HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!
WISHING YOU
PEACE, HEALTH, HAPPINESS
AND CREATIVITY!
Category: Photography
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Yosemite National Park – Photo Essay!
Hi friends! How is your week going?! I hope you’re doing great! We are in the middle of a (another) heat wave and I’m just counting down the days until Fall arrives and cooler weather returns. It’s been a hot summer, and a fun summer too! On Monday my hubs had the day off work and he took one look at my beleaguered, hot face, and said – let’s drive to the ocean today! Boy, that was just what I needed – Vitamin Sea. We didn’t know it beforehand, but we arrived at our fav beach to find MANY whales swimming in the cove! Humpback whales…. They were everywhere – and surprisingly close to the shore. We watched them for hours!! Magic! California is weird, and expensive, but boy do I feel blessed by the nature that surrounds us here! My post for today is another example of that!
Today I’m finally getting around to sharing our trip to Yosemite back in June! My post is a photo essay featuring the gorgeous Yosemite National Park in Central/Northern California! We went on a day trip on June 12th and it’s taken me a while to get it posted here! Grab a cuppa and spend a little time with me! We are very very lucky that we live fairly close to Yosemite! It’s easy for us to do a day trip down and back so that’s what we did on this trip. We’ve been here many times, but each time it feels new again and I never tire of the awesomeness of God’s creation. It’s a special place and I hope if you haven’t already, that you get to visit here one day!
All my photos today were taken with my iPhone! I have lots of very good camera equipment, but I find if I use my phone instead of all my gear, that it helps me stay more present in the moment. Gotta travel light sometimes, literally and figuratively. I was really looking for a quiet peaceful simple day, so I left all my gear at home. We filled up the cooler with drinks and yummy snacks, and hit the road at 2am! YES 2am! Ha. It takes about three hours to drive there, and you know we had to stop for coffee along the way. We saw the sun rise on the trip and that makes my husband happy! He is not only an early bird, but he is the earliest bird that wakes up the other early birds! LOL. (I am an exhausted night owl….) I hope you enjoy the photos. I’ll put some information before each one for a bit of history and context. CLICK HERE for the NPS website to read more.
This is the famous Tunnel View! Because this vista opens up right after you emerge from a short tunnel on your way into the park. It’s AMAZING! And, it’s where everyone stops for a photo op!! The waterfall you see there is Bridalveil Fall…. Lots of times there is a rainbow in the mist, but not this day. That waterfall that looks small in the photo is 600 feet tall! Does that give you some perspective on the size of this beautiful valley!?
This is Yosemite Falls (Upper)…. As reflected in the river. This in particular is one of my favorite views in the park. Gotta come early to get the reflection just right!
This is the famous El Capitan Granite Formation! This is the “rock” that you see all the movies of the rock climbers on! This tiny rock is about 3000 feet tall from the base. That’s about three times the Eiffel Tower! And people climb it! (Not me!) It’s pretty remarkable!
This is the view from the top of Glacier Point. The top waterfall in the photo is Nevada Fall, and the bottom waterfall in the photo is Vernal Fall. For perspective, Nevada Fall is 600 feet tall and Vernal Fall is 325 feet tall! They look tiny! Fun fact – I have hiked almost to the top of Nevada Fall once! And a couple of times to the top of Vernal Fall (The MIST trail which is one of the highlights of my entire life)!
Here’s a closer view of Bridalveil Fall from the path up to it! The sound of it is so powerful and the air is cool and crisp from the mist…. You can walk right up to the bottom of it and feeeeel it!
The peaceful and clear Merced River….
Beautiful trees and clouds! The air is so fresh and clean and smells like trees!
One more view of Bridalveil Fall!
Early in the morning, by the river, this pretty young lady was having her Quinceañera photos taken!
My boyfriend of 31 years!! A rare photo of my husband smiling! LOL. This is his favorite place on earth and he was so happy in this moment. Behind him is the famous Half Dome… And he and his friend Randy climbed to the top of it several years ago. So incredible!!
And here we are – all smiles!! What a glorious day it was!
Ain’t no interwebs here…. Gotta go old school if you need to make a phone call!!
We found some butterfly wings in the grass – they were perfect.
