A Strange Combination

Last weekend DH went to Idaho to check on our land and our trees...since they are in a government program so many of them must live each year and that takes constant care...plus we got a really nasty letter this year about maintaining 80% in each row. I could go on but why...

So here is Kudzo out with Daddy in Idaho, she needs a hair cut like there is no tomorrow but we are getting ready to go home for a quick vacation and I am hoping my father will take care of it...so dad, please get out those scissors...

It was such a clear day that you could see for miles and miles and miles so I took advantage of that when taking pictures...kinda wish i had taken this one more close up...pretty sure they are both squinting but hey they so rarely take a photo together it is a shame to waist it. The Mountains in the background are the Grand Tetons...Our land has a fabulous view...can't wait to actually get out there and take advantage of it.

Who would have guessed that DH had such an eye. He took this incredible picture of our Choke Cherry row...the trees had just started to fruit and turn when we got there. I just love the fence in the background, one day we will actually finish fencing in the land...one day, those fences are gawd awful expensive!

Okay this one is just for fun...way down there in that horrible Desert Flight suit is a friend of ours. He is about my height so this is suppose to give you an idea of how big the trees have gotten over the past six years. I know to some of you they look itty bitty but trust me they are huge in comparison to when we planted them. Some of the Blue Spruce were no bigger than my pinkie...it is amazing they lived at all in my opinion especially since we are not out there to get rid of the deer and vols...

All in all the trip was a success...the water has been turned off for the winter and the lines flushed...We have our ski trip all planned out for February so the next photos will be a vast spans of white...that is until around July when we go back out to turn the water back on and see what made it through the winter. Keep your fingers crossed that we maintain the required 80% to stay in the program...

Okay now onto a totally different type of pretty picture...like the title of this post says, a strange combination.

So I have been spending most of my time working on some custom orders that I can not post due to the fact that they are Christmas presents and birthday presents and just because presents. But have no fear I have taken pictures and even have a post or two scheduled...








So here is what I have done that I can post. I finally finished up the second Design Team Assignment from Repeat Impressions. The Christmas portion. I of course have a billion more ideas floating around in my head for the stamps I have received but I have to finish up more of these custom orders before I start playing with fun stuff.

The stamped words are the lyrics to O Christmas tree...all the lyrics...LOL I only knew the O Christmas Tree part...I know the image is hard to see...it is a little better in the photo below...

the background paper is one of my Twinkling H2O creations made with green, gold, and red paints. The brighter green is a stamped image of a balsam fir twig that I embossed randomly all over the card.

The pocket the tag/wall hanging slides into is done in the same fashion. I used the same Twinkling background paper and Balsam Fur stamp. I deconstructed the song after stamping it onto coordinating green card stock and attached it by sewing it on with red DMC floss highlighting each stitch with a red seed bead. I really like the way this turned out. When I originally wrote the plan down I was concerned that it would be boring...

Once I finished the pocket I went back to the tag/wall hanging and decided to add the gold seed bead strung hanging device. On top of that I highlighted the small star at the top of the O Christmas Tree stamped image with gold Glitter.

This project was a lot of fun and very simple even if it was a bit time consuming with the bead stringing and the making of the background paper.

















My second Christmas Card for Repeat Impressions is totally different. I went with the silver and blue combination that has become so popular.

I stamped the stars randomly all over a dark blue heavy weight card stock and silver embossed them. On a separate sheet of paper I stamped the Angel and the Joy images. I painted the angel with the Twinkeling H2O's of course, highlighting her wings with Grey Flocking...The Earth in Joy is painted with Sparkeling H2O's.

I cut Joy out in an oval and dusted the remainder of the image with blue and silver inks. Before attaching them to the card I wrapped Joy in silver DMC floss that I ran through the angels hands and tied into a bow. To finish of the card I wrapped it all with the Silver DMC floss...

And to finish it all off...I must now venture into the realm of the "It was eventually bound to happen"

Last night DH came home with his #19 Tweet Retirement Limited Edition Print that he has been talking about for months. He even had me go and check my framing materials to see what I would need to get it behind glass and up in the office right away.

