Proud Mom post - JrROTC Awards night

 Hallo,
   Finally found some time to edit the picts I took at the ROTC Awards night this week - sorry the pictures are not so good - I have been taking pictures in this hall for 4 years now and never manage to get good pictures - they always turn out dark even when they have a;l the lights on(its like the walls just suck up all the light somehow...)
  Anyway - the first 2 pictures are of my son Jack who is a Junior this year and the next 3 are of my daughter Paula who is a senior this year (and as of today is the proud owner of a vehicle - 2044 subaru forester - lots of miles on it but in good shape)
  And the last 5 pictures are of my other kids (ROTC Mom - one of many....) Angie, Amanda, Alex, Austin (I have been this ones other Mom since about first grade - he is a senior also) and Brian.
  As I say every year - it is really nice to see my kids get their awards as they work hard for them, but it is almost as nice to see so many awards go to the group of kids that my kids hang out with!!!!!
   All for today - a few things to do yet today before I head off to work tonight....
      Have a great Memorial Day weekend and Remember why it is that we have this weekend - to Honor those military members that have given their lives for our Freedom and Safety!!!
    Take Care
       Tera

Cactus flowers

 Hallo,
   Well I am still trying to wake up and get a move on today - the last 2 nights at work were busy and I didn't sleep much yesterday so I guess I have worklag (like jet lag only from work :)
   I took these pics real quick the other day when I was taking some pictures of cards - I may have to take some more in the morning and take a bit more time, but these turned out pretty well.
  This pretty little cactus is at my front door - it is planted in a 'dry spot'  - a spot where the sprinklers don't seem to hit - instead of having the DH fix the sprinklers many years ago I decided to make it a small cactus garden and they have the prettiest flowers!!!
  Now off to get ready - the kids have JrROTC awards night tonight!!! Look for pictures tomorrow!!!
   Take Care
        Tera

Christmas Card

Hallo,
   Well todays post was sposed to be for todays CSS hop over at Gina K but when I made my card I didn't realize that this set had been retired and then I didn't have time to make another as I had to get off to work tonight.....and to top it off I realized that I had interpeted the challenge wrong and it was not sposed to be a Christmas cards either.....ah well, my brain might need a reboot this week.

   I stamped the ornamnent stamps from 'Heirloom Ornaments'  (a retired set from Gina K)onto tan cardstock and cut them out with the matching Spellbinders dies. I then layered them on top of some black patterned DP, a back die cut, a black ribbon and a marroon with gold scrolly things ribbon and then onto some marroon and white Christmas paper - all on a base cardstock of olive green.
  
  Well I had better get a move on and get ready for work - another busy night in store. Last night was busy too so will be glad for 3 days off after tonight!!!!
  I was so wound up after work this am that I took Kyna puppy for a walk to the beach with my friend Nathalie and Kyna's doggy buddy Perry - it got hot pretty fast and Kyna was having a great time swimming and running like a crazy girl - by the time I got home I was really ready for bed (not sure I am ready for the summer weather...)
   Take Care
        Tera

Blue Pointsetta and a morning walk...

 Hallo,
   First some pictures of todays card and then some photos from my morning walk with my foxy puppy.
  The card is for the current Tuesday challenge over at Flourishes which was a color challenge to use blue and green.
   I colored up this pointsetta stamp - from Flourishes - with prismacolor pencils and colored the pointsetta blue and the berries a teal blue and the pines a blue green, then the leaves in green and olive greens.
   I found some Christmas DP with a light blue background - with brown reindeer - and added a brown ribbon used brown cardstock for my base.
  I used a dark blue ribbon to match the center of the pointsetta and added some light blue rhinestones too.
   Check out the challenge here - www.flourishes.org/blog

  Well summer has definatly arrived here in NW Florida - up until the last couple days it had been fairly cool in the mornings and not much humidity but no more. By 730 when I got out to one of our favorite walking spots it was already 80 and very humid.
  Miss Kyna LOVES our walks in the woods - she is always running full tilt after squirrels, rabbits and the occasional deer and today was no exception, except she needed a rest break and some water about 20 minutes into our walk (almost halfway) which she never does ...but then again the 'rest' break was all of about 1 minute. When we got down to the water she was very happy to get in and it only took her a minute before she decided that the water felt good enough that she was soon swimming(after she chased away some birds :).
   On the way back we ran into the little snake in the last picture - or rather I came upon it and Kyna was out in the woods. Yes it is a rattlesnake - not sure if it is a pygmy or a baby - it was only about 6 inches long and less than a quarter inch wide at its widest - didn't have much of a rattle, but I wasnt going to get any closer than I was - which was about 3 feet away - amazing how much I can zoom in with my phone camera.
  I have seen these a couple times over the years down here - but never out in the woods - have seen 3 or 4 in town near wooded areas - 2 of which were already dead from getting run over on the street. Guess I will have to keep my eyes peeled on high power from now on...
   All for today - time for a nap as I have to work tonight.
     Take Care
          Tera

SQUIRRELS!!!!!

