Welcome Spencer

Hello everyone. After asserting for months that I did not want to adopt a puppy (we were hoping for an older dog) that is exactly what we got. This little guy just melted my heart. Spencer is from the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation and is now a member of our family.

His mother is a white/blonde lab and gave birth to a litter of 9 pups. Paternal heritage might have a bit of hound mix. Everything came together as it always does to produce this quirky character we have affectionately named Spencer. We bandied Latte about and settled on the name Zachary chose. He had a great first night with us and warmed to crate training. 

We visited Pet Smart for a number of Saturdays since last summer looking for the perfect member for our family. He found us. Spencer is mellow enough for me and playful enough for Zachary. It doesn't get any better than that. Where is that Staples button? lol.

He is three months old and weighs in at 12 pounds. I am certain that will quickly change as he has a great appetite. 

Until then.

Beach Birthday Bash

We spent Zachary's birthday celebration at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, USA.


He had wanted a party at the National Zoo but Mom was a bit slow in getting her act together. I talked him into a beach trip.


 
We invited his grandmother and a cousin who shares the same birthday as him.








The boys wore themselves out and I relaxed for a full 15 minutes.

While I was away feeding the meter they were buried in sand and had to stay that way until I returned.

Their grandmother said they wanted me to see them. I think she milked it for a break. She knew where they were and did not have to follow them. lol


Here is the card I made for his birthday. He asked for dinosaurs...really?...and I was happy to oblige. He also wanted the Dilophosaurus on his cake.

He received gift cards to Toys R Us so that will be our next stop. He went to bed eight and woke up nine. That birthday eve he said to me this will be your last hug from your eight-year-old. I hugged him; held him tightly and shed a few tears. He is growing up waaaay too fast. So long eight, it was a great year.

Until then.

Happy July Everyone. Just wanted to pop in and share a quick card I made for a birthday party we attended. The border across the top is a Martha Stewart punch.

I really kept it pretty basic by using some rub-ons on white cardstock which I trimmed around and mounted onto black. Across the center are some of the emboss and punch folders from Quickutz. The green backing paper is from WRMK paper by the pound.

Of course I had to add a bit of glitter with my Sakura pens. The inks are all Martha Stewart tear drops.

Until then.

America, it's your birthday

No way could I let this day go by without saying Happy Birthday to the United States of America. Yes, we fought the good fight for freedom but it came at a cost.

For the many men and women who fought and lived and fought and died, I thank you. I think this photo of my son from last year embodies all that I feel living here. We are proud to be Americans.

When I look to the Heavens I do ask that God send down a special blessing to us.

Happy Fourth of July 2012. Let's do this again next year.
Until then.

Happy Father's Day

I could not let this day pass without wishing all of the Dads out there a very happy Father's Day!!!  Whether you are a dad or not, if you are a man, I hope that you have been a role model and a support for someone along the way.

My students made cards for their dads using some quotes I found online. I used the Create a Critter cartridge to cut this simple frog and dog. We only had a couple of interrupted hours to put them together.

The pop-up template is from the DIY Scrapbooking show with Sandi Genovese. Not sure if the template is still available but it is quite easy to make.

 

I think they turned out  well and I know the Dads and Moms will adore them. Many of them decorated around the dad and child and their covers.

The silhouette (one boy and one girl) is from A Child's Year. Their personal message is written on a white card just in front of the critter.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until then.

Spectrum Noir

Hello everyone. I have finally gotten the opportunity to upload at least one of my Spectrum Noir colored cards. This is the one I showed for the Vee-dio. You can check it out on YouTube if you haven't already.

I have been experimenting with different paper brands and thus far my two top faves are the Borden and Riley and the Manga artist paper. I did have a new one arrive that was on back-order and hope to get to play with it this weekend. This small stamp is from the dollar bin at Michaels. I love picking up these small sentiments. The swirls are part of the stamp image. I cut it out using the scalloped rectangle nestability die.

Although my camera angles did not pick up on it, but I used the Sakura clear stardust pen to accentuate the leaf veins. I must admit that my background highlighting still needs loads of work.

The leaves on the bottom are from the same Martha Stewart set as the large focal one. I colored these in with the Sakura glaze gel pens. I love how subtle the sparkle is. Sometimes ya gotta hold back on the bling. Did I just write that? LOL

As always thanks for stopping by. Gotta go and work on something for Father's Day.

Until then.

Shenandoah Museum Upstairs

Once we exited the Caverns we were treated to a fun trip through a quasi-museum. Again I took more pictures than the law allows. These are seen as you are exiting the upstairs, but I thought I would share them first.

These are SUPER HUGE as they were part of the 1993 Rose Parade and now reside at the Shenandoah Caverns.

I love the habitat created for these furry friends.  Everything looks very realistic.

Look out Zachary, I think there is a bear behind you!!!!

This is one of my favorites. These guys were really communing with those bears. 
Will have more pictures in a couple of days so please check back. 
Until then.