Sunsets are one of the, umm, two things I like about Texas. *grin* And last night the sunset was another beauty. It was very cloudy and grey early in the evening, and I didn't think we'd see any sunset at all. Alan and I were sitting in the living room, when out the window I saw the light had changed and was completely different. Everything was gold and glowing! The sun had dropped beneath the storm clouds and was casting beautiful gold light on everything around us. Outside I went, camera in hand. We could see the storm to the north, and the VERY black clounds of the storm that was to the southwest of us that promised to come our way. And between the two storms was the setting sun. The last photo I took of the sunset. When I first started taking photos, when the sun was well above the horizon, the air was completely still. Our own moment of silence for those effected by this week's weather. Continue reading

We had kind of an usual sunset last night. Thankfully, I was outside at the time and was able to run in and grab the camera before the color was gone. Everything was pink -- it was the strangest color cast! We had some storms to the west of us but the clouds weren't high enough to block the setting sun. The humidity did block much of the sun's light though, which made it possible to look at the sun without being blinded from sunlight. I thought the coral color was so pretty, how it faded to pink. Not too much longer and the sun was mostly obscured by the distant storm clouds. It was sure pretty while it lasted! Continue reading

Whipper Snapper Designs posted a 'sneak peek' on their facebook page of a couple of my soon to be released stamp images, that are part of their upcoming Fall/Winter release. I thought I'd spread the fun and show you one of those peeks here, too! Head on over to the Whipper Snapper Designs facebook page to see the another! *grin* Continue reading

I was out picking some prickly lettuce for the geese this evening (it's their FAVORITE snack!) and came across a few (5 to be exact) juvenile wheelie bugs! I went inside, grabbed my camera and macro lens, and headed back outside with a bug jar. These bugs are about a quarter their soon to be adult size. Wheelie bugs (aka assassin bugs) are GREAT bugs to have in the garden! They are a predator insect and instead of eating plants, they dine on bugs that do! Like soft bodied caterpillars and beetles. After I snapped a few photos, I carefully plunked 5 bugs into my bug jar and scooted out to the garden and set them free. Go! EAT BUGS! I've posted other photos of wheelie bugs on the blog ... here, here, and here. And you know what!? It's almost FRIDAY! Yippeee!! Continue reading

Back in November 2012 I introduced you to this young chicken who is a chick of the famous Tiny Tim and Cricket, who was a house chick until she was big enough to join her flock outside. This chick was also a temporary house guest. At a fairly young age she seemed to develop a palsy which made life in the coop with the other chickens very difficult. She had a hard time keeping up with the other babies, had a hard time keeping herself on her feet, and had a tendency to get stuck places she couldn't get herself out of. So while I was out west visiting friends, Alan brought her inside for extra TLC. I love coming home to house chickens! *grin* Turns out, Daisy was a pretty good babysitter. *grin* Anyway, I thought you might like a little update on this little cutie! Turns out, she wasn't a she after all, but a HE! After a few weeks of in-house TLC, he showed great improvement. While he still gets the shakes and sometimes completely topples over, it's not as frequent as before. He now has much better control over his muscles. He returned to the coop with the others, but has his own 3'x4' brooder to hang out in when he has difficult days. I call it his bachelor pad. He's face to face with all the other chickens, and sings to all the ladies. It's quite humid here today, so his normally curly, frizzled feathers are a bit relaxed. He always has lots of things to say, and crows OFTEN. But unlike Tiny Tim who had a cute little hiccup at the end of his crow, his crow isn't that unusual -- just frequent. His name: Unsteady Eddie. It seemed to fit. Handsome little fella, isn't he! Continue reading

Wish we could be with you to help celebrate! Enjoy your day, and find some cake! Continue reading

Thanks for everything, Mom! You're the BEST, and I love ya dearly! Continue reading

The current High Hopes challenge topic is One of the Boys! Find all the details of this week's challenge on the High Hopes blog. Supplies Stamps: Jumping Party Robot, and Gears Border by High Hopes Rubber Stamps; Sentiment from A*Muse Ink: Memento Black, Blue Adirondak Paper: Neenah, Bazzil ShinHan Touch Twin markers: BG1, BG3, BG5, R4, Y34, YR24, CG.5, CG1, R4, B65, B68 Other: Spellbinders rectangle and scalloped rectangle, circle and pinked circle dies, Corner Chomper Continue reading

