Berry Pickin'

I surprised our kids today with a little adventure.  My daughter tried as hard as she could to get it out of me where I was taking them, but I wouldn't give in.  I told them they had to wear their 'rough around' clothes, shoes...not flip flops, a hat, sunscreen, bug spray, and take long sleeve shirts and pants.  They finally guessed it when we turned down the road that had nothing but farms on both sides.

We went to Berry Patch Farms in Brighton, CO.

The first thing M wanted to know was if there would be animals there.  This picture was taken about 30 seconds after we got out of the car...

She didn't care what kind of animal it was, just so she could pet it!

We took a short wagon ride out to the raspberry fields.  I was hoping their strawberries were in season, but they won't be ready for about two more weeks.  Since the kids will be in school, we may have to brave the crowds on a weekend to pick our strawberries.

We decided to pick black raspberries first, and took off  down a row.

Yummy sweet deliciousness!

The mosquitoes were ruthless, and we were swarmed as soon as we started down the row, even with bug spray on.  M was over the picking about half-way through the black raspberries and just wanted to sit there.

So she helped by carrying the berries.

Picking went a lot faster once we got to the red raspberries.  They were much plumper and the bushes weren't as prickly.

But M was still done.  R did a great job picking berries between trying to catch all the grasshoppers he could find.  And they were everywhere!

I didn't think of it until now, but the ratio of berries in our hands is about the same as the ratio of berries we each picked.  (Except I should have about 10 berries in mine!)  Can you tell who licked her fingers the most?

Here is our flat of yummy berries.  I'm not sure if I will make jam out of them or just eat them, but they sure are tasty!  M is smiling because she gets to pet the animals now.

There were beds and rows of flowers you could pick, too.  These were so colorful, and the sky was overcast - perfect for taking pictures without harsh shadows.

We hung out for a while looking for animals to pet.  The baby pig was in the house because she had just had surgery, so we had to settle for the chickens and roosters.  I didn't get any pictures of the ducks because they took off as soon as they were spotted and aproached.  Check out this guy's posture and see if you can't hear him...

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We had a great time and look forward to our next farm adventure.  I must call ahead to make sure the pig is out, though!

K

Faux Washi Tape

After reading some discussions on faux washi tape, I thought I'd give it a try.  I haven't jumped on the washi tape bandwagon; given my completion tendencies, I refuse to go there.  So faux it will have to be!

I used paper tape from the dollar store.  It took a few tries to get it torn the way I wanted it.  Funny how it never tears straight when I go to put it on a patient's dressing at work, but that is all I could get it to do when I was trying to tear my drifts of snow.

Nichole posted a very cute snowman card and tag set that I styled my card after.  I loved the simple snowman stamp she used, but didn't have any similar to it, so what else was I to do but make my own!  I punched out a circle and two different ovals, taped them together and traced around them on my card.  Then I added his face, buttons, and mittens.  So fun!  I also made my own polka dot stamps a long time ago by punching out a piece of scrap rubber with both size punches from my Crop-a-dile, and glued each 'dot' to opposite ends of a chopstick.  *patting self on back*

Isn't he cute as a button?  Haha!  Get it?

I think it's past time for me to go to bed!

Supplies used:
Stamps - Hero Arts holiday sayings, home made polka dot stamp
Paper - Pool Party
Ink - white craft, Memento black
Accessories - 3/4" circle, large oval and wide oval punches, paper tape, markers, baker's twine, button, dauber

K

More Cards!

I loved all the fab modern-style cards I saw when PTI first released their Modern Basics stamp set.  So I bought it.  And it has been sitting, uninked, in my New Stamp Basket ever since.  I could never come up with something other than a CASE, and wanted to design something on my own.  When the stamping bug bit me a couple days ago, I gave it a little more thought.  But not much thought as you can see by the card I made with it...

Yea.  Pretty simple.  And pretty plain.  But the colors are pretty, aren't they?  This stamp was a lot easier to line up without a SAMJ than I thought it would be.  It is very forgiving.

Supplies used:
Stamps - PTI Modern Basics, SU Birthday Greetings (retired)
Paper - GKD PL white
Ink - tempting turquoise, Memento pear tart
Accessories - SAMJ (I didn't trust myself to get the sentiment straight and centered!)

Since I was digging around in my New Stamp Basket, I pulled out some other stamps that I bought many moons ago.  I got them at the $1 section at Joann's.  These cards got me excited about stamping again.  They are CAS at its finest.

I love this turtle.  It totally reminds me of turtles I've seen while scuba diving.  There is definitely something magical about swimming around with these magnificent creatures.  The sentiment is perfect for a turtle because if you ever see one when you are in the water, it will look at you as if to say "How are things?", but before you get a chance to answer, it has already swum away.

Yes, this one is a little cliche, but I couldn't resist.  The inside says "I was a crab".  I may have to make another one and give them to my kids when they go back to school.  Something about the incessant bickering, whining, and attempts at manipulation tells me I will be crabby until then.  (Bad Mom!)

I punched an oval out of a sticky note and used it as a mask for the sand that was made with the Speckled jumbo wheel.  Isn't the sentiment cute tucked in between his (her) claw?

This one is my favorite even though it is stamped a little too high on the card.  The hand drawn bubbles were an afterthought, but they are so small I don't think it makes it too off balance.

Did you notice all my sea creature sentiments were in gray instead of black?  I really like the look of gray for a sentiment, especially when the image is stamped with lighter colors.  It gets the point across, but doesn't yell it at you like black would.   In the crab's case, though, I could have used black!

Supplies used:
Stamps - Inkadinkado Summer assortment minis
Paper - GKD PL white
Ink - Rididng Hood Red, Kraft, Memento pear tart, tangelo, and london fog
Accessories - Speckled jumbo wheel, lg oval punch, sticky note for mask, London fog marker

I have lots of stamping ideas swimming around (no pun intended) in my head.  Lets just hope I can get them onto paper!

K

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Our new neighbors just moved in next door, so I made this card for them.  I'm not sure I like the red chair, but since this was my second attempt, I am leaving it as it is.

The inside is stamped with "Welcome to the neighborhood".

We are really going to miss our neighbors who moved to Texas to be closer to their children.  They were like surrogate grandparents to the kiddos, spoiling them with chocolate, ice cream, and candy.  But we are excited about getting to know the young family that just moved in, and the kiddos are glad there is one more child on our street to play with.

I am hoping to get back to posting here more often.  I have made a few cards this summer, but have been too lazy to take pictures of them.  I have also sewed some clothes, but don't have any pictures of them, either.  School starts in two more weeks, so I should have more time and energy then.  The kids have sucked every creative ounce of energy out of me this summer, and I can't wait to get back in a crafting groove!