Loon Photos from Mink Lake

I'd thought I'd share a few photos of the loons I managed to photograph while at Mink Lake. Last summer I forgot my zoom lens at home - can you believe it?!? and was disappointed that I didn't get some shots of the loons.
This year, I remembered......

Dad took my sister, Grandma Joan and I on a boat tour of the lake - never mind fishing, this is what I came home with!

I managed to get the two together....

As well as the adult and babe...

The young one is eating a fish that the adult brought it. We witnessed the entire process, it was pretty amazing!

This is the last week of summer around here - school officially starts up again on Tuesdy the 7th, so one more week until I have to start packing lunches again....yuck! I am always looking for creative ideas for bag lunches - if you have any jems, feel free to share! I'd love to hear what you pack for your kiddos....always nice to have a few tricks up the sleeve to keep it interesting!

Cheers to a great week!

Shanna :)

Bling in the New Year! Sparkle's Challenge #39

Happy Sunday! This week's theme at Sparkle's Christmas Card challenge blog is "Sparkle & Shine" - use bling on your card. This should be an easy one for lots of you! There are so many fun blingy products out there!

This happens to be another card I made at camp - quick and simple, but does the trick. I have made a lot of cards in my day, but do you know that this is the first time I had ever made a "Happy New Year" card!?! Even funnier, I don't even own this stamp set! lol My sister had ordered some sets from CTMH and I had brought them for her when we met at camp. I brought very little in the way of supplies with me and so it was fun to play with some of her new sets - things Little Sis!

I had a brain-wave while making this - wouldn't these be perfect to have on hand for those that somehow get forgotten with the rush of the holidays, or the one that the post-office returns because you wrote down and old address? I think I'll make a few and have them on the ready just in case, either way, it would be nice to bring one along to the New Year's Party hostess right? Ok Sis, I guess I have to borrow that set now! (Have you used it yet? lol)

Hope you are all having a great weekend! I am attending a Bridal Shower today while Chester and Pickle Pants attend a Birthday Party at Danderella's! The "fall cleaning" mode continues around here, so I am having a hard time finding my mojo - hoping it will be back soon, perhaps once some more organizing gets done....

Cheers,
Shanna :)

What I used:
stamps: CTMH month set
paper: DCWV The Glitter Stack
ribbon: Fabricland

Hey, Thanks!

Happy Friday! TGIF! Good grief, what a week! It was called back to reality! Back to work after a fabulous vacation, back to the last week of summer camp for the boys (read - making lunches ick!), working on organizing and registering for all the after-school activities for the fall and trying to enjoy what we have left of summer! Whew! Let me tell you, it was good "practice" for getting into the groove in preparation for Back to School. We managed most of the nights to have the boys in bed close to the regular time, so that was good. This is why I haven't been blogging or visiting whatsoever but I'm looking forward to catching up!

I have one last week of not packing lunches next week since they are at daycare for a few days (rather than summer camp) and hubby and I each have a day home with them. We shall enjoy that while it lasts!

So, this is another one of the super simple cards I made while at camp. This is a flower from my garden and I love how the photo turned out, so thought it would be perfect on a card. I am on the lookout for some really bold rub-ons so that they will show up better on some of the darker colors. The other thing I'd like to try is to use Staz On Ink with a sentiment stamp, but rub-ons are so much quicker and less messy! I didn't have any Staz On with me at camp in any case!

Sorry the photo is so far away, my editing program seems to be on the fritz this morning, perhaps I will get back to fix it later. Below is the inside. I just love these colors together!

Hope you have a great Friday! I won't promise to be back before Sunday with Sparkle's newest Christmas Card challenge, but we shall see!

Cheers for now,

Shanna :)

Pebble Beach, Marathon

The first stop we made on our road trip was Pebble Beach - which is about 3.5 hours drive - the perfect pit-stop and break from driving. I learned about this beautiful spot only recently despite the fact that I've been travelling to Marathon, ON for work for more than ten years! So glad I found it as its a great spot to have some fun with my boys and take some photos!

It was a hot day, but Lake Superior is usually very COLD, so I didn't expect anyone to actually swim at this beach. The boys were simply drawn to the water, so I told them to go ahead and take their shoes and socks off - it wasn't long before they were starting to get wet - the water wasn't nearly as cold as we expected it would be! I managed to salvage the t-shirts and told them they could swim in their "wunderwear" - they were delighted and we had the whole beach to ourselves, so in they went! I got some great shots, especially because of the way the sun was shining on the water; however, I figured since they are only in their skivies, I'd better not post them! lol

I just love the look of the water when the sun is shining on it and check out the bubbles....

Hope you are having a great day!

Cheers,

Shanna :)

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Week #38

So how are those Christmas cards coming along? May as well get started, eh? (So glad I did!) This week's Challenge is Vintage/Retro. For this one, I had some fun with a new set from Close to My Heart's new Fall catty! (Just got them this week and couldn't wait to play!) The set is called "Father Christmas" and I think it worked well for the vintage feel - perfect timing! I just love it when it works out that way!

I also had some fun with my distresser tool and my Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist on this one! It is hard to see in this photo, but there is a bit of glimmer to it.

