Bungalow Days

Happy 31st Anniversary, AJ and RJ

2012-01-29T22:53:00.002-06:00

This is an anniversary card for my friend AJ and her husband that I'm posting to the Moxie Fab blog for this week's Tuesday Trigger: Winter Blossoms. I repeatedly stamped a Studio G (dollar stamp) flower on different shades of white and tan cardstock and paper, cut them out and highlighted just the centers with silver glitter pen. One of the papers I used was tissue, like some of the flowers in the Trigger photo below. The flowers are layered over some sheer ribbon over a diamond pattern paper to which I've added an "argyle" line. The sentiment is done with stickers and the little metal clock embellishment is attached with thin wire over the flowers.

Winter Whimsy

2012-01-23T19:01:00.000-06:00

After a long day of job-searching, it was fun to finally finish a card I've been working on for The Punches Challengeover at Moxie Fab. As it started to come together, I thought it would make a good banner for my blog, so I photographed it before I added the sentiment and then keyed in my blog name in a text box to use as my banner.

We were to use a punched element in an innovative way. I happened to have this EK ornament punch on my desk prior to cleaning up the post-holiday chaos and the thing that caught my eye was the tree-like shape that could be made when the punched piece was turned upside down. So, I played around with a combination of shapes and patterns to create this wintery scene. All the "trees" came from the EK punch - I only snipped a bit off of the tall trees and left the round trees exactly as they were punched. The sun was made with a Martha Stewart punch and the sentiment is separate rub-on letters. The paper is all DCWV: Blossoms & Butterflies 4.5 x 6.5 stack. The size of the stack is important here, because of the smaller scale of the pattern.

And if you want to see the ornaments as they would normally be punched and used, here's the card upside down.

Hello 2012 - Happy New Year

2012-01-01T20:55:00.000-06:00

I started the New Year off with a bit of a change to tradition. Usually, Mom and brothers and sis-in-law and I get together for breakfast and bowling or a round of miniature golf. This year we were invited to Cousin Keith's house, where we had dinner and shared memories of his sister Laynie, who died of cancer in October just short of her 42nd birthday. Knowing how hard it is to go through the first holidays after a loved one's death, it was good to be with extended family and hear their favorite Laynie stories.

Nancy G decorated a theme tree this year, something she says she does every so often. I love her color scheme and the idea of a theme tree. Many years ago, I decorated a tree in a southwestern USA theme, using sandbakels tins that somehow really fit; looking like the silver jewlry of Arizona and New Mexico, I suppose. But I have now collected too many ornaments to leave any unpacked each year.

Another member of my cousin's family was there - their pet chinchilla (I have forgotten his name).

Goodbye 2011 - Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:54:00.000-06:00

A beautifully fluffy coating of snow to usher out the old year...

Goodnight and Happy New Year!

Happy Fall - Leaf Special Effects

2011-09-23T00:11:00.000-05:00

C and I took a walk last weekend and discovered some interesting pre-fall maple leaf colors. I've never noticed this dark/light pattern before, so I pulled out my camera. Although it was still light out, my flash went off and turned the background black. I took the second photo without the flash to show the true scene.

But, I liked the contrast-effect, so I took another flash photo (below). I will try this "technique" again very soon.

Remembering Ten Years Ago

2011-09-11T11:56:00.002-05:00

I wanted to re-post this card from a couple years ago. It was not made with any occasion in mind, but it seems to be appropriate for today, the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

This is a re-post of what I wrote two years ago:

Although this is not a serious or controversial blog, it IS a personal journal of sorts, and I can't let the day go by without pausing for a moment to remember that day and thank God I didn't lose any loved ones. I was in London with my oldest nephew (for his high school graduation trip) when we started to hear that something had happened - via talk on the street, a canceled performance (because it was USA-related), and an eerie photo of a single WTC tower with smoke pouring from it. It wasn't until we returned to our hotel later that day that the whole shocking series of events was played on TV before our uncomprehending eyes. We had several days left of our vacation, so the delayed flights home didn't affect us. In fact, we flew home the first day planes were allowed back over U.S. airspace. When we landed in Pittsburgh, the passengers gave the pilots a round of applause and we were greeted by airport personnel as if WE had done something heroic.

And maybe we had. We got on those first planes and returned to our homes and lived our lives, because that's what the living must do to honor the departed.

If you have any thoughts or memories of that day, please feel free to share them here.

Tuesdays Around Town - Renaissance Festival

2011-09-06T22:39:00.062-05:00

[Time is flying as usual, so I'm posting the first batch of Renaissance Festival photos, with more to come]

Over Labor Day weekend, I went to the Renaissance Festival in the southwest metro with my brothers and nephew. The weather was nearly perfect: not too hot or cold, with a few clouds to keep the sunburn to a minimum.

We got there just after it opened, and saw many of the actors entering the village (above).

David and I were looking at a map in search of breakfast when we were waylaid by a dance troupe in need of a couple of extras to help them learn a number. We had fun, but learned our lesson: heads up if you don't want to be part of the act :)

A bald eagle from the Raptor Center.

Some of the quirky buildings before the crowds appeared.

(Above and below). A trip through The Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest. Inside a hobbit house.

Miniature houses - about 5 feet tall.

A sleeping fairy - or woodland nymph?

It became a popular day, but never really too crowded.

Look closely at the roof above (click to enlarge) - there's a dragon coming out of the windows.

Wind Rose Mill and Wine Cafe

The Wacky Chickens comedy act. They clucked and pointed to snatch this boy out of the audience and make him play along. He was hilarious. See him in before and after photos of the glasses and chicken cap they made him wear.

A new feature at Ren Fest this year - the alligator cage, with saddled turtle (above)

Mead, the first wine, was sold in a few places. I had 2 glasses for good measure.

Color Inspiration Challenge - Blue Shamrock

2011-09-03T19:48:00.004-05:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend, Everyone! I am spending the first day of the 3-day holiday making some cards. The first one is for the Papercrafts Connection Color Inspiration Challenge 8:

The Bazzill (company) color equivalents are Breaker Bay blue and Shamrock green. I did the best I could to match them. All cardstock is by DCWV. Shamrock paperpunch is Martha Stewart. The ribbon is actually 2 layers - plaid over 2 widths of blue. The two little metal tags were in my stash - the white one has embossed lettering and edges - I slid it through a Stazon black ink pad.

The black cardstock is "faux" embossed with more shamrock punch-outs.

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger - Girly and Gutsy

2011-08-30T12:41:00.001-05:00

The room above was last week's Tuesday Trigger: Girly and Gutsy over at Moxie Fab World. As so often happens, I worked on a design that I didn't finish in time to submit.

But I was happy enough with this card to submit it to the Papercrafts Connection August Gallery Challenge instead. The floral printed cardstock and the striped are by Die Cuts With A View. I used an Anna Griffin paperpunch to punch the rose design in black cardstock, layered over the bold yellow.. The sentiment is 2 stickers, and the ribbon is pink plaid layered over two widths of yellow.

Botanical Bird and House Card

2011-08-08T21:58:00.001-05:00

I'm finally back with a card designed for the Moxie Fab Fanatical About Botanical Challenge. It's a "something old, something new" project. I used my Cricut to cut a bird shape from cardboard and covered it with a botanical-pattern wallpaper that is several decades old. The Cricut was also used to cut the house shape that I matted over a traced and hand cut folded card.

The flowers at the bottom were stamped with a set of Rubber Stampede "Country Garden" stamps that I've had for many years. The set would work very well with a stamp positioner to design a scene, but I simply cut out and layered each of the bouquets for a bit of dimension.

The sentiment is another oldie, but goodie - Mini Mates by Stampin' Up; layered over a mini punched oval that I re-used from another card. With other house shapes and other bird or butterfly shapes to choose from, I can see many variations on this theme.

I Shall Return

2011-08-05T12:36:00.001-05:00

Hellooooooooo o o o o......

I've got so many photos and posts to share with you, but I have been temporarily out of commission during our heat wave - with no whole-house A/C, I can survive, but that's about all. And I know many people don't have even the luxury of a window A/C, like I've had, so no complaints here - just an explanation of my absence. Seems like cooler weather is finally coming, so I will try to catch up on blogging, among other things. My to-do list reads like this:

Cut down jungle on north side of house

Cut down field on west side of house

Cut and remove rest of carpet from bedroom

Drain and move waterbed to opposite side of bedroom

Spray paint dresser in basement and move to bedroom

Make my Christmas cards (this NEVER happens until a week or so before

Christmas)

Catch up on all the cards I need to send as well as some that have been requested

What do you think - that's just for August :)

PS - the house in the photo is an actual house designed and built as a replica of the house in the animated movie "Up" - cool, right? maybe I should just paint mine like that.

Border-Punched Medallion Card

2011-07-11T23:53:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite EK Success border punches was used to make this card for the Moxie Fab Beautiful Borders Challenge. We were to use border strips in an innovative way, and I've played around with this particular punch in the past to create a sort of medallion.

