a few hawaii pictures

Good Saturday morning stamping friends! I want to share just a few pictures from Hawaii with you guys. Unfortunately I can't get my favorite pictures of the USS Arizona Memorial (Pearl Harbor) off my camera's card so I don't have one of my favorite pictures but I think you'll love what I picked for you. Although we aren't sure when...we are definitely going back!

The first night in Hawaii we attended a Luau at the hotel which was fun and yummy! Prior to the activities starting I took some pictures of different flowers. This lovely flower caught my eye right away. I don't know what it is called but the colors and the little bit of rain still on the flower and leaves are so lovely!

You movie buffs will probably recognize the above photo. This is a building that was in the movie Pearl Harbor. It is one of the air strips that was attacked by the Japanese on Dec 7, 1941. Visiting Pearl Harbor and the surrounding area was my favorite part of the trip. I have learned that you just don't "get" the pain and loss that occurred at Pearl Harbor until you go there. I just can't imagine having been there. Just wow. A little bit more about the movie Pearl Harbor...you can see the USS Missouri in the movie (some of the movie was filmed there) but the Missouri was not sitting in Pearl Harbor...it was still being built. Did you also know that the Missouri was used during Desert Storm? Yep, they took a 40+ year old battleship updated it some and used it in the war. I'm totally in amazement of that piece of information.

The above picture is one of the views from our Lanai (balcony). We were SO blessed to have a lanai that gave us a view of the city and the ocean. It was great to sit out on it and see the sights each day. We were treated to a rainbow outside of our room almost everyday. This is one of my favorite pictures of one of them. Gorgeous!

Again, the above picture is a view that is just breath taking. Due to being military we got to see this site that most people don't. There is a road that connects Wheeler AFB and Schofield Barracks (I think it is those two) kind of like a short cut between them and at the top of the road this is the view that you are treated to. Amazing!

The final two pictures are of Manoa Falls. This was one of those things that I wasn't really thinking I wanted to do. You see...I'm a girly girl and the information we read about this little hike was that there was lots of bugs and to wear bug spray...ewww! But...Todd wanted to do it so away we went. I was SO happy we did go. The hike was easy and beautiful! The waterfall below was our reward for taking the time to do the hike.

One other thing that we got to do while in Hawaii was to visit with our friends the Laszlo's. I wasn't sure if it would be okay to post their picture so I chose not to but it was SO good to see them again. Pammella met us at the airport with lei's and helped us get our rental car, find our hotel, and gave us a map and some other goodies. We also got to have breakfast with them on Saturday and they showed us their favorite place...the North Shore. I agree with them...it is a wonderful place to be! We also got to see their sons Volleyball game (he went to school with Kyler when they lived here) and have dinner with them on a different night. Thank you, Laszlo's, for showing us your island!

And there it is in a nutshell. Our trip to Hawaii. Of course we did much more than what you see here but this is a long enough post so I'll let you go for the day.

Stop back tomorrow to see my card with this week's Page Plans sketch!

we got snow!

Hello my blogger friends! We had a great time on vacation but I'm SO glad to be home too! I'm having kind of a hard time getting back into the swing of things at home but I know it will only take me a couple of days and bam...I'll be good.

Today, at my house, it snowed. Nothing really stuck anywhere but it was still kinda pretty to see. This bird is from a new release from SNSS called Cozy Feathered Friends. When I first saw this set I knew I had to have it as my dad lives in Wisconsin and he really dislikes snow. The sentiments in this set are so cute! Go see the set HERE.

The patterned paper is SU!'s new Frosty Day DSP and the layout is this weeks sketch from i{heart}2stamp. You can find that HERE. I used some Faux Snow that I got at Cornish Heritage Farms and also some fun flock for the pom pon on his hat. The green on his chest is really a little vest (couldn't you tell that? lol!) to keep him warm.

Did you see something new on my sidebar? Yep, that is right! I made it onto the Sweet N Sassy Stamps Design Team! Woohoo! I was so happy and honored to be chosen. My term officially starts on January 1st but I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of fun SNSS between now and then! Thank you Korin for the opportunity to represent your wonderful company!

