June SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  If you came here from Melilssa Robinson's blog...you're right on track!

This month we are featuring the totally versatile set Jubilation!  It has 24 images that you can use throughout the year.  I can't wait to see all the amazing creations on the blog hop.  This is sure to be a favorite set!!

First up, here's a basic card style that you can use with any of the images!  I simply created a background by random stamping the image on Hollyhock cardstock and then used the same image as the main focus.  Easy Peasy!

You can punch out the circular images perfectly with our 1 1/4 inch punch and then use them to create a variety of fun little accessories for cards, scrapbook pages, goodie bags, treats....  I mounted my images on a 1 1/2 inch scallop punch (not available from Close To My Heart)

Here I added one of my little medallions to a goodie bag.....

I had planned to show you another cute idea for these little guys, but my peppermint patty stash is gone.  Who ate them?  I may have to stop by the store and re-stock so I can show you more cute pictures tomorrow.  Until then.... let's see what Angela Tutton came up with!

Strawberry Festival Ride

 (Candace and Su)

A couple of weeks ago I got an email for a new bike tour that was added to the Vista Strawberry Festival. Hmmm...strawberries at the aid stations. End of the ride Strawberries? A route that included a nice ride along the beach in Oceanside... It didn't take me long to talk Candace and Su into doing the ride with me.

It's been a while since we've done a long ride. In fact, we've had a hard time getting together to do any rides! I've been going to spin class and we've all gone on a few rides around the neighborhood, but that's about it.

We were a little nervous about jumping right into 34 miles. But hey, it's only 800 feet of climbing and we know we love the beach part of the route. There's 8 miles on the San Luis Rey trail. How hard could it be?

Ha ha ha!! It was the hardest stinkin ride I have ever done. It was hill, after hill, after hill. At first I thought it was great. I was so proud that we could do it. Each hill we went up made me feel stronger. Su and I were even laughing, joking and singing (poorly). Candace was a little sleepy so she didn't join in on the singing.

We met some fun people and had a great time playing leap frog for the first half of the ride. I think there was a group of about 10 of us that kept running into each other.  We'd pass a couple, then they'd pass us.  We'd catch them at an aid station and they would leave... and then there was the group that stopped for coffee... What a bunch of slackers! haha!

About 25 miles in to the ride, we started to get tired and sore.  It was cold.  It was windy.  It was hilly.  My knees started hurting for the first time ever.  Usually it's my hands or my shoulders.  I felt good everywhere else (well except for my tush...but that's not a big surprise)... and we hadn't seen any of the other groups for a very long time.  We started to wonder if the ones behind us quit.  Are we the last lone survivors at the end of the ride? 

Finally we popped out of the river trail and a SAG wagon pulled right up.  What incredible timing!!  They checked on us, pointed out the next turn and we were on our way.  During the last 6 miles the two sag wagons came by a couple of times.  It was the most amazing ride support I have ever seen!  I wish I lived closer because I would definately go to that bike shop!!!!

The last few miles were really hard.  We had a couple of long slow climbs and about a 1/2 mile from the end...those coffee stoppers passed us.  Darn it... Not only did they pass us, but then they took us on an off route climb.  Ooops.  Instead of making a left turn at an intersection.  The ride planners had us take a right turn and then we were supposed to immediately turn around and go through the intersection.  Makes sense now.  Didn't make sense on the directions and we ended up going up another hill before we figured it out.  Sheesh... Sure hope we got bonus points for that!

Over all, it was a GREAT experience.  I am so glad we did it and I am so glad we had no idea how hard it would be because I think we never would've tried....and now we know we can do it!  What a great way to start off our summer of long rides and adventures!  If this is the beginning... I can't wait to see the end!

Craft Time with Aunt Cindy

My Aunt and Uncle went on a Grand Adventure and took a road trip to visit the family.  They visited the Nydams in Bozeman, Mom and My brother (and family) in Prescott, the Merrills in Yucca Valley, the Heufts (me!) in San Diego and Marilyn and Nikki in Placerville.  Whew... what a fun trip!

We had so much fun while they were here.  We went hiking at Mission Trails, Cindy and I took several walks, Mike and Josh went ocean fishing and supplied two yummy dinners, and of course Cindy and I found some time to hang out in the craft room.  It was so fun stamping with Cindy.  We both got a lot done.  Cindy poked around, looked at a catalogs for inspiration and then just whipped up some great cards!

I loved both of these so much, I had to post them.  The bottom one is similar to one in the Wishes book and the top one was inspired by a card I received in a swap. Too bad Cindy doesn't live closer...we are so productive when we hang out together.

Lucky Birthday!

We had so much fun at the crop Saturday!! It was a smallish group so it was much more intimate. I felt like I actually got to visit with everyone and pay attention to the wonderful things they were creating. And... I even created a few things myself!

I had so much fun creating this birthday card. I needed a few non-girlie cards for my stash. The inside says "and many, many more" so I stamped several little trees along the bottom of the card. (I forgot to take a picture of the inside). I was feeling quite proud of myself for coming up with that. Sometimes its the little things that amuse me. LOL.

Supplies Used:
X7137B Lucky Paper Pack
Olive, Chocolate and Outdoor Denim Ink
C1368 Life is Good (Tree)
D1475 Card Chatter - Birthday (sentiment)

Enjoy the Ride....

While Southern California doesn't experience "winter" like most of the country...it was pretty cold around here, and we did get enough rain to end the drought, and the days were short enough that I couldn't sneak a ride in after work....so I spent the winter spinning at the gym....And I fell in love with it! 

While I have definately noticed that I am getting better in class, for some strange reason I was avoiding riding outside.  I thought I would be out of shape.  I was absolutely shocked at how good I felt on my first ride...and then I got a flat....and then I had to replace the tire...and then I started another ride and half a mile down the road....I got a flat....  Suddenly, I wasn't enjoying my bike so much.  I never get a flat in spin class. :-)

Well, I had my mechanic check out my bike.  The bike is fine.  Apparently I have to do a better job at avoiding glass. 

Last week, the stars aligned, my bike was fixed and it was time to start riding... and I rode and rode and rode!!!  Joshua made me go up a killer hill in the neighborhood on my first ride.  I wasn't real happy about the route choice, but when I almost made it to the top without stopping....well....I ended up thanking him.  Then Candace and I did a couple of laps at Lake Murray and then... I ventured out on my own and did a great ride down by the bay...  No flat tires and it was awesome.  I couldn't believe how good it felt and I think I might actually be in BETTER shape than I was last summer and there's only one reason why....

Spin class!!  So I had to make my favorite instructor a little card to show my gratitude.  Yes, I actually thanked her for trying to kill me every week. hahaha!

And this card is from my Super talented Aunt!!  She always makes the BEST birthday cards!!  Gee, do you think everyone knows that I have a cycling obsession????