Stampin' with KathynRuss

Sarasota Visit, Part II

2012-01-24T18:06:00.001-05:00

When Misty and I were at the Ringling complex, we stopped for lunch at the Treviso Cafe in the visitor center. This very strange bird kept wandering along the edge of the patio. I thought it was a Muscovy duck, but up close, it’s not anything like those. Big green feet, red at top of legs, red and yellow beak. What the heck?

On our trip the next day to the dog park/beach at Venice Beach, we saw this Anhinga grooming itself. It finally sat still and showed how looooong its neck is.

These retrievers were having a blast playing on the beach . . .

. . . and fetching a ball from the surf.

Missed the best picture because he wouldn’t stay still. A Boston Bull was laying and rolling in the surf!

Here’s an Irish Wolfhound with his two little pals, toy schnauzers. Cutest little things. I want one!

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Along Sarasota Bays marina parking lot, is this sculpture from an iconic picture from VJ Day of a nurse getting the heck kissed out of her by a sailor. Had to stop and get some pictures.

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This sign tells about the statute, but doesn’t mention the photograph or photographer. It was on the cover of Life Magazine. With a simple Google search of VJ Day Kiss, I found this link to the photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt here. Click on the pic to enlarge to read the sign, then back to return.

That’s it for Sarasota. Tomorrow or next day, I’ll do our trip to Ft. Myers and the Everglades with my sister and her husband. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Sarasota Visit/Ringling Complex

2012-01-24T17:40:00.001-05:00

Last week, Russel and I spent a few days in Sarasota visiting with our friends Misty and Bob who are in FL for a month from St. Louis. They picked almost perfect weather for their stay. While Russel worked and Bob nursed his foot and kept Doxie Greta company, Misty and I drove into town to the John and Mable Ringling Museum to tour the grounds, art museum, circus museum, miniature museum and the Ca’D’Zan, Venetian for House of John. There was a lot of ground to cover on a cool, cloudy day (one of few cloudy days they’ve had in weeks), but the museum complex has volunteers that drive trams all over all the time. Saved my life and miles of walking.

The Venetian Gothic Ca’D’Zan was designed and built by the Ringlings in the mid-1920’s as their winter home right next to Sarasota Bay. Mable wanted a place that reminded her of Venice, so there are lots of gardens and tiles and fanciful architectural features, including a belvedere on top of the house. I’ll try to group the pics in albums that make some sense, starting with these pics of the exterior.

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The interior was just as elaborate, if not more so. Here’s the formal dining room set for an “intimate” dinner for eight, breakfast room and guest room.

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Here’s the main parlor view up to balcony and chandelier, Mable’s dressing room, skylight and view down to main parlor from balcony.

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These are all of John’s bedroom, including his gold clock, marble tub, dual beds (they were a set, so he kept them both, even though Mable had her own bedroom) and Misty.

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Here’s the two stoves in the kitchen.

Here are pics of the grounds, including banyan trees gifted to the Ringlings by Thomas Edison from his estate in Ft. Myers, together with statues of a bull with a lady chained on it and Julius Caesar.

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Here’s the royal palm alee, the secret garden behind which the Ringlings are buried, Misty, the sculpture garden between wings of the art museum and a stone lady.

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Here’s a bronze cast of the original marble David in Florence, Italy.

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I think that’s enough for this post. I have more pics from Sarasota, but this will take forever to upload as it is.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Creative Images’ Shoebox Swap

2012-01-10T14:45:00.001-05:00

Russel was nice enough to finish processing all the pics I took with my phone at the shoebox on Sunday. The community room at the Sheriff’s substation was a really nice venue, someplace to think about having our regular meetings there. Twelve ladies signed up to attend, everyone made it and I came home with eleven cards/projects and a few spares I will finish up of my own project.

These first two pics are the outside and inside of my St. Louis friend Dee’s swap. She used Delicate Doilies as her main image and died her lace with coffee and tea to match her cardstock.

Eleanor made this elaborate card using die cuts. The inside present box was tricky, but with a little help, doable. I’ve wowed everyone I’ve shown mine to.

On the left is my double dutch doors card and on the right is Helen’s darling little snowman made with the Top Note die.

Janet made this bright Valentine with a border punch, hearts and ribbon slots.

Janice made this cheery get well card for us to watercolor.

On the left is my card made with Nancy’s umbrella man and clock dies. Her sample is on the right, using the cogs die. I didn’t sponge my embossed background like Nancy did. Oops.

On the left is Therese’s plaque, “She Who Loves Rubber Stamps” made with a variety of mediums and techniques. On the right is Pam’s Love Valentine. Her ribbon and heart button set it off perfectly.

Patty made this cute little fussy cut fishie, complete with fishing line and hook.

Tange made this cute little purse with the Top Note die and filled it with yummy chocolates. She plans to make a bunch more for her daughter’s wedding favors.

Theresa made this cute little Valentine using one of my favorite Stampendous stamps, Bee Mine.

As a thank you to the Sherriff’s Dept. for letting us use the room, we donated this lineup of stuffed animals for the deputies to carry in their cruisers and hand out to traumatized kids.

Here’s the ice cream cake Tange brought, the desserts and the lunch we all enjoyed. Thanks to Janice and Theresa for arranging the catering.

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We had a great time and missed those who couldn’t make it.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Creative Images Christmas Party

2012-01-09T18:13:00.001-05:00

It’s been a long time since we had our Christmas party on Dec. 12, but I have been indulging myself in a fit of pique. I’m needy and need positive feedback, not especially mature things, I admit. I got discouraged and thought that no one cared whether or not I blogged because hardly anyone comments besides my dear friend Misty (I got the occasional thank you e-mails from others). Not one person inquired as to why I hadn’t blogged the Christmas party. For almost a month! That was my criteria to do it. Someone had to ask me. Well, at the shoebox swap, Theresa asked me. I had the pictures all resized and organized. I was just being stubborn. Bad Kathy.

First, I’ll show the gifts some ladies brought to share. I’ll do them as an album. Click on it to see the details.

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On the left is a microwave popcorn wrapped up by Janice, then some candies from Theresa, candied pretzels from Tange, a giant Hershey bar from Linda and fudge from me. On my cheat sheet, I show a pencil from Helen, but no picture. My bad.

Next, here is an album of the tags made for the tag swap. Ten ladies participated and we each made ten tags, so it worked out great. I used mine on Christmas presents under my tree.

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Here are the first five. From left to right is Janice’s ornament punch tag, Dani’s ho, ho, ho tag, Holly’s clear plastic tag, Helen’s stocking and Eleanor’s yoyo and poinsettia tags.

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Here’s the last five. From left to right is Jeannie’s holly-edged tag, Therese’s stocking with yoyo, my two-sided lace snowflake, Nancy’s die cut tree and Tange’s gold-embossed joyful Christmas.

Our exchange card theme was “Merry and Bright.” I inserted individual pics of each of the exchange cards, wanting them all to show up side by side, but here’s what I got. sigh The first card is a lovely, fussy cut, water colored, embossed angel done by Therese. On the right is Connie’s beautiful black and pink die cut deer.

Here’s the outside of Dani’s card with tiny Christmas lights embellishing it . . .

. . . and inside is matching lights with the sentiment.

Here’s Ella’s die cut tree and pretty designer paper.

This one is Helen’s gold-embossed Christmas dove on an embossed background. Simply perfect.

Holly made this bright and shiny white embossed reindeer card.

Janice made this pretty spirelli card with lovely snowflake designer paper on the side.

Side by side! Go figure. On the left is Jeannie’s card combining many different die cuts. On the right is my card, a sample from Janice’s workshop back in November.

This is Linda’s cute water colored snowman, fussy cut and popped up on some bright fibers.

Here’s Nancy pretty green tree combined with die cuts and punches.

Sigh. Two again. The pretty blue ornament and Top Note die card is Pam’s. Tange’s lovely fan and poinsettia looks Asian.

Last, but not least, here’s Theresa’s beautiful water colored ornament. Lots of glitter and silver touches.

All fourteen cards are better looked at close up. Just click on the pic, then hit back to return.

We had our usual Chinese gift exchange (that’s not a very PC name!). Here are some of the pics I took. I’m not sharing them all as some were downright unflattering for whatever reason. I value my hide.

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From left to right, Helen, Pam, my presents, Theresa and Janice and Dani and Jeannie.

Sorry it took so long. As soon as Russel processes the pics of yesterday’s shoebox swap, I’ll get them up in the next day or so.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Snow Dog Video

2011-12-28T07:59:00.002-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0sUL0KCIc48

USS Alabama Memorial Park

2011-12-18T15:32:00.001-05:00

Well, it took me a couple weeks, but I finally processed and reviewed all the pics I took when I went to Alabama with Russel for his company holiday party. We drove to Mobile on Sunday, Dec. 4, and spent all day Monday seeing a couple of places. I had seen the USS Alabama long ago in 1976, but it is now surrounded by a lovely veterans memorial park. Before it was just the battleship and the USS Drum, a diesel submarine. So, off we went, into a cloudy misty morning.

First, we stopped to admire a B52D, Stratofortress, one of the old “tall tail” models. I grew up around B52’s on SAC bases with my Dad in the Air Force. They were so pretty before they covered over the silver and white with camouflage for use in Vietnam. The one in the park is called “Calamity Jane” and she made lots of bombing runs. The planes’ nickname is “BUFF,” for Big Ugly Flying Fortress. That’s the PC name. Click on any of the pics for a bigger look.

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Next, we went up onto the Alabama. With Russel’s knees we couldn’t climb all the way to the bridge or very far down into the ship, but we wandered all over the main deck.

Russel tried his hand with the 10mm machine gun. They had these all over the ship and they were used mostly to shoot down Kamikaze planes.

Each of these 10mm guns had signs on both sides reminding the gunners to shoot ahead of the diving planes. According to one of the plaques, they got pretty good at shooting them down.

The Alabama had some pretty dam big guns on her.

From the deck we took a picture of the BUFF and the Huey helicopter, back grounded by the Mobile skyline.

These next two pics are a smaller version of the Vietnam Memorial in D.C. This one has the names of the men and women lost from Alabama in Vietnam.

The poem on the backside was particularly moving. Click on it to read it, then back to return.

This was a memorial to war dogs in Vietnam.

I used to have a T-shirt that said this. “I’d fly 10,000 miles to smoke a camel,” a popular saying after Desert Storm.

Next to the Alabama in the Air Museum was what I wrongly assumed was an SR-71 Blackbird. One of the guides said that was a common misconception. This was an A-10, spy plane, made for and flown by the CIA. Seated only one pilot and flew higher than the SR-71. Never had US Air Force painted on the side.

