From my Lair

Yesterday I went to the Stamping and Scrapbook Expo in Hartford. I seem to recall overhearing some women talk about it at the Scrapbook Clubhouse last year and they weren't too excited about the show and the vendors but I decided to go anyway and begin collecting stamps for the Summer Passport Shop Hop along the way. The show wasn't bad but the Expo Center was a little over ambitious given the modest number of vendors they attracted. I probably spent about 2 hours going up and down the aisles watching all the demos before I made any purchases. I bought a foiling pen and glitter set, a circle cutter and two punches. Then I went to Wiggles and Giggles for my first passport stamp. I had a coupon to save 20% if I spent more than $10 so I bought a box for my soon to arrive Copic markers, some paper and a Just Rite stamp set that I've been lusting over for about 6 months.

John's birthday is next week so I set to work making him a birthday card based on a design that I saw in a video a week or so ago, but can't remember the location so I was working on memory. The card was based on a tri-fold with a window cut in all three layers and then die cuts were positioned in each window. I wanted birthday candles, a present and balloons with the present attached by a string so it would spin. The card morphed into a pretty good approximation of the card that I remembered...maybe even better, since I added a picture of the birthday boy. I used the foiling pen and glitter, the Just Rite stamper, my Marvy 2" square punch, EK border punch (candles), Fiskars 1 3/4" scalloped circle punch and Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. Now let's see if I can figure out how to add a picture to my post.



Rocky decided that he wanted to go for a ride in the car today. He jumped into the car and refused to get out.

Friday I did my annual stint as Guest Chef for our summer cooking program for 4th and 5th graders. We made Scrambled Egg Nests, Blueberry Muffins and Mango Lassis (which the kids loved). I was really surprised at how well everything went. There was one child with a nut allergy so I was careful to select recipes that did not have any nuts in them. We did a side by side comparison between King Arthur flour and store brand flour when we made the muffins.

Is this really JULY?

We have been having a very unseasonable summer. Lots of rain and thunder storms and beautiful rainbows and not much in the way of warmth. We had at least 3 different storms come through today interspersed with periods of sunshine. We had one thunderstorm that lasted close to an hour and I was surprised that our power didn't go out at work. The cracks of thunder sounded like they were right around our building and the rain came down in torrents. When I went home at 3:30 Route 1 was closed at the Causeway so I went down to Shore Road and came up Broadway. There was another road block there and they wouldn't let me go down to my street but I could go to the street before mine. As I went up that street I looked through the yards and got a sick feeling when I thought my house was missing but I was looking in the wrong place. My driveway was strewn with fallen tree limbs but my house was intact. I saw immediately that there was no power. Rocky and I went out to the corner where some of my neighbors were gathered and got the low down. Two power lines had been knocked down but police and the electric company were on the scene. I went home, fed Rocky and curled up with a book. The power came back on just before 5:00.

I'm getting ready for my stint as guest chef at our summer cooking program for intermediate school kids. I'll be doing breakfast dishes: blueberry muffins, scrambled egg nests and mango lassies.

What I've been working on: Brought my Cricut to work to day to make a summer bulletin board. I used Paper Doll Dressup to make a string of children dressed in bathing suits and play clothes. I love that cartridge.

What I'm reading: The Rancher Takes a Wife