Weekend Creativity

Hi there peeps!  We've been a little busy here at the home base.  My hubby seems to have this thing to find it more productive to schedule seasonal projects. 

For instance, last summer he worked on redoing or back deck. 

Then in the winter he bought a little boat, stripped it down and built it back. 

This recent summer he did phase two of the deck (ya it's big), sorry no pictures of this phase.  Now the man has it in his mind this winter's project is to work on the inside of the house, starting with paint!  I'm for that one!

Although we have similar taste they are sometimes just far enough apart that we end up with nothing.  It sort of works for us.  Our color choices have always been in the warm neutral tones, soft blues and greens, except for the kitchen which may be extremely bold in comparison  (black & red). 

This weekend hubs took down an old light fixture and installed the new!  We both love it.

He then go busy painting in the hardest yet smallest room of the house.  The infamous pink bathroom.  We choose a neutral brown in hopes of toning down the pink.  New light fixture and towel bars complete the process.  Some day we hope to have an entirely new bathroom but until then we are just trying to make do with the original owner's lovely color choice in fixtures.

I also had a chance to get some of my own creative mojo flowing.  It was so fun simply because it felt like forever since I had sat down to ink and paint, cut and paste.  I know a little boy who's going to get an unusual Halloween 'card' soon.

That's about all folks.  And not as an after thought but...I am so proud of my husband and the hard work he puts forth on making our house our home.  Other than that, I really want to spend more time creating, my problem now, time and the mojo.  Until then,

hugs of love.

A Fallish kind of week and weekend

Well, well, well!  It's that time of year when things begin to cool off, chill down and get wet.  Here in the Pacific Northwest I don't really mind the cooling off part but I am not at all thrilled about the getting wet.  I know it rains here a lot, actually not anymore on average than it did in Texas.  Key words: on average.  The thing that gets me, or at least did this past winter, was the longevity of it.  I swear I didn't think Spring was ever going to get sprung around here.

The good news is I have a new adventure to keep me distracted from the weather.  It's now been just slightly over 30 days at the new job and all seems to being going well.  I work with some very nice people and have the opportunity to do well for myself there, I intend to make the most of it.

I'm still not finding creative time for myself though.  I keep promising myself time to play and create but it's just not happening.  For instance, I wanted to create Saturday yet the husband and I spent the better part of the day shopping for home improvement project supplies. The we get home and I have to put my part in play before the rains come.  I was so exhausted afterwards that sitting or standing in my creative space just was not in the cards.

We made an impulse buy Saturday at Lowes.  This Chocolate Mimosa Tree, it was regularly $50 but on sale for $20.  Bill and I both grew up with these similar trees in our childhood, so we just had to have one.  For me it was sort of like having a little bit of home here too, which makes me crave a crepe myrtle but I don't want to pay shipping to get one here.

Anyway, the tree was so tall it wouldn't fit in the back of the truck.  We had to prop it with the soil we had purchased elsewhere then leave the tailgate down.  We were worried the wind would beat it to death, so I had an "ah ha" moment and we bundled our hoodies around it and used the soil bags to keep them from flying away.  It worked too!  Everything got home safe and sound.

Sunday was a little less intense but still pretty busy.  We both actually slept in or at least for us it was sleeping in.  I got the laundry going then made the decision to get a hair cut.  I wanted something more styled.  My hair has grown out quite a bit but it's just sort of hanging there with no great style or shape.  I finally decided to go shorter again, not chopped like I've been known to do but brushing my shoulders kind of short.  If you saw my Vegas wedding pictures, that's the way I had it cut today.

We then had to go back to town because the Ott-Lite bulbs we got yesterday weren't the right ones, so they needed to be exchanged (these puppies are too expensive to just toss).  Bill had to get some black wood stain for his homemade keyboard tray, this also required a trip to Costco for a new office chair for the man.  Again, no creative time.

Sure I could've stayed home and let him run the errands.  The only thing wrong with that is, the weekends seem to be the only time we really do anything together and I enjoy the company of my husband.  I do wish however I could convince him to join my in my art, on a regular basis but alas that's my thing not his.

So, what did you do this weekend?  Write me a note and let me know.  Until then,

hugs of love.

