Christmas Fireplace Box Series

I'm having so much fun making my fireplace boxes.  And I love every one of them.  They all come complete with fireplace logs and handmade stockings that can be personalized.

The White Brick Fireplace is so much prettier than it photographs.  I guess I need to work on my photographic technique.  I really love the white and icy blue color scheme for Christmas.

White Brick Fireplace Box

The Red Brick Fireplace seems to be a favorite with men.  It's very realistic and rustic. And it looks really great when accessorized.  I haven't had time to take those photographs yet.  Hopefully this weekend...

Red Brick Fireplace Box

Brown Stone Fireplace Box

I almost want to say the Brown Stone Fireplace might be my favorite.  But this could simply be because it's the last one I made.  I guess you could say it's the baby!  We'll see if I feel the same when I finish the next one.

These boxes are all sized to fit one of my 5x7 mini scrapbook albums.  The ones I have available right now are the Fa La La and Bright and Merry scrapbooks.

Fa La La Christmas Mini Scrapbook

Merry and Bright Christmas Mini Scrapbook

The boxes would also be a great place to store your Christmas cards and memorabilia.  If you can think of any other uses please leave a comment.  I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Sharon

#christmasgift, #miniscrapbook, #scrapbookset, #fireplace, #premadescrapbook

Pinnacle Rock State Park

Heaven!

The first morning of our vacation started off with a beautiful view of the fog in the valleys.  Our room at Pipestem State Park was the best seat in the house, so to speak, to watch the show.  It was definitely worth the extra $10 for the gorge view room.  There is a house on the opposite mountain that has this view every morning.  How lucky!

Morning Fog

Fog lifting from the valley

We wanted to fit in as many sights as we could in our short weekend trip so we hit the road early.  First on our list was Pinnacle Rock.

The last time we were here on vacation we attempted to go to Pinnacle Rock.  Unfortunately our GPS led us to the wrong end of the park.  I knew I should have used a map!  We drove quite a ways into the park before I finally did bust out the map.  As far as I could tell there was really no way to get from where we were to where we needed to be except to turn around and leave the park.  Then we would have to continue on the main road to get to the other entrance.  As it was getting late we decided to call it a day and try again some other time.

This time I made sure to get real directions and not depend on the GPS.  It still was a bit confusing to get there but we made it.

You have to climb the hill to find the start of the Falling Rock Trail.  It's a beautiful walk that's not too strenuous.  I have been on flat land so long it was like heaven to me.  There was a notice that said you can't do any climbing without permit.  We had no intention of climbing those rocks anyway.

This looks interesting!

Daring a rock to fall on him

Up to the Overlook

Just had to have a look inside

View from the Overlook

Now that's a view worth the climb

It was a lovely day and definitely worth the trip up to the Rock.  I highly recommend it.  We left Pinnacle Rock and headed out to the New River Gorge.  But that's a story for another day.

Sharon

#westvirginiatravel, #pinnaclerock, #mountain

Digital Goodies

Digital Products - Back to the Computer

I used to spend hours every day creating digital art.  But since I've crafting again I haven't had any time to work on the computer.  A girl can only spread herself so thin!  Yesterday I had the afternoon off and instead of finishing the products waiting for me in my studio I played on the computer.

It took me a little while to get back into the swing of it.  It's amazing how much you can forget in just a few short months.  And of course some of my plugins weren't working anymore.  So after killing up a couple of hours fixing that problem I finally got down to what I wanted to do.

I've been working on some mini scrapbooks and haven't found any embellishments that I wanted to use.  It's especially hard to find journal cards.  I got to thinking about it and decided to make my own.  I figure the time I take in creating them is probably less than the time I would spend trying to find them in stores or online.