With a little experimentation, many border punches could be used to make multi-sided embellishments. I found that a square of just over 2.25 inches is needed for the edges of the border to match up, then it is quite simple to punch this 4-sided shape. The patterned papers are by K and Company and the chipboard flowers are by Cosmo Cricket. The sentiment is a sticker. I added a little gold metallic pen and ribbon.

And here's the border punch.

PS - I missed the deadline to enter this one, so don't look for it in the line-up :)

Buon Appetito ATC

2011-07-10T23:39:00.002-05:00

The lovely little scenic card above is this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. I took my inspiration from the scene itself and not the colors to make this interpretation: it's an Artist's Trading Card showing a table in an Italian restaurant.

Here are the details:

1-PC-label over olive green ribbon over patterned paper.
2-Bottle punched from blue vellum with stamped and colored-pencil label (Rubber Stampede).
3-Glass punched from mottled tan c/s, liquid is pink paper w/ Crystal Effects on top.
4-Oval-punched 'plate' w/spaghetti of packing straw embedded in melted sealing wax...on an oval of gingham paper.

Congrats Card x 2

2011-07-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

The winners of Papercrafts Magazine 2011 Gallery Idol contest were announced this morning, and neither of my entries made it to the Top Twenty. But I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. The "Clean And Simple" card above consists of the word cut on my Cricut, two layers of cardstock over the base (to achieve the pink frame), and store-bought confetti carefully selected and attached.

The "magnifying glass" card came together as I'd imagined it. I thought it would be fun to print the tiny "Congratulations and Good Luck" and one large "Congrats" that appears to be magnified - for that older reader, ha ha! The magnifier was made with metallic cardstock that I inked up a bit. The round layers were either punched or cut with a Martha Stewart circle cutter and the handle was shaped by my round punches along a straight piece. For the lens, I added a circle cut from a sheet of plastic.

I added a tiny tag in the corner: it may have come from the packaging :)

Happy 235th Anniversary of Independence Day!

2011-07-04T16:38:00.001-05:00

I hope you are having a wonderful and safe 4th of July. On this, the 3rd day of a 3-day weekend, I'm staying cool inside my house, making a few cards, doing a little laundry (laundry stops for no holiday!), and generally relaxing. The sibs and I were at Mom's yesterday for a picnic on her deck, followed by a round of "chickenfoot", our favorite domino game.

Saturday, I walked along the promenade behind the Edina Target and saw this new sculpture. The City of Edina changes the artwork periodically and provides ballots for passersby to vote on their favorite. On a cooler day, I'll try to walk the rest of the way over to Centennial Lakes and look for other new submissions.

In Like A Lion

2011-07-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

I guess there's no adage for July like the one we use in March - "In like a lion, out like a lamb", but the first day of July came in rather ferociously. These two pics looking west from my house show a storm gliding ominously over Minneapolis.

We had some strong winds and brief rain, and then it was over. The temperature dropped at least 20 degrees from the humid mid-90s. Relief.

June, The Wedding Month

2011-06-21T23:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Summer! To kick off the most popular wedding month, my friend AJ brought over this fun project last week for us to make for her niece who was married on Saturday. It is a "wishing well" box, with a slot for guests to deposit their cards.

The Wilton kit came as a set of flat pieces to be folded and slotted together. AJ brought along the tulle, ribbon and faux flowers for the decorations. We used my glue gun to attach everything. She liked the way it turned out and was pretty sure her niece would too.

I'm Sew Excited - Button Up Your Overcoat - Card

2011-06-20T23:00:00.014-05:00

Another Moxie Fab challenge - due tonight at 11PM CDT - finished under the wire! I couldn't resist using this cute cardstock by DCWV for this sewing-themed challenge. I designed a template for the overcoat and contrasting cuffs and collar. The sentiment was made with a label maker on plain paper, then brushed with ink pad.

And for the inside, maybe one verse of the song...

...When the wind is free,

Take good care of yourself,

You belong to me!

Or something like "you matter to me" for a friend or relative.

Rainbow Bright Birthday Banner

2011-06-19T22:03:00.008-05:00

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

This Happy Birthday banner was another "happy accident" (I seem to have a lot of those lately). I started out making a card for the Moxie Fab Rainbow Bright Tuesday Trigger challenge. I had an idea about using the punched out balloons in all the colors of the threads in the photo, and I would attach them to the word "birthday" printed from my PC. However, my printer ran out of ink, so I had to look for an alternate plan. Luckily, I had these cute chipboard letters by K and Company. They turned out to be a little large for a card...that's what led to the banner idea. This is about 9" across.

The balloon letters are punched from black paper and glued over the glittered cardstock by DCWV. I used the spiral from a notebook for the hanger and attached it over either end of a length of balsa wood. I found 2 wooden beads to cap the ends and used a pliers to squish the soft balsa just enough to fit inside the beads.

I used actual thread for the balloon strings, but the chipboard letters coincidentally have a thread/sewing theme! They would have been perfect for the "Sew Excited" challenge due tomorrow, but I have something else planned for that - I think :)

Tuesdays Around Town - Fort Snelling State Park

2011-06-14T09:53:00.006-05:00

Nothing like temps in the 70s and a free day at Fort Snelling State Park to make us forget about the 99 and 103 degrees of the past week. On Saturday, Mom and I parked the car in the lot beneath the Mendota Bridge and set off on a walk. The free day applied to all Minnesota State Parks and Ft Snelling is the closest.

The first thing I spotted was this small (half inch?), bright green beetle that flew in front of us on the path. According to my web search, it is a six-spotted tiger beetle without any spots. There was a matching photo at www.dpughphoto.com/beetles.htm

The flowers above look a bit like phlox, but are called Dame's Rocket - the difference is that phlox has 5 flowers. The white flowers below look a lot like my "mock-orange" bush at home, but the leaves are geranium-like. An internet photo identified it as Canada Anemone (look close to the right of the flower - I captured a dragonfly).

The flowers above were on the tree below - wonderfully fragrant even at a distance. Mom thought it might be a Russian olive...my internet search confirmed that.

We stopped at the visitor center for a break before leaving - and found free cake and lemonade in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Park (1961).

Ice Cream, Anyone? - Card

2011-06-12T22:26:00.003-05:00

It was great summer weekend and I did manage to spend a lot of time outdoors. But I also made another Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger card, using the above image as inspiration.

I started with the color combo (that never looks quite the same when trying to match real colors to internet colors) and then went with a summer theme. My punches worked out well: waves, sand castles, abstract leaves, sunflower, and stars. I added a sentiment sticker and glued some of the punched stars on top of the layers.

Edge punches by Martha Stewart, Fiskars and EK. Round sunflower punch by Fiskars

103 Degrees of Summer

2011-06-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

New Record. That's all I have to say.

Blue Apples And Sunflowers - Cards

2011-06-05T21:18:00.007-05:00

It was a warm weekend, perfect for a stroll around the Edina Art Fair on Saturday and card-making in my breezy, cool house on Sunday. The photo above was the Trigger Tuesday image at the Moxie Fab blog and the cards were due to be uploaded today.

Coincidentally, I had these beautiful magazine clippings that needed a good "home". For the first card, I made a frame of grey metallic cardstock over blue patterned paper with paper-punched edges and corners. Then, I cut out the apple and stem and used decoupage medium to adhere it to the frame. I brushed more decoupage medium over the entire image and even the gray c/s; this gave more stability to the leaves hanging off the edge. The grey and white patterned c/s is by DCWV, as is the grey metallic.

Looking through my stickers, I found the word "Paradise" that seemed perfect in font style and size to complement the image. It wasn't until later that I realized HOW well it fit....Apple = Eden = Paradise!! I added a little dragonfly sticker to balance the black.

For the second card, I wanted to incorporate a bit of the pink in the flowers by the bedside, so I framed a little metal embellishment ("Wish") with some pink cardstock and hung it from a bit of embroidery thread, then inked the edges of this simple card. The sunflower image was adhered over the card itself.

Summer Vacation Starts at Cocino Del Barrio

2011-05-25T08:54:00.003-05:00

(Note: most photos taken by David). Today was the start of summer vacation for brother C. He has been laid off from his job of 37 years! But, he plans to return to school in the fall and train for a job in a related field, so he will be enjoying his summer off as we used to as kids. The three of us went to Cocino Del Barrio in Edina for margaritas and tapas. It was a bit too chilly to sit outside.

But it was nice to get a better view of the inside than the one C and I got when we were here on a crowded day last winter.

The guacamole comes in a volcanic-looking pestle.

C - above and us - below.

Tuesdays Around Town - Soul Daddy at MOA

2011-05-17T22:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Mom, C and I ate at the newest fast food restaurant at the Mall of America. Fans of the reality show, America's Next Great Restaurant, will recognize it as winner Jamawn Woods' idea. I heard opening day crowds ate everything in sight.

Luckily for us, things have quieted down a bit, so we were able to find a table and enjoy our meal with jazz music playing in the background. I had the vegetarian plate and chose 2 hot and 2 cold sides: cheesy grits, black-eyed pea salad, sweet potato salad, and braised kale, with a corn bread waffle. Yum! I had plenty to take home for lunch tomorrow. And I will no doubt be back to try some chicken and waffles - Mr Woods' original idea.

