Christmas Hawks

Time for a really short post. Very abbreviated! I have to work tomorrow so need to get a few things done around the house. No Black Friday for me...went with black on a Christmas card instead!

For you Americans... Happy Thanksgiving! For the rest of you...any day is a good day to be thankful! And if it involves pies, turkey, and family...well all the better!

Tag Your It For Christmas
~Base card - PaperTrey Ink Black cardstock
~Gold metallic tabs
~Black tag with gold metallic cord from the Target dollar aisle
~3 metal brads
~Red/green Paper Studio Old World Winter
Inspirations|Challenges
Just Us Girls - it's color week! red, green, gold
Retro Sketches - sketch
Southern Girls - use patterned paper
Inky Impressions - traditional Christmas colors
Ruby's Rainbow - Christmas with metallic

Thanks for clicking by!

Here's to feeling grateful, anticipating Christmas, and PIE!

Oh! And by the way....

Just couldn't help myself...I do after all sign my posts,
Nancy in IOWA

Christmas Dahlias

So...I started walking to work. Wait! Before you congratulate me on my road to fitness....I have to be totally honest. I walk PART way to work. I DRIVE to a nearby park (Leif Erickson Park). I leave my car there and walk the rest of the way to work. I am TOO lazy to walk ALL the way to work! But the fall weather has been so incredible and the threat of sub-zero temps looms large so I decided to enjoy the weather and add a few (about 2000 one way) steps to my daily FitBit log. I also don't walk all the way from home to work because - when I am done at work - I want to be home SOONER rather than later. The park is about half the distance from my home to my place of work.

And to be even MORE honest...by parking at the park....I am walking the bulk of my journey on flat land....another declaration from lazy ol' me!

Walking has given me an up close and appreciative look at fall foliage. AND one of the last blooms of summer. Thought I'd share with you the splendor of autumn in Iowa.

 

The final days for this lovely dahlia.

Love the mix of colors on this prickly bush!

 

 

Cardinal bush....I have a thing for these beauties.
Can't drive/walk past one without snapping a picture!

I need to get me some of these!

 AND another one!

 

 I realized most of my tree photos were the orange, red, rusts.

Lets hear it for the yellow hues!

 

I love when you can see the line of demarcation between the leaves that are protected from the cold and are the last to give up their green!

 

Early morning sun on the tree and the corner of the Catholic church rectory.

Now on to the card. Even though I am soaking up the final days of autumn (yes we did have snow one day last week) I know that winter and Christmas is just around the corner.

Another admission: I checked in on the challenge over at Just Us Girls.  The challenge struck fear into my soul! Watercolor!?  Oh dear! I can NOT get the hang of watercolor! I end up with MUD. I should call it MUDCOLORING. GEEEEEZZZ!

 

 Card detail.

 

 

Mudslinging Poinsettias

~Base card Cryogen White

~Layer of Paper Studio Cozy Little Christmas

~Two strips Washi tape

~Brad painted gold

~Watercolor paper for poinsettias die cut using Cuttlebug and Tim Holtz Tattered Poinsettias 

~Sentiment punched using SU Word Window

~Star bling

~Martha Stewart dove punch gold foil cardstock

Challenges | Inspirations

Just Us Girls - Trend Week - Watercolor

Just Add Ink - sketch

Crazy Hazelnuts - red and green must be seen

Crafty Addicts - anything + die cuts

Simply Papercraft - anything goes

 

Thanks for clicking by!

 

Here's to the last remnants of autumn, walking (half-way) to work, my obsession with Cardinal/Burning bushes, and my addiction to my Fitbit!

 

Nancy in Iowa

 

 



Alien Sightings

On the road again...driving home one evening last week. And what do I see off the side of Highway 20? ALIENS!  How tired am I?! Have aliens actually landed? But the bigger question is why would they choose Iowa!? (But then again...why not!?)

But I'm a farm kid at heart so I knew better. Those lights off in the distance - but getting persistently closer are farmers on combines. Its harvest time and a "little darkness" is not about to stop these high tech agronomists! They have crops to bring in! I couldn't help but stop the car and try for a few photos using my cell phone. They look even MORE like Little Green Men Martian Mobiles in the photos than they did in real life.

Just when I was thinking how tired I was feeling...I changed my mind and decided driving home in a luxury rental car and only a couple hours from my own comfy comforter and bed was much less fatiguing than harvesting to feed a nation. Its all about perspective!

 

Yes I did manage to get a card made. I'm not happy with it. But here it is...warts and all. WARTS!? Maybe I should have made a Halloween card instead of a Christmas card! Or better yet...a Halloween card with wart-faced aliens! In keeping with my little green friends from Mars in mind I went with a green glitter ornament!

 

 

Christmas Staples

~PaperTrey Ink cardstock base

~Layer of Cryogen White cardstock

~Striped washi tape

~Glitter ornament to/from gift tag

~Merry Christmas sentiment stamped using Versafine Onyx on red cardstock punched using SU Word Window

~Ribbon held on with green staple (I love it when I find a reason to use colored staples!)

Challenges | Inspirations

Just Us Girls - Word of the Week: Stripes

Retro Sketch - sketch

Crafty Hazelnuts - Christmas sparkly

CAS-ual Chic - metal (green staple)

 



Thank you for clicking by!

Here's to farmers who work long hard hours, taking time to pull of the road, and always being on the lookout for aliens!

Nancy in Iowa