Spring...

This past week was so gorgeous! The backyard is budding forth with new growth, some in the wrong places, but I don't have the heart to cut out a plant that has worked so hard to produce. I'm sure my DH will attack the various interlopers soon when I'm not looking. He just better not touch the berry bushes that sprang up in the space where we lost an apple tree to lightning. I know it looks unkept and gangly, but boy do those berries taste good!

I thought to share some spring pictures to brighten your day. Even with the beautiful balmy weather, this past week was a tough one for me and the family for many reasons. I'm hoping this new week we will have peace and joy and I hopefully will feel like creating again. I'm going to play with new YUMMY Art By Moonlight stamps right now.

Happy Day!

5...

Read Misty's blog this afternoon and she challenged people to try to answer these, so I did. First 5 people to read my list, try it as well.

Five minutes to yourself:

• (If I had a clean desk and an organized room?) Create some backgrounds. Otherwise, computer time.

Five bucks to spend right now:

• I'm hungry. Chipotles Steak Burrito Bol.

Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already?

• I have tons of stuff I haven't used in 5 years, so the first 5 I pick up I guess (like old clothes, old business inventory, old paperbacks, exercise equipment not used, etc...)

Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?

• Computer, Printer/copier/scanner, Art Supplies (can't I group these as one?), Camera, Pictures (Family members are a given, right? )

Five words you love?

• Hmmm, hard one. Ephemera, Fiddlesticks, Blessed, Organization, Enchante (french for delighted)

Art Created, Creating Art

Saturday I was at Borders with DD for our ‘outing’ we love to do. We go for coffee (me), a Kahlua Mudslide Freeze (her) and either a muffin, cookie or sandwich to share. We grab favorite mags (me – art & scrapbooking & some art books, her-fashion, skateboarding & some graphic design books) and sit down and ignore each other. I swear these outings are for us to bond, but it seems we spend more time reading, than we do conversing. But it’s all good. She’ll show me the latest styles (I’m so outdated she tells me) and articles about her favorite skateboarders ‘mom, look at him doing a double ollie, triple twist’ ( I wanna ask ‘is that with or without the cone?’ * I crack myself up, she would roll her eyes here *) I show her all the latest and greatest in altered art. On Saturday we had this conversation:

Me: *in over excited tone* 'LOOK! This is an article about my friend, Karyn Gartel!' *latest Legacy? (I think) mag shoved under DD’s nose*
Her: *semi-interested tone, sipping her Kahlua* ‘She’s your friend? That’s cool! Where do you know her from?' *looking article over* 'This is really cool what she made.’
Me: *sheepish tone & look* 'Um, well… she isn’t really my friend, I just stalk her blog.'
Her; *huge eyeroll & laugh* 'I’m going to tell her you stalk her!' *another laugh*
Me: 'Well, I visit her blog all the time, you know the one ‘Altered Diva’.'
Her: 'Oh yeah, I love her stuff.'
ME: 'See? Now you can stalk her too!'

I’ve realized I have blog envy. Well, maybe talent envy. I try not to, but I have this list of blogs I look at weekly when I need inspiration, but then I get lost in blog land and never end up making anything because everyone else in blogland has made such wonderful stuff I have to see it all!

** Like Misty – what’s NOT to love about Misty? She made the most gorgeous mobile, cut stars out of text and this tree is just gorgeously painted! I LOVE her work! She is selling her art now too! Go buy!

** And Karyn – I just can’t wrap my brain around the gorgeous colors here and her backgrounds here are to die for! I can’t wait until her book goes on sale on ebay!

** Ms. Pom – She always has wonderful things to say and I read her column in Cloth Paper Scissors and call her my ‘friend’ too, to my DH when I tell him about the articles. He says I stalk her blog too. Some people play sports, some people work for a living,; I stalk blogs of highly talented people. So sue me! She also has a weekly 'List Friday' challenge to try.

** Altered Belly – she has really been turning out some fabulous art after several yummy sounding classes and workshops she has attended. I love to watch her thought process and art progress as she tries different things. I read her blog with notebook in hand as she drops names of teachers and products I just ‘have to try’. Love her work!

