Easter Is Approaching...

aaah, but is the Spring weather coming with it? After another Nor'easter went by last week I'm a bit concerned. Just look at this:

 When all was done after 24 hrs we ended up with just under a foot (about 30cm) of snow!! Thankfully hubby didn't have to go to work, and we never lost power though others weren't so fortunate.  Thankfully the sun has been out since that day last Wednesday, quickly melting it away:)

 Now for the fun stuff! First up, this card is meant for the Simon Wednesday Challenge (theme is Floral Frenzy):

 Products: white cardstock; asst. washi tapes (Recollections); Altenew Painted Greetings, Peony Bouquet stamp and die set; Inks- Archival Leaf Green, Buttercup, Sunflower; Distress Mowed Lawn, Worn Lipstick; Colorbox Pink; Versafine Onyx Black; Moonshine sequins (Simon Says Stamp).

 For T stands For Tuesday I'm going to share another wonderful dinner out with hubby, Kyra and Todd. We took them to Stefano's of course for the excellent food but also to see a fun band called Two Girls and a Sax. Enjoy the music while I share our meals:

             House salads, fresh baked bread and dipping sauce along with merlot for the girls and beer for the guys

  cheese steak boli and fries for Todd. He ended up getting three meals out of this huge stromboli- and it was the regular size!

                a steak sandwich and fries for Bill- and he ate it all:)

 I had the tortellini rustica which I've had before - yum!! Half went home...

 and Kyra chose the cavatelli Calabrese (Bill had this before) and she loved it! Half went home with her too:)

 Speaking of food I have a meal to share for Cast Iron Fridays hosted by Kathy:

 This was our Sunday dinner. I made it before and it is SO yummy! Chicken breasts with roasted garlic, onion, red pepper, grape tomatoes and pesto. First time I made it on the grill but this time I tried it in the oven. Just as good! Here's the recipe. I only made some minor adjustments to mine.

 Ok, enough food. How about a journal page?

 watercolor background; gel plate deli paper prints cut into leaf and  circle shapes, Pitt pen and paint pen doodles.  Joining Art Journal Journey (theme is Spring) and Paint Party Friday.

 One more card:

 Sharing with Moo Mania and More (Easter theme), and the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #93 (Springtime/Easter).  Products: white, purple, green card stocks; clear stamps - Showers and Flowers set (Simon Says Stamp); Inks: Fluid Chalk inks in Warm Violet, Gray Whale; Versafine Onyx Black; alcohol markers; Brick Wall stencil, pompom (Simon Says Stamp); Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies -Wildflowers; foam tape.

 Here's to wishing you all a wonderful week and happy Passover or Easter if you celebrate either of those holidays!

" Dear Easter Bunny,  this year could you please fill my eggs with health and happiness and deliver them to everyone I love. Thank you."     unknown

Spring Is Here??

  Hello Peeps! First I want to thank you for the birthday wishes last week. It was a great day watching The Crown, phone calls from friends, and then Todd and Kyra brought dinner and champagne. And since it was MY birthday, the music I chose to put on -  ABBA (much to son's chagrin :) Forgot to take any pics but I did manage to get some from our St. Patrick's Day celebration:

                       Todd, Kyra, Bill and I , Lynn and Andrew (who wore his kilt)-

   

 We walked in town to the Hotel Bethlehem where we enjoyed Celtic music, the local bagpipe band, and Guinness of course! Cheers to my friends at T Stands For Tuesday!

 As of Tuesday Spring is officially here-hooray! But wait- the highs are in the upper 30's F and some snow is predicted :( Somehow February and March switched places. Oh well.

 The other week I won a little gift from Michele who was hosting at Tag Tuesday and I almost forgot to share what she sent me:

Not such a little gift huh? All those stickers and the lovely tag she created! I was pretty excited about these because they are very small in size-perfect for adding to my calendar entries. Thank you Michele!

Speaking of Tag Tuesday, the latest theme is Easter/Spring so I made this tag which I am also linking to the Simon Wednesday Challenge (Easter Inspired):

 Products: tag (K & Company); bunny clear stamp (Simon Says stamp); Archival Jet Black ink; alcohol markers; sentiment (Tim Holtz Small Talk Occasions stickers); foam adhesive; hemp cord, pompom (Darice-Simon Says Stamp); mini flower (Studio g); cream embroidery floss; rhinestone.

