From The Heart: August Stamp of the Month

I always seem to leave it to the last minute to finish my monthly stamp challenge at Designed to Delight; From the Heart Stamps. Last month's freebie was this adorable tabby cat and I was happy to put together a card and colour him up. At least, I think tabbies are male. I should know that from my genetics classes. If you play along each month, you get the next month's image for FREE and each one seems to be cuter then the last. Hope you like what I did with it...

Pay It Forward

I am fortunate to have a lot of connections in the community and also many charitable friends who have very giving hearts. They help me so much with my fundraising endeavours and I appreciate them greatly. In the last couple weeks, I received a bunch of stuff that I'm going to see gets a good home. I always like to see things we have outgrown or no longer have a use for go to a good home.

Here's the bags... aren't you curious to see what's inside them?

Yarn, that is going to my Dutch Aunt Amy who knits for charity. A lot!

Fabric that is going to a Ladies Auxilary Quilting group.  

 

Paper crafting supplies that are going to the Altzheimer unit at a Senior's home.

 

I hope you are encouraged to find some use for items that you have on hand. It's very rewarding!

Tobermory

Well, I might be a little old for sleeping in a tent but the family tradition continues. Every year, my siblings and family go camping at Cyprus Lake. My younger brother has been going for the last 28 years, only missing for his honeymoon and our Disney vacation. It's great to spend some time relaxing, reading, swimming, hiking and playing games with the boys. I'm not big on chess but I seem to be improving somewhat each year. At least, my ranking has gone up by 1.

We drive into the town of Tobermory for whitefish dinner and to check out the cute shops and feed the ducks.

 

It's worth the huge pack-up and clean up every year. I hope we continue this tradition for many more years. I just might have to upgrade to a RV though!  

I Heart Sketches

This week's sketch at Delightful Inspirations-From the Heart Stamps was a good one.

 

I used a Whipper Stamper stamp that I borrowed from my friend Keri and I love the colours and how it turned out. Not sure what the little birdie should be saying but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

What's Bloomin'

We have had lots of rain this summer, quite a contrast from last year when the lawns were brown almost from the get-go. I have a few plants that have done really well that I wanted to showcase this week.
First, a gorgeous Hibiscus that I picked up from Costco. I had the worst time getting it to bloom. I guess it was drying out in the container and the buds were falling off but now that it's a little cooler it is showing off.

My Endless Summer Hydrangea. These do really well in my shaded yard and produce colour for a good portion of the summer. This one is a nice deep pink, very vibrant!

My friend Kathy and myself are having a contest to see who can get a successful rhubarb plant established. We both have shaded, root-filled properties with depleted topsoil. I dug out a few cedars in my front flower bed. What a job!

I threw in some topsoil and compost and I think I have found just the spot for my rhubarb. We'll see how it goes next spring.

13 in 13 July Update

Where do I begin? July has been such a whirlwind.... Started off the month with a great trip to Nashville and Memphis. Everyone needs to see Elvis' Graceland.

Now I can cross that one off the Bucket List! More on this amazing holiday later.
I was able to attend several live performances. I think I set the bar too low on this one. I got to see Alison Kraus at the Grand Ole Opry. What a highlight of the trip.

I also saw Waiting for Godot in Stratford and Yorkville - The Musical at the the Blyth Theatre.

I have accomplished my Live performances goal and then some.

I got out the photos I want to use for my Heritage album and have decided on how many layouts I want to do but haven't gotten any further then that. I used the Cricut and joined several challenges including a Sketch challenge that I hadn't done before. I've read a few more books and hope to get an IPAD this week.

I enjoyed crocheting the afghan so much that I picked out some more yarn when I was in the States and the dogs seem to approve. I have been going gangbusters on this latest project. Didn't think it was possible in the summer but we've had a couple cool spells so it has made it a little more appealing to have an afghan on your lap.
There is a Donation call out from Canadian Blood Services so I'm going to try and book an appointment this week. It's been a busy month but very productive.

Lulu and Libby

You know when you're in a hurry to get things done something always seems to hold you up. I stamped this image three times and almost had it coloured twice when one of my Copics blobbed! I always open them away from the image but this one must be overinked because as soon as I touched it to paper, it came gushing out. I persevered and finally got my adorable Lulu and Libby rubber stamp coloured and a card made up for Sassy Cheryl's Vintage Cream and whites challenge.

I am also entering in this week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge... Things with Wings.