My Favorite Things

Fun With the Aussies!

Hello, Peeps!!!  How are you?  I hope you're all enjoying your weekend!  We are having a BALL with our dear Aussie friends, John & Lynn!  I have lots of pictures to share with you tonight.  I'm tucked in bed right now, with the lights out and the laptop on my lap, typing away.  Bart is sound asleep and the Aussies are tucked into the guest room down the hall.  I didn't want to go another day though, without sharing some of our adventures with you!  

We picked John & Lynn up from the airport on Thursday afternoon and after getting them settled in here at home, we headed to The Plaza to walk around and see the shops before dinner.  SUCH a lovely evening for a stroll.  The weather has been fabulous so far, though it got pretty hot today.

Stopped in Anthropolgie while at the Plaza -- they don't have Anthropologie in Australia so we had fun showing them the store.  I just love it in there -- so much inspiration all around.  I couldn't help but snap a photo of these pretty glasses all stacked up.

Before dinner, we went up to the roof of O'Dowd's to have an appetizer on their rooftop terrace.  

Saw this while sitting on the roof.  Pretty, huh?

We had a fabulous dinner of fresh seafood at mcCormick & Schmick's.  SUCH a relaxing and delicious meal -- the kind where you can really take your time and enjoy each moment rather than rush, rush, rushing thru the meal.  It really was ideal. 

Dessert: The Chocolate Bag!  That really is a bag made out of chocolate, filled with fresh berries and cream.  Mmmm.

Friday for lunch, we had to take them to our favorite Kansas City BBQ spot and even though we got there early, the line was already out the door and it stayed that way the whole time we were there!  I TOLD you KC BBQ is goooooooood!!  ;)

Waiting in line....

We ordered several meals and shared them all so that John & Lynn could try lots of different types of meats, and you HAVE to have some of Oklahoma Joe's fries & onion rings -- they're just the BEST!

Stopped in next door at the BBQ store before leaving, so John & Lynn could get a bit of KC to take back home with them.  ;)

After that, we headed to the Liberty Memorial -- it's our national world war 1 monument.  The view from the top really was amazing.  That was our first time up to the top.  They haven't always allowed people to go in so we were quite glad to get to see it.

Then we popped over to Union Station and walked around the shops at Crown Center.

Before heading home, we had to pop in to Dean & Deluca to get a super yummy dessert for our 'real American cookout'!

The appetizers at our cookout.  (Though the Aussies call the appetizers, the entrees!)

Part of the main course!  Bart steamed these amazing Alaskan King Crab Legs and grilled some steaks as well.  He really outdid himself -- it was all SOOOOO good!  SO good.  It was such a fun night and no one could believe how huge (and delicious!) these crab legs were.  They don't get them anywhere near this big in Australia!

Our dear neighbors, Shahla & Darryl, came over to eat with us.  We're so glad -- I think everyone had a really great time.

Here we are with Lynn & John.  

Today (Sat.), we had the best Mexican in town for lunch but before that, we got to pop in to this pretty store.  It's called the Curious Sofa.  Such a pretty store, though very expensive.  We had fun looking around though.

Tonight was Royals Baseball Game night -- the Aussies first 'real Major League Baseball Game'!  It was so fun to see it all thru their eyes.  Kauffman Stadium has also recently been remodeled and is REALLY nice.  

Here are our Aussies.....they look like they're having fun so far, don't you think?  :)  We are SO enjoying having them here.  I'm trying to figure out a way to keep them here.....shhh.  Don't tell them.  I haven't fully formulated a plan yet! 

Chat soon, dear friends,

P.S.  Don't worry -- I haven't forgotten about the Spotlight this week, or the next Color Challenge.  I just need a bit of time to get it all ready for you, so look for that next week.  Thanks!

Aussie Houseguests (& a Giveaway!)

 
Photo taken in Hawaii - 3 weeks ago

Hi All!  Just thought I'd tell you about something we're looking forward to today!  When we went on our second Europe trip a couple of years ago, we met this really great couple named John & Lynn from Australia, who were on the same bus tour as us.  When you're on a bus tour traveling around Europe, you spend a lot of time with the people on your bus :) and I must say that we got along famously with John & Lynn and were glad to be able to spend so much time with them for those 12 days.  

Since then, we've kept in touch with our Aussie friends and recently when we were in Hawaii, we got to see them again!  (see photo above)  They were just starting their vacation in Hawaii for a few days and were then coming to the US to travel across our country for several weeks.  The day that our cruise ended and we got off the ship in Honolulu, they were staying in a hotel in Honolulu so we spent the day together before catching our flight home.  We had such a fun day just relaxing and soaking up every last bit of Hawaii that we could and when we said goodbye, we knew it wouldn't be for long....  

