NiftyFifty!!!

   Hello from the "other side!" It was a BIG one this year on my birthday...and I made this card for my junior high buddy who shares my birth year. While the card design wasn't selected for PaperCrafts milestone bday spread, I still had loads of fun making it last winter in anticipation of its giving for this year! You'll notice that everything is stamped except the washi tape; I made my own glossy cardstock background with a brayer, and patterned papers with each birth year stamped individually...distressed with Ranger inks. I even made my own number stencils to be able to have the years' at the right width for the number stamp! It was a labor of love and I'm sending it off months early to my physicist pal so she has time get used to the idea of being half a century old! [there might even be a 'half-life' joke in here somewhere...?]
   On my big weekend my family had a few surprises in store for me with special meals and a terrific hike up Mt. Kearsarge! And...coincidentally enough it happened to be the 50th anniversary of our area's Model A auto club annual drive to the top of the mountain:

on the approach road to the state park

kids and I in the summit hike parking lot

just imagining what it might have been like so long ago...

a fun little climb with spectacular views:

a little senior photo shoot opportunity

view of where we started

censored at the summit!

   Back home we had our Champagne Cake and ate it too! It's a wonderful life!