Hiking to Cana

 Cana Island has always been part of my life growing up. We spend many summers on the shore of Lake Michigan with Cana as our back drop. We rarely go up in the winter because the roads are poorly plowed and this is nothing too do when it is cold. But we were already in Door County for the day skiing, so we decided to drive over and check out the ice shoves. We had to hike threw a few feet of snow....but it was super fun. I love snowshoeing through the big snow drifts.

 

I used the Close to My Heart Cricut Cartridge-Art Philosophy to cut the background. I used a little gel pen to spice up some of the snowflakes. 

 I cut a soda can with Nestabilies dies and embossed it in the Cuttlebug. Then I used alcohol inks to color the snowflakes to match the water. This is one of my favorite strategies with the alcohol inks. The metal from the can adds a cool affect.

I didn't have any Thickers that worked with this page. So I pulled out my Cricut and cut out the letters. Some of my favorite Thickers by Amy Tan have the stitching, so I used my gel pen and made my own stitching.

I do enjoy all my winter activities but I am going to enjoy my fall for now. I'm enjoying the changing colors.

Final Flowers

The nights are getting cold up here. Forty degree mornings are the norm around here. I have to wear my coat to work every morning. Which means my flowers are wrapping up for the year.

I planted sunflowers, cosmos, dahlias, and zinnias, which were my late summer blooms. I wanted to share the results of my hard work. Besides scrapping and photography, I really enjoy working around the yard. I like to plant flowers and work in the garden, I like raking leaves, I LOVE snowblowing. I am an all around outdoors girl. But that doesn't mean I camp or hunt or fish.

So here is what you are waiting for:

I'm sad not to have any more bouquets of flowers on my table but I love the changing leaves as well.

Cave Point in Winter

 For my birthday this past spring we took a little trip up to Door County. It is technically spring by my birthday but this winter lasted and dragged on this year. On the way home we decided to go over to Cave Point. On a windy day, Cave Point has wild waves crashing into the cliffs. It just happened to be calm as can be. But the water was so beautiful and tranquil and blue. There were barely any ice formations or icicles. Our own little spring break on the water.

 Once again I'm playing with my modeling paste and mists. I initially just misted but it all puddled together and was a mess. So I put the paste down and misted. The mist is from Smooch.

On the bottom I used a Heidi Swapp mask with modeling paste, and cut up the pieces to make an embellishment along with some Amy Tan chevron ribbons. The patterned paper is from American Crafts.

This was such a fun page to make. I love the bright tropical colors, even if it is March in Wisconsin. It's been nice to have some scrappy time on the weekend.

Birthday Sunset

I'm a bad blogger. I've been so busy with my classroom lately, I don't think I've scrapped or done anything artsy for myself since our big girls weekend a month ago. The good news is, the school year is off to a decent start. My classroom looks pretty nice....we are still waiting on one big furniture delivery. I have 15 sweet kiddo's this year, and I knew all but three of them from last year.

So here is a little peek in my room. I am teaching bilingual special ed again this year. And I am room partnering with a vet special ed teacher!

The main table....where all the fun stuff happens

My little reading nook. The Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree is a hit

And now back to the scrappy stuff. For my birthday this year we went up to Door County, since our Texas trip didn't pan out. Anybody who know Door County, knows the down season is winter, and you can score some amazing deals in the winter.

We were able to get the two bedroom jacuzzi suite, at a stellar resort for my birthday. It had a monstrous deck! The afternoon sun was so warm we were able to sit out in our t-shits and sweats and flip flops. And we were able to see a great sunset. Too bad I was already changed into my swim suit when everyone decided to go take some pictures.

 I used a Heidi Swapp mask on this page. I layered a thin layer of modeling paste down first, and then sprayed with the pink and gold mists. It turned out super neat, and has awesome dimension! It is way cooler in person.

 I fussy cut all the flowers by hand. The paper was super neat, but had too much white to work with my existing white background paper. So a foam dot underneath and we were good to go! 

I am going to try and get some blog posts scheduled coming up. I need to get back into the swing of life. I have so much other fun stuff coming up in the next few weeks. I am running the color run, going to a wedding, and of course the leaves are going to be turning....which is one of my favorite times of year.