The Vatican

Hi Everyone,

I think I left part of my brain on vacation and I've had the worst time getting back in the groove of everyday life.  Not sure what my problem is, but even looking at the photos makes me feel a bit wistful and melancholy.  I've really never had this happen after coming home from a vacation, so I don't know what to make of it.  Anyway, here are more photos.

Our second full day had us visiting the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. 

The Basilica

Again, there were so many people, and the amount to artwork is just staggering. 

Sculptures

And the the masterpiece, Laocoon.

It was so hard not to constantly be looking up.  This is why...

I mean, for real???!

There were enormous tapestries...

For those of you that don't know this, my home town is named Parma.  Yes, after THE Parma. 

And I managed to sneak this photo in the Sistine Chapel... Woo hoo!

Inside St. Peter's I wasn't sure where to look first...

The Pieta by Michelangelo.  Crummy photo from me.  It's behind glass, and you really can't get close to it.

Bernini's Baldacchino.

One thing I found kind of creepy, is that many of the churches in Rome have incorruptible bodies on display.

This is Pope John XXIII. 

Odd, no? And no one know why they don't decompose. I looked it up on the web after we got home.

While we were still inside St. Peter's, Jay gave me his mints and said there were two left, one for me and one for Rod.  I ate mine and told Rod the last one was for him and walked away.  A moment later Rod tapped me on the shoulder and said, "It's a miracle!"  Two more Tic Tacs had appeared. lol!  Yeah, yeah...We know they were probably stuck to the lid, but we're still going with the " It's a miracle" concept :)

The Swiss guards outside the Vatican.

As we were leaving, they we setting up for Easter Mass the next day.

And guess what?  We had tickets.

 It took a number of emails and also a couple to the concierge of the hotel to pick them up for us, but we were going to see the Pope on Easter.  On one of our many walks through Rome, I even happened on the place I emailed to get our tickets.  I was like, "Hey!  I know this place"...lol.

In line on Easter Sunday.

In our seats.

This was the view from our seats. 

I know this is sort of bad, but I had to snap this photo.  At one point the lady in front of us stands on her chair.  Really?  I know you want to see the Pope, but it's not a concert.  Then there was her attire.  I wish you could have seen the sequined top she was wearing.  It was in English and said something about being a "Hot Mama". That shirt, coupled with the leather inserts on the stretchy pants and the brown cowboy boots, made for an interesting Easter outfit.  Oh, and notice the cigarette.  She was smoking!  I know we're outside, but this is still church, right?! lol!

There were so many people, that when it was time for communion, these priests came out with umbrellas, so that you could find them.

It was a once in a lifetime event and an Easter that I will never forget.

Thanks for looking and have a great day :)

Get Well Soon

Hi Everyone,

The challenge at the DRS Designs blog right now is to make a Get Well card, and this was my offering.  The Dogwood Branch stamp is one of my favorites from a recent release and I love the simplicity of the card design itself.

I stamped the flowers in the background and embossed them with some clear embossing powder.  I chose just to outline the main flower image and added some matching Stickles to the centers to coordinate with the pink card base.

And the Get Well Soon was stamped so that I would have room for the ribbon at the top.  Looking at the photo, I think I should have rounded the top to corners, but oh well.  Hind sight is always 20/20!

Thanks for dropping by and I'm off to find some challenges to play along with for the first time in a long time.  Yipee!

Have a great day!

Challenges for this card:

Casual Fridays-Flowers or Trees

365 Cards-Color Combo

Paper Pretties-CAS

Details not listed above-Paper: Bazzill, Georgia Pacific White, Ink: Versamark, Memento, Ribbon: American Crafts, Embossing Powder: Sparkle N Sprinkle, Button from my supplies.



Who Let the Dogs Out?

Hi Everyone,

The current challenge over at the DRS Designs blog is "Sports", so in honor of the football draft this Thursday and my home town team the Browns, I made this card.

