Country Roads Stamping

Mocha Morning

One of my favorite designer papers is Mocha Morning.  I think it looks elegant and classy no matter the style card it is used on.  My hostess ladies made this card this month, that's where Lee got the idea for the cards she did yesterday on the blog.  This was demonstrated at Leadership and it looked so easy I just had to try it.

So easy - wish I knew why it was actually called Mocha morning.  That makes me think of coffee and this paper doesn't make me think of coffee at all - maybe some wedding. 

Off to get some work done today - have started "training" to run a race with my daughters in June in the great state of Iowa.  I've always wanted to run a race with them, but I would have preferred to do that when I was younger and in better shape - now it is much harder to prepare and avoid injuries.  So, I am starting slow but I'm excited to do this.  Looks like I'll be doing some "running" while in Disney World so that should be interesting.  So a little work and a little running today - have a great day. 

Another Monday

The week-ends certainly do fly by fast.  I just realized yesterday that I pretty much missed four birthdays this past week!  Ackkk.  So I must get cracking on birthday cards today.  I always thought it was good to have four of my friends birthdays so close - however, today I find it is not a good thing because when you miss one - you miss them all! 

Thanks for all the comments and emails about the dog post on Saturday - told you it was going to be one of the good ones.  Hopefully, we will not have any more unusual events like that  for a while!

Today's cards are some that one of my customers brought here to show me this week.  We had done something new at our hostess group on tuesday evening and one of my ladies brought her cards on Friday night to show me using the same technique that we had done earlier - I was going to put my card sample up but didn't get that picture loaded.   So, I will show you Lee T's version first and then I'll load my card tomorrow.  I really like this look.

This card is made with strips of Designer paper.  It is like making a quilt, but much easier.  Lee also made one with ribbon scraps:

Easy to do. So tomorrow I'll get a picture of mine and put it up here too. I keep finding more and more things that I need to put up tutorials on - sigh, this would be another one - I'll keep trying to get some of these things done as soon as life slows down a little.  That's all for today -Thanks Lee for the great samples and I have a few more that some of the other ladies brought by to share too.   See you tomorrow.

A story about Lady

Well, as I begin this Saturday post, I must tell you that I was not sure this would actually make it - because I was not sure it would end happily so was very hesitant to even "plan" this entry.  However, my husband was certain this was going to work. So, without further delay, let me tell you about a Dog named Lady.

Last week, while I was in San Antonio, one of Steve's friends called him to go coon hunting on Thursday night.  So, Steve, his buddy, Dick and Dick's son, Troy all headed out on a windy night with snow in the air to coon hunt.  They had three dogs to hunt with and one was a very determined Mountain Cur  named Lady.  Evidently she is quite a tracker and never likes to lose her coon when she goes hunting.  While they were out - they heard her up ahead of them barking and then nothing.  Troy and Steve called and called and looked all over but could not hear her anywhere, while Dick managed the other dogs.  They two other dogs kept wanting to return to the area where the fellows had last heard Lady - but the guys could not see or hear her so they had to head back home.

The next Day, Friday, Steve and Dick returned, scouring the area and going house to house in the neighborhood trying to locate her again.  Nothing.  On Saturday morning, when Steve was to get up and head to Charleston, he thinks about where he heard the dog last and remembers that there was an old fox hole near there - so he heads out at daybreak to go look there.  Sure enough - he stands over this small hole and calls for Lady and he hears her - He comes back to the house, calls Dick and they begin an "excavation" which will astound you in order to locate this dog.  Here is Dick standing by the hole in which this crazy dog entered, trying to catch a coon.

Now pay close attention to how SMALL this area is because when the final pictures are put up here you are simply not going to believe it - I stood there watching and I'm still amazed.  You will either think we are crazy or devoted dog lovers (which probably a little of each will describe us!)  

The fellows began digging in earnest because the dog had already been underground since Thursday night.  Unfortunately, Steve had to head to Charleston to pick me up - he had tried to squirm down into the opening that they had made but he could not fit around some of the rocks and there was concern that something would cave in, trapping him.  So he leaves, to meet me, unknowingly leaving his cell phone behind, so that I could not call him to tell him of all the delays my flight was taking - leaving him sitting at the thriving Charleston airport (note extreme sarcasm there!) for 7 1/2 hours, awaiting my flight, bless his heart.  

We return home that night only to find that Animal rescue was contacted by Dick, which evidently means a Deputy comes also to make sure there is no abuse of an animal and so the three animal rescue people and two deputies also try to get down in the hole, but like Steve are concerned of the location - so no luck there either.  Plans were made to meet immediately following church on SUNDAY to dig again.  Bringing in some equipment to pull out some of the rocks (can't think of the word that describes this but basically rope and leverage to pull the large rocks out).  My husband has since informed me this was a hoist.

We needed someone slightly, hmmm,  "adventurous", possibly crazy to go down into this hole to look for the dog - so my friend and downline's husband, Jayson immediately came to mind, so we called him and he was free and up for the adventure.   So let me share a few of the pictures now - sorry for so much wording but you really needed the story

The "hole" after hand digging on Saturday that the guys tried to get down into looking for the dog.  Remember - no equipment but shovels and picks were used here to dig - no ditch diggers or easy stuff due to the location.  Now look after extensive digging on Sunday afternoon

and yes, you are not seeing things - that is Jayson (pretty much the hero of our story) standing down in the hole - this area actually opened up into a cave like area.  Jay is down there looking for good ole Lady - he could hear her but the crazy dog would not come to her -we found out later that she was actually down 30 feet from the surface -  we think there is a possibility that she had chased a coon into this hole and that it was further back in this cavern and she simply could not get to it and would not leave.

and there she is!!! Jay had to use a snare to catch her and bring her to him.

Just love this shot - is this crazy or what?

Steve and Jay - now remember they are STANDING in the same hole that I showed you in the first picture.  What a load of work to get to this dog.  The Animal rescue lady called Sunday evening because she couldn't sleep thinking about the dog - so she was elated to hear that yep, we had gotten the dog out of the hole.

and there she is!  probably scanning the area to see if there are any more coons hanging out.  Look at all the rocks that they drug out of that hole.  Well, at least it has a happy ending.  I wasn't so sure it would when Steve told me about this at the airport.  Dick was happy to get his dog and we were happy not to have to worry about some poor dog starving to death in a big hole under the ground.  Thanks Jay for your spirit of adventure and to guys that are determined to finish the job!  Hope you enjoyed our story about Lady!  One more picture of what it looked like for Steve and Jayson looking out of the hole up to the surface.

Welcome to Friday

Oh Boy - it's Friday - time for snow and rain again.  Joy Oh bliss.  However, first things first - yesterday's post - the basket?  Michele was the closest - the cheap Dum Dum suckers were inside those strawberries and she was correct in surmising that it would be difficult to travel with chocolate covered strawberries.  I was surprised to peek inside those strawberries and see those little suckers. 

Now on to today - I was working on cards for my team meeting, classes coming up and workshops this week-end.  While fiddling with all kinds of product I decided about the only thing I had not used was the Blossom Builders kit - so I pulled it out and did a card - I just love using those little flowers - add the three dimensional look without thickness and weight:

This is one of those clean, easy cards again - whew - several of these lately - I love the bright colors with Daffodil Delight and Real Red and just a touch of Old Olive.  I slipped in two embossing folders - the dotted swiss and the striped folder - which is one of the "freebies" with a sale a bration purchase of $50. 

That's it for this week - well, except for Saturday for Steve and you really really do not want to forget it tomorrow - this is one of the most unusual stories I think we have ever featured - Steve informed me when he picked me up at the airport last week-end that he was working on a Saturday with Steve post!  Too funny - so see you back here tomorrow.  Have a great week-end. 

A Question

Well, I have a question for all of you today - I participated in a 3 D swap at Leadership.  This is one of the swaps I received and while I knew what the "subject" matter of the swaps were I had no clue what the demonstrator had actually wrapped up when I looked in this cute little basket.  What do you think is in this basket?

I never dreamed what was inside these - I actually figured they were just empty.

I'll see if there are any guesses - and let you know tomorrow what was inside this basket - I have to say I was totally surprised. This is very cute but not something I would like to make a lot of at one sitting.  They were done by Brenda McBride, from Oklahoma.  She told me this was her first ever 3D swap to participate in - and I figured it would be her last after making 10 of these for swapping. 

Another picture to share with you - we ate at a Mexican restaurant called MiTerra - it is decorated year round for Christmas and has strolling musicians playing all the time - here's the food I ate and I can just imagine what you are thinking - but it was absolutely fabulous.

The rice was the best tasing I think I'd ever had and the "green enchiladas" were wonderful.  Here's a look at some of the decorations.

If nothing else - this was extremely colorful.  The other dining room had Christmas trees all over the place.  There was a bakery here but that was something I stayed very far away from!!!  That's all for today - see you tomorrow.

Hostess Day

Yesterday was my hostess day for my ladies - I invite them all here one day every other month and they make three cards.  We had a great day yesterday.  I managed to actually get some food made for them this time - it is a little tricky with ladies arriving at different times, but want to try to do this as often as I can.  I just enjoy having them here.

Wanted to share one of the cards that they did.  I got this idea at Leadership conference and tried it myself - then thought I'd skip it because it has butterflies and I'm not fan of butterflies - on cards - that is - but this one grew on me as the day progressed.

Well, sorry - this looked good and clear - but I must have not adjusted correctly - oops - there is still a small learning curve - but it is getting better. I did not take a 2nd picture - so it is what it is.  This was Terri D's version of the card - like her little changes.  The ladies did several different things on their cards, giving them their own personality.  They also brought several samples for me to see - and I'll share those tomorrow.  I love it when they bring cards that they have made. 

Another shot from San Antonio - don't believe I actually need to identify this - even if you've never seen it - you should know exactly what it is.

We did not have the time to watch the movie, probably something I'll always wish I'd done - but it was great to see this - in my mind, I pictured this area with much taller walls and much more of a challenge to pentrate - the people inside the walls of the Alamo - did not stand a chance. 

That's another glimpse of San Antonio for the day.  Have a great one!

Happy Hug

Well, another one of those unusual titles - I'll explain in a little bit for those of you that tend to read a little more.  To those that just check in and see the card and move on, here we go:

My hubby was totally unimpressed with this card, but I loved it.  This is way outside my box because there is a Vintage look to this card.  Big time vintage - the set is even called Fresh Vintage and it is FREE - with a $50 purchase and there's that same paper again on the heart - love that stuff and at Leadership we also got a free pack of it.  I added a little smooch spritz to make it even more vintage looking.  Ofcourse the base was cut using the large scallop square die and cutting it out on the fold.  I gave this one to my Secret Sister at Leadership. 

While at Leadership, I attended several classes - two of which were my absolute favorites.  Donna Griffith and Patsy Waggoner did one entitled Retaining and Engaging your downline - Awesome ideas to put to use immediately.  Another class was Coaching for Performance with Jim Pitt and Natalie White and why, you ask, do I even mention this?  Because these teachers will be doing google searches this week for our postings about these classes and we have a chance to win a free stamp set.  So you bet I'm putting these up here! 

Now for a nighttime peek at the River walk

We just happened to show up in time for a parade that evening for the last episode of Home Makeover - homes were being built for several Wounded soldiers and they went by on one of the floats as well as a few singing groups and bands

I cannot tell you how happy I was with this new camera - I've got great shots for my use taken at Leadership plus the sights of San Antonio - a great investment. 

Oops - almost forgot - the Happy Hug - my youngest daughter called me yesterday to experiment with Skype.  I had installed it on my computer a week ago and we were going to try to have a "session" with the grand kids Little Zadok, seen below, just didn't know what to make of Nana and Grandpa talking out of the computer, however, finally, he realized it was really us talking and while I was talking to him he walked over to my daughter's computer and hugged the computer - then kissed the screen!  Yes, that's definitely one of those awwwwwww moments.  He definitely warmed up quickly to the idea of the computer - although he kept walking to look behind it just to see if maybe we were there! That's it for today - hopefully that gave you a smile! 

Hey - It's good to be back home again!

