scrappy goings-on

yes, I do still use all the scrapping supplies in my craft room... not always for SB pages, but I have gotten some photos printed, and am slowly getting my scrapping mojo back... it helps to have great photos of some really beautiful scenery, too! (you can click on any of the photos to see them larger.) this is a 2-page layout that evolved over the course of a couple weeks-- I just love how our photos of the San Xavier del Bac mission turned out; it's such a beautiful place, I don't think you could get a bad photo! We visited there when we took a short trip thru SW Arizona last Christmas... it was started during the 1600s, and was finished in 1797, and sits in the middle of the Tohono O'odham (which means Desert People) Reservation just outside Tucson. I've never even been inside anyplace that old before; the history of the place was astounding to me. (it's still a working Catholic church, even today!)

This 5x7 photo was my first inspiration; I really love how the photo captured the glow of the whitewashed adobe, and the sandstone carvings on the facade. I wanted to show off the photo, but also do something a bit "artistic" with the page. I started with a page layout sketch I found on the internet (I think it was from the Pencil Lines blog, but I'm not sure, since I lost my notes), and changed it up a bit. Since the "nickname" of the church is The White Dove of the Desert, I decided to use a chipboard bird accent. The brown patterned paper was chosen to bring out the sandstone color on the building, and I really liked the look of the fabric on the page. At the bottom, I used some really small sticker letters to spell out "San Xavier del Bac Mission" across both pages- they're only about 1/4 inch across, so they were a bit of a pain to put in place, but I like the look.

Here's the second page of the layout-- it has another chipboard accent, a bit more of the fabric, the same patterned paper, and more rickrack.

This 2-page layout is photos of the interior-- the inside of the church is chock-full of paintings and statues, all the way up the walls and ceiling. There's so many ornate carvings, statues, and paintings that you couldn't possibly hope to see all of it, or take really good photos of some of it, but we tried.

The focal point of the lefthand page is the main sanctuary of the church facing the altar; it was decorated for Christmas when we went. I decided to use blue and red, to accent the photos-- I also used a patterned paper that looks like peeling paint to play up the age. I used a few chipboard shapes painted gold, to match the pattern on the red paper. I also decided to write my journaling with gold pen (which may not have been the best choice for this page, since it's kinda hard to read).

The other page of this layout-- more of the "peeling paint" paper as a border, and a bit of the red and gold scroll paper used as a photo corner. I cropped some close-ups of statues, and had them printed as 2x3 wallet sized photos, which I lined up on the border. (The gold writing looks tons better on the dark blue, doesn't it??) I also used the teeny letter stickers to identify my photos for journaling purposes. I have tons more photos from the mission, but they're just going to go into a regular photo album, I think. Now, I just have to work on layouts from our visit to Tombstone, AZ and the ostrich ranch. (yes, I wrote ostrich ranch... check it out here. Ostriches are kinda scary close up, but it was a hoot to see the place!)

crockpot roast recipe-- I need to save this one!

this recipe for roast in the crockpot with cranberries sounds great! (found blog-hopping from Mare's blog Moon & Stars Studio, I think.)

a bit more randomness:

the weather right now in Arizona is gorgeous- afternoon highs in the mid 70s... Tom and I went for a bikeride yesterday around our subdivision and spent some time feeding the ducks that hang out at the pond by our local golf course-- it was a lot of fun watching them chase after the bread crumbs!! Sometimes it's the simplest things that make the days memorable, isn't it??

I've been trying to eat better and exercise more since having the stroke (with a couple episodes of pizza, drinks, and a chinese dinner in there, but eating better for the most part) and so far I've lost about 7 lbs! Not a lot, but it's definitely going in the right direction.

random wrapup

the camera had so many pictures on it that the memory card was almost full, so I had to do some photo editing and organizing. So, here are a few random photos to start off the weekend... Butters and Tom relaxing on the couch in the evening. Now that it's chillier outside, the cats are a bit friendlier and enjoy snuggling, something they wouldn't do during the summer.

The perfect cigar ash... you know it's a good cigar when the ashes hold together this well! The late afternoons are cool enough now to relax on the patio, finally. We don't often have time to do it, unfortunately.

Playing puppies-- they look so vicious, don't they?? Every once in a while someone yips like they're actually hurt, but I think all that fur is a good insulator to avoid injury. I'm so glad that Sedona and Bisbee can keep each other entertained! (although we still do plenty of playing with their toys, too...)

A beautiful pink and peach sunset reflected in my side mirror a few weeks ago... the skies here turn such amazing colors sometimes, it's almost unbelievable.

A photo from over the summer at Tom's family reunion-- one of the traditions is enjoying (I say that loosely!) limburger cheese. In this picture, Tom's grandma and his dad's cousin Ron are offering us some. I did try it last year, and it was better than I thought it would be (this year, not so much... this time, I couldn't get past the smell). Have a good weekend, and stay tuned for more randomness coming soon!