Hello Tree

I learned this weekend there's no place like home with the exception of my brother and sister-in-law's home in Savage, Minnesota. While I'll tell you more about our little trip at the end of my post, I'll say now that never in my lifetime have I ever been as comfortable in the home of another as I was this past weekend. It was wonderful to feel so at ease and so very welcome.

After not stamping for a few days, I was actually feeling a little rusty when I plopped myself down in my corner this evening. A simple, albeit fun, card was all I was able to manage tonight. The green part of the tree, stamped on Topiary textured cardstock, and the little bird were paper pieced. The other details, I believe, explain themselves.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Topiary cardstock; Topiary textured cardstock; Retired Summer Celebration B&T paper; Topiary, Honey, and Chocolate ink pads; Brown Bag marker; Hero Arts Hello Tree stamp set; White grosgrain ribbon; Piercing tool; Stampin' Up Piercing Guide and Mat; 3M foam mounting tape.

Like I said, we had a great weekend. Rob, Pam, and their awesome kids, Grant and Olivia, were wonderful hosts. While visiting on Friday evening, Pam asked me what I wanted to do on Saturday. Of course, I said that I'd like to make my first-ever trip to an Archiver's store. I'd forgotten that it was National Scrapbooking Day, so I can say that this year I commemorated it in style! What a fun store, and yes, I did a little shopping, bring home three new stamp sets (including an Archiver's Exclusive), some paper, a new edger punch, and a few other supplies. I didn't go hog wild. It was just fun to see what I usually buy online in a well-stocked store setting. After our shopping expedition, Pam, Olivia, and I had a yummy lunch and then spent an amazing afternoon at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It was so much fun and so very interesting. While we were on our adventure, Marv and Rob hit the golf course where they had an equally good time. After dinner on Saturday night, Pam took Grant and Olivia on a promised trip to Barnes and Noble, while Rob took Marv and me to his offices. "Wow" was all I could say. What a great work environment he provides. With a big window in her office, his copywriter has it a whole lot better than his poor sister who sits in a grey cubicle all day. LOL. Anyway, that was fun, too. After visiting until we all started to nod off, we hit the hay to get up on Sunday morning to leave and go to Marv's sister's house across town. After a nice brunch and tour of her home, we left the city, bringing Marv's mom, who'd been traveling with Donna, home with us.

Like I said, it was a good weekend, and reclusive homebody that I am, I realized that it's good to "get out of Dodge" once in a while. Back in my world, I had a busy day at work and expect to have a busy week. The way the 32-hour workweek commitment is set up in HR, I have to take one more Friday off, which means I have one more long weekend to look forward to. No complaints! For tonight, I'll sign off with a wish that you have a wonderful week. Thank you for stopping by! I'll catch again you tomorrow night ...