Kyler has school off today and Jon just a 1/2 day so it will be interesting to see how much I can actually get done but I can tell you that I already have my Page Plans card for Sunday all set to go. I do have to start working on my stamp club cards (but I already know what I'm going to do...does that count?)...yeah...I guess I'll be busy...lol!

I hope that you all have a super day whatever it is you have planned...see you tomorrow!

just in case

Good morning everyone! By this point we are home from vacation but I thought I would pre-post one last time so as not to be pressured and have to show you something I don't love. Soooo...one more birthday card, k?

This one is totally me! The same color hair and sitting at the computer...yep, totally me! Well...I'm not quite that skinny but you get the idea. This card came to me from my friend and co-worker Stephanie. She knows I love pink too!

Thank you Stephanie! You are too kind!

So...I'll see you tomorrow!

belli challenge 41

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today is the last Belli Challenge for which I'll be gone. Today's Belli Challenge is Table Decorations with a Thanksgiving or Christmas Theme. Well, I knew that I wasn't going to come up with something different on my own so I went to www.marthastewart.com and found this super cute Turkey Trivia Place Card. Not only does it show everyone one where to sit at your Thanksgiving table but the feathers have fun Thanksgiving questions! How cool is that?

I had to do mine plain and simple but I'd be willing to bet you guys could come up with something super fantastic along the same lines as this and when you do...upload your project to SCS (with the keywork CBCC41) or your blog and then link to Chris's blog with your photo for a chance to win a fun prize from Chris..the queen of the Belli Challenge. Oh, and make sure you check out the other Belli Challenge girls in my sidebar for even more fantastic inspiration!

I hope you have a super day! I'm sure at this point I'm ready to get back home to my regular life and visit with you all! See you tomorrow!

create by courtney challenge

Good Tuesday morning everyone! Today is CBCC day! Woohoo...are you ready for the challenge...and quite the challenge it is! This week it is a color challenge. The colors are Always, Artichoke, Rose Red, and Brilliant Blue.

I do love this House Mouse image...it just makes me smile! I'm not so sure about the card itself but I'd be willing to bet that whomever I send it to will like it!

The patterned paper is from SU!'s Level 1 hostess pack and I think you can pretty much so understand the rest of it.

Sorry this is such a sterile post but pre-posting makes it harder to be personal. I do hope, however, that the beginning of your week has been good! Make sure you check out the other CBCC Chicks in my sidebar!

Oh, and guess what!? Today is my oldest son's, 21st birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT! We love you lots and are SO proud of you!!!

See you soon!

cards and a link

Good Monday morning everyone! I hope you all had a super weekend and are refreshed for your new week!

I have a couple of more fun cards for you all to see today. The card to the right is from Kristine and is a cute Bella card. Do you see all the paper piecing she did? All the outfits are paper pieced...incredible! Love the color theme too! Thanks so much Kristine!

The card below was made by my friend Jen. The truck is from the SU! set Loads of Love. So, so cute! She knows that I love pink and though it is against her nature she made my card with lots 'o pink...I love it! Thank you Jen!

Tomorrow is Created by Courtney Challenge day again so stop back to see what is up!

surprise!

Aloha friends! I just thought I'd show you a quick picutre of me and Todd (or is it Todd and me?) at the luau on Thursday night. It was so fun and a great start to our time here. We've done a ton of stuff already and have one more full day to enjoy tomorrow. I believe we are planning a short hiking trip to a waterfall tomorrow.

I'm sorry if this picture is totally huge and takes forever to load. I could crop and play with the color a little bit on the laptop but I could not change the photo size at all.

This trip has truly been a trip of a lifetime and I can't wait to share more with you when we return. Until then...stamp away for me!!!

page plans week 28

It is another Page Plans day girls! You know how much I like these sketches. Except...with today's sketch I struggled...I struggled so much I made the card on the right. Yeah....I'm not sure I like this card all that much but Todd likes it so that is always a positive!

The actual sketch is below so I totally expect you all to make your own card and show it to me! My card is pretty self explanatory except that this is a Bella image and the white and black areas are fun flocked. Can you tell I like to do that with these images? Fun stuff!

Now, go...have fun with this sketch. Remember...link your card back here so I can see what fabulous things you do with this sketch!