Spring At Last

2011-05-15T22:28:00.002-05:00

After a rainy and cool week, Spring weather finally came back on Sunday. But on a rainy Saturday, C and I ate at The People's Wine and Coffee Bar in The Galleria. It was our first visit there: our sandwiches, chicken salad for C and grilled tuna for me, with sides of coleslaw, were quite tasty. We strolled around the mall afterward and I was drawn to Ampersand's window (below): great sophisticated country card ideas come to mind.

Sunday was the perfect day for a walk around Lake Harriet. The tulips were in bloom and the new concession company, Bread and Pickle, was open for business.

Every house and yard is redecorated in green...with splashes of pink and fuschia; a welcome sight after a winter of white (even for someone like me who loves winter).

A Mother's Day Drive

2011-05-08T20:37:00.004-05:00

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! It was a nice day for a short drive out of town, so C and I took Mom to Red Wing with no particular schedule or plan in mind other than to find a casual restaurant to dine in.

The St James Hotel, above, was not really one of our choices, but I couldn't walk by the famous inn without snapping a few photos.

Likewise, the old door on the next block caught my eye, especially since my co-workers seem to appreciate the collection of doors on postcards that I have hanging in my cubicle.

The place we chose to eat is called Sarah's Restaurant. It is very large and colorfully decorated and the menu includes Vietnamese, Italian and Swedish dishes.

After leaving Red Wing, we headed south along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi to the town of Stockholm, where we treated ourselves to ice cream cones just before the rain started. But it was a light rain that stopped by the time we got back to the Cities.

The card I made for Mom was simple and bright...just paper-punched strips of flowers and a PC-printed sentiment.

Getting Organized

2011-05-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like putting away winter clothes, straightening out the linen cabinet and moving some furniture around to put one in a Spring state of mind. The inside of the house can feel as fresh and new as the outdoors just by clearing out some of the clutter. Perfection in this is not even required: a removed pile of magazines here or boots there makes more difference than you'd expect. Very soon now, the windows will be permanently opened and the furnace turned off for the season. And I will begin again to post regular updates on the Bungalow Redecoration, as was my intention when I started this blog several years ago.

Cubby couldn't care less about all this activity - he just views it as a good opportunity to find a new nap nook.

Maybe In May

2011-05-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

Maybe in May I will blog every day
Maybe in May I will send a card your way
Maybe in May I will ride my bike again
Maybe in May, it will neither snow nor rain.

Anything's possible!

In the meantime, here are a few cards made in April, but never posted here. My friend JR had a birthday on the 20th. If she'd been in town that day she would have been "blessed" with a couple inches of snow. I guess she missed it. Since she loves Asian-themed cards, I kept that in mind as I started this card for one of the Moxie-Fab challenges. I didn't finish in time to enter it in the challenge, but it was a great starting point.

I trimmed the red image from an art-magazine page. It is a photo of a Japanese lacquered box. I layered it over a white cardstock circle and that over the blue card base on which I'd lightly stamped some Chinese characters. The punched flowers are: a vellum layer, a cardstock layer and a glittered cardstock layer. I traced over the Chinese characters with a bit of glitter gel pen and called it complete.

The light snow layer was gone by noon. It comes as no surprise that May's average snowfall is .1 inches. This morning I had to close the windows that I'd left open all night; it was 34 degrees at 8 AM!

Next is an Easter card design that also started with the colors from a Moxie Fab challenge. I had only one picket fence embellishment for the original, but used a Martha Stewart picket fence punch on the other cards - and I think they turned out just as nice.

The other design elements are the crimped green paper (striped green cardstock on the "copies"), and the faux-embossed rabbits: shapes punched out of the same color as, and attached to the background paper. The 3-color eggs are punched from DCWV glittered cardstock (Fiskars punch).

Happy Birthday, Garrett!

2011-04-04T19:29:00.000-05:00

My oldest nephew is 28 today. That's him in the photo 26 years ago with me on the right and Mom on the left. We were at an open house at my brother's (Garrett's dad's) company. The photo is generated entirely by computer-typed letters and symbols.

I took a photo of the photo from a couple different angles...it's been rolled up all these years, so it may be a bit distorted from the curves in the paper. If you know Garrett on Facebook - wish him a Happy Birthday!

April Fools Day 2011 - How's The Weather?

2011-04-01T19:47:00.007-05:00

It was hot like summer and then it snowed and snowed!

April Fool!! But, seriously, folks - last April 1st was 80 degrees with daffodils blooming and the year before on the same day, Minneapolis was treated to a layer of snow. This year was somewhere in between, with snow still on the ground from our near-record-breaking winter and a bit of rain - not snow - this morning. I posted this last year, so see for yourself:

April 1st 2010

And Happy 13th Birthday to my feline friends, Zane and Harley!

What's Up? - Card

2011-03-27T19:41:00.013-05:00

I had a few ideas for the Cityscapes-are-on-the rise challenge over on Moxie Fab World. But I had no skyline stamps or "city" designer paper or die-cuts. So, I drew a skyline of slightly cartoonish buildings and added windows that spell out a message (do you see it?). It's a Clean-and Simple design layered over a magazine ad over a designer paper.

The front two buildings are raised on foam tape. I added some sparkly gel-pen stars to the sky.

New Decade Birthday

2011-03-24T22:57:00.000-05:00

Spring is here by calendar if not by weather: 13 F this morning and several inches of dense snow a couple days ago are proof enough of that. But the sun was out when I left work today, and it was a warm sun, so hope is alive!

I made the card last month for a cousin who turned 50, then forgot to send it to him (he'll still be receiving it - family knows I procrastinate). My favorite technique lately has been to re-use ads and magazine pages on my cards. The chicken was cut from an ad, then adhered over a photo-print designer paper (sunset). I stamped the curly shapes on orange and pink paper and layered them over the chicken where there was advertising I didn't want to show. The sentiment was PC-generated and then cut out in the sun shape. I used a glitter gel pen to highlight a few places.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T00:00:00.001-05:00

May the Irish hills caress you

May her lakes and rivers bless you

May the luck of the Irish enfold you

May the blessings of St Patrick behold you

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

2011-03-06T20:37:00.002-06:00

Over on the Moxie Fab World Blog, this weeks Tuesday Trigger is the yellow-door scene above. My first thought was to make a yellow door with dimensions I'd previously used on a Christmas-door card a few years ago. The side, top and bottom frame of the door are all 1/2" pieces of textured carstock and the handle is a grommet. All the architectural-element stamps are by Inkadinkado.

The background is a page from a book that I aged with some Tim Holtz distressing powder and a brush. I made the address with metal number embellishments and the "Home Sweet Home" is PC-printed.

Things That Inspire Thursdays

2011-02-25T18:36:00.004-06:00

Last week I got the idea to make these mini notebooks from a blog I regularly read (Caroleish). The pages are made with single sheet of 12 x 12" paper, cut in such a way that you can fold it, origami-style into pages. These are 2 x 2" books! With cardboard and patterned cardstock, I made the covers and inserted the pages inside with a bit of glue along the spine. I glued on a metal label to each.

The pages could also be left attached at just the ends for an expanding mini portfolio. I gave the books to Cousin SM and Cousin-In-Law AF for their February birthdays.

A few days later, one of my co-workers gave me this little bottle of hand cleaner. Aside from the heavenly lavender scent, I was immediately drawn to the color combo of the label against the bottle.

I went right home and made this card. Although it's not necessary to COPY the inspiring item, in this case, I knew I wanted to TRY the colors and proportions at least once, before jumping off in another direction. Later this weekend, I will do just that - do a more liberal interpretation of the design.

Tuesdays Around Town - City of Lakes Loppet

2011-02-08T14:37:00.002-06:00

Brief captions until I add more later: Lake of The Isles lumineria trail for cross-county skiing and snow-shoeing

The forest with hanging lanterns.

Lumineria arrangement.

Interior of a giant lumineria

(Above and below) Various sizes of lumineria

Snow sculpture of Loch Isles Monster?

Icehenge

(Above) Ice pyramid

February Cards and Tags

2011-02-07T22:43:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend, I made some gift tags for cousins who turned 8 and 3. Using the same color for the "shadow" of each number made it easy to cut all three numbers at once from a single sheet of cardstock on my Cricut machine. I varied the patterns of the numbers themselves, and added the cat and dog cut-outs from scraps of one of the wrapping papers.

The birthday card for another cousin started life as a 3x3" card that I received in a swap a few years ago. I attached the front and back of the mini card to a regular sized card and added the ribbon and buttons on the right side to match the left. The mini card had stamped circles, so I inked up a larger circle stamp to make a coordinating background.

January Cards

2011-02-02T20:22:00.003-06:00

My first cards of the year were Thank-You cards for Christmas gifts and events. I had the idea to use a red, white and black color scheme, but the striped pre-glittered cardstock that I chose worked better with a pink oval than red, so that's what I went with (paper-punched oval of glitter cardstock) . This is a more organic approach to card-making or any design, as opposed to the final design being exactly as one envisions. Neither way is better, just different.

