A Wedding, A Fishy Story...and a Giveaway!!!

Good morning, my friends!

Hope it's a beautiful day so far for all of you--it's really gorgeous here--the rain has passed, the sun is out, and it looks like a perfect day ahead!

And speaking of a perfect day, today is my turn to host the Crafty Secrets' $50 giveaway! 

I'm so excited to participate with Crafty Secrets' in National Scrapbooking Day--which we've turned into a weeklong celebration--more fun for all of us!

In keeping with my love of vintage and family history...that's once again what my cards today are all about...Here's my first:

This is one of my favorite of all of our family photos...my great-great grandparents, Orley S. and Polly May Stapley on their wedding day, August 22, 1894...she was just 20 years old, he was 22...so young!

 I love her beautiful dress, her floral garland and necklace, and just the way they're sitting--a classic!

They were one of the early families in Mesa, Arizona and had a very large family...many Stapleys are still there in Mesa....I love that old town!

For this card, I used Crafty Secrets' "Classic" paper pack for just about everything--the beautiful background paper, "The Lover's Wish" saying is cut from the sheet music design in the pack, as is the little scrolled corner piece on the bottom right of the photo...

I also pulled our the sewing machine for the first time on this card--it won't be the last time, I can tell you!  What fun!  I also made the lace flower at the top by simply gathering lace--topped it with a beautiful vintage pearl button.  Lace, satiny ribbon and lots of "Platinum" Stickles finished off the job...

Next, another photo that just makes me smile!

Here's my great-grandmother, Pauline telling us a bit of a fish story!  Postcard photos like this were a fairly common thing to do while visiting a vacation spot...fake ocean backdrop...VERY large fake fish!

Here, in Pauline's own handwriting--"Ocean Park, Calif.  July 30, 1908".  Pauline was a schoolteacher in a little town in northern Arizona, and had taken a well-deserved vacation to visit cousins in California...she was 21 years old that year.  Love her smile!

I used Crafty Secrets' "Classic" paper pad again for this card.  The "Seaside Memories" saying, the starfish and seashell stamps are all from one of my favorite newer stamp sets, "Mermaids"...

...isn't it wonderful?! 

Lots of Dazzling Diamonds on the shells & starfish, silver Stickles dotted all around and framing the photo, some beautiful light blue lace and soft white ribbon--topped off with some of my favorites--vintage mother-of-pearl buttons.

Well, that's it for me today!  Hope you're having fun with all the Crafty Secrets' giveaways this week!  Now, it's time for you to enter mine...

***All you have to do is leave a comment on this post--nothing fancy...that's it!*** 

Please make sure to leave me your email or a link to your blog so I can let you know if you're the winner!

Good luck to all of you!  The winner will be announced on Saturday, May 1st--see you then!

A Material Girl...and the King of the Road!

Good afternoon, everyone!

Hope it's been a great day for you all!  Here, it's rainy & gloomy...but a wonderful day to stay inside and cozy!

This week is great for us cardmakers & scrapbookers...it's National Scrapbook Week! 

...and since you know me by now, you'll know there's nothing I love more than combining vintage cards with my family's history--so this works for me!

Crafty Secrets is sponsoring huge giveaways all week--go and check out the blog here, and please visit all the ladies on the Design Team for their wonderful projects and a $50 giveaway from Crafty Secrets in a different DT blog every day!   My day is Thursday...so please come back for that!  Today if you stop by to see my fellow team member Pam Hooten's blog, you can leave a comment to be eligible for the today's prize!

For today, I have two cards to share with you that follow this week's scrapbooking theme...my own scrapbooks are fairly simple...but my cards....not so much!   I'm having so much fun making family-history themed cards and giving them to people in my family...such an easy and fun way to remember them...Here's my first, along with a little story...

This is my 3rd great-grandmother, Lois Pratt Hunt...isn't she beautiful?  I love this photo--just look at that tiny waistline!  A beautiful plaid dress...wish I knew what colors it was...

This new stamp set from Crafty Secrets is called "Material Girl"...

...now, I do NOT mean to imply that Lois was a girl merely concerned with "material" possessions--far from it!  She was a hard-working pioneer woman in every sense of the word...but I know she loved beautiful fabric, and would have been very busy sewing clothes for herself and her family...especially for her first child, my 2nd great-grandmother, Ida.

Here's Ida...what a sweet, chubby-cheeked baby!  Lois, a little older here, with her loving husband, John.  Another plaid dress for Lois...

Lois saw so much in her life...born in New York in 1837, she crossed the country with her family as a teenager, lived in California with her husband and children where they helped to establish San Bernadino...and many other places in between!  She actually had a sad end...but I'll save that for another day...

A few more details from this beautiful set...look at that wonderful dress form, and the detail on that vintage sewing machine!  And how about these fabulous embroidery floss cards!

The background paper I used here is from Crafty Secrets' "Classic" paper pack...lots of silver shavings glitter, beautiful black lace & ribbon, and "Vintage Photo" Distress ink for all the edges...

Here's my next card--a COMPLETELY different theme!

This one uses Crafty Secrets' new and fabulous "Car Classics" stamp set--love this! 

Talk about a great set for masculine cards!  So that's just what I did--for my Dad...

Even though this is a "man card", I couldn't resist just a LITTLE sparkle...I mean...this is ME we're talking about!  So just a few touches of Silver Stickles...that's not too bad, right?!

One of Dad's old cars--not sure of the model and year--some of you may know, though!  I love this picture of him just standing casually by the car...my Dad has always been "King of the Road" to me!

Since Dad's the subject of this card, I just thought I'd share a few photos of one of the most amazing fathers in the world...

Dad (Clayn) and his older brother Grant....that's my Dad on the right...obviously taking this picture-taking opportunity very seriously!

...a few years later...I would have loved to see him during highschool in the '50's!  My Mom already had a big crush on him during these years...more about that another day!

Dad in his early 20's...such a handsome young man!  My Mom says he never looks any different in her eyes...isn't that sweet?!

Last one for today...

...my parents, Clayn and Karen...and me!  This was taken in 1962--a new family begins...

Thanks for spending some time with me today--hope you'll get the urge to dive into some old family photos & histories...can't wait to see what you come up with!

See you soon with something new...