You see, part of John & Lynn's travels across the US will bring them right here to Kansas where they'll get to stay with us for 4 nights!!  They're flying in today, we'll pick them up at the airport this afternoon and we'll get to listen to them talk with their super cool Australian accents all weekend long!  Hahaha!  We can hardly wait.  We have some fun things planned and since this is their first trip to the US, there are a few things that they were excited about including a "real Major League Baseball game" and a "real American cookout"!  Hee.  We also have to take them for some authentic Kansas City BBQ -- not to be missed if you come visit.  We definitely have a lot of really good food here, so we've got our meals planned out for the next few days (including a cookout!) and beyond that, we're planning to show them some sights and let them rest up a bit.  They will have been traveling for about 4 weeks by the time they get to us, and they'll be heading back home to Australia soon after they leave our house so I'm sure a little R&R will be in order.  

I'll definitely be toting the Nikon around this weekend so I'll be sure and share pictures with you of our adventures with the Aussies!  And of course, you can follow along with us on Twitter too.  Until then, I thought it'd be fun to do a giveaway!  How about a Scattered Showers stamp set??!

All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this post!  You can say hi to the Aussies (John & Lynn)  ;) or tell me your plans for the weekend or whatever floats your boat!  You know I just love hearing from you!  I'll draw one (1) random winner to receive a Scattered Showers stamp set.

Only one entry per person, please.  Contest ends Sunday, May 31 at 9pm CST.

Have a great day, Peeps!!

Totally & Completely Random

That's how I'm feeling today.....totally random with my mind moving a mile a minute trying to make sure I don't drop the ball on anything.  We have some very special guests coming to stay with us tomorrow that I'm totally excited about (more on that later) so I'm trying to get things finalized for several design deadlines - both stamp design & paper crafting - before our guests arrive.  Plus there's the last minute grocery shopping and cleaning just to make sure everything is tidy and cozy when they get here.  :)

I've also been meaning to show you our rose bushes.....we have a row of these huge bushes along the back of our house and boy-oh-boy are they beautiful every year.  That's them in the top photo and here's a close-up.  It's such a joy to look forward to them busting out with all that spectacular color each year!  Perennials are so fun, aren't they? 

Oh, and I've also been meaning to show you my new glasses -- I told you - RANDOM!  LOL!  I got these glasses by Prada (Lenscrafters had a big discount offer) and I have to say that I really do love them.  So fresh and fun and trendy.  They're kind of a soft lavender color.  I only need glasses when I'm reading or working on the computer or working on detail stuff like paper-crafting........which pretty much means I wear them a lot!  Seems like I'm almost always doing at least one of those things.  LOL!

Anywho, I'll be back tomorrow with a fun post and a giveaway!  See you then!

Thanks for stopping by, Crew!

Paper Crafts-July/August

Hi-ya Peeps!  Have you seen the latest issue of Paper Crafts Magazine yet??  It's the July/August issue and it's 'the Eco Issue' devoted to all things 'going green'.  I just got mine in the mail today and thought I'd share a card with you that I have published in this issue.  It uses a bit of tree bark!  Real, honest to goodness, tree bark that we peeled off a tree in our back yard.  Cool, huh?

I typed up the sentiment and printed it off from my computer.  I stamped the two  background patterns with stamps from the Men of Life stamp set.  The tree bark is adhered with foam adhesive.  Totally gives it a manly touch, don't you think? 

Such a fun issue, this one......I can't wait to go back and peruse it again!  Before that though, I have some work to do in the studio.  I'm currently working on some new stamp designs.  Busy, busy.  :)

Take care, dear friends.

Have a goodie!

{He Who Plants supplies}

Paper: dark chocolate, ocean tides, spring moss

Stamps: Men of Life

Ink: dark chocolate

Other: Making Memories brads, tree bark

"Nothing But Trouble" Book Winner

Hi-ya.....

Just wanted to let you know who the winner of a copy of "Nothing But Trouble" by Susan May Warren is! 

Congrats PAM DAVIS!!  If you'll email me your mailing address, I'll get that info forwarded to Susan May Warren's 'people' :) so they can get the book mailed out to you! 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Thanks for sharing the books that you enjoy with us. I have read several of your suggestions now and they have been great! Thanks for this chance to win."