The large chipboard letters gave me the idea to find different words for "thank you", since there weren't enough "Ts" to make the nine cards I needed. The black chipboard is printed with white flocked leaves. I used black and white patterned paper with either numbers (like years) or New Year-themed words.

Some cardmakers dislike making too many of the same card, but I like the assembly line process after the design comes together. The rest of each word was printed on vellum from my PC.

The tree card was made for my friend AJ and her husband - for their 30th wedding anniversary! I made sure to punch 30 glittered hearts, and I attached them to an oval cut with my new Cricut. I have scalloped oval paperpunches that work well as tree-top shapes, but this Cricut shape is a little looser and more natural.

The base of the tree is a paperpunch, from which I removed a few branches, and the top corners of striped background are also punched. All three "loves" are stickers, and the grass is more glitter cardstock.

The last card for my friend TLD's birthday started out as a Moxie Fab challenge card that I never submitted. The theme of the challenge was "Grey is the New Black", and I was excited when the hunt through my paper stock yielded these coordinating grey patterned cardstocks.

For the center frame, I cut a piece of textured cardstock to fit a chipboard frame that came in the exact shape as shown (with serrated edges). I added a plastic sheet over the window and filled the "shaker box" with confetti and beads. The box is formed with doublestick tape to give it height.

Tuesdays Around Town - Winter Carnival 125

2011-02-01T12:00:00.001-06:00

It was a good weekend to check out the 125th St Paul Winter Carnival: not too cold and so warm that the ice sculptures would melt. The largest ice sculpture this year or any other year was the wall with "125 Years" carved along the top. There were too many people in front of it to get a good photo - but it was very long with clear panels embedded with pictures of past Carnival highlights.

You can see more of the wall behind this jester/tree/snowshoe grouping.

"125" in Roman numerals, along with other Winter Carnival symbols.

I think these were the Winter Carnival Medallions from different years.

C on an ice throne. I posed for a photo myself...I'll update later with more pics.

Barrio in Winter

2011-01-15T18:17:00.006-06:00

To start the three-day weekend off right, C picked me up from work and we motored through the falling snow to Cocina Del Barrio, a new tequila bar in Edina. We each had a tequila cocktail (mine was a margarita), then split 2 Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Tomato-Mint Pico de Gallo, a Crab and Poblano Enchilada with Salsa Verde and Made to Order Guacamole and Corn Tortilla Chips. We finished up with the above-pictured Pumpkin Cake and Ice Cream with Pepito Brittle. As we left, we were already dreaming of returning in the spring to sit by the open windows or outside on the patio.

2010 Card Wrap-Up

2011-01-09T23:29:00.002-06:00

I'm hard at work on my first cards of the New Year, but before I post them, here are two cards I made in the last few months. The M & M card was made for my work supervisor - from all of us on her "team". I found the M&M ornament images online, printed one for each of us to sign and one for the front, and added some coordinating cardstock and a bit of ribbon: easy!

The two views below are of a birthday card I made for my friend, AJ. The crown was cut from metallic cardstock using my NEW Cricut die-cutting machine. It was a gift from my brother, D, and this is the first card I made with it. I'll post more on this later as I learn more about what I can do with it. The crown, like all of the 50 other images and the entire alphabet, can be cut in multiple sizes, so it's very simple to mat a shape over a "shadow" of the shape.

The sentiment was printed from my PC onto vellum, then oval-punched and edged with a gold metallic pen. I added little jewels to the open spaces in the crown. DCWV cardstock.

2011-01-05T10:41:00.001-06:00

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R!!

I will be back here soon with updates and more!

Tuesdays Around Mantel Town

2010-12-07T23:19:00.007-06:00

My collection of Christmas tins and two lighted houses on the mantel has put me in a holiday mood. All the careful unpacking was worth it when I finished arranging the tin containers (many decorated as buildings) and turned on the lights in the two buildings (one for the first time). Even without the tree up, the room immediately became a little more cheerful. With my wallpapering project on hold, temporary decorations are a nice disguise. Another bonus: opening boxes of ornaments and rearranging furniture inspires me to organize my other supplies and start a donation box.

2010-11-25T21:12:00.001-06:00

H A P P Y T H A N K S G I V I N G !!

Two November Mornings

2010-11-14T21:52:00.003-06:00

Once we set the clocks back, I finally saw a sunrise before work again....
and a few days later we got our first snowfall of the season. It made for a beautiful snowman-making day.

Tuesdays Around Town - Ely

2010-11-02T20:46:00.003-05:00

Here's a preview post: the Steger Mukluk company in Ely, Minnesota. The photo below shows the original grocery store that became the mukluk shop. I will have more details and Ely photos tomorrow.

Happy November, Goodbye October

2010-11-01T21:23:00.012-05:00

We've moved into a new month already and I distinctly remember thinking how fast September flew by...but wait: what happened to October?!! After only two blog posts last month, I've decided to challenge myself to do a post a day. Think I can do it? Stay tuned :) [edit 11/24/2010: so much for that idea!]

Before I start on November, a Halloween recap. The photo above is just some neighborhood yard decor that Mom and I saw on a walk a week ago. Below is the card I made for her with the inside caption: "To My Mummy".

Saturday night, Mom and D&K and I took a "Spooks and Spirits" tour of the State Capitol in St Paul. Costumed characters from the Capitol's past regaled us with stories of its history and construction. The tour has been given for several years, but the refurbishing of the dome this year gave an added realism to some of the stories, ie, the hanging of the "electrolier" (electrified chandelier).
In the room where our group gathered before the tour started, I took this photo of the ceiling before the "no photos" direction was given.
I spent a bit of time on Halloween carving this foam pumpkin using a stencil I found online. Carving a real pumpkin would have been easier, but I had bought this a couple years ago for another project and never used. I taped the stencil in place, pushed pins into the pumpkin along the stencil lines, then removed everything and cut along the pinholes with a craft knife.
I used the first string of lights I could find and wished they'd been the yellow ones, but I think the blueish light is kind of eerie. I covered them with a layer of tissue paper so the individual lights wouldn't show.

Up North Part 2

2010-10-17T21:29:00.021-05:00

I'm back with some more North Shore photos. As C and I walked from Gooseberry Falls to Lake Superior, we passed another CCC project - a small pumphouse - at the end of the river. The Gooseberry River (below) was calm, reflecting the waning autumn colors.
The sign describes a sunken barge that is a popular diving site.

C and I had just debated whether Lake Superior was the largest freshwater lake in the world - and this sign confirms it: by surface. A lake in Russia is larger by volume.

I patiently waited to capture the surf pounding against this boulder. I love having an ocean-like body of water within a couple hours drive of home.

After hiking down a narrow path to the lake, we were surprised to see this building with a "reserved for private party" sign outside! Before we had a chance to wonder how the beautiful table settings and cake were transported from the visitor's parking lot, we rounded the building and came upon another parking lot and the road that led between the two! As we started to walk back along the road, feeling ourselves on a slight incline, a shuttle bus driver asked us if we wanted a ride! The drive back to our starting point took only a couple of minutes. The free shuttle bus would be an option for another visit if we wanted to spend more time down along the beach.

Then it was on to Split Rock Lighthouse a few miles away. We arrived after the lighthouse tours had ended, but were still able to take photos as the sun went down...and with fewer people to shoot around!

Up North

2010-10-06T20:41:00.024-05:00

I know Minnesota isn't the only place in the country where people say they're going "up north" on vacation, but anyone who's ever been to the north shore of Lake Superior knows how special it is.
Last weekend was forecast as the 75-100% colored leaf weekend. So, brother C and I took a drive to see for ourselves. The first few photos were taken from the car on the way up to Duluth. We agreed: gorgeous!

Around lunch time on Saturday, we arrived at the famous Betty's Pies past Duluth and put our name in for a table. The 45-minute wait went by quickly and we were soon eating fish and chips and chili.

We each ordered a slice of pie to go from the menu board.

I took an interior shot with C in it. Hopefully, I can find a photo of the old Betty's Pies building, taken when C and I drove around Lake Superior ten years ago. If I find it, I will post it to show the charming smaller restaurant that used to be closer to the highway.

Our next destination was Gooseberry falls: 11 miles according to the sign.

Two tunnels along the way.

At Gooseberry Falls there was a statue dedicated to the CCC workers of the 1930s and '40s. Dad spoke of being in the CCC and working up on the Gunflint Trail. I haven't found his name or picture at any of the other sites, but I will keep looking.

C and I walked along the path to the upper falls, seen below.....

And the lower falls in the next photo.

We then saw a sign pointing the way to "the lake" - Lake Superior! C had been to Gooseberry Falls many more times than I but neither of us had ever hiked to the lake....

So, off we went.

Even the ground foliage was colorful.

You can make out the Falls in the distance, showing how far we'd already hiked. It was all downhill.

Just after that photo, my camera battery went dead. Luckily, C had just bought new batteries for his camera and I'll post the next set soon.

State Fair Marionettes

2010-09-08T20:54:00.003-05:00

Marionettes for sale at the State Fair. Who could resist these furry dancers?

