More Rock Rubbin' with the Family

Our rock rubbin' activity on vacation came to an all time high when every single relative that came to visit got into the act.

First, dear brother #1 grabbed our rocks and made a "cairn".  I had no idea what a cairn was, but googling it brought up a lot of cool stuff that only my forest-dwelling brother would know about:

Then, we had to destroy his cairn and got busy.  Here's my ultra talented sil.   One of the most creative people I know:

Everyone got into the act.  Even my left-brained cousin.  Having Pina Coladas on the table helped:

I was only able to get a photo of these - there were tons more:

So next time you go to the beach, bring all the rub ons you own.  So much fun and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon.

I hid a rock I made that said "Rock On" (oh I'm so funny!) into ds' dorm room Friday.  I wonder if he found it yet.  Yep, ds#1 has gone on to college.

this little boy:

has turned into this young man:

and is at college:

 i miss him with all my heart. 

ok - gotta go - the tears have started again! (proud, happy, but missing him tears)

thanks for visiting! - betsy

Postcards from Rhode Island

 
I have so many vacation and beach photos that I love finding new ways to keep them and display them.  I had hit a couple of flea markets this vacation and saw some old fashioned fold-out postcard books. You know, the kind where the postcards are attached to their folder accordian style.  The front of the folder had the name of the destination and place for an address and these were sent through the mail.  I studied and studied how they were put together at the flea market because I wanted to recreate one of these for my photos, too.


I had grabbed some Jenni Bowlin Playdate supplies before I went on vacation and they were perfect for this project!  Fresh vintage at its best!

Here's the front:

I bought that Tim Holtz Postcard stamp at the PaperCraft Clubhouse in Westbrook CT on my way to Rhode Island.   Isn't it great?  The baker's twine is courtesy of last night's pie box.  :)

Here's how it folds out:

I know there are lots of ways to make something like this, but I wanted to put mine together just like the ones I had seen.  I really inspected them at the local flea market here to get it right.

 Many of them have descriptions of the destination on the inside back of the folder.  I used a journaling card here and will finish that when I get home.

 The real ones secure on the back with a little flap into a slit in the folder.  Mine secures into a Vintage Sew-on button.

Supplies: Jenni Bowlin Playdate Papers,  Playdate Journaling Cards, Vintage Sew-on Buttons, Helmar adhesive, baker's twine, Tim Holtz postcard stamp

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day! - betsy

Like Dogs with Hooves and a Peek

Gotta tell ya:

I just LOVE goats.  They are like dogs with hooves, don't you think?  So adorable!  And check out those eyes!  

This "mosaic" was made at Big Huge Labs .  Love that site and can't wait to try more features there! 

I made a little gift for dear niece's birthday.  Here's a peek:

 and you can see the rest of it here!  Check it out - it's an easy way to make a great little gift for someone!

Wish I could share more, but I'm wiped!  Hope to show you my flea market treasures next time around!

thanks for stopping by! - betsy

The Beach Rocks!

I know what you're thinking!  Ya, ya, ya - the beach DOES rock, but I'm talking about beach ROCKS:

The beach we visit has the coolest beach rocks.   Every wave brings a loud clatter of thousands of rocks banging against each other.  And they are tumbled and tossed smooth into the most interesting shapes.  These rocks are fun. You can do a lot with them.  And we do spend a bit of our vacation playing with these rocks.  Well, I think it's just me who might play with these things . . . 

The boys were inspired by another kid they saw who was creating the most amazing "impossible" towers with these rocks.  "Impossible" because he stacked the most unusually shaped rocks on top of each other.  His towers seemed to defy physics by standing without support.  My boys were totally amazed and made some tiny towers, just to try. Nothing like the "impossible" creations they saw, but cool, none the less:

and I OF COURSE had to use my scrapbooking supplies on a rock . . .

jenni bowlin rubons

jenni bowlin embellished butterfly

and make a simple paper weight . . .

I'll be sharing more from vacation . . . cool treasure hunting days, goats, America the beautiful, . . . all good . . .

thanks so much for stopping by!

betsy

Hybrid Hump Day!

Loved going hybrid with these photos of dear niece.  Hybrid is vacation friendly.  I don't normally scrapbook on vacation, but I had the itch and hybrid made it easy.  I created the layout using a Jen Martakis template and American Crafts digital elements from DaisyTrail.com.  I printed the base of the layout before leaving and printed a sheet of the digital AC flowers in varying sizes on a sheet of cardstock.  Grabbed a 12x12 background sheet, some jeweled brads, glitter buttons, Helmar adhesive, scissors, and a Jenni Bowlin embellished butterfly and I was good to go!  Last night as everyone was chillin' in front of the TV and I had fun putting it all together:

Supplies: American Crafts digital and 3-D; Jen Martakis digi template, Jenni Bowlin embellished butterfly

I feel so guilty being on vacation, knowing that Doris and g are back at school already.  OK . . . maybe not that guilty . . .        ;)

thanks for stopping by! - betsy

By the Pond . . .

For days I've been looking out my bedroom window at one lone gorgeous orange daylilly.  The only flower to survive dh's sudden urge to rid the pond's edge of 'weeds'.  It was so striking against the bright green duckweed that I needed a photo:

and as I took it, I noticed that Mr. Dragonfly got in the shot, so I took another and he had enough:

but then he came back and actually smiled at me . . . 

yep, that's a smile all right . . .

I had made a little jar label the other day that truly had nothing to do with the fact that dh cut down the weeds by the pond that weren't really weeds:

I always loved that quote: "One woman's weeds are another woman's wildflowers."  Everything by American Crafts.

Have you seen the new monthly gallery here.  Jaw droppin' stuff.  Just incredible.

thanks so much for stopping by! - betsy