** TatteredEdge – she is the one who got me all interested in owning a soldering iron (which I now have) but have yet to use it. May try it out this week for an idea I have for the Inspire Me Thursday challenge. Her splatter type backgrounds are beautiful and her description and beautiful pics from ArtFest inspire me to possibly try to attend next year. Who know what a year holds.

** Altered Visions – she makes all these wonderful pieces to sell on ebay. I want to copy all of them in design~ These are some of my favorites she has made.

** Shari – has been creating some gorgeous pieces. She has me searching the city for scratchboard because of these pieces that she made. Gorgeous! Her latest stamped images are so vintage, I wanna touch them to see if they have layers of wax or whatnot? This is one of my favs of hers, a page from a chunky book she was working on with others. And this too!

** Audrey - she is a woman after my own imagination. I love her work and its so like the items I see in my head but can never put them on paper. I especially love her blackbird chunky page, journal pages she made and last month she was doing a study of color and the green item was my favorite of course (being my favorite color!) Did you see what she posted yesterday? YUM YUM!

Oh, there are a lot more that I stalk, er, um.. I mean visit. Everyone is so talented around me. I just need to remember to step away from the mouse (and the forum boards *wink*), clean my art desk and make something from the heart. Only then will I truly create art.

Happy Easter!

Today we remind ourselves we are blessed. Jesus is alive and all family is well. May your day be blessed too. Happy Easter!

First Circle Journal

I've joined a local group of ladies to do a circle journal. I'm thinking it will be a fun experience and I can' t wait to see what they do in my book. It's all about 'Inspiration'. I've asked them to inspire me so I can use this journal as an ideas book. It's my first circle journal, so I'm not sure I know what I'm doing, but I like how it came out. Used the new Basic Grey 'Urban Couture' line of course. Thanks to Waynette, Toni, Kelly, Lisa, Sara, Christina and Kerry for allowing me to participate.

Mailing off my book this weekend!

(Top pic: Cover, 2nd pic: inside front cover - L side watercolored, R side is instructions, 3rd pic: sign in page, folded pockets w/extra pages, 4th pic: Inside back cover - watercolored, 5th pic: back cover)
(names/addresses were blurred to protect the guilty.)

Paparazzi

I really need one of those long-range-no-one-notices-you-catching-me-adjusting-my-bra paparrazzi type cameras. Seriously! My DD is doing adorable things, but if I go up to her, she will pose or just not be as cute. KWIM? She announced she 'needs' to go out back to pick flowers (aka: the red bud buds off the tree that produce the leaves), dandelions and 'blue bells' (little purple ground cover.) She went out of the door, I went to look and there she is in her magenta corduroy dress, sky blue shirt, socks and summer sandals swinging the little pink box with handle and yellow daisy on the side (which I just rescued from the basement for my own agenda.) Too adorable! I wanted to capture her hair blowing in the wind, the way she is slightly skipping and bobbing her head to some silent tune, and her pooh bear beanie baby peaking out of the box.

I wanna freeze moments like this on film for those years when my memory goes (like next year). I don't want to forget how small and cute she was at this time in her life... *sigh* I think I'm getting old or something.

She pops her head in to say she is going to feed her flowers to the birds and within minutes, I hear her calling in a high pitched voice 'here birdie birdie birdie. Here birdie birdie birdie.' This continues for awhile and then she came in with frowns. 'They won't come momma'. *I secretly smile at her naivete* 'Honey, just leave some flowers out there and they will get them when you're gone.'

She is back inside carrying a net from her room, announcing she is going to catch a butterfly. Who knows where she got the net, but she is now determined.

Oh to be a child again...

P.S. Just had to share one more. She is back in again. *Fumbling through drawers*
She: 'Momma, where is that witcher picker?'
Me: *slight laugh* 'Witcher picker? Do we have a witcher picker?'
She: Mom, I used it yesterday with the chicken.'
Me: *Now I'm thoroughly confused* 'With what chicken?' * I don't remember having any chicken, but her idea of what is chicken and my idea are quite different...
She: *exasperated huff* 'MOM! I used it to flip the chicken in the microwave! The WITCHER PICKER!'
Me: *understanding dawning quickly* 'Oh, you mean the TONGS that you used to turn over the chicken fried steak you had for lunch.' (hotdog type tongs)
She: *eyeroll at my inability as a parental unit* 'YES!'
Me: 'In the drawer. What are you going to use it for?'
She: *does the innocent whistling thing like Tom and Jerry do when they're trying not to look guilty* 'Okay, I'm going to plant a plant.' *eyeroll at me again because I guess I should have KNOWN that?*

She is all of 6 1/2 years old. I can forsee some interesting years ahead... *I roll my own eyes*

Picture Torture...

