Hi Everyone. Happy Saturday.
It's my pleasure to host the Paper Players challenge this week and it's a theme challenge.
Now... summertime means so many things to all of us. The beach. The end of school. Running through garden sprinklers or fire hydrants. Summer camp. Hikes. Fishing. Lazing around reading books. Shakespere in the Park. Music festivals. 4th of July. Canada Day. I thought about what summertime meant for me this year and decided that I wanted to celebrate two things.
As many of my regular readers know, I'm a Brit by birth. Some of you may know that today is the start of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. Some of you may know that the Summer Olympics 2012 are being held in London. As an ardent royalist, I thought it only fitting that I should celebrate the Queen's Jubilee and celebrate my old school mate who is not only one of Britain's most famous athletes, but, as the Chairman of the Olympic London 2012 bid, fought tirelessly - and successfully - to bring the Olympic Games to London. So, my summer theme is a London based theme with a quintessentially English sentiment. I also thought it appropriate to make the card red, white and blue. As my birth country, and my adopted country, share the same colors. I will also be cheering on both teams at the upcoming events.
Here's my homage to Queen Elizabeth and to Seb (whom I still remember cheating on a Geography test!)
Now... for my non-English readers, I'll let you in on what the sentiment means. It means you are super cool.... beyond great.... It's a very positive thing to say about someone. Oh.. and crisps... well they are the English equivalent of the American chips. So... we call chips crisps... and we call french fries .... chips! :-)
I found the perfect set for my card. It has images of red telephone boxes, Big Ben, the London Eye, Black taxi cabs. I decided to stamp them all on Whisper White card stock and then top it with a piece of vellum to help tone down the images and colors.
Card supplies:
- Card stock: Stampin' Up! Night of Navy, Whisper White. Vellum
- Inks: SU Night of Navy, Real Red, Basic Gray, Basic Black
- Accessories: SU Buttons
- Stamps: British Invasion (Amuse Studio)
Now... you really have to pop along to the Paper Players blog and check out the other design team cards - they are fabulous - I promise you! Then, when you have done that, we'd love you to join us and share a project that reminds you of your summertime - past or present. If you join us this week, I'll think you're all that an a pack of crisps, too!
Don't forget to check out the blogs of the design team, too. There is always tons of inspiration there.
On a personal note:
Oh yeah! We managed to get the table top off the floor and on to the dining table legs today. I think I must have had my can of spinach or something! It's really all a case of mind over matter. I was sick of it sitting around on the floor and was determined that we were going to get it set up. By golly (now there's a good English phrase! :-) ) we got it up and it looks great. Now, if only they would deliver the dining chairs we might be able to use it! We also got the drapery rods for the dining room, so we should be able to put the curtains up tomorrow.
The landscaper's also came and seeded the first of the prairie grasses today. Even though there is a straw erosion mat over the top of the seeds, the birds are still managing to find their way through it to get to the seeds. Right in front of the seed feeder tray, I might add!
Talking of birds.... we've had a delightful day watching birds today. We caught a pair of barn swallows eyeing out the underneath of our deck as a potential nesting site. Now... they are very welcome... but please can they wait until after the deck has been stained on Monday! We also watched a pair of Yellow Warblers come out of the bush to try to find some nesting material. They are gorgeous. We also saw our first cardinal at the feeder! Our Orioles are still around, as are our humming birds.
We were sitting in front of the window this morning, just watching the comings and goings in the trees and I said to Lou, "you know, we really should get Catbirds here". Lo and behold, not 1 minute later, I caught a flash of grey in the undergrowth and yes, it was a catbird. Now, do you think I can conjure up the winning lottery ticket numbers and George Clooney, too :-)
As always, thank you for spending time in my area of the stamping blogosphere. Your visit and comments really do mean a great deal to me.
Have a wonderful Sunday. One filled with sunshine, laughter, love and joyful thoughts of summer activities.
Hugs
Jaydee
