I'm the Winner...

So, how often have you gone golfing with a four and seven year old? Well, um, this would be my first time and it may be my last. LOL As you can see from the above photo the attitude one receives when their babysitter stinks at such a sport. Is golf even a sport? Walking around hitting a ball and fishing it out of a stream of water does not seem like much of a sport. Hey Tiger...a few pointers, please. ASAP! I can't tell you how embarrassing it is to lose to a four year old. Oh, and what is the seven year old looking at anyways? Just saying.

Well I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I know that it sure did go fast. We could not have ordered a more beautiful weekend.

So, in the mean time I will be practicing my golfing skills and if you have any pointers, I would love to hear from you. Until next time. Happy Trails.

The Common Loon...

A few weeks ago I went fishing to one of the many lakes north of my house. Once I arrived at the lake I was shocked to find not one, but two loons. For the longest time I would go to this lake and feel incredibly sad for the poor lonesome loon. I'm glad to report that those feelings can be casted aside and I can rejoice. A friend at last! I can't believe my ears, that another loon has answered the eerie yodel of his call. How sweet.

I would like to share a couple of facts with you that I find cool.

• Loons are water birds, only going ashore to mate and incubate eggs. Their legs are placed far back on their bodies. Therefore this allows efficient swimming but awkward movement on land.



• The Common Loon is flightless for a few weeks after molting all of its wing feathers at the same time in midwinter.

So next time I go to the lake I hope that I see both of them together again. I also hope that I will be able to capture a better picture of the two love birds. I have to be quick. So until then I will keep practicing my speediness at picture taking.

Thanks for stopping in and happy trails!

Wordless Wednesday...Penguin Spring Card

Frankie and Aggie...

This cute little Inky Antics witch is ready to make some brew! She carries her own little frog around everywhere she flies! *wink* This pocket card uses Only Orange cardstock, Whisper White cardstock sponged with Lovely Lilac. The designer paper is by K&Company. The sentiment is from Northwoods Rubber Stamps. I used colored pencils and gamsol for the coloring. So much fun to make! If you would like to make one you can see the tutorial by Cindy Lyles at StarLit Studio. Here is her link http://starlitstudio.typepad.com/starlitstudio/templates/.

And then there is Frankie. What a handsome looking fellow he is. Don't you think? When I saw him on Dawn's blog, I instantly fell in love. However, the original card made by Kathy Alt uses Stampin' Up punches. Yah, so I really don't have them so I made due. I free cute the white circles for his eyes and also the arrows (aka bolts). Nonetheless I still kind a like him. I think he has potential. What do you think?

Well thanks for stopping in and happy stamping.

Monday Morsel: Cinnamon Roll Toast

I thought I would share with you all what I had for supper tonight. Perhaps, I will try and post a tasty recipe right here every Monday. So, along time ago I stopped in Fort Collins, Colorado at a really neat restaurant. For the life of me I can't recall the name of the place. It bothers me, cause I would like to go back one day. However, it is really hard to go somewhere when you have no idea of where you are going. Drat! Their specialty was breakfast and they served the best "Cinnamon Roll Toast" I asked the waitress for the recipe and this is what she gave me:

2 slices bread (white, wheat, or my personal favorite, raisin)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted

1/2 tablespoon water

few drops of vanilla extract

Mix together the cinnamon and the butter until well combined. Use this mixture to butter your slices of bread on both sides. Heat a large sized skillet over medium high heat and then add your slices of bread. Toast well on both sides. Remove from the skillet and keep warm while you make the frosting.Whisk together the icing sugar, water and vanilla to make a soft drizzly icing. Drizzle it haphazardly over the top of your warm cinnamon toast. This is for one serving. However, I would like to suggest doubling the recipe. Yes, it is just that good. So, make a batch today. You won't regret it. Oh, and by the way if you know of any good restaurants that has a specialty let me know. I'm always looking for new places to try. Enjoy and Happy Eating!

Box in a Bag...the Little Guy

I had to. I just had to. Make a box in a bag in a small version, that is. Don't you think everything (ok, a lot of things) looks cuter when it is little? Well I know I do. So if you would like to whip one of these up here is the info. I used Real Red card stock from SU, Chalkboard designer paper from Provo Craft and purchased at Michael's , and "ruler" ribbon (Thanks Peg). I cut the designer paper at 2-1/2" x 6-1/2". The square to make the "box" bottom measures 2-1/2" x 2-1/2", scored at 1/2" on each side. The scalloped strip is 1/2" wide and 2 1/2" long. You can fit about five little candy bars inside the bag. What teacher wouldn't want one of these? Speaking of teachers, can you believe school starts in just one week. Where did the summer go?