BIRDIES!!!!!

AAHHH - Coool Water

YIKES!!!!

Prediction

Hallo,
   Boy it has gotten warm the last couple days - I guess that means summer has finally come to NW Florida. The hubby, puppy and I went for our morning walk and then I finished off a bit of yard work.
   We actually had all of us at lunch - as DS just got off work and DD doesn't work till later today. Then we all went and saw the new Star Trek movie. Great movie on its own but it was also fun to pick out all the little nods to other sci fi classics in amongst all the action!!!
   Then I had a bit of time in the craft room this evening :) happy, happy me - a great sci fi flick with the family and some crafting time :)
   I did this card for the current challenge over at Impression Obsession which is 'In the Air'
Check out the challenge here - www.mitrafriant.typepad.com
  I used several stamps - all from IO. The first stamp I used was the cover-a-card scratches #CC044 that I stamped in gray onto some DP. The I stamped the 2 airplane stamps - Airplane collage #F13013 and Airplane corner# F13014 in black. Then I stamped the phrase - Predict the fucture #D1383 in red onto a scrap of the same DP. I cut the phrase layer and the gray layer both with Spellbinders dies and edged the phrase layer in red - and the main DP layer too. I edged the gray layer for under the phrase with a silver mettalic pen.
  I kept the accents simple as this made a really good guy card - all I used were some silver colored pearl drops that I did with a tulip fabric pen.
   All for today - Take Care!!
        Tera

Proud Mama post

 Hallo,
    Just a quick proud Mamma post before I head to bed - one of my co-workers was kind enough to stay a bit late at work last night for me so I could attend at the awards ceremony for the Air Force Associations scholarships.
   Paula my daughter recieved one of the scholarships - it will probably go towards getting her a new laptop to take to college with her as her old one is, well old and doesn't always work right for her....
   The first Picture is of Paula and her friend Eathan who wore his college ROTC uniform - looking smart!!! Paula's friend Angie was also there - she and a few other ROTC members from her HS were helping escort guests.
  Very proud of my girl!!!
   Off to sleep now - Have a great weekend :)
           Tera

Purple Iris

 Hallo,
   Just a quick stop here this am - when I was out taking pictures of a card yesterday, I noticed my neighbors flowers in their front yard. I think these are siberian iris but I don't know - but they are sure pretty. I love the pretty purple color and the stripes and the darker centers.
   I may have to find me some of these for my yard!!!
   Off to sleep with me so I can work again tonight.
   Happy Mother's Day!!!
   Tera

Accents in black

 Hallo,
   A rainy saturday here in NW Florida - we got back from a nice long walk the DH, puppy and I and soon after it started raining. As I got all my cleaning chores done earlier in the week and the rain cancelled my yard chores, I headed to the craft room. Believe it or not I am almost through with the massive Christmas ornament project that I started before Christmas.....
   I also finished off this card for the current Tuesday challenge over at Flourishes which was to use something black, black accents. Check it out here - www.flourishes.org/blog/ - play along and you could win all 4 of the stamp sets in this last weeks new release - like I did with the  release challenge this time around!!!! :) Happy, Happy,Happy ME!!!!
   I stamped the dress form (Flourishes of course) onto some pale yellow DP - the back side was used to cut the flower rosettes and the corner accents - it has a differnt pattern and a darker yellow.
   I colored the dress form with prismacolor pencils and fussy cut it out . The black frame, corner accents and the 'cut-and-fold' shapes are all Spellbinders dies.
  I also used a black ribbon and some black pearl drops made with a tulip fabric paint pen(I accidently smeared the one corner a bit - wanted to get a picture while the rain let up and I also needed to get my pre-night-shift nap in so I was in a hurry :( hopefully its not too noticable.....
   All for today - off to work....
        Have a great weeknd!!!
                 Tera

