Show and Tell

July 4th

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

Before getting to today's card... how 'bout a little neighborhood stuff?

Shortly after getting up this morning (don't worry... it wasn't too early... we kinda slept in...), we put the dog on the leash and walked down the street to view our neighborhood's 4th of July Parade.

Basically it's just the children, their parents and grandparents, and maybe their dogs, decked out in red, white, and blue, taking a mile-long walk through the neighborhood behind a firetruck from our local station. This year, though, the firemen were called into action just before the parade started and had to speed off — so the parade was led by a lady driving a white Ford Taurus. Well, actually... I have no idea what kind of car it was, so I just picked something American-made. :) 

This year we watched the parade from the driveway of people who have lived in the neighborhood as long as we have. It was fun to have more time to visit with Mark & Amy. We saw them at a party last night, too, but before that it had probably been a year or so since we really got a chance to talk. Life just gets too busy sometimes, you know?

Roxie was happy with the walk, the parade, meeting a new dog (also named Roxie), and just hanging with her peeps.

Then we went home for a healthy red, white, and blue breakfast — and some admonishment from my computer screen to go and make something good. :)

So — sorry about getting sidetracked there. I did make something good for you to see today...

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Just a little patriotic number. 

My favorite part? The red, white, and blue baker's twine with the little star tag on the front panel. Love the way that turned out.

I did a bit of decorating on the inside of the card, too — which is what I try to do when I use a darker cardstock for the base. If you use some white (or very light colored) cardstock for a liner, it's easier for people to read the message that you've written. Now that my eyes are older, I totally understand why this is important. :) 

 

AND TELL: stamps are from Stampin' Up (July Fourth) and Papertrey Ink (Mini Scrapbook Series: Journaling Circle, Banner Builder); cardstock is SU (Real Red, Pacific Point), PTI (Stampers Select White), and Creative Memories (Metallic Gold); ink is SU (Real Red, Pacific Point); Baker's Twine is Divine Twine (Air Mail); also used a Sizzix embossing folder (Starry Night) and PTI dies (Large Scallop Border, Tiny Tags).

Well, if you're not sick of hearing about what the Hayes' have been up to, let's do a bit more of our midwest trip. Just a little more of Indiana, and then we'll move into Illinois tomorrow.

There are some required stops when we're in the midwest (besides the family visits that we make). You've seen a couple... the hot chocolate place in Indianapolis... milkshakes at Ivanhoes... well, here's the third.

Yes, "belly bombers" are a must...

If we had a White Castle anywhere near our house, these would hold no appeal. Since the only time we have them is when we leave the state, well... they're like required cuisine.

Another must-do is taking a drive through Waveland and Crawfordsville, Indiana to visit where my mom grew up and where my grandparents are buried. This next picture would make my grandma really happy.

That gray house is where my grandparents lived. It was well-maintained then. Now it's a bit rundown. But, what I think would make grandma happy is the space with the flags and all those cement blocks waiting to be used. The town is in the process of building a memorial to the area's war veterans. And that spot used to be occupied by a liquor store, which my teetotaling grandma absolutely could not stand. Yes, I think she'd be happy with this change.

There are some things that would make her sad, though. Like the state of the church they attended.

The whole town is rather dilapidated looking... not the bustling small town that it used to be.

We also made our yearly visit to the nearby cemetery.

My cousins do a good job of making sure that the gravesite is well-loved.

And then we went to see my cousins — which (I'm sorry, Mom) I have no pictures of. We saw one cousin at their yearly yard sale and the other we visited at work.

Yes, he's a firefighter — and I love the quaint, small-town look of his firehouse. Of course, I love my cousins more, but — for some reason — didn't get the camera out to take pictures of them. Too busy hugging and talking, I guess. :)

Well, thanks so much for stopping by today! I really appreciate your visits — and hope you don't mind my going on and on about my life. Well, I guess if you do mind, you can just skip that part — you have all the power in this relationship! :) I plan to be back tomorrow with the One Layer Wednesday cards for last week — hopefully before the deadline. Yes, I'm making sneaking in at the last minute a habit.