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That’s it for Alabama pics. We backtracked to Florida that afternoon. I’ll blog those tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Nov. Creative Images Meeting

2011-11-15T11:14:00.001-05:00

We had a good turn out last night, but not everyone brought in an exchange card. Ten brought them in, either personally or by proxy, but a couple of ladies had brain cramps and forgot theirs. I have a fist full of change to give Linda at the next meeting. Hope she’s having fun in Chicago! Before I get to photos of exchange cards, we had a lot of business last night. To give members a heads up, here’s a brief synopsis. Tange will have more details in the next newsletter.

First, Connie had to resign as president for health reasons, effective immediately. Hope she recovers soon from her surgery and can join us again. We’ll miss her.

Second, Holly has to resign as vice president effective after December party. She is dealing with her father in law’s declining health. We’ll miss Holly, too. I volunteered (I have to quit doing that!) to be interim president until our next election in February.

Third, the Christmas party at Priceless will be our last meeting there. Bonnie has stayed on her own time for more than a year and needs to move on to other things. Many thanks to Bonnie.

Fourth, Oak Run made things so difficult, the January shoebox swap will be held at the Sheriff’s substation on 200 on Sunday, January 8, 2012. Saturday was not available.

Fifth, due to Michael’s unreasonable charge of $50 to use their meeting room, we’ll be meeting at Hobby Lobby for the February meeting. Date changed to second Wed. as Mondays are not available. Fridays was the other option, but we agreed we’d rather meet on a Wed.

Phew, hope I remembered everything. I didn’t take any notes! Next, pictures of our exchange cards. The theme was “favorite technique.” I asked everyone what favorite technique they used, but some were ambiguous, sort of “I like them all.” (I wish my blog program would make up its mind on whether to put photos side by side or not.)

First up, Rosie’s swing card using lots of Twinkling H2O’s for shimmer. Next is Connie’s card, using pretty DSP, punches and die cuts.

On the left is Ella’s friend card using fussy cutting to pop up the butterfly and glitter. Holly’s friendship card is several techniques. She inked an embossing folder with green ink for the leaves, then sponged distress ink over the raised areas.

Janet did this hooty owl with DSP, punches, glitter and a cute owl embellishment.

Here’s my rose on shimmer cardstock, embossed and colored with reinkers. Also uses DSP, layers, fussy cutting and die cut leaves, all favorites of mine.

Here’s Lona’s very rich looking King Tut on acetate with Pearlex powder.

Pam made this friend card with DSP, embossing folder, layers and many punches.

Theresa made her sympathy card with designer paper, ribbon, punches and stickers.

Tange made this Christmas card by stamping the tree twice and fussy cutting one to pop up. Her favorite technique is 3-D.

I had the project this month. I think the little sweet treat turkeys went over well. I know the candy corn was really popular. You can watch the video on the hard way to make these at Connie Collins’ blog here. Glue dots?

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Mickey Mouse!

2011-11-13T14:36:00.001-05:00

Had a marvelous workshop at Janice’s Saturday. Mickey Mouse was her theme. Janice always puts on a yummy spread and Saturday was no different. Theresa did all the cooking for our breakfast party, including muffins, Mickey Mouse waffles, two kinds of quiche, bacon, lots of bacon, ham and sausages. Did I mention the bacon? I stuffed myself. Here’s our gorgeous spread. Most of us had our Mickey Mouse ears on, too.

Here’s the waffles!

Here’s pictures of Janice’s dining room and several of the ladies before we got started. Mickey Mouse followed us to the dining room, too!

Janice loves Christmas season. Can you tell?

I showed everyone how to make a yoyo with SU’s new Scoring Tool. Here’s my sample of something to do with yoyos. Most of the ladies got to take a yoyo home with them.

Sharon won this yoyo Christmas ornament in a drawing.

Everyone also learned this cool origami diamond fold. They got to make a pattern to take home and make more if they wished. I learned this technique from Wendy’s blog here. Scroll down to her August 3, 2011, post for her tutorial.

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For the first make and take, we made this ornament card using the blossom builder punch, the greeting from Merry and Type and the decorative label punch. We used Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder and shimmery cardstocks. Most of the ladies chose to use gold ribbon to match their bows instead of the rhinestones. Should’ve took a picture, they were so pretty. I learned how to make this from Valita’s blog here. Scroll down to her Sept. 23, 2011, post for her video tutorial.

This card shows the same technique, but using the ornament punch and a 1 3/8” circle punch. I can also see this with hearts and scalloped circles. Endless possibilities.

Same video tutorial showed how to make this ornament with the blossom builder punch.

Our second make and take went much faster. It used the new Snowburst embossing folder, the ribbon lace border punch, two scalloped circle punches and the 1 3/8” circle punch. Colors are Wild Wasabi and Riding Hood Red and the Holly Berry Bouquet designer paper. The largest scalloped circle was cut from Glimmer cardstock.

Last, but not least, here’s the hostess gift I made for Janice using the Language of Friendship stamp set, the bird builder punch and the boho blossom punch. I used a magnet sheet on the back so Janice can stick this on her fridge if she wishes. I can see making more of these in my future.

Thanks Janice for such a great workshop. Everyone had a great time.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Cards, Beautiful Cards

2011-10-20T12:57:00.001-04:00

Wow, two posts in one day. I received some lovely birthday cards and wanted to share them before too much time had passed since I got them. Thanks to all of you.

This first card is from Patty. That frog looks just thrilled to be another year older, sorta like me.

This came as a BRAK from Becca at Splitcoast.

The waterskiing pyramid card is from my sister. You open it and it plays “Wipeout” by the Surfaris. Listen to it here:

Jeannie gave me this pretty green One of a Kind card. I should be so skinny!

Misty, my friend in St. Louis sent me this lovely little card with Boho Blossoms punched out and added.

Pat J. made me this gorgeous water colored card. She stamped and colored the butterflies twice and fussy cut them to pop them up with dimensionals. I wanna be Pat when I grow up.

Lucky girl, I yam. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

October Creative Images Meeting

2011-10-20T10:46:00.001-04:00

I finally got the time, the list, and ambition all together at the same time to blog the cards from the October 10 meeting.. I apologize for taking so long, but nobody complained. We had ten exchange cards with our theme of “Tie One On,” but two of my pictures of them didn’t come out. Oops. More on that below. Seven ladies participated in the ATC exchange. Click on any pic for details and click back to return here. So, here goes, in no particular order. First, Therese made this Find the Cure card with printed ribbon.

I wanted them all side by side, but nope. Just hit and miss. Ella made this Father’s Day card with three (make that four) ties and Herman took what he learned last time and made this step card. Colors came out horrible. Herman’s card is actually yellow and black!

Holly made this craft tag with a 3D flower for extra bling.

Janet drew this tree freehand and fussy cut it before tying a yellow ribbon around it. Cool!

Here’s Jeannie’s embossed and ruffled gold birdie.

These next three pics are my origami diamond fold Thanksgiving card. I learned this technique from Wendy’s blog here. First pic is closed . . .

. . . open on one side . . .

. . . open on both sides.

One of the pics that didn’t come out was Lona’s card, but I found a pic of a project she taught a long time ago that has same black tie and dinner jacket. Patty made the best wishes zentangle dress.

The other card I missed a picture of was Tange’s Christmas card made with SU’s Top Note die. Sorry.

Next is one of the samples from the project Jeannie put together at the last minute to help out an overbooked Melanie. Jeannie stamped a poem called “What Cancer Cannot Do” and provided everything to either make a lovely card front or bookmark.

Here are pictures of the six out of seven ATC’s exchanged. Once again, my camera didn’t like Tange. She did an ATC with a girl in silhouette. Sorry. First is Therese’s Magic of Oz.

This is Ella’s hilarious couch couple. Good thing he has on a tie.

On the left is Holly’s Live in the Moment card and Janet’s mermaid with a wild mop of hair.

On the left is Jeannie’s Lay One on Me ATC and on the right is Patty’s zentangle lady. Patty is really liking those zentangles!

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Sept. Creative Images Meeting, Part Two

2011-09-13T19:37:00.001-04:00

Last night we turned in our cigar box challenges and the votes are in. I will post the winners last. First up, Connie’s red “She” girl. Again, I rotated this picture, but blogger wants it sideways. Grrrr. I tried it three times and it finally went right.

Next, Pam’s tea pot decorated cigar box. Her nine-year old niece collects tea pots and this will be her treasure box.

Holly covered her box with birds and a big yellow rose.

Jeannie was finishing up her “music” box right up until the last minute.

My box will be filled with greeting cards and given to some deserving person who shall remain nameless. I’ll do a separate post on how I made this box, because I can! LOL

Herman put together this Japanese shrine, complete with the Rising Sun and a candle. I don’t want to tell you how many times it took me to get this right side up!

Dani made this box with metal flowers and clocks on it.

Here’s Linda’s marvelous merry go round/zoo box. I think she should have at least got Honorable Mention.

Check out Linda’s tight-rope walking elephant, hula-hooping giraffe, et al. Some grandchild will love this box!

And the winners are . . .!

Lona got third prize for her challenge box full of love letters. In the bottom right of the base, it says “A Box of Memories, A Lifetime of Love.”

Therese made this second prize challenge, “It’s All About the Shoes.” Love the ruby slippers on the bottom!

Last but not least, here is the first prize winner in our challenge, Nancy’s beautifully antiqued box, with lovely brass feet, key and flowers. Definitely look at this up close to see the details.

Just to show I figured it out, here’s Pam’s project sample right side up. Not the way it is saved in Photo Shop, but here it is.

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

September Creative Images Meeting, Part One

2011-09-13T18:48:00.001-04:00

We had a great turnout last night. Members who couldn’t even attend sent in their exchange cards (theme of Autumn/Fall) and their challenge projects. Pam couldn’t attend because of a family wedding in Wisconsin, but she even managed to do the project care of Therese. Multi-tasking, anyone? So many brought in or had delivered exchange cards, a whopping 16!, along with eleven ladies (and a gentleman) bringing in their cigar box challenge, that I am dividing this into two posts. First, the exchange cards. Once again, some are side by side. sigh Click on any pic to see details, then “back” to return.

First is a lovely water colored basket of pumpkins by Therese.

Connie colored this happy doggie in a leaf pile. I can practically smell the leaves!

Dani made this bright leaf card with some DSP, I think. The next pic is the inside of Dani’s card.

This is Ella’s nicely water colored pumpkin.

Herman made this lovely card with a wheat pattern and a nice sentiment inside which I forget.

On the left is Holly’s lovely shaded card with a die cut fern. On the right is Janet’s butterfly with buttons.

Here’s Janice’s colored Fall Fun card. I got this cute little witch in the exchange.

Jeannie’s Happy Fall card is on the left and my Thanksgiving card with fussy-cut pheasant on the right. Wow, camera colors are weird. Ribbon on my card is chocolate chip, not purple!

Linda made this lovely Japanese Maple card.

On the left is Lona’s wheat card with a harvest moon. On the right is Pam’s center-step cat tails.

