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And when it comes to winter, let me tell you something about snowhoeing. I used to love winter time when I was a kid... you know getting out with my sister, building snowmen, sliding on ice slides created by older kids. I also loved skating and downhill skiing. Then I got older and started travelling.

I got to places with no mountains and very little snow. Sadly I had to say good bye to loved winter sports. Then I moved to Washington State and winter recreation once again entered my mind. One of my friends mentioned she always wanted to try snowshoeing. "Snow what?" I asked and she explained about this sport she heard of where you strap on type of platforms and they allow you to walk on snow, even if it's several feet deep. My eyes got wide, and I mean really wide. It sounded just like extending hiking season into winter time. How much better can life get!

The idea was planted and it was poking me until I rented snowshoes one weekend and headed out for the very first of many snowshoe trips. I loved every minute of it and just thinking of all the wonderful places these dorky looking things on my feet can take me to, was extasic. My feet were twitching all week long, so ready to get out to that white peacefull winter wonderland again.

I learned about variety of exciting places to go and gained some winter backcountry skills that let me travel to those places as safely as possible. And what kind of scrapper would I be if I hadn't made my top trails list into a layout?

Frosty

The morning chill today reminded me of the fact that winter is coming fast and so is Christmas. I love Christmas especially because it gives me a wonderful opportunity to make myself a cup of hot chocolate, top it with a generous hill of cream, and start working on holiday cards. It's probably the only time of a year my hubby doesn't complain about "the mess" in my scraproom".

I like experimenting with variety of designs and colors, from the traditional green/red combination to more wintry blue/white and sometime I like to spice it up with a hint of not so traditional color such as brown.

Flower Card

I learned to love blue and orange combination recently and here is one of the projects I used it on.

Snowshoe

Winter offers so many opportunities for recreation. It also offers peacefullness of snow blanketed wilderness and solitude that can be found closer to the trailhead since not too many people really take advantage of winter days for outdoor activities, no matter how nice and sunny they turn out to be.

Snowshoeing is one of the ways of winter wilderness travel. It's just like walking but with snowshoes on, you can walk even in several feet deep snow without postholing and being tired and miserable.

I'm trying to explore backcountry areas as much as I can but the winter weather does not always allow for a safe backcountry travel and in days like that we have to stick with safer trails like this one.

LOVE in circles

I finally stepped up got Quickutz Revolution die cutting machine, couple alphabet sets and some other dies, like the circles in this layout. I think Revolution will become my good friend.

Together

This was just a casual arm lenght shot of the two of us on one of the trails near Cannon Beach, OR but I really like how it turned out.

Sea of Love

I always enjoyed travelling. Even though I much prefer mountains, when my husband suggested a road trip along Oregon Coast, the idea of getting out of the house and exploring completely new territory was tempting and I finally said yes. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the coastline has to offer and I have to say that I honestly enjoyed the more relaxing gently rolling cost trails, sandy beaches, and sound of pebbles as waves pushed them agains each other.

Got to love scenery

I do not always design with Outlines stamps. On the contrary, I love to experiment different lines and different techniques. Being an outdoor enthusiast, Stampscapes stamps easily made home in my collection. I love their versatility and the way they let your creativity flow. From forest scenes to a lighthouse on a beach, from a peaceful moonlit lake somewhere in Pacific NW to a dramatic sunset in Asia. Anything you can imagine you can stamp.

Go masculine

I'm not really a girlie girl who would wear hight heals or go crazy over hot pink. I feel most comfotable in rugged jeans and a sweatshirt, yet sometimes I find it quite tough to come up with a good masculine designs. Outlines Stamps made it easier for me to create all the birthday, father's day, and other guys's days cards.

Beautiful Fall

Every season has its beauty. Winter is white and peaceful, spring full of new live, summer usually means vacation and tons of fun, and fall brings the drama of crimson foliage against golden grass. I love working with warm earth toned fall colors. For this particular card I used stamps by Outlines. They offer a great line of designs that are meant to be cut and layered. The possibilities are endless.

Outlines

I always liked stamps with versatile use. Stamps that I can use over and over and make they look different every time. Outlines stamps can do just that. I discovered them about a year ago and was instantly hooked. They can be cut, layered, and combined for countless designs. The only limit is your creativity.

Fun with embossing

I played with an idea of black and white card for a while. The background stamp by Outlines worked well for that. I had a little bit of hard time glueing the embossed pieces to the background but some stronger glue and extra dose of patience made it work in the end. I found the design too dull so I spiced it with a hint of brown.

Quick Happy Birthday

I had to create a quick happy Birthday card for my husbands friend. Couple stamps, border punch, and few flowers, it was as simple as that. The funny thing is that I usually don't design with flowers yet for this otherwise masculine card they seemed to work well.