If you're a stamper and you like challenges, or you're new to the idea of challenges and want to give participating a whirl, I invite you to participate with The Challenge Chicks! We're a small group of friends and stampers hosting monthly challenges. Won't you join us?! Our challenge for May 2013 is being shared today! This month's challenge is hosted by Diane and she chose to host a color challenge! For my project, I chose a beautiful floral patterned paper by Crate Paper. It contains all the necessary colors for the challenge, which helped the rest of my card come together quickly! Here is the color map for the challenge. If you're a Stampin' Up! brand crafter, the colors are Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Crushed Curry and Tangerine. If your'e not a Stampin' Up! brand crafter, just do your best to match the colors. You'll see the blue I used on my card is a bit more "blue", and that's Ok! *grin* Now, get yourself a good dose of inspiration and check out the rest of The Challenge Chicks projects: Diane Zechman Lydia Fiedler Jeanne Streiff Kelli Hull Kelly Schirmer Vicki Gee Anna Wight (that's me!) And finally, you'll find this month's challenge gallery on SplitCoastStampers using keyword CHXMAY13 . We invite you to play along! Upload your project to your SplitCoastStampers gallery, add the keyword above, and your project will be automatically added to the gallery. Or join us on Facebook! We look forward to seeing your projects! Supplies Stamp: MiniTags2Cut by The Stamps of Life Ink: Chocolate, Stephanie Barnard ColorBox Paper: Neenah, Paper Accents, Farmhouse floral print by Crate Paper (6x6) Dies: MiniTags2Cut by The Stamps of Life Other: Tracing Wheel, May Arts twine, buttons Continue reading

Wishing your a cheerful Saturday!! I used one of my very favorite Whipper Snapper sets, called Sunnyside Up, to make this card. Supplies Stamps: Sunnyside Up Cling Set Ink: Memento Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink Paper: October Afternoon Other: Buttons, string, various Copic and Touch Twin markers, tracing wheel, SU punch Continue reading

Happy May, dare I say, to all of you who got SNOW today!?! Continue reading

There's a new sketch challenge posted on The Paper Loft blog, and I thought I'd play along! I used papers from the Huckleberry Pond 6x6 paper pad, and a fun fishing hat stamp from Stamps by Judith. The image is stamped in black Memento ink, and colored with Touch Twin markers. Quick and easy! Supplies Stamp: Stamps by Judith Paper: The Paper Loft Huckleberry Pond 6x6 Dies: Birthday Banner die Stephanie Barnard for Sizzix ShinHan Touch Twin markers: GY175, Y42, R3, R2, YR24, Y36, B66 Other: Button, twine, tracing wheel Continue reading

Alan and I took Daisy and Twiggy out into the pasture this evening to get some photos of them in the wildflowers. Daisy didn't really want to cooperate, so I was only able to get a few photos of her that are even worthwhile. Twiggy did good at sitting, and smiling for the camera. She's quite a spaz, so just getting her to sit still is a success! But, do you think we could get them to sit side by side!? No way... Continue reading

Happy Friday! Supplies: Stamps: hive4bees The Stamps of Life Paper: Neenah, October Afternoon, Stampin' Up! Dies: Bee Die Set and Majestic Labels #2, The Stamps of Life Ink: Memento Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink ShinHan Touch Twin markers: PB144, Y36, YR31, YR32, YR24 Other: button, twine, tracing wheel, Sprinkles! glitter from The Stamps of Life Continue reading

Wishing my sweetie a very Happy Birthday today! Happy Birthday to you... Happy Biiirrrrthday to yooouuuu.... Happy BIRRRRRTHDAAAAAY Dear ALAN... Happy BIRTHDAY, to YOU! *Smooches* Continue reading

We're having a beautiful day of sunshine here on the farm. Wishing you much of the same. Happy Earth Day! Continue reading

