Happy Chinese New Year!!

OK so I'm a bit late... what else is new?  Obviously I'm not Chinese and don't celebrate their New Year, but when I saw this adorable little gift box, couldn't help but want to share it with you guys.....

Would love to make some of these for our international group at work.... bet they would be blown away.... but I better start now if I want to have them read for NEXT year... gosh look at all that detail!!! But well worth it!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Talk about Out-of-the-Ordinary!!!

There's just one more picture I saved for last to share ~

This could be my very favorite.
I can't even imagine what it would be like to be this mama....

Six adorable blessings (and probably one incredible daddy!)

Family photo

....and I miss mine.
xoxo

Out-of-the-Ordinary... Take II

More out-of-the-ordinary.... I mean these are crazy!!!

The longest traffic jam in the world recorded in China .

Its length is 260 kilometers... that's about 161 miles to you and me!

Gibraltar Airport is one of the most extraordinary airports around the world


Paris computer games store. In fact, the floor is absolutely flat.
 

In the city of Buford (USA) lives just one person.

He works as a janitor and as a mayor.

Autumn camouflage

Haus Rizzi - Germany.

Lena Pillars.  Russia , the Lena River.

Banpo Bridge in Seoul , South Korea.

Favelas of Brazil . The boundary between wealth and poverty.

Lost paradise in the Indian Ocean . Isle of Lamu.

Balcony of floor 103 in Chicago.

View of the sunset from inside the wave.

This is a unique geological phenomenon known as Danxia landform.

These phenomena can be observed in several places in China .

This example is located in Zhangye, Province of Gansu .

The color is the result of an accumulation for millions of years

of red sandstone and other rocks.

In northwestern Montana , USA . The water is so transparent that

it seems that this is a quite shallow lake. In fact, it’s very deep.

Airport in the Maldives is located on an artificial island

 in themiddle of the Indian Ocean

This lighthouse guard in Mare, France, must be one

of the most courageous people on the planet!

Not everyone will have a smoke in such weather, and in such a place!

Photo of storm in Montana , USA , 2010

Skyscraper-Crescent Crescent Moon Tower ( Dubai )

Heavy fog in Sydney , which enveloped the whole city

The river above the river: Magdeburg Water Bridge , Germany.

Morning Glory - kind of clouds observed in the

Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia.

 

I'm gonna use some of these as my computer Desktop or Screen Saver!

Out-of-the Ordinary places

Someone from our photography group at work sent these photos around which are really cool... pictures of out-of-the-ordinary places around the globe....

There's so many I'll share these the next few days to get us through the weekend..... dream a little and just imagine yourself there!

The world's highest chained carousel,
located in Vienna, at a height of 117 meters.  

Emerald Lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. 

Tongariro National Park - NewZealand.

Restaurant on a cliff on the east coast of Zanzibar.

Depending on the tide, the restaurant

can be reached both on foot and by boat.

Office of Selgas Cano in Madrid

Desert with Phacelia (Scorpion Weed).

Flowering once in several years.

Balloons in  Cappadocia.

Dubai. The view from the skyscraper BurjKhalifa. T

he height of buildings is 828 m (163 floors).
And this is the view looking down

 And the view looking down...

These trees grow in the forest near  Gryfino , Poland.

The cause of the curvature is unknown

The border between Belgium and the Netherlands in a cafe.

Twice a year in the Gulf of Mexico about 10 thousand

stingrays swim from the Yucatan Peninsula

to Florida in the spring and back in the fall.

In the resort town of  Skagen  you can watch

an amazing natural phenomenon.

This city is the northernmost point of Denmark,

where the Baltic and North Seas meet.

The two opposing tides in this place can not merge

because they have different densities.

In the Chinese province of  Shandong is a

bridge across the Gulf of  Jiaozhou.

The bridge length over 36 km is calculated for eight car lanes,

and is the longest sea bridge in the world.

Day and night. The monument in Kaunas , Lithuania

An unusual tunnel in California 's Sequoia National Park

This statue, created by Bruno Catalano, is located in France.

 

Is this all they had left after they gave us their Statue of Liberty???

Elegant Bird

Another one of the new items in the Occasions Mini is the Elegant Bird Bigz Die... here's a simple yet "elegant" way to use the die.... created by Carol Gilmore!

It's a pretty large punch so you have to really manuver it to fit on your card...  but it does fit on a  4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card!  

Thanks Carol for this gorgeous card!

11 Things

My friend Lori tagged me in her post at work, so thought I'd share this with everyone...  here I am, playing along!

11 facts about me:

1~ I could easily become a total homebody.

Yet I love going out and being with family and friends.

2~ I love to take casual drives up the coast then stop and

take prayer walks along the beach.

3~ I hate mushrooms...

why do people eat fungus?

4~ I love to organize. Clean, not so much,

but I will get sidetracked from any project just to organize things

(like junk drawers and the things at the bottom of my purse)

5~ I love our grandson, he's a blessing and

the best thing that's happened to us

(of course next to our own boys).

6~ My husband and I met on a blind date

and were married less than 5 months later

(we've been married now over 40 years and

they said it wouldn't last!).

7~ We never plan on moving.

Our ashes will probably be scattered in the back yard.

8~ I dream of reuniting with my siblings.

I miss them terribly.

9~ I love Friday nights with my husband ~

it's drive-through dinner and movie night.

10~ I never went to kindergarten.

I know, deprived childhood.....

11~ I love going barefoot.

Now, I am supposed to answer these 11 questions from Lori....

1- What is your favorite season?

Fall. I love it when the leaves change colors

and when the air turns crisp and cool.

I love thunder and lightening storms and

listening to the rain on the patio tin roof.

