christmas in july class

I'm teaching a class on Wednesday, July 25, at Your Stamping Cottage - both 12:30pm and 6:30pm. Ramona wanted to do Christmas in July, and I wanted to do Fancy Folds - so I came up with a Fancy Folds Christmas. There's a card with a flipping panel, one using a new set of dies I got, one with a folded frame, and a simple step card (that I sent out to several people last Christmas). I'll also be providing written instructions for people to take home. Call Ramona to reserve your spot! 859-581-0690

On the subject of Your Stamping Cottage... Ramona is closing shop very soon. She wants to be able to spend more time with her family. I wish her the best of everything (enjoy that new grandbaby!), and want to thank her for the opportunity to be part of her stamping community. I have met the nicest bunch of people!!! Ramona may continue to have an occasional class at her house, and I may be able to continue giving classes there!

more kitty pics

A couple of family members thought that in the previous kitten pictures they couldn't get a good idea of how tiny the kitties are. So here are two more photos of these little six-week-old furballs. Playing on my laptop while I'm trying to use it - silly kitties! And playing with Mike's shoe.

By the way, apparently we need an anatomy lesson. The kitty with more white on it has really big front paws compared to the other one, and I thought hmmm... usually kittens that are going to grow up to be big boy cats have big feet. So I did a little research on the internet, and boy kittens aren't always obvious until they're a little older than six weeks. We're pretty sure one is a girl and one is a boy. Name change time. Mike had orginally wanted to name a boy kitten Chairman Meow, but not he's not sure. So we have Lily and her no-name brother.

kitties!

We got two kittens yesterday! Mike's friend brought home a stray cat, and she had kittens on Memorial Day. They were having trouble finding homes for all of them, so we decided to take two of them. Cats are so easy to take care of - two really aren't much more trouble than one. We used to have four cats a long time ago. Then we got dogs. Now we have both!

They're adjusting very well. Still a little nervous, but are playing much more. They eat like crazy, and know how to use the litter box - yay! They don't let the dogs get too close, but they don't run away either, which is great. The dogs are doing surprisingly well - just a lot of curious sniffing. No barking or growling or nipping. The dogs do seem a little more clingy than normal - just some jealously over all the attention the new pets are getting.

Right away Mike named one of them Lily Potter (after Harry's mum). For the other one we think we might go with another flower - Daisy.

blue lake fine arts camp

If you have a kid who enjoys music, theater or dance, there is an absolutely wonderful camp in Michigan called Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Mike just spent nearly two weeks there. It was his second year. He loved it - played challenging music with a superb conductor, and made some great friends. He played clarinet - got fourth chair in the top band, the Wind Ensemble (the kids auditioned and were divided into four bands). 

The picture above is just after they performed their final piece - you can see how happy the conductor is!

Here I am hugging my boy when we picked him up. Two weeks seemed like forever.

ewwwwwww.

It’s been a while since I posted. We were on vacation in Calif. Went to see my family in the L.A. area, then it was off to Death Valley and Yosemite. I’ll post a few pictures soon.

In the meantime, a funny story… yesterday we went to Waffle House for breakfast. Mike got a large order of hash browns with chili, onions and cheese (“topped, smothered, and covered” in Waffle House language). He couldn’t finish them, so as the three of us chatted away at the end of the meal, I took a few bites of Mike’s leftovers. As we were getting ready to leave, Mike said “Did you eat from that side of the plate?”. “Uh, yessss, why…..?”. “I think you ate my rubber bands.” We looked all over—under the plate, on the floor, I looked in Mike’s hands to make sure he wasn’t playing a trick on me. No sign of the two little rubber bands he wears on his braces (that he takes out for meals). Ew. Gag. For quite some time after, I alternated between feeling queasy about my extra “food” and bursting into fits of giggles.

resist 2

These are the cards we're making in my upcoming Resist 2 class at Your Stamping Cottage on June 28 (12:30pm & 6:30pm). I'm going to have people make their own stamps to create the mosaic look.

The first card is made with an SU set called The Open Sea - kind like you're viewing the ship through a cracked spyglass. The next card I designed with a black and white background so people could color their flower any way they wanted. This flower, and another one they can choose, is from SU Fifth Avenue Floral. The last card is a wax paper resist. The stamp is from Rubber Nature, and the sentiment is from an SU set (can't remember which one).

smile and show me your fish

First, a warning - if snakes skeeve you out, don't scroll down to the next photos. (I would expect the same courtesy if someone were to post a picture of a spider - or a clown... !)

The other day we went fishing in a small pond at a local park. The boys were going for bass, and I was catching bluegill (and just happened to get the one little bass in the photo). I had forgotton to bring the tub o'worms that I dug from the yard at home, but luckily I had also packed a cheesy mett - just in case we wanted to throw a hunk out for a catfish. Apparently bluegill love cheesy metts, and I did very well (although I was probably catching the same few fish over and over again).

As I was fishing I noticed a snake sticking his head out of the water right in front of me. He was adorable (I love snakes!). And he was hungry. As I pulled in fish next to him, he would try to catch them. And he caught this one in the photo. I was able to pull the fish out of the water and the snake let go. Fish seemed to be ok, and swam off. Jim later looked up snakes online, and this guy was a Northern Water Snake. Totally harmless.