A Charmed Kind of Day.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned I would go treasure hunting recently.  I have yet really go.  Sorry.  Our weather here has returned to the typical wetness for the region, it does not entice me to get out and about.  I just can't get motivated to get out and about.  Maybe if someone was with me to share the adventure but on my own, I'm just simply not motivated.

I did do some shopping this weekend for work clothes but that wasn't exactly fun.  I'm finding more and more often I really didn't appreciate my physic 20 years ago, or even less than 10 years ago.  We'll just leave it at that for now.

I did wanted to spend the weekend creating though not shopping ( I know shocking isn't it!).  Again, I just couldn't get motivated Saturday.  I tried to trick myself by making a promise to myself if I got all my housework done I could then work with my art.  It seems though that by the time I got the house work done, went to town for some work clothes then started dinner, I was just not wanting to do anything else.

This morning I started out again with a strong purpose to create.  I sat on the sofa with my coffee and before I knew it I was hooked on watching TV with the hubs for a while; DIY Disasters.  I think of this show as a 'how not to' kind of program.  We then spent a lot of time discussing paint color choices and decorating ideas for his home office space a.k.a. the previous dining room.  We are planning to begin painting the interior in the next month or so.  Although we know we have a general idea of design/color scheme, it has yet to be nailed down.  This concerns me because as hard as we try to communicate our ideas we often don't quite get it over to the other person.  ah well!  We did find Sherwin Williams HGTV color schemes very helpful, you should check it too.  If you'd like to see more of what we are planning you can check out my Home Board on Pinterest.

His plan is to start in the pink bathroom and work his way toward his home office.  I think of it as the start small and end large plan.  And yes, pink bathroom, see it has walls that are tiled half way up in pink ceramic tiles, a pink tub & pink ceramic tile surround, pink toilet and pink sink.  We are going to use brown on the white walls to tone down the pink until we can afford the major renovation maybe in a year or two.  There's nothing wrong with the fixtures other than the color pink, which would be terrific I think if it was just a girly girl bathroom but in this house, it's the ONLY bathroom, so the pink has to go.

I did finally start to get creative though.  I pulled out my care package from a few months ago and went through it looking to become inspired.  I created one trinket so far from that stash.  It did the trick though.  I then pulled out an old costume piece that belonged to my Grandmother.  I just now, as I type this post, realize what a dummy I can be!  Grrr!  I didn't take a picture of her necklace before I took it apart!  Gosh Darn it!  I have to remember that next time, why?  I don't know other than I think it's the right thing to do. 

I made a few little baubles and started on a few others.  Take a look.  You probably can't tell very well but the upper pieces are beads that are primarily yellow with a stream of pink and gold.  The lower unfinished pieces are yellow.   The original necklace was a three strand piece with the shortest strand riding a choker length, very 60's.

I also cooked a pretty awesome beef stew while I worked on these things so my creative mojo was good today!  Well that's all I have today.  Still enjoying the new job! Woo-hoo!  I hope you all have a wonderfully creative and fulfilling week.  Until next time,

Hugs of love.

Have you ever...

had just one of the most perfect days ever?  I'm sure you have.  I have been blessed to have had several but this past weekend was just so totally awesome.  I can't think about it without smiling.

We budgeted out expenses then went for it!  Neither one of us had been to a State Fair since we were young parents, somewhere back in time when our children were little and didn't cry to ride every ride or to play every game and we could afford to go if we didn't have to pay for them!  Yah!  That far back!  We're emptinesters now and we get to go play now! Na-na-na-bo-boo!

So we head out to The Puyallup Fair, where you may ask is that?  Well it's in Washington but of course.  It's not as near as large as the Texas State Fair but it had the atomsphere of a fair from our memories.  That memory was just what we were looking for this day. 

We planned to arrive around lunch time so we could begin our day with a fair staple, a corn dog!  Honestly, this was the only fried food we ate that day, although the plan was to try a fried candy bar or ice cream or even both.