Speaking of little things, I would like to introduce you to "Ethel." She is sooo cute! My Aunt and Uncle just got her and they stopped over to my house for dinner. I just adore her.

I just couldn't resist taking a picture of her favorite napping spot, next to one of my flower gardens. However, she did not get much rest with my four nephews arguing over her. Poor little girl.

One more baby to share with you. My nephew Bridger caught a baby salamander. I have not seen one like this before. It was black with small spots of blue on it. It was neat looking. I just love the expression on Bridgers face. Priceless!

Well I hope you had a great weekend. Take care and happy trails.

Random Acts of Kindness...

Yesterday was my last day working with two great girls. They will both be moving on to their college years. I've enjoyed working this summer with both of them. Brenna will be moving to Duluth and studying something to do with Biology and Crystal will be going to Bemidji and I'm not sure what her major will be. I'm so excited for them both. Actually we had two more girls going off to college, but their last day was a week or so ago. They too were very neat girls. Anna will be going to college in North Dakota and Angie will be going to Moorhead (?) I think. I hope I'm right. Anyways, for Crystal's last day her mom brought a beautiful bouquet of Star Gazer Lilies. I have never seen such beautiful lilies before. She also made us the best Spice cake with Cream Cheese frosting. Yum, Yum! I just thought this was a nice thing to do. How random. How nice. So I just had to share with all of you, the picture I took of the lilies. Also, I'm so proud of you four girls. Have a great time in college and you are all going to do a great job.

Happy Trails!

Stamping and Card Making with Friends...

Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend the whole day creating with a group of friends. We accomplished several things. The first thing I would like to show you is a cute little "bag in a box" these have been popping up allover the net. Have you seen them before? I gave this one to our hostess, Laurie. Her hospitality was outstanding. Evey aspect was covered: tasty food, comfortable accommodations, and a picturesque scenery. Thanks Laurie, you rock!

You can learn how to make this awesome creation at Stampin' With Diana and her blog address is http://dianagibbs.typepad.com/.

Another item you may have seen around is the "sour cream" containers. I learned how to make these the other day and let me tell you-they are super easy. All you need is some designer paper, some adhesive, candy and a crimper. Your designer paper measures 5 1/2" by 4 1/4". Put adhesive on the two long sides and then one short side. Roll the short side over on top of the other short side, will look like a toilet roll tube when done. Now pinch one of the ends together. Fill it with treats of your choice and then turn the holder and pinch the ends together. Stick the ends into a crimper and your done. Super easy! Super cute! You can make several of these in no time flat.

So what else did we make? Well I'm glad you asked. Let me show you. First we made a card box with 3 x 3 cards in it. I really liked making the box, but the little cards are really not my forte. I believe the idea came from Split Coast Stampers. Here is a picture of my box with cards.

The second item we made was a Halloween double pocket card. I really liked this card. I loved Laurie's stamp set she let me use.

The last item we made was a Hershey's chocolate bar holder. Unfortunately I don't have a candy bar, so I will have to wait to post this one. I had a great time and really look forward to another play date. Hint, hint girls. =)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

I Scream, You Scream

For Ice Cream, of course! So, how about these dog days of summer? Can you say scorcher? I'm not sure about you, but I have been enjoying these summer days. I just know what is around the corner. I'll give you a little hint, starts with the letter "s" and is white. Oh, you guys are so good. Yes, snow. Well enough of that bad mouthin' talkin'.

On to the card. I just love the cards with ice cream cones, popsicles, or what ever cold treat you can think of. This card is cased from one of my favorite sites, but I can't remember which one. I like to save copies of cards into my picture account and then of course can't recall where their from. The original card used SU CS, but I just used scrap CS. I used the large tag punch for the popsicle. The scallop punch took a bite out of the popsicle. Last, but not least the word window punch was used for the popsicle sticks. I did not have the right color CS, so I punched white paper and then colored it with my SU marker in Creamy Caramel.

Well I hope you are feeling refreshed. Thanks for looking at my "cool treat". Have a good one and Happy Trails.

