Postcard from Costa Rica

Lindsey spent five weeks this summer studying Spanish Conversation and Grammar at Veritas College in San José, Costa Rica. From the pictures she posted on Facebook, she also got to do a lot of sightseeing and having fun with her fellow students  -- waterfalls, mountains, beaches and some beautiful city sights. And apparently parasailing! She sent me a postcard because she KNEW I'd scrap it! Hah! Whatever gave her that idea?


The photos worked perfectly with my challenge sketch for my monthly scrap class. I knew I wanted a bright, colorful LO like the beautiful Costa Rican cart wheels and was thinking of making the large circle a cart wheel. After trying and discarding a number of ideas, I found a Cricut cut (Paper Lace cartridge) that looked a whole lot like the cathedral windows instead. There is tiny journaling along the rim of each "wheel" as to what and where.

I couldn't decide which side of the postcard to feature. The text of Lindsey's card makes perfect journaling, but in the end I used the picture side. First I scanned the text side, then pasted it beneath the postcard, hinged the top, and made a "lift" tab with a lizard stamped in copper and a heart. 

What a wonderful adventure for Lindsey! She is doing a more complete scrapbook of her adventures in Costa Rica; and I can't wait to see her pages when I see her this Fall!

You Never Know

You never know when you will see someone for the last time. In June I took my granddaughter Ashlyn, my daughter-in-law Angela and her mother Joanne (I call her my granny-in-law) to the scrapbooking class I take every month from my good friend Lynn. We had a great time.

Last Friday, I brought Joanne here and I showed her how to make cards. She made two birthday cards and a thank you card and was pleased with the results. We spent a really delightful couple hours together. I brought her home and told her to be a good girl -- she laughed.

Sometime during the night Monday/Tuesday, Joanne passed away unexpectedly at home. Oh, she had been ill, had lost a lot of weight, and was heavily medicated; but she was in good spirits and seemed to be improving and looking forward to a number of things. We buried her today.

Here's the photo Lynn snapped, as she often does. Joanne is the lady on the right in turquoise. It made her family happy to see she had been having a good time so recently. And it made me remember something I believe, which is to never miss a chance to tell someone you care or to pass along a compliment or a happy thought.

Name That Leftover

One day last week when we couldn't cram one more thing in the freezer, we played a rousing game of Name That Leftover. We always freeze leftovers in single servings, and I used to be good about putting them in labeled freezer bags, but got lazy about it this past year. Jack is the master sniffer, and bears the brunt of smell-testing the things that look alike.

Me: "Does this smell like spaghetti or chili?"
Jack: "Spaghetti. No, wait, I see beans. Chili."

Me: "What do you think this is?"
Jack: "I've never seen that before."

Me: "How old is this meat loaf?"
Jack: "Are you sure that's meat loaf?"

Everything got thrown out, labeled or eaten. And now -- most important -- we have room for ice cream!

Addicted to Cards!

I am totally addicted to making cards for Operation Write Home! So today I decided I needed to halt somewhere and send off what I have to OWH before I make any more. Yikes! I've made almost 50 cards in the last month or so! Here's what's going out in this batch, along with the lovely cards my scrappy friends made at a recent crop:

General theme:

More general. The silver squares are pieces of a coffee can liner embossed in the Cuttlebug and matted. Don't you feel smug when you do something thrifty and crafty like that?

Love theme:

Miss You and Thinking of You themes:

Thank You and Congrats themes. I feel good about the butterfly thank you too. I cut a circle for a layout a while back before I realized I ran out of paper and it was flat on one edge, so I threw it in the scrap bin. Later I used it to cut out a butterfly, and threw it back in the bin. I fished it out and flattened the other end, backing it with patterned paper, and I think it made a pretty cute card!

Birthday:

So much is fun about this! I use up paper scraps that are taking up way too much room. I use odds and ends I would never otherwise have a use for -- test Cricut cuts, test stamping and paper piecing, experimental water color and embossing, stickers and embellishments I've acquired that I really have no use for. There's a lot of freedom in making a card:.and it doesn't take as much planning and angst and second-guessing as a layout. Best of all, I can hope that I'm giving someone, somewhere a smile!

Family Servicemen

Several years ago I did this layout in honor of Memorial Day and our family servicemen:

Both my Dad and Jack's served in the U.S. Navy. Mine achieved the rank of Quartermaster and served in the Pacific during WWII aboard an LST; Jack's worked his way up through the ranks to Chief Petty Officer.

Jack's great grandfather fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy. My grandfather entered the U.S. Army right out of college, but was discharged after three months when WWI ended.

Jack himself served in the Air Force as a supply troop, and did a tour in Viet Nam, keeping our planes in the air. He made SSgt in his 4-year hitch. Our older son, Paul, served in the Air Force during the first Gulf War and in fact was assigned TDY (temporary duty) to Kuwait where he photographed President Clinton.

The men and women of our military have joined for reasons as diverse as they are, but they are all amazing -- well-trained, brave, smart, enthusiastic, courteous (ever been on a military base?). They deserve our respect and our support and our appreciation; and they certainly have mine!

Cards for Operation Write Home

Just sent my first batch of cards to Operation Write Home. I love this organization! They send big boxes of handmade cards to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (and at sea) who have requested them, so they can have a supply of unique cards to send to their loved ones back home. I had so much fun making these with odds and ends of kits that I've pretty much used up for layouts. I also found a use for little pieces I created when I was testing a new technique.

The rules are pretty simple (see operationwritehome.com) -- no glitter for safety reasons, A2 size preferred, envelope not needed, and just a few other small and easy requests. I just received the free "Operation Write Home" stamp I requested too -- so I should be good to go for future batches. I'm hooked now!

Big Mess, Little To Show for It.

I dragged out stamps, inks, alphas, scraps, Cricut, patterned paper, embossing powders, cardstock and probably more stuff I can't remember to make one stinkin' Congrats card.

And that's not even the stuff spread out all over the dining room table. Did I finish the card? Ummmm. no. I got as far as paper piecing a cute owl and choosing paper. It's not going to be anything spectacular; so I'm not sure why I'm agonizing over it!

5/23/11 follow up

Here's the end product. I really don't care much for it, but it will have to do as it needs to get out. Some days I am just NOT inspired, ya know?