Tuesdays Around Town - State Fair

2010-09-06T22:05:00.042-05:00

Today, it's off to work after the three-day Labor Day weekend that marks the end of the Minnesota State Fair and the unofficial end of summer. D and I went to the Fair early Saturday, thinking we'd enjoy ourselves just until it got crowded and then leave. The gorgeous weather no doubt contributed to the largest daily attendance EVER, but you'll see by these photos that we had a lot of space to ourselves for much of the morning. "Fairchild" is the name of the gopher mascot. I took the extreme-angle photo above to see if I could block out the plastic bags at his feet.

I don't know if the bags were covering up a repair or ? , but I'm curious to see if they show up next year.

D and I ate a "Peg Muffin" breakfast at the "only full service place" in the Fair.

Then we headed over to the Space Needle for a quick revolving ride to the top. The next few photos were taken on the ride.

The Agriculture/Horticulture Building.

Kiddie Midway (above). Midway (below) - with University of Minnesota, St Paul campus in the background.

Grandstand and giant slide.

Down on the ground again, we stopped by the Alphabet Forest - an activity site set up by artist/author Debra Frasier. We had our photos taken with letter cards stuck in foam tubing.

I took an alphabet game with me to play as we walked around: simply list a word for every letter of the alphabet that represents a sight, sound, smell or experience of the Fair. I finished the game and brought it back for an actual blue ribbon.

When seen this close, the size of a single wind-generator blade never ceases to amaze me! But that sky was no less awesome!

We spent most of our time on Machinery Hill. These old tractors were so colorful and fascinating. D told me the "spikes" on the back wheels are needed to drive over soft earth without getting stuck.

Antique kiddie tractors - they look kind of heavy, but farm kids are strong, right?

I must admit I've never before seen a tractor this old....

Or this big!

This was not one of the many places we ate, but it was too colorful to pass by without photographing.

The wares for sale have gotten more coloful - and unusual - too.

"You don't mess around with Dave..."

Just a shot of the wind turbine blade behind Giggles Campfire Grill, where we ate salmon-on-a-stick.

Smart car with sunflowers and State Fair water tower.

Two lumberjacks competing in axe-throwing.

And tree-climbing.

And running across the logs. The lumberjack fell twice after two logs, but the lumberJILL made it all the way across both times.

She won the log-rolling competition too, even though the other guy was spinning the log with his feet while kicking water at her!

Here's a little-known State Fair landmark. Tucked behind a block of buildings over by the DNR building, it's been around since 1933 and is open to the public.

In the horse barn, this colorful cabinet caught my eye. I could have sworn I took a picture of at least one horse and can't find it.

The newer chairlift with open seats and Machinery Hill at one end.

When I took the photo, I didn't notice the "150" in the lower right corner of this huge mosaic postcard. The last time I was at the Fair was in 2008, the year Minnesota turned 150 years old as a state!

Happy September

2010-09-01T21:27:00.004-05:00

Summer weather may not be entirely over, but the first month of fall is here at last! The A/C is off, windows are open again and mornings are just a touch chilly (heavenly to me). I'm excited to get back to some projects I had to set aside during our hot spell. Last weekend was another Virtual Stamp Night at Splitcoaststampers.
This card was made for the "faux cloisonne" challenge. I stamped 5 paisleys on a glossy magazine page, embossed them in silver, cut them out and adhered them to the red background over a green card. I used a sticker for the sentiment - over another piece of red cardstock, punched out and edged with a silver pen.

I think the inside of the card will read "Yes, we've arrived at another one of your birthdays and I couldn't be happier for you!"

Underwater Beach Scene

2010-08-25T00:02:00.006-05:00

I haven't spent much time at the beach this year, but I was inspired to make this card by a past "Tuesday Trigger" challenge at the Moxie Fab blog (see sidebar). Also, I just finished reading "Abduction" by Robin Cook, a suspenseful science fiction story set in and beneath the ocean.

All the images were punched from glittered or glossy gold-toned cardstock. I left a few on top of the patterned vellum, but most are sandwiched between the vellum on top and a "water" print paper underneath. Rather than matting the papers on top of the card, I cut a window and framed them. Look at the difference between the top and bottom photos. The light shining through the window in the card changes the appearance considerably. It looks like an underwater scene, don't you think?

The sentiment is a sticker. Some lucky family member will be receiving this soon.

The Summer Birthday Girls

2010-08-24T23:53:00.006-05:00

We managed to make it through another hot weekend by celebrating K's June birthday and Mom's August birthday at McCormick and Schmick's in Edina. My photos don't do justice to the food, but my taste buds will remember the savory stuffed salmon and side dishes of mushrooms and risotto.

K had a wonderfully tender steak

Mom had shrimp tempura and a complimentary mousse-in-chocolate-cup dessert with candle, which she shared with us.

Brother D was also there - he took the photo of Mom with my camera. I was sipping my sangria :)

Cool At Last

2010-08-15T09:08:00.006-05:00

70 is better than 90! That's my own personal fact! Here in Minneapolis, we've had over a week of temperatures in the upper 80s or low 90s with 80% humidity (at least according to my indoor hygrometer). Waking up to sun and breeze and 70 degrees was enough to make me feel alive again! I just came in from 2 hours of weeding in my backyard and didn't mind a bit. I even look forward to working out there again this evening when the shade returns.

In the meantime, I thought I'd finally post some simple invitations I mailed out a few weeks ago for our annual family picnic (Dad's side).

The green striped paper was chosen to mimic watermelon skin and coordinate with the other printed design. I used a circle cutter to slice post-card-sized circles out of the designer paper, then cut them in half to make 2 cards each. "Picnic" was printed from my PC, with a punched out dot for the "i".

Butterfly Birthday

2010-08-08T17:33:00.011-05:00

We celebrated 3 family birthdays this weekend and I managed to finish these cards despite the building heat. For Aunt C, who gave me the caterpiller that turned into a butterfly, I made this birthday card using a chipboard butterfly I'd picked up at an Archiver's make-and-take weekend. My first attempt at decorating the chipboard with paint and metal-stamped debossing was not very successful, but I like how the designer paper covered up the "mistakes". I even used a gold paint pen to highlight some of the debossed designs. The same gold pen was used on the butterfly edges and to turn the silver metal embellishment to gold.

The blue "sky" and the white mat were shaped with a corner punch and an edge punch. I added the two small punched butterflies because something more was needed in that space, but I tried to keep it "clean and simple".

Cousin L received this card made with one of my clipped magazine images (the flower) adhered over some thin chipboard. The band of designer paper is edge punched and 2 small pieces of ribbon balance the PC-sentiment.

Mom was the 3rd birthday girl, and I gave her this card.

Butterflies Are Free

2010-08-04T18:05:00.009-05:00

It all happened so fast. Last Sunday the chrysalis was the beautiful jade green with gold seen above. But Monday morning, it had changed color - actually transparent with the butterfly's orange wings seen through it (on the bottom right).
I hoped I would get home from work in time to see the butterfly emerge, but it was not to be. The chrysalis was empty and the butterfly gone! Luckily, it didn't take long to find it sitting in my dining room window. I was able to film a bit of it moving before I opened the window and set it free:

Uncharted Birthday

2010-08-04T06:43:00.005-05:00

Splitcoaststampers had a mini Virtual Stamp Night last Friday and I started several cards for the challenges. This is the only one I had ready to upload by the deadline and I forgot! Now I realize it was due to "butterfly activity" (more on that in the next post). But this was also a card for a cousin-in-law who had a birthday Monday, so my goal of getting it into the mail by Saturday was a success.

The theme of the challenge was something from nature and I had the perfect tree image cut from a magazine page! I matted the image, stamped a few designs over it, and inked the edges of everything. My compass embellishment is actually cut from a poster, then layered over a punched cardboard circle. I used a metallic gold pen to gild the edges and used the same pen to turn the metal "birthday" tag from silver-edged to gold.

The inside reads: "Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time", a quote by Leo F Buscaglia

Feline Music Critic

2010-07-29T23:10:00.005-05:00

I had to laugh the first time I put this music on - Jazzy stood up on her hind legs like a meerkat and seemed mesmerized! Of course she wouldn't do a repeat performance, but this video showed her doing something funny. If I'd known what I was going to see just before the video ran out, I would have zoomed in!

Caterpillar To Chrysalis

2010-07-27T23:37:00.015-05:00

Last week, Aunt C brought over a milkweed plant with 3 caterpillars in an open-sided box. The "baby" caterpillar was hiding in the leaves, but the two larger ones - probably 2 inches long - were clearly visible and, according to Aunt C, ready to transform very soon.

Sure enough, within a day, caterpillar #1 attached itself to the top of the box and hung in a "J".

When I got home from work the next day, caterpillar #2 was missing! It had crawled out of the box! Luckily I found it close by, but already attached to the underside of a page of junk mail. I didn't dare disturb it, so I carefully cut out the piece of paper it was stuck to, and taped it inside the box. I later learned from reading that the caterpillar will leave the milkweed and crawl 30-40 feet away when it's ready to pupate.

My photos may be a bit fuzzy due to low lighting. I didn't know if a camera flash would upset the natural process. But the chrysalis, or cocoon, is still pretty distinctive. Caterpillar #2 is also a chrysalis now (more photos soon), but the baby caterpillar is gone. Although it had plenty of milkweed to eat and didn't seem big enough to start its cocoon, it disappeared from the box.