Janet brought in Patty’s layered lovely leaves.

Rosie brought this lovely panel card.

Tange made this leaf collage with a great quote by Winston Churchill.

I’ll finish off this post with Pam’s project sample, a center-step card. Thanks, Pam, for doing this when you had no time to do it! I rotated this card and saved it right side up, but stupid blogger wants to put it in sideways. Hmmmm! Well, I got it off Connie’s e-mail, resized it again and rotated it, again, and blogger still posted it sideways. It’s a mystery!

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Dog Days of August

2011-08-25T11:05:00.001-04:00

Well, it’s been a long, hard fight, but I think we are actually past the worst of summer, or will be once August is done. Irene is going north to hammer my favorite Cape Hatteras lighthouse on its way to hammer New England. We sure dodged that bullet, considering the dreaded “Cone of Uncertainty” had us in the bulls eye on Sunday. Cone kept edging east, phew.

Russel and I went to Deland last weekend and I bought a couple of things at my fave quilt shop for making fabric flowers that can also be used to make paper flowers. Bought a couple of templates to try out. Here’s what the fabric ones look like.

A few days ago, I was watching some recorded shows and kept seeing flashes of white out the front window. Took a peek and saw these bird footing around across the street. I think they are ibises. Long red bills, but pointy, not spoon shaped. Click on the pic to enlarge it, then hit back.

Last, but not least, I finished my Matryoshka dolls card and will get it out soon to my twin nieces. The back side matches the ribbon bows.

That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome, especially Dee’s.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

August Creative Images Meeting

2011-08-09T16:44:00.001-04:00

We had a good turnout on a dark and rainy night, with ten ladies bringing exchange cards following our theme of “A Bird in the Hand” and Linda and Ursula providing the matryoshka nesting dolls card. In the future, if we can’t think of something to follow the theme, just think of it as a guideline and bring along whatever card you want. Our treasury made some money last night for non-exchange card participants, me included. I knew it was a guideline, I just couldn’t decide on a card. My bad. The ones we got were pretty good, though.

First up, Therese’s fussy cut hand holding an egg over a couple of pretty blue birds. What came first, the egg or the bird? Click on any pic to enlarge it, then back to return.

Herman cleverly combined this photo of cupped hands with a gold-embossed hummingbird.

Here we are, side by side. No rhyme or reason to this silly blog doing that. sigh.

On the left is Holly’s birdcage lady holding a bird in her hand. On the right, Jeannie made this gorgeous peacock. See, a guideline.

On the left is Lona’s red-cheeked birdie. I miss red-winged blackbirds sitting on top of cattails. On the right is Melanie’s mitten holding a little bird.

Nancy Nottingham was a guest last night and she made the bird on the branch with button accents. I think she is joining our group. On the right is Pam’s little birdie told me.

Back to single file. sigh This beautifully colored cardinal was done by Rosie, a head start on Christmas.

Tange made these three beach chicks, coloring them brightly and adding yellow flocking for fun. Love those purple sunglasses!

Below are Linda and Ursula’s two project samples. They provided everything to cut out each layer, down to the hair, the buttons, ribbons, googly eyes and rhinestones for the hair. Great job, ladies. Mine will go next month to my twin great nieces.

Here’s Rosie’s, Jeannie’s and Melanie’s projects. Rosie is sending hers to her granddaughter who’ll be five (I think).

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That’s it for now. Next month our challenge cigar boxes are due and the exchange theme is “Fall Harvest.” Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

July Creative Images Meeting

2011-07-12T15:58:00.001-04:00

We had thirteen ladies at last night’s meeting and the treasury didn’t make any money since everyone had their exchange cards. The theme this month was “Lady in Red.” We also had a swap of ten sympathy/thinking of you cards that six ladies participated in and got to take home their four left over cards. Lona did a great Spirelli technique for her project.

First up, the exchange cards. Once again, some are side by side, some not and no rhyme or reason to how or why. Oh, well. These first two are Pam’s dress made with SU’s red glitter paper, a row of pearls and a flower. I’d wear that! Connie made the Scrappy Chick. Inside it is full of little images of scrappers’ stuff.

This card has black and white designer paper (I think) for the background of Dani’s lady in a red hat. The lady in the cloche hat is Ella’s. Hats were popular! The gold flower and gold cord set it off nicely.

Herman made this Boticelli-looking lady, surrounding her with a lovely border and brads.

Holly made this womanly card in black and white. She popped out the lips and the moody sentiment in red.

Janice made this pretty little formal. Love the red glitter on the bodice and the red ribbon belt. Jeannie made the vellum and mulberry card with one of her ATC’s for the focal point.

Here’s my Gibson Girl, done with masking and stamping off.

Lona made this vintage stamp. A different look from Herman’s, with the same face. The card with Dorothy, Toto and the ruby slippers was done my Melanie. She put red glitter on the shoes!

Therese made this fashionable lady. On the outside it says, “Fashion is something you buy.” Inside it says, “Style is something you own.” Theresa made the darling little girl in her red dress.

These first three swap cards are by Connie, Janice and me.

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These three are by Theresa, Pam and Lona.

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Lona did July’s project. Here are her four Spirelli samples. I’ve seen Spirelli cards, but this is the first time I got to make one.

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Here are three finished projects by me, Janice and Melanie. Great project, Lona!

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That’s it for now. Next up, I’ll be scheduling a workshop for the new SU catalog. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Angie Blew Me Away!

2011-07-04T08:53:00.001-04:00

Anybody who has read my blog, knows that Angie Juda is one of my inspirations. She is one of Stampin’ Up’s best demos and always earns cruises and trips to the Founder’s Circle. Angie does great video tutorials on her blog, http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/, and is super generous with all her knowledge about stamping. She does Ustream videos which I have not managed to participate in live, but you can go to her channel and look at them all. Her latest Ustream video, recorded July 1, is a page-by-page look at the new Idea Book and Catalog. If you don’t have your hands on a catalog, yet, this is the next best thing. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15755397 She flips each page and talks about her favorites. Loved it, even though it was an hour and a half long. Check it out!

Thanks for visiting. Comments welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Eagle Cam Highlights for 2011

2011-06-25T08:42:00.001-04:00

Since my post yesterday, I checked the eagle cam one more time and saw a great 2011 wrap-up video by bigrediggy. I almost cried watching it show babies from eggs to hatching, wingercizing, branching and finally flying off. So glad all three babies made it. I guess living next to a fish hatchery has its bennies! No starving survival of the fittest crap.

A great way to say goodbye till next year. Thanks for stopping in. Comments always welcome.

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Empty Nest Syndrome

2011-06-23T16:06:00.001-04:00

Now I know what it means to have empty nest syndrome. No kids to fly from my coop, but the eagles have definitely spread their wings and learned to fly. What am I going to do now that they are gone? sniff. If you want to watch some videos on them as they spread out from the nest to eventually fly, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/user/raptorfan81 Raptorfan has lots of videos of branching, flying, etc. As I was trolling around looking at youtube, I found a great video of a sudden storm on June 15, before the eaglets were quite grown or branching. The wind started howling and the nest was rocking. Poor babies scared to death. Mom flew in and they mobbed her trying to get under her! But they were just too big, so they hunkered down around her. It’s 16 minutes long, but worth it:

Gotta love it. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Theresa’s Workshop 6/18/11

2011-06-20T12:44:00.001-04:00

Theresa just loves having workshops. She earns such great hostess bennies and gifts. LOL We had eight ladies at Saturday’s workshop and we made fun cards with a retiring set and cool guy cards with The Open Sea set that Jeannie loaned me. Janice let me have a couple pieces of her Nautical Expedition DSP. Thanks, Jeannie and Janice!

First, I made a couple of samples with The Open Sea that I used as drawing prizes. This first one is a center step card I learned how to make on Splitcoaststampers.com. Frances Byrne did a tutorial here. This technique uses a base that is 5 1/2” x 11” and you end up with a square card.

I modified the sizes of the center step card to make two cards from one piece of cardstock, 4 1/4” x 11”. Didn’t seem to make that much difference and the ladies loved making these for either Fathers Day or a guy card.

For our other make and take, everyone got to pick two of the motifs from the retiring Fun and Fast Notes to make two cards, plus a couple of images to take home. I made these samples.

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Here’s a closeup of the last one. I didn’t use the little Christmas tree. Too hot to think about Christmas!

From seven other cards, I made this hostess gift for Theresa, a simple little stationery holder.

Here’s the ladies enjoying themselves and a nice pic of Theresa’s “no bake” cake made of multiple layers of a crispy sort of pancake she cooked in a frying pan, layered and frosted with whipped cream. Yummy.

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That’s all for now. Thanks for visiting. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

June Creative Images Meeting

2011-06-14T12:28:00.001-04:00

Last night we had 12 ladies with several out of town or busy or whatever. Linda was given a pass on the exchange card as she just got home from out of town and Jeannie gave me one for her exchange card even though she decided a family reunion in Virginia was more important than our meeting. Sheesh! Some people! The exchange theme for June was birthday cards and we got some nice ones. In no particular order, here we go. Click on a pic to enlarge for details and back to return.

First is Ella’s, using a butterfly diecut and some gorgeous gold cardstock.

Connie made this bright button card with a cute saying. Yaaaay for cookies!

Holly made this uniquely topped card. I think she cut it with scissors, but I couldn’t hear what she said.

Herman did a great job coloring, fussy cutting and layering this birthday cake. Lots of bling, too.

Jeannie made this lovely green card. I think she mounted an ATC on here. Not sure.

Janice used her Big Shot and several embossing folders to make these cupcakes. Great idea!

Therese used an embossing folder, too, but the green centerpiece was fussy cut and an oval punched for the center.

I learned how to make this square step card in a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. I borrowed Jeannie’s The Open Sea stamp set and Janice’s Nautical Expedition DSP. Jeannie gets this card from the exchange. Ms. Shipp will like that!

I think Lona embossed her trees in black for this stunning card.

Pam said she finally got to play with her Build a Blossom set and her punch to make this great card. She had fun with embossing folders, too.

Rose made this great kid card, coloring, fussy cutting and popping up this little unicorn.

Theresa made this pretty card with a gold stained-glass styled birdie. She added tiny butterflies, too.

Connie prepared an awesome project and provided everything needed to make this little memory booklet. The letters are “thickers” that she added adhesive to with her Xyron machine.

Three little pages pull out on each side to do what you want with.

Here’s Janice’s and Pam’s finished projects.

That’s it for now. Next up, Theresa’s workshop pics from this coming Saturday. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Janice’s Ice Cream Social Workshop

2011-05-29T14:22:00.001-04:00

Janice had a great workshop on Saturday and we had a good time, even though I wasn’t feeling all that great. I totally forgot to take pictures of the ladies working on their cards or enjoying all the ice cream goodies Janice had set out. Oh, well. I do have pictures of the samples to share like I promised.

