Lunch at the Funky Lost Coast Brewery!

One of our last stops before leaving my home town of Eureka, California was to have lunch at the Lost Coast Brewery near Old Town.  On of my daughter's husband's Coast Guard buddies was stationed in Eureka several years ago and gave him a Stout Lost Coast t-shirt, which is old and faded, but much loved.  Michele was able to purchase a new shirt of his upcoming birthday.  She was pretty stoked!  Below is the logo for the Stout Beer replicated in the t-shirt of choice.

Our meals were very good.  Mom got her traditional fish n' chips, but Michele and I decided to be a bit more adventuresome and tried the Wabi Wasabi Pita, which was delicious.  If you are ever in Eureka, I would recommend the Lost Coast Brewery as an excellent luncheon choice.  We took a few pictures, and I share them below.

    

     

Visiting My Roots in Northern California

While my daughter, Michele, and I were visiting my Mom, who is a spry 90-year old, we made a road-trip to the coast to Eureka, California to show my daughter our roots.  My Mom and I were both born in Eureka and both attended the same high school, Eureka Senior High, which was built in 1914 and demolished in 1981 due to earthquake damage.  Part of the present school structure is the original Eureka Jr. High, which sat right next door and was built in 1896.  Amazing that it survived these same earthquakes and was not damaged beyond repair!  Some of the other buildings on the high school campus were built after 1981.  Too bad, the original high school did not survived as it was a lovely building two-story building with a basement and pillars and gingerbread on the front facade!

Another lovely structure from our roots is St. Bernard's Catholic Church, which was first dedicated in 1886 and is known as the "Cathedral of the Northwest."  It was nice to see how beautifully it has been preserved.  Though it is now painted a soft cream with taupe trim, whereas as a little girl I remember it being white.  Whatever its color it is still very beautiful and looks just as I remembered it.  Here are some pictures of our visit. . .you will note Mom and I on the front steps in picture #3.

 

     

 

We were happy to see there was a 12:15 p.m. Mass on Monday afternoon during our visit, thus we were able to attend and actually get into the inside of the church for a visit!  It is such a lovely church. . .and bring back wonderful memories!

A Wonderful Musical . . . Mary Poppins!

A few days after my daughter's arrival and mine, Mom (aka Grandma) treated Michele and I to a night out at their lovely Cascade Theatre.  This historic theatre was built in 1935 and has been beautifully restored in its original Art Deco style.

Our event tickets were for the musical Mary Poppins, which was very well done, great voices and acting.  The costumes were authentic.  One of my favorite acts was the old beggar woman singing Feed the Birds.

The finale where Mary Poppins leaves, flying through the air with her umbrella was really well done.  All in all, I'd say we had a fun evening . . . we thoroughly enjoyed the play and the company with Mom, my sister, daughter, and me!  Thanks Mom!

Family Dinner Out!

Our first adventure after arriving in northern California to visit my wonderfully spry 90-year old mother and my sister was a dinner out with family at our favorite restaurant. . .Kobe's Steak & Seafood.  There were three generations present:  Mom, my sister and I, and my daughter, who flew down to stay a week with Grandma too!

We love the Teppanyaki grilled food and watching our own personal chef in action.  I had a delicious meal of filet mignon and salmon. . .their Yum Yum sauce is absolutely delicious.  I always need seconds because I love to add a little bit. . .maybe, to be honest, that's a lot on everything!

I Come With Birthday Tidings!

One of my very favorite people is having a birthday this month, and I was still in the mood for more coloring.  In searching through my stash, I ran across this little Precious Moments - Bringing Gifts digital image, which I've had for over five years.  I had wanted to color it up and make a vintage birthday card, so almost give years ago, I sized it, printed it, and put it in my stash to take to a three-day cropping event with my Mom and sister.  Lo and behold, Mom saw it and whined until I had to let her steal it to make a little birthday card for one of her great granddaughters.  Well. . .how dare she. . .this meant I could never use it on a card for any of my nieces or grand-nieces on that side of the family, because it had been seen by all!