Again, thanks for your visit and I hope to see you tomorrow!

Happy Freedom Day!

I love that the 4th of July — Independence Day in the U.S. — fell on Sunday this year. It was a great reminder that freedom comes at a great price — and that true freedom came at a truly great price.

[God] wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. 

I Timothy 2:4-6 (The Message)

So — here are the cupcakes that I'm taking to our neighbors house tonight.

I made them with this recipe from the July 2010 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine. I kind of wish that I'd made one extra cupcake so that I could've tasted it baked before taking them next door. Hopefully they're good. The batter and the frosting were not as sweet as I prefer — but I have an extraordinarily sweet sweet tooth, so that's probably good for everyone else. I think Ken's got his eye on a raspberry cupcake — hope nobody gets in his way! :)

This food is pretty self-explanatory, but I made a little tented label anyway.

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I duplicated the cupcake arrangement with the largest dots from Polka Dot Basics, stamping the blue & red off once before stamping on the cardstock. The white dots are outlined with PTI's Chai ink from the Tea Dye Duo. A sheet of vellum over the front softens the image a little more and has the letters stamped on it with Stazon ink. It was supposed to say "Cupcake Flag with Berries & Coconut" but I can't seem to keep things in my head very long. Must be a bit distracted this afternoon, because I was also planning on using Kraft cardstock for the base and white ink for the white dots. Didn't even realize my mistake until I was ready for the white dots. Duh! Oh, well. Not being one to do things over, I just switched things around to make it work. :) (And, once again, I wasn't going for perfection so the letters being rather crooked, uncentered, and occasionally smeared was A-OK with me.)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot Basics) and Stampin' Up (Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers); cardstock is some cheapie white that I found in my cardstock drawer; vellum is from Stampin' Up; ink is SU (Pacific Point, Real Red), PTI (Tea Dye Duo), and Stazon (Jet Black).

Well, it's about time to leave for the party so I'm not going to bore you with any miscellaneous stuff today. I'll try to think up something random for tomorrow. Or — and I know I keep saying it —I really should get those FlyLady Beginner BabySteps finished up.

Thanks for stopping by — I so much appreciate your visits and your comments. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Party, Party, Party

We're invited to three parties this weekend. Two were tonight. One is tomorrow night. Ken is the social one. And he is certainly not one to pass up an invitation. I'd probably be a hermit if it weren't for him.

Each party requires bringing a dish of food to share. If you've been visiting here for awhile, you know that I like my food labeled.

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Hopefully the cake will be luscious. Sometimes I like to add an adjective into my recipe titles. Actually, this cake is pretty ugly, so I thought that maybe if I called it luscious people would be enticed to eat it. :)

Not wanting to "waste" perfectly good cardstock on something that may get tossed, I used an insert from a Papertrey Ink paper pack as the base of the label, cutting it on the fold.

I also decorated the back for some reason. Guess I was just having too much fun.

I trimmed several inches off a bamboo skewer — enough so that the label would be a couple inches above the top of the pan — taped it to the inside of the label, and added a couple dimensionals to the bottom, adhering front to back.

And here is how it looked, ready to go. I've never spread fruit all over the top before, but it certainly took care of the ugliness factor. And, it was tasty this way, too. Add a little whipped topping — mmm. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Vintage Labels, Polka Dot Basics) and Stampin' Up (Tart & Tangy, Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers); cardstock is an insert from a PTI paper pack; ink is SU (So Saffron, Summer Sun, Pacific Point, Real Red) and PTI (True Black, Tea Dye Duo); also used Spellbinders Nestabilities Label One, a trimmed bamboo skewer, tape, and dimensionals.

The second party started two hours after the first one — and this time we took a corn casserole. (Thank goodness for oven timers — the corn baked while we were at the neighbor's house.) My family loves this recipe. It's standard fare at Thanksgiving dinner and other big meals around here.

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Yeah. I got a little carried away this time. I happened to think of this apron stamp that I've had for awhile, but hadn't inked up yet. Paper-piecing with patriotic colors seemed like a good idea and the little Quickie Glue Pen was ideal for those small pieces. Oh, and if you're wondering about the crooked and poorly spaced letters, I was just going for a homespun kind of look. (And I didn't want to take the time to go for perfection — or whatever measure of that I could achieve.)