Well, this one will never grace our walls, DH put it on the kitchen table last night so that I could take it to the frame shop tomorrow...a whopping 24 hours, that is all...it didn't make it. I was working and who knows where DH was, I think he was washing my car (yippie!) Well, Kudzo located a working pen and decided that it was time to color...where did she color??? You guessed it, all over Kevin's prised Print.

I have never seen DH look so upset as when he brought the destroyed print to show me our child's perfect rendering. I told him to see if he could order another one, that I would even buy it for him this time...so far we have not heard back if we will be able to get another one. He has all the planes he has ever flown in model and print form...it will be such a shame if we can't get one...

Well, that is all for now...I know it is a lot...

Glittery Snow Bunny

Well, were home from our fantastic ski trip in Idaho. We visited Grand Targee Ski Resort for almost an entire week. During that week it snowed every single day! I have never seen that much snow before and I’ve been skiing there for almost 10 years now. It was incredible, the best skiing we’ve ever had. Anyway I know you can’t tell much from the first picture but it is an image up the mountain from the base camp. We or maybe the locals, I’m not sure, has nicknamed the mountain the Grand Foggy…but trust me on a clear day it is really far up there.

DH was really disappointed that I would not undo

all my skiing paraphernalia for a picture so this is as good as it gets. But I mean come on it was like 10 degrees and the wind was blowing and look at all the snow coming down all around me. There was no way this southern girl was going to let any more of her skin be touched by the fridged Idaho air…

I don’t know why he gave me such a hard time…he’s all bundled up in the only picture I have of him. We are on our way up the lift before the snow has started falling. You can see behind us that there is still a ton of snow and absolutely no one on the mountain. We practically had the entire thing to ourselves…it was great.

Kudzoo was an absolute doll the entire time we were there even though she was cutting her first tooth…thank goodness that finally happened, I really was worried I was going to have to invest in baby dentures…not to mention I was tired of mashing up her food. Anyway, she posed for the camera like a champ making it very difficult for me to select what pictures to post. Here are a few of my favorites, let me know if you would like hard copies.





A not so funny story about her gloves. DH and I were taking her to daycare one morning and she started to absolutely lose it…and not in a good way. We had no idea what could be wrong. Did we overdress her? Was something pinching her? We tried and tried to figure it out, then we took off her mittens, not the ones in the photo. Her hands were absolute ice cycles. So during a skiing break DH and I went to look for her an appropriate pair. Of course DH had to make sure they were water proof, that they would not scrunch her fingers etc etc…

So we pick her up at daycare and present her with her new gloves. And we are off and running, she is all over the snow…and not a tear in sight. I guess she is just too southern for the Idaho temperatures…like her mother.

I know I’ve been talking about how cold it is. For some of you that is incomprehensible but check out how pink my cheeks are in this photo. Remember I had my goggles on all day and I still look like I’ve been colored with a pink crayon…

On our last day we took it easy…well we decided to fly to Utah that night and spend the night there. Anyway Uncle R. and Aunt S. drove us to Idaho Falls to catch our airplane. We stopped at the top of the pass for a last minute family photo shoot since we did not get any on the mountain because the cold air killed the camera’s battery. So here we all are at the top of the pass.

Aunt S. and Uncle R. really helped us out with Kudzoo. They even baby sat her one night so that DH and I could go out to dinner. It was fabulous! Thank you two for helping us out so much and for skiing with us…we really had a Great time.

Next time we visit the Mountain in the winter Kudzoo will be on skis’…can you believe it? I can’t wait to see that :)

Thrilling Thursday

Lunch with the Diva's! JJO and A

We went to eat at Joe's American Grill, everyone but me had a Salad...I ate a fabulous Hamburger...can't get them at home anymore and this one was really good with Provolone cheese and French fries.

The top photo is Amy and the bottom one is JJO

Anyway...onto the goodies

A and JJO had a Diva package for Kudzoo which was so nice of them and so much fun for all of us...especially Kudzoo...