Another slightly different view of Yosemite Falls (Upper and Lower)…. It’s very hard to convey the extreme scale of everything. It’s like you’re so small in the midst of this amazing place. This is one of the places where I really feel God. If I’m in the right mode it actually makes me cry.
One more view of Half Dome taken from Glacier Point…
There is a lovely chapel near the meadow in the valley floor. They have services, and you can get married there too! We have been there before when a beautiful bride and groom were out front having photos done. Magic!
The trees! The clouds! The amazingly blue sky! A quick note – you do not have to be a hiker to see all of these things!! Of course, there are way more sights to see if you’re willing to hike even a little bit. I like that the park is accessible to everyone! There are a lot of places to stay surrounding the park – and a semi big town (Oakhurst) with hotels and even a Starbucks… AND A STAMP STORE!!! (The Cat’s Meow)! There are many camping options, but you really need to plan ahead if you want to camp – spaces fill up fast! We usually don’t visit in the height of Summer – we prefer early June or September!!
Another view of the River!
I bet these trees have stories…. Simply majestic!
I made a video of our Yosemite trip too! I’m really trying to get better at videos! If you’d like to see my Yosemite video on YouTube – CLICK HERE! It’s about two minutes long and I compiled my favorite videos of the day!
Thanks for visiting my page today and sharing in my love of our golden state, beautiful California! Have you been to Yosemite before? Let me know in the comments! Have a blessed and wonderful day my friends! XOXO
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Happy Easter 2024 from our home to yours!
HAPPY EASTER 2024!
FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS
WITH LOVE AND PEACE
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Merry Christmas 2022!
MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS! BLESSINGS AND LOVE!
WISHING YOU ALL THE JOY OF THE SEASON!
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A visit to see the butterflies in Santa Cruz!
Hi guys! I’m gonna warn you – this is a long post with lots of photos! So grab some coffee and spend a little time with me and I’ll tell you a cool story! Hope you had a great week. Happy Friday! I think everything is finally working right with my blog – so thank goodness for that! Wishing you a wonderful weekend this weekend! XO
My birthday was last week! My husband took the week off so we could go and do some things and it was a great week. We ended up taking a couple of day trip road trips around here which worked out great! I had a wonderful birthday week and ate some yummy pizza and got spoiled with flowers and a new glitter Christmas tree! I hate getting older, but I do love to be spoiled!
One of our day trips last week was to Santa Cruz. We live about 2 hours or so Northeast of Santa Cruz, so it’s an easy trip for us. I wanted to see the Monarch Butterflies that winter at the coast. They haven’t been here in a few years because of the wildfires and they are returning in good numbers this year. So that was the purpose of our trip that day! HERE IS SOME INFORMATION about the Butterflies and the place we went. We have a yearly State Parks Pass so we love to explore new California Parks. The butterflies are at Natural Bridges State Beach! The Monarchs come here for the winter because it is just the right climate. It is amazing because they cluster in the tops of the trees! It was a magical thing to see! The butterfly area is a short walk from the ocean!
There is a small gift store and museum. There were a bunch of kids there that day on a field trip and it was very cute to see the kids marvel at the butterflies too.
The butterflies come to a grove of eucalyptus trees that are down in a canyon. So you have to walk down into the canyon to see them. It’s so quiet and peaceful. And the smell of eaucalyptus trees is one of my favorite smells in the world. My family is from Monterey/Carmel area and my grandma’s backyard was basically a forest of eaucalyptus trees. And when they are wet from the fog, the smell is intoxicating. It brings back all the good memories for me.
There is a really nice walkway to get down into the canyon.
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you could easily miss the giant butterfly clusters! They are way up in the trees and completely blend in with the leaves. When it’s cold they all huddle together like this. When the sun hits them and they warm up – they all start flying! It’s incredible!!
Just look at them!!!!
It was a very foggy day for the most part. A few times the sun did peek through the fog and it was great to see the butterflies flying overhead!
More clusters – smaller ones, bigger ones – everywhere in the trees!
This little guy landed on the walkway right in front of me!
We just stood there in awe of this cool phenomenon. So lucky to be able to see this in real life!!! Puts everything else in perspective – these fragile creatures sticking together to survive through the winter. I feel like we could learn some things….
