How I miss the beach

I grew up on the beach, basically. It was a short walk from our house but you wouldn't know it for all the trees along the way. I spent every summer on a blanket tanning away on the beach. Pure bliss. So how did I end up living in the desert, you ask? Yeah, not by choice, but asthma hit me as an adult and I couldn't live with the dampness and mold, so here I am, in the high desert of Eastern Washington. I really, really miss the water, the beach, and my family, who are mostly all still there. Which brings me to today's post. 

My summer decor is in the making and I'm ready for the sun to stay out. Nautical theme is my all time favorite and being in the desert I really didn't think it would fit in so I've steered clear. Until now. When I was in Dollar Tree getting the last of the eggs for my spring wreath, they were just starting to put out summer stuff. If you haven't seen these gorgeous goodies yet, it might be too late. If your Dollar Tree is anything like mine, the super cute stuff is gone almost as fast as they can put it on the shelves! Run, don't walk, if you have any interest in beach/nautical theme decor or craft items. I might have to go back and grab whatever is left, if anything. LOL! Anyway, Easter/spring is put away, so here is my three tiered tray for the new season. 

It was hard to pick just one of the sea creatures, but I landed on the seahorse. They also had a sea turtle, crab, and seems like one other that I can't remember right now. Isn't he beautiful. 

This is my jar with the lights on. It's prettier at night, of course. And, yes, all these items are from Dollar Tree - the jute ball, jar, shells, starfish, pearls and sea glass. The jar came already wrapped with the jute and the little starfish embellishment. 

The cute little jar with the lights off. 

Some of the larger items, also from Dollar Tree, are the frosted blue glass bottle, anchor, and rope sphere. 

I keep going back and forth whether or not I should paint my lantern white. Still unsure so I'm leaving it as it was when I bought it years ago. 

Again, everything inside is from Dollar Tree. The super cute anchor was just natural wood that I inked  with Distress Oxide Stormy Sky blue on both sides. Then I added the rope, which is wired jute, that I also found at Dollar Tree. 

Stay tuned for my nautical/beach themed wreath coming soon! 

what happened??

Just a quick note to say, yes, I notice my super cute background template is gone. It just happened within the past couple of hours; it was there this morning. Bummed I can't get it back so in addition to my regular posts, I'm also looking for a new template design. I only wanted a background, but from what I am able to find so far, it looks like I'm going to have to be my own blog designer now too. Not looking forward to how much time that's going to take, but I'm working on it. Stay tuned....

Plot Twist

Life can be so unfair. You never know when a curve ball will come flying at you. This one is for a friend who was thrown a curve ball and is awaiting the results of a test. Hoping and praying for the best outcome for her! In the meantime, I've sent her this jumbo tag/card to let her know she's in my thoughts and prayers. 

I combined nine (or maybe more??) Heidi Swapp stamp sets for this one. 

So many positive messages! I hope it will make her smile. 

This color combination was inspired by Ashley Horton. It is so yummy I had to use it. :)

Let's Go

Love these travel theme stamps from Heidi Swapp (except the Eiffel Tower - that is one from my stash of MFT stamps). A regular sized tag just for fun.

The rolling suitcase (isn't it so cute!?) is not a tag, I just cut it out and punched a hole. Same for the camera; tied them to the ribbons with thread. 

I love the "out of office" sentiment. (Even though I no longer work in an office, it's still satisfying to stamp those words. LOL)

I took this pic before I found my Eiffel Tower stamp. The Heidi Swapp stamp sets I used. 

Every Adventure...

...is worthwhile. This is a sentiment from a Tim Holtz stamp set, Nature's Wonder. I used it with another Tim Holtz set called Tiny Toadstools, which I cannot get enough of. I love love love that set. Also, I just realized I used the same color combination as I did a couple of tags ago, which I also love. Let's look closer.

The tag itself is a die from a set by Tim Holtz. It is larger than what I call a "regular" size and smaller than the Heidi Swapp jumbo size. I used NINE stamp sets for this one tag; 2 Tim Holtz and 7 Heidi Swapp. The ink colors are Distress Oxide in Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, and Iced Spruce with a little bit of black. The tiny tag at the top is a Heidi Swapp die.

For the background I used the March 24 Stamp Society textures set by Heidi Swapp. There are twelve stamps in the set, and I used four of them just on this background. It is so versatile and one I will definitely use over and over again. 

All the stamp sets and ink colors.