Same deal with the skewer and the dimensionals — and here it is stuck into the corn casserole. Oh, incidentally — and because my mom and brother might say, "I don't remember Grandma making that" — Grandma's Company Corn was what the friend who shared the recipe with me called it and I like the way it sounds. So — Grandma's Company Corn it stays. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Lockhart (Vintage Apron), Papertrey Ink (Vintage Labels), and Stampin' Up (Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers); cardstock is an insert from a PTI paper pack and a blue scrap; patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket (from the Garden Variety 6x6 paper pad); ink is SU (Pacific Point, Real Red) and PTI (True Black); also used Spellbinders Nestabilities Label One, a trimmed bamboo skewer, tape, and dimensionals.

OK — it's too late to go into anything else, and this is long enough as it is. I'll be back tomorrow. Probably with another food label to share.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Patriotic Cards

Thought I'd play along with Susan's One Layer Wednesday challenge of the week. This week (OLW 10) the challenge was to create a one layered patriotic card. Since I just received my latest Stampin' Up order which included a patriotic set, the timing was perfect!

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I decided to combine the new with the old and pull out a who-knows-how-old set to use as a background for the fireworks. Then since it needed just a little pizzazz I added some glitter to the inside of "4th".

AND TELL:  all products are from Stampin' Up unless noted -- stamps (Great Shapes, July Fourth); cardstock (Whisper White); ink (Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pacific Point) and Papertrey Ink (True Black); also used some very old Prisma ultra fine glitter in gold. 

The last time I did a One Layer Wednesday challenge I told you that I was going to catch up with her old challenges, too. So here is a card for OLW 2 — which was to use flock or glitter. Well, since I don't have any flock — glitter it would be. (Although, I really wanted to go out and buy that cute set of brightly colored flock so that I could make really cute fuzzy cards like Susan's here.)

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Um — yeah. I should've gone out for the flock. I think my glitter was just a little too chunky for the application. And, uh... I have glitter e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. I was probably very sparkly at work today (since I made this before I left) — but because I was the only one working today, there was no one to tell me.

Funny story about the glitter. As I was sprinkling on the silver glitter, the price tag fell off the little glass bottle. Yes, it's old. The bottle was glass and it had a price tag. No UPC code to be found. Looking at the tag (since I learned to "read" their code back in the day), I discovered that I had purchased the glitter at Michael's for $2.99 in — get this — September of 1990. That glitter is almost 20 years old! Oh, my goodness. Chances are it'll take me another 20 years or so to use it all up, too. Especially after this glitter experience...

AND TELL:  all products are from Stampin' Up unless noted -- stamps (Great Shapes, July Fourth, Fun Phrases); cardstock (Whisper White); ink (Not Quite Navy); marker (Real Red); also used The Essential Glue Pad, and some very old silver, gold, red, and ultra fine gold glitter.

So — back to the little family reunion trip. I've told you about the first three days. Now we're to the actual reunion day — Sunday. Instead of attending church with relatives on Sunday morning, we went to visit family graves.

There are many Hayes' buried in this little church's cemetery — including Ken's dad.

I thought this picture turned out kind of interesting with our feet reflected in the headstone. It's hard to believe that this December will mark the 10th anniversary of the loss of Ken's dad.

The headstone above marks the site of Ken's paternal grandparents and to the left are his great-grandparents.

I told you yesterday about our drive through the dark backroads of Illinois to get to his cousin's house. Our GPS sent us through more backroads on Sunday. Not to scare any family members, but Ken was totally in what I call "little brother mode" on Saturday night — in my opinion, driving way too fast on narrow, unmarked roads that he was not familiar with, seemingly to make me highly uncomfortable (and keep me praying for safety).

I mean, can you see that sharp turn ahead? Yes? And do you see any warning sign of a turn or any lines on the road or any shoulders on the road? No? See why I might've been nervous in the dark?

