Happy Trails on Texas Tuesday

First, let me wish all of you a belated Happy Valentine's Day.  I've been concentrating on Valentine's cards lately because I am donating them to a fraternal organization that I belong to for a fund-raising project.  It was a bit difficult to switch gears and think of Texas Tuesday, but here's my post for this week.

I wanted to come up with a card that would be suitable for a male  or female coworker who is retiring or leaving work.  I also wanted something simple and quick to make.  I had some Texas map paper in my stash, so I used that for a mat on a craft cardstock base.  I should have thought a bit more before I cut the mat because I wanted Austin in the picture, but alas all I got was that big old San Antonio.  Actually, with our lack of freeways, Austin looks pretty puny on the map compared to San Antonio anyway so maybe this is a good thing after all.  I used the same craft cardstock to stamp the horse and rider and then stamped "Happy Trails" beneath that. I trimmed it down, then I rounded the four corners and stuck it in the middle.  I intended to give it some bling to the horse and rider and the sentiment with my black Spica pen, but I couldn't find it.  That can always be added later if I ever find that darned pen. So there you have it - a quick and simple card with a Texas theme.  Hope you like it.  Thanks for visiting my blog.  

Valentine's Texas Tuesday

Greetings this Texas Tuesday! I know we're all anticipating the "deep freeze" that's coming our way. I'm certainly not looking forward to it. As far as I'm concerned, if it's gonna snow I hope it's enough to shut down the county! I hate driving in icy weather and I'd just as soon not use my lovely vacation leave for ice days! Anyway, if it happens, I'd rather be at home doing something crafty. I'll get off my soapbox now. On to the purpose of this post.

I know we were supposed to do Valentine-themed cards this time, but I just couldn't resist this departure from that theme. My DH recently had knee surgery after a mishap on the Sunday after Christmas. Our PCP referred us to the same orthopedic surgeon who repaired DH's ankle about 15 years ago.  This man is a super doctor and a super person.  He's devoted countless hours caring for some of our local high school athletes, and he's an avid UT fan. And to top that off, he always wears cowboy boots.  Not just boots - no, they are georgeous ostrich leather boots.  Even in the OR!  I can't say whether they have those blue booties to fit over the cowboy boots or not because I didn't get to observe the surgery, but he sure had the boots on prior to that.  The DH goes back this Friday for a follow up appointment and I thought it might be nice to do a thank you card for the doc.  So that's my project this week. 

I found some really cool tan-ish lizard looking paper at Joann's last week.  It's almost the same color as the doctor's boots.  I used the same Ellison boot die to cut this one that I used for a previous post.  I mounted it on a burnt orange cards base.  The "thanks" is also a die by Sizzix.  The picture makes it look like I snuck in some Aggie maroon paper for the "thanks" but it's really a dark brown.  It was a bit plain looking, so I cut a shadow piece out of white cardstock to mount behind it and used my trusty Signo white gel pen to do faux stitching to make it pop a bit more.  Hope you enjoy seeing it.  Stay warm and if it ices, stay safe!

In my next life...

I’M GONNA BE A BEAR.

In this life I’m a woman. In my next life, I’d like to come back as a bear. When you’re a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you’re supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too. When you’re a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you are sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that. If you’re the mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that. If you’re a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup, gonna be a bear!

I got this in an e-mail from a cousin in Dallas.  Thought it was a perfect expression about how I'm feeling these days.  I'd at least like to sleep until the cedar season is over!

Texas Tuesday - January 18, 2011

How is everyone doing today?  Hope everyone is hale and hearty despite the dreaded cedar fever!  Here's my post for the latest Texas Tuesday Challenge.  I don't have much of a story today, just a card.  Yes, I'm one those cedar sufferers and I feel like somebody has been walking all over me, so I'm making this post short. 

I started with a piece of beige Bazzill for the card base, then used a sort of burnt orange Bazzill to cut out the boots with my new Ellison AllStar die. I shadowed the boots using Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  The side panels on the boots are also Bazzill  and the star is plain old white cardstock.  I added some stitching with my trusty Signo black gel pen to both the star and the toes of the boots.  On the card base, I first put down a couple of strips of Tim Holtz tissue tape, then mounted the boots on top of that.  The sentiment was printed on the printer and mounted with Sookwang tape to top it off.  Hope you enjoy it and thanks for stopping by.

The First Texas Tuesday of the New Year!

