Such An Awesome Day!

This past Monday was my birthday and, fortunately for me, I happened to be in Las Vegas with my BFF, Carolyn, for a trade show for work.  Since the trade show didn't start until Tuesday, we decided to make a trip out to the the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon!

It was such an awesome day and I took tonnes of pictures.  Here are just a few :)

Our first stop was the Hoover Dam!  It is truly an engineering wonder and a work of art all at the same time!

There was a bit of a wind when we were there, so we had fun trying to get a picture of each of us without our hair flying in front of our faces!

 Standing in two states at once! How fun!

From the Hoover Dam we made our way to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon.  

The road to the Grand Canyon was such a delight for the eye!  There were awesome cactus, Joshua trees, and cattle everywhere!

For some reason this row of mailboxes intrigued me.  They seemed to be begging to have their picture taken so we stopped along the side of the road and I grabbed a couple of photos :)
 

This turquoise one was my favorite, even though it looked a bit neglected.

The cattle that roamed near the road were just beautiful!

This mama cow had her little one with her.  The baby obviously has not been taught how to smile for the camera yet!

After lots of driving, we finally saw the sign welcoming us to the beginning of the Hualapai Nation Reserve.  Only about 45 more minutes to go!

Our first view of the canyon!  Just breathtaking!!

 Perfect place for a photo op!

This is Eagle Point - can you see the eagle?

Yes, we went out on the Sky Walk!  Scary but amazing!

Guano Point is the site of an old Bat Cave where they mined guano 

(I will let you look that one up! lol).

 Part of the old mine.

Picnic anyone?  This table is literally 'on the edge'!

Carolyn taking shelter in the shade :)

 This fascinating little lizard was having a feast of very large flying ants! Yummm!

 

  Our last stop was Lake Mead at sunset - gorgeous!!

God's beautiful creation is such a wonder that it is hard to take in the fullness of it's beauty.  I am so glad that I have these photos and the memories that go with them to remind me of all that we saw and experienced.  It was such a blessed day and a great way to spend my birthday!

Little Red Wagon #194

Are you ready for a really fun and interesting challenge this week?  Well, Tammy at Little Red Wagon has issued a great challenge and I hope you decide to play along!

Tammy wants us to do a Project Makeover -- take a project you've made but never felt satisfied with and make-it-over!  It can be as simple as adding/removing embellishments or doing a complete do-over, keeping only the basics.

My first reaction to this challenge was... HUH?  I had no idea what I was going to do!  But then I started looking through my cards and I came up with this one.

BEFORE:  This was one of the very first stamped images that I colored with my Copic markers.  I did an OK job, considering that I was just a beginner, but there was definitely room for improvement.  Also, the card itself is very plain and simple.

AFTER:  I decided that the coloring needed some help, so the first thing I did was add some more color with my Copics.  I darkened her hair and made it look more natural and curly. Then I darkened her coat up a bit and did more blending.  I also fixed up some areas where I had colored outside the lines!

The next thing I did was give the image a new background.  I turned the card into a tri-fold card and used some pink and yellow pattern paper.  Then I added some die-cut swirls (from my Cameo!) and some flowers and buttons that I had in the depths of my wagon :)

So there you go!  A 'before' and 'after' that I am really happy with.  Thanks for a fun challenge Tammy!  Now be sure to stop by each of the Girlfriends on the Design Team at Little Red Wagon to see what they did.  Then join in the fun ~ I would really like to see what you do!

Inspiration Elevator - July 2013

Welcome to our July Inspiration Elevator challenge. Each month our group is challenged to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. Be sure to check out our Inspiration Elevator Blog, to see all of our previous challenges.

This month's challenge is issued by the super talented, Lisa Moen. Here's what she had to say about her challenge:

"I have been thinking lately, that I have only done one layout of my childhood and realized that maybe some day, my kids or grandkids would enjoy looking at a few more pages and learning about my siblings, my parents and I.

So my challenge for you this month is to create a page about a childhood memory of yours. It can be a good, a bad, a funny, a photoless or whatever you choose kind of layout. Just remember to add journaling to tell the story behind your childhood memory.

Can't wait to see your projects!"

I really wanted to use photos on my layout, and since I only had a few to pick from I decided to create a layout about my older sister and I.  We are very close in age, the oldest of 6 siblings, and many of my early childhood memories are of the two of us together.  We have always been close so it was nice to do a layout documenting the special relationship we have.

