SWF and then some...

Not much blogging this week. I'm doing a little scrapping, and some picture taking, though! Pictures first, since it's that time of week again!


Sky Watch Friday is pretty awesome, and I love checking out all the other blogs. The cooloest thing is that the pictures transcend language..no matter what country or language (even our own!) the photos tell the story...here's mine!
Both of these photos were taken at the public boat ramp in Jacksonville, near where I live. Last night, I was looking out my balcony door, and saw the tops of the pines just glowing red, I grabbed my camera and ran out the door, locking it, and walking real fast down the road. By the time I got there it had darkened a bit, so I missed the brightest part, but what I did get was still an awesome sight! The daytime photo is looking east I believe, under the trout river bridge (I-95) which you can't see in the picture. So there are my pics for the week.
Tonight I decided to stop and get gas. I still had half a tank, but knowing the price usually rises a bit on the weekends, and seeing that the gas stations by the airport were under $4, I stopped at Hess to fill up. It was $3.89 for regular, and it's quite sad that I'm happy about that price. But while I was pumping the sun was out, and all of a sudden the skies just opened up. The wind was blowing, it came down in buckets and I was soaked, head to toe. At that point I was glad I only had to fill half a tank, lol.

Another new layout!

Had a couple hours this week to do a little scrapping, in between chatting with my best bud Jeanne. Red Sox and Yankees are playing this weekend, but tonight's game isn't being televised here, the Atlanta game is on instead, so I have my trusty XM Radio rolling..

From Jeanne's Blog I learned that Carolyn is giving away some scrap goodies...those would be great to spark my creativity!! Very nice of you to share the wealth!!! :)

Onto my most recent layout..

American crafts PP behind the pics. pointing hand stamp by Melissa Frances, Ink smudges by Delta. Photo taken somewhere in Western Mass. Either the Sugar House, a craft fair, or the haunted hayride place...could have been the apple orchard too. I have no idea. LOL But it was fun, and that's what matters!

Have a great weekend all!!

Skywatch Friday..

Here is this weeks entry for skywatch friday...Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to go here and see all the links to other participants great photos!!

Both of these photos were taken on Rt 247 in Branford, FL, I love passing the wide open fields with the windows open, blaring the radio and singing at the top of my lungs. Happy SWF to all!!

Buds..

I could have added stuff to this LO til I was blue in the face, but luckily I stopped, and then I laughed..Ah we had such a great time that night. But don't we always??

Letters in title from various companies, PP from Adornit, stamped flourish from Autumn leaves, Friends and small flower & star Rub-ons from Royal & Langnickel, adhesive vellum quote from Generations, Journaling with Zig pens...Photos by Jeanne

Autumn in New England..

Of all the things I miss about Home since moving to the South, the one thing I miss most (besides people, obviously!) is the fall. Usually my vacation is around then, but this year I'm going to San Francisco to see a friend. So, hopefully next year I'll make my usual spring/fall vacations...This picture pretty much sums up fall for me, driving thru the small farming towns, streets with fields of bright orange pumpkins on both sides. Farm stands loaded with fresh just-picked veggies, and little kids trying so hard to pick up a huge pumpkin, all by themselves.

On this LO I used Chatterbox PP for all the small leaves, large leaf has the reverse of the PP, large leaf stencil from Tuppertoys (yes I still have mine!), "fall & Pumpkin chips from Colorbok, "pick of the Patch" letters from American Crafts Thickers, and stamped with a flourish from Autumn Leaves. Photo taken in Hatfield, MA I believe...lol.

First (scrappin') Crop!

I finished 2 layouts yesterday at the crop put on by the Pictures In Time Scrapbook shop in Orange Park, FL. We had a lot of fun, ate some christmas-y dinner and desserts, and it was (unintentionally) freezing in the room. The only thing missing was snow! Note to self: bring a sweatshirt next time!! Brrrrr!

Here is the first LO's I finished: First one is for my mom's birthday several years ago. PP is American Crafts Metropolitan, Flower Rub-ons from Junkitz Expressions, Sun stamp is from Autumn Leaves, "on turning" and random 50's are from studio G, Rub-on "50" is from 7Gypsies, Date stamp from Melissa Frances.

The second one is for the doggy that I miss so much. PP is BasicGrey, "Loyal Companion, Fetch and paw print stickers from Reminisce, collar from Jolees leatherettes. I don't remember where the "Sadie" chipboard letters are from, but i painted them white and stamped them with autumn leaves flourishes.

Sky Watch Friday

One picture looking to the east (that would be the rainbow) and one facing the storm to the west. Taken yesterday on Rt 10 (aka atlantic Blvd) jacksonville, FL
Go here to see the official Skywatch Friday Blog, and see all the other great pics people have taken!