Posted by: pam Davis | May 21, 2009 at 10:28 PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks again to those of you that left me comments about whether or not you like getting book info here at the blog-o........seems like there are at least a few of you that enjoy hearing about fun books so I'll keep throwing my reviews in here every now and then.  :)

P.S.  Please read this post for an update on the Mister Linky problems relating to this week's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hi All!  Thought I'd play along with this month's blog hop at Papertrey.  The challenge this month was to use the color yellow.......FUN!  I don't use yellow nearly enough so it was great to let it be front and center on my card today.  

I heat embossed some large polka dots from Polka Dot Basics with clear embossing powder on the yellow card stock and the sentiment is from Heart Prints.  The leaves are just ones that I hand cut -- I just eyeballed 'em.  They're definitely not perfect but it doesn't really matter, because after I cut them out, I stamped some Background Basics: Text Style on them and then I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser on them to rough up the edges.  That took care of any unevenness from when I cut them out.  :)  

As for the flower itself, I literally just tore random circle shapes out of card stock in varying sizes.  Then I roughed up the edges with my edge distresser and then curled the edges forward with my finger.  Nothin' to it!!  And of course, I topped it off with a dark chocolate button and some twine.  Super fun and so easy!!  You too, can have those fancy, store-bought looking flower embellishments that are becoming so popular just by using your card stock and making some up yourself!  Don't you just LOVE that?!!

Be sure and check out all the other blog hop participants and see what they created using yellow too!  You can find the complete blog hop list in the Papertrey Forum.  Hope your Memorial Day has been a great one!

Have a goodie!

{Hugs & Kisses Supplies}

Paper: stamper's select white, kraft, lemon tart, dark chocolate

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Background Basics: Text Style, Heart Prints

Ink: dark chocolate, versamark

Other: dark chocolate vintage button, hemp twine, lemon tart saddle stitch ribbon, corner rounder punch, EK Success dotted scallop punch

Hawaii.....In Photos

Hi-ya Crew!  Happy Memorial Day weekend to you if you're from the US and happy Sunday to you, if you are one of my friends from another country!!  I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far!  I'm thrilled to report that I finally got around to editing all of our Hawaii photos.  I've been super excited to share them with you!  

This is the second time we've done this same Hawaiian cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines (Pride of America ship) and thoroughly enjoyed it!  You fly to Hawaii and get on the ship over there, and it just island hops all week.  SUCH a great way to see 4 different islands without having to pack and unpack all week or arrange for transportation between islands!  Since we'd been on this cruise before and did lots of excursions last time, we decided to take this one at a bit slower pace.  I think we relaxed more on this trip than any other.....which was really nice.  :)  I've added a new photo album in the right hand side bar for the photos so you can find them easily in the future.   

You can also CLICK HERE to view the Hawaii photo album!

Hope you enjoy!  

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #7

NEW UPDATE: Looks like it may be awhile before Mister Linky's server issues are resolved so until I come up with a better plan, please post your links in the comments section of this post.  And for those of you that have already posted your link in the {missing-in-action} Mister Linky box, could you please leave me your link again, here in the comments section???  I've already viewed your cards and have some favorites but I'll need your link to put you In the Spotlight!  Plus, I know you all like to check out each others' cards so I want to make sure everyone can see your work!  I'm SOOO sorry for the hassle, Dearies!  Thanks for your patience!  The deadline has been extended to Friday night (May 29) at 10pm CST.

Hi All!!  

Here we go with Color Challenge #7!  Ooooh, I love these colors!  These peonies are some that I cut from our garden and the vase is one of our vintage McCoy pottery pieces.  You saw a bit of another one of our turquoise McCoy's in last week's color challenge photo too.  Anyway, I'm enjoying taking these photos myself and building what {I hope} are inspirational photos for you, around the items & supplies I have on hand here in my own home and studio.

Hopefully a lot of you have a long weekend to work on this color challenge, with Monday being Memorial Day here in the US.  I hope that regardless of where you live, you have a wonderful and restful weekend and that you have tons of fun with this color challenge!

Again this week, feel free to use whatever brand of card stock you have on hand.  But if you'd like to know what I'll be using on this challenge, it'll be Papertrey's raspberry fizz, ripe avocado and spring moss.  Feel free to add some white in there too, if need be.

Enjoy!

Here are the deets:
Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com, www.papertreyink.com, www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Friday, May 29 at 10pm CST.

In the Spotlight - #6

Hi All,

Back with this week's Spotlight winners!  Goodness, there were a lot of butterfly entries this week -- SO cute!!  You girls make this challenge so fun for me.......I'm always so pleased and surprised at what some of you come up with!  Lots of talent going into these entries.  Thank you so much for playing along.  I'm so thrilled that you seem to be enjoying this and I'm even more excited that some of you have said you feel like your skills at working with colors are improving as a result.  Awesome!

