Road Trip

Good evening, Friends. What a delightful afternoon I just spent at the most lovely store...Absolutely Everything, in Topsfield, Massachusetts. This wonderful store is about an hour from where we are visiting, and I had found the store some years ago, last time we were up in Mass. Due to one thing & another, it's been at least 3 yrs since I've been here on a visit, so I had a promise from DH that we'd go back to the store. This afternoon was the day! (see me Happy Dancing!). Used the trusty GPS (plus I also printed out map directions from Google). Fortunately, the 2 guides matched for the most part. After exiting the interstate, we meandered through quaint & well kept New England towns like Andover, Lawrence & I can't remember the rest.

Folks, let me tell you: It was FUN in this store! I didn't know where to start first. There were several very friendly & helpful ladies who would point me in the direction when I would ask "Do you have....?" and off I'd go with a cute little basket on my arm. Filled up one basket, and Mr. DH kindly brought me another one.

Christmas

Hello and welcome. Here's one last card that I got made for a scheduled post. This one was really a simple fast card. And I know exactly who it shall be sent to, as I've been requested to do a simple, non-fussy card for this person! I think this one fits the bill.

- embossed green c/s with EF (I don't remember the name, but can find it if anyone wants the name of it!).

- SU circle punch for the 2 openings.

- SU punch of some cardinals on pattern paper to fit the window, popped up on dimensionals

- holly, pinecones from a sticker sheet

- sentiment from a sticker sheet.

Pretty simple, went together quite fast - especially for me, a slow cardmaker at the best of times! I hope the recipient will like it, and remember asking for a non-fussy card!

Have a wonderful day. See you soon. If I can get some good photographs in Boston, I'll try to post. My friends don't have Wi-Fi, so I will have to use their pc to get to the internet (oh yes, my laptop will be with me, but only for watching dvds, unless I zip down to a neighborhood Panera. Panera has free Wi-Fi. The Starbucks which is in the same area, charges $5 last time we were up 3 yrs ago. Do I pay $5, or do I get free? I bet you know which one!!!

Road Trip

Good Morning, Dear Friends. No card to share today, but just a note to say Thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes I've received from you. It was a pretty quiet birthday, as birthdays go...no cake, no celebrations...but just riding, riding, riding. It was a pretty day for driving, and all I had to do, was sit in the navigator's seat, and be a good passenger. I sleep a lot when we travel, (I am a much better passenger that way, as I don't 'backseat drive'). DH appreciates that. I tend to be a nervous passenger, even though he is a very good driver. We didn't have to deal with any rain the first traveling day, and we stopped at a Best Western motel that we've stayed at for many years, after stumbling upon it some time back. It's a very clean place, reasonably priced - well lighted parking lot, breakfast included in the rate. What I like best about it is that there is a Michael's Craft Store in the next parking lot, within walking distance. Also several choices of places to eat. So after we checked in, and found that we had enough points on our Best Western Rewards program to merit a free night's stay (now THAT was a nice birthday present!), we walked over to the restaurant & stores. There was a very dark cloud, and I made the comment "I hope this doesn't turn out to be a stupid decision to walk over here". This was about 8:30, still plenty of daylight. We get into the restaurant and the sky lets go, heavy rain. I know we'll get soaked if we have to walk in it; the restaurant closes at 9pm, and I'm having visions of us being thrown out into this rain. Thankfully, as the place was getting ready to close, the rain eased up.  We did have to walk in some puddles to get back to our room (and I was wearing some new sandals). We did make it back with no slips or slides in the wet thankfully. I did get to the Michael's store. Always try to check the different craft stores when we travel...just on the off chance it might have something my local place hasn't. And it did!!! I didn't bring any craft stuff along with me, but I didn't promise I wouldn't BUY anything along the way! LOL.

The next day, we drove along in the mountains of Pennsylvania - with bursts of rain showers off & on. New York was about the same...sometimes pretty heavy rain, which I don't like. We were in the pickup, which does make me feel a lot safer, as we're up a bit higher and can see better, plus it's nice & heavy. We arrived at our destination about 8:20pm, safe & with no travel events. Went back out to get some dinner, and then bunked in for the night.

Our friends have a lovely blonde labrador dog - about 10 months old. Big, big dog, very friendly, but pet dander is one of my allergy triggers. I made sure to get my allergy shot just before we left, so I'm hoping I don't have a reaction to Max. For some unknown reason, cats & dogs just love to climb all over me. I'm not an especially 'animal lover', so that has always been a mystery to me. (Mind you, I don't want an animal not treated well. We had a dog for 16 yrs, and I never had a problem). Our daughter has 3 greyhounds -one of them sets off my allergic reaction, the other 2 do not. So I petted Max just a little bit, to let him get used to my scent, and everyone is trying to keep him from jumping on me. He really is a beautiful boy, though, and just looks at me with those liquid dark eyes as if to say "Lady, what's with you?", and comes over to lick me!!!

So thanks for joining me this morning. I hope you will have a lovely day doing whatever your Monday routine is, and I'll try to post if I can. No WiFi here, so can't use my laptop to get online. I plan to try to visit some of your blogs if possible. In the meantime, God Bless.

Christmas





Hi and welcome. This is a scheduled post, which I hope will show up on 7/1 if I've done it properly. As you are reading this, I am in Boston, visiting some dear friends. It's always fun to come up to New England.

 

This is a card I had originally intended for Rudolph Day, but then I submitted  the Cottage Cutz Cardinal card posted earlier. This card was made from recycled bits on a Christmas card received in 2012. I liked it pretty well.

 

 

- Santa is backed with some pattern paper (a 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 Paper Studio), which you've seen me use on other cards. I like this rather tartan pattern, and it was diecut with a S/Binder Deckled Rectangle. The Mistletoe & Noel tags were just cut with scissors and adhered. The gold holly was diecut (a snippet of mirror paper) with a S/B Holly Accent piece, and has Viva Décor red berry in the center.

 

- Embossing folder was Darice Holly, over which I rubbed a  Delicata Gold ink pad, then embossed.

 

- Cardbase is dark red Paper Studio cardstock.

 

I think I've used all the front of this particular Christmas card now, so it can go in the trash. I'd use the white backing, but there's writing on the inside, so didn't want to use that, & chance having somebody read part of a personal message, should something come loose on a card!!! (Put the brain in gear before the Big Shot!).

 

Thanks for visiting today, and have a wonderful afternoon. Hugs.