BOO!

Making Halloween cards really makes me feel like summer is over. I love summer and it goes by so fast. This card was made for card club. I got this cute set of Halloween stamps when I was at Stampaway. The set is called Ghouls and Ghost by Inkadinkado. The Trick or Treat bag and the alphabet is Purple Onion Designs and the house is Eat Cake Graphics. The images are colored with pencils. I like using the darker cardstock to stamp the images on, it makes the white show up so much better. I masked the house and the Trick or Treat Bag so the little ghost looks like it is popping out from behind the house. At least that is what I was trying to achieve.

I normally don't send Halloween cards, but I seem to buy Halloween themed stamps. Probably should at least send some out.

Flower ATCs

These were done for a swap. Tina had done some similiar to this that I saw while I was visiting with her. The image is stamped in white ink and then colored. This one is ink and colored pencils.
This one is ink and pencils. I decided that I would use this one for the swap.

This one is ink and colored pencils.
This one is ink and Twinkling H2Os.

Thank You for the Lovely Day

I wanted to do a card to thank the Neska's for their generous hospitality on Friday. I didn't have a stamp that was a lake scene but I did have one that had one of the Adirondack chairs that they have on the sandy beach by the lake. This was created by painting the scene using re-inkers after stamping on a sheet of glossy paper. The re-inkers are used as paints after you add a small drop of water. I like the look because of the shiny look that results.

Lovely Day

The first thing that comes to mind on a day like today is that song by Bill Withers, "Lovely Day".

Mike and I headed out on the bike with some of the guys that he works with and rides with and headed to Luck, Wisconsin. Our destination was John and Mary Beth Neska's cabin. It was a gorgeous day to be on the bike. When we get there John had a nice bonfire going. That is John and Mary Beth standing on either side of Mike.

Behind Bruce, Sam and Mary Beth, you can catch a glimpse of the bikes. John and Mary Beth are definitely the hosts with the most. We had a terrific lunch. Grilled steaks, baked potatoes and a salad with the most delicious homegrown tomatoes. These little tomatoes were just so yummy. John grows these tomatoes in the city and brought them up just for the lunch.
It was really nice after the ride to rest my butt. What could be better than sitting around a bonfire chatting with good friends. Four of us, Bruce, Sam, Jason, Mike and I rode up on our bikes. Babs and Dean drove up.
What a view of the lake. The Neska's have a wonderful place. It sits on a small lake that Mary Beth calls a puddle. It has a cabin and a trailer on the property. The trailer is a 1960's vintage with aqua blue appliances. It is really darling. The cabin, which features a wrap around deck and a spiral staircase up to a loft, is just perfect.

The cabin doesn't have indoor plumbing. However, it sports this great outhouse. And not your ordinary outhouse. This one sports a flush toilet and a shower. No roughing it here.
I am not overly fond of having to use an outhouse but no problem with this one. It was very nice. Mike had to check it out too.

Can you believe all the sun fish? They were begging for bread. When you toss the bread into the water, they would swarm it. Hungry little buggars. And the size of some of them were amazing. Not sure I have ever seen sun fish this large. A good size bass was also hanging around.
This is a view of the lake from the deck. You walk down to the lake from the cabin and there is a very nice sandy beach with an sitting platform with very comfortable chairs where you can just sit and enjoy this view.
By the deck the water is very swallow and clear. At some points this "puddle" as Mary Beth called it, is 60 feet deep. Great habitat for fish. I think John said that it was 125 acres.

Mike just couldn't resist. A fisherman at heart, a lake full of fish, and rods and reels sitting in the shed. John took everyone out for a little cruise around the lake. I was content to just sit on the dock and feed the sunfish, while Mike was fishing. Nothing caught. Who cares. It was a great way to spend a few minutes.
We headed out shortly after the boat trip. Took a different route home. With the sun going down, it got a little breezy, but still a nice ride home.
This was an absolute perfect way to spend a day playing hokey from work. Thank you so much John and Mary Beth for the invite to your fabulous cabin. Mike and I definitely enjoyed our lovely lovely day.

Sandcastles and Ocean Breezes

This project is for a swap. The person that I did it for loves the ocean. It is a shadow box, and all I did was to add the elements. The background is a photograph. I painted the box with acrylics and then sanded hoping that it would look weathered. You probably can't see but there is real sand from Hilton Head, South Carolina on the bottom. Some of the shells are from there too. The rest of the elements are die cuts from Jolee's. It was really hard for me to get a good photograph.