We wove our way in and out of the exhibit buildings, because what's a state fair with out looking at the produce, various crafts and hobbies, canning, art work, animals....!  Then it was time for food again.  See, our plan for the day:  eat what we want, when we want, as much as we want, as well as, ride the rides we wanted, as often as we wanted, for as long as we could stand it! (we took it to 10pm)

This was the best day I've had in a very long time and I'm setting aside all the food and rides.  It was simply the best day for me because I shared it with the man I love.  We teased, cuddled and laughed all day long.  We shared a joy for a beautiful bright day.  It was just simply wonderful to be that day. 

I hope you all have a chance to experience such a day yourselves.  It really did my heart good.
Hugs of love.

Treasure Hunting and the ER

Yeppers!  I've neglected posting again.  Seriously, I want to post.  I think about what I want to say all the time, even with the pictures I'd use to help tell the story.  However, for some dang reason these last 6-8 weeks I just don't seem to have the umph needed to sit down and actually write out the darn post.  Sorry dude.

I had started to play catch up and was doing pretty good, I thought.  Then I stopped again.  So instead of just being anal about order etc... I'm going to dump what I've been wanting to share and maybe this will get us past this hic-up.

My day had started out pretty good yesterday.  I was going treasure hunting!  Woo-Hoo!  It's been starting to feel like forever since I get out and do some hunting.  I hit up a few garage sales that were still going on a beautiful sunny Sunday.  Some were fairly picked over but that was to be expected.  I went to a few Estate Sales, which always unnerves me but didn't really find anything at any of them.  My final point of destination was an Antique Store that was going out of business.  lately too many businesses are closing and this always makes me sad.  All I could do was try to support them and buy a few things now.  This was my view upon arrival at the store!

Beautiful isn't it and I'm standing in the parking lot!  You are looking at the Hood Canal with the Olympic Mountains in the background.  Lots of kayaks, a few sail boats and even a bow rider or two out on the water.

Of course I grabbed a few little treasures here.  I wanted more but I just changed jobs so...  I got 11 of these huge National Geographic maps from the late 40's - early 50's.  I love them.  What will I do with them, collage maybe?  I thought about framing a few sections of them, we'll see.  The other goodies I grabbed at a garage sale.  I'm not sure why I've been sort of collecting Hob Nail glassware but there are some pieces I just can't seem to walk away from.  I'm not really caring if it's a knock-off or not, if I like it and the price is right, I get it.  Of course, a $1 kitchen clock I'll deconstruct.  The little ceramic cocker will go somewhere special, anything cocker seems hard to find!  The wooden pedestal plate will sit somewhere in Bill's office space and hold beach treasures and this glass buoy I picked on this trip.

I had posted on Facebook mid-day yesterday about where I was on a holiday weekend and if you knew my husband you'd know.  Nobody said a word.  I was shocked, I half expected some family to at least post or maybe call, oh well.  I love my hubs but he's a bit of klutz sometimes.  We had a trip to the Emergency Room.  He thought he re-broke his foot, more specifically the long bone on the outer top edge.  A quick x-ray and a few minutes later we learn it's not broken but again we get this line "as we age...."  apparently there are some kind of growths that can occur between those bones on the top of your foot that can really cause some pain.  Oh Joy!

I just wanted to share this etched glass piece with you.  It's in the Emergency waiting room.  There is another section to the right which continues the scene of the salmon stream.  It's seriously all about the Salmon here in the Pacific Northwest!

Anyway, so off to Olympia to the closest Walgreen's to get some pain medication filled, remember it's Sunday.  It's all good.  He's better and I think we are both relieved that his foot isn't broken again.  While we waited on the prescription to be filled we stopped in the Barnes and Noble across the street.  You just can't go wrong going into that store!

Well, that was my Sunday.  Saturday wasn't all the eventful (laundry day) and today I cleaned physically and electronically.  I'll check back in with you soon.  Until then...

Hugs of love to all.

An August Wednesday in Washington

Oh! my goodness.  It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood and I haven't even finished my coffee yet!  We are truly being blessed with lovely weather as summer wears down.  In our home we are making the most of it for sure.  Our son is here visiting for the week and we've taken vacation so we can all go play.

I celebrated a milestone birthday this past week.  We celebrated quietly just the two of us with dinner and a movie.  Then my son arrived the next day so I'm taking this whole week to make a celebration of sorts!

