Punch Art

These are pages from my art journal- my experimenting!

This is part of my punch collection!

Besides having collected rubber stamps for over 20 years, I have also collected paper punches. I have used them so much for scrapbooks, cards, and all kinds of other projects. It's amazing how many different shapes and kinds of punches there are out there! I have had lots of fun with them and I love to lend them out to friends!

I made this card and 11 others like it for Stamp Club this week. The theme for the month is using machine embossing and die cuts. The background and house are embossed with Cutttlebug embossing folders, the trim on the roof and corners are die cuts, and the rest were made with paper punches.

I Fly Video

Thanks to Julie's expertise, here's part of the video when we went to the I Fly wind tunnel. You get two 1-minute sessions with the instructor. This video is my second time where he takes us up high flying around. The first minute is just learning how to position yourself to fly.

You can read more about this down on my February 12 blog post. This was really fun!

Blue Hawaii

Speaking of Hawaii... one of my very favorite movies is Blue Hawaii starring Elvis Presley. The scenery in the movie is absolutely beautiful, it has a great story, the music is wonderful, and Elvis is... well, what can I say- I am a HUGE Elvis fan and he is great in this. The wedding scene at the very end of the movie when they are floating on a raft down the canal behind the Coco Palms Hotel is SO romantic and beautiful.

Well, one of the biggest thrills for me when we were in Hawaii in December 2007 was taking a Hollywood in Hawaii tour on the island of Kauai. We got to see many places where they filmed movies and TV shows like Gilligan's Island, South Pacific, Fantasy Island, Jurassic Park, as well as many others. But what I loved the very most was going to the old Coco Palms Hotel where they filmed Blue Hawaii. The hotel is now closed down and abandoned, but the lobby is still wide open- there are no doors at the entrance. And behind the hotel, the canal and guest cottages are still there. It is still lush and green and beautiful. The tour guide pointed out the cottage that Elvis loved to stay in when he visited quite often. It was so neat to be there- I didn't want to leave. I'll never forget that experience! Are there any other Blue Hawaii fans out there?

This is Elvis in front of the Coco Palms Hotel. No, I didn't take the picture- I wish!

The Hawaiian

My favorite place to go out to eat when I was growing up was The Hawaiian restaurant on Highland Drive in Sugar House. I remember our family going there many times, usually with my Grandma and Grandpa Ridd. I loved the big murals of tropical scenes on the walls and the Hawaiian plants, flowers and music. I especially loved the lighting and sound effects of the tripical storms with "rain" coming down along the walls. There was a very small stage where they had Hawaiian dancers to entertain us. Besides the main restaurant, there was also a seafood buffet upstairs that we went to a few times, but I loved the atmosphere downstairs. I almost felt like I was on vacation when we went there. I don't remember much about the food, other than that I think I usually ordered chicken- I wasn't real big on seafood then. Robert and I went there once after we were married, but then I was very sad when owner Johnny Quong closed down the restaurant. Such great memories there! Do you remember The Hawaiian?

The King's Singers

Last night Robert and I went to see the King's Singers with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall. I have been a big fan of theirs for many years. I love their great harmony and the variety of songs that they sing. It was a very fun night.

This whole week has been very busy and fun with something going on every night! Monday night we went to Highland to see my niece Macy star in her high school play The Curious Savage. The play was great and she was really great! Tuesday night I went to a Grocery Smart party at my daughter Amy's house. Wow, did I learn a lot- it's a great program to save lots of money. Wednesday night we went flying in the I Fly wind tunnel in Ogden which was really really fun! Thursday night we went to my sister-in-law Pat's house to set up her computer that Danny was able to fix for her and save all her photos and family history. Then last night we went to the King's Singer concert which was terrific!

What an eventful week full of exciting happenings!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, I never got my Christmas cards sent out a couple of months ago. (Yes, I even had several of them made!) So I decided I would make and send Valentine cards to my family. I had fun with embossing and punching and stamping them. I made about 16 of these cards and actually got them mailed yesterday. Miracles do happen!

I Believe I Can Fly!

Last night I went flying! No, not in my dreams, which I have done many times. But I went flying at the I Fly wind tunnel in Ogden. My son Jacob and his wife Mary took Robert and me- it was their Christmas gift to us along with dinner before. At first, just the thought of doing it was very scary! But I saw the video from when they went before, saw the video and read about it on the I Fly website, and then it didn't seem TOO scary anymore- it actually looked like fun. So we went with them last night and it was REALLY fun! All night I had the song in my head:

"I believe I can fly,

I believe I can touch the sky.

I think about it every night and day,

Spread my wings and fly away..."

What a fun experience. I think that's about the bravest physical thing I have ever done- I'm not much of a daredevil to say the least. I think I would actually go again sometime!

And the Winner is...

Drumroll please..... The winner of the set of handmade cards for the One World One Heart Giveaway is...

Sandra Hyler!

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy them!