We saw some beautiful flowers on our walk….
We went down to the beach and enjoyed the view and the fresh air. It’s a lovely beach and I think we will definitely come back when it’s a bit warmer. This is a really nice State Park! We loved it. Natural Bridges State Beach.
We drove down through the main part of Santa Cruz and saw some sights. Visited the Surfing Museum, and this guy was surfing right outside of it! Brrrrr.
I was taking a photo of this pretty sailboat when a whale breached!! See the puff of water to the left of the boat in the photo? That was a whale!
And check out these best friends floating by enjoying some snacks!
That building is the Surfing Museum. It’s such a pretty spot – lots of benches and a great walking path too.
That’s a wrap on our trip! I hope you enjoyed sharing these things with me! I say, get out and explore! Wherever you live, find something new to do and see! You won’t regret it! Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO
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Valentine’s Day Decor – and my new typewriter!
Hello my sweethearts! I’m in the last minute scramble trying to post all the Valentine things! This month is flying by, don’t you think? And it’s time to celebrate looooooove! Last weekend the hubs and I went to the local Antique Mall and I finally found something I’ve been looking for – for years! I got my very own vintage, grungey, old, cool, Underwood Typewriter! I have found several in my search, but they were always too much money for me. I don’t’ want to use it, just display it and enjoy it… Well, I found my match on Sunday, and it was only $50! I couldn’t believe it. I was like…. YAYYYYYYYYY! She’s mine!!! It’s in good shape and it has all the keys. Oh, and it weighs about five thousand pounds! LOL. So I jazzed it up with some roses from our garden, and one of our wedding photos, and some vintagey Valentines…to create a display in our living room! (I have this weird thing for old typewriters and flowers together!)
I’m sending you X’s and O’s and good Valentine Wishes! Hope Cupid strikes you! I’ll see you tomorrow with a super fun Doodlebug Project!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY 2022!
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Merry Christmas from our Home to Yours – 2021!
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2021!
BLESSINGS FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS!
THE GUESS FAMILY
MARK, WANDA & LUCKY
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Christmas Eve 2021….
Hello sweet friends…. Almost Christmas now! One more day and then the holiday season is over just like that. This year has been crazy for sure and the holidays were different than 'normal' again… The meaning of the season always remains the same though, and as long as we remember the reason for the season we'll be just fine. Popping in today to share some photographs to finish up my Christmas creating for the year. (Let's have a moment of silence for all the projects that will have to get finished next year – especially stitching!) I love to do 'styled' photographs of pretty things. It helps me push my photography skills, and makes me happy at the same time. So here are some photos I've taken in the past month or so, here at my home. Wishing you a peaceful evening tonight, full of family and love. I can't wait to go to church tonight. XOXO
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE, EVERYONE!
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Happy Thanksgiving 2021!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2021!
FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!
HOPE YOUR TABLE IS FILLED WITH LOVED ONES
AND YUMMY FOOD AND GRATITUDE!
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Sacred Water Lotus Bloom in Sacramento!
Hi guys! Happy Monday! Hope you had an awesome weekend! We mostly did things around the house and I organized and crafted, and we went to church… Nothing too fancy, just a nice mellow weekend here. It’s in the 100’s again here in Sacramento so it’s nice to just be inside the air conditioning!! Today I’m sharing a photo essay of something we got to see a week or so ago in Downtown Sacramento. I finally got around to editing the photos and thought you might enjoy something besides a card. Grab a cup of coffee with me – lots of pictures ahead! XO
Each Summer the amazing Sacred/Water Lotus flowers bloom in the pond at William Land Park in Sacramento. This park has the Sacramento Zoo, a pretty golf course, a garden, a pond, and tons of old trees and lovely walking trails. It’s truly one of the gems of Sacramento. I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember! Well…..this year the Lotus Flowers are HUGE and are taking over the entire pond!! It’s quite a sight to see! I’m going to try and capture the feeling for you in my photographs today!
The Lotus Flowers are different colors from almost white, to half white and half pink, to bright pink. They are so beautiful! Try to imagine these flowers are about six feet tall!!! We caught the bloom in full glory and there were all stages of growth….