First, here’s two samples of the card we made using the Flower Garden embossing folder from the Summer Mini. The ladies had a choice of coloring them in with markers or water coloring with reinkers. I had embossed the panel onto Shimmery cardstock. The sentiment was done with Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped on Shimmery cardstock and punched out with the scalloped oval and layered on the punched out Decorative Label. Click on the picture for details, then back to this page.

Our second make and take was crayon resist with the flower from Flower Fest, also from the Summer Mini, stamped with Stazon on glossy cardstock. We used a mask to layer the flowers for more depth. After using a white crayon around the edge of each petal, we sponged all over the glossy cardstock before layering it all on the card. We fussy cut out one flower to layer over the black satin ribbon before attaching a Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment punched out with the Word Window punch.

That’s it until the Creative Images meeting on June 13 and Theresa’s SU retirement party on June 18.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

May Creative Images Meeting

2011-05-10T17:58:00.001-04:00

We had a great turnout last night with 15 ladies bringing in their exchange cards, theme “Stamper’s Choice,” and 7 bringing in 10 ATC’s. I’ve never gotten excited about ATC’s, but I just might have to rethink that position. We got some great ones last night. Eleanor did the projects, two of them, and we had a great time. Thanks to Rosie for helping me keep track of all the cards and ATC’s. As I inserted these pics, some of them are side by side, some not, and I appear to have no control. I’ve always wanted to do them side by side, so go figure.

First, Therese’s blue happy birthday card with a vellum layer and Connie’s Celebrate card with a gathered tissue “ribbon.”

The pink fussy cut and layered card is Dani’s, with a bit of lace thrown in, too, around the window and the black and white and red spotlight card is Ella’s.

Back to one card. Sheesh! This is Herman’s plaid thank you card. Eyelets, tearing, tag and brads, very masculine.

Here’s Holly’s card, with embossed poppies, and Patty’s guest Janet’s bright flower card.

Janice said she went the easy route with this layered stickered daisy card. She stuck some gold trim on there, too. I love this kind of card! Back to one at a time.

This is a very un-Jeannie-like card. No embossing! One tiny purple button. Still a very pretty card.

Here’s my rose red card using SU’s new triple doily punch. I only used two of the layers.

Lona stamped on clear plastic, fussy cut and then colored the flower and butterfly with Twinkling H2O’s or something like that. Very pretty effect.

This is Pam’s fussy cut and colored bonnet. Lots of little details.

Patty used lovely pink satin ribbon on this card with the gorgeous rose. Maybe she’ll teach us all how to make these some day.

Back to side by side. I’m going nuts! Here’s Rosie’s dragon fly card using one of my favorite sets, Upsy Daisy, and here is a Jeannie-like purple card with gold embossing, but it is Tange’s! I like how she colored the base from light lavender to dark purple.

Surprise, surprise! The ATC’s came out side by side, just the way I wanted them. Here’s Therese’s Zentangle and Connie’s little lamp.

Dani put her dog’s face on her ATC. Is that a clown or an angel or a teddy bear, Dude? Ella made this ship’s collage.

Holly made this ATC with a chipboard house that opens on a hinge to show the fairy inside.

Here’s Jeannie’s rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and Tange’s dress form with lots of bellies on it.

Eleanor did the projects this month. On the left is Ella’s sample card. On the right is mine.

Inside the cards Ella sponged, the edges and stamped in the sentiment “Wishing you butterfly mornings and wild flower afternoons.” She thought she did too much for us, so she designed this ATC, too. I have to color mine before I finish it up to stick on a card.

That’s it for this month’s meeting. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Thomasville, GA, Mansions, and More

2011-05-02T14:48:00.001-04:00

I’ve processed and identified almost all of the pictures I took of houses and mansions in Thomasville that we went to see last week. I took a lot of pictures and put names to most of them. Some of them were just not in the guidebook and had no name on the outside. Most of them are owner occupied or businesses and not open to the public, but there is a little history on most of them along with a pic and map numbers so I could keep track of where I took pics. We only got to a little more than half of the houses and a little bit of downtown, but after Pebble Hill, we did good to see as much as we did. During the afternoon, we had really good salads at the Ella Blue Cafe. The owner supposedly named it after John Travolta’s daughter, but he spelled the “Bleu” wrong. Ooops.

Had to take a pic of this shop downtown! LOL Pradas, anyone?

The first place we stopped was Strawbridge House, built in 1899 in Colonial Revival style, now occupied by a Neurology Center.

This is the Forbes Cottage, patterned after an English cottage and built in 1891.

This is the Charles Hebard house built in 1899 in the Neoclassical style. The house was pretty overgrown and appeared to be empty.

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For his son, Charles Hebard built next door to his home the Charles S. Hebard House. This was also built in 1899 and is nicknamed the Steamboat House. This is another Neurology office.

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Between the two houses was a huge bamboo grove.

All Saints Episcopal Church was built in 1881 and is the oldest original church in Thomasville, though not in its original place. .

Balfour House was built in 1900. Russel and I loved the rounded two-story porch sticking out one end.

The James Watt House was finished in 1893.

This is the side entrance of the McIntyre House. Got the name off a sign on the door, not in the book.

The David Harrell House was originally built in 1853 and extensively added to over the years.

Had a dickens of a time identifying the Bruce-Driver House. They painted it since the brochure when it was light brown! Love the rounded porch and steps.

The Paxton House was built in 1884 and is a beautiful example of Victorian Gothic. The Munsters would be happy there! It is now a B & B.

Right next door is another Victorian Gothic, the Burbank Cottage, built in 1875. It was originally barn red!

The Ransom Reid House was built in 1854.

The John Dyson house was built in 1854 as a honeymoon cottage for newlyweds. Some cottage, eh?

The Royal Miller House was built in 1903 after the style of the Greenwood Plantation, inspiration for Twelve Oaks in Gone With the Wind.

The Hardaway House was built in 1856 and was home to the first mayor of Thomasville.

The last house I want to share with you is the Lapham-Patterson House, built in 1885. This house is done in the Queen Anne style and is a real “painted lady” of the Victorian era.

Those are my favorites. I have more pics but they were nothing special to share. We’ll have to go back someday and plan to spend more time, maybe in one of the many B & B’s. It was a full day in Georgia, taking in Pebble Hill Plantation, all these houses and a rose garden before heading back to Tallahassee.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Old Oak and Museum in Thomasville, GA

2011-05-02T13:23:00.002-04:00

Before I get into the mansions of Thomasville, I’ll do a short post on the Thomas County Museum of History and the Old Oak that has been there since around 1680, making it more than 325 years old!

The circumference of the trunk is 26.5 feet! Makes me look small!

The Thomas County Museum of History is in a home built in 1923 in the Jefferson Revival style. Sort of like a small Monticello.

On the grounds there is an old cabin, the Smith Log House, built in 1860.

The docent took us inside and showed us the kitchen, breezeway between the main cabin and kitchen and a bedroom. Nine people lived in this one-bedroom cabin and it was considered a nice place as the kitchen was separate and the floors were wood! It had glass windows, too! The bed frame was one of those rope beds that you tighten so you can sleep tight!

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For my quilting sister, I took this pic of a very old sunflower quilt on a frame. If she tells me a different name for the pattern, I’ll edit this post. Edited: Betsy corrected me to say it was a "Grandma's Flower Garden" quilt. My friend Fyrne's Mom did one when she was in her 90's!

Also on the grounds are these old farm implements and the 1893 Metcalf Courthouse.

Couldn’t spend much time wandering. Russel was sitting in the truck in the sun.

That’s it for this post. Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Pebble Hill Plantation, GA

2011-05-01T14:51:00.001-04:00

Wednesday morning, on our way up to Thomasville, Georgia, we stopped for an hour or so at Pebble Hill Plantation. We didn’t have time or energy to tour the whole place (it would take at least a whole day), so we ended up taking the docent tour of the main house’s main floor and wandered around a bit.

First a bit of history. Wealthy industrialists from northern cities started buying up plantations around Thomasville, then the terminus of the railroad, as winter homes for sporting interests like hunting, fishing, riding, etc. Crops or cattle were not the norm on these properties. Pebble Hill’s main home was destroyed by fire in 1934 and rebuilt by Kate Hanna Ireland Harvey. She died in 1936 and left it to her daughter, Elizabeth “Miss Pansy” Ireland Poe who continued the restoration, planning to leave the home as a museum. Miss Pansy endowed the plantation as a museum, which it remains today.

The Visitors’ Center is located in the Cow Barn. Miss Pansy played at raising a dairy herd. I should live in such a Cow Barn!

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After paying for our tickets, we wandered down to the Main House, stopping first to admire the wooden school house, built for use by the children of visitors and employees on the plantation.

No pictures allowed inside the home, filled with Pansy’s collection of sporting art, dog and horse figurines, paintings, statues, etc. Most notably, the house was full of Audubon prints. Here’s me at the front of the house.

Here’s the front door out to the gardens.

Back door out to rose garden and the pool.

Side door at the end of the loggia.

This is the old Plantation Store where Pansy sold milk from the PHP dairy to employees and townspeople .

If the house and its 16 bedrooms was full, this is the overflow cottage.

This is one of the magnolias that was in bloom. Most of the trees were just ramping up, but there were a few full blooms like this one.

I love the way the sun shines down through the Spanish moss on this live oak.

On the way out, I took this pic of the alee of live oaks.

That’s it for Pebble Hill Plantation. Well worth the stop and the price of admission. More can be found about Pebble Hill here.

I think that’s enough for today. I still have to blog my favorites of the Thomasville homes.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Marianna-Greenwood Houses.jpg

2011-05-01T14:06:00.001-04:00

I finally finished identifying and renaming the pictures I took on our mini-vacation to the Florida Panhandle and Georgia last week. I spent Wednesday morning wandering by myself around Marianna while Russel did a demo for the DOT. The Chamber of Commerce in Marianna is in the Russ House! The town has put together an excellent Self-Guided Tour brochure with photos, maps and bits of history on the historic homes featured in the tour. I started at the Russ House which was built in 1895. It’s been through some hard times, but has been restored beautifully.

I love this rounded, two-story porch.

Bits of the house like this nook have been furnished in the style of the home. Most of the house is offices and conference rooms. This was the only house in Marianna open to the public.

Across the street from the Russ House is the 1840’s house, now an accounting firm.

Milton House was built in 1909, but looks much older and was built in the style of the ante-bellum houses it copies. The house was built by the the granddaughter of John Milton, Gov. of Florida during the Civil War and his descendants continue to live in the home.

This is the Bowles-Kimbrough House built in1896.

After I picked up Russel, we drove north a few miles to Greenwood to see the houses included in the Marianna tour book. Only a few were as listed and one was absent altogether, not there at all any more. Probably burned down like so many of these older homes. The home knows as Great Oaks was still there, on the way into town. The house was built in 1860 as the Bryan Plantation and remains Jackson County’s “most handsome example of antebellum architecture.”