We've gone to the local race track, we went to market by boat, lazed around the house while it rained (for the first time since about July 4th), yesterday we ventured to the nearest zoo. Today, well, today will hold it's own adventures.  We are considering a ride to the beach in the Westport area.  That area just really draws us in even though there are others in the area this little fishing / tourist town holds a charm for us.

I hope you are enjoying your week and making the best of it all!

Hugs of Love,
Kim

Catching back Up to the World.

Hi there again!  I have a lot tell but I have this oddity about chronological order, forgive me.  Last time we 'spoke' I was catching you up, basically, on my entire summer.  I left you with the end of my trip to see the family in Texas.  By the way, I really miss them, sure wish they would move here were it's cooler in the summers and warmer in the winters.  I swear it's not as cold as you'd think but the chill does last a bit longer.  Anyway....

The local area fair was held toward the end of July.  It's a far-far-far cry from what the State Fair holds, it's just a sweetness of a different variety.  We went last year and actually enjoyed the simple taste of a country fair, since we both had only experienced massively large State Fairs.  I didn't carry my camera this time though and used my Droid for the few pictures I did take.

I am such a lousy self portrait taker...besides it was pretty windy that day too so I lost the battle before I even started.  We planned our visit in time to see a local troupe of 'flame performers': Dragon Slayer, I think was their name.  Like I mentioned it is a small country area fair.  We were trying to choose whether to see them in the early evening or after dark.  If we did after dark we'd miss other things we were considering, however, I still think if we had waited for the after dark performance it would have been better but you can only be in one place at a time.

We then walked around the grounds a bit to see what was going to be for dinner.  Fair food is awesome no matter where you are.  For some reason we settled on a burger, but we followed it with my favorite fair food  "FUNNEL CAKE"!  There is something similar here in the region they call "Elephant Ears".  I think it's a Belgium fried bread done pretty much the same but yet it's thicker and more doughy. I tried a savory one last year at a different event.  I prefer the funnel cake.  Mmmmm it was good and I thought about seconds.  Bill, you need to practice this one for me!  Wait, maybe not. 

We then traveled through the exhibit buildings.  This is one of the things we like about our area fair.  You get to see the work of the kids in their 4H Clubs as well as some terrific endeavors of adults.  Then of course you have all the animals.  Oh my goodness!  All I could think of was Jordan would have an absolute fabulous time visiting all this animals.  Here are just a few I found endearing.

Then it was time for something I've been wanting to do since I was a little girl.  The Rodeo!  Yep! That's right.  I am a native Texan.  My niece even participated in Rodeo events, my grandmother  practically lived across the street from the Mesquite Rodeo (it was a big deal at the time), but I have never been to a Rodeo until now. 

I loved it!  The pageantry of the opening ceremonies, the riders fighting to hang on for 8 seconds, the clowns being well-clowns, the kids gathering out in the middle for a boot scramble, all of it was fun to observe.  We didn't stay for the entire event though, my back just couldn't stand the wooden bleachers for much more than a hour or two.  What we did see was terrific.  There was even a guy riding who was from Texas.  Guess who I cheered for?  Actually, in all honesty, I cheered for every contestant but maybe just a little louder for my fellow Texan.

remember I said I left my camera at home.

Anyway, it was a great day.  The sun was shinning and it was warm, at least until about an hour after this photo was taken.  See, the sun started setting and well you get the idea.

This pretty much catches us up through July!  

Home again Home again....

Wow!  Sorry about being gone so long.

Well, there are a lot of cliques I could write but I won't.  I'll save you from that dribble, for now.  I don't have much of an solid explanation for the long departure from blog world other than honestly, I felt like I was talking to myself, as no one comments here for whatever reason. So... I drifted away, until TODAY!

I'm back....

Let's see, what would be the best way to catch you up on all my little klips of life....?  Hmmm?  Should I present you a professional bullet list of items? Nah - kind sounds and feel too corporate: "bullet list" I have so-o-o-o written my fair share of bullet list in the 13 years of corporate work.  Okay, let's see - maybe just a verbal dump of it all.  Sure that could work, wait no, that might go on for pages and pages. What to do? 

Hey!  I got it!  I'll work in a show and tell fashion, duh!  To avoid any sleepiness, just imagine my voice an octave higher with a smidgen of bubbly rhythm to it.  Not the annoying "I wanna smack her" kind, that's too for bubbly, just a notch or two down from there should work for you and me.

