Thanks For Everything

Hello there my crafty friends!  It's a long post today as I have included a bunch of pictures from my recent holiday in Norway.  I will give the card details first though.  I just love cutting into this background!  There are just so many ways to change it and they look really good.  I started with the bottom of the card by cutting the Ursa Gemini die twice in milk card.  Once with the bottom cutting edge, then I flipped it around so it was a mirror image but cut it without any of the cutting edges.  It creates a really pretty bottom border for the card.  I added a few pearls as embellishments.  I added a backing of periwinkle card so it showed through the die cut outs.  Next I cut the New York Background out of milk card.  I cut it in half (can you find the join?) and removed a bit of it then taped it back together so it formed a square shape. Flatback pearls hide the join areas nicely.  I backed it with Periwinkle card as well.  I added mounting foam to the back to raise it for dimension.  I stamped my sentiment and covered it with a sticky sheet then coated it with Diamond Sprinkles. I cut it out with the New York tag and added it to the centre of the background with foam.  I tied a double bow out of the Antique white (cream coloured) satin ribbon and topped it with a satin ribbon flower and some dried baby's breath (from my stash).  I paper pierced the edge of a piece of milk card, then added a thin periwinkle card and a final milk card mat layer.  The finished dimensions are 6 1/2" x  8 3/4" in size.  All for now, Sue x

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 I thought you might enjoy seeing a few pictures from my trip to Norway.  This was taken on the day excursion from Stavenger.  We took a boat through the Lysefjord.  We wanted to see Pulpit Rock, but it was too foggy to see it clearly, but we did see some gorgeous waterfalls along the way.

 The view from the cabin as we entered the harbour at Stavenger.  My other half had these flowers delivered to our room prior to sailing, they were beautiful!

 We took a cable car to the top of the mountain in Tromso.  This was part of the view, it was spectacular!

 I managed to catch the other cable car as we were passing on the mountain on the way back down.  They only held about 27 people.

 Probably my most favourite day of the trip was in Alta.  We had a day excursion going snowmobiling inside the Arctic Circle.  What a blast!  They put you in a thermal suit and helmet so it was quite warm (yes that is me under all that gear!)  and the day was absolutely beautiful too (just look at that sky!)  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  It was a two hour trip up the mountain, where we were able stop a few times for photos.

After the ride, we were treated to a tour of the Ice Hotel.  It just looks like a large igloo from the outside, but inside is magnificent!  The theme was Norwegian culture and there were so many detailed ice sculptures and carvings.

 This is actually one of the beds in a "suite" in the hotel. It was round and you had to walk up the path on the left to get into the bed which was covered with reindeer hides for warmth.  You still have to sleep in all your gear inside a sleeping bag on top of the bed though.  We didn't stay the night, but I was surprised that it didn't feel colder than it did.  They keep it at -4C constantly we were told.

 This was carved into the side of one of the walls.  I thought it was a Yak, but was told it was not.  I cannot recall exactly what she said it was but it was the equivalent to a Norwegian buffalo.

It was hard to get this entire sculpture in the picture (it was about 10 feet long) of huskies pulling a dog sled.

 Check out the ice furniture!

 There were etched ice arched panels going into the different areas of the hotel.

 On our second day in Alta, we took a tour of the city by coach.  This is the modern Northern Lights Cathedral.  Again, look at that gorgeous sky behind me.

 This church was the only remaining building in Alta at the end of the second world war.  It was a beautiful wood church building.








We went out to see the Northern Lights the last night in Alta.  A coach took us up in the mountains to a remote location so that the light from the city did not wash them out.  This photo was actually taken by the ships photographer with a proper camera, using an open exposure setting to really get the colour to come through.  It was taken from the same spot we were at when we saw the lights (my personal pictures did not come out very well without the open exposure setting).  We watched them dance in the sky for a couple of hours though, it was really amazing to see!

Our last post was Bergen and this pic was taken from the top of the mountain.  We took the funicular train up to the top and wandered around. There was no snow at all any where in Bergen, even the top of the mountain was sunny and warm!  You can see our cruise ship in the port below.

We had a really lovely time and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip.  I have an extra eight pounds on me to prove it too! LOL  I hope you have enjoyed the pics.  All for now, Sue x