year ! There is NO WAY the baby of the family will hit the Pearly Gates before them ! LOL !

 DH arrived home at 4 pm on the Tuesday and by 6 pm we were in our RV ! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr , between the cool weather and the rain it was a miserable for a few days . Fortunately , the rain let up during the day and we got to enjoy sitting outside ..... and feeding the mosquitos ! They LOVE me ! We had our OFF lanterns going almost the whole time we were outside and they work awesome !!!!  We did get to see some beautiful lightening storms go through and had some thunder to liven up things ! Good thing our mountains are still buried in snowpack !

 Last evening we took the campground owner up to the HIXON FALLS to see the Spring runoff . Last summer when we were up there the falls were just a trickle and now this is what they look like

In the early 1900's this area was rich in it's gold deposits so I can well imagine the couple that works this claim this year ( they actually own the mineral rights for this area and legally you can not pan or dig for gold here without their permission or knowledge ! ) could find some real GOLD treasures ! The view was amazing , the ground slippery with moisture and the power under that waterfall was mindboggling !

 We are home until Friday evening then will head back to the RV to feed the mosquitoes again ! hope we see some warmer , dry weather !!!

Have a great week everybody !

I PROMISE .................

 I haven't been crafting at all lately so I have nothing to show ! We have packed the RV though and moved it down to our camp spot for a couple months before we take a trek at the end of July for a couple of weeks .

 Have I missed crafting ? ABSOLUTELY ! Have I spent any money on supplies ? ABSOLUTELY ! LOL ! Will I be playing in the near future ..... ABSOLUTELY !!!!!     BUT , we are going to be camping for the next while off and on .... some short stays , some long stays ! I tried crafting in the RV and found I didn't enjoy it because of the crappy light ( and that was even with my portable OTT light ! ) and because the crafting supplies take up too much room in my limited storage ! You wouldn't see any RV created cards or images unless I am home ......................... Don't give up on me as I will be back in full swing come September and there will be the odd card posted between then and now .....................

 So , wish for some warmer weather , the floods in our area don't take out any major roads or property or lives  and that we can all enjoy our summer . This is the Canadian May long weekend so travel safe and enjoy life !

From my Summer HOME................. to Yours .......................

Happy Creating and Enjoy Life to the Fullest !

A little creating and a surprise visitor !

 Honest , I have managed to get in my room a bit this last week as I had to get a birthday card and a Mother's Day card done . My oldest had his 37th birthday on April 27th ! Wow , I am just in shock when I stop and figure out how OLD I am then !!! All I can say is I am so happy I had my kids long before I was 30 ......... like a long ways before ! LOL ! My son is an avid outdoor's man and would love nothing better to be fishing or stomping through the bush with either his camera , his gun or his crossbow . I thought this was a cute image so whipped him up a card from this SU stamp .

It was a very simple , quick card as I had to get it done before they popped in that night ! LOL ! Yes , I left it until the last minute !

I did get my Mother a card done and in the mail today for Mother's Day . i love this Magnolia's Tilda with Butterfly !

 OUTSIDE of card .......

INSIDE of card ..... I just loved this paper by KaiserCraft's Magic Happens Collection ! I just added a stamped sentiment and it finished off the interior of the card just perfect !

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The other night my husband was sitting on his favorite chair watching a hockey game when he looked up and said something was coming through the trees just off our deck on the bank . We figured it would be Mr BEAR as he has been around but instead through the bush wandered MR MANGY MOOSE ! He decided to trim some of the new growth off our bushes and was quit content to stand on the bank and eat like he didn't have a care in the world . Unfortunately it was dusk out so my photos aren't great but I was actually standing on my deck not far from him snapping photos ! Not sure who is crazier , him for being in a residencial area or me for tempting fate and standing out there taking the photos ! LOL !

I lightened some of these photos as you couldn't see Mr Moose ! DH said the moose is about a year old and went through a very long , hard winter as he was skinny and very mangy ( as you can see by the last photo ..... his fur is just hanging in clumps ) . After about 45 minutes of eating he wandered off and hasn't been back ! I <3 living up North as you never now WHAT is going to arrive in your yard !!!!

Have a great week , happy crafting and hope you all see sun and no crazy weather in your area !