Scrapbooking, Geocaching & our dog, Britt

This project combines two of my favorite activities, scrapbooking and geocaching.  This scrapbook page highlights some of the adventures of our four legged geocaching team member, Britt.

Many members of our family are involved in a game called Geocaching.  Geocaching is a world wide outdoor treasure hunting game using a GPS unit.  The  coordinates are posted on the internet, usually at geocaching.com.  The GPS is used for navigating to the coordinates where the participant then tries to locate the hidden geocache.  It's a really fun activity.  Geocaches are often hidden at a beautiful view point or some other point of interest. Our hunts often lead us to interesting places, historic sites or famous buildings we would otherwise be unaware of. Some geocaches require a hike to reach the cache location.  We often geocache in a family group along with all our dogs.  Our dogs love it. It's the perfect hobby to combine with camping.  We call it geocamping. It's a lot of fun.

Geocaches are often containers filled with trinkets and small inexpensive items for trading.  Cachers are free to trade their own small item for one inside the geocache container. Trading is optional.  Each geocache contains it's own log for the cacher to sign.  The log is then returned to the cache container.  The found cache can also be logged at geocaching.com.

Britt has been geocaching with the family for several years.  She loves it.  She lives for camping & geocaching.  She has her own geocache named, 'Britt's Dog Day Afternoon," hidden in a very dog friendly area of Port Orchard, Wa.

Ammo cans are often used as geocaching containers.  Others, called Nano caches, are  really tiny and sometimes hard to spot.

Dog parks are a favorite place for geocachers to hide caches. 

For anyone looking for further information about Geocaching, please visit the geocaching.com website.  You won't be sorry.


Thanks for stopping by.


I submitted my geohound scrapbook page to the following challenges.

Top Tip Tuesday's -- Challenge #81--It's all about Circles

Divas By Design -- Challenge #44 -- Anything Goes

Scrap Fit Blog -- Workout #72 --Color Inspiration

One Stop Craft Challenge #192 -- Olympics or Sports

A Year in the Life of an Art Journal -- Summertime

The Pink Elephant Challenge --TPE 158 -- Summer

Rebel's Memorial Scrapbook Page

This scrapbook page was made in memory of our sweet little seventeen year old, five pound miniature Dachshund, 'Rebel.'  Sadly, we recently lost our little guy. We love & miss him.

Shorewood's Rebel Red ML
 (September 27th. 1995 - March 9th. 2012)

Rebel has been with us since his birth on Sept, 27th. 1995.  He traveled with us often and loved camping.  We'll be taking our first camping trip without him next month. He always rode in my lap as we traveled.  How strange it will be. 

 We love & miss our little Rebel.

To make Rebel's page, I used a sketch I borrowed from Liz at, 'My Little Sketch Book.'   I love her sketches.  Thank you so much, Liz.

I have submitted our Rebel's scrapbook page to the following challenges.

Lasting Memories CB #80 -'Pawsatively Sweet' challenge -- Anything pets

All That Scraps - Wednesday Challenge - 'Anything Goes'

Frosted Designs - Fabulous Friday Challenge - 'Grids'

The Poodles Parlour - 'Anything Goes' Challenge

MilkCoffee Stamps - Their first challenge - 'Anything Goes'

Flutterby Wednesday Challenge #195- Should include, a butterfly, fairy or angel

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Uncle Allen's Exploding box.........



My sweet, dear Uncle Allen passed away on Oct, 22nd. 2011 at 96 years old.  He was the sweetest man that ever lived.

I wanted to send something special to my wonderful aunt.  I wanted to send something that would truly be a keepsake.  It had to be something that would not be sad, but more of a celebration of life.. It had to show his wonderfully funny personality. After much thought, I decided on this exploding box.  This box is like a scrapbook in a box.

This box is for my dearest Uncle Allen:

God bless you, Uncle Allen.

I love you, Auntie Judy.

The top of my box. The sunflower is cut with a Nestibilities die.

The box measures 6" x 8".  Each outer side has a pocket.

This handmade card contains a note from my mother. 
She and Aunt Judy have been best friends for over 50 year.

The box before it explodes.

The box after it explodes.

Allen W. Wood

Sept. 15th., 1915 - Oct. 22, 2011

I love you, Uncle Allen.

You're our hero.

 

He is soooo much to so many people.

Every flap has a pocket with family pictures hidden inside. 

Each picture has a ribbon attached.

Some pull townward.........

and others pull out to the side.

