Summertime and the livin’ is easy…..

 

In Wisconsin, that is…..while I was there we went over to Chippewa Falls, a town next to Eau Claire.  They had the most amazing park!

It is called Irvine park.  It is full of animals, and places to picnic and hike, and it is all free!

These photos are from their website…it was packed the day we were there…

These are my photos….

This poor guy behind me was already panting…but they have water to cool off in…

There is a tribute to Old Abe….

He was a Eagle that was the mascot of a troop in the Civil War…

when we left, we went by Leinenkugels Brewery….

What a beautiful place…..another nice little park.

I took this photo and then saw the same identical view on one of their national ads……

here is a photo of an original barn on the property and some of the old buildings….

Right across the street is an old corner grocery store….

another wonderful little piece of history.

We also got this photo, after seeing it on Pinterest I wanted to see if the sign was still there….

this is a motel that is on a hill that overlooks the town of Chippewa Falls…

Linda and mike are going to see if they can get a photo at night….

This part of the country is so appealing to me….I just love the small town feel and the friendly people!

This is my cousin Mike on his riding lawnmower….this man  is busy sunrise to sunset….not bad for 70 years old!

I will be checking in with a visit to a WONDERFUL farm next…have a great week!

 

 

Do I Really Need all of this Paper?

 

 

 

The answer is no….as if it is that simple!  I have a few blogging buddies out there that know what I mean. :)  And this isn’t all of it….I have an obsession with paper…I love the colors, textures, patterns.

Here is some more…

 

Here are some of my 8x8 and 6x6 pads…

I have gone through it again, and came up with this pile for  purging…

I just can’t get rid of my October Afternoon, or Crate Paper, or any other line I adore.

I picked up another line today that I have been dodging, but it finally called my name.

It is by We R Memories and it is called “Farmers Market” What is so cool, is it came with it’s own storage sleeve!  And all of this was just 14.99 I thought that was pretty good for the pack below.

And I can put it on a shelf and see what it is…

 

Beautiful soft tones, not something I would have liked a few years ago…this is the full pack, a box of PL type cards and a 6x6 pad.

I am hoping to make some items similar to these:

               (all of these images of projects came from Scrapbook.com)

So for now, I have a LOT of paper…maybe I can wallpaper a room with it! lol  And this doesn’t even touch the holiday stash!  Oh well…there are worse addictions….right?

Just found this today on Pinterest….

                                                  LOVE IT!

I thought I would share a photo of Bailey…she is all grown now ( about 16 pounds).  We had her trimmed up as she grows hair in the oddest places…like half of her back and on her thighs, the very top of her head…she looks like she has a Mohawk.…yeah…but we love her! 

 

Doesn’t look too much like a poodle does she???

Thanks for stopping by…

Color, Color Everywhere….

 

I live in the desert.  You all know that….everything alive seems to be brown…no color to the birds, bunnies, whatever!

So when I got to Wisconsin and my cousin Linda took these photos so I could keep the color, I was so thankful! 

A lot of you in the Midwest and East know these birds…I don’t have any of them where I live….

Baltimore Orioles…female first then the beautiful male!

 

all kinds of them!

And the most beautiful blue birds….

Indigo Buntings!

These photos have NOT been retouched!  These birds are just awesome!

They also have a lot of these finches….we didn’t get any photos, but this is exactly what they look like….

                                      (Google)

Also, lots and lots of FAT Robins….

                                     ( Google)

So much color and different species than I get to see here in my part of Arizona. 

What kind of birds visit you and your place this time of year?

Blogging Buddies all together!

 

I have a lot to share, but I wanted to start with the two days I spent with Deb Hogan.  What a wonderful hostess and friend!  I felt so special!!!!!

These tiny wooden blocks were on her kitchen window ledge…

Her home is warm, cozy and filled with wonderful sunlight during the day….

I had not met Erica yet, what a sweetie…we had such a good time…:)

Deb had sheets of cardstock with vintage card images all made up in a cute little box…I wish I had taken a photo!

Deb made us a wonderful lunch….this is her breezeway between her house and her garage.

Here we are snarfing up the goodies…..

What a wonderful day, it ended with a bunch of fun cards made and really good pizza.  Thanks again Deb, Tammy and Erica for a great day.

The next day Deb took me to Tammy’s garage sale where I picked up some rubber stamps and a cute, cute potholder…

Check out the Chevy !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

We went inside and saw Tammy’s new Hoosier…wish I had a better photo…

Then we went to one of Deb’s favorite stores…Haupt Antiek Market…

I thought I had taken more photos…Deb do you have any on your camera?  So fun, many different vendors under one roof….

One our way to Michael’s and Tuesday Mornings I saw this “retro” McDonalds'….

 

Too bad the food doesn’t taste like it did in the 50’s….

We then went to Michael’s and one of the biggest secret locations in the crafting world….Tuesday Mornings…we found lots and lots of good new stuff…CHEAP!  Ssshhhh…don’t tell anyone…:)

We also went to Deb’s store Aunti Em’s (I think )….take a look at a  good photo of the how packed the booths were.

 

I bought a few things from Deb’s booth and a couple of others…we both bought a round, scalloped cookie cutter while there….

…got home and made these, after we saw Tammy’s in her Hoosier…

 

The image came from a small book I bought from Deb….

This took us maybe 15 minutes and just imagine all the possibilities!

Here are just a few of the many items I got form Deb…garage sale and thrifting…

 

 

More wonderful images in children’s books and elementary school readers….

 

 

The stamps were in sets from Stampin Up, some never used!  Incredible buys…

And of course I got to meet Jackson and Sweet Pea….I seriously thought about bring Sweet Pea with me!  She is such a tiny thing…and so sweet….Jackson was a good big brother too!

So….this is how my vacation started…perfect, right?  I cannot wait until we can do this again!

Have a great week and thanks for stoppin’ by….