The highway along the home was lined with, what else, great old live oak trees.

In Greenwood, there were a couple of neat old houses. First, the Willis House, built by Dr. and Mrs. R. A. Willis in 1917. Mrs. Willis wanted nine bedrooms, each with their own bath, so all her children and grandchildren could live with them forever!

The last house we stopped at in Greenwood was the Erwin House, badly in need of some tender loving care. It was built in the 1830’s and considered the oldest house in Jackson County.

That’s it for the houses we looked at in Florida. I’ll work on the Georgia houses next. If you want to know more about any of the houses shown, feel free to ask. I have brochures!

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Eagles! Live Cam!

2011-04-27T11:46:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I found out about a live eagle cam in Decorah, Iowa. I went there in time to see one of the hatched babies and two eggs. Since then, I’ve checked in almost daily, except for when I was gone last week. Wow, have they grown since the tiny bits of grey fluff. The parents even leave them alone for short periods of time, now.

Here’s Mom or Dad come to watch over them.

Here’s the link to the live cam:

http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html

When I clicked on this a.m. to see them all alone, they looked so big and they have feathers starting to come in! Can’t wait to check out flying lessons. As I was typing this, both adults are on the nest, with Mom doing maintenance on the nest. Feeding time! If you want to see videos from before, go here on Youtube and pick what you want to watch.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Thomasville, GA, Roses

2011-04-27T11:23:00.001-04:00

On our mini-vacation, we drove from Tallahassee up to Thomasville, GA, to see the mansions and the Rose Festival. Turns out that though the brochure said the Festival started on Thursday, April 21, that was the kid’s parade at 7:00 p.m. So, no festival for us, but Russel drove me to the Rose Garden so I could wander around taking pics. It was after 5:00 p.m., but the light was just right.

Here’s a pretty two-toned pink.

I’m pretty sure this one is an American Beauty rose. Gorgeous, deep red.

Yellow on the inside, red on the outside. Cool!

This has to be a Peace rose. Lovely, soft yellow.

This one is a pinky peach.

This one is another peach, more yellow and orange, like the roses in my wedding bouquet.

My only problem with Thomasville claiming to be “The Rose City,” is that I have been to the Rose City, Portland, Oregon. Portland has had a century or so to work on its roses, so give Thomasville some time. Portland’s roses are mostly tagged, especially in the formal gardens, so you know what kind of rose you are looking at. Not so, Thomasville. I could identify two of them, but that’s it. The rest I just named by their color.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Lighthouses, Oh, My!

2011-04-27T11:08:00.001-04:00

My Russel and I had a mini-vacation last week, cramming lots of stuff into 3 days. We left Tuesday and drove to Chipley in the Panhandle. While Russel worked Wed. a.m., I drove myself around Marianna, taking pics of the historic homes. We drove together to more homes that afternoon, but those pics will have to wait a bit. We tried for the Florida Caverns, but they are closed on Wednesdays. Our last day we managed to see three lighthouses and those are what I will post first as those pics are organized and named.

First, we stopped briefly at Crooked River Lighthouse near Carrabelle on US 98 south of Tallahassee. This lighthouse isn’t normally open, but it is nicely restored. Members of the organization can climb it on the weekends. Click on any pic for details, then hit back to return.

Next, we drove across a long causeway . . .

from the mainland to St. George Island. You can see the light in this pic. This lighthouse is famous for having its footings slowly eaten away by the sea until it was completely surrounded by water by 2005. While a debate raged on whether to shore it up or move it, the light collapsed into the Gulf on October 21, 2005. Here’s 2/3 of a postcard showing it in the water and collapsed.

Looks totally hopeless, doesn’t it. There are several websites with information on the light, but my favorite is here. Reconstruction began in the Fall of 2007 and here she is now, safe, inland.

To prove that I climbed it, here’s me at the top in a pic taken by a nice man who came up with his family behind me. My face is almost as red as my top! It was hot up there!

Here’s Russel’s feet at the bottom, parked in a nice shady spot. His bad knees won’t let him climb lighthouses.

Here’s a pic facing the Gulf from the top. My batteries died in my camera, but my cell phone did okay.

We went from St. George Island to Apalachicola to have lunch at the Seafood Grill, highly recommended by Misty and Bob who stopped there on their way home in Feb. Russel and I split a piece of orange cake after we porked out on shrimp.

Apalachicola also had a restored mansion, the Raney House, but the museum had closed by the time we finished lunch. Next time.

After Apalachicola, we turned east for home, making one more stop at the St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge, about 20 miles south of Newport off US 98. We were looking for alligators, but only saw some birds too far away for the phone to get good pics. The last pics we took were of the St. Mark’s Lighthouse.

She was all boarded up, but still pretty impressive. Lots more pics to come. Roses are next.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Jeannie’s Workshop

2011-04-27T08:56:00.001-04:00

My dear Miss Jeannie had a workshop for me on Saturday to close out the Occasions Mini and we had a great time, even though I was running on empty after getting home late Friday from a mini-vacation. We still had a great time and made a couple of beautiful cards.

First, here’s a picture of an Easter card I made a couple of to give to Jeannie. She really loved them. I CASE’d the idea and layout from BWstamper here on Splitcoaststampers. She used the dogwood branch from the Easter Blossom set and I used the wild rose branch from Elements of Style. The tulip border embossing folder turned out great.

Our first make and take was the bisque pottery technique I learned from a video on Diana Gibbs’ blog here. Di did hers with Crumb Cake, but I like the Baja Breeze, too. I used the Engraved Greetings birthday sentiment and the Very Vanilla rosettes which are now, alas, sold out. Di’s tutorial was perfect to learn this cool technique using a brayer, an embossing folder (I used Vintage Wallpaper), an ink pad and the Big Shot.

Our second make and take I also CASE’d off of Diana’s blog. She’s one of my favorites. Can you tell? She went to the SU Leadership Conference in January and a friend of hers received a prize that included a card made by our illustrious leader, Shelli. Di put a picture on her January 18, 2011, post here. I puzzled it out and managed to make a reasonable facsimile. Must have been successful as the ladies all loved it.

Here’s a couple pics of the ladies having a good time before we started and of Therese with a finished make and take.

I’m almost done processing and naming all the pics I took on our mini-vacation last week to Georgia and the Panhandle. Lots of houses (mansions, really), roses and lighthouses, oh my! Will be blogging those later.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

April Creative Images Meeting

2011-04-12T15:38:00.002-04:00

We had a good turn out last night and almost everyone brought in cards for our Pretty in Pink exchange theme. I had my dates mixed up and had to be reminded by Jeannie! But, I made it, late, but there. I was so glad to see Linda and give her a hug. Janice and Theresa did the project this month, a cookout themed card with matchboxes getting everyone in the mood to cook outside.

First, here’s a collection of the ladies having fun, with the notable exception of Tange, who was pissed at me for taking her picture while she was working on her project, and Herman, our new member, Lona’s other half.

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Herman must have had fun last month to come back for more! Note the red and white checked table cloth that matched the project we did.

There’s a really wide range of pinks in our exchange cards this month! First up, Holly’s Mother’s Day card using patterned paper and Primas.

Connie put together this clever flower by folding little punched circles and arranging them in a circle. I like the colored Easter eggs, too.

Ella made this bright card using designer paper, flowers and fiber.

Herman put together this blinged up slinky pink dress.

Here’s my Easter card in rose pink. You can see a pic of the inside and where I CASE’d this fold from on my March 6 post below.

Janice made this cute little chorus line of chickies with glittered up Easter bunny ears!

Jeannie made several of these Cheers to You cards with the tipsy frog for friends of Meg that turned 21 last weekend.

Rosie made this romantic card with antique ephemera of sparking couples.

Linda made this lovely three-dimensional bouquet with Flower Soft. I have to quit hoarding my Flower Soft!

Lona stamped these delicate pink leaves on a marbleized background, I think.

Pam watercolored this birthday card and used a dotted swiss embossing folder for the green layer and the Awash with Flowers stamp set.

Patty made this blissful wedding card with the Elegant Lines embossing folder, photo corner and bling!

Therese colored and fussy cut this Easter bunny cupcake with a nice fold on the ribbon.

Tange gold embossed this celebration card with her three rockin’ chicks.

Theresa made this elegant thank you card with layered flower stickers. Easy peasy, but gorgeous.

Here’s the cute little cookout project designed by Janice and Theresa. Between the two red scallops is four little boxes of wooden matches, with star brads to help open the little drawers. My fave fussy cutting and watercoloring on the chef and fire.

As incentive to finish the project, Janice and Theresa made these little s’mores packs to hand out. I think Janice said she found the little flat marshmallows at Walmart. Ever since my long ago and far away days as a Girl Scout, I just love s’mores. Can’t go camping without the makings, but make do with the microwave.

That’s it for this month. Hope to see some of you at Jeannie’s workshop on the 23rd.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

March Creative Images Meeting

2011-03-15T19:55:00.001-04:00

We had a great turnout last night, only missing a few, especially, Linda. Our hearts are with you, Linda. We collected dues and will get it to you ASAP. There were 15 ladies there last night, including Lona’s guest, her husband Herman, who even turned in his own blinged exchange card. Our exchange card theme this month was “Add Some Bling,” and we all did that, for sure. We also had our first challenge of the year, using a coaster, and Tange did the project, a darling little Easter card with punched bunnies. Click on any picture to see details, then “back” to return.

First up, our exchange cards, starting with Dani’s ship, a tri-fold card, closed . . .

. . . then opened. Love the sentiment.

Here’s Connie’s “Fancy a cuppa” card, with steam added to the pot with red jewels.

Here’s Janice’s scalloped circle card with a bunny, jewels and some carrots.

This is Ella’s black and white “Smile.” What is the “B” for?

Here’s Helen’s glittery, embossed, bejeweled flowers.

Here’s Herman’s shiny love with diamonds and glittery stars.

Here’s Holly’s “you’re a natural” card with jeweled butterflies.

I added tiny pink jewels to this pink card from my stash. Up close, I see one fell off!

Jeannie used a feather, jeweled butterfly and flower on her birthday card.

Lona made this ornament with a gold star, gold butterflies and put a gold ball inside.

Rosie blinged up this little Easter House Mouse.

Pam glittered up these roses on this Spring birthday card.

Tange used an embossed medallion, a doily, pearls, ribbon and buttons on this card.

Theresa used glitter, ribbon and jewels on this “Just for you” card. That is one perfect bow!

Therese put an ATC collage with jewels, watch parts, lace and flowers on her bejeweled card.

Therese made her birdcage card for the challenge using a coaster and won first prize! A bird is out of the cage and an Asian lady in it!

Dani made this purple and green card for her challenge. I think she die cut the leaves and fruit from the coaster to win second prize in the challenge.