His beautiful & adored family.

My sweet, wonderful Aunt Judy & Uncle Allen. 

I love you both.

In memory of Terri.........

My closest friend of 20 years passed away unexpectedly in August of 2009.  I miss her terribly & think of her daily. 

 This scrapbook page is in memory of all the fun we had over many, many years while we were raising our kids together.  

We had gone to the Renaissance Faire the weekend before her passing.

I miss you, Terri.

I've submitted Terri's page to the following challenges.

Allsorts Challenge Blog -- Make your own flowers

Paper Play Challenges -- Let's get sentimental

One Stop Craft Challenge -- Spring Flowers

Totally Gorjuss -- Black & one other color

Crafty Cats Weekly Challenge -- friendship

Paper Romance - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by.

'Exploding box with a twist' graduation card

Ryan

Class of 2010.  South Kitsap High School.

I wanted to make a very special card for Ryan's Graduation.  I chose an exploding box because adding pictures and momentos turns them into a very special keepsake.  They're time consuming, but I love them.

I used one of the name cards from Ryan's announcements to personalize the lid of his box.

I cut up a couple of graduation announcements and used the pieces to create his personalized box.  Above is a picture of the inside of the box lid.  This piece has all the ceremony information that was cut from an announcement.

This is the box with the lid off but not allowed to explode. 

All the pictures in the box relate to his senior year. Pictures include his 18th. birthday, homecoming, the senior prom, senior portraits, spirit day, he and his best friend camping and more.

The school crest, motto and mascot, (the wolf), were all cut from his announcements.

I did most of the work on this box while he and his beautiful girlfriend were at the senior prom.  It took several hours but I was very pleased with the results.  It was worth the time.  This is a very special box for a very special boy. 

I love you lots, Ryan.  I'm proud of you.

Willie the Brat.........

I made this layout by following this really fun sketch offer by the 'Sketchy Thursdays' Blog.

.  I submitted my layout for their May 20th. challenge.  This is an extra nice layout.  One of my favorites.

 This is my two page layout introducing Willie, our cat.  Willie loves our dogs.  He truly believes dogs are cool.  The pictures in this layout show Willie having a great time with our two dogs Rebel & Britt.  I don't think the dogs are having as much fun as Willie, but then, Willie doesn't care about that.

The first page is 'Fun with Rebel.' Rebel is our 14 year old longhaired miniature dachshund.  Willie really does enjoy Rebel. Fortunately, Willie isn't a mean cat.  He's just a prankster.  It's all just a joke.

Britt is our lab/pit bull mix.  She is the best behaved dog ever.  She doesn't have a mean bone in her body.  Willie adores Britt.  Fortunately, Britt has an unbelievable amount of patience.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Scrapping the Girls

This layout is in honor of two of my favorite women.

My daughter and sister.

The pictures include:

My sister, Teri.

My daughter, Tracy.

And.......myself, Jan.

We've been called all of the above.  As a joke, of course.  We do sing alot when we are together.  We can also assume a pretty fair Charlie's Angels pose with guns aimed and everything.

Jan, Tracy & Teri  (bottom right corner picture)

The picture were taken while camping at Rainbow Group Camp near Quilcene, Wa.  We camped there for four days.  It was a blast.

It was a great weekend full of family, friends, camping, dogs & geocaching.

This layout was submitted to the 'Scrap the Girls', First of May Challenge.

"No boys allowed."

Colors allowed: blue, yellow, white, pink & black.

The next page......

This is my second page for my two page scrapbook layout of my daughter, Tracy.  Page one is my previous blog.

The 'Just My Sketches' blog offered this great sketch for their May 1st. challenge.  This challenge is hosted by Deanne Burton of Newfoundland. 

Along with the monthly sketch is a list of five songs.  You choose a song to inspire your creativity on the project.  I chose,  'From a Distance', by Bette Midler.  I used the words 'love' and 'hope' spelled out with chipboard letters.  I pray my daughter's generation can make some improvements in the world.

Here is my layout:

Tracy got those beautiful flowers for her birthday.  This picture is what prompted me to buy this paper for her layout.  They were perfect together.

I also submitted this project to the "Chipboard Technique Challenge" over at The Shabby Tea Room Blog. This is their challenge for week 9. Thank you for a super fun challenge.

It was also submitted to the Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays Blog Challenge #39, "Anything but a card."

And

The Easy Craft Projects Challenge Blog, challenge #12, "Spring--flowers, baby animals or new beginnings."