 

Okay here we go (I wonder how long this will take--eek).

 

We left off toward the end of June.  That will be our starting point.  I was working on charms.  Oh my goodness.  I worked on them a bit that week and the next.  I haven't actually worked on any since, other than ideas and gathering supplies that is.  I love, love, love gathering supplies, except I have a weird buyers remorse afterwards.  I don't morn the purchase just the loss of funds...  So my best defense is to think frugal and outside the box.  Sure, it would be so easy to run to town (Olympia that is) and buy what I need or order my 'stuff' on line.  Have I ever mentioned I don't tend to always take the easy route? 

So, I scout out the thrift stores for things I can convert, gut apart or use as is.  I use other artist's blogs and works as inspiration to look at items in a new way.  For instance,  don't you just love magnetic message boards and creative magnets!   Yet, you find you can never find one in the color or pattern you like or that will match you room.  I've seen all over the place how crafters will take a cheapy cookie sheet, paint it with a can of rattle paint in their color(s) of choice, add a picture hanging kit on back if needed and Wa-La!  Add magnets, hang on wall of choice and you're done. Of course there are many, many variations to this little craft, you are only limited by your own imagination.  You do have more of an imagination, you know!  You have just probably chosen not to trust yourself enough to let it out and color outside the lines.  Go for it!  Anyway, I digress we were going to catch up....

You may recall I had purchased a set of Pan-Pastels a while back.  I also signed up for a class using this lovelies at the same time.  My class was held the last week of June at: Art-N-Soul in Olympia.  We created a series of cards using the Pan-Pastels, nothing real extensive at all.  I learned a bit more about how I can use them in masking/layering techniques and I did enjoy sharing the experience of creating.  Here are my finished products, which do you think is my favorite?

Then came July.  We honestly did nothing special for July 4th this year.  It's pretty sad actually.  I had ALWAYS celebrated the Fourth in some manner from childhood, to parenthood into empty-nester.  This year we just didn't have it in us, Bill had to work on-call so we couldn't go anywhere and well, I don't like to go alone where's the fun in that I ask ya!  We did sit out on the deck after dark and watch all the firework displays going off all over town.  I was wrapped up in my snuggie eating an ice cream, if those of you in Texas can imagine that!  I'm betting next year will be better!  With the onset of July came me favorite part of summer....travel to my babies in Texas!~

I think they are starting to realize, that no matter how grown up they think they are, they are and will always be:  My babies~I love you guys to the moon and back.

I was sort of having mixed emotions about traveling to Texas the week or see before I was to leave.  I don't know if you are aware or not but see Texas is unique.  And in that I mean Texas doesn't have just Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.  Nope, not Texas, we do it up big on EVERY thing in Texas.  In Texas you have, Winter, Blizzard time, Spring, Tornado/Hail Season, Summer, Super Summer, Drought, Fall, Rain and More Rain.  Then the cycle begins again, but wait! There's more!  If you don't like the weather give it a few minutes, it'll change and fairly drastic too, except in Super Summer.  During this time of year, well, it's damn hot! That is all there is to it.

Again, I digress - forgive me.  My point was, I'm now in Washington State were if it gets anywhere near 80 degrees the natives think we are having a heat wave and face it, your body tends to acclimate to your environment over time.  I figured two years had gone by now and I had sort of adjusted to being out of the furnace.  I was worried I'd step of the plane in DFWhoo!

I stayed with my lovely sister-in-law and brother-in-law this trip, along with their cutie pie daughter.  That reminds me, I'm delinquent on sending my thank you note-oops better get on that one or I won't be welcome back.

The day after my arrival my darling grandson turned three years old.  Oh, my how time flies.  We took him to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch, hoping he might eat.  We were viewing it as a test run for Character Meals at Disney later this year.  Ummm, he failed the test.  He's going to be one hungry little man when he gets home from Disney, that's almost all I have to say about that!  Other than it taking for--ever to get our food he behaved very well.  We'll have to hope for faster service at Disney, crossing my fingers here.

Isn't he a cutie pie with that little pucker!