Well, guess what, with Bringing Gifts once again in my hands, I decided I could use it for my dear friend and cardmaking buddy's birthday.  I was stoked!  I already had a piece of vintage tiny rose  patterned paper that I was itching to use.  Of course, with the layering I like to do, I needed several other companion patterns that would go with it, and some coordinating cardstock.  That done, I started coloring.  Red is a challenge to work with, but I finally managed to get my image to a point where I was satisfied with it.  Meanwhile as I colored, I came up with the layout ideas, and the card was done in no time.  I'm pretty happy, and I would like to share it with you below:

My final challenge to completely finish every card is to create an inside design and verse that compliments my recipient's personality and the occasion for giving the card.  Here is a look-see at my finished inside:

Recipe:  Papers:  SU cardstock--Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla; Cosmos Cricket/ Odds & Ends-Remnant; Pebbles Basics/ Gingham Check; DCWV Dots, Stripes, & Plaids stack.  Digital image:  Precious Moments/ Bringing Gifts.  Spellbinders die:  Big Scallop Oval SM.  MFT die: Stitched Oval STAX.  SU punches:  1" Circle, 1-1/4" Scallop Circle, Curvy Corners, Open Scallop Trim Border (retired).  SU ribbon: 3/8" Old Olive Stitched Grograin (retired); Stash ribbon: 5/8" cream metallic organza sheer.  Buttons: SU/ stash.  Pearl.  Computer sentiment/ verse: Font-Baroque Antique Script/ 12.  Copic Markers:  Face--E0000, R0000, E00, R000, R00.  Cheeks--R20, White Gel pen.  Golden Chestnut Brown Hair--Y21, 623, YR23, E35, E99, E18.  Hair Ribbon/ Package Ribbon/ Pantaloons--YG01, YG03, Y21, YG25.  Present--B0000, BG11, BG13, BG07.  Dress Collar/ Lace/ Lower Sleeve--RV01, RV21, RV11.  Dress Skirt, Pinafore Ruffle/ Upper Sleeve/ Bodice--R20, R21, R22, R24, R29, R46.  Shoes--C0, C1, C3, C5.  BackgroundBase--C0 feather lightly horizontally. Blend horizontal BG0000.  Sky--E40 feather horizontally, lightly (image cardstock white...needed to be vanilla).  Size: 5-1/4" square.

Puddles & Puddles of Birthday Wishes!

My youngest daughter has an April birthday, and she loves umbrellas and goulashes.  Several months ago, I bought a cute little ladybug digital image with the cutest polka dot umbrella and goulashes through my 2 Cute Ink Stamp Club's 75% off coupon.  When I saw it, I just had to have it, because take a look at the picture below and you will fully understand!  It is one of my daughter's engagement pictures, and true to her style, she brought an umbrella and her roses for props! 

I was really anxious and excited to get started on her card, but several holidays and earlier birthdays intervened and kept me from jumping right in after downloading the image!  I knew I had to wait. . .I just had to be patient!   Bummer, I just had too many others cards to finish first!  Meanwhile, my creative juices were flowing on the back burner while waiting, and my layout plan has been all set way back when.

Finally, the day arrived allowing me to get started. . .I just couldn't wait any longer!  My first task was to find the perfect red, black, and white patterned papers and red cardstock to use according to my "back burner" layout plan, and then I could begin my coloring.  Once the papers were chosen, I was able to begin selecting the perfect Copic marker shades of red needed to match my paper reds and begin coloring my little bug.  She colored up really nicely, and the rest of my card just fell together very quickly.  I'm pretty please with the outcome, so take a look at my little Puddle Bug card below:

I finished off this little bug card with a bit of inside decorating and a verse to coordinate with the front design.

Recipe:  Paper:  Stampin' Up/ Real Red cardstock; Bazzill/ Basics Patterned Stack (black); Echo Park/ Love Story (red banner).  X-Press It Blending Card/ White (for Copics).  Royal Lace 5" Doily.  Dies: PrettyPinkPosh/ Stitched Borders 4; My Favorite Things/ Stitched Square STAX.  Pretty Pink Posh: Metallic Silver sequins.  Stampin' Up Silver Cording Trim.  Ribbon: stash (Copic colored).  Copic Markers:  Background: C0, BG0000.  Puddles/Raindrops: BG01.  Umbrella/ Ladybug Shell/ Goulashes:  R22, R24, R27, R29, R46.  Ladybug Face/ Body:  C0, C01, C02, C03.  Polka Dots: C0, C01, C02, C03, C04, C05.   Goulashes soles: C04, C08.  Sentiment: Computer Font/ Penshurst 16 Bold.  Fishtail Flags/ Banner: handcut.  Banner stitch: PPP Stitched Borders 4 (straight).  Size: 5-1/4" X 5-7/8".