Before we get to the Spotlight, let's chat about the card I made for this week's challenge.  See those brown spikey scallops?  I started out with a regular scalloped circle like the one below and then I took my paper snips and just cut a little wedge out of the center of one scallop.

Next, I repeated this process, cutting a little wedge out of every other scallop, all the way around the whole circle.

Here's what it looks like when it's all done.  Cool, huh?

And here's a close-up of what they look like once I layered some stars and buttons on them.  One thing to note: this super fun Star Prints stamp set has lots of star images to choose from.  I chose these particular images because each one has lots of straight lines which I wanted to help balance out all of the roundness of the scallops and rounded corners.  Make sense?  Just another way you can add some balance to your card - by choosing certain images to work with.

Ok, on with the show!  Let's check out who's In the Spotlight this week.....

A. Tiffany Heilman
B. Rosemarie Diehl
C. Maureen P
D. Julie Smith (grace01)
E. Ann Cox
F. Ashley C. Newell
G. Tessa Wise
H. Jessica Rosario
I. Kelly Rasmussen
J. Julie Batta
K. Suzy
L. Lisa (sideoats & scribbles)
M. Anabelle

See what I mean??  Some super cute entries this week......you girlies are goooood.  :)  Back in a jiffy with Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #7!  

Toodles!!

{Enjoy Life supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, dark chocolate, berry sorbet, stamper's select white
Stamps: Star Prints
Ink: dark chocolate, berry sorbet
Other: aqua mist swiss dot satin ribbon, dark chocolate vintage buttons, linen thread, hemp twine, EK Success large star punch, SU! scallop circle punch, corner rounder punch

New Fiction Book - Blog Tour & Giveaway!

 

Hi All!  I wanted to tell you about a new book I'm reading!  Recently, I was asked to participate in a blog tour for a new book by Susan May Warren called Nothing But Trouble.  Of course, I agreed because as some of you may remember, I've been a fan of Susan's writing for quite some time now.  Remember when I recommended this series to you?  :)

So anyway, they sent me the book and I'm reading it now and I thought you might enjoy it too.  I have some fun info for you about the book and the author and at the end of this post, we'll even have a giveaway!

About the Book:
PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:

After traveling the country for ten years hoping to shake free from the trail of disaster that's become her life, she needs a fresh start.

The last person she wants to see when she heads home for her sister's wedding is Boone -- her former flame and the reason she left town.

Her best friend's husband absolutely did not commit the first murder Kellogg, Minnesota, has seen in more than a decade.

What PJ doesn't know is that when she starts digging for evidence, she'll uncover much more than she bargained for -- a deadly conspiracy, a knack for investigation, and maybe, just maybe, that fresh start she's been longing for.

It's not fair to say that trouble happens every time PJ Sugar is around, but it feels that way when she returns to her hometown, looking for a fresh start.  Within a week, her former teacher is murdered and her best friend's husband is arrested as the number-one suspect.  Although the police detective investigating the murder -- who also happens to be PJ's former flame -- is convinced it's an open-and-shut case, PJ's not so sure.  She begins digging for clues in an effort to clear her friend's husband and ends up reigniting old passions, uncovering an international conspiracy, and solving a murder along the way.  She also discovers that maybe God can use a woman who never seems to get it right. 

 

CLICK HERE to read the first chapter!

About the Author:
Susan May Warren is the award-winning author of seventeen novels and novellas with Tyndale, Steeple Hill and Barbour Publishing.  Her first book, Happily Ever After won the American Fiction Christian Writers Book of the Year in 2003, and was a 2003 Christy Award finalist and won the 2006 Inspirational Reader's Choice award.  A former missionary to Russia, Susan May Warren now writes Suspense/Romance and Chick Lit full time from her home in northern Minnesota.

 

And now for the fun part......Susan has been kind enough to offer up a give away here at the blog-o!  She's giving one copy of Nothing But Trouble to one fortunate blog reader...........all you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be entered to win!  You can let me know if you like hearing about new books like this, if you have a favorite genre, or you can even tell me if you haven't picked up a book in years!  Hee!  Or if you'd prefer, you can just say hi!

We'll randomly select one winner to receive a copy of Susan's new book!  Contest ends Saturday, May 23 at 10am CST.  Only one entry per person, please. 

You can also CLICK HERE to check out the other blogs on the blog tour.  Some of the other blogs have giveaways too, so you have even more chances to win! 

Have a goodie, Peeps!