The next day was his party at Gatti Town.  Oh my goodness there was so much going on the poor child couldn't hardly focus on anything.  That being said, I think he had a blast.  I actually stole away with him all by myself into the arcade area.  We just strolled around alone, he lead the way and I trailed behind him. 

I was snapping pictures at about waist level of him trying to capture at least a few shots from his perspective.  I let him climb into every game console they had as long as it wasn't occupied.  Believe me, he had no fear of climbing into someones lap if it interested him, he only tried to do that once, it was so funny to me.  Anyway, he'd climb up handled the controls for a few seconds then move onto the next. He went all through the room like that, then went back for seconds on some of his favorites.  All without a swipe of the card or a coin in the slot!  Imagination is great!

Yes, my visit was focused around this little dude.  I miss not being able to go grab him up for a date night with Nana.  My daughter is great about keeping me posted on his doings and all but it's not the same as a slobbery kiss or hearing a pure gut wrenching laugh.  Oh well!  I keep telling her what a great place Shelton is for kids but she hasn't bought the idea yet.  What's a Nana to do but keep trying!?

I then went and spent a few days with MY Mom. It was a really nice visit.  We hung around the house and just visited, went to Allen and then Denison to my favorite store of almost all time....Hobby Lobby.  My sister stayed overnight and we laughed a lot together, it was great actually!  My brother dropped in one evening for dinner, we were doing it simple, hot dogs.  Jordan was actually with me.  We served Jordan a hot dog and he made the funniest face and squealed ewwwww!  I swear to this day it cracks me up to think about it.  I mean seriously, how many kids do you know that won't eat a hot dog of all things!?  I tried and tried but he would just turn away and squeal ewww!  I tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich next, to no avail.  My daughter keeps telling me he doesn't like PB&J like I do (it's still my favorite sandwich).  Funny thing here is earlier in this particular afternoon the kid had no problem eating peanut butter with Nilla wafers!  Anyway, he had hardly eaten all day, I was worried being a Nana and all.  I finally found a box of cereal to try on him, remember now I'm at MY mother's home and she isn't prepared for little ones.  Low and behold the boy likes Rice Crispy cereal even with out sugar poured all over it!



His daddy got a little concerned because he was eating cereal for dinner but I didn't care.  He was finally eating something that wasn't loaded with sugar or fat and that made Nana happy.

I left Mom's and headed back toward my sister-in-laws home for a few more days of their love and comfort.  We had a really great visit, at least I thought so.  It was kind of have a challenge for them because they were all still in work mode while I wasn't so we had to be mindful of a family's work week schedule.  I think we did pretty good with that overall.  They are wonderful host I might add.  I got to pick dinner just about ever night!  They took me to all my favorite 'have to eat here' places.  Anemia's in Flower Mound, mmmm love their crazy nachos and bean soup. 

Then there was Logan's Steak House in Lewisville, ya' I know I could have gotten this in the Northwest but hey, it's the dinner salad dressing and spices on these skewers that I was after.



I had a Bowtie Festival at Johnny Carinos along with a tasty Bellini and a wonderful mini Turimasu. Mmmm. I could so easily enjoy a repeat of this dinner right now and I just ate lunch!  Oh, well good thing I can't have it as I would probably be terrifically sick from over eating.

With all this wonderful food and there was more mind you.  I have to tell you my most favorite thing of all did not even register in my little brain until a few days into the trip.  Once I had my little paws on it there was no holding back.  To make things even more interesting, my sister-in-law had never experience the joy of this wonderful treat, she's now enlightened and joyful!

Ta-Da!  The most wonderful thing in dessert world,

especially when you can't just run out and grab some.

We all had a terrific visit all in all.  My niece drove in from Killeen and brought her beautiful baby girl to visit me.  Thanks Cynthia!  Sadly, it wasn't until I returned back home that I realized I didn't get to hug up our little June bug.  I reflected back on that and realized my sister snagged her up before I could and then it was nap time.  Darn!  Well, that's all good because they are moving to Colorado and I might just be able to make a weekend visit next spring!  Then there is the fact I was a bit distracted by the most entertaining man there.

