Visitors...

This weekend, my friend Julie and her husband Andy came out to visit Mike and me in St. Charles. It was great seeing them...and great having some other KSU fans in the house so we didn't talk about the Illini for one weekend. ;) Just kidding, Mike!

Saturday we took Andy and Julie on the Bud Brewery tour in St. Louis. It was fun. Free beer...can't beat that. We saw the Clydesdale's and barley and hops and huge barrels to mix it all in. I had been once before when I first moved to St. Louis, but it was still interesting.

My next goal is to talk someone into going to Grants Farm...animals and beer...nice!









Left: Mike and I touring the grounds of the brewery.

Below: Julie and I drinking our free beer.

After our morning learning about beer...we went to the another Anheuse-Busch owned property...Busch Stadium. We watched the Cards kick the Phillies' you-know-whats on Saturday! Sure it was hot out, but we had great seats (22 rows up from the field...good job, Mike!) and once it rained a little, the weather was great!

After the Cards' victory, we all needed naps and showers. We tried (for the fourth time I think) to go to Tony's on Main Street, but it was an hour and 45 minute wait at 6pm. So we went to Spiro's on 94 and had a great dinner! Topped off the evening by going back to our house and enjoying the weather out on the deck and just relaxed.

It was a fun weekend! Thanks for coming Julie and Andy...hope to see you guys again soon!

Outtakes...

Just for fun...here are a few outtakes from Rou's photo shoot while I was trying to get the perfect shot for Mike's Father's Day card:

Sure, he's cute, but not always photogenic.

Sometimes he's just too cute for words!!! But this one looks too sad. Must be the tie.

This one is a cute picture...interesting angle, but just not quite right...I think I picked the best one for the card. The final shot is in the previous post.

Father's Day!

Hello all and Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there. I made some cards to celebrate my Dad, Mike's step-dad, Bob, and Mike's grandpa...here they are:

The tie one is for my dad because growing up, he always wore a tie to work...there was no business casual for him! The grill card is for Bob because we always seem to grill out up in Decatur. The grill embellishment is made out of shrinky-dink paper...Shrinky-Dinks are back!!! :) The fish card says "Happy Fishing Day" and the inside says "Oops, we mean Happy Father's Day...because every day is fishing day for you!" That was for Mike's Grandpa in Kentucky, because he's on his boat everyday on Kentucky Lake, fishing!

For Mike...I had to do something from our puppy! So Rouge so graciously posed for me and here is the picture I used for Mike's card... isn't he cute?!?!

Craftiness!

Today I was very crafty and I loved every minute of it! I got out my sewing machine and went to town...

First I made this lovely bed for the pup! Doesn't he look comfortable?

Then I made this apron looking thing...its for me to wear, but its for the dog really. I learned in one of our obedience classes that its easier to have the treats in a bag or something so you can keep your hands free. It also helps him learn to do the trick without being distracted by looking at the treat. Now I just need to start working with him again. I also made myself a jewelry holder. Its just a cork board that I covered in fabric and hung on the wall. My necklaces and earrings always get tangled up and I can't find them. Now I can see them and they are tangle free!

Here is an up close shot of the earring holder. Its just a piece of ribbon held on by two thumbtacks I made by modge-podging patterned paper to the back of a decorative marble thing and then gluing on a thumbtack. I also use those to hold the necklaces.
That's it for today...I wanted to make some jewelry too, but I got sleepy and took a nap instead. Oh well!

Some Cards Made By Me!

I thought I'd share some cards that I made recently. Okay, fine...at least in the last few months...

Above are wedding cards I made for Kim and Ty and Tracee and Justin. They were the couples that had their weddings on the same day in May. They are now married and they probably got my card with their lovely gift cards in them (even with a registry I still can't decide on a gift!).

The one for Kim and Ty on the left (duh!) was drawn in Paint Shop Pro and said something like "It was written in the stars..." or something. I had known from the first day I met Ty and saw him and Kim together, that they would end up together. That's why I had to make that card for them...they are my Luke and Loralei!

For Tracee and Justin, I used different patterns of paper and made a wedding cake. I didn't want to do a couple cake topper, because my cutting skills are not that great, so I made a flower topper. They actually were having cupcakes as their wedding cake, so i thought about putting a cupcake on the card, but I liked this better.



On the right are my Mother's Day cards I made for my mom, Mike's mom, and Mike's two grandma's. I think they turned out pretty cute...I like simple and I like flowers. Perfect for Mother's Day! This was my first time using scrap booking brads, which is what is on the corners of the cars in the upper left and lower right. I am used to using eyelets, which is used on the upper right card for the flower center. Eyelets are very loud...they don't look like it, but to set one I use a hammer and create the hole in the card (with multiple pieces of paper its tough!) and then put the eyelet in and again use the hammer to flatten the back of it so it stays in place...I love the outcome but hate the process because I know it bugs mike and the dog runs away from the room. Oops!

New Members!

Today was a very exciting day for Mike and I. We have been going to Church on Sundays at Zion Lutheran Church down the street from our house in St. Charles and were confirmed today and are now members of the Church!

I was baptized Catholic, but stopped going to Church regularly when we moved to Kansas. Mike was baptized Lutheran and was confirmed, but stopped going when he was in high school or college, so it was something we decided to do together. We have really enjoyed going on Sundays and decided we'd like to get married there as well. So with that being a good motivator, we decided to become members of the Church.

Its a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, so we took adult information classes for the past few months to learn about the Lutheran faith. Once that was done, we had our confirmation today in front of the congregation and everyone was so nice to congratulate us and welcome us. (We also go those nifty crosses above, so that was an extra bonus) We really want to get involved with Zion and help out where we can. We were asked if we wanted to join the choir, but had to decline, because that would make people quit the church! I'm hoping I can help out where I can with my art or crafting skills. And Mike likes to do manual labor, so if they need anything related to that, he's the man for the job.