Orange and brown are the team colors and the one end zone at Browns stadium is the Dawg Pound. The crazy fans with the face paint, dog bone earrings and dog masks sit there :)  I really do love how passionate Cleveland is about their football team.  No matter how bad the team sucks, you would never know it from how loud the fans are, or how many come out to tailgate before the game.

These are the stamps I used to make this:

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Woven Plaid

Easy Grass Background

Dog Angel

Four Corner Sports

I fussy cut the dog, because he's originally a sympathy card image and I didn't use the halo or the cloud he was sitting on. He's such a cutie that I wanted to think of another way to use him and he worked perfectly here. He's a much friendlier version than the dog on the official Dawg Pound logo. See?

  I hope you can join us for the SPORTS challenge at DRS Designs!

Details not listed above-Paper: The Paper Company, Ink & Border Punch: Stampin' Up, Memento, Markers: Copic, Twine: Martha Stewart, Nesties

Italy :The Colosseum

Hi Everyone,

Well, I really didn't plan on being away from my blog for this long, but it is what it is.  I got back from vacation last week, but I had some major catching up to do in real life, so I had to put myself in exile when it came to blogland.  The good news is that I'm back and I'm looking forward to visiting you all and getting caught up on all the crafty happenings while I was away :)

  We were fortunate to have a great vacation in Italy over the Easter holiday.  We went with my cousin and his wife and all the good things I heard about the country before I left, were all true.  It totally lived up to any and all expectations.  Usually when a vacation is coming to and end, I'm slightly sad, but still ready to sleep in my own bed.  Not this time.  I could have easily stayed away longer.  SOB!  It was beautiful, the food was wonderful, the people were so nice and there's so much to see and do!  Love, love, LOVED being there. 

So, while I started this blog mostly for paper crafts, I decided I'm going to document my vacation for myself over the next few weeks.  I don't want to seem braggadocios, but I really want to get some things down in writing before they are forgotten.  I would love for you to read about my travels, but no worries.  Feel free to skip over these days and look for the cards if you want :) 

We left on April 5th and flew to Newark.  I love the NYC skyline. 

Us, waiting to board the plane to Rome.

After we dropped our bags at the hotel, our first stop was the Colosseum. It's not off by itself on the outskirts, it's right in the middle of the city. 

Our English speaking tour guide.

None of the photos I have capture the sea of humanity that was there that day.  Never have I been at a tourist attraction with so many people.  Never.  Until a few days later when I went to Easter Mass at the Vatican.  Those are photos for another day....

That platform was partially added there to show us where the floor would have been.  Underneath was as system of elevaors and pulleys that raised animals and props.

Me and Joyce.

We were told there would have been three levels of seats all around, but this is the only section that is left.  The other interesting fact we learned, was that it didn't look like this.  The stone would have been covered in marble.  It was white!  I guess after the Colosseum was no longer in use, the Pope used it as a quarry and stripped it of the marble which is now in churches and the Vatican. 

Me and Rod

Amazing to have walked around a building that was started in 72 AD!

Next we headed over to the Roman Forum.

This is where daily life took place in ancient Rome.

And one more shot of the Colosseum.

We were probably up for about 30 hours at this point, so we left in search of food.  Sadly I don't have photos of what we ate, I was too famished to think about pictures, but I will leave you with these photos from a couple days later...

Jay and Joyce...

I loved eating outside.  Disliked having to pay for water.  LOVED the olive oil that came with our bread and salad.  Why can't we get olive oil like that over here???  It seemed so fresh and fruity, with a pretty green color.  We put it on everything!

And some random ruins along our walk after we were done eating.  Boy did we walk.  A LOT!

And we weren't done for the day, but I will end it here for now.  I'm pooped just thinking about all we did that day.  Still, I'd go back and do it again if I could :)

Ok, I'll be back with a card tomorrow.  Off to visit your blogs!