Did you know that the reddish cliffs at Hopewell Rocks were first formed millions of years ago as a massive mountain range – older than the Appalachians and larger than the Canadian Rockies – began to erode.
This was definitely one of the highlights a recent east coast trip. I could have stood at the bottom of the ocean forever . . . well, until the alarm sounded that the tide was coming back in . . . LOL. There aren't enough adjectives for the awesomeness of this place.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. And I'm sure many, many others would like this book but it lacked any sort of depth and was such light reading that it rather annoyed me.
According to Google Books, "At a car boot sale in Sussex, three very different women meet and fall for the same vintage [tea set]. They decide to share it - and form a friendship that changes their lives."
I was only a few chapters in when I realized I no longer cared how the tea set changed their lives. I actually feel bad writing this but I always say what I think here.
Daniel Mangan (born April 28, 1983) is a Canadian musician. He has won two Juno awards and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Australia, having released 5 studio LPs and numerous EPs and singles. He has scored for feature film, as well as television for Netflix and AMC. He is also a co-founder of Side Door, a marketplace platform connecting artists with alternative venue spaces for in-person & online shows. [Wikipedia]
Snorkelling with belugas is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Sea North Tours in Churchill, Manitoba provides all the gear you’ll need: snorkel and mask, two 7mm wetsuits for layering up in, booties, hood and mitts.
A small Zodiac takes you out into the estuary. When a large pod is spotted, you slip into the water, grab a towline, and hold on.
Any discomfort you feel when that frigid water hits your face dissipates as you’re immersed in a cacophony of whale song. Belugas are known as “sea canaries” for their chirpy vocalizations, which also include clicks, whistles and squeals.
School bells across America are ringing, marking the end of another school year and the beginning of one of the most eagerly anticipated times in a child’s life…summer break! You’ve likely been putting those smart phones to good use and taking lots of pictures of your kiddos, watching in awe as they grew and developed this past academic year.
From first day of kindergarten photos to senior portraits, all of these pictures and memories need a place to live and thrive, as you revisit them from time-to-time, whether to reminisce on “how little they were” or to show off their accomplishments to other family members and friends (it’s okay, momma! You deserve a good pat on the back for these achievements, too! ).
Or, perhaps, depending on where you live in the world, your school year hasn’t quite wrapped up yet and you’re looking for just the right card to express your gratitude to those amazing people who continue to teach and watch over your children for hours every day, as if they were their own.
Whatever your crafting needs are, we’re making it easy to look like a “Smarty Pants” (in the best way…) when it comes to preserving stories and sharing moments.
And just last week we launched TWObrand-new workshops using this collection! The Smarty Pants scrapbooking workshop is designed to make three two-page 12″ x 12″ layouts and one single-page 12″ x 12″ layout, while the Smarty Pants cardmaking workshop makes 16 standard size cards (four each of four designs).
The kits that we’ve assembled for these workshops are made up of products from the Smarty Pants line as well as a few additional items, including exclusive embellishments. (Smarty Pants scrapbooking workshop kit/Smarty Pants cardmaking workshop kit.) Additionally, these workshop kits are available at 20% off their retail value if you purchase the options with the stamp and Thin Cuts! (Because some of you may already own the stamp sets or dies used in these workshops, we also have kits available that don’t include these items. )
Just like all of our other cardmaking workshops, the Smarty Pants workshop also features an artwork technique to help you flex those creative muscles! In this cardmaking workshop we sponge ink on backgrounds to help create focal points with color and also “ground” pieces that are layered on top (so they won’t look like they’re just “floating” there).
You might also notice that we used a journaling pen to create different borders and edges along some of the pieces of each of the cards, adding to the school days theme.
There are so many great techniques used throughout the artwork in both the Smarty Pants scrapbooking and cardmaking workshops! Take a look and let us know what you think! If you have any questions or want to know more, leave us a comment below!
Whether you’re counting down the last days of the school year (or counting down the days until the next one starts), let those teachers know just how much you appreciate them and take some time to document those school days stories to make the memories last!
I recently finished reading The Storms of War by Kate Williams, a very interesting historical novel about the de Witt family during WWI. The de Witt family are German which is not a popular thing to be during this time. Before the war they were tolerated by their neighbours but as soon as war is declared the eldest daughter's fiance calls off the wedding, the father is detained as a possible spy, the eldest son refuses to come home, the younger son joins the army and the youngest of all, Celia, is left trying to survive the tumult of the times. An excellent summer read. I haven't given away more than a few little secrets. Much more to the book than that. Enjoy.
Of all the happy days we celebrate throughout the year, birthdays are one of our favorite occasions to craft for! Handmade cards are always a hit, commemorative scrapbook pages make treasured keepsakes, and all of them present an awesome opportunity to flex your creative muscles!
Today, we’re going to give you an insider’s look at how to shake up your cake day crafts with our Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set! We’ll be showing off one of our favorite ways to use these stamps and Thin Cuts—in shaker windows!
The Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set is available in our May–June catalog. (To view this set, along with all the other exciting products in this catalog, click here!) The Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set includes 10 metal dies and 22 stamps, all of which were designed to help crafters celebrate in style!
Now that we’ve introduced you to the Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set, we want to show you all the fun that comes with using this bundle to create your own birthday-themed shaker windows! In our blog post from last week, we taught you how to construct these fun, interactive elements, so if you’re not familiar with how to build shaker windows, we suggest that you go back and take a look at last week’s post to see how easily they come together.
One of the standout features of the Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set are the whimsical characters that accompany the sentiments and icons in the stamp set. These fairy tale figures make a delightful addition to any birthday craft!
Shake Up Your Birthday Celebrations! #birthday #celebrate #party #cards #cardmaking #scrapbooking #memorykeeping #ctmh #closetomyheart #shakerwindows #crafting #shaker #diecutting #stamping
When you incorporate these characters into a shaker window and fill it with a few sparkly sequins, beads, or gems, they become even more magical! Because these character stamps are designed to fit inside our Circle Shaker Windows, you can easily create a shaker window using any of these stamps as a backdrop. You can even play around with other shaker window shapes, like hearts, stars, or rectangles! You can see in the examples above that shaker windows make a great addition to your card fronts, but we encourage you to try adding them to your scrapbook pages as well! When you incorporate a shaker window as an accent on your page, it instantly adds some interactive excitement that makes the whole page sparkle!
Whether your shaker window graces the front of a card or provides an unforgettable accent for a scrapbook page, it’s a sure-fire way to up your crafting game, especially when using the Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set! With so many creative options available with the Birthday Numbers Stamp + Thin Cuts set, it makes birthday crafting an absolute joy. Do you have a favorite stamp from this set? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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