I tore around the "post mark" rather than cutting it out and used stickles on the Holly berries to make them the right color.

This is the card I will be "teaching" at our Annual Charity Pyjama Stamping Party on September 12th. Watch for an email coming soon and/or inquire about signing up at DAT'S.

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend! I'll be back soon with some fun photos from our trip. Thanks for stopping by!

Shanna :)

What I used:

stamps: CTMH - Father Christmas - D1449 - NEW, Vintage Christmas - D1166

papers: CTMH - garnet, ponderosa pine, cocoa

embellishents: gingham ribbbon from DAT'S, Burgundy stickles, Irridescent gold glimmer mist

Bookmarks

Hello! I've been sorting and organizing like mad since the house is quiet and my boys will be back sometime tomorrow. I guess you could call it "fall cleaning" - the sort of thing that we all dread doing, but has to be done once in awhile. For example, I cleaned out Chester's closet - so much stuff gets shoved into the closet over time! I also cleaned out a couple of drawers, sorted through many stacks of papers and piles of junk, unpacked suticases, tidied my scrap area (not quite finished), caught up the laundry, etc....whew, maybe it's time to go back to work!!! lol

I have tons of photos to share from our holidays, but need to get a little more organized, so for now I am just going to share the bookmarks that "Grandma" Joan and I made while at camp. Joan joined us at camp for the week, which was fantastic as she is just like a Great Grandmother to my boys and she is so fun! I introduced her to stamping about a year ago when she visited us, so thought I'd bring along a few things so we could play while at camp. This is one of the projects we worked on. I used some "recycled/hand-made" paper I've had in my stash for awhile on mine as well as a fun quote.

I showed Grandma Joan how to stamp the background for this one. This thing I find most difficult for bookmarks is not adding embellishments - it is so hard for me!!!

We did lots of reading at camp - I finished Diana Gabaldon's "The Fiery Cross" - two more to go in the series - I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I also read "Dances With Wolves", (I know it's been around forever, but I'd never read it) and "The short Second Life of Bree Tanner" by Stephenie Meyer. I am now working on "The Half-Blood Prince", trying to catch up to Chester who is almost finished "The Deathly Hallows". It was fun to compare notes about what everyone was reading while at camp. Chester has Papa reading the Harry Potter series, he is just starting "The Prisoner of Azkaban". I got my sis hooked on The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, so now that she has read a bit, we can discuss the characters - I just had to be careful not to say too much! Grandma Joan is also a reader, so she had some recommendations as well. I am reading the Beverley Cleary books with Pickle Pants, we worked through "Henry and the Clubhouse" while away and we're ready for the next one.

So what are you reading?

I'll be back on Sunday with Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge.

Cheers,

Shanna :)

Fangs or Fur?

Happy Birthday Danderella!

Hello everyone! I am back from holidays and looking forward to catching up with all of you! Thanks for all your comments while I was away! We had a great vacation, but I'm happy to be back. I have a couple of days before my boys arrive home so am trying to work through a long list of "things to do" and find time to relax with hubby at the same time. It is so nice to be home together "sans children" for a few days - strange but very nice!

Anyhow, I have been dying to share this card with you ever since my little escape across the border! Monday was Danderella's Birthday and this was made especially for her, so it wouldn't have been nice to post it before I gave it to her!!! (I almost gave it to her early since I had so much fun making it!) Danderella and I managed to fit in a long walk last night to catch up since we hadn't chatted in a long time - it was so nice! So since I finally got to give her my card, I can share it with you!



There are lots of pics since I had lots to include in this card. The Twilight fans out there may remember this post - I just had to use it as inspiration for my card - all the back and forth banter gave us so many laughs!





I purchased the "For Bitten" set from "Our Craft Lounge" when at Arciver's in MN, so just had to play with it on this card. This is the inside. I did some closer shots in case you want to read the pros and cons....



So thanks Danderella for all the laughs - I had a blast making this card. And thanks to Donna for all the ideas she shared as we were scrappin together when I made this.

Hope you are all having a great week! Not sure if I'll be back tomorrow or not, we'll see how the list goes. I do have a few quickie cards to share that I made at camp, we'll see if I get around to post them. I do have some photos to share too, but I'm trying not to let blog land suck me in too much just yet or I'll never get through half of my list. Bear with me, I promise to visit soon!

Cheers,
Shanna :)


What I used:



stamps: Digital from the Greeting Farm, sentiment - "For bitten" from Our Craft Lounge
papers: Marah Johnson - Breathless (available at DAT'S)
copics: Skin - BV0000, Hair - E37, E39, E99, Clothes - T4, T5, T6
embellishments: Basic Grey Bling It, Kaiser Craft Bling

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge - Border Punches

This week's Challenge at Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge is to use Boarder Punches. Here is my simple card. I love how it turned out and plan to make several.


Thanks Donna for suggesting adding the dots at the bottom as well as the corner punches. It was just what it needed.

Hope you can plan along this week!
Shanna :)


What I used:

stamps: Warm Winter Wishes - SU 2001
papers: CTMH - outdoor denim, colonial white
embellishments: SU ribbon
tools: EK success border punch, SU border punch