Let the Sun Shine In!

I am not ready for summer to be over yet!!! Are you? In hopes of prolonging that summer time feeling, I made this card in response to the Gingersnap Creations "sunshine" prompt. It uses a tinted vintage fragment I made earlier this week.  That's my mom on the left, with some of her girlfriends from nursing school, sometime in the 1940's in Galveston, Texas.  
On to the waning of summer, we have about three weeks left before the kids go back to school.  This week is the last week for Jr. Lifeguards for Clara and work for Henry.  Next week, we'll spend a few days at Lake Tahoe and then there's a week to get ready for back-to-school.  Sigh.  I don't want it to end. . . 
Things I'll remember from this summer:
*World Cup Fever
*Henry's All Star baseball team making an unexpected run at the state championship
*Clara going to Jr. Guards, in charge this year of packing her own lunch and supplies and even occasionally riding her bike
*Having my brother and his family visit, making the 4th of July more fun and festive
*Clara visiting my family for two weeks - learning to sew, do laundry and cook with my sister; visiting Six Flags and the beach and shopping at several different malls with my brother's family
*Teaching twice a week for seven weeks - hard, but hopefully worth it in the long run
*Henry going to his first "job" and learning to drive
Things still to do:
*Have a relaxing vacation at Lake Tahoe
*Make appointments for the doctor and dentist for the kids
*Finish summer reading
*Get new carpets, redo Clara's room and work on fixing up the backyard (hmmm. . . not sure there's any hope on getting this one done before school starts! LOL!)
How will you remember this summer? And what's still left to do?

El Atlético de Madrid ficha al uruguayo Diego Godín

(Efe) El Villarreal acaba de confirmar el traspaso del defensor uruguayo Diego Godín al Atlético de Madrid, a falta tan solo de la firma del futbolista con el club madrileño para hacerlo de forma oficial.

El traspaso se venía negociando desde las últimas dos semanas y el Villarreal cobrará entre ocho y diez millones de euros por la mitad de los derechos deportivos del futbolista internacional charrúa.

Godín llegó al Villarreal en la temporada 07-08 procedente del Nacional de Montevideo tras un traspaso cercano a los 5 millones de euros.

Durante estas tres temporadas en el club castellonense, el central se erigió en un fijo en el equipo inicial del Villarreal, gracias a sus buenas actuaciones, que también le han llevado a la titularidad con la selección uruguaya, con la que acabó en cuarta posición en el pasado Mundial de Sudáfrica.

El uruguayo Diego Godín, quinto fichaje del Atlético de Madrid para la nueva temporada, firmará con el club rojiblanco por las próximas cinco campañas, tras el acuerdo alcanzado el miércoles para su traspaso desde el Villarreal, a falta del pertinente reconocimiento médico del futbolista con su nuevo equipo.

El jugador, que tiene prevista para el jueves su llegada a Madrid, pasará las pruebas médicas un día más tarde, el viernes.

Godín es la quinta incorporación del club rojiblanco para la nueva temporada, después de las contrataciones de Fran Mérida, procedente del Arsenal, y Filipe Luis (Deportivo de La Coruña) y las recompras de Mario Suárez (Mallorca) y del brasileño Diego Costa (Valladolid).

What's your favorite creative holiday?

My favorite creative holiday is definitely Halloween, especially if you toss Dias de los Muertos in with it.  I love making cards and other decorations for these holidays.  So, when I was looking at the current Stampotique challenge (which has a very nice sketch) and perusing my Stampotique stamps, I decided to make my first Halloween card for the year! The orange is inked grungepaper and the bat is inked grungeboard covered with rock candy. Do you have a favorite holiday to create for?


I also wanted to get some input on a class I'm considering for October called "Stump Maria - Halloween Edition."  Prior to class, I would ask students to suggest art supplies that they purchased but didn't know what to do with, and I would come up with Halloween themed pieces of artwork incorporating these supplies.  Anyone who comes up with a suggestion that I end up using will get a $5.00 discount on the class.  Anyone who comes up with a supply suggestion that I can't figure out how to use (i.e. who "stumps" me) will be able to take the class for free.  Does this sound like a fun class that you would want to take?  Any suggestions for refinements?