Anyone thinking of Jurassic Park right now?? They are so big!!! And everything is lush and green and amazing.
This is my favorite type/color – the bright pink ones. I can see why there is so much symbolism in Lotus Flowers. They are magic and mystical in their beauty.
I am 5′ 9″ tall…. And I took this photo by holding my camera up over my head!!! This one is fully bloomed and open and it’s gorgeous!
The dragonflies love it here! We saw mostly blue ones and bright orange ones everywhere!
The inside center of the flowers is soooooo interesting!! They look like they’re from outer space or something. Doesn’t even seem real. The yellow part is very hard and sturdy. Then there are smaller hairy parts next to it. Only God could create this – don’t you think!?
In the center of the pond there is a fountain… The flowers are completely blocking the fountain, so all you can see is the water coming up out of the flowers. It’s pretty cool actually.
These next few pictures are to give you a sense of scale…. See the giant trees and the people in the background?! I’m standing on a bench to take this picture!
All the different colors….
Look at the size of the leaves!!
That’s my husband’s hand!
It’s a hot photo spot for sure! We went early around 8am and it was already crowded. People were doing portraits in front of them and generally enjoying the spectacle.
That’s it for my photo essay today! What do you think of these gigantic Lotus Flowers? Have you ever seen these?
I’ll be back soon with some fun and cheery cards I made with stamps and dies from Jaded Blossom, and also some 4th of July cards made with awesome supplies from Taylored Expressions. I’ll see you soon. Have a great week! XOXO
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Happy Easter 2021 – From The Guess Family!
Best wishes to you this Easter. May your life be blessed with joy and prosperity…. The risen Christ is celebrated in every opened flower, in every beam of nourishing sunlight, in every humble patch of green beneath our feet. Easter blessings from our home to yours! He is Risen! Here's a pretty photo from our front yard – that reminds me of the bounty given us by our Savior!
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Floral bouquets and Embroidery!
Hi everyone! I almost typed Happy Sunday….but it’s Monday! It really feels like a Sunday – maybe because my husband is off work for President’s Day….or maybe because I made us pancakes for breakfast! LOL. Anyhoo it’s a nice gloomy rainy day and Lucky and I are getting caught up in the studio this afternoon. I hope you are doing well and are healthy and happy. Spring is arriving fast here in Sacramento. Our garden is blooming and we are sneezing… It’s time for a new season, and some hope that we’ll all be out and about soon. Just really been missing my friends lately and our adventures. I am sooooo hoping we can go to church on Easter this year!!
Today I’m sharing an embroidery project! It’s been years (decades) since I have done some hand embroidery! My grandmother taught me how to embroider! (and crochet and cross stitch)… Makes me miss her when I do this type of crafting. She was awesome. And her name was Voila – how perfect is that? So it’s been a really long time for me with the embroidery. I came upon this kit one day at Hobby Lobby and thought – well, let’s give that a try! And I super duper enjoyed stitching this! I used the kit but I switched out the fabric to some pretty natural colored linen. I love the texture of this fabric – and I had it in my cross stitching stash pile. I like the kind of boho, hipster color palette! If you haven’t tried something in a while, or never – I want to encourage you to try something new!!!
I looooove making french knots!!! The texture is so cool!
Here’s a super close up. That mustard colored rose is CHUNKY! I love it!
Here’s a photo of it in process. I traced the pattern from the original fabric onto the linen using my light box and a sharpie.
Here is the back – I finished it off with some natural cotton batting. It’s very soft so it won’t damage the wall if it’s hung. At the top is a pretty bow made with celadon colored crinkle ribbon that I dyed. It also has a ribbon loop for hanging.
That’s it for the embroidery project! For all my snow soaked friends, I thought I would share a few photos from my yard – to encourage you that Spring is definitely coming. Our flowers are going crazy already here!! A bit of hope for us all!! First up, beautiful hot pink camellias…
And soft, delicate daffodils….
A bright white camellia – I love the contrast with those dark green leaves! OOOH LA LA.
This is a tree I came upon in the parking lot at Michael’s last week! The way the light played on it makes the photo look like a painting!
That’s it for today my friends! Florals in stitching and in the garden! Sending you hugs from my craft room. Have a great week! XOXO
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Merry Christmas from our Home to Yours – 2020!