My 4th of July LO

I finally got some pics printed for the 2 fireworks shows I attended. Both were so much fun..and here is the layout I came up with. I did a little shopping (mostly in the clearance section) and picked up a white stamp pad. I couldn't wait to try it out, hence the dark background.

Swirl stamp by Autumn Leaves, number stamps from Martha Stewart, July stamp from Studio G. White ink pad from Ink It Up!

Texas memories LO

I'm on a roll now..LOL This layout is just a hodgepodge of pics/memories from my fairly short time in Texas. I may have to do a second page, but for now this one about covers it..

Cow Skull, flag & gold stars by Jolee's Boutique, rub-on stripe down center from American Crafts MiniMarks, "T" from ColorBok Punch out pack, Jewel.

Sunrise Service..

My most recent completed layout tells about my love of watching the sunrise on the beach. It's definitely on e of the best things about living here. I'm lucky to have a public boat ramp nearby where I can also see beatuful sunsets on the water. Looks for a layout on that soon! :)

Ribbon by Making memories, Date stamp (6-20-08) by Martha Stewart, Letters "E" & "I" in journaling from Sticko, flower stamp from Autumn Leaves..

My First Boston LO..

I'm sure the first of many...so many pics to choose from!! I ended up choosing a few that were tall & skinny (or could be cropped that way), then balanced it out with a couple of square pics. I kept it fairly simple, i guess, compared to my others. PP is Perhaps, Fiona from Basic Grey, die cut camera & travel stickers are from Imagine That, The little folder (holding CharlieTicket & Riverside Parking pass), is from ColorBok punch out pack, jewel.

I like how this one came out, and I can't wait to use a couple of the pics Jeanne got of me on some layouts soon!! I'm always taking pics, like her, but she has a hubby to occasionally get one of her. :)

Oh, What A Night!

New layout. Whenever I go home on vacation we try to catch Akashic Record at Bishops lounge, they've cut back on shows, but the Hammond player, Beau has a regular wednesday gig with some other friends, so this time when I was home we only got to see the side project. But all the guys are great, and the music still rocks, and the bartender (Evan) still gave us olives to munch on :)

Best Friends

This is just one layout that will feature me & my best bud Jeanne. Pretty self explanatory, methinks. More to come....Hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend!

Puppies and Snow!

Ok, I made one page today...so far anyhoo. it's still early. I definitely have enough pics on this page. lol

These pics were taken a few years ago in my parents backyard in Massachusetts. The dogs love to play, and they sometimes play rough. I had quite a hard time getting focused pics, but it was sure fun trying! Sadie is the black lab, she's my baby, another rescue. Morgan is the Golden..he's such a good boy. They get along very well, so long as he worships her.

Overthinking is bad!

My newest scrap page...I'm going to have more pages than not with many pics on them. I rarely will have a page built around just one picture...at least the way I take pics lately. Subject to change. hehe.

So here is my latest page done. One of my silly cat. I feel like I have more than that due to the 2-4 strays that hang out on the balcony sunning on a daily basis, but my boy is strictly indoors, so I don't worry about them.

Scrappy-ness..

Still being pretty new to scrapping, but have loved the magazines for several years, I decided to finally do my first "real" layout. The first of many, of course. I have a ton of embellishments, and paper. Never mind the tools and things. Sooo, I might as well put them to good use!
The one I chose to do was for my first tattoo, since I had all the photos needed from the start. I definitely enjoyed the process, and hope I can keep plugging along, so long as it stays fun. Since I also love photography, it won't be any problem at all!

Fresh Food

In my recent quest to start adding more fruits & veggies to my diet I went to the Jacksonville Farmers Market today. I walked all around checking prices and just seeing who had what. I ended up buying some okra, tomatoes, a red pepper, an onion and some yellow squash. Not a bad haul!

Today for supper I sauteed the squash, half the onion and a chopped tomato. It was delicious! I had some Italian Sausage that was thawed and had a scoop of that on top.

Check out my Slide Show!

Digging Thru The Archives..

So I was going thru some of my older photos, and decided to scan and post a few of my favorites.

I drove down to Florida in Feb. 2001 with my sister and her family for a short vacation. I was mostly brought along to watch my then 12 year old niece, while my sister and BIL went to the Daytona 500. The infamous one, where Dale crashed..very sad.
Anyhoo, We had a lot of fun, going to Daytona Beach, Disney, Universal Studios, St Pete, and then, sadly, back home to Massachusetts. Brrr.

While we were in St Pete, we took a boat ride/tour to Shell Island to collect Sand dollars, and other shells. I still have my little box of them, too. I got this picture as we were boarding the boat to go out, and it won a blue ribbon in the 3 County Fair, In Northampton. I'm very proud of this picture!

So today I made my way into Sephora, and Now I know why I pretty much stay away. Actually I didn't do too badly, considering they had a ton of new summer products to check out.

In the end I got several samples, some shower gel, and a 3 pack of probably the best smelling lotion ever.