 

FROM A DISTANCE
Bette Midler

 From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.  

From a distance, there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace,
it's the voice of every man.

From a distance we all have enough,
and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
no hungry mouths to feed.

From a distance we are instruments
marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They're the songs of every man.

God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance.
From a distance you look like my friend,
even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for.

From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves,
it's the heart of every man.

It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves.
This is the song of every man.
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance. Oh,
God is watching us, God is watching.
God is watching us from a distance


Thanks so much for visiting.

My latest scrapbook page of my daughter, Tracy..........

The Magical Crafts Fortnightly Challenges blog offered this great sketch for their Challenge #14. What a great sketch.  I liked it the moment I saw it.

I had this beautiful sunflower designer paper I bought especially to do a layout of my daughter, Tracy.  I decided to used this sketch for Tracy's layout.  Here was the outcome.

I think it came out great.  I loved working with this sketch.  I'll use this in the future for other layouts.  Thanks for a great challenge.

I also submitted this project to the "Chipboard Technique Challenge" over at The Shabby Tea Room Blog.  This is their challenge for week 9.  Thank you for a super fun challenge.  I love working with chipboard.

It was also submitted to the Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays Blog Challenge #39, "Anything but a card."

And  

The Easy Craft Projects Challenge Blog, challenge #12, "Spring--flowers, baby animals or new beginnings." 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Today is our fifteenth wedding anniversaery.......

Since we have a variety of activites coming up in the near future, Don & I have agreed not to spend money on eachother for our anniversary. Still........ I wanted to do something more for him than just the everyday card.

We have a wall in our bedroom that needs something. I have not found just the right wall hanging for this spot. Our bedroom is done following the beliefs of Feng Shui. Our room is painted tan with off white trim. Calming, skin colors. Our bed is not in direct line with the door. Most things in the room are in matched pairs. We have matching nightstands with matched lamps and candles. Our pictures are hung in pairs and depict marriage and happy couples. No TV, exercise equipment, mirrors, large plants or pictures showing unhappy, solitary or alone images.

For fun, I decided to try making my own wall hanging. Instead of giving Don a card, I made a scrapbook layout of our wedding and framed it for the empty spot on our bedroom wall.

It's a 16" x 20" frame. Here is how it turned out.

April 7th., 1995

And........I still adore him.

Happy Anniversary, honey.

I'm using this layout for the 'Just My Sketches' April challenge hosted by Deanne Burton.

I chose the song, 'A Moment Like This' by Kelly Clarkson.

'I'm Amazed by You'

Here is my layout for the March 1st. 'Just my Sketches' challenge. This challenge is hosted by Deanne Burton of Newfoundland. Thank you Deanne for a great challenge.

This challenge is a little different. Each month Deanne posts sketch challenges for two scrapbook layouts and two cards. She also lists the titles and lyrics for five songs. The challenge is to choose a song and then tie the song in with the sketch while creating your card or layout. You can use the song title, theme or a stanza from the song. It adds a new spin on the scrap/card challenges. It's fun.

The song I chose was 'Amazed' by Lonestar.

Here is the sketch and........

below is my layout.

"I'm amazed by you."

For my husband, Don. I adore him so.

Thanks for stopping by.

'Time'---Our boy has grown up.

Here is my layout for the March 15th. 'Just my Sketches' challenge, hosted by Deanne Burton of Newfoundland.

The song I chose is 'Time' by Hootie and the Blowfish.

Here is the sketch.

and......my layout.

The first picture is Ryan's first birthday. The one with the guitar is recent. Ryan turned 18 on March 16th. He'll be graduating in June. He's almost the perfect kid. I love him.

Thanks for stopping by.

Origami Snowman Advent Calendar

This was a fun Christmas project I made for two of the children in our family.

It's a fourteen day snowman advent calendar made of paper and yarn. It's very simple and adorable.

Each bag has a couple of pieces of candy and an inexpensive stocking stuffer type toy. I used things like stickers, small handheld games, puzzles & christmas stencils. I braided the yard into a rope. I punched a hole in each snowman and tied him to the braid with ribbon.

I started at the bottom with day 14 and day one at the very top was a little biger than the rest with a little better surprise. The boys had fun with it

I didn't actually print each snowman. I printed one to use for a template. I made my own eyes, hats, noses and ties with craft paper. The mouths and buttons were drawn on with marker.

It was fun.

This idea came from Kiddley.com.

Origami Snowman Advent Calendar