Merry Christmas 2020! Thank you for all of your support and love during this crazy year. A weary world rejoices today indeed! From the bottom of my heart I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! Bless you!
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2020!
From the Guess family!
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Happy Halloween 2020!!
Hi everyone!! Wishing you a happy and fun Halloween! Hope you get lots and lots of treats and no tricks! Here’s a photo I took in my studio of some of my favorite Halloween things! XOXO
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Sharing my Halloween Decorations!
*** ANNOUNCEMENT: THE WINNER OF MY PHOTO PLAY PAPER GIVEAWAY IS CARLA H! She has been emailed! Thank you for all the comments!!
Hi friends!!! Today I’m not sharing a card! I am sharing something I made (farther down in the post) and some other fun Halloween stuff! The other day in my blog post I mentioned that I had decorated the house for Halloween… Then I thought – why don’t I share that? I love seeing other peoples’ decorations and home decor, so maybe you guys would like to see mine! I don’t have tons of Halloween things – just a good collection I’ve gathered over the years of things that made me smile along the way. I love anything that looks sort of vintage or old. It’s so retro and brings back good memories…. I also really love a good garland… What is your style? Do you decorate for Halloween? Are you feeling the spooky spirit this month? I’m trying hard to keep things festive and light hearted around here, what with this crazy year and all.
This first set of photos is our entryway table…. It’s right when you come in the front door, and in the center of our house. So we walk by it all the time. I love it. It has a black marble top and the drawers are painted. It holds all our napkins and table linens and runners in it, since the dining room is right around the corner. I decorate here every season, usually with my tiered tray. (I LOOOOOVE tiered trays!!). Behind the table on the wall is a gold bamboo mirror. So we can check ourselves before going out the door. It’s classic and simple. The wall is painted a light shade of hunter green…
The next photos are just close ups of some of the pieces!
This festive garland is from My Mind’s Eye and I bought it at a craft store several years ago. It’s literally thread….so I have to be super careful putting it away!! I have a piece of cardboard to wrap it around.
This fun garland hangs in our formal living room! (or my husband’s Covid office)…. I made it! I found these fun, flat, wooden ornaments when we were out shopping one time. I have this giant antique spool of black and white twine I found at a thrift market. I got an idea! So I ordered the mini honeycomb balls from Oh Happy Day Party Shop. I got a package of black and a package of orange ones to intersperse with the ornaments! I used liquid glue and glued the honeycomb balls onto the twine. Then I used my jewelry pliers to wrap the metal pieces at the top of the ornaments around the twine. It’s all staying put so far!! It makes me happy.
So there’s a little piece of my world and my home to share with you!! I hope I made you happy with my silly decorations. Cuz Halloween is all about being light and silly!! Wishing you a wonderful day! See you soon with more crafts!! XOXO
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Beautiful Sedona Arizona!!
Greetings! I’m back from a wonderful and fantastic trip to Arizona for Creativation 2020!! It was such a good trip – I am happy and renewed and inspired by all the sights and lovely people. My whole trip went smoothly and was super fun. My flights were on time and smooth. I rented an Air bnb for the first time and loved it! The Creativation Show was pretty quiet this year. It seems to get smaller every year. I saw so many of my crafty friends and got so many hugs and had so many laughs. My feet hurt, but my heart is very full!! No big product reveals this show… More beautiful new products from my favorite companies – but nothing that was the “IT” thing or tool. All my photos from the Creativation show are saved in my Instagram Stories Highlights! There are two folders (PHX1 and PHX2) and I think it’s about 150 photos and short videos if you want to check it out!
I’ve been to Arizona several times, but always for the show or for work. And I’ve never rented a car or been able to sight see. This trip, I rented a car and went on a road trip the day before the Creativation Show started. I’m SO GLAD I did! I drove from Phoenix to Sedona on Highway 17 through the heart of Arizona. It was a magical, gorgeous day filled with beauty like I’ve never seen before. I wanted to share it all with you. Only a few times in my life have I seen a place so cool that it took my breath away. The Red Rocks in Sedona is now on that list! It made me feel small, and I felt the hand of God in creating His earthly masterpiece for our delight! It was a nice day for a drive – big puffy clouds and perfect temps. Hardly any people out. Just me and the cacti. LOL!