This all takes us up through just the first two weeks of July if you can imagine that!  I'm going to stop this post here so you aren't too bored with this klip.  Check back in a day or two for more Klips from Kim and I'll show some small town fair entertainment.  Until then,

Hugs of Love,

Kim









Car Show and Charms

Oh my goodness!!!  Have you ever typed something with such excitement that you actually said something entirely different from what you meant to say?  You hit send and think all is well with the world, only it's not and you don't even know it yet.  Well, I did that today.  I felt so foolish when I realized what I had done, silly, silly, silly me.  I put out a correction and apologized for my blunder.  What else can a girl do?

I bought a raffle ticket for a beautiful car and posted this on my Facebook page via my cell (that's the root of the problem--posting from the cell).  Anyway, I wrote a caption stating I had purchased the winning ticket.  I think I wrote it out of context because at the time of purchase we were all kidding around that I had the winning ticket and stuff.  Apparently, my mind was still on that track and didn't switch to the HOPE part in time of texting.  The fact is the drawing isn't until April 2012.  It's for a wonderful cause, check it out:



1956 Chevy Bel Air 2 door Post Sedan or $25,000 cash
Friends of American Lake Veterans Golf Course 1st Annual Car Raffle
$10 per ticket
need more tickets call 253-589-1998 x305 for more info visit
www.veterangolf.org
Drawing April 16, 2012 5 pm

I have absolutely no clue if you have to be an in-state resident to win, you'd have to call and ask.  I do know it's a worthy cause.  They are helping the wounded veterans of this generation become active.  We have several members of our family and extended in active duty, these injuries could happen to any of them and we are blessed they have been kept safe from this harm.  If I should win the car, great!  The point it this is the least I could do to help others be restored to some activities in life many of us take for granted.  Do your part.

New Subject:

I have also been working on my Christmas projects this week and weekend.  I know, it's just the end of June but see these things take time and money.  I have a large family!  I'm one of four kids.  We average 2-3 kids who are now getting married and adding their partners, as well as beginning to blessing us with grandbabies too.  That may not seem like a lot for some folks but were I come from it's pretty big.  Would you like to take a peak at my pieces?

I'm trying out working with EnviroTex Lite an epoxy resin.  I don't get paid to work with this or anything.  I just ran across their blog and find it interesting.  I did resolve this year to do different kinds of crafts and art, so this qualified.  It seems pretty easy.  I made my first pour today.  I already think I messed up though.  You have to get the 2 part mixture done in equal parts.  I thought I had but after the pour, as I was cleaning up I noticed one bottle had a smidgen less remaining than the other.  Go figure.  Well, it'll take 24 hrs -72 hrs to know if it sets up hard enough.  I can already tell it's clear which is at least one worry dismissed.

I've also been working on some that have a base of abandoned keys and the parts of deconstructed watches and whatever else I find that looks like it might need a new purpose in life.

I have other types of charms that are pretty cute too and plans for more.  It's amazing what you can do with little bits and pieces of things if you just stop and think outside the box for a little while.

Well, I'm off now to play some more with my bits and pieces.  I'll try to get back here a little more frequently.  I've sort of slacked off in the last week or so mainly because I haven't felt to spiffy lately.  I'll be heading to Texas shortly, woo-hoo! I hope to have a few post ready to go before I leave and maybe a couple while I'm away.  Stay tuned for more to find out!

~hugs of love to all.

Monday Madness

Someone recently suggested we make Mondays longer.  I liked to have fallen out of my chair!  Could you just imagine how awful that could be.  However, if it happens to be one of your regular scheduled days off then longer might just be better.  Not so much for me, though. 

Weekend recap, nothing, nothing and more nothing.  Sorry but it's true I did much of nothing all weekend long.  I felt really bad physically.  My blood pressure is out of line and it's a big demotivator when your head feels like it's about to pop like a balloon.  The doctor has me keeping a journal of sort of my pressure readings through out the days.  I've started to think seeing these number might actually be exacerbating the situation, so I backed off the frequency to hopefully calm myself down.  We'll see.

Saturday, I did make my first time ever Strawberry & Banana slush smoothie.  M.m.m it was so good.  I drank it up before I could get a picture to mark the occassion but that's okay.  I made another Sunday and took it's portait before it was all gone.  My kids will probably laugh at this because they used to love to go get these.  My daughter tried and tried to get me to make them, I never did.  Guess that makes me a bad Mom on some level.  All I can say is, "sorry Kiddo! We'll make some when I visit!"