-The first thing we opened was a Zuzie Q. Woozie Weeble...it is fantastic...especially since she has been playing with mine (my father drug them out of the Attic) this one is much safer and far brighter and newer...she is playing with it right now.
-Next came the Beauty Kit (fabric) Bright red and zips so she can carry it around. This was the big hit at lunch. Inside were all the essentials, a hair blow dryer, nail polish, a make up kit, hair spray and lipstick! The girl is all done up now.
-a Face/hand towel with pink trim and a purple and pink palace
-Baby Einstein Seasons discovery flash cards...I so wanted these!
-A wonderfully cute summer outfit a white t-shirt with glittery (yahoo) butterflies and plaid striped shorts in lovely pastel pinks, oranges, yellows and greens...it is so cute!
-Now my favorite items in my daughters diva box...a grey shinny picture frame with a bobble head in the shape of an elephant. It will go perfectly in her bedroom...
Arn't ya'll jelous of DD??? I am :)

This is a photo of JJO with the box/bag that I gave her before she ripped into it. I not only packed everything in the Market Basket bag but I wrapped each gift in the bags...like wrapping paper...I know, I'm a nut

okay...my box...oh my fabulous box...oh the wondrous items I received...

-So, in walks JJO and Amy and of course JJO has the diva items in a Market Basket plastic bag...but she cheated because inside the plastic bag was a gorgeous carry case with a lovely flower design and a very sturdy handle!

But ya'll arn't interested in the packaging...so here goes

-A 22 oz, yes ladies the largest size, Yankee Candle, Country Linen scent...one of my favorites...
-A pair of gold ball earrings off of my Amazon Wish List...I already have them in my ears...actually I put them on at the lunch table LOL
-2 WL books...The Book Thief and The Funeral Planner...yahoo I have my Z author for the author challenge
-A subscription to Family Fun Magazine...I read the December/January issue all the way back from lunch...Such great ideas!
-Goonies on DVD...which I am now going to crawl in bed and watch

Well...that was lunch and boy was it fabulous! I've never been so nervous about meeting anyone before, nor have I been so worried about the Diva box that I am giving...I hope she liked it.

My mom, Kudzoo and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. We went into every baby store in the mall and didn't find anything...we were about to leave when I saw Baby Gap off in the corner...so we went in and it was great...there was nothing in the store that we didn't like. And that wouldn't have looked absolutely adorable on Kudzoo
-My mother bought her a 2-in-1 shirred print dress some matching socks and a bathing suit that is navy blue with a whale on the front that says "Having a whale of a time..."
-I got her a Floral button front top and button leggings that will go with her shirt of with the dress mom got her.

Wonderful Wendsday

Note: I am away from my computer so I can't upload images until I get home...but I thought I'd fill everyone in on my fabulous vacation

Today I drove down to Canton to visit one of the members of COF. The Drive was easy and the visit was wonderful!

We sat around drinking coffee and chatting while Kudzoo played with a fabulous Colorful book that J gave to her.

J also gave had a gift for me, a book called "My Mother Gave me the Moon" and inscribed it with "...- At long last we meet! And what a delight it is!! This book expresses so well all that I have imagined you to be. Blessings, J"

Finally we realized that we had to get going and we headed out to some stamping stores. The first one we went to was closed...they had not updated their web page...shame on them. So we drove over to one of J's favorites and it was Great. It has been so long since I've been in a Stamping/Scrapbooking store that I was overwhelmed. But I was able to select a few items...

some that I have been searching for

The Coluzzle Cutting system

and then a few frivolous buys...

Twinkling H2O's Chestnut brown, Spiced Pumpkin, Autumn skies, Cedar Wood, China Black, Green Tea, Tahitian Blue, Rain Forest, Sunset Glow, Mango Mamba, Pear Blossom and Sapphire on Ice

Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters and Spiced Marmalade and a Stamp Set called Regal Findings

Last but not least a pack of rub ons

Note: The links are just pictures of the items bought...they are not where I purchased the items...

I also walked away with fantastic Copper paper and some grungeboard given to me by J...thanks...I can't wait to get home and try them out

The Grand Canon

While we were in Vegas for SIL wedding we all took a trip into the Grand Canon...courtesy of Biggin...thanks! Anyway it was a fantastic trip we saw it via Helicopter and then landed to take a short boat ride.