WARNING: Lots of pictures ahead!
Here is the first view of the Red Rocks… It’s a strange place, Arizona. You drive and drive and drive and see basically nothing. Then you come around a bend in the road and you see THIS! Like these giant rocks appeared out of nowhere! It was so cool.
It’s hard to capture the scale of this place. If you look at the bottom corner of the photo, those are houses…that gives you some idea. I’ve really never seen anything like this before. I love to travel and see new things. It always changes you as a person…
These beautiful Saguaro Cacti are 100-200 years old!!!
I saw so many interesting plants!!!
This is up at the helicopter airport looking down over the entire Sedona valley…
This is the front side of the Chapel of the Holy Cross! It was SO beautiful! Built right into the side of the Red Rocks!! It was amazing and I’m so happy I was able to see it.
Once you park your car, you walk up this cool ramp through the rocks and end up at the back of the chapel (the entrance). I just stood there in awe.
And this is the way into the Chapel.
THAT VIEW!
This is the inside of the Chapel. It literally brought tears to my eyes. It’s very small inside with a few benches to pray at and lots of candles. I sat down and rested and said some prayers of gratitude for this journey and for all the blessings of this magical day.
I pulled off to the side of the road to take this shot. One of my favorites of the day.
So that’s my recap of my road trip to Sedona! If you’re in Arizona, I highly recommend making this drive! The town of Sedona was quaint and pretty also. I stopped at a few souvenir shops and got some snacks for my drive. There’s a lot of shopping there and many resorts to stay at. I wish I had a few days, but I made the most of the time I had. I hope you’re having a blessed and happy week! I’ll be back on Friday with two crafty posts! XOXO
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Happy Thanksgiving 2019!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2019!
FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS!
LOVE WANDA, MARK AND LUCKY GUESS!
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Sweet Summertime!
Hi everyone! It’s the last week of July already! WOW! I can’t believe it. It’s definitely Summer. It was over 100 degrees here this weekend and that always makes it seem more like July. We had a fun and relaxing weekend. We took a mini road trip to the ocean on Friday and I’ll share some pictures below from our trip. We are so lucky to be able to drive to so many places in one day. Saves money on hotels and such. We love to escape to the water when it’s hot here. We have our routine all set. Chairs, towels, sunscreen, cooler….all piled in the car and ready to go. My husband and I travel so well together. It’s a joy to have long conversations in the car and get a change of scenery.
My post today is alllll about sweet summertime. My card is full of ice creams! I colored these images for National Ice Cream Day a week or so ago. Now I’ve made them into a card using a technique I’ve been wanting to try for a while – inlaid die cuts. The stamps are from Avery Elle. I didn’t do a supply list, since unfortunately the stamps are discontinued now. The set I used is called “The Scoop” if you want to look for it! It’s so fun, I was surprised when I couldn’t find it to make a list. You could easily make this card with any other ice cream set though. The finished card is A2 sized.
First I stamped four ice cream cones and stamped their little faces on them! Then I die cut them out with the matching dies, and colored them with pastel Copic Marker shades. I added white gel pen highlights too. I love the soft colors!!
The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed with white embossing powder onto black cardstock. I like the contrast of this!! I used some pink and white gingham from my stash to completely cover the front of the card base. I die cut a stitched rectangle from white cardstock for the top layer.
I used washi tape to tape the dies to the stitched rectangle and die cut out four matching shapes to the images I colored. Then I mounted the top layer to the card using foam tape. The final step is putting the colored images into the cut outs! Reminded me of playing the “Operation” game! LOL. Makes a nice look, don’t you think??
Here are my Copic Marker Choices!
You are SO SWEET!
For our mini road trip on Friday we drove down Highway One through Half Moon Bay to Capitola, Moss Landing and Santa Cruz! It was a glorious day, perfect cool weather and a nice mix of fog and sun. Had the sun roof open on the car and the tunes blasting! NOTHING makes me happier than being by the ocean. I’m attaching some of my favorite photos from the day….Hope you enjoy them!
This is Capitola Beach from up above looking down on the wharf and town. This is the cutest town! It was really crowded!