The entire caterpillar-to-butterfly metamorphosis takes only 9-14 days. You can read more here:

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/

Summer Wedding Cards

2010-07-27T22:54:00.009-05:00

My card-making usually drops off in the summer, due to the heat and no A/C in my studio, but I managed to make two wedding cards for a co-worker to buy.
The one above has a stamped and embossed greeting on vellum underneath metal hardware. The coordinating cardstocks are by DCWV

Card #2 was made with the an embossing corner punch used in opposite corners of 9 squares of textured cardstock. The ribbon was threaded through a plastic, jeweled buckle embellishment.

The greeting was made with a sticker over vellum over cardstock, cut to size and attached over the ribbon.

Tuesdays Around Town - North Loop Art

2010-07-27T21:54:00.009-05:00

I've been working in the North Loop for over a year now, and I'm still discovering its interesting nooks and crannies.
On a recent day, I walked through this building to my favorite sandwich place instead of walking outside in the heat. This art installation is fairly new and really brightens up the vintage office building.

And it's always nice to have some good graphic images to inspire me.

The Fantome

2010-07-07T10:48:00.006-05:00

Thirty-three years ago this summer I was aboard this beautiful sailing ship for a week of cruising in the Bahamas. Today, while randomly clicking around the internet, I discovered that the company, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises went out of business in 2007 after 60 years in operation. More amazingly, the ship pictured here, the one I had been on, SANK with 31 crew members on board in 1998!! The story can be read below:

Loss of the Fantome

Tuesdays Around Town - Stone Arch Festival Of The Arts

2010-06-29T19:32:00.014-05:00

I'm a week late with this post: the Stone Arch Festival was held on Father's Day. But here are a few photos I took of the annual event.

Strolling art-lovers (above), downtown Minneapolis across the Mississippi (below). The white tent covers one of several music stages.

More views across the river - the Guthrie is on the far left; the Mill City Museum is the broken wall just to the right of grain elevator (above).

The Stone Arch Bridge (above), and my view walking back toward Main Street - as in St Anthony Main (below).

After our day at the festival, my brother C, my nephews and I ate at Pizza Luce. The waiter took our photo, but it was out of focus, so I used my photo software to "cartoon" it. Looks better than the original! And a little bonus (below): Nephew B showing off some previously unknown-to-me skills!

Happy 20th Anniversary, L and J!

2010-06-23T12:26:00.004-05:00

Cancelled stamps make great ephemera for use on cards, but what about the leftover 40-stamp booklet cover? I couldn't resist making this king-and-queen-of-hearts booklet into a card for my cousin L and her husband, who have been married 20 years today! The red mat is another advertising freebie that I corner-punched with hearts (of course). Then, I used a decorative edge punch on the base of the card and layered a bit of blue and orange underneath.

I think I'll take a closer look at all my stamp booklets from now on. Their variety make them a great starting point for many different styles of cards and a fun challenge to find and use coordinating punches.

All That Glitters

2010-06-16T19:30:00.005-05:00

Next week a certain nephew will be 23 on the 23rd - his "golden birthday". So, I made him an all-gold card. It wasn't hard to make the card, but it was a bit difficult to photograph it!
Hopefully, the different angles give you the full picture. I used as many different gold papers as I had. Most of them came from the insides of envelopes. The very bottom paper is gift wrap. The moon is vellum that, when adhered to the gold textured cardstock, took on a nice moon-like appearance.

The tree foliage started out as a simple shape punched from yellow glitter cardstock. It seemed a bit too bright and not enough gold, so I colored over it with a gold metallic marker and punched some mini holes in it. The sentiment is "all that glitters is not gold"... The inside says "except your golden birthday". Think he'll like it?

Tuesdays Around Town - Como Park Zoo

2010-06-15T07:51:00.001-05:00

Sunday was the perfect day to visit Como Park Zoo: not too hot, not too cold, and no rain while we were there. Mom, C and I went to see the new polar bear exhibit that opened June 3rd. But it seemed far too long since we had seen the rest of the animals, so we took a leisurely walk around. The bison appeared to be molting.

The polar bears are brothers: Buzz and Neil. One was asleep and one was awake...not sure which is which. This one was pacing back and forth. We had a closer view of him from inside the new exhibit building.

The other brother was napping. Cute........but huge!

His head was right next to a window [below] where we were able to get THIS close!

There was a brief training show, during which the zoo attendant fed one polar bear sticks of lard and demonstrated how he opens his mouth or raises his paw to make exams easier.

Caribbean and Chilean flamingoes (and a duck)

Beautiful lioness. The male lion was inside putting on a show by pacing and rubbing his head up against the glass, to the delight of children and adults.

Pair of giraffes.

Two by two: black crowned cranes leading Grants zebras toward us.

Three lesser kudus, resting

One of a pair of ostriches

Western lowland gorilla

Spider monkey

Geoffrey's tamarin above and emperor tamarin below: full-sized mustache on a miniature primate

Tuesdays Around Town - Brackett Park

2010-06-08T07:01:00.010-05:00

Here's a blast from the past, at least for me and my brothers. Our Grandpa R used to live close to this park and we would walk less than a block from his house through a tunnel under the train tracks to get there.

There was a child's shallow pool where we would practice holding our breaths while swimming underwater. But the rocket was the main attraction - a '60s version of a jungle gym. It was firmly secured to the ground, sans wires, when we were kids.

The pool is gone and the rocket was scheduled for removal, but neighborhood sentiment led to the rocket being turned into a sculpture instead. The streaming wires and the way the spaceship is tilted work well to give a sense of movement. I guess nothing lasts forever and it would have been fun to climb to the top one more time (if I could still fit!), but at least a memory has been preserved for a few more generations.

Nine Roses Birthday

2010-06-07T18:43:00.005-05:00

I used a familiar sketch to design a card for my sister-in-law whose birthday is tomorrow. This time I used more pastel colors. The rose punch is by Anna Griffin; I love the detail! The definition sticker was adhered over shimmery ribbon.
Happy Birthday, K!

Tuesdays Around Town - The Color Lavendar

2010-05-25T20:53:00.004-05:00

It's looking like a good Spring for lavendar colored flowers. These irises are growing on the boulevard at the end of my block.

And the lavendar plants near Yorktown make a beautiful rest stop along the walking path.

Elegant Scraps

2010-05-19T10:56:00.002-05:00

The flower on this card is - you guessed it - another magazine page cut-out. And the background paper went so perfectly that I had to use it even if it meant piecing together the 5-1/2 x 4-1/4" size I needed. That's easier to do with a busy pattern. The "special" is a sticker over gold vellum. I really like how bold and neat stickers are.

Tuesdays Around Town - Ivy Tower

2010-05-18T21:25:00.009-05:00

My after-work walk today took me to a building I've been wanting to photograph for a very long time. The Ivy Tower stood empty and neglected for years near the Convention Center before being restored as a spa and restaurant attached to condos and a hotel.
The setting reminds me a little of a book I read as a child about a country house that survived progress to find itself one day surrounded by the city. [Edit: Cousin L left a comment reminding me the name of that book was "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton". Thanks, L]

1930 was the original building date and the refurbishing was completed in 2008.

I stopped in at Porter and Frye, the restaurant/bar on the ground floor, to take some interior shots. The historic designation prevented any change to the structure, but the bar and fixtures are all new.

Although I never took any photos of the building when it was standing alone, a painting in the lower level captures the feeling fancifully.

Digital Scrapbook - Twins Souvenirs

2010-05-14T19:47:00.005-05:00

One last post about the Twins: my souvenir cup, pin and ticket displayed in a digital "scrapbook". As much as I love paper and ephemera, I think this is the future of scrapbooking. Photos have already been transformed from paper that can tear, crack and age. They now exist as files on sturdier CDs that take up much less space than bulky albums, or on a website, where they take up no physical space whatsoever. Scrapbooks will no doubt be next. I've seen digital scrapbook pages that were created with virtual paper and embellishments, then printed out and placed in an album. Next step: skip the actual album and store the scrapbook pages as photos are now being stored. It's the "eco" way!

Tuesdays Around Town - Twins Stadium

2010-05-12T21:29:00.024-05:00

Tuesday night I went to see the Twins play the White Sox at Target Field. I never expected to get to a game in the first month of the first season at the new ballpark, but my brother D got free tickets and invited me.
We walked all around the outside in the light rain, taking pictures before the gates opened.

Here's a statue of Kirby Puckett, #34. Trivia - I was 34 the year the Twins won the 1987 World Series with the help of Kirby P U C K E T T!

Giant baseball bat trellises line the walk to Gate 34, the closest gate to our seats (which were located behind 1st base).

The tarp covered the bases until just before game time. The all day drizzle miraculously stopped right on cue.

This isn't the Twin Cities' first outdoor stadium, but it's the first one with such an interesting skyline view.

D taking a photo.

The giant TV screen has jaw-dropping clarity, and the other display screens around the perimeter change constantly.

That's Butler Square behind the yellow 1st base foul line post.