High Hopes is sponsoring the current Designed to Color challenge, on the DTC blog. As part of the High Hopes design team, I thought I would participate in the "inspiration" portion of the challenge. Find all the details about the challenge on the DTC blog. TGIF! Supplies Stamp: Bumble Bear by High Hopes Medium: ShinHan Touch Twin markers Fur: BR103, BR92, BR93, BR96 Costume: CG3, CG5, Y36, YR31, YR32, BR104, R13, R2, R3, PB185 Flower: Y42, GY175, Y36, YR31, YR32, YR24 Other: CG.5 (shadow) Paper: Neenah, October Afternoon Elements: Making Memories ribbon, Tracing Wheel Continue reading

The goslings! Aren't they getting BIG! They are not the easiest critters to photograph, at this age anyway. They move very quickly, in random directions. *grin* I am really enjoying them. I haven't NAMED them yet, though.... *ugh!* I just can't decide! It would really help if I knew their genders, but I don't want to insult them by attempting to check. This is the older of the two, and I have a feeling it's a male. Their personalities are quite different. This one LOVES me. Love to be held, climbs up on my lap if I'm sitting in the grass, follows me anywhere. This is the younger of the two, and I have a feeling this one is a girl. This one is not as attached to me as the other. It does NOT like to be caught, but once I've got her, she enjoys being held. She is much more independent than the older one. They are just the best of buds... Continue reading

The current High Hopes challenge topic is to add a border to your project! I chose to use this adorable pair of birds to create my card. Find all the details of this week's challenge on the High Hopes blog. Supplies Stamps: Landing Birdie, Perched Birdie, Nest, and Branch by High Hopes Rubber Stamps Ink: Memento Black, Distress Inks in blues and browns and greens Paper: Neenah, Bazzil ShinHan Touch Twin markers: BR109, BR107, PB185, B66, B68, BR103, BR97, BR92, GY175, Y42, BR96 Other: Tracing Wheel Continue reading

Favorite farm photo from this weekend: Dust and her baby, Dust Bunny! Bunny was 7 days old when I took this photo. And, we've got more Photobombing going on! I was trying to take a photo of Sweet Potato, who was looking so cute, and Leia jumped right in on the shot. Continue reading

I found this card in my files and don't think I've shared it with you yet. I used one of my favorite (and old) PSX stamps, along with a sentiment from one of my Whipper Snapper cling sets to make this card. I stamped the image in brown ink, colored it with markers, and inked the edges to "age" it a bit. I chose a cheerful, springy color combo of pink and green. We've been crazy busy this week, and I just haven't had as much time for blog updates as I would like. I guess that's bound to happen now and then. We had a bit of a cold spell and it was feeling a bit more like winter, rather than spring! But spring weather is back in our forecast again. The grass and wildflowers should grow, grow, GROW! The garden isn't nearly as far along as I would like. In fact, the cucumber seeds I planted WEEKS ago are just starting to sprout! But, at least I didn't lose any plants during the cold weather we just had! I'll be getting tomatoes in the ground this weekend, and hope to finish seeding the rest of the garden as well. Wish me luck! Let me be the first to wish you a very happy FRIDAY! Continue reading

I am hosting this week's High Hopes challenge, and the challenge topic is Grow Garden Grow! For my project, I chose to use the cute flower seed packet image. I stamped the seed packet image on cardstock and colored it up using Touch Twin markers. I added the "Friendship" and "Seeds" words to the packet using stamps that coordinate with the seed packet image. Using an Xacto knife, I cut out the center window of the stamped image. I folded the packet into an actual "packet", slipped in a store-bought package of sunflower seeds for planting. The image of the girl and sunflowers is on the actual sunflower seed packet that's showing through the cut out window of the stamped image. Once the sunflower seed packet was inside, I lightly sealed up the packet I made and set it on the front of the card. I wrapped some garden twine around to keep the packet in place. I think this will make a cute little note card for a friend. Not only a nice little "hello", but seeds to plant in her garden, too! Find all the details of this week's challenge on the High Hopes blog. Supplies Stamp: Seed Packet by High Hopes Rubber Stamps Ink: Memento Black Paper: Neenah, Core'dinations ShinHan Touch Twin markers: CG9, BG3, Y36, YR32, BR109, BR107, BR103, BR102, GY175, Y42, PB144, PB185, PB76 Other: Tracing Wheel, May Arts twine Continue reading