I had fun creating the background for my layout using a white hexagon placemat from Jillibean Soup.  I cut the placemat down to the size and shape that I wanted to use and then I put different patterned papers behind some of the hexagons.

Because I was working with older black and white photos, I wanted to keep the color scheme fairly neutral.  I limited my colors to white, orange and shades of grey.  I also wanted to work with a design that was vertically aligned, so I kept my elements towards the center of the page.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the title, bird and arrow.  What a fabulous machine the Cameo is!  

Story cards from Technique Tuesday by Ali Edwards provided the background for my photos and journaling.  They worked perfectly and I was even able to use Ali's handwriting font for my title and journaling! I love when everything works together like that ♥

Finally, I added a bit of a border around my page with some machine stitching.  Overall I kept my design very clean this month!  No ink or paint or anything messy.  I like how it turned out :) 

I hope you will stop by to see what the other designers on this adventure have created.  They are an extremely talented group of scrapbookers and I am sure they will inspire you with their designs.

Lisa Moen
Christa Uttley
Cathy Harper

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

 Laurel Seabrook

Jodi Wilton

Michelle Hernandez

Ann Jobes

Laura Whitaker

Sue Sykes

Little Red Wagon #193

It's Wednesday and that means it is time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon!

Jan has challenged us to go monochrome this week so I decided to make up a card with some left over papers that I had.  They were all in the black/white, neutral tones and I thought they would make a pretty card.

The colors look a bit more brown than black and white, but I blame that on the 100 days of rain we have been having!  I couldn't get good natural light to take my photo and my indoor lighting isn't the best.

Anyhoo, I decided to create a Thinking of You card with butterflies.  I put a whole herd of them on (or is it a flock?) and then added just a couple of brads for interest.

I really hope you decide to join us over at Little Red Wagon this week.  Be sure to check out what the other Girlfriends made - you are sure to be inspired!

Grilled Potatoes

A couple of friends have asked me to post the recipe for these delicious potatoes that we cooked on the grill.

They are really easy to do and you can use regular potatoes or mini potatoes like we did.  You can even use sweet potatoes for a tasty treat!

Grilled Potatoes

Ingredients

5 medium potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (1 tsp. dried)
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped (1/2 tsp. dried)
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt

Directions

Preheat barbecue on medium, to a temperature of about 400 degrees F.

Cut potatoes into 1" chunks.  If using mini potatoes, you can cut into 1/2-inch slices.

In a medium bowl, toss the potatoes with olive oil and seasonings. Place in grill wok or on baking sheet and grill until tender and starting to brown,  20 -30 minutes, turning potatoes frequently.

Transfer to a platter and serve.  Yummm :)

Grill Master!

Ever since our son started working for a barbecue manufacturer last summer, he has enjoyed the challenge of grilling the perfect meal.  And we have enjoyed letting him cook for us!!

Last night he cooked not only the perfect steak, but he also cooked some potatoes using a new Grill Wok. They were amazing and they were the best compliment for the steaks!

Delicious!  I hope our dinner was just a taste of all the yummy food we can look forward to this summer!

Here is the steak marinade if you want to give it a try!  I guarantee you won't be disappointed :)

The Perfect Steak

Ingredients

4 steaks (preferably New York Strip), 1" thick
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Trim excess fat from the steaks. In a heavy, resealable plastic bag combine the remaining ingredients.

Marinate the steaks for 1 hour at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. If refrigerating, bring steaks close to room temperature 1 hour before grilling for more even cooking.

Preheat the barbecue on HIGH. Brush grids with olive oil. Add steaks to barbecue and grill for approximately 4 minutes on each side, turning every 2 minutes.

Little Red Wagon #192

It's Wednesday already, which means it is time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon!

It is my turn to post the challenge this week and I decided that I wanted to see some clean and simple creations.

This is the card that I made as inspiration for my challenge.

I used my Silhouette to make the circles with stars cut out of them and then I added a sentiment that I printed on my computer. (It doesn't get much cleaner or simpler than that!  lol)

This generic card will be perfect for a number of different occasions and I can't wait to give it to someone special. 

I hope you join in the fun this week and create a clean and simple card.  Then be sure to link it up at Little Red Wagon!  We love to see what you create :)