Short...Sweet...and WET!

Last Monday the grandkids spent a day with Grandpa and Grandma...all around the water. What a great way to spend the day. We were in town visiting my parents as well, but devoted a full day with our two grand-girls.
Our day started with a morning visit to the Acquarium, at the Bio Park. This place gets two thumbs up!

The largest tank has the largest fish...very logical to me. That means SHARKS! Grandpa was especially attracted to these species. Not quite sure why, but he stood at this exhibit snapping pictures for...well, for ever!

Here was a unique window into more fun underwater creatures which grabbed our attention. This tank seemed to go on forever. There are lots of places for fish to swim through like arches and  coral giving a hiding place for smaller fish.

Now take a look at this cute guy, or girl, or whatever they are... His safe haven is inside the shell among some plants. I just had to capture him on film!

Now here's a picture for my heart!
My two favorite girls having fun together.
 
                                                 Nice shot girls!

We happened into this fun exhibit area just as the action started. And feeding time down under brings everything out to get their share of good eats.

This underwater mermaid had all the friends she could handle!

With the feeding frenzy in full swing the girls had a great backdrop for this shot!

What do you get with water, fish and 3 girls?

Lots of FUN!!

We liked this tank a lot. Probably because we could get up close, literally within an arms reach, to the stingrays. They fascinate me with their graceful, effortless gliding over the sandy floor,  turning upside along the glass wall, all as a matter of...well, it's just what they do.

By noon we were ravenous and headed out to eat. Our next stop ... the YMCA.

It was our turn to get into the action...water action! A nice heated indoor pool was the perfect place to get wet. We grabbed a purple ball and the fun started.

There was  a lot of action between the ball, the water and us trying to keep from swallowing more water than we were swimming in!

We all had some good hits on that purple ball, and keeping it off the water was  our challenge.

Grandpa invited a couple of young boys to join us...they were really really really wanting to join the fun.

Having extra team members added some good "battles" for the ball.

These two sisters really love each other, just don't let a purple ball come between them!

The day was over way to fast, but we were filled with loving memories...

Dad with his eyes closed!

Little Dylan with Hannah...

Sister Sequoia...

Dad outside taking a walk ...

Mom relaxing after a long day and good mexican food for supper.









Life is good!

Just go... fishing!  

With spring around the corner my heart is yearning for a warm cozy sunny spot at the beach. So, I looked in my basket of odds and ends.  This fun fishy stamp caught my eye. OK, it's not a beach, but fish are around the water and the water has an edge, and at the edge is the beach, at least where I grew up. Close enough!

The varied colored background is made by swiping a 5 multi-color ink pad across pearlized paper. Simple enough. These jewel tones are deep ocean colors. It took a couple of background samples to get the effect I wanted.  The wavy ripples are made from  running the paper through a corrugating tool.

The two fish are inked and stamped on the same pearlized paper, then cut out. I highlighted a few features, emphasizing the eyes, mouth and fins. Next, "seaweed" was added into the scene. I chose a wispy look, and a subtle background color to give the picture that deep water look. The two fishy-buddies overlap, adding more depth with the top guy up on foam backed tape.

The tag colors picked up on one of the deep sea tones in the background, and the middle oval tag is cut from a spare piece of the background as are the 4 corners to "frame" the picture. A little bling is added with two jewel brads and an organza bow. To finish off the card, a matching piece of card stock was cut with wavy scissors and attached to the underneath side of the top card.

Now, all I need is a beach!


Accessories:  Fish stamp by All Night Media, pearlized card stock, jewel brads, organza ribbon, wave scissors, picture corner punch,  a floral stamp, and 5 color ink pad.

Friends keep me afloat....

This little couple of friends are floating on friendship...sweet pleasantness! The stamp is an oldie, yet carries the message just right for Valentines Day.

Pencil coloring softened the overall look. Adding the bright poke-a-dots to the umbrella with a felt marker emphasized the red star flowers...a nice accent trick!

The yellow wave embellishments are scraps from an edging punch. Pretty nifty tool!

Corner slots were punched in both the blue and yellow background cards. The blue corners slipped into the slots on the yellow card and were topped off with blue organza bows.

This pretty foo-foo card will float your fancy friends hearts with warm fuzzy feelings that say "I care for YOU!"








Accessories: Stampin'Up Favorite Friends set, Slot corner punch, organza ribbon, colored pencils, felt marker, edger scraps for embellishments.

Do Crocks Rule?

This was soooo fun to create. My talented Sister in Law Wendy Weixler showed me how to layer with my Gypsy, and WOW... OK, so here is my first attempt with this layering idea.

Now this took a little planning, trial and error...but oh so worth it. This little guy is King of the High
Seas!

This used four layers to put it all together. The whole image is just so cute. I added the extra motif on the ships flag...that dastardly croc seems to be of pirate origin if you ask me.

The tag was a little challenging...just a tad matey! I cut the black tag in half and used it for the upper and lower edges, then cut out a blue and white tag to place the message on. Whew, that was fun!

Accessories: Cricut Crocks Rule cartridge, tags, 6 various colors of card stock.

I'm seeing RED!

Just the perfect color for February and Valentines Day...Red Red Red! And to finish off my Valentine extravaganza I used some fun stamps and embossing folder with a little extra RED added, of course!

I loved the idea of highlighting the embossed background with a red pen, and then cutting out the edges for the ric-rac effect! The boarder makes the card!

Close up you can see the dots...Red of course. After embossing, I cut the edges out according to the pattern. Then I applied a red Stampin'Up pen and carefully gave each indented diamond a splash of RED.
The Red bow and silver hook added the special effect.

The two flower stamps are from the Flower Fest set.
This larger flower is made with 3 layers and the center was stamped in a lighter pink-red ink for highlights.

I found cute red flower brads for the centers.

This smaller flower has 3 layers too. The larger RED background is easily cut with the large flower punch...it matches the stamp set nicely.

The next two layers are stamped and cut, then fastened with another flower brad.



Add extra dimension to the flowers with foam sticky pads in-between their layers.

                                                                                                                                                                          The tags are finished off with with a quote from Simple Thoughts-Dogs and an extra set of RED hearts.

Accessories: Flower Fest Stampin'Up stamp set, Diamond embossing folder, large flower punch, red ribbon, flower brads and silver hook.