I did go into my craft room Sunday and try to take my self to a quiet place by creating.  It didn't work!  I played a little in my art journal.  Take a look.

Here are a few more pages from my journal I don't believe I've shared with you.  I hope you enjoy them.  They were really fun to do and ever so simple.  Pull out your 'crayons and markers' and make some art.  You're never to old to doodle or cut & paste.

~hugs of love.

Goodies from Texas

Don't you just love packages in the mail? 

I sure do and this one was a surprise.

So a while back I had asked my family to go through their jewelry boxes and send me their "junk" jewelry.  Things like broken watches, an unpaired earring, you know stuff you hold onto for some silly reason.  Well, dudette, they really got into it!  Today I received a box for of goodies.  Mom even had her co-workers and neighbors bringing her things for me.  Thank you, Angie, Joyce, Myra & daughter, and of course Mom!

You see I follow a very creative lady's blog:  Roni Johnson.  She held a charm swap which I participated in several months ago and has started another.  Go check her out: 

http://inkstainswithroni.blogspot.com/2011/06/altered-charm-swap-due-8-6-11-sign-ups.html

It was so much fun and so easy!  She'll lead you with ideas and then off you go!  Challenge yourself to do something different outside your comfort zone.  I think you will seriously find it rewarding.

That started my obsession with collecting bits and bobs.  Seriously, when I treasure hunt I'm looking for these orphaned pieces I can incorporate into a charm or other altered piece of wonderfulness.  It's amazing what you can do with the guts of a wrist watch or old alarm clock or a circuit board.  I also have another motive for collecting from my family in particular.  Take a look at what I created for my daughter which made little "Miss J" cry at Christmas (not that making my daughter cry was the goal mind you).

You will recognize some items store bought, sure.  Just keep looking.  The framed pictures are craft frames found in the jewelry section at places like Joann or Michaels.  I filled several of these with tiny prints of my grandson, then there is one of my daughter we got back in the 80's as a photo package deal and I did an image transfer of her man as a little boy.  The coins from Canada, Europe and Japan I added after I had holes drilled in them, this way she will never be broke (I didn't use US coins because they are harder to drill).  On the upper left side I altered an earring from my grandmother and my mother then added those. Although the fairy charm was store bought years ago for my own charm bracelet, I took it off (and she knows this) and added it to hers.  I should probably point out this is not a bracelet but a long rope like necklace.  This year for her birthday, I sent her a teeny-tiny bottle of sand we collected from Galveston years ago on a family vacation, this way she'd always have a little bit of home with her.  This all started by following a blog!

I thought this might be something I could carry over into my Christmas gift giving this year for other loved ones.  Which takes us back to needing the "raw" materials to work with.  In the box from Texas I found some fun stuff and had to go inside to really explore the contents.

I spent a short two hours going through it all.  Hubby actually got just a little grouchy for his dinner, (can you image that) but I ran and brought him back his favorite pizza so all was forgiven!

I have to say though this bit was my very favorite to explore.

There is absolutely nothing of monetary value here.  What is so valuable here are memories, see this jewelry box itself was my grandmother's.  The contents are mix of hers, my mothers and a few miscellaneous pieces.  There are several pieces I can recall have seen worn as a child.  I think I told you in a previous post my grandmother had given me a large amount of her costume jewelry over 20 years ago.  I believe she'd be happy to see I put her things to use in a second life, she was puzzled even back then I'd want her "junk" jewelry.  It's funny I can remember that conversation as if it were just a recent visit at her home yet it was about 22-25 years ago.  I've had the other pieces on display in my bedroom using a wire dress form, I may let it rest a while in it's former box.  I'll have to think about that because I really enjoy seeing her there every day.

Well that's what I was up to today.  That and an ugly sinus headache all day!  I'll need to get seriously busy for my gifts to be done in time for Christmas.  I do seriously highly recommend you commit and participate in the Inkstains charm swap.  There is nothing in it for me what so ever.  I just really enjoyed it and actually received charms made by others from all over the world.  The WORLD!  I have a hard time actually putting them to use but I do take them out every now and again and admire the craftsmanship and creativity.  For