And can you see the hills on this road? (I didn't even know there were hills in Central Illinois!) This would've been a total rollercoaster ride if we'd been on this road the night before. Funny enough — he drove much slower in the daylight. Go figure.

Maybe he was slower on Sunday because I kept asking him to stop so I could take a picture. Hmmm. Should've thought of that the night before. Not sure what I would've photographed in the dark, though... especially since I couldn't really see anything as it was whizzing past!

I should probably break to briefly explain why I call this "little brother mode." When I was a kid, probably about 10 or 12 years old, my dad had rented a bicycle built for two and my brother (2 years younger) and I took it for a spin. I'm sure I was thinking of a nice peaceful ride — kind of along the line of the song that goes "... and you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two." My brother was in the front — meaning he had all the control. Big mistake. He sped us down the hill near our house and aimed the bike directly for the curb — me screaming all the while — as he made a sharp turn at the last minute so we didn't crash, continuing on like he was going to hit another curb, and so forth. He was laughing maniacally, as I remember it. Me screaming for him to stop and let me off. Not a great experience. Total little brother mode.

So — Ken did do a sweet thing to redeem himself. As we were speeding through a tiny town Saturday night, I said — "Hey, was that building covered with license plates?" To which he responded something like, "What building?" Yeah. we went past it that fast. Well, he made it his mission to answer that innocent question of mine Sunday morning. I don't know how he found it...

but he did. Just so I could know whether or not it was a building covered with license plates. (It is... all Illinois by the looks of it.) Aaawww. Back to sweet husband mode. :)

That's it for today. The pictures I took at the reunion (both of them) aren't really good enough to show. (Sorry Hayes family.) But, on our way back home to North Carolina we made a fun stop in Tennessee. I'll share that with you tomorrow. Along with a card or something.

Thanks so much for stopping by! See you later!

Patriotic Wrap-Up

I've had a patriotic card in my head for the past week and I've finally had the time to "let it out!"

But first, I decided that I needed to participate in a challenge or two or three this week — and as I was browsing some of the challenge sites for inspiration, I happened upon this one. I haven't participated in the Cuttlebug challenge site before and since they are giving away the new embossing folders to someone who participates in all 4 July challenges, I decided that it might be worthwhile. What've I got to lose?

I am getting a late start, but here's my card for the first one (Countdown to CHA Be Inspired #38). The challenge was to use red, white, and blue, buttons, and the bonus folder is Swiss Dots. Their design team did LOTS of beautiful red, white, and blue cards — very inspirational. You can see them here. They used a new star embossing folder that you've got to see. I'm thinking it's a must have. (Don't forget to continue scrolling down to see the other cards.)

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AND TELL:  stamp is from Papertrey Ink (Damask Designs); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White) and Paper Source (discontinued shimmery blue); patterned cardstock is from my favorite Heidi Swapp pack; ink is PTI (True Black); also used the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Provo Crafts), Scor-Pal for debossed lines, PTI buttons (Vintage White and Cream), and Offray ribbon.

And, here's the card idea that's been floating around in my head all week.

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I needed thank you cards for the hosts of the two neighborhood parties we attended last weekend. We had such a great time at both! I didn't have my camera at the first get-together we went to, but here is a photo from my next door neighbors'. Their backyard gardens are thriving under Rob's care. He has all the makings for jars and jars of salsa growing back there! 

Remember this post about the new baby boy in the neighborhood? Well, he made his party debut on the Fourth of July. Here he is being admired by our neighborhood twins. They're so used to everything being plural, they kept calling him, "babies." So cute!

When our kids were young there were lots of little children on the street. It's great to see that happening again!

Back to the card. I used a Marvy scalloped square punch (the purple one) on a post-it note to make a stencil. After positioning the stencil on the card, I sponged inside it with blue ink. Easy peasy.

I know the stamps are supposed to be snowflakes — and I've used them like that before — but I've always thought they'd make good fireworks, too, and have been waiting for this holiday to come around to try that theory out. Hopefully you see the resemblance, too. (Now that I'm looking at them, I remember that I was going to add some glittery Stickles — oh, well. I guess I'll save that thought for next year.)  

