Hello, Crafty Friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and checking out the new collection from Spellbinders!

I especially love the dies in this set, and they are so versatile. You can creats lots of beautiful projects by adding in some other supplies you probably already have on hand, so I'd love to share how I did that with these two cards:

I started by cutting some patterned paper scraps I had in my stash (including some from the Sincerely Yours paper pad). I then used the dies from the Heartfelt Thanks set to cut out the white and green-leafed pieces. 

I glued these all together down on my cut and scored 4.25 x 5.5 inch card base and then cut away the "Heartfelt Thanks" portion of the sentiment die in the set so that only the scroll accents were left. I glued that down on top of my card and then stamped a sentiment from the Beautiful Inside and Out sentiment stamp set to complete the focal point of the card. 

For my next card, I thought these dies would really look nice on a slimline card, so I cut down some colored cardstock and glued it on to a cut and scored slimline white card base. 

I chose a different sentiment from the same stamp set and then adhered some foam on to the pack of my oval focal panel before adhering it down to the card base to finish off the card.

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I'm here with a sneak peek of my card that will be on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog tomorrow!


I'm also going to share some details about our next trip.

But first, a little back story.

I met my husband while I was on staff at a local university. He was actually still a student at the time we met because he had come as a freshman but then left and sat out for almost three years before coming back. During the time he was gone, I was finishing up my undergraduate degree. When he came back, I was in graduate school working on my master's degree and so our paths just never crossed. I was in a serious relationship with someone else during my time in grad school, and obviously thought things were headed in a particular direction.

However, life has a way of taking unexpected turns!

That relationship ended very unexpectedly and so by the time I was in my last year of graduate school, I was sort of in a very different stage of life than I thought I'd be. I ended up taking a full time job at the university I received my degrees from, and just kept plugging away at this thing we call life. After my second year of working full time, I had the opportunity to travel in a small group of people that toured through Europe performing choral concerts. My husband happened to be in the same group, and so we got to be good friends. After our first year of traveling on this tour, we stayed good friends and then went on the same tour the next summer. Needless to say by the time we were back in the states after the second tour, we decided that we liked being friends so much that we wanted to be serious friends forever! :) We started dating and neither of us have looked back since.

We went to Oregon for the first time together the Christmas we were engaged.

At that point, the farthest west I had ever been was Colorado, which is a beautiful state, and so I had high expectations of Oregon.

Folks, let me tell you, I was not disappointed!

Visiting Oregon in the winter was a great experience. My husband's family live in a suburb of Portland. We toured some of the classic spots: Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Seattle (which is obviously in Washington, but when you're that close...you might as well go all the way, am I right?!), and probably other places that I can't remember off the top of my head at this moment. But it was truly gorgeous. And windy. If you don't own a Northface jacket, don't visit Portland. Because you will look out of place.

Last summer we visited Oregon again, and it was a totally different experience. Going from the July mid 90s with 200% humidity in South Carolina to the mid 60s in Portland was probably the closest experience to a resurrection that I will ever have. I felt like Dorthy coming out of her black and white twister world into the technicolor world of Oz for the first time. We took in some different sites this time, including a jet boat ride down the Willamette River in rain and high 50s. Um, this was one of the funniest things I've ever done and one of the best memories I have with my Oregon family, but I will NEVER.DO.IT.AGAIN. After I was all dried out, we went to dinner and I literally got a thimble-full of water on myself during the meal and I immediately started crying.

Crying, people. Crying about spilling a little bit of water on myself. Does that even begin to tell you how traumatized I was by the fact that I had gotten so soaked to the bone during that jet boat ride? I somehow thought that I would never be dry again after the condensation from my water glass dripped on to my jean-clad leg. I'm having PTSD shutters just thinking about it.

We also visited Cannon Beach and I was definitely amazed at the beauty of the Pacific Northwest Coastline, as it is VERY different from the East Coast beaches. I'm used to going to the beach and wearing bathing suits, sleeveless, and shorts. But when you're in Oregon, you visit the beach in shorts and a Lands End hoodie. I literally had to stop at an outlet shop and buy a windbreaker, because this Southern girl was extremely unprepared.

Anyway, my husband I head back to Oregon next week to celebrate my sister in law's wedding! She is marrying a terrific guy and they are a gorgeous couple. I'm sure the wedding will be beautiful and it will be great to be together with family that we see so rarely. And, if you can even believe it, I am going to refrain from engaging in any East Coast vs. West Coast dialogue battles. 😃

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to visit the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog tomorrow for the full reveal of my card!

Happy Friday, everyone!

I've got a sneak peek of the card I'll be sharing over on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog tomorrow, and I hope you enjoy reading tomorrow about how I created it!


I can't believe another school year has raced by. In January, I left my previous job to start a new chapter and began working for a financial services company. After being in school since I was 5 then immediately working for 6 and a half years at a university straight out of graduate school, I was BOUND to the school year schedule. Then, suddenly, I went to a place where I was chained to the fiscal year calendar and a set of deadlines from the IRS.

But, I'm married to a teacher, so I'm definitely still tied to the ebb and flow of the school year calendar to some extent. Which is perfectly fine with me. I get excited right along with my husband when he gets a random day off or, like right now, when we're in the final days of the school year.
I feel like the summer "break" truly started to feel like an actual event when I attended my niece's kindergarten graduation last week.

That's right, you heard me: Kindergarten. Graduation. Because, apparently, that's a thing now? I never had a kindergarten graduation when I was a kid, and neither did most of the people I know.
But....don't mistake me. While I was kinda scratching my head over the idea of a kindergarten graduation, Aunt Kelly was ABSOLUTELY thrilled to go and super proud to watch her Bunny. She and all her fellow K5 compatriots stood on stage and sang songs about speckled frogs in a pond, losing a tooth, the Eastern United States, the "ch-" sound, etc. And, let's be honest. I probably would have made valedictorian in my high school graduating class if I had learned even half of these adorable songs to remember simple things like...which state is next to Alabama. My prediction is that, in another 20 years, people won't use google nearly half as much as they use it now, because...HELLO?! I have to look at a map when someone asks me what state is next to Alabama (which happens all the time, naturally). But all these adorable 5-year-olds have these cute and catchy songs that they can sing to themselves when they are asked the same question.
The event was sweet and precious, but I hope my niece isn't disappointed when she graduates from college since that ceremony won't be nearly as fun. Or colorful. It's even doubtful that any songs will be sung about speckled frogs.

Anyway, back to our summer plans.

My husband and I are going on vacation with my family to the beach during the first week of June. This trip is definitely one of the highlights of the year for us. Imagine the conversation-around-the dinner-table-scene from "While You Were Sleeping" combined with every episode of "Parks and Recreation" and then throw in an irresponsible amount of pie and ice cream consumption mixed with sunburns, wii competitions, and general toddler hilarity, and you'll have just a vague idea of why we're still talking about the annual beach trip months after it happened. I.cannot.wait.

Then my husband is actually staying on the coast to attend some continuing education training at The Citadel. So he will be gone for an entire week (DURING our anniversary, I might add), and it's looking likely that I will sustain permanent damage to my emotional psyche with him being gone. 😉 But after he returns, we immediately head out to Oregon for his sister's wedding. After we get back from Oregon we will no doubt celebrate our anniversary in some way and then we will spend the rest of the summer hoping that the days somehow miraculously slow down before my husband heads back to the drudgery of the school year schedule. We are also planning to have a furry little addition join our family, so the adventure of becoming doggie-caretakers will no doubt be good material to share here on the blog.

I hope that whatever your summer plans are, they include some time to relax and enjoy extra time with family! Thanks for stopping by today!