We drove down to the Moss Landing Wildlife Sanctuary and guess what??? SEA OTTERS!!!! There were about ten of them swimming around, playing and eating. We watched them for a long time! SOOOOO cute. One of them was jumping in and out of the water like a dolphin! And they were wrestling each other. You can kayak there and the kayakers were able to get super close to them! We were on the shore and they came about ten feet from us. OMG I was smiling so big!!
We drove back to spend the rest of the day in Santa Cruz. We grabbed some early dinner and then headed over to the Boardwalk. I have soooo many good memories from the Beach Boardwalk here. I actually started crying when we walked in. All these memories just flooded me. My family is from the coast and my Aunts and Uncles used to bring me here and let me ride all the rides and spoil me! Some of my best childhood memories. I hadn’t been here in ages.
First stop….DOLE WHIP! YUM!
The sunset on Friday night was mixed with a perfect layer of fog, and it was the most beautiful purple/pink color. I love fog and usually you don’t get fog AND a sunset, but we got both. Magical light!!!
We tried some fun long exposure photos on the rides. This one was my favorite of those. Captures the action!!
The Big Dipper!
That’s it for me today! Have a wonderful happy week! One of my favorite people is flying in from Florida this week and on Wednesday we’re going wine tasting and champagne sipping in Napa all day. I am SO EXCITED!!! Take care my friends. I will see you back here real soon. XOXO
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Guest Designing for Ellen Hutson today – with some new Leading Ladies!
Hello friends! How is your week going? Mine is going FAST! Dang! So much to get done around here and so little time. I feel like since Fall is my favorite season, that it goes by way too quickly. I wish I could slow down time for the next few months! And it's getting close to my birthday too. Fall slow down! I'm back on schedule after getting back from vacation. I need to start making Halloween goodies asap!
Today I have a super fun blog post for you! I am very excited to be the guest designer today over on the Ellen Hutson Blog! Wooooot! I am joining to fun in launching the newest product release which includes two fabulous new Leading Ladies! I am sharing two cards today – one Fall card and one Christmas card. Yippeee! Please be sure to click over and visit the Ellen Hutson Blog and leave some love. I'm so grateful for the kind invitation to join them!
My first card is a Fall explosion! I had so much fun making this card. She is ME! Lol. I stamped, die cut, colored, and inked to my heart's content with this one. I combined the brand new Bookworm Lady with a bunch of the smaller stamps from the Cozy Lady stamp set. I think they're perfect together. I created a cozy Fall scene. Can't you imagine sitting outside under the trees with a stack of books and a cup of coffee? I can!
First I stamped and die cut all of the pieces. I colored everything with Copic Markers and added small highlight touches with a white gel pen. I used the same color palette for all the items and her clothes so that the card would look nice when finished. Warm tones of olive, brown, orange and slate blue…YUM. The arm on the lady is partially die cut so you can put a book in her hands. I love that.
The background for the scene was made by inking Distress Inks onto white cardstock panels. I used olive green for the bottom and two shades of yellow/gold for the top. I also inked the small circle with the sentiment.
The sentiment was stamped in black onto a circle and attached with foam tape. All the elements were also attached with foam tape. I used clear Nuvo Drops to add accents around the card. A glaze pen was the perfect tool for her glasses.
This next card is a fun Christmas card made with the new Holiday Shopper Lady! She is also me! I have been known to wear an ugly Christmas sweater and a Santa hat….and I always make lists! She is ready to rock and roll and shop til she drops! I used the beautiful new Snowfall Backdrop die and turned the card into a shaker card. FUN.
I stamped and die cut the Shopper Lady, her hat and her sweater and colored it all with Copic Markers. I die cut the Snowfall Backdrop for my top layer and put a pretty blue behind it before adding the sequins for the shaker.
I used Diamond Stickles to add glittery accents to the snowman, pen and hat!
That's it for today! SO MUCH FUN to guest design for Ellen Hutson and share these projects with you! The Leading Ladies stamps are so creative and fun to work with. I am gathering quite a collection now! Who is your favorite lady? I think Cozy Lady is mine…or maybe Photo Lady… I can't choose! I hope you have a great day and I'll see you soon. Happy crafting! XOXO
