Happy Anniversary, Dear!!

  We got new phones which brings us up to speed with the new technology out there. I just figured out how to upload my phone photos to my computer.. Yeah for me!! It took a little while with a little help from Verizon's Support website, but I got it.
  Russ and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary this past week. We decided to walk the beach at Popham in Phippsburg. It wasn't a sunny day , but it was a lovely day. We took about an hour and enjoyed the scenery all the way around the beach.

Thanks for 8 wonderful years....

   We also celebrated my son's birthday in September. He asked me to make cake pops because he liked the ones I had made for his housewarming party. I was so touched. It is only the second time I have made them. I think they came out great. I used three different candy melts, chocolate, peanut butter ( Cause my husband and Kristin love peanut butter.) and speckled vanilla. I used my die cut to make a little sign with "Happy Birthday" on it. The ribbon was a nice  touch.

This is a peanut butter one...

Nathaniel and his fiance, Kristin.

Nathaniel's card

 We went to Canobie Lake Park to continue the celebration. We all had a great time with great weather. I made Nathaniel's birthday card using my new Pop 'n Cuts die cut.. It is so easy. I was amazed at the ease in which I could make this card. I used SU's Baroque Motifs stamp for the background.
  I like using up my scraps for the banners since I have so many scraps.. I punched out the flower using my SU punch and glued it to yellow paper for the inside look of the petals.
  

Inside the card

 The sentiment is a stamp from Hero Arts that I really like to use for birthday cards. 
  I glued the birthday cake die cut to the pop up mechanism. I think I could just about glue anything to the mechanism for a pop up card. I added the banners using my die cuts from Sizzix.
  We had a barbecue at Nathaniel and Kristin's home with all the fixin's.
  

Hal and Charlotte's vacation album.

   I finished adding the photos to Hal and Charlotte's vacation album. Boy, I really do like making these pocket page albums. They use 6x6 paper which I love to purchase. There are so many patterns to choose from in stores. I used shells for part of the embellishment for their album since they came to Maine... of course.  Glossy Accents  is a great glue. It will hold anything down and that puppy is not coming off.

Two  of my favorite pictures in this album.

  

Waterfall cards

  I made a waterfall section to hold the images that I could not fit in the main part of the album. The only thing left to do is add the journaling and the chunky charm to the spine. I love making chunky charms for my albums. It is so much fun picking out the charms and beads to go with the theme of the album . I used Tim Holtz's chain and his small glass bottle. I added sand to it

Shells, beads, lobster, and other nautical charms

using a tiny eye hook to get it on the chain. The big piece is a domino that I glued pictures to and then covered them with gloss accents. It is gonna look great. I am going to give them the album in October 'cause we are heading to their home for Russ to go to a football game with Hal. Mom and I are shopping with Charlotte.. Love shopping with Charlotte. She knows all the cool places.
  Russ and I are "dirting" this week because the weather is cool and just right for working up a sweat and not dying while you are doing it.
 

Loam to spread....

   We are smoothing out humps and bumps in our lawn in hopes of having a better lawn. We seed the loam after spreading and rolling it. It is quite the project. We are waiting for the grass to grow out back and then it is on to the front. I will show you pictures of our lawn, if the grass actually grows. Right now I am doubtful.
  I will end with a great picture of Fall that I took on the way to Cornish, Maine for a lobster roll at Bay Haven. The best seafood is found there. Happy Fall, Everyone!!!

Hard to choose just one pumpkin....

 

Graduating Cards....

   It's 11 o'clock and I just finished three graduation card for my sister -in-law, Charlotte and my brother, Hal. They are up from New Jersey for Charlotte's nieces and nephew's graduation and our Aunt Carol and Harry's anniversary party. Charlotte was in desperate need of graduation cards, so I was happy to help out.
   Thank you Jackie Topa for your great design. I cased her cards which you can see on her blog:

For the Graduates

Addicted to Stamping   They were really easy to make.
   I didn't use any stamps, but used  colored paper that went with Biddeford High School's orange and black colors, and the blue and white of UMO.
   I made the graduation cap from 2x2 squares of black card stock and used raised dots to lift them a little off the paper. I borrowed tassels from my sister, Chris who lives down the road. She got them from JoAnn's Fabric. I have to go get some to replace these. Black brads anchored the tassels nicely.
  Jackie does a nice job explaining how she made her cards.  Hope Hal and Charlotte like them.

So romantic....

   The anniversary party today was alot of fun. We got to see friends and family we haven't seen in awhile. Where does the time go. There was a slideshow put to music showing the bride and groom as they moved through the years of their lives. My sister, Andrea and I shed a tear or two. Here's a pic of my Aunt Carol and Uncle Harry was they cut the cake today looking back fifty years to the first time.

Renovation Card!

   It's been a little while since I have had a blog update 'cause my husband and I have been "staging" our condo. We have been packing and depersonalizing. What a job! But our realtor said it was great. Yes, we are selling our condo and hoping to move into a home in Yarmouth, Maine. For those of you who have moved a few times, you know how stressful it can be.
   So I will be blogging sporadically between now and then.. whenever that is... I am going to my aunt's 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday. I have had little time to design a NEW card, so I took a card I had made as a friendship card and turned it into an anniversary card. ( This card is on an earlier blog entry.)
   I added more ribbon, a white feather, and changed the tag to say "happiness always" from "Friendship is Precious". I think it works. Hope Aunt Carol likes it.

Time to celebrate

card with envelope

   By the way, I got the feather from L.L. Bean's fly fishing section. They had a nice selection in different colors. My sister, Chris, shared this idea and we went off to Freeport. The clerk asked us what kind of tying we were doing. Oh brother, we said... no fishing for us. He hadn't heard how popular the feathers were for crafting. They were only 1.50 a bag.. a big bag,too. Check out your local fly fishing department. Great finds there.