2- What is your favorite food?

Chocolate. I have a total sweet tooth,

and my bathroom scale does not thank me.

3- Name 3 things on your bucket list.

                                             1. Ride a bicycle built for two.

                                             2. Travel to Italy. 

                                             3. Complete every stamp and craft project

                                                    I've bought and have stuffed in my cabinets

                        

4- What is your favorite quality about yourself.

I've lived long enough now to not worry about

what other people think about me.

5- What is your least favorite quality about yourself.

Being indecisive.

6- What is your favorite thing to do on a lazy day. 

Watch a little HGTV, or catch up on a good book.

7- Name your favorite brainless tv show.

What Not to Wear

8- What is your favorite quality in a friend.

Being REAL. Life is too short to be someone you are not.

9-What are three things you love about your spouse?

He is never idle and is constantly doing something

(in other words he's not lazy),

his willingness to help others,

he's trustworthy and dependable.

{oops, that's 4}

10-What was the hardest part of parenting for you?

Letting go, letting them grow up! I wish they could stay little forever! 

This is a great saying I recently came across that says it all:

I am not your friend, I am your parent.

I will flip out on you, stalk you, lecture, drive you insane.

 Be your worst nightmare, and hunt you down when needed.

 But it's because I love you.

 When you understand that, 

I will know you are a responsible adult. 

You will NEVER find someone who loves, 

prays, cares, and worries for you more than me.

11-Do you prefer dress up or casual? Stay in or go out?

I do like to dress up on a rare occasion but

I am usually a casual kinda girl.

Stay in or go out? I've have to say stay in.

There you have it.

Nothing too exciting, but that's me, and I'm happy with it!

Have a fantastic day, whether you are dressing up to go out, or staying in!

You only live once, do whatever your heart desires!

xoxo

Dangling Heart!

Do your ears hang low.. do they wobble to and fro? .... Remember that song? Well when I saw this "Dangling Heart" not sure why I thought of that song.. Does your heart dangle low.... does it wobble to and fro?... oh well, sorry...

Seriously.. this is a darling card, again Debbie came up with the brilliant idea:

She stamped the heart image 6 times, cut out with the Heart Punch, scored in half and glued half a heart at a time to each other. Before gluing the last heart, she added Baker's Twine in the center and then glued the last heart on top of the twine. Because the open circle on the card is positioned far from any cardstock edges, she had to hand-cut the circle with an Exacto-knife.

Here is a side-ways photo of the dangling heart:

Did ya see red rhinestones? She just used a red permanent marker and colored the Rhinestone Jewels...really! She also sponged the edges of each and every layer on the card with Cherry Cobbler Ink and a Sponge Dauber:

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and stamped on a banner cut from the Petal Cone Die. She added a red colored line of Rhinestone Jewels also:

Supplies Used:

• Cardstock: Whisper White
• Inks: Cherry Cobbler, VersaMark
• Tools: Paper Doily Sizzlit's Die, Houndstooth Textured Impressions Folder, Petal Cone Die, Full Heart Punch, Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber, Paper Snips
• Stamp Sets: Take It To Heart, Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Accessories: Rhinestone Jewels
• Misc: Red Permanent Marker

You can dangle my heart anytime with this card!!!

Sale-a-Bration begins!

Well today begins Sale-a-Bration with Stampin' Up! It's a great time each year when SU offers special stamp sets and accessories for FREE with any purchase of $50 order.... woo hoo!

Also since the new Occasions Mini Catalog started in January... it's pretty easy to come up with a $50 order!  I'm excited about the new Hearts and Label Framelits & Edgelit Dies... I've never worked with anything like them before since their metal and the other embossing tools I've used are the plastic folders... someone told me their similar to "Nest-a-bilities"... sorry I don't know who makes those.. but regardless I do love the Stampin' Up version of the  metal dies... so of course I had to get them all.

They come in a plastic folder similar to the other Embossing Folders... and they're taped to a piece of cardstock to keep them from sliding around ... but Debbie Henderson came up with a brilliant idea to use Magnetic Sheets to keep them in place!

Here's the Label Framelits Dies....

and the Edgelits Dies:

and lastly the Hearts Collection Framelit Dies:

Cut the Magnetic Sheets so they slide right into the envelopes, snap them shut and you have instant organization and storage all in one! Don't peel the paper backing as your Magnetic Sheet will become sticky if you do!

 I'll be showing off my new Dies at my

Stamp-a-Stack on the 4th...

I know you'll want to order some for yourself!

Sweet

Just too cute ... doesn't this remind you of going to Spring Prom in high school... or maybe one of the gazillion times you were a bridesmaid in your friend's wedding..... thinking you'd never be the bride!! Oh I remember those days!

Linda Aarhus made this Sweet card.... the paper is just charming!

Ernest Hemingway sums it up

"Before you act, listen.

Before you react, think.

Before you spend, earn.

Before you criticize, wait.

Before you pray, forgive.

Before you quit, try."

 

 

Happy Birthday Geoff!

Yes another birthday.... today Geoff is hitting the half way mark.... like the 50 yard line.... yippeee... but that is so hard to believe..   Geoff is my brother in law... but more like a brother to me over these past 20+ years I've know him.... he is an incredible husband to my sister and father to my nephews. He loves God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength and his life shows it.

He'll give you the shirt off his back and even iron it for you (inside joke)... He's a great cook and bottle washer... landscaper and house painter... yep.. he's your complete do-it-all guy... all the while giving God the glory!

Geoff I love you so much...

you are a gift to me!

welcome to the top of the mountain.... it's all down hill from here!

S.H.M.I.L.Y!!!

xoxoxoxo