Spring Pirate

 Hallo,
   Well its been a busy day here - starting with a long walk with my puppy and her doggy friend and his owner Nathalie. We took the long way around to a little beach park near us and let the 'kids' play in the water for awhile. My little Kyna is finally trying out her swimming skills - she went out deep enough to swim 3 or 4 times today. Her buddy loves to swim, especially when there is a ball involved, he dives right in and she follows. We managed to 'almost ' wear my little girl out - another 20 minutes throwing her toy racoon for her in the yard did the trick, once she went to sleep she was out for several hours :)
   I am showing you a card made with a stamp from Sweet Pea stamps - www.sweetpeastamps.com
  I haven't had as much time for coloring lately as I would like, but when I color, one of my favorite companies is Sweet Pea Stamps - I love all the fairies and mermaids. Our town has a pirate festival the first weekend in June so I pulled out my sweet pirate mermaid and colored her in 'spring colors' for the current challenge over at 'One Sweet Challenge - www.onesweetchallenge.blogspot.com
   She is colored with prismacolor pencils and cut out with a Spellbinders die. The black layer is actually a label from 'Paper Temptress'  - its such a poretty die cut that I save all the labels whenever I order paper from Paper Temptress so I can reuses them :)
   All for tonight - Have  a great weekend!!!
           Tera

Congratulations Grad

Hallo,
  Just a really quick notet this morning, took the puppy for a shorty walk and my bed is ever so sweetly singing to me ....
  Graduations coming up - these are 2 I made for my 2 Nieces back in Nebraska who graduate this weekend. These stamps are from Hanna stamps and I did them in their school colors.
  Ok off tosleep - onemore night to go and 3 off!!! :)
   Take Care
        Tera

Owl friendship

 Hallo,
   Well it is Monday and it sure feels like a Monday - I guess I will get my nap early today. I really shouldn't be tired after having the weekend off but I didn't sleep well last night and I need a nap before working tonight anyhow....
   Puppy took me for a long walk out on base this morning. It has been over a week since we went and she was rowdy. We had company in the fields today as a military group was out there doing an exercise but they said they were doing anything 'too crazy' and gave me the thumbs up to head out. We met up with them again about half way through our walk - Kyna had scared up a deer and was deep in the woods and then with the noise the boys were making (which really wasn't much) she had trouble finding me again....it was only about 10 minutes total but I was beginning to worry....it didn't phase her at all(she probably found a couple squirrels to chase on her way back from chasing the deer....)
  Well today's card is for the current challenge over at Impression Obsession and calls for 'something to be thankful for'  - I am Thankful for all the good friends in my life :)
   I used the 'Owl be Thankful' set (#CL293) and  'CAC Scratches" (#CC044) - I used the cover a card for the background and  2 images from the Owl set and colored them with copics. I used an out-of-the-die technique for the owl and phrase and then partially colored another owl and popped up the tummy portion of the owl for a bit of dimension.
   I cut both image panels out with Spellbinders dies and edged them with a bit of walnut stain distress ink.
   Lastly I added some bronze colored pearl drops with a viva decor pen.
  Check out the challenge here - www.mitrafriant.typepad.com
   Have a great week!!!
          Tera

Beautiful Roses

Hallo,
  It was such a beautiful morning for our walk this am - warm and no wind, really nice. Then as we headed back from our walk I noticed some clouds building but didn't think much of it - after all I do live in Florida, which means if you stop everything just because it 'looks' like it might rain then you would never get anything done and more than half the time the clouds go poof and no rain anyway.  Only not this am - I got in about an hour of yard work and the wind kicked up and the rain came - it rained about and hour and now it is sunny again but still windy.
   While it was raining I got a shower, so now I am headed for the craft room - one challenge card and a passel of graduation cards to make.....
   Just a quick stop here to show you a card I finished off yesterday using the release challenge colors over at Flourishes - check it out here - www.flourishes.org/blog/
  I just loved these colors and was in a kinda vintagey mood anyway - these colors are perfect for a bit of vintage style :)
   The main image is of course from Flourishes and colored with prismacolor pencils and cut out with a Spellbinders die and edged with walnut distress ink. I used another piece of the brown with pink core paper I had near my desk - it already had the embossing on it so just had to sand it off a bit.
   The DP and the 2 little paper embelishments both come from the same paper pack and a green cardstock base this time.
   All for today - better get going on grad cards - also wanted to start another locker hook rug that my DD asked for to take to college with her :) so I had better get started.
   Take Care
      Tera

Vintage Magnolia's

Hallo,
  Cool and windy here today - I needed a sweatshirt for our morning walk this am which is just crazy for may in Florida - but at least we didn't have snow!!!
   I finished off this card for the release week challenge over at Flourishes - check out the challenge here - www.flourishes.org/blog/
  The stamp is from Flourishes of course and colored with my prismacolor pencils. I used a Spellbinders die to cut out the main image and another one to get the green scrolly type layer too - it is a tag die that I cut in half to put behind the main image. I am kinda wishing now that I would have edged the main panel with walnut or tea dye ink to define it a bit more....sigh :)
  I really liked the colors for this challenge  - I colored up 2 images using these colors, so I may show you the other one tomorrow.
  Back to the craft room :)
      Have a great weekend!!!
           Tera