Hello and welcome!
I'm back from our road trip to the Black Hills (I'm sharing some pictures
today and a few more the following weeks as I took too many to squeeze them
all in one post.) If you're here here to see some travel photos simply scroll past the card.
We had a really good time
and beautiful weather on our trip but the hiking we did makes me feel like
I need another week to recover LOL. It was hard to get back to the craft
room but I managed as I got a chance to use a couple new goodies I treated
myself to for my birthday which were perfect for this week's theme at Allsorts
challenge which is............Summer chosen by our dear Brenda. We're having 2 fabulous prizes this
week, a fun summer themed stamp set by Stampendeous from Oakwood Direct and a choice of 3 digis from Ruth Hamilton Designs. Hope you'll join in with
us!
This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!
Another blogger (sorry I forgot who) recently introduced me to this gorgeous
retired PSX stamp (G2891) and I was lucky enough to find it on eBay at a
reasonable price. Then I also finally got a set of
Brushos, been admiring work done with
them for years so I was really excited to try them.
I started out by spritzing my
Bristol Vellum card stock with water
then sprinkled some brushos powder onto the paper. (A tip I learned from
others: do not open the containers, instead simply poke a few holes into the
top (I poked 6) using a paper piecing tool or needle. You only need a
tiny amount of powder on your project.
I was impatient to wait on it to dry completely so I placed a piece of paper
over it to speed up the process and to help the ink distribute too.
The image was stamped on a separate paper, lightly colored with
Zig Clean Color markers and fussy cut. I
think cheese cloth fabric is a great accessory for nautical themed cards so I
layered a piece under my fussy cut image. I also used Lavinia's
Bulrushes stamp around the image for an
extra detail.
The sentiment is from this retired Hero
Arts My Monthly Hero stamp kit and it's been cut out using a retired Whimsy
Stamps die. natural jute twine was tied
around the card. The stamp with the 3 birds are also from the Hero Arts kit,
the single small bird close to the image is part of the PSX stamp.
Linking my card up here:
Always Anything Goes:
The Badlands National Park, South Dakota and Bear Country USA
Below are some pictures taken at the Badlands National Park. If you are ever
in the area or drive through the area I hope you make time to visit. There is
a small fee per vehicle to enter the park. If you or your significant other are a US veteran or active Military member be sure to
get the annual America the Beautiful annual park pass which is free for Veterans and Military members and all
those in the same vehicle, and good at any National Park within the US for one year.
We drove into the park from the east and entered via the town of Interior
entry. Before we even got to the park we stopped at the Ranch store to buy
food for these cute prairie dogs that live right next to the Ranch store. They
were plain peanuts and very inexpensive. We spent a little time here and fed
these cuties and watched the run around. They surely look like they enjoyed
posing for pictures.
And into the Badlands...
You don't even need to get out of your car to enjoy these amazing views as
there is the Badlands Loop Road that will take you all around the Badlands,
and there are plenty of scenic overlooks where you can stop to get a closer
view.
These below were taken by the Window and Door Trails. Both are fairly
easy to begin with but you can hike further into the Badlands and that's
what we did this time. Last time my dad was visiting with us who has bad
knees so we mainly stayed on the boardwalks which gives you beautiful
views just the same.
If you look really closely at the photo below, you can see a hiker all the
way up there. I'm not sure that there is a trail leading up there or if this
person just made their own trail...
Believe it or not but on our last visit I never noticed any Cacti. But this
time I found plenty!
This trail below - Cliff Shelf - was my favorite on our last visit and I
wanted to be sure to check it out again. It is a moderate trail that
includes quite a few steep wooden steps. (My dad was waiting for us down
below when we hiked this in 2016 so it may not be for everyone). The park is
full of Rattlesnake warning signs. This was the only area in this park where
I heard one but luckily never saw one!!
Amazing views once again!
Below we stopped at the Yellow Mounds Overlook. We missed this area last
time. I love the various layers of colors found on these mounds! I really
wanted to get down to the trails a bit but my husband and son somehow got
sunburned on the back of their legs on the other trails so we skipped
hiking here and only just enjoyed the views from a nearby hill we climbed.
We originally thought about hiking the Notch trail too but then we (I)
decided to skip it once again as it's classified as strenuous and we aren't
really seasoned hikers... plus how much better can the views really be???
Maybe there will be a next time at this park!
We did stop for a visit at Bear Country USA in Rapid City which is partly a drive through
nature park where you are surrounded by bears, wolves, local wildcats,
Bighorn Sheep, Elk, etc. Then there is an area where they keep the young
animals and the only area where you can get out of your car. They had about
a dozen baby bears and they really kept us entertained.
In the "drive through" part you had to keep all windows rolled up so these aren't the best pictures but I still managed to take a few...
And this is the area where you can walk around to see the young animals too young for the main drive through park.
It may look like they are dancing but these young bears were constantly wresting and fighting with each other.
Pool time :)
They loved climbing up here!!
The cost to this park is a bit higher than National or State Parks. We had to pay around $75 for the 4 of us but that is the maximum they charge even if more people are in the vehicle. It's a cute and unique park to visit though I just wish there was a way to drive another loop around it.
By the way if you are looking for some very comfortable hiking shorts, I found mine at Poshmark by Athleta. I actually purchased 2 pairs. This exact style is an older style (The Dipper). Their current style is the "
Trekkie" and they look equally comfortable made with the same great hiking type material.
Next Saturday I'm sharing more photos from our trip along with my weekly
Allsorts card, hope you'll stop by again!
I am linking the travel portion of this post up here: