Day 58 and 59

Woo Hoo!  I caught up!  It was looking somewhat doubtful for a while.

It's a green sort of day today.    Had fun doing these guys with the Unity Stamps.

Top one is inspired by the new Paper Craftgs Magazine, Bottom one from the Unity Blog.  Argile paper is from the Card Mazagize kit, the other paper is Lasting Impressions that I got on sale at Ben Franklins Friday.

Kennedy Center

I borrowed a couple pics from Al's blog and our visit to the Space Center.  Of course, I wouldn't get a picture of my husband, but he did.

Dave, Christy and Keeley inside one of the space station modules.

And of course, Al is a better photographer than I am cause he got this great sunset in the "Rock Garden."

Day 56 and 57

I did this one yesterday but then didn't have a chance to post it.  Stamp is Unity and Close to My Heart.  Papers are DCWV.

This was a real challenge, but a fun technique.  After a little trial and error, this was the process:  Cut a piece of canvas, fray the edges.  At this point you should cut the hole with a Spellbinders (or other) die.  Then ink the canvas with distress inks and mist with water to blend the colors better.  Then run the canvas through the Cuttlebug with an embossing envelope and let dry (or use heat gun).  Stamp the image on a second piece of cardstock and attach to card base, and then attach canvas with strong adhesive.  Though the scan doesn't show the depth, I punched the dragonfly and attached it to the canvas with glue dots.

The canvas is really hard to cut with the die.  I had to do it several times with several shims to finally get it through.  But I really like the results. 

This photo shows the dimension a little better, but not the embossing.  The dragon fly was punched from a piece of cs that I had done early while playing with different techniques that was masked and heat embossed.  Again, it looks much 'cooler' IRL.

Days 53-54-55

So again I missed a couple days, but I'm back.  I saw a tutorial for this technique on Splitcoast Stampers.  It is embossed with the CB, but as you see, the center is flat so that it can be stamped. 

I joined the Cards Magazine Kit club and got my first kit today.  It's ok, nothing to shout about really.  I'll probably cancel after a couple of them.  This is a couple careds that I made with them.  Not what the directions tell you to do, but I always have to go a LITTLE out of the box...haha.

The green one looks crooked but it really isn't... I promise... it's the scan.

Day 52

I decided this morning I was going to clean my tables before I made any more cards.  It's getting hard to find anything under the piles.

But I didn't make it.  Had other stuff to do today, but did get about another foot to work on.  Then got some inspiration tonight for another card, so maybe I'll work on the room again tomorrow.

It's not perfectly aligned on the page, but this was my third attempt.  The flower is stamped directly on the cs front, then masked, heat embossed and inked a couple times.  The inspiration came from one of Michelle Zindorf's cards.

Day 49-50-51

A few round cards I did today. 

Day 48

I got a new scanner.  I think it does a much nicer view than my pictures do.  I'm not very "artsy" when it comes to photographing cards anyway.  I like the way this little guy turned out.  I didn't know that I wanted to put the bird on it when I started, I just knew that I wanted to put a flourish someplace.  Tried to stamp the flourish onto the pattern paper but it is a glossy finish and wouldn't take the ink.  Will try that on another one. 

Day 47

Not doing too well with getting caught up, but i'll get there, I promise!   I like to stamp too much NOT to do it. This jet lag has been a killer. Here's my card for today.  Background is second generation and inked with Mulled Lavender DI.

The background and ribbon are stamped with the same stamp set as the sentiment. 

Oops

Gone all day today looking for prospective homes for the community, so didn't get any cards made today.  Guess it will take a little bit longer to get caught up.

Card a Day 45-46

The flower is stamped into polymer clay, baked and colored with Smooch Inks. 

The sentiment is stamped in polymer and painted with alcohol inks.

Card a Day 42-43-44

I really like the way this one turned out. The picture really doesn't do it justice.  The butterflies are cut and embossed with CB dies/folder, and distress inked.  The Weathered Wood ink was the perfect match for the pattern paper.  Stamps are Unity and unnamed acrylic.

 

This was inspired by this month's Paper Crafts Magazine.  I seem to be getting lots of inspiration from it this month.  Tree base are Unity stamps.  Circles cut with CM cutter and dotted lines with Inkabilities pen.  Thanks is CTMH.

Background is masked and ink distressed.  Tree stamp is Rubber Stampede, Thanks is CTMH.

Card a Day 40-41

The inspiration for this card came from the new Paper Crafts.  The background trees are heat embossed with clear E.P. and then the paper is distressed inked with T.H. Shabby Shutters.  The tree is Unity.  I stamped the trunk in brown, then the leaves on different colored CS.  I'll do anything to keep from having to color in a stamp!  haha.  Leaves are individual cut out and adhered. 

This is a new stamp I picked up last week on sale in Florida.  It is Inkadinkado.  I really love it.  Paper is DCWV.

We came home from our trip to these daffodils in bloom.  There is actually more blooming here than there was in Florida!  Just had to add some flowers now that it's fake spring.

Card a Day 38 and 39

My first card today is one I did before we left for vacation.  Don't tell any of my Stampeas friends but this is for a challenge for Winterfest also...shh... it's a secret.  Background is masked with versamark and then distressed with T.H. Distressing inks.  Sentiment is Unity, BG stamps are Unity and Close to My Heart combo.

I did this one last night playing with my new Sizzix dies on my Cuttlebug.  I just love how you can use any brand or type of die-cut with these simply by playing around with what plate you use.  This is one of the old fat ones, and I simply removed the 'A' tray and used to 'B' plates. The flowers are cut from some of the paper staks that I bought on sale in Florida (DCWV), ink distressed and mounted with pop dots.  I embossed the flower centers with Swiss Dots and mounted flush on the card base.  Card base papers are an old MM stack.  Green ribbon is CTMH, pink is new Target $1 set.  Make sure you check out their  new ribbon sets, thre are some real cute cupcake ones!  I bought 6 sets last night.  Sentiment stamp is Studio G.

Both of these cards were fun to do for different reasons.  If I can continue to do 2 cards a day I will be caught up by Feb 24.  With Winterfest coming soon that shouldn't be a problem.

Day 36-37

I've got some catching up to do on my Card a Day, but I will do it... i will do it... i will do it.  It's called positive thinking?  Catching up on things in the office, getting unpacked, mending TSA damage to my craft supplies...grrr.  Putting away my new dies, stamps, paper etc from trip.  Yeah... i'll do it.

Not real crazy about this one.  It's part of a Unity set that I haven't used yet.  I thought the bright colors would compliment it, but still don't know if I like it. 

I like this one.  This is one of my favorite color combos.  Background CS CB embossed and sanded.  Tree stamp and flower are Unity.  There is a Prisma flower under the stamped flower.  Image square cut on CB.

Kennedy Space Center

Just a few more pics from our trip.  We toured the facility where they build the modules for the International Space Station.  The launch that happened on Monday they were actually delivering the very last component of the ISS.  Each country has contributed to the building of the station and ours have these emblems on the side, pretty cool!

The next pictures are from the living-quarters module. One side has the shower pictured here, the sleeping unit, which is about the size of the shower here.  I didn't take a picture because it said "wardrobe" and I thought it was just where they hung there clothes... wrong.  It has what looks like a wardrobe thing that hangs in your closet, but they get in to that and zip themselves in to sleep.

This is the "waste management" section.  Aren't you glad we don't have to put our feet in stirrups and hang on?

A close up of the sign that is right next to the seat. This will leave you pondering.  Who needs tp when you have a "scraper tool?"   UGH!

Launch of the Shuttle Endeavor

As promised, here is the video of the launch of the Endeavor last Sunday Morning.  Pretty cool stuff!  The video is pretty long, you may want to quit before the end, no big deal.  After about 2 minutes it's just a little light is all you can see.

Vacation

One more full day and then we head for home.  For some reason I can't sleep tonight.  The clock on my laptop says 11:12, but it's actually 2:12 here.  Had a nice day today even though we did get caught in an awful rain storm.  Just did some shopping and went to lunch.  We picked up a couple iPod Touch today, they sure are cool!  Plan on listening to the latest in the Peter and the Star Chaser books on the flight home.  Also stopped at the local scrap/stamp store.  Oh Yeah!  Got a few little goodies.  Hopefully Dave and Al will be able to go paintballing tomorrow if it's not raining.  Finally got hooked up with wifi today, so it's much nicer that I don't have to be hogging all the time on Christy and Al's puter.

Did get a couple cards done while the girls were making some cards yesterday.  It was nice to be behind a stamp again.  Got a couple new embossing/die cuts today that I had to try out.  A nice size butterfly diecut with four embossing folders for the cuttlebug, and a square Spellbinders die set.  Of course, had to try and cut a window card....haha.

Manatee Heaven

Unfortunately no pictures yet.  Dave left the digital at the house and had his video camera. Won't elaborate on that conversation! Can't get any programs to upload to Utube. So for now I just get to tell you about how fabulous it was.

The first dock we went out on at Apollo Beach, there was a family of three manatees lounging a couple feet under water, and a LOT of Spotted Eagle Ray's jumping out of the water.  Saw a couple sharks in that area too.  Then we moved to the dock over the more shallow area and there were hundreds, I mean hundreds of manatee's lounging right on the surface.  Families of momma, daddy and baby rolling over on their backs smiling pretty for (those that had) the camera.  Not so many Rays there, but more sharks.  Some smaller sharks came very close to the beach and some birds tried to attack them.  Florida is a birder's paradise.  I'm not a birder but I do love to see all the varieties of birds here, from Turkey Vulchers to the beautiful Snowy Egrets.

The reason for the high concentration of manatee's in this area is that there is a coal power plant that heats the water to around 80 degrees.  Year before last when we were here we went to Crystal River where there were many manatee's (not like here though) and we canoed out with them and they would swim under the canoe... by the way... they are HUGE!  Both visits were fascinating, one for the proximity of which we could view them and the other for the massive amount of manatee's that were there, and all on the surface. 

Kaitlyn and Keeley at Sebastian Inlet

Don't know what our plans are for the rest of the week.  Dave is hoping to get in some paintball with Al this weekend.  I am probably about shopped out.... Dave would love to hear that!  Hit Michael's and Joann's yesterday.  We took the van back today.  That was a sweet vehicle to be driving around town in.... a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country....thanks to a special friend that got us a great discount at the rental company.  Now we are looking at probably renting something to get home from the airport as nothing else has materialized. 

I'm not sure what the name of this plant is, but when the Spanish came to the coast they dried these and used them to write on.  They grow abundantly on the beach along with the Sea Oats.

 

Sea Oats are what keep the beach from eroding and they are protected as they have been dieing off.

I've been surprised at the lack of anything blooming this year due to the frost.  The palm trees are all scraggly and dead, and nary a blossom to be seen anywhere.  But I am sure that it will pop back soon and be beautiful once again.  We've still run into a gator here and there.

 

If you look along the edge of the water you will see one here.  We also saw several armadilla on the road in to Cape Kennedy but we were moving too fast to get them on camera.  There were also a couple of turtles but I didn't actually see them, the girls did.  

Sebastian Inlet

We made a little jaunt down the coast to Sebastian Inlet.  That is where you see the little red box down at the bottom.  The pink area towards the top is where we were staying in Cocoa Beach.

This is the first resident that greeted us, a Snowy Egret

 

I couldn't resist getting a few (this is just one of many) pictures of the waves crashing in to the rocks under the jetty.

 

The sunset as we were leaving was pretty cool too.

 

Just a few random pics of some beautiful girls

 

  

  

  

Waiting for the launch at 4am

Kennedy Space Center

The shuttle launch was scrubbed last night, hopefully it will be a go tonight.  Today we went to the Space Center, and there is so much to see that we are going back tomorrow.  We may have seen half of it today.

I am a sucker for these group pictures they nail you for as soon as you come in.  Still have the ones from last year at the Knights of Arabia Dinner Theater.

Just look at how big the girls are.  I've got lots more pictures to share when we have a descent internet connection.  It took me about an hour to download 4 pictures tonight here at the hotel.