Tange used her favorite saying on this spiral bound post-it note cover made with two coasters, to win third prize.

Honorable mention in our challenge are Theresa’s shadow box, Janice’s vase of candy and Lona’s Treasures.

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Last, but not least, we have Tange’s Easter card project. This is a pic of Ella’s finished bunny card.

That’s it for this month. Next month’s exchange theme is Pretty in Pink. See ya’ll then.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Pam’s SAB Workshop

2011-03-06T11:56:00.002-05:00

It’s been a while since I last had a workshop. I’ve not been feeling well and lost my mojo for a while. Pam couldn’t let Sale-a-Bration go by without someone having a workshop, so she jumped in and made me find my mojo. I had received a lot of the Occasions and SAB sets for Christmas from my sweetie and finally got them out and actually did something with them. As a little bonus, Pam and her first two guests got to play with punches before we did the make and takes when more ladies arrived. First, we played with Therese’s Owl punch and the SAB set Punch Pals. With the addition of Little Leaves die and the Framed Tulips embossing folder, we made this little cutie with the googly eyes. We paper pieced his little waistcoat.

Pam wanted me to demonstrate the Build a Blossom set and punch, so the ladies got to stamp and punch enough petals and leaves to make a flower in the color of their choice. Here’s my sample.

For my first make and take after the rest of the ladies came, I was inspired by a card on Splitcoaststampers made by sharonstampsalot . I changed it a little bit, but basically CASE’d it to make this card with the Baby Blossoms set. Used the Framed Tulips border and Springtime Vintage DSP and the new Baja Breeze seam binding.

I had to have the Easter Blossoms set in the Occasions mini so I would have the dogwood branch, but the little girl made a couple of pretty cards, too. First, I made this one, using Dawn Griffith’s gathered ribbon technique video 1/2" Seam Binding ribbon bow that she did on Jan. 28, 2011. I fussy cut the little girl and stamped off the dogwood on the inside so it would be paler than the sentiment. Looking at this up close, I have the DSP on upside down! Oops!

My second make and take was CASE’d from Angie Juda’s Be my Valentine Trifold Card video tutorial that she did on January 4, 2011. I used the Easter Blossom girl again and the same dogwood branch and DSP as the above card to make this pretty card.

I made these little party favors with the Lucky Shamrock stamp, “gold” coins and Pearson mint patties. Pearson still wraps their mints in foiled paper instead of putting them in little plastic/foil packages like York does now.

I made this post-it-note holder as a drawing prize that Connie won. I altered a $1 post-it holder from Michael’s.

Last, but not least, I was inspired by Diana Gibb’s Feb. 22, 2011, blog entry here to make this cheery hostess gift for Pam.

Everyone loved their make and takes, party favors and prize/gift, and a very good time was had by all.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

February Creative Images Meeting

2011-02-08T12:29:00.001-05:00

We had a light turn out last night for various reasons, all good, but we managed to elect out new officers (congratulations to new President Connie and to Holly, Connie’s Vice or Co-President, whichever works best for them) and to re-elect Tange as Secretary and Linda as Treasurer. I have been elected, probably for life, as historian/photographer/blogger. So, I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing, taking pictures of all our cards and blogging them. No scrapping, though.

The February meeting was moved up a week so as to not be meeting on Valentines Day, the second Monday of the month .

First, some old business from the January shoebox swap. Therese found her post card for the postal exchange. Lovely. Glad she brought it to share.

The February exchange theme was “Four Seasons.” Everyone who came brought a card, so the treasury didn’t make any money last night! Click on any picture to see detail, then hit back to return to this page.

First up, Ella’s card with lots of my favorite fussy cutting and watercoloring. Love what she did with the Lattice embossing folder to make it look like burlap.

Connie put lots of embellishments on her card. Lovely sentiment stamp.

Dani colored and punched these four seasonal elements for her card. Love the dancing pig!

Helen used a favorite Earth photo to express her seasonal theme. Brads were perfect touches.

Holly took these four solid images and stamped them in seasonal colors on a pre-embossed frame. Very effective and easy-peasy.

My tree stamp came with the little clump of leaves stamp which I used to reflect the seasons. I used white gel pen and glitter on winter quarter.

Lona sponged the sunset/sunrise on this Winter card. A lovely impressionist look.

Therese die cut this elaborate window frame for her water colored seasonal images.

Pam used her markers to color these four seasonal arrangements. Love the cardinal and bluebird.

Tange used lots of bling, glitter and a cute dragonfly charm on her Spring card.

It’s amazing that everyone came up with such different ideas for the same theme. We do good work.

Helen had the project last night. She had containers of bubble liquid (the kind kids play with) with about 8 drops of red reinker in each container. We each had our own straw to blow bubbles, then dip a piece of glossy cardstock in the bubbles, repeating as necessary to get the effect we wanted. They dried during the meeting, after which we assembled our Valentines similar to Helen’s sample. Always great to learn something new.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments or feedback always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

2011-01-25T11:06:00.001-05:00

While I have the time and ambition, I’ll finish up the pictures of places I went with Bob and Misty so she can sincerely regret going back to snowy St. Louis! Misty and I both love lighthouses and this is the second one we went to and climbed all the way to the top. She saw some more on her way home along the Panhandle, but this one is the best. Here’s Misty and Bob with the sign. Another gorgeous day!

I like what this sign says. Click on it to read the creed of the Lighthouse Board.

Pic on left is looking up from the bottom and on the left is looking down from the top. 203 steps. Phew! Looks kind of like a Nautilus shell.

Here’s Misty and I at the base . . .

. . . and at the top!

Here it is in all its glory. Rigging and scaffold for repairs.

Tiny moon!

Views from the top. Russel and Greta at the bottom in second pic.

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Very cool to be able to drive down to the beach where we saw Black skimmers, hundreds of them!

Here’s Bob and Misty’s Odyssey, living up to its name.

Last glimpse of the Light from the beach.

That’s it for Misty and Bob’s big adventure. Thanks for stopping by. As always, comments are welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Castillo San Marcos

2011-01-25T08:25:00.001-05:00

I finally got a chance to finish processing the pics of places I took Misty and Bob to see while they were here. When we went to St. Augustine, we finished the day at the Castillo San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the United States. Saw it as a child about 50 years ago and it is still impressive. Click on any picture to see the details and then back to return.

First up, Bob and Dee looking out at the Bay. Cold and windy, but sunny. You can wander all around the outside for free.

These are pictures of the Castillo. You can see how big it is with Bob for scale. The second pic has a chopper flying by, a nifty juxtaposition of old and new.

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Here’s the moat.

This shows gun emplacements and the cannon ball oven. Balls would be heated to red hot and then shot at wooden ships. Pretty effective.

Construction began in 1672. This is a closeup of the coquina used to make the fort. "Coquina" (Spanish for "tiny shell"), is a soft limestone made up of broken shells and sand cemented together by calcium carbonate, essentially creating a natural form of concrete. The stone for the Castillo was quarried on nearby Anastasia island. When under siege, the English cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The coquina was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing little damage to the walls.

You can read more about the Castillo at http://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, comments are welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Blue Springs Manatees

2011-01-18T10:41:00.001-05:00

The day after Bob and Misty arrived in Florida, we drove over to see the Quilt Shop of Deland and took a surprise trip to Orange City to Blue Springs State Park. I didn’t tell them we were going to see manatees, but when we entered the gate, there was a big sign with a silhouette of a manatee on it. On the door by the ranger was a sign, “199 spotted today.” So much for that surprise! We got out and walked around, first down to the boat dock on the St. John side of the log boom that keeps boats out of Blue Springs. Man, that water is blue! The middle pic is Anhingas. They wouldn’t spread their wings out to dry. Click on any pic for a close up detail and then back to return.

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Misty and Bob were impressed by their first up close look at a Live Oak.

Misty and me at the first viewing platform.

And now for the reason we went. Here’s our very first manatee. All by himself, but he was not alone!

The first pic is one cruising by and the other pics are of groups of them, ten or more. The last pic shows one sticking his nose up for a snort of air.

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This pic shows our first alligator lounging in the shade on the shore. Looked kind of like a log, but a guy there kept insisting it was a gator. Why he was in the shade, who knows, but looking at pic on monitor Russel knew what it was without being told.

Our second gator was lounging on a log in the sun. Looking at the pic close up, the pattern on his back is clear.

Here’s a pic of the fishies that swim by the hundreds in the springs. Not sure if they were catfish or not.

This old fella was snuggled up next to a log right next to the shore. On the close up, you can see the scars on his back from close encounters with boat props, the leading cause of manatee deaths.

Have to tell a funny story on Misty’s sister. When they visited Sanibel in 2009, they paid $50 a head for a boat tour to view wildlife, including manatees. Nada. I took Misty and Bob to Blue Springs and we saw a hundred manatees and some gators for the park entrance fee of less than $10 a car. Of course, the manatees aren’t there all year round. They gather in this spring every winter as the temp stays at 72 degrees, a lot warmer than the St. John River. Here’s a pic of an information sign. Click on it to read it.

That’s it for our trip to see manatees. Misty and Bob were thrilled to pieces. Still need to blog Castillo San Marco and Ponce Lighthouse.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, comments are welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

St. Augustine Light With Misty & Bob

2011-01-18T09:47:00.001-05:00

On January 8, I took my St. Louis friends Misty and Bob to see the lighthouse and and the Castillo San Marco in St. Augustine. Misty and I are both lighthouse nuts, so every pic you see of Misty, she is grinning! On the way there, I told Bob to pull over, pull over. There was a bunch of birds on the side of the road, birdfooting around some crops. From where we sat, I thought they were sandhill cranes. After looking at the pictures at home, I realized they weren’t and looked them up. Wood Storks! Around them are cow egrets. Click on any pic for a closeup, then click on back to return.

Then we went looking for St. Augustine Lighthouse, not sure which way to turn once we got off the causeway. Easy decision as we could easily see it from the causeway, sticking up off to our left! It was even more impressive up close!

Here we are at the base entrance with Bob standing by the Christmas tree at the base of the stairs..

These next pics wouldn’t get in order for me. First is the view of the stairs looking up from base, second is about half way up looking down, third is Bob from the first landing and last is the view from the top all the way down. Not for the faint of heart.

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This was as high as Bob would go, about two landings up. Not the 13th floor, just the 13th stop on the guided tour.

Proof that we made it to the top. Cold and windy, but gorgeous!

Here’s our views from the top, including Bob on the porch of the lighthouse keepers’ house.

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This is a lovely little garden off to the side of the keepers’ house. You can see the gnarly live oaks with their resurrection ferns on the branches. It has rained recently, so the ferns were nice and green.

Here’s the First Order Fresnel Lens from the inside.

Misty on the porch of the keepers’ house. Amazing that this was a burned out hulk in the 60’s!