A Bushel of Berries

Strawberries, anyone? I created this little weaved basket or is it bushel (wink) by using a technique I learned in first grade. We are going old school, here people. My strips of neutral card stock were cut to about 3/8" each wide by 31/4" long. I distressed the edges with brown chalk. I weaved the paper over and under repeatedly until there was enough of a weave to cover the front of my card base. I then adhered the weave piece on top of the card, and then trimmed around the edges.

OK, so here is the part that takes plenty of patients. If you do not posse any, you need to stop right here. I repeat....this card may not be for you. I stamped twelve strawberries. Whats the big deal you say? Well, color the stamp with a red marker, and then a green marker, and then huff on the stamp to moisten it, and then stamp on paper. Don't forget to cut each one out. Personally, I thought it was a lot of work-but just look at it. How cute! Well worth it. I also stamped the strawberries repeatedly overlapping some to form a small cluster. I adhered the berry cluster to the card, then glued down some individual berries over my overlapping stamped images. I used some dimensionals to give it a little popped up feeling or I'm falling, please feel free and eat me.

Last but not least I took 2 small pieces of brown ribbon and created handles on each side. The sentiment inside could say "Your so Sweet" or "Thanks a bunch" or whatever your little heart desires. I need to thank Linsey for giving me the idea for this delicious card. I bought a nail file and it has strawberries on it and then I got to thinking about my favorite stamp set and then look what happened, a beautiful card was born.

TFL (thanks for looking), hope you liked it and will want to make one of your own! Happy Stamping!

Supplies:

Stamps: SU Tart and Tangy

Ink: Real Red and Glorious Green

Ribbon: Brown

Paper: Neutral CS

Card Club Night

A few months back...like say in March of this year I started going to a local Park Rapids church for card night. So we gather every second Tuesday of the month to make five cards for five dollars. We have a blast at making the cards and time just flies by and then you go home to admire your cards, or at least that's what I do. This month the cards turned out super cute.

The first card we completed was Diane's card. We used one of my favorite stamp sets on this one...Tart and Tangy. Love it! We used velum for the glass. We also used crystal effects for the rimmer. Inside the card is stamped "You brighten my day!" and then you can add a little packet of Crystal Light lemonade, too cute!

The second card we made was for a man's birthday. The designer of this card was Jo and she had a wonderful idea of using paper that resembled wood and then used stamps that contained hammers, screwdrivers and such manly tools. I loved the brads on this one.

The designer of our third card came from a SU Demonstrator, JaNell. What a treat to use some items from the new catalog. New paper Baja Breeze was used with Chocolate Chip and So Saffron. And don't even get me started on the new Scallop Edge Punch. Must have, and ASAP! We also used the new Dreams du Jour set. What a fun card it turned out to be.

The designer of our fourth card was Kathy. I'm not sure if the paper used was from SU, but I loved the combo of the green and brown. The stamped image was colored in using pencils and Gamsol. What a beautiful stamp, so outdoorsy. I will miss Kathy and her wonderful cards. She told us last night that she will be moving back to Iowa. Good luck, girl and we will all miss you!

Our last card is so clever. It is for someone that is retiring and let me tell you, it is sooo cute I would consider retiring. Oh, I forgot...silly me, you have to have a full time job to do that. *wink Well anyhow, the card was made using punches. The paper is really neat, too. It is silver with glitter in the dark stripes. Inside the pocket is pocket watch and the sentiment inside reads "The daily grind has been left behind, Time to kick back and Relax!" Thanks Deb for such a neat card.

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoyed looking at these blurry cards. LOL I sure hope that I get better camera skills soon. I do have to say that this is my first time using cards as props, so I'm going to chuck it up to new kid on the block routine. =)

See you next time. Happy Trails!

Red River Zoo

Have you ever been to the The Red River Zoo? This zoo maybe a smaller zoo, but still full of life and promises for a good time. In fact there are over 300 individual animals representing 75 species that live in natural habitat exhibits. The zoo also has beautiful flowers for your viewing pleasure. Here is a list of some of the animals waiting to see you: Bactrian Camel, Persian Onager, Sleder-tailed Meerkat, White-lipped Deer, Red Panda (my favorite), Squirrels, Porcupines, Sichuan Takin, Goats, Pot Belly Pigs, Horses, Snakes, Toads (very large), Ducks, Bald Eagle and many more. I took a few photos. The Red Panda was a little busy following a rabbit that had gotten into his exhibit. We watched for awhile to see if he would eat it, but he pretty much just followed it around. So if you are ever in the area, be sure to check out the zoo. Happy trails!