The Sisterhood of Crafters - Where in the World

Today I'm so pleased to share with you that I am a Design Team Member with The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge.  It's a biweekly challenge and I know it's going to be a lot of fun.  I do hope you'll come and join us.

So, let's get on with this week's new challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge.  Diane is hosting our challenge and she has chosen "Where in the World."  It's about anything that represents the part of the world, country and/or state where you live.  I can't wait to see where in the world you all are.

As you can see I'm from Iowa in the USA.  For my card I opted to do a collage.  To a die-cut of the country I added some of the things about Iowa that you may not know.  For the background, I used watercolor paper and added a wash of Distress Oxide inks.

Stamp Set:  None; Ink:  Black (ink jet printer); Distress Oxide Inks:  Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade (Tim Holtz for Ranger); Cardstock:  River Rock (Stampin' Up!), Watercolor Paper (Strathmore), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Teal (Unknown); Other:  Modern Label Punch, Postage Stamp Punch (both Stampin' Up!), Stars & Stripes Die (Taylored Expressions)

For all the challenge details and to share your project at The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge, just click on our name.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Beautiful Birds

Well, I don't have a new card to share with you today, but I do have some projects in the works that I'll be sharing over the next few days.  For now, here is a picture of my favorite bird.  I love cardinals and they are the one bright spot in a cold Iowa winter.

Thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

 

I'm Taking the Day Off

But I wanted to share a very special picture with you.  It's one that is from an album that my dad gave to each of us for Christmas many years ago.  All of the pictures were taken by him and he found appropriate prose or poetry to tell the story of the photo image.  It's a wonderful album and a cherished treasure.

Today just happens to be the first day of Autumn and Iowa is totally gorgeous in the Fall.  I don't remember the exact location but this photo was taken somewhere near my aunt's farm.  The photo is old as it was taken sometime in 1960.

Enjoy your first day of Autumn and thanks for stopping in at the Coffee Pot Stamping Cafe,

Marsha

Secret Garden Easter

Do you think Spring will ever get here?  I know, I live in Iowa and should know better than expect March to be anything but wintry.  I can always hope.  So, in anticipation of all those pretty Spring flowers, I made a vase full of flowers for Easter.

Stamp Sets:  Secret Garden, Oh, Hello, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Inks:  Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Primrose Petals; Card Stock:  Midnight Muse, Naturals White; Accessories & Tools:  Secret Garden Framelits, Dazzling Details, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine

Aren't you ready to see the first blooms of Spring?

It's a Work in Progress

Yesterday our local scrapbook store had a free Beginner's Scrapbooking class so I decided to take in the action.  It's been many, many years since I last did any scrap booking and I wanted to revisit the basics.  It was an excellent class.  Janet was informative, articulate and so very helpful.  It was a small class and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have long been wanting to get the photos I took on my very first vacation ever into a scrapbook.  The photos are old and mostly black and white.  Hmm?  Does that tell you anything about me?  To give you just a bit of back story, my grandmother took me on a month long vacation that started in Iowa, of course since that's where we lived, trailed west into numerous states and north into Canada and culminated in California to visit her brother and his family.  Then, we meandered on back towards Iowa.  It was fantastic and something that I have never forgotten.  I was only 16 at the time and had never been out of the state.  Grandma sparked my interest in so many things with that first taste of the world.

At the class, we were able to select three colors to work with and coordinated with the colors in our photos.  As you can see, I chose brown, cream and blue. 

I can't wait to get the rest the photos all done.  It's a work in progress and a labor of love.  Oh, and just so you know and in case you are curious, this is what Old Faithful looked like back in 1966!