These were the first pics I finished processing. Will finish up our trip to St. Augustine with the Castillo pics soon. Going to work on the manatees at Blue Springs State Park first.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, comments are welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Shoebox Swap, Part Two

2011-01-17T13:10:00.001-05:00

As promised, here’s the rest of the pics I took at our Shoebox Swap on January 8. Misty is back home in St. Louis and I’ve got caught up on some stuff. First up, the exchange cards. Our theme for January was “Postage.”

Tange had a spare swap sample and since we aren’t anal about the theme, she used this for her exchange card.

Patty did this four seasons of stamps card.

Here’s Melanie’s birdie on a branch with a pansies love stamp I have to find.

Lona made this collage, slipping some stamps in to fit the theme.

Here’s Holly’s Love postcard . . .

. . . and Jeannie’s African “Pachyderme” stamp.

I made this sympathy card using a postage template and scissors.

Helen made this love card with the same template.

Ella made this bright card using foreign stamps.

Cheryl was visiting us and brought this Asian-inspired card using the postage template, I think.

Misty brought this Springtime card using the template.

Here’s Helen working away on a swap.

Jeannie scored something at the used stamp sale that made her happy!

Ella and Cheryl smiled for me!

Holly and Pam are engrossed in their swaps and ignoring me.

Therese and Linda smiled for me. Misty is in the back working on my swap.

Patty, Theresa, Janice, Lona, Ella and Cheryl, all busy.

These are the pics Helen shared with everyone.

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I’ll be sharing pics of the places we took Misty and Bob to see: Lighthouses, manatees, beaches.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Shoebox Swap, Part One

2011-01-13T07:31:00.001-05:00

As most of you know, I’ve been really busy with my friend Diana, a/k/a Dee, Miss Dee and Misty while she and her husband Bob have been visiting from St. Louis. We had a great time at the swap and I took great photos, but I haven’t been home much to process them what with going to see manatees and lighthouses. I’ve done a few a day and finished up the shoebox pictures (18 shoeboxes!) yesterday. I have lots of stuff to blog, but I’ll do these first. (Helen was whining at me yesterday that she has some to finish and can’t remember the sample! LOL) I have a little time till I have to fix breakfast, so here goes. As always, click on a pic to see it in detail and then hit “back” to return to the blog. Unusual for me, I have to be brief!

First up, Tange’s embossed valentine. I think the greeting ended up different from the sample.

Melanie made this tall, bright valentine with a cool fold.

Here’s my snowy Thomas Kinkade scene using packing tape and glitter.

Here’s Ella’s fussy cut cupcake with the circle punched out in the middle of the fold.

Our visiting former member Cheryl (returning maybe?) brought this handy photo holder made from a large clippie. It can also hold cards or recipes.

Here’s Ursula’s fussy cut purse on patterned paper.

This is Connie’s wedding card.

Here’s my friend Misty’s puffy flower using the new Nesties. She hauled her shoebox down from St. Louis with the flowers all made for us to finish. Now you all know why I like her so much!

Here’s Helen’s cute little treat holder . . .

. . . and Holly’s Fourth of July.

Janice made these cute sweetheart treat cups.

Here’s Jeannie’s African-inspired swap. I see I need to distress my DSP layer.

Here’s Linda’s tipsy frog . . .

. . . and Lona’s Asian-inspired swap. Love the “Oops” in the corner.

Here’s Pam’s snowman card (he’s connected at the top by his hat) made with punches.

Here’s Patty’s striped birdie lineup Valentine . . .

. . . and Theresa’s pink and red die cut heart.

Last, but not least, Therese’s dress form and butterfly.

These have reminded me of how to finish a couple of my cards that I didn’t have the time to fussy cut at the swap. I hope they can do the same for ya’ll. If there’s a card you really have to make but you were even and it was odd or vice versa, now you know who made it and you can negotiate getting one for yourself with the maker.

I still have the exchange cards to blog and pics of us making our swaps. Helen sent us all some pics, too, and I may put them in when I finish up the swap pics in the next few days.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Merry, Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T10:34:00.001-05:00

With the help of a couple of friends, I’ve drummed up enough spirit to share what they sent me on my blog. While I sat in front of my webcam wearing a Santa hat while chatting with my very good friend Dee in St. Louis, I opened the box she sent me. In it was a darling (and unbroken) glass ornament of a little silver schnauzer. Dee knows how much I miss my Lady girl. Also in there was a glass canning jar (also unbroken) full of the makings for barley soup! Then a tin of spritz and butter cookies, the ones with powdered sugar on them! Last but not least, was this gorgeous Christmas card with a silver embossed snowflake and embossed brushed silver CS. Very classy!

Dee is coming in early January and will be my guest at the Creative Images shoebox swap. Can’t hardly wait!

That same day, my fellow demo friend Diana Gibb in Arizona heard my plea for one of her little owl calendars. I had commented on her blog, here, that I’d love to have one and she sent it to me! Here’s a pic I swapped off her blog. Mine has different colors, but her pic is better than my scan. The back is covered in a magnet sheet to go on the fridge. The eyes are little jewels.

Di also sent me one of her Christmas cards. I’ll have to borrow Pam’s Northern Flurries embossing folder to CASE this someday. I love how she stamped the date in red and punched it out with the small oval. You’d think SU would’ve made a punch to fit perfectly, but nope.

Yep, it was Di’s card on her blog here that I learned her tip: “To get that Real Red Decorative Label punch layer behind the white punched out image, cut the punched out red label in half and then glue it under the white punched one, it gives the "look" of being layered but its really the same punch.” I used that idea on a make and take for Helen’s workshop and my Christmas swap tags. Di’s blog is one of my favorites that I visit almost every day. If clicking on the “here” links doesn’t work for you, copy and paste this into your browser: http://dianagibbs.typepad.com/stampin_with_di/

Well, that’s it until Creative Images’ shoebox swap on January 8. Ya’ll have a very Merry Christmas. See you next year!

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Creative Images’ Christmas Party, Part 2

2010-12-14T10:55:00.001-05:00

Well, that’s pretty annoying. I had this post all done except for the signature block. Copied that in and boom, it was gone. Eighteen pics, poof. So, let’s try it again!

We had 17 ladies at the party and our cruising Helen participated through Theresa, so we had 18 exchange cards with the “Winter Wonderland” theme.

First up is Rosie’s bright cardinal, water colored and fussy cut.

Connie said this was only the second card she ever embossed. The inside sentiment is “Wise Men still seek Him.” Perfect.

Dani did this happy dancing Santa.

Ella water colored this Victorian scene of a horse and sleigh.

In real life, Helen’s snowflakes were embossed on brushed gold CS.

Holly made this merry card with three trees.

Janice fussy cut the “S N W” for this cute snowman shaker card.

Here’s Jeannie’s mystical blue polar bear.

This is my black and white tree scene.

Linda S. water colored this sleigh and wreath with glitter and snow added.

Linda T. embossed and punched these snowflakes.

Lona colored and glittered this holly card.

Melanie used fabric on this Santa in his sleigh.

Patty masked this lovely moonlit scene.

Therese made a paper cast for the focal image of these snowy trees.

Tange’s cute snowman is peeking out from under his purple cap.

This is Theresa’s holly, little birdy and die cut corners.

Ursula water colored and blinged this Christmas tree.

That’s all 18 cards! See you all at the shoebox swap on January 8.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Creative Images’ Christmas Party, Part 1

2010-12-14T09:36:00.001-05:00

We had such a great turnout for last night’s Christmas party, that I have too many pictures for just one post. We have 20 members and 17 came and everyone brought a Winter Wonderland exchange card and most brought tags for the swap. I think I’ll do tags, gifts, and misc. pics for this first post. As always, you can click on a pic to enlarge it and hit back key to return to post.

First up, tags. I’ll try to identify who did what. Linda S. made this gorgeous red and white tag that looks like scherenschnitte, the German art of paper cutting. Linda said the red was stickers! I used to love doing scherenschnitte and still love my fussy cutting.

These next three are Patty’s little mittens, Helen’s ornament and Holly’s canvas holly. Holly’s looks like counted cross stitch, but she used markers for the stitches on the stamped holly.

These six tags are Janice’s shiny green ornament, Rosie’s blue snowflakes, Theresa’s Just for You scalloped circles, Connie’s canvas snowman, Ursula’s snowman and Linda T’s Happy Holidays.

These five are Jeannie’s Santa, my fir branch, Dani’s Merry Christmas, Ella’s Holly and house and Therese’s flying Santa.

Tange was finishing these Santas up at the party!

Four ladies had time to make and bring in gifts for everybody! Ella made the jam jar with cookies inside, Lona brought chocolate covered pretzels and Helen did up hot chocolate envelopes.

Melanie was late because her gingerbread men were still baking! Here’s Jeannie holding one of them.

We had the usual rowdy Chinese gift exchange with lots of giving and taking! While the gifts were supposed to be anonymous, the first gift opened by new member Linda T. turned out to have been made by another new member, Patty. We couldn’t keep that a secret, it was so special. Patty decorated/embellished this paper mache book box (maybe from Hobby Lobby) and filled it with the makings of Christmas cards.

Here’s the sample card, the stamped back of the sample and Linda showing off the sample. She was the first to choose a gift, but she didn’t have it long!

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Here’s our tables of yummy snacks, savory and sweet. We put a pretty big dent in all those goodies!

I think that’s it for this post. I’ll do the exchange cards next.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Vulcan

2010-12-14T08:51:00.001-05:00

Last week Russel and I went to Birmingham, AL, for his annual company Christmas party. We didn’t get around much, but we did go to the highest point in Birmingham to Vulcan Park. Vulcan is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes, in ancient Roman religion and Roman Neopaganism (thanks Wikepedia). A statue of Vulcan was cast in 1904, did time at the St. Louis World’s Fair and was erected in 1936 at his present location. He was extensively repaired in 1999 to his initial glory, with much controversy over his bum. To cover it or not to cover it, that was question. Here’s a few pics we took late in the afternoon, with the sun setting behind him. Click on any picture to enlarge it and hit back key to return to this post.

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Here you can see his hammer and anvil.

Here’s a pic of what they decided to do about his bum. They left it as the sculptor intended. Thank goodness for the apron in the front!

He is a great lightning attractor, too, with lightning rods stuck in the top of his head and on the end of his spear.

If you’re interested in more, go to http://www.visitvulcan.com/.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Helen’s Workshop

2010-12-05T05:55:00.001-05:00

Yesterday Helen hosted a workshop at Theresa’s and we had a great time. Theresa is a terrific cook and made monkey bread for us to start on and a marvelous lunch of two kinds of quiche and an apple salad. Janice brought her lemon fluff dessert which finished off our day perfectly. I forgot my camera, but managed to take a few pics with my phone! As always, click on the pic to enlarge it and hit back to return to post.

First up, a coupla monkeys going for the monkey bread!

Then, Jeannie being silly with two of my samples.