More personal trivia: the building with the water reservoir right behind the Budweiser sign is the former location of the Thymes Ltd, where I was a temp for a few months 10 years ago. (Click on any photo for a larger view).

We took a short helicopter ride to get these aerial shots. Or did we? These 2 photos are of the stadium model in a display case.

This was the view from our seats. Brother C and Cousin Wendy showed up in time to see the Twins hit a home run, followed by fireworks and the "twins" sign shaking hands.

The view as D and I left early to avoid the crowds leaving downtown. It was a thrilling first visit to the new stadium.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T15:53:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Mother's Day. Our Minneapolis weather, so cool and rainy these past few days, has turned sunny and warm in time for the occasion. My brothers and I treated Mom to dinner at the restaurant of her choice. And I made her this card, recycling another page from a magazine (the flower).
The sentiment is a sticker over vellum and the leaves are punched from glittered cardstock and magazine pages. The sketch is basically the same as the previous Asian-theme card. It's been so much fun to create the shaped mat, I didn't want to stop.

Colors Of The King And I

2010-05-04T15:46:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Mom, D&K and I saw "The King And I" at the Bloomington Theater. The play (musical) was excellent and the costumes were so colorful! Since photography is not allowed, I had to work from memory to create this card inspired by the play.
I used a corner punch on opposite corners of each different colored square. The background paper is another from my handmade paper supply. For the embellishment, I used an edge-punch on each side of a square of gold metallic cardstock, then attached it over a larger version in gold vellum.

A few pieces of metallic ribbon finished it off.

HAPPY 40th ANNIVERSARY EARTH DAY

2010-04-22T08:30:00.003-05:00

Are you doing something "eco" today? I took the bus to work!

Forty years ago, on the first Earth Day, Hubert Humphrey spoke at my high school (Bloomington Kennedy). I wrote him a letter telling him how his words had inspired me to work on environmental issues. He wrote back! Naturally, saver that I am, I still have the letter. I will find it and post it when I get home.

Tuesdays Around Town - Cancer Survivors Park

2010-04-19T20:18:00.006-05:00

My afternoon walk to the bus has changed since last year - due to bus route changes. It takes me past some familiar places from my nearly 20 years of working downtown. The building above is one of the former Federal Reserve Banks (There have been several. In fact, National City Bank, where I worked, was also a Federal Reserve Bank at one time.). The space in front has been greened and turned into "Cancer Survivors Park". I'm not sure how this came to be, but it's a peaceful spot. We have a few fountains around town; we could use a few more.

More sculpture would be nice too, whatever the theme.

Tulip Weekend - Life Imitates Art

2010-04-19T19:05:00.012-05:00

After using a version of this sketch and some bold-colored junk mail to design a card a couple weeks ago, I was excited about finding other suitable graphics to "upcycle". I clipped the yellow woven print from a magazine page and the compass from a poster. The red background with gold flecks is handmade paper. I covered a chipboard button with the same red paper, aged it with a black ink pad and threaded some gold cord through the holes.

A fish charm and sentiment sticker were the final touches. My friend, JR, will be receiving this card for her birthday tomorrow. She likes Asian-themed items and I alway have fun designing her cards.

My walks this weekend took me past the most beautiful tulips! I had already chosen these colors for my card, so: life imitates art sometimes.

The tulips below seemed to be glowing. I wasn't sure the camera could capture that, but I think yoou can see some of the effect - there's a magenta shade on the outside of the red-orange petals. Gorgeous! (Click on the photo to enlarge it - it's worth it!)

Happy Tax Day

2010-04-15T22:15:00.010-05:00

Cubby likes Tax Day - it means papers get filed, files get moved, and he (temporarily at least) gets a new nap spot.

Tulips opened in my potted bulb garden. It was a complete surprise because I never knew what bulbs were included.

Maybe someday I'll have an outdoor garden that looks this good

The little scene below is one I've passed hundreds of times on my way back from Lake Harriet. But last Sunday as I walked by, looking for something to photograph for my "Tuesdays Around Town", I looked at it with fresh eyes and it reminded me of those narrow passageways in some old European towns. Maybe that means I'm feeling the travel bug again, but it doesn't take much to catch that feeling! It's been two years since Mom, C and I were in Hawaii and four years since AJ and I went to Savannah.

Maybe it's time for a mini-trip.

Another Friday Night Walk And Ride

2010-04-09T21:26:00.010-05:00

First, a pic of my bulb garden in full bloom. I bought it when I had my groceries delivered by Coborn's before Easter. It was a plastic pot of leaves and buds the day it came and daffodils had opened the next morning - beautful!

Friday night after work, I walked a slightly different route towards downtown and passed this building on the right. It's the former site of The Thymes Ltd - my first temp job 11 years ago! The Thymes has since moved and right across the street is the new Target Field...with the Northstar train just below.

I hopped on the light rail for a ride to the Mall of America - and took this photo of the empty car. I got on at the end of the line; by the time we'd gone a few blocks, the cars were all quite full.

This was the view right outside the light rail window as I waited to leave - one of the Twins stadium gates and part of the bleachers.

Next Friday: From The Archives

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T09:29:00.010-05:00

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope your day was beautiful, whatever the weather. Our Minneapolis weather was perfect April temperatures and no rain. Mom and I walked from my house to the Edina Grill for brunch with the sibs.

It's been too many years to count since I dyed Easter eggs. I decided to start with just basic dying; nothing fancy like wax resist or marbling. Each bowl contained one color tablet dissolved in vinegar (for the brightest hues according to the package).

I started with a few primary colors, then mixed one dye with another to get the secondaries. It was very easy except for the pink dye which didn't seem to stick (I was able to wipe off all the dye and begin again).

I used a wire office basket as a drying rack. When the eggs were dry, I shredded some newspaper for an Easter basket. I was happy with the pretty colors.

And I couldn't resist arranging the eggs into a color wheel before putting them away in the refrigerator.

H A P P Y UE A S T E R

New Home For The Twins

2010-04-03T21:56:00.005-05:00

Excitement was in the air Friday evening when I left work. The sidewalks in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis were more crowded than usual. The Minnesota Twins were playing their first (exhibition) game in their new stadium, Target Field.

The lampposts had banners with different team members on each, and the words "5o Seasons". Yes, 1961 was the first year the Twins played at the old Met Stadium where the Mall of America now stands. Although I'm not really a baseball fan, I'll try to see a game one of these days. It would be fun to walk over to the stadium some summer night after work and sit outside with the sun going down.

April Fool's - Daffodilly - Day

2010-04-01T21:09:00.008-05:00

Last year year's April Fool's joke was SNOW. Today it was 80!

I actually spotted these daffodils on my walk home from the grocery store yesterday.

And the scilla in my front yard are multiplying a bit every year.

Nephew G will be 27 on Sunday. I made him this super simple card with one piece of folded designer cardstock and stars punched out of a coordinating pattern and attached with foam tape. The sentiment is a sticker attached to vellum and then to the card.

And Zane Grey and Harlequin (Zane and Harley) are 12 years old today (a fact I know because a co-worker came to work - 2nd shift - with the news that her cat had had kittens that day).

Tuesdays Around Town - Old Colony

2010-03-30T18:34:00.005-05:00

I've decided to add a new feature to my blog - theme days. Tuesdays will be my day to post photos I've taken around my neigborhood, work neighborhood and the 'burbs.

Today's photo was taken near Washington and Broadway in Minneapolis - its the Old Colony gas station and convenience store. If you like kitsch, the beehive outside is a great landmark. I discovered this place a few weeks after starting my now year-long temp job. I usually bring a lunch, but when I don't, this is one of the few places I can reach by foot in 10 minutes or less.

Home Sweet Home

2010-03-28T22:10:00.003-05:00

My last few cards were inspired by junk mail, but this card uses the junk mail itself. The inspiration came from a sketch challenge over at The Paper Craft Connection. I cut the daisy from an ad printed on cardstock weight - it was already set in a corner of the ad, so I left it that way. The size of the flower dictated this larger card size - 6.5 x 5 ". I added red glitter glue to the center and matted it on blue cardstock. The edges and corners of both the blue c/s and the white mat under it were shaped with punches.
The beautiful blue base paper is handmade (from my stash). "Home" is a sticker layered over lighter blue cardstock, with a red heart bead adhered to the "O". Inside, the rest of the sticker reads "Sweet Home". Hopefully, cousins P and A will be too busy moving into their new house to see this card before I mail it to them.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T14:02:00.004-05:00

...

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the small of His hand

...

Happy Ides of March

2010-03-15T10:21:00.007-05:00

Since I am not Caesar, I almost forgot that this was March 15th. For the rest of us, that means one month until tax day, 2 days until St Patrick's day, 5 days until the first day of Spring, and (this year) a day after the first day of Daylight Savings Time. Did you miss your extra hour? Or were you too busy enjoying the WARM weather? My thermometer read 63 in the shade after 6PM! I FELT the sun on my face as I was walking around Centennial Lakes earlier that day; I always say it's not really Spring until you can FEEL the warmth. Most of the main snowfall from last December is finally gone and sidewalks are safe to walk on again.

