Surf's Up!

I'm back from my whirlwind, two week vacation which included 3 days at the beach! We didn't do any surfing, but still, I couldn't resist using this cool new Tom image, part of the July Offer of the Month.

And now that I've jumped back into cardmaking, I wanted to participate in a few challenges. So, I'm entering these two card challenges:

• Pink Elephant - Fun in the Sun
• Craft Your Days Away - Summertime

And here are a few pictures from one of my days at the beach:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!
Lisa

A Walk in the Park

This was a fun day! I had a nice afternoon with the girls and got in a little cardmaking tonight. I made this card for Priscilla's Midnight Madness challenge #10. I missed the deadline but I really enjoyed making the card, so all's good. :)


I'd had this Lilly Anna paper forever but never used it. I thought the fun, girly colors were perfect for this image from TAC's "Just Dream" set. (Other supplies: Lilly Anna ribbon, flower & buttons from the Audrey Embellishment Jar, green Scrapper's Floss, Prismacolor pencils and OMS, SU! paper piercing/stitching template and MM paper piercer.)

This is my favorite part of summer. Summer school has ended and the back to school stuff has not yet begun. The girls and I took advantage of beautiful weather and a free day to visit Rock Bridge State Park.

Rock Bridge was once its own community. You can see the foundation of a house that was stood on the property. (You can see Ali hiking along it on the right.)


We're not quite sure what this is, but it was kind of cool anyway...

Dixie thought this was a pretty great way to cap off a long walk - with ice cream! :)


(Unfortunately for her, her day would ultimately end with a brushing and a BATH, but she didn't know it at this moment, lol!)

Lilac & Lemon and a Sketch

Crafting time has been hard to find this week. I worked at a school baseball tournament on Monday and last night we had a "double header" of our own - Ali's school musical and Jessica's band concert. I did manage, though, to make a card tonight that combined two different challenges. I always feel like I've accomplished something extra when I can say that!


This card combines the color challenge on DareU2Digistamp - Lilac & Lemon and the sketch challenge over on Card Positioning Systems. All the DareU2Digitstamp challenges require the use of a digital stamp, so I used one of my favorites - Lilly from Digistamp Boutique. I've made a concerted effort to cut down on the amount of scraps I have, so the papers are all just grabbed from my scrap collection.

Here's Ali and her friends at their play, a musical about the early American history. There were a lot of songs and lines to memorize and the kids did a great job.


And here's Jess after her concert for a goodbye snapshot with her band director, Mr. Sweeney.


(Gosh, she's getting so grown up. Yikes.)

"Formal" Events

Last night was Ali's recorder concert. The kids all did a good job. They played some pretty complicated songs for 4th graders with recorders, including Amazing Grace and Ode to Joy. I can't say anything because I *hate* to get dressed up, but I wish my kids got dressed up more often. She looks so pretty dressed up! (Not that she isn't always cute, but you know what I mean...)


Tonight was the big event - Jessica's 9th Grade Formal. Her friend Tessa's parents are members at the local country club, so the kids met there first for pictures and appetizers.


My "baby" all grown up. (Well, almost.)


It's a good thing she was happy with that dress because it sure did take us a LONG time to shop for it! ;-)

Girls Gone Wild!

Well, not exactly, but let's just say today's photo shoot did not go well. I needed a picture of Jess and Ali to put in the "Nana" frame we'd bought for my mom's Mothers' Day gift. At one point, Ali stormed inside in tears. Even Mother Nature was uncooperative. The overcast weather was good for picture taking but we could've done without the gusts of wind that kept kicking up!

Here's Dixie showing how it should be done:


Just look at Mom and smile. Very easy, right Dix? ;-)

Whew! Much aggravation later, here's the final shot, as chosen by DH and me:

Jessica doesn't like that shot because Ali was standing on her toes so she looks taller. Ali, however, found it quite amusing:


In a rare show of solidarity, the girls agreed that this one was their favorite:

Great! Alison finally agrees with her sister just when DH and I were counting on her not to! ;-)

I'm printing off 4X6 prints of the additional shots and making a mini accordian style photo album. I'll post that as soon as I get it finished.

Locks of Love

Jess and Ali both got their hair cut today and donated it to Locks of Love.

Here's a photo album with some before, during & after pictures:

Locks of Love '09

Aren't they cute? :-)