'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.

Happy Graduation Day, Ryan............

We are proud of you.

Ryan

South Kitsap High School

Class of 2010.

A quick geocache on the way to his graduation ceremony.

Tacoma dome, Tacoma, Wa.

June 10th. 2010.

My mom with our boy.

Ryan with his beautiful girlfriend, Tawnya.

June 5th. 2010.

Beautiful

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.

Geocaching and electrical safety

As part of a geocaching team with over 2000 finds and the wife of an Electrical Safety Instructor, I'd like to share what I consider one of the most important and informative blogs I've read.

Johnnygeo's Geocaching Electrical Safety Blog

The blog belongs to a man who works for a large power utility company as a Health & Safety Advisor in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  He is a Master Electrician and teaches electrical safety, often visiting grade schools. One of his job duties is to investigate high voltage power line accidents involving the general public where someone has been hurt or killed.

This gentleman is also an avid geocacher with over 1300 finds and 45 hides.  He goes by Johnnygeo. He loves geocaching but is very disturbed by caches hidden on, inside or near high voltage electrical equipment. 

I've always had a healthy respect for electricity and it's possible dangers, but Johnnygeo has pointed out some things that have not occured to me or that I was simply unaware of.

A couple of quick examples of things I learned:

Did you know?........

Due to the world wide rise in copper prices, there has been a dramatic increase in copper thefts.  This includes the copper wire used by power companies. The one that scares me the most is the theft of ground wires from the power boxes that you so often see caches hidden by.  If there is no ground wire.... and a live wire inside the box comes loose and touches the side of the metal box, any person near that box is in a dangerously, deadly situation. This is a huge concern for power companies.  Pretty scary.

Did you know?........

Electricity tries to go to the ground.  It will follow the easiest path.  That could be a geocacher touching the side of a damaged electrical box.  These boxes can be damaged by being hit by a car or vandalism.  Some times there is no visible signs of damage to the outside of the box.  If there are loose wires inside the box due to the impact it can energize the ground around the box.  This is true with downed power lines, also.  Wow--it would never have occured to me that it was possible to be electrocuted by the ground around a power box..

Have you ever stopped to think?..............

While lifting the skirt on the infamous 'light post cache' we are trusting the lamp post wiring has not failed due to old age or vandalism.  Should we trust that??  Remember--power equipment can fail, like anything else.  This is a link to a heartbreaking news article about a 9 year old boy who died from electrocution caused by the failure of the insulation in a 480-volt wire in the base of a light post.  Unfortunately, this isn't the only news story like this one. There are more sad stories about children and dogs.  Are we sending our kids the wrong message by encouraging them to search for these 'light post caches?'

It just takes a few minutes to read through this important blog.

Johnnygeo's Geocaching Electrical Safety Blog

If you cache or even if you don't........if you have kids or even if you don't.....please take the time to visit this educational blog. This concerned man has taken his time to try to educate the geocaching community.  He's done his part to make it a safer community.  I can almost promise you'll learn something.

Please take the time to read it, show it to your kids and pass it to your friends.  Please take the time because it's just that important.

Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful summer.

News story:

Thieves strip copper wire from Arlington Substation

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.

Our first RV--a wonderful little Coleman Taos popup..........

When Don & I first started camping we started out with a three room Coleman tent and a mini van.  Well, that was short lived.  Within a couple of years, we had made our first RV purchase.
 

We bought a darling little popup camper, Another Coleman.  A Coleman Taos. It was so cute and was in perfect condition.  It had been well loved by it's previous owner.  

 We loved our little popup and had many wonderful trips in it. 

Don outside our little Coleman.

Two queen sized beds. One at each end.

A cute little kitchen area with a stove, sink and ice box. 

I'll be honest.  I found the ice box more trouble than it was worth.  I used it for a pantry.

A very reasonable amount of seating for such a little rig.

A campfire meal.  Yummy potato packs.

I always decorate for any holiday.  Even if we're camping.

After four years of camping often, we outgrew our little Coleman and decided it was time to graduate up to a 22' hard sided travel trailer.

It was bitter sweet when we pulled up to the dealership to drop off our little popup and pick up our new travel trailer.  We were so excited about our new RV but couldn't help feeling sad at the same time.  

We love that little popup.  I hope the new owners love, enjoy and care for it as much as Don & I did.   That little Coleman will always have a special place in my hearts.