I cannot believe that 2010 has come and gone and it's 2011!  2010 seems to have flown by!  There were so many things that I wanted to accomplish that went by the wayside, but there were also things that I am proud to say I did!  One of those things I'm proud of is participating in these Texas Tuesday posts.  Here it is January 2011 and we are getting ready to inaugurate our new/old governor for what seems like the umpteenth time.  Whenever we have some sort of high muckety-muck state ceremony, for some reason I can't help thinking of our State Song, "Texas Our Texas".  I remember learning the words in grade school and we proudly sang it (albeit off key) at assembly in the school auditorium.  My junior high (no, we didn't call it "middle school" back then) and high school bands both played it proudly at football games.  I think even UT has played it just a few times, although the probably play "The Eyes" or "Texas Fight" more often.  But as state songs go, I think ours is pretty darned good.  A bit of Texas trivia - it was adopted as the official state song of Texas by the Legislature in 1929 after being selected in a state-wide competition. It was composed by William J. Marsh of Fort Worth, TX composed the tune, and the lyrics were written by Mr. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright.

And now about my card.  I used a shiny dark purple piece for the card base, then a piece of lavender cardstock on top of that.  For some reason woodgrain stuff intrigues me. I guess it reminds me of an old barn, and I love old barns. I used a huge Hero Arts woodgrain stamp on the lavender paper which I stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  I used the same lavender paper to stamp the beautiful Deadbead Designs "Texas", again with the Memento ink.  I had to handwrite "our" and I'm not too happy with that, but it was all I could think of at the time and I was too lazy to look for an alternative.  I decided some layering was in order, so I fussy-cut around the Texas, and put that on a piece of the dark shiny purple, fussy-cut around that, and put it on white, and fussy-cut around that too.  That's a lot of fussing but I think it's cool looking popped up above the woodgrain. 

We Texans are proud of our state and we do like to brag a bit now and then.  We are truely blessed to live here surrounded by such a rich heritage.  On inauguration day, think of our state song and if you want, sing it out. And if you do, be sure to sing it loud and proud. 

Here's to a great 2011.  I wish health, wealth, and happiness to each and every one of you.  Thanks for visiting my humble blog. 

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

Just because I found  humor in this, I totally copied this from an e-mail that my cousin sent to me.  It's not as if I'm going to follow this advice, although  I do like the one about the gravy!  No, I'm going to stick with my program as much as possible. 

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS


1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnogoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!


3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.


4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.


5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?


6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.


7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.


8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards, dude!!


10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate and wine in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"


Have a great holiday season!!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas !!!

Texas Tuesday December 7, 2010

Hello everybody!  It seems like forever since we've had a Texas Tuesday come around, but I guess it's because of the hustle and bustle of the holidays being upon us.  I was glad to make it through Thanksgiving before starting to concentrate on Christmas. So much to do, so little time. But I love these posts - they keep my creative spirit alive and well and that makes me challenge myself to do more and better.  Thank you all for being my compadres in this great tradition we've started. 

I've been thinking that we Texans never get to see much fall color unless we take a drive to Lost Maples.  Around here we have cedar, live oak, and Spanish oaks in the majority, with an occasional madrone or redbud.  The cedars and oaks never seem to put on a show, but ever so often, the Spanish oaks will pull out all the stops and provide us with some decent fall colors to admire along the hills.  They seem to hide all their glory until the last minute, then when you least expect it they pop out in beautiful gold and burnt orange and an occasional red.  Luckily this is one of those times. 

My card today is my own interpretation of our Texas fall colors.  I selected a Bazzill card base in a sort of beige tone, then decorated it with a rosette of a orange patterned cardstock surrounded by leaves that resemble our fall foliage.  Since Christmas is right around the proverbial corner, I selected "believe" as my sentiment, stamped in Memento Potter's Clay.  Simple, easy, and a fun reminder of what Fall is like in the Hill Country. 

I almost decided not to close this post on such a somber note, but I wanted to remind you that today is the 59th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I was lucky to have been able to visit the magnificent island of Oahu a few years ago and one of the must-sees on my list was the Arizona Memorial. The memorial has fascinated me since childhood.  I was awestruck by the serene calm that exists there now as I thought about all of the souls that were lost on that long ago day.  Evidence of the attack can still be seen and the great ship still weeps oil.  Seeing floral tributes strewn on the water brought tears.  Please take a moment today to remember our brave fighting forces of yesteryear and those who serve today. 

Thanks for stopping by.