I am so very glad to be home - the flight home from San Antonio, was one of those flights - well - let's just say it was bad!!!  I left San Antonio at 8 a.m. - did not arrive home until midnight!  I could have almost driven here faster!  There were lots of storms - even tornadoes around the Atlanta, Georgia area so our plane was diverted -due to low fuel - Atlanta airport was completely shut down and then alllllllll of Delta's flights were backed up - there was a great "bonding" session with most of the people on the flight home from Atlanta, as we spent about 5 hours together in the airport - running from one concourse to another as Delta changed our gate - 5 times.  Anyway, I'm home safe and sound. 

I want to share a few pictures from San Antonio - absolutely LOVED my time there - what an awesome place to visit and the folks there are so friendly.  The Riverwalk - met every expectation that I had.

Early morning shot as we headed up to the convention center on Wednesday morning. 

How about this unusual wreath?  and yes, that is real cactus. 

There were falls and fountains all along the Riverwalk - One can only imagine what this would look like in the summer - I'll have pictures at nighttime later this week.

This was another one of my swaps that I took for Leadership - and this is our blackboard paper - and yes, you really can use chalk to write on it!  Pretty cool!  That's it for today - I do have to tell you that you really really need to check back on SAturday this week - I'll be having one of the best posts ever for a Saturday with Steve - I can't wait to load the pictures and tell the story - you will love it - wasn't sure it was going to have a happy ending - so you'll have to decide on Saturday.  See you tomorrow!

Saturday with Steve

WElcome to another Saturday with STeve, sharing the crazy and not so crazy things that go on here on the farm.  Some are interesting, some are crazy and some are nothing but funny!  Today 's is a mix of all the above.  First of all, the chickens - I have to tell you these gals are just the craziest birds we have ever owned.  Even Steve is quite fond of these birds - I frequently see him picking up the hens, because they come and stand at your feet and peck at you in order to be picked up - so even he is an easy target for them.  However, we've never had hens that came out in the snow, maybe they would stick a foot out in the snow, but then quickly pull it back in and just stay in the hen house - but alas, we have different girls this time:

It just looks unusual to see a chicken standing in the snow, face it!  Now not all of them came out - but about half of them did and stayed out for several hours, Steve started a fire and they were all coming around the fire because the snow would melt on the grass near it and they could grab little snippets of grass - so it looked like the chickens were "warming" themselves by the fire (which could really be a whole different story!) 

Then I mentioned that STeve had a major accomplishment before I left for Texas, look here:

He ordered his garage door and this is the beginning of it - I was headed into town - just a really quick trip - in and out and when I returned this is what I found:

Steve putting in the last panel!  You can see his hand there as he sat the panel in place. 

Now I had no clue that these doors went up in panels - I just thought you hung the entire door - live and learn!  Looks pretty nice though.  Now we need a door on the other opening and then it will definitely cut down on the "cool" factor!  The grandsons will love playing in this building.  Now I have one more random picture and this is for my friends, Bev and Janet as I know they love pictures of the "puppies"

Here's a shot of Rimfire peeking through the porch railing as he watches deer coming into the feeder we have in the back yard - he KNOWS he cannot chase the deer so he sits and stares at them from the safe zone of the porch or if the temptation gets too great to go after them - he simply turns and gets into his dog box!  Doesn't he look all dejected sitting there?

That's all for today - enjoy your Saturday - hope to have pictures from San Antonio to share with you next week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Some more treats

Back again today with some more of the items I made for the wrap it up treat swap I participated in.  Here's one of my own design:

This is to hold a full size Hershey bar.  I used the sale a bration FREE paper again and our heart embosslit.  Ofcourse this would not have to be a Valentine look.  That's just what I chose.  My plan was to do a tutorial on this - but time simply ran out - so when I return home - I'll show you how I made this, assuming anyone is interested.  here's what it looks like with the Hershey bar outside it:

I also decorated some Million Dollar candy bars for the team members that are attending Leadership - I used the simply scrappin Kit - Spring Fever from the mini catalog to decorate these - I love the little "posies" in this set:

Here it is Friday and I still have lots to show you !!!  So next week there will be lots of other items and I do have some pictures to show you for SAturday with Steve tomorrow - Steve got a major accomplishment just before I left for my trip.  Be sure to check back to see what it was.  Hopefully I'll share some pictures from the trip on Sunday or Monday.  See you then.  Have a great week-end.