Light*in*the*Dark

(I didn't take this photo.  Wish I had a source, but I don't)

NOLA

Best airport welcome, EVER!

 

Best seafood mufalatta & deep fried pickles, EVER!

Best first Auntie & Em photo, EVER!

Best trip across the longest continuous bridge (Lake Pontchartrain Causeway), EVER!

Best first look at New Orleans, EVER!

Best moment of knowing my Soul Sista and I are on the same wavelength, 

EVER! (Restroom photo shoot!)

Best ceiling and entry decor in a trashy tourist voodoo shop, EVER!!!

Best place to get beignets, EVER!!!  (Café du Monde.)

Best hurricane, EVER!!!  (Pat O'Brians.  dude.  4 shots of booze!)

Best grilled oysters, EVER!!!  (Acme Oyster House.)

Best giant metal chicken experience, EVER!!!  (He's wearing mardi gras beads, eek!!!)

Best first time on the landing of a voodoo shop, EVER!!!

 

Best haunted tour guide, EVER!!! (Earnest, so funny, so passionate, so knowledgeable!)

Best cemetery tour, EVER!!

Best offerings to a deceased voodoo queen, EVER!!! (Marie Laveau's crypt.)

Best "whaaa???!!!" moment in a cemetery, EVER!!! (Nick Cage's tomb.)

Best post-haunted tour spicy bloody mary, EVER!!! (Coop's Place on Decatur!)

 

Best at home goofing off moments with a 4 year old, EVER!!!

Best southern belles, EVER!!!

Best rendition of "On the Bayou", EVER!!! (Live music on the river @ Friends!)

Best southern hospitality and kindness I've EVER experienced!!!  

P, you Dennis & Em are the greatest!!! : .)

Cuisine Gastronomique

As a member of the Frantic Stamper design team, one of our tasks is to color in images from the Frantic Stamper line and then use that image on a card, etc...

I have to admit that coloring is not a one of my strongest skills.

I am really, really good at construction however.

I was challenged using this Bottles stamp that Fran sent me especially since there wasn't much to "color" and well, bottles are typically clear, if you wanna see what's inside them...

But with a little brainstorming (oh and about 5 prototypes, one that included "fluid"), my construction "skillz" came into play, and I came up with an IDEA!!!

I first stamped the image on acetate.

Then twice on laid cardstock.

Finally, I stamped each of the 5 bottle toppers on different colored cardstock.

I colored in all of the herbs & garlic and cut them out.  Yes, I did.

Then I cut out all the bottles as one piece and layered the colored pieces on the complete bottle piece.

I cut out the clear image from the acetate and layered that over that.

I cut out all the bottle toppers and layered those on top.  Nevermind that those pieces were incredibly tiny and my upclose eyesight is starting to fail.

I stamped the Tim Holtz tile stamp and the Curtis Uyeda dragonfly on a folded card and layered the bottles on top using double-stick foam tape for height.

The shadows behind the bottles was a happy accident of the photography.  I was so tickled! I think that just makes the card...So cool!

 yep, yep, yep!

In other good news:  I rode bikes with the boys at lunch today for the first time in a year and a half, and I kept up!!!  eeeeeek!  I AM stronger.  I guess that trainer is worth it!

Scrapping the Music - Stray Cat Strut

It was during high school in 1982
when I first heard
the dulcet tones of Brian Setzer singing
Stray Cat Strut.

My first experience with rockabilly!

I had the opportunity to see the band play live,
and I must say, back in the day,
his hair and tattoos made me swoon!

(And didya know...he currently resides in Minneapolis?! : .)

I used one of my cards as inspiration for my piece
and the colors of the rainbow!

Isn't this stenciled background just awesome?!

Its time for you to accept the Scrapping the Music challenge
and make something based on the song,
or the promp, which is... 
What song reflects an event in your life?

Come on and play along!!!

Oh, and STM has two new design team members,
Jessica
and
Herma

WELCOME!