AND TELL: stamps are from Stampin' Up (Snow Burst) and Papertrey Ink (Mixed Messages); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Pacific Blue, Real Red), PTI (True Black) and Encore (Silver); ribbon is from Michaels.

Thanks for coming over to my little corner today! Hope you've had a great weekend!

Happy 4th!

 

OK — technically, it's no longer the 4th of July. I know that. But we're still celebrating our freedom around here. And company is coming soon.

 

The table is set. The placecards are made.

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AND TELL: stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Fancy Flourishes, Star Prints, Simple Alphabet, Fresh Alphabet); cardstock is PTI (White) and Paper Source (two discontinued shimmery cardstocks); ink is Stampin' Up (Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Basic Black); also used a tad of Stardust Stickles and some golden ribbon from my stash.

I have more to show and more to tell, if I get a chance. If not we'll just move into a new week and see where the creative juices take me. Thanks for stopping by today!!

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you're having a fabulous Fourth of July!

I had intended to post a patriotic project today, but that isn't quite going to work out — maybe tomorrow — but I do have a patriotic happening to share.

 

Our neighborhood has a children's parade every year on the morning of the Fourth of July. Our local fire station takes a truck or two out of service to lead the parade and the police send a car to end it. In between are many of our neighbors on bikes, scooters, little motorized cars, pulling wagons, walking dogs, pushing strollers — any manner of getting around — and all decked out in red, white, and blue. They recruit an ice cream truck, too, and all the participants are given tickets for free (sponsored) ice cream after the parade. Reminds me of the parade in the small town I grew up in — where my mom, brother, and friends may be sitting right now.

Here I am with Roxie (the guilty dog — see previous post). My mom should recognize those necklaces. I'm not sure how I got them, but she wore them in the 60s. I think our daughter used them for dress-up when she was young. I recently discovered them in my jewelry drawer and thought they were the perfect (and trendy again) accessory for patriotic events.

Well, this was my lunch break. Now it's time to get back to cleaning the house and doing a little cooking in preparation for some long-time neighbors coming over tomorrow. There are still a few of us original owners left on the street and since we're all empty-nesters now, we're having a couple of them over for a post-4th of July dinner. Tonight we're going to some other neighbors house for a low-country shrimp boil and fireworks. (Ken's thrilled. Just kidding, he hates seafood — but he does like to socialize!) And last night we went to the home of some other neighborhood friends who were also having a low-country shrimp boil and fireworks. Must be the thing to do this holiday weekend!

Hope you in the USA are having a family and/or friend-filled holiday weekend also! Have a great one!

Jeremiah 29:11

I love this card more than I thought I would. We adopted this verse for Ian while he was in high school — and we still cling to it and pray it in regards to his life. However, I plan to send this card to our Army National Guard soldier nephew as he's making decisions regarding his near future (continue working? enlist? school?). Big decisions!

I know I said that I wasn't going to do any sketches this week, but I did decide to do the weekly Verve sketch on Splitcoast Stampers. If you complete all four sketches in a month and upload them to your SCS gallery, you are eligible to win free stamps. Now, how can I pass that opportunity up? As usual, this sketch included a twist:  a NEW twist — use something new on your card, something you just purchased or something that you've had for awhile but just never got around to using. I used two new things here — the Stampin' Up Spiral Punch that I finally broke down and ordered (must say, I love it's look!) and a Verve stamp, Jeremiah 29:11, that was in the order I just received last week. I finally have most of their scripture stamps now. It was just getting ridiculous — whatever one I needed to use I didn't have, so I decided that I had to take advantage of the big sale they had in May (I squeaked my order in on the last day — typical me!).

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AND TELL:  stamp is from Verve (Jeremiah 29:11); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Lemon Tart), Stampin' Up (Brilliant Blue) and printed cardstock is from Heidi Swapp; ink is PTI (True Black); the button is also from PTI (Vintage White & Cream) and the ever-present Stampin' Dimensionals were also used.

The button was threaded with a very narrow strip of the red cardstock that I trimmed from the star layer and then securely attached to the card with a glue dot.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful Friday!