This is what I posted last year:

Since we studied the play, Julius Caesar, in high school, I've always been aware of the term "beware the Ides of March". The Ides of March is the name for the date March 15th on the Roman calendar. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other eight months. In Roman times, the Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, in 44 BC.

I still remember the passage I had to memorize from the play:

Cowards die many times before their deaths

The valiant never taste of death but once

Of all the wonders I yet have heard

It seems to me most strange that men should fear

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come

Catalog Inspiration, Part 2

2010-03-14T23:08:00.004-05:00

I don't mind "junk mail" when it looks like this! The minute I saw Bed, Bath & Beyond's latest advertising, I thought of my stash of black and white flocked chipboard letters. They're one of those items that beg to be used in a special way; in this case front and center.
The pink oval was punched and then edge-punched and inked up a bit. Great Aunt "E" will be 95 next month - hope she likes it!

Catalog Inspiration

2010-03-10T06:20:00.006-06:00

The cover of Crate and Barrel's new catalog inspired me to make a birthday card for a cousin. When I grabbed a pack of coordinating cardstock designs and punched out different sized circles, I didn't realize how close the colors were to the plates pictured here. It's fun when that just happens.
The quote is a sticker - easier than stamping or even PC-printing!

Winter Memories

2010-03-10T06:16:00.004-06:00

Soon, the winter of 2010 will be nothing but a memory. It's hard to believe 1960 was 50 years ago! This sled, spotted at a neighborhood antique shop, is exactly like the one my brothers and I had as children growing up in the '60s. Who knows, maybe it IS the same one - I didn't get up close enough to see any telltale marks (if we'd made any). Dad had a rocket bank, a park by our grandpa's house had a rocket for climbing...and then there was this sled. Yes, space was a major design influence of the 1960s.

Color Inspiration

2010-03-01T21:30:00.010-06:00

Last fall when I walked around my neighborhood, I thought the colors on the two houses above would make a good color challenge.

And the unusual color combination above would also be great on a card. I'll be back later with the results.

Winter Olympics Card Challenge

2010-02-27T21:20:00.005-06:00

Splitcoaststampers is holding another Virtual Stamp Night this weekend, and I haven't participated in a long time. I created this card for the first challenge - it's based on a sketch that's based on the Inukshuk, the symbol for the 2010 Winter Olympics. An inukshuk is a stone landmark or cairn that people make as a marker or point of navigation. Mom and I saw small piles of rocks in Iceland that were probably inukshuks...and I've seen the same thing closer to home that were the same form, but probably just for fun.

I used the leftover embossing powder from a previous project. It's a mixture of gold, silver and copper - almost Olympic medal colors!

Year Of The Icicle

2010-02-18T06:28:00.007-06:00

Everyone loves a mid-winter thaw...until this happens! We haven't seen this much ice hanging from roofs and downspouts in a very long time.
As children we would snap off smaller icicles and use them as Popsicles - I can still remember the slightly sandy taste (no worse than drinking out of a stream, I guess).
An ice sword.

More winter beauty - a morning coat of frost that stayed into the afternoon (last weekend).

Birds in a bush feel like spring, even if these little guys don't fly south for the winter, but stick it out with the rest of us.

Valentine's Day Cards And Treats

2010-02-18T06:21:00.013-06:00

I hope everyone had a sweet Valentine's Day! My weekend was pleasantly busy with a birthday party and the play, "The Light In The Piazza" at the Bloomington Theater, so I'm just getting around to posting this now. After two years of fairly fussy designs, I decided to go "clean-and-simple" with my cards this year. I made 34 of these for my co-workers, in addition to those for family and friends. I used a small heart punch on the red strip of cardstock, a larger scalloped heart punch for the popped up heart, and printed the sentiment from my PC.

Then to ease myself back into the work week, I discovered a new downtown shop that had opened the Thursday before Valentine's Day. It's called Cocoa & Fig, it's in the south wing of Gaviidae at 6th and Nicollet, and they sell cupcakes, coffee, granola and other confections. I couldn't resist trying this black velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing and the cake pop, which is their own invention - an iced mini cupcake on a stick. Seconds after I took these photos, both treats were history! You must check out their website and view the "mouth-watering" slide shows of all they offer - catering delivered or ready for pick-up, wedding cakes and more.

Art Stroll

2010-02-17T18:52:00.005-06:00

The RBC building that I pass through each evening on my way from one bus to another houses a colorful collection of artworks in the lobby. I wonder if the offices are similarly decorated?
Not everyone appreciates abstract art, but the painting above is so bright and cheery that the subject matter is irrelevant.

How about a giant ceramic sculpture of a sitting man? I looked closely and saw that it was made in many separate large pieces and probably put together on site. I can't imagine moving it - easily - any other way.

Designer Colors

2010-02-07T22:22:00.005-06:00

I could decorate with these colors - IF I didn't have my heart set on my beach house/oceans colors scheme. This is a nice and easy card made with cardstock by SEI, a jeweled buckle, grosgrain ribbon and a PC-printed word on vellum. Not including design time - 10 minutes! [edit: This was a Taylored Expressions sketch. I didn't post it on her blog because I didn't use any stamps].

Baby x 3

2010-01-27T20:45:00.007-06:00

No, we have never had triplets born in our family, but I decided to make 3 cards to celebrate the birth of a first cousin-twice-removed. The card above is for the parents of a baby boy born this month in Las Vegas.

Using coordinating colors and layouts, I designed a card for the grandparents of the baby (my cousin and her husband), and the GREAT-grandmother of the baby (my aunt). All three cards have a footprints charm tied onto a self-made tag. The paper all came from a Die Cuts With A View "baby boy" (what else!) cardstock pack. I ran the unadorned card front through my new Kodak printer for the sentiment on the front. I'm very happy with the way even small sizes of paper run through the printer without jamming or tilting.

(Remember - you can always click on the photo to see a larger view)

Goodbye Maggiano's

2010-01-25T20:00:00.005-06:00

Last night my cousin L and her husband treated me to dinner at the Southdale Maggiano's on the last night the restaurant was open. I've only been there a few times, but it was one of their favorite places and I found out why. We ordered the family-style dinner - a choice of 2 appetizers AND 2 salads AND 2 pastas AND 2 entrees PLUS dessert - with refills and boxed-up leftovers to take home! Everything was so delicious.
I always liked the classy nightclub decor with dark wood and old photos - even in the bathroom.

Thanks a bunch, L & J! I owe you some homemade spumoni!

Bungalow Days

Happy 31st Anniversary, AJ and RJ

Winter Whimsy

Hello 2012 - Happy New Year

Goodbye 2011 - Happy New Year!

Happy Fall - Leaf Special Effects

Remembering Ten Years Ago

Tuesdays Around Town - Renaissance Festival

Color Inspiration Challenge - Blue Shamrock

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger - Girly and Gutsy

Botanical Bird and House Card

I Shall Return

Border-Punched Medallion Card

Buon Appetito ATC

Congrats Card x 2

***Happy 235th Anniversary of Independence Day! ***

In Like A Lion

June, The Wedding Month

I'm Sew Excited - Button Up Your Overcoat - Card

Rainbow Bright Birthday Banner

Tuesdays Around Town - Fort Snelling State Park

Ice Cream, Anyone? - Card

103 Degrees of Summer

Blue Apples And Sunflowers - Cards

Summer Vacation Starts at Cocino Del Barrio

Tuesdays Around Town - Soul Daddy at MOA

Spring At Last

A Mother's Day Drive

Getting Organized

Maybe In May

Happy Birthday, Garrett!

April Fools Day 2011 - How's The Weather?

What's Up? - Card

New Decade Birthday

Happy St Patrick's Day

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

Things That Inspire Thursdays

Tuesdays Around Town - City of Lakes Loppet

February Cards and Tags

January Cards

Tuesdays Around Town - Winter Carnival 125

Barrio in Winter

2010 Card Wrap-Up

Tuesdays Around Mantel Town

Two November Mornings

Tuesdays Around Town - Ely

Happy November, Goodbye October

Up North Part 2

Up North

State Fair Marionettes

Tuesdays Around Town - State Fair

Happy September

Underwater Beach Scene

The Summer Birthday Girls

Cool At Last

Butterfly Birthday

Butterflies Are Free

Uncharted Birthday

Feline Music Critic

Caterpillar To Chrysalis

Summer Wedding Cards

Tuesdays Around Town - North Loop Art

The Fantome

Tuesdays Around Town - Stone Arch Festival Of The Arts

Happy 20th Anniversary, L and J!

All That Glitters

Tuesdays Around Town - Como Park Zoo

Tuesdays Around Town - Brackett Park

Nine Roses Birthday

Tuesdays Around Town - The Color Lavendar

Elegant Scraps

Tuesdays Around Town - Ivy Tower

Digital Scrapbook - Twins Souvenirs

Tuesdays Around Town - Twins Stadium

Happy Mother's Day

Colors Of The King And I

HAPPY 40th ANNIVERSARY EARTH DAY

Tuesdays Around Town - Cancer Survivors Park

Tulip Weekend - Life Imitates Art

Happy Tax Day

Happy 235th Anniversary of Independence Day!