Helen and her hostess gift. Instead of candies it was full of ribbons and other little SU goodies.

Here’s Therese, Janice and Jeannie working hard!

Here’s our first make and take, made with Bells and Boughs DSP, Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke cardstock and Tags Till Christmas stamp set. We used the decorative label, circle scallop and eyelet border punches, and the Petals a Plenty embossing folder. Punched out a cherry cobbler decorative label and scalloped circle and after cutting the decorative label in half and trimming off the little points by the cut, layered all three together for a punched up focal point popped up on dimensionals.

Here’s our second make and take using sweet treat cups and Sweet Snowglobe. Colors of CS are Marina Mist, Whisper White and Bashful Blue. I think on this sample, I took a q-tip to the trees and house to remove the bashful blue ink from the stamp, then colored on the rubber with red and green markers. In the class, we just stamped the image with bashful blue and colored right over it. Worked great. A glue pen, glitter, fluffy snow and ribbon finished it off.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Creative Images November Meeting

2010-11-18T07:32:00.001-05:00

I was in Minnesota during the meeting Monday a week ago, but Jeannie and Lona stepped up. I finally got the pictures Lona took with Jeannie’s camera processed and ready to post. They even remembered to give me a list of who made what! We had three guests, all of whom joined. Welcome Patty, Linda and Melanie. The theme for November’s exchange cards was “The Layered Look” and 6 ladies participated in the ATC exchange theme of “Old World.” As always, click on a pic to enlarge it and hit the back key to return to the post. Since I wasn’t there, I will only identify who did them.

First, Ursula’s butterflies.

Here’s Connie’s flowers.

Dani’s flowers.

Ella’s butterfly. I love Holly Berry’s butterfly stamps!

Holly’s Bee.

Janice’s butterflies. I’m sensing a pattern here!

Jeannie’s ship.

Linda T’s best wishes card.

Linda S’s ribbon weave teapot.

Lona’s leaves.

Patty’s snowmen.

Tange’s holly fan.

Therese’s turkey. Gobble, gobble.

You really need to click on these to see the details. Clockwise from top left, Smile for the Camera by Connie; Joy by Tange; Cafe Vin by Dani; and Flapper by Ella.

Old Face by Therese and Ships by Jeannie.

Great job, ladies, making them and taking the pics. See you all at the Christmas party on Dec. 13! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome!

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Pam’s Workshop

2010-11-16T19:53:00.001-05:00

Pam hosted a workshop for me on November 13 and we made a lovely watercolor card and played with tag stamps and punches. For the latter, I took as many punches as I could carry that work with the stamp sets that use the punches. Before that, we watercolored with reinkers on this card for a make and take.

I made two little gift bags as hostess gift/drawing prizes and let Pam pick which one she wanted as a hostess. She picked this one I made with one of the mini lunch sacks and a piece of Deck the Halls DSP. I used some Bravo Burgundy grosgrain ribbon to finish it off.

The scrap on the gift sack was what I had left after making this cute little bag. Theresa won this in the drawing.

I got the idea to make this from Dawn Griffin’s October 29 post for a cute and simple box video: http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stampin_studio/

I wanted a sweet treat cup on it, so I punched out the hole and stuck in the cup, after which I filled the bag with Kisses. The hole punch also took a chunk out of the bottom flap, but I just used that piece under the others and you can’t even tell.

My first try at the box ruined a piece of the Deck the Halls DSP, but I managed to save one corner of it, which I fussy cut out and made into this card. I used the Tags Till Christmas stamp set and the Decorative Label punch to finish it off, along with Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke cardstocks.

That’s it for now. I’ll be posting pics from my stamp club as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome!

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Back from Minnesota!

2010-11-15T16:02:00.002-05:00

Hi, friends. I’m back from Minnesota and way behind on my blogging. I have this report on my trip, then I have to do a post on the November stamp club meeting and all its cards (Lona took pics with Jeannie’s camera) and then a post on Pam’s workshop this last Saturday. So much to do and so little time! First things first, though.

My sister Betsy was my birthday present (a week late) when I was four. It’s been handy having our birthdays so close and this year, as her present to us, Betsy flew me up to Minnesota for a week’s visit. I was originally supposed to arrive on her birthday, but a week before, she broke a bone in her foot, twice, and in a subsequent fall, broke her tailbone! Ouch! So she changed my ticket to a couple weeks later. She was doing much better by the time I left on the 9th. Weather was gorgeous, sunny and cool, though a bit breezy, the whole time I was there. At the end of this post, I’ll tell you what happened almost as soon as I left!

I was a little too late to see much in the way of Fall colors, but Betsy had this Burning Bush on the corner of her house. By the time I left, it was almost bare, but I got these two pics the day after I arrived.

We did manage to hit up a few stamp stores and I found a nice sweater and hoody, but mostly, we just tooled around. Our first outing was to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. Here’s a few pics from Slippery’s, where we had lunch right on the Mississippi. This restaurant figured in the Jack Lemon-Walter Matthau movie "Grumpy Old Men." The River rushed by right next to the verandah and I had to go out for a pic of me standing on the Mississippi River. Glad no gust of wind came along to blow me off! Click on any pic to see it larger.

After lunch, we stopped in the eagle center just in time to get these pics!

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They brought in three eagles for the lecture. All three had been injured too severely to be reintroduced to the wild, but the Center is very successful healing injured eagles and raptors of all kinds for return to their natural habitat. If you’d like, go to www.nationaleaglecenter.org for more information.

After the Eagles, we stopped off at Lark Toys in Kellogg (www.larktoys.com) , MN, to check out the carousel. In a trip almost 20 years ago, Betsy had taken me to Lark Toys and they were still caring the animals for the carousel and they have since built the canopy and machinery. It’s all finished and Betsy, her friend Barb and I all had a spin.

Here’s an album of my faves of the carousel critters, the flamingo, dragon, troll and giraffe with monkeys on his neck. The moose was not on the carousel, but I love him anyway.

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Lark Toys also had quite a collection of nesting dolls:

The next day, Betsy took me (I drove us wherever we went) to the Spam Museum, just down the road from the Hormel factory in Austin, MN. It’s a free museum, full of tongue-in-cheek humor. Here’s Betsy and me with Mr. Spam. Betsy rented a kneely scooter for my visit so she could zip along resting one knee on the scooter. Very cool and much faster and easier than her crutches.

This is a view of the ceiling with a conveyor belt kind of thing loaded with cans of Spam, rolling around like a little train set overhead.

My last full day in Rochester was so nice I didn’t even wear a jacket. I flew out Tuesday afternoon. Friday, it snowed so much heavy, wet snow in Minneapolis, planes were grounded, flights cancelled, power was knocked out to thousands.

Here’s a couple pics I lifted off weather.com.

Very happy to be home before Winter arrived in Minnesota! Thanks for stopping by. I’ll post the club pics and my workshop as soon as I can.

Update: My sister corrected me on my original post. The restaurant in Wabasha is Slippery's, not Jerry's, and the carousel was carved and built in the last twenty years, not restored. Also, she fell on her bum again Sunday night. At least her foot is getting better and she can put weight on it. Such a clutz, my sister is.

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Happy Birthday, Sis!

2010-10-21T10:36:00.001-04:00

Several months ago my sister Betsy asked if I could put together something to celebrate our birthdays. We are 4 years and one week apart. I said if she’d send me a couple of shadow box frames, sure, I could do that. I thought about it for a few months and came up with the following shadow boxes.

I’ve printed off the computer and cut out our names and birthdays and the sisters’ sentiment with Nestabilities. The Air Force pin commemorates that we are both Air Force brats and we were both in the AF. The drawing is a scan of a sketch Betsy did of both of us with our dog Mitzi under my left arm. I colored them with watercolor pencils. I made both flowers with the ornament punch.

The first is mine, with pinks and reds and a rose. My pin is Jamie Moyer, my all time favorite Mariner. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Betsy’s is in blues with a quilters’ pin in cloisonné with a white magnolia.

And this last picture proves to my skeptical sister that I did them both at the same time before I shipped hers off!

She got her shadow box in time for her birthday (not normal for me). I also made her this birthday card using Diana Gibbs’ spotlight technique I linked in my post for Janice’s workshop.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome!

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
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Holiday Bundle Sale – Save 20%!

2010-10-21T10:11:00.001-04:00

Dates: October 19-December 16, 2010
You can purchase select products--perfect for Amazing cards, Beautiful packaging, and Cherished gifts--at a 20 percent discount! Click on photo above to see the bundle flyer.
Things to Remember:

This offer is available on all order types (customer, demonstrator, workshop, and online). Additional products from current catalogs may be purchased on the same order.
There is no minimum purchase required to participate in this promotion.
You must use the bundle item codes provided. The 20 percent discount will not be applied if individual bundle item numbers are entered separately.

Hurry and don’t miss out!

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome!

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)

Janice’s Halloween Party/Workshop

2010-10-18T16:07:00.001-04:00

Janice loves to entertain and when she hosted my SU workshop on Saturday, she pulled out all the stops. Her house was decorated for Halloween/Autumn and the food was marvelous. Theresa helped Janice in that department and we all ate like pigs! Here are pictures of Janice’s table, her goodies, the ladies who all enjoyed themselves and the make and takes we made. Click on any picture to make it larger.

First, a picture of the table before we messed it all up. You can see the little pumpkin poop treats I made next to the little black or orange gift boxes Janice made.

Here’s a couple pics of ladies enjoying themselves before we got started on the make and takes.

Before lunch, we made this with Delightful Decorations and the Movers and Shapers die with the ornament window.

Here’s the food set out on the table (love that sneaker bowl) . . .

the mummy dogs . . .

and the “cockroaches,” actually twice-baked potatoes decorated up with bacon and green olives. They were full of melted cheese and served with sour cream to dollop on top. Yumm!

After lunch, we made this Christmas card, a CASE from a gorgeous card designed for her Founders Circle swap by Diana Gibbs. Read all about it here. (Click on “here” for a live link.) I used gold cord instead of red ribbon. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I hope Diana is flattered!

Scroll down to her Aug. 23 post for her video tutorial on this spotlight technique using Elements of Style stamp set or click here.

After our second make and take, we had dessert, as if we hadn’t had enough good stuff to eat. Theresa made these darling little “skeletons” with covered pretzels stacked on a tiny red velvet cupcake and topped off with a marshmallow head. I love this pic of Theresa and Janice.

And if the skeletons weren’t enough, Theresa made this awesome pumpkin gingerbread trifle. It is a supposedly “lite” dessert from Taste of Home. You can find the recipe here. It tasted every bit as good as it looks.

We all had a great time and can’t wait for Janice to throw another party!

Thanks for stopping by. Comments always welcome!

(-: ¸.·´* .·´*¨¨)) -:¦:- ***
((¸¸.·´*~Kathy.·´*)****¨¨))
-:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)