Here are my first creations

Christmas Journal Cards

Christmas Journal Cards - large and medium

Handmade ATC Size Cards

I've listed these on my website as well as my Etsy Store.  Never listed anything digital.  Hopefully I did it right!
sharonstrouddesigns.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sharonstrouddesigns

I'm a bit rusty with my digital skills but I like the way they came out.  Hope you do too!

Sharon

Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream 2014 - Clowns vs. Pirates

Freak Show Where The Clowns Lived 2012

Welcome To The Freak Show

This time of year Busch Gardens is in full scale Halloween mode.  Howl-O-Scream has gone through several transformations over the years.  Some good. Some not so good.  The general consensus is that they should bring back the Haunted Train and the Scary Clowns.

I don't remember ever riding the Haunted Train, but I definitely remember the clowns.  They were all over the place and would sneak up behind you.  Once we were in Ireland and I felt something on my neck.  I put my hand on my neck and OH MY GOSH.  I got a handful of CLOWN NOSE!  This clown had crept up on me and put his long plastic nose on the back of my neck.  I screamed pretty good.  Of course hubby saw him do it and never warned me.  That reminds me...I still owe him for that one.

It takes very little effort for clowns to be scary.  I don't know what it is about them but even the "normal" ones are creepy.  Add some jagged teeth and the terror kicks in.  Anyone remember "It"?  Argh!

Speaking of argh...They got rid of the clowns and replaced them with pirates.  Now I like Johnny Depp as much as the next girl, but scary he is not.  The pirates this year are a bit dead looking, which is an improvement from last year.  And I will say that the makeup and costumes are fantastic.  But pirates will never be as scary as clowns!  Except maybe in "The Fog".  That was pretty scary.

Pretty Pirate at the Pub

Now That's Scary!!!

Sharon

#buschgardenswilliamsburg, #howl-o-scream, #scaryclown,

Small Town Life on a Friday Night

Childhood Memories

Back in my youth the thing to do on a Friday night was to go to the high school football game.  Especially if it was a home game.  It was almost impossible to think of missing it.  I might be wrong, but it just seemed like the whole town was out there.  My friends and I spent the evening hanging out and eating the required junk food (although I refuse to classify hot dogs as junk food)!  I will admit that we watched very little of the actual games.  We were busily running around being girls.  I think the boys did watch the games.

We lucked out on our recent trip.  We just happened to arrive in time for a home game.  I haven't been to one in many years.  I will not say how many.  But I think the girls in that day were wearing maxi dresses!  The game was held in a new stadium but the crowd still looked the same.  Looked like everyone in town was there.  Just being at the game brought back so many memories.  The school spirit was definitely in evidence.  I felt totally out of place without a Bobcat t-shirt.

Summers County Bobcats (formerly Hinton Bobcats)

My Favorite Football Game Memories

 

The beloved Hinton Bobcat

 There's just something about a mascot.  Especially one that looks like a massive stuffed animal!

Bobcat

Bobcat High Five

Halftime

Back in my days the band was huge.  And they really rocked the place.  They were fantastic.  Our favorite place to sit was over by the band.  But times have changed.  There were only 14 kids in the band.  FOURTEEN!!!  I couldn't believe it.  But I've been told that when they closed Hinton High School and opened the regional Summers County High School it pulled in students from areas that were so far away it is difficult for students to get to practices.  I can totally understand that.  It's sad though.  I was really looking forward to hearing that band again.

Summers County High School Band

Cheerleaders

 I will say the uniforms are prettier now than they were in the old days.

 

Mini Footballs

Sigh.  No picture because I never have been able to catch one.  I cannot tell you how much I wanted one of these little footballs when I was a kid.  One of the teenagers in front of us did get one and they were playing catch right in front of my face.  It did cross my mind (briefly) that I might be able to snatch it.  But I controlled myself and came away empty handed.  It was tempting though.  I could have just bought the football from the kid.  But I think the thrill is in the catch.

So I just consoled myself with a Bobcat t-shirt.

Sharon

#Hinton, #highschoolfootball, #smalltown