A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Isn't this beautiful?

It's what I spent about an hour driving around the neighborhood today to find.

I knew it had snowed in the mountains yesterday, and it was bright and sunny here today, so I went 'sploring, looking for the best view of the snowy mountains. This is a photo of the Cuyamacas and Mount Laguna. They have received about 3 feet of snow since Thursday.

These mountain ranges are at least 50 miles east of me. And, you know what? That's as close to the snow as I'm willing to get these days! LOL

Lots of people headed up there in the past couple of days - and got stuck on the freeway, since the snow level here in SOCAL was down to about 1500 feet. They even closed the I-8 going east yesterday because there were so many people trying to get to the snow, and it was still snowing! They all caused a traffic jam. Bet the CHP just loved it all!

People who live here aren't used to driving in the snow! Nor do they know how to dress for it! I watched the news the other night and there was a guy in shorts and a t-shirt standing out in the snow, posing for the cameraman.

And here I sit, in my computer room, with a sweatshirt, a thermal shirt and a flannel shirt all layered - and I'm just toasty. And I'm nowhere NEAR the snow!

I could also see Mount Palomar (yes, where the famous telescope lives) to the north, as well.


Not a very good photograph - had to use the zoom and hold the camera up, so couldn't see the screen. Just pointed and shot!

Palomar is only about 35 miles away, so when it snows up there, it's easier to see it. Plus, it's really right in front of you as you head north on the I-15. The problem with being able to see it from the freeway is that you can't stop and take a photo!

I had the same problem with other places I could see the snow today, too. Just nowhere to pull over and take a shot.

So, while I enjoyed seeing a lot of glances at the snowy mountains, I wasn't able to get a lot of great shots!

By Wednesday or so, most of this snow will probably be melted - even though the air is cool, the sun is warm, and we don't normally get temperatures low enough to sustain snow for any length of time.

But it's beautiful to see it, isn't it?

No stamping to share with you tonight. I'm still plugging away at the family calendars. Have decided which pages are for which months and have been adding embellishments in that vein.

Just spent this evening printing out the remaining three copies of all (hopefully!) the photos I'll need to finish four calendars.

Now I get to cut them apart and trim them down, mount them, and adhere them to the 6x6 pages of DSP I've selected.

Then add embellishments and journaling to each page.

Then glue them on to the calendars, and write in the dates...

Oh heck - even if there's no stamping on it, here's another sneak peek of a partially completed page for the 2011 Family Calendar.



I'll show you the finished product for this page a little later.


Got any scrapbooking to do? Want to come to my Stampin' Garage and play for a while? Give me a call or an email to set something up!

Thanks for stopping by... Come back soon!

Family Calendar 2010 - 1 month done!

I know, I know - it's awfully late to be making calendars!

But it's become a family tradition for our family's calendars to run from February to February (and even March one year!) -- for several reasons.

The first reason is that it's like pulling teeth to get the photos to put ON the calendars! I start asking in October, and, IF I'M LUCKY, I'll get some by Christmas...

The second reason is that by the time I GET the pix, I'm either buried in Christmas stuff, or I'm on my way to Leadership in early January...

So, our calendars run from February to February. And, that's OK! Our 6 x 6 calendars are set up so you can make them for a year, starting in any month (Whew - Stampin' Up! must have known about my family and me, huh?! LOL).

The photo above is my first pass at this page. Before I can even start laying out the calendars, I have to cull photos (when I DO get the photos I have many to choose from!).

After I've selected photos, then I adhere them to the 6x6 DSP I've chosen to match them.

Next, I add some embellishments, remembering that I still have to add the journaling.


And after I've tacked these down, I add the journaling that will tell us all years from now why that photo was important.


I'll admit, scrapbooking isn't one of my passions. I only have those furry Kidz, and after they've passed the kitten stage, they can get pretty boring.

But I do enjoy scrapping the family photos on these calendars. It gives me a chance to really study them and sort of keep up to date with what's happening with them. They all live in the Midwest, and I'm on the West Coast, so we don't see each other very often.

I still have 4 copies of 11 more months to go, so I guess I should get busy! I'll share more of them as I get them closer to being finished.

Are you a scrapbooker? Stampin' Up! sells all KINDS of supplies you could use - just go to my website and check it out! When you're ready to order, you can either call or email and order, or enter it directly on line. Just remember to select me as your demonstrator to get preferred pricing!

Thanks for stopping by!