Eagles

Hey, happy Sunday evening to you! We got back earlier today from a nice weekend camping in Maine. We left on Friday and came back today so it was a short trip away, but it was oh so worth it.

We were camping in Poland Maine at Poland Springs Campground. This is the same area where Poland Springs water is bottled. The campground is located on Lower Range Pond and just off the tip of the penninsula is an island. Originally a pair of Osprey built a nest at the top of a Red Pine tree, however a couple of years ago the Osprey were evicted by a pair of Bald Eagles!! Can you believe it? These eagles were only about 75 - 100 yards away from us. It was so cool!!

Here are some of the photos we got:

This is one of the two adult eagles coming back to the nest. There is a small bird riding on it's back. I couldn't believe it when I saw it in the photo. In later shots you can see the small bird take off from the back of the eagle.

The adult is landing in the nest where there are two young eagles anxiously waiting for it! They were so noisy! LOL

Here is a close up of one of the young eagles. They're so regal looking, even as youngsters.

Here's another picture of the three of the eagles together. I wasn't able to get a photo of the two adults in the nest. The other adult was there but it just circled the nest and flew away. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera during that timeframe.

This weekend was so inspiring for me. I came away feeling calm and refreshed and really feeling like I had the experience of a lifetime!

I have some ideas for a scrapbook page or two. I'll share what comes out of those ideas I'm mulling around in my brain. Hopefully I can accomplish them this coming weekend. Before our next weekend trip at the end of July.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. I hope you've enjoyed the pictures I was able to share.

-Janice

Happy 4th of July America!

Wow, has it really been so long since I last posted? Where does the time go? Honestly I've been so busy with life that I haven't had a chance to really craft anything new. Last weekend I spent some time with my mom on Saturday and my dh's company had their 'Summer Outing' at a local amusement park on Sunday.

This past weekend was our 4th of July celebration here in the states. I spent two days cooking and cleaning to prepare our house for a cookout yesterday. We had friends and family join us for a very pleasant celebration. Unfortunately it was steaming hot so we cranked up the air conditioning and spent the afternoon indoors instead of outside. Good think I scrubbed everything! LOL Actually I really like entertaining as it causes me to have to really clean the house, not just a spit and polish, but a good, deep cleaning.

Now we're looking forward to a short work week and another camping weekend ahead. This trip will just be hubby and I and we are really looking forward to getting away, just the two of us. I'll have to get some pictures of the camper and our 'new-to-us' inflatable boat. I sure hope the weather is nice!

Our nephew recently had a birthday so I created this card for him. I think it had a nice masculine look to it.
The papers are all by PaperTrey Ink, as is the sentiment. The small greenish-grey circles are chipboard shapes which I painted with some Ceramcoat Acrylic paint. It's fairly simple but I really liked the way it turned out.

Well that's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!

-Janice

Happy Father's Day!

I hope that all you dad's out there had a wonderful Father's Day today doing whatever it is that makes you happy. It was a fairly humid day here with a couple of odd showers during the early afternoon but mostly it was sunny. Such a nice change from all the rain we've been having.

We spent the day with my in-laws. It was so nice to see them again, it's been a while since I've been able to spend any amount of time with them. It's an annual tradition for us to meet up at the Village Pancake House in Rowley, MA. Boy that food is so, so good it is always worth the hour+ wait! Yup, today's wait was just about an hour for the 7 of us. There are some beautiful gardens to sit in and catch up with the family while you wait. Very relaxing. :)

Here is the card I made up this morning.



The blue background paper is from a pack I got a while back at Michael's called Sarapapers. The red and yellow are from an unknown source and the Rustic Twine is from PaperTrey Ink. I attached the twine with some Score Tape. I am in LOVE with this adhesive! This lighthouse stamp is from JustRite Stampers. I stamped it onto some white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it using various Crayola colored pencils. The yellow rays of light are highlighted with a Spica glitter pen.

I also made a birthday card this weekend for our nephew. I'll share that with you next weekend! LOL

Have a safe and enjoyable week. Thanks for stopping by ...

-Janice

June Calendar Picture

Well it's a been a rainy weekend here in the North East. Unfortunately I had a ton of outdoor things to get accomplished this weekend and none, not one single task, got marked off the 'to-do' list. Oh well ... there's always next weekend ... right?

