Another day in Paradise

I am not sure how I got so lucky, but the weather in FL has been amazing! No sign of the dreaded rain clouds ... just beeeautiful!

So I got up this morning and walked the beach. As soon as I hit the sand, I turn left and head towards the Sanibel Lighthouse at the end of the Gulf side of the island. Round trip it is about 3 miles. The first two days I only walked a little, being as I have been so recently a total slug, and was not sure if I'd collapse in the surf or not. So far, so good, so this morning I just kept going and found myself AT the lighthouse. My, oh my. That meant I had to now walk back. I made it okay, but called it a day in the fresh air category.

Along the way I saw a ton of birds - mosly having breakfast. The surf had pelicans galore in addition to the shore birds that were sunning in between snacks. And, as an added bonus, on the way back I saw some dolphins between the sand bars. Too cool! (the tide was coming in, so they were fine...not trapped or anything)

After some breakfast and chatting with family for a while, I settled down to stamp. I am in "Limited Supply" mode again - stuck with whatever I could pack. I mostly packed all the stuff I had to have but have never used. Trapped, with nothing else to do, and no easy access to other stuff (the local stamp store has given up most of its stamp space to scrapbooking supplies), so I must use what I brought with me!

First up is a card I made for someone who ordered a bunch of sentiment-free cards. I have been wanting to try the shadow technique, and I actually had this card in mind before I left town.

First I stamped the image in Sahara Sand (the shadow) followed by a second stamping in Basic Gray. I thought the pure Basic Gray was too dark, so I stamped it off to get a lighter color. I like how it came out!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up!): Stamps - Baroque Motifs; Ink - Sahara Sand, Basic Gray; Paper - Very Vanilla and Basic Gray cardstock, Charbon DS paper; Accessories - Vanilla Taffta ribbon, SAMJ.

This card was totally inspired by one of the ribbons in the District Ribbon Originals set (SU). It is Sage Shadow and Blue Bayou, and it is gorgeous. I think one of the original reasons I became addicted to SU 5 years ago was they had a Sage-color card stock!

Anyway, I think my ah-ha moments with this card were (1) I had no Blue Bayou marker, so I used Not Quite Navy and it worked GREAT! and (2) the background was a little plain, so I Versamarked one of the other images as a background.

Recipe (all products by Stampin' Up!): Stamps - True Friend; Ink - Versamark, Not Quite Navy and Sage Shadow markers; Paper - Blue Bayou, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla.

Then I broke into my stack o' Basic Grey paper pads. I have 4 of them, and I got them because they were there and they called to me - you know how that goes, right?

This card started out to be for today's SCS Sketch Challenge, but since I liked the bird so much, I did not want to cover it up, so I moved the tab/overlay down a bit. I am pretty sure this was enough of a change to disqualify me from the challenge, but I like how it came out! I was still inspired by the challenge, so all is well. ;-)

Recipe: Stamps - Savvy Stamps; Paper - Naturals Ivory and Basic Black (SU), Basic Grey Blush paper pad; Ink - SU's Basic Gray; Other - SU's Vintage Brads (copper - retired.)

My last card for today is based on Beate John's tutorial for a file folder card. I changed the size a little bit, and I like how it came out.

This one also uses some of my Basic Grey stash, so these last two cards technically qualify for my Stash Dive self-challenge. ;-)

Recipe: Stamps - My Sentiments Exactly; Paper - Naturals Ivory (SU), Basic Grey Stella Ruby paper pad; Ink - Basic Gray (SU); Accessories - SU's corner rounder punch and Round Tab punch.

That's all for today. That walk on the beach did me in, and I am ready for a nap. Unfortunately it is dinner time, and we are going to Cheeburger, Cheeburger to make up for how well we have been eating the rest of this week. All the calories and cholestorol you could want in one sitting! Gotta do it, though...it's TRADITION! Yep, the whole deal - a Cheeseburger with all the toppings (I get bacon and grilled onions, too), onion rings AND fries, and a malt. YUMMO!

I am sure once we get back from dinner, it will be nap time!