Mom always knows the perfect thing to cheer me up. This time she sent torture instead, in the form of pics from her recent trip to Staniel Cay.


Is beauty this beautimous even allowed?
I don't see the need to live anywhere else but near this. You can't help but KNOW that only God could make this. It's phenomenal.

Can I move there now?

Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. - James Allen

You are to gather up the joys and sorrows, the struggles, the beauty, love, dreams and hopes of every hour that they may be consecrated at the altar of daily life. - MacRina Wiederkehr

From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Psalms 50:2

A Sad Time...

Ed Sr. 1931 - 2006

A good man died this week. He was my DH's namesake, his father and a hard working man. No matter how his life was led or mistakes he made, he gave me my husband. My husband had a strong example of how a man works hard all his life to provide, and for that I am eternally grateful.

I pray for my family, DH's family as he attends the funeral with them and I pray that my father in law knew God and has gone up to heaven to live in peace. No more to be sick, no more to be sad or troubled by the burdens of this world.

I pray that my DH and DD will enjoy their time with family and maybe re-bond some relationships that had lost their glue. May they come home with a sense of peace about the whole situation.

I thank God for the family he has given me and the protection he provides us. May we live up to our potential and all that he has in store for us.

Ed, we love you. You will be missed.

and there was REJOICING throughout the land...

Hootin' and hollerin', slapping on the back, clapping of the hands. You would have thought we had won a million bucks or something. Nope. Our internet service is working again after 2 days. *eyeroll* Apparently something went wrong with it Saturday night, and we didn't notice it until Sunday afternoon. I was out and about, and DD thought she was 'dying' without internet. Many many conversations with so-called 'internet technicians' and our wireless service has been restored for the peasants and royals alike. I'll admit, I didn't notice it not being on much today, since I was fighting a migraine and didn't want to be near anything electronic, that I would have to focus my eyes on. Needless to say, we are saddled again and internet bound. Hallelujah. I missed my blog... *carresses computer screen softly.*

More rejoicings to be had...
I spent yesterday afternoon with some scrapbooking friends at a 'Forum Crop'. We met online at the 'local scrapbooking store's ' forum boards. I had the best time. I ate too much, scrapped too little and had a wonderful time. I even won a prize! Meeting people for the first time is kind of like the prize inside a box of cracker jacks.
You look forward to that little prize you're going to get inside, but you never know quite WHAT it's going to be. You just know you have to have it. That's how my friends are. Many I had not met in person, and they're a hoot online, but you never know what people will be like in person.
What if they annoy you? What if they're slightly 'off'? *shock* Needless to say, I was fortunate yesterday. Everyone was fabulous and if they were 'slightly off', they didn't show that side to me. Of course I hid mine as well. *wink* Thanks to: Micki, Sara, Lisa, Kerry, Kristin, DanaT, Christina, Ali, Annette, Tiffany, Toni, Maricar, Miranda, Kelly & DanaR for an unforgettable time (if I missed anyone, thank you too!) I can't wait for the next crop!

** I'm in the PEACH shirt **


Peace & Tranquility...

Tonight our family had our first game night in years. DD Alex was the first 'chooser' of this new habit of ours. (Can you call it a habit, if it's the first time??) She got to choose the food and the games. She chose beef enchiladas and card games. DD Sophia and DH made the food while Alex and I finished up her math. After a yummy dinner, we played card games. Go Fish, War and Golf. If you've never played Golf, invite me over and I'll teach you. But be prepared to lose. I love GOLF! And I don't even have to hold a club! (ha, play on words... club, cards, get it?! haha) I'll have to take a REAL pic of the cards we used. EDITED: Added the real 'ALTERED' cards DD decorated, that we used. DD has this pink set. All the cards are pink. I'm constantly getting confused, not only because they aren't distinguished by red/black, but also, she has 'decorated' them with sharpie ALL OVER the face cards. It was fun to play though.