The months of April and May went by without me taking the time to scrap a page on my calendar. I was determined to change that for June. Back in the March/April timeframe my dh and I decided we wanted to figure out how to use our new camera. What better way than to walk on some of the conservation trails in town! This photo was one of the ones we took and I think it looks perfect with the June background.

I already know what I want to photograph for the July page. Now I just have to get some sunshine and the time to frame the shot. After that I'm all set since all the other months are already done!

That's it for today. I wish you all a wonderfully happy week.

-Janice

Campfire and Graduation

Happy Stormy Sunday Evening! We've been having some pretty unusal weather here in the NE lately. Yesterday was supposed to be stormy and it ended up being HOT and HUMID, like unbelievably humid. Today was pretty stormy and we've been in a Tornado warning for the last two days!! Boy the weather sure has changed since I was kid.

Last weekend the weather was so beautiful. We were camping with some friends and had such a nice, relaxing time. My family and I played games, went to an entertainment park and visited with everyone. We had a nice fire Sunday evening and made s'mores ... yummo. :) This is one of my favorite parts of camping.

This weekend I spent some time being pampered. I had a manicure and pedicure yesterday ... it was wonderful! ... then my dh and I ran errands and grabbed some bar-b-que for dinner. It was nice not to have to cook when it was so bloody HOT outside. My dh is so good to me! :) One of our errands brought us to the local Scrapbook store. I got some fun papers by BoBunny which I'm planning to make into a 'word' scrapbook album. The word I have is 'TRAVEL'. I'm looking forward to getting started.

One of our other errands was to pick up a gift for my mom's birthday. She specifically requested chocolate cake and a submarine sandwich for lunch. So we stopped by Subway for her sandwich and I made a cute cake last night. This morning I frosted it with homemade cream cheese frosting. It was a big hit at the nursing home!

Today I had to make a graduation card for my god-son. I didn't have much time so I kept it really simple. I used Lisa Johnson's Argyle stamp set by PaperTrey Ink to create a nice background image in Royal Blue ink. The cream ribbon is from PaperTrey Ink and the tag is from a new die-cut I got from Spellbinders about a month or so ago at the Creative Keepsakes Convention. I used the 'Congrats you did it' stamp from Dawn McVey's Signature Series stamp set from PaperTrey Ink on the inside of the card.

Well that's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

-Janice

Mother's Day

Wow, I have been remiss in updating the blog for the last couple of weeks! I just love this time of year where we can be outside sprucing up the yard after a long and cold winter but I am so exhausted at the end of the day that I just don't have the energy to crop photos and write up a blog post. How sad is that?!?

Here is a card I made up at the last minute for my mom back at the beginning of the month for Mother's Day. All of the paper and stamps are from PaperTrey Ink. I colored the tulips with colored pencils and the bling is something I picked up in the dollar bin at Michael's.

Well I'm off to finish planting the Gerber Daisy's, tomato plants, pepper plants and herbs we bought yesterday. Then I need to visit mom again. I'm so looking forward to a nice long holiday weekend!

Thanks for stopping by ...

-Janice

Is It Summer Already?

Happy HOT Sunday Evening! It is unusually warm here in the NorthEast. Today it reached 90 degrees!! This is unheard of. I know it won't last very long but it is pretty uncomfortable at the moment.

While I was melting in the heat tonight I put together a fairly quick birthday card for my nephew/god son. He will be 19 years old tomorrow. I really can't believe how fast time goes by.

You will probably notice that I recently made a similar card for a new friend. I really like the layout and the concept and since I was pressed for time I decided to just go with what I liked. The dots around the outside of the circles and the Happy Birthday sentiment are from JustRite Stamps. LOVE them! The card base is Lemon Tart by PaperTrey Ink, the blue and green circles are left over scraps I had in my scrap bucket and the blue and green stripes on the white accent piece are Copic markers which I was shocked to see matched the circle colors.

Thank you for stopping by tonight. We bought some new Dahlia's and shrubs at the nursery today. Once they are planted I will get some pictures and show you all how wonderful our home is starting to look! LOL

Have a wonderful week.

-Janice