Visiting Boulder,Colorado

This weekend was another busy one. On Saturday ,we went to the New West Fest Bohemian Nights in Ft. Collins. There were so many good musical artists. The headliner on Saturday was Alison Krauss and her group.They were great and sang for 1 1/2 hours at the free outdoor  concert.There were up to 100,000 people at the festival throughout the weekend.

Cheyenne Visit

Today we traveled 1 hour north to visit Cheyenne, WY. It was Frontier Days week and we saw most of the parade among the big crowd.There were horse,horses, and all sorts of vehicles along with floats,antique cars,historical re-enacters, and much more.After the parade, we walked to the Nelson Museum of the West. The items included there were wonderfully  displayed. Photos were permitted, a rare thing in museums. I really enjoyed seeing the bead work from the various Native American nations/tribes. There were handcrafted dolls including Inuit and blankets along with ivory carvings from walrus tusks. My mind was flooded with ideas for card making after seeing the beautiful blanket in the collection.As we walked down the street, l stopped to take photos of some of the  buildings. The brick work on the some of the old buildings looked fresh and it was hard to believe the designs were from the early 1800s.

Colorado Wild Flowers

Since I have been here, I have seen some very pretty flowers growing wild in the areas we have explored on walks and while on drives up to the nearby mountains. We are not located far from Estes Park, a town called the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. The rock formations on the side of the road are breathtaking and wildflowers are hidden here and there among the rocks.My favorite flower I have seen so far is a Showy Milkweed. I investigated on line to find out it's name. I hope to visit  a paper crafting  store to see if they sell a stamp of it as it would be a great memento of our time here.

Birthday Card

I needed to make a birthday card for a special friend far away.I used the Marianne Design stamp Don and Daisy that I bought at the recent rubber stamping show out here in Loveland,Colorado. Sheree from Candilay Creations was so helpful when I shopped in her booth. She had just received the collection of stamps so I was lucky to find one at the show. It was stamped in Mementos Tuxedo Black ink and then water colored with Distress Inks. I like the results and hope she does too. The two sentiments ,stamped on torn  kraft papers were from ODBD from the Sewn with Love set. A special bow and the card is complete and off in the mail.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend ,my husband and I visited the French Nest Open Air Market in Ft. Collins,Colorado.It was fun and I saw so many ideas there for re-purposing vintage items. I bought some vintage trims at a booth for my card making. One crafter made memory books out of older Golden books. There were many jewelry booths. One made bracelets out of vintage silverware forks . The tines were curled and the handle wrapped around your arm . Very pretty but a bit out of my budget.Bob took a photo or two for me as  I had forgotten my camera.This booth had sweet berry baskets painted and lined for storage that caught my eye. The French Market is held once a month during the summer and I'm hoping we can visit it again next month before we return to Michigan.

Rubber Stamping show

 Over the weekend I was able to attend a stamping show right in Loveland. It was held at The Ranch. There were many companies and I even saw Paula Haillnan from Heritage Handcrafts. I took a class with her many years ago. She is closing her business so I was glad to be able to get a few more of her brass stencils to add to my collection. I tried out the new Sizzix  fold dies at the Stamp on It booth. and was able to buy a brand new Marianne  Design stamp at the Candilay Creations  booth.I did several make and takes at the various booths. At B&J Art Stamps, I completed this great southwest Christmas card front.Their stamps  were unique. In their make and take, we  embossed the image plus snow puff was added. I haven't used that technique in years. It reminded me to pull out the vintage stuff I already own to use when I get back home again.