Sparkling Stampers: Have a funTACHEtic day!

Hello everyone! I'm back from NY and have been dying to access my art room! Do you guys ever feel "cut off" when you go on vacation?? I sure did, especially since I had very little internet access. I'm going to post my card first and then if you feel like reading, I'll have a few updates from my travels and the forest fire going on in Waldo Canyon below.

So...my card today is for my daughter Claudia, who is spending her summer with her dad. She has a necklace with a mustache (I just don't understand) and loves all the mustache stuff coming out. So this one's for her! I showed it to her tonight on Skype because I can't keep a secret...and she was ecstatic! Such little things tickle her funny bone...she's a great kid! The sentiment says, "Have a fun{TACHE}tic day." So cute!

I'm also entering this card into Paper Playtime Ch#77 -- Anything Goes, Say it With a Sentiment. I hope you have fun with this one...thanks for stopping by! And now...If you'd like to read more, scroll down. Margaret

Sentiment: Cat's Pajamas
Die cuts: Mustaches (Cat's Pajamas); Spellbinders
Paper: SEI and American Crafts POW glitter paper
Bling: Michaels dollar bin

Updates -- Ink Pad
As you know, I was in New York City, visiting my parents and attending my sister's graduation. Did lots of walking and eating (and am paying for it now), and of course visited my favorite place, the Ink Pad. However, I was a little bit let down this time. You see, the store moved. Albeit to a larger place, but my disappointment came in the fact that it just didn't seem like the selection was there that they used to have. (Although they still have about 10,000 stamps which is not shabby at all!) In addition, they seem to now specialize in ephemera, whereas my style is the cutesy stuff like Magnolia, little girls, flowers, etc. So, I guess if you are an ephemera type artist...you will be in seventh heaven if you visit, but if you're like me, you might not find the selection you hoped for. However, I still highly recommend anyone who visits NY to visit the InkPad as it is something else, for sure and definitely a cute and unique shop. They have the largest selection of dog stamps I've ever seen! I'm sure you'll find something there that you don't find in your current stash.

Highlights from my trip
The week was very hot -- high 90s with humidity (try that on for size in the subway stations). However, I've grown up in NYC and never saw the stuff I saw this week. You see my cousin was visiting with me and so I took him on lots of touristy sites (I learned a lot that I never knew about the place I grew up in!). If you ever visit NYC, I highly recommend the Circle Line, and the Intrepid (right next to each other). If you're a dare devil, you might enjoy the Beast instead of the cruise...you get wet and you visit the Statue of Liberty supersonic speed. The World Trade Center (Ground Zero) memorial was also a site to see. The last time I visited there was still a big dark black hole of rubble Today it's been transformed into a beautiful memorial with the Freedom Tower rising up right next to it. I still felt like crying the entire time however. I used to spend my summers at the Twin Towers watching puppet shows and shopping in the underground mall as a teenager. It was a special place. Macy's on Herald Square was a real treat for my cuz as he'd never seen a department store that size. We made sure to get a good view of the city from the Empire State Building. We did lots of other things and ate all types of ethnic cuisines...but those were some of the highlights I recommend to visitors.

Building 1 World Trade Center Memorial. Haunting, yet a beautiful memorial.

The Freedom Tower, 1776 feet high to commemorate the birth of the US. It is not completed yet. Compare this to the Empire State Building, 1250 ft.

Beautiful Downtown Skyline from the Circle Line Cruise

Give my regards to Broadway! Unfortunately, no discount tickets for Wicked or Lion King...sold out for months, with the CHEAPEST seats costing about $200!

Waldo Canyon Forest Fire
On a sadder front, our forest fire in Waldo Canyon is quite something. I am attaching a picture of what the sky looked like over the last several days, including tonight as we were headed for a big thunderstorm (that never did show up). The red is probably from the sun's angle, but the air quality is poor enough that they closed the university tonight! Please folks say some prayers for the people that needed to be evacuated (~1,000 homes) and the firefighters--that is such a dangerous job, especially in our unprecedented high temps of 99 all week and no rain. (very unusual for here)