 For the new challenge this week at the Simon Monday Challenge ( Road Trip) I made this card:

 Products: 90 lb. watercolor paper; Tim Holtz Symphony tissue paper; gesso; Tim Holtz Paper dolls; Tim Holtz Chit Chat Stickers;Paris labels (Cavallini); Versafine Onyx Black ink; air mail washi tapes (sorry- unknown).

 One of the regular gals that participates in T Stands for Tuesday has started a second blog "Cast Iron Fridays". Kathy is quite the cook using many varieties of cast iron cooking equipment and is quite knowledgeable too! I have one 12" skillet I love to use but have only made some 1 pot meals in it on the grill. Well, Kathy inspired me to try a dessert so I made this:

 A giant chocolate chip cookie! I got the recipe online from Cook's Country and decided to give it a go. Delicious!! Crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle. Family loved it! Looking forward to trying even more in this wonderful skillet. I'm thinking pizza :) Check out Cast Iron Fridays, and feel free to share your photos, recipes and/or tips if you wish.

 Well, even though it doesn't feel like Spring outside I am putting Spring into my journal pages:

 I did not make note of what all I was putting onto these pages so if you have any questions just ask and I'll try to remember. On the second page the wild flowers stencil, bubbles stamp is Magenta. Sentiment stamp is from Simon Says Stamp (Choose Joy set). I also used the Tim Holtz Mosaic stencil and Brick Wall stencil (Simon Says Stamp).

 Joining Art Journal Journey (theme is Spring), Try It On Tuesday (The Call of Spring inspiration board - I chose the colors and flowers),  and Paint Party Friday. I'll be seeing you!

" Come the Spring with all its splendor, all its birds and all its blossoms, all its flowers and leaves, and grasses."       Henry W. Longfellow

Flower Power

 Hello friends! I survived last week's "blizzard" and hope you did too without too much trouble. We SO lucked out in that although it began with a vengeance, in our town it fizzled and after just about 3 inches the sun came out and began melting it away. I know others weren't so fortunate in the nearby towns and further east, north, and south. Again, some snow is predicted this week... but I am surrounding my thoughts with flowers!

 This CAS card is meant for the Simon Monday Challenge (Spring/Easter Inspiration). 

Products: cardstock, patterned papers, boots clear stamp (Simon Says Stamp Card Kit March 2018 Choose Joy)- I LOVE this kit!! Unfortunately it is sold out but you can still purchase many of the kit items separately. Versafine Onyx Black ink; sentiment (clear stamp Mega Mixed Messages Set (Papertrey Ink); alcohol markers; white gel pen; Stickles glitter glue; Spellbinders Big Scalloped Ovals Lg dies; foam tape.

 I'll be celebrating St. Patrick's Day this coming Saturday  so I was inspired to make some cards, a postcard and a journal page:

 Sharing these with the Simon Challenge - Work It Wednesday (theme is green).

Products: inks- Staz-On Forest Green; Versacolor green tea; Altenew Morning Frost, Lava Rock; Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp and die set; white note card; Neena Classic Coat Solar White card stock (Simon Says Stamp); patterned papers (unknown); Simon Says Stamp dots scallop border die; foam squares.

  

 The postcard:

 collage sheet images (ARTchix studio); various papers including gel print deli papers; sentiment (Ann-ticipations); embossing ink; Verdigris embossing powder (Ranger); Distress Vintage Photo ink; paper flowers (Michaels).

 Page in my calendar journal:

 And now I know why I have always had a deep longing for the Irish, Scottish, and English cultures!!!  ( hey, I asked for a bagpipe as a young child and have always loved plaid and no one in the family could figure out where that came from) Not long ago thru DNA Ancestry I found out I am 37% Great Britain-1st Scottish, 2nd- English, 3rd Irish in that segment; another 16% Irish; 28% SW France; 10 % Italy, Greece; and 4% Swedish. You could have knocked me over with a feather!!! I was always told I was mostly French with some German and Swedish in the mix. Period. The part that really blew me away- Italy and Greece-wha???? Not a drop of German... But I am 100% European (smile- I always thought that). Unfortunately my French side (all on my mother's and a bit on my dad's) came from small villages where adoptions (in both families) weren't recorded. But hey- I'm Irish!! And hubby and I SO want to see Ireland one day. My mom couldn't believe the results when I told her. And she's willing to do the test now too as is my son:)

 Been doing lots of die cutting again- flowers and leaves , and images for my Easter cards,

 while enjoying my morning coffee in my Scottish thistle mug. Joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth and gang for T Stands For Tuesday. ( Eileen did you spot the ATC you sent me behind my mug?;)

 This week ( on Thursday) I'm also celebrating both my birthday (59) and blogiversary (6)! I expect it to be a very quiet day as it's a workday week for most but will make up for it another time.  Thought I'd give you the link to my very first blog post which despite the date at the top was actually published on March 15:) 

 A journal page (Baby's Breath in a Jar):

 I painted this one after watching a few Art Sherpa You Tube videos over the weekend. Going with just the black and white and trying to make a jar look reflective was a bit scary so of course I had to give it a go-and wow- I love how it turned out with just some simple brush strokes! 

 Joining Moo Mania and More (theme is Colour-Effect); Art Journal Journey (theme is Spring); and Paint Party Friday! Thanks as always for stopping in. Sláinte!

              " Find the seed in the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower."  

                                                                                  Shigenori Kameoka

Weathering The Storms

 How is everyone?  First we got hit with a wicked Nor'Easter Friday causing much damage , lots of snow or rain, and power outages on the East coast. As of this posting there are still people without power. I was very fortunate in that we never lost power. And another storm is due to hit for Wednesday bringing a significant amount of snow- up to 12 inches.  Enough all ready-I want Spring, I want Spring, I want Spring!

 Well,  here's a Spring card to cheer us all up:

Products: white cardstock, notecard, foam squares (Recollections); green cardstock, patterned paper, clear stamps (Simon says Stamp March Card Kit); Stickles glitter glue; alcohol markers; Versafine Onyx Black ink. Linking to the Simon Wednesday Challenge (anything goes), and the Simon Monday Challenge (Whatever the Weather).

 Thankfully Friday's snow pretty much melted away Saturday and hubby and I were able to enjoy a dinner out at Stefanos and also to hear the local band Red (the violinist, Chris, is awesome!!)

 After placing our orders they brought us our drinks (Guinness for hubby) and a basket of fresh baked bread with dipping sauce. I forgot to ask about the sauce cuz it was divine!

 And our meals (minus the salads because I forgot to take a pic):

  Hubby's choice- Cavatelli Calebrese - fresh pasta , broccoli and chicken breast in a garlic olive oil sauce,

 And I went with the chicken and pesto panini along with a glass of merlot and lemon water. The food is always excellent here especially the wood fire pizzas. Elizabeth I wish you were closer , I'd make sure you got great food wherever we'd go ;) Joining Elizabeth and peeps for T Stands For Tuesday.

 Here are my February calendar spreads completed:

 Here is a journal page for part of my March calendar pages:

 deli paper print, Donna Downey stencil, black acrylic paint, gelatos, Pitt pen. Meant for Art Journal Journey for the theme of Spring this month hosted by Rosie.

 Next up is a tag meant for Tag Tuesday (theme is Spring Flowers), and I will also join in at A Vintage Journey for Tag Friday:

 manila tag; spray inks; masks; Tim Holtz- Paper Dolls, Botanical, Chit Chat stickers; Distress Vintage Photo ink; sewing machine and black thread; washi tape (Recollections); Moonshine Sequins (Simon Says Stamp). And it just dawned on me I could link this to the Simon Monday Challenge too - whatever the weather, and I used Tim Holtz products:)

 Now, put on your party hats because   PAINT  PARTY FRIDAY is celebrating a birthday! Seven years  now- and with much thanks to the dedicated hosts EVA and Kristin-mwah!

 I made this journal page to celebrate:

 Black gessoed pg.; palette and brush painted with acrylic paints. (Those paint gobs are going to take quite awhile to completely dry -lol) Words added digitally. All are welcome to the party so please join in won't you? Have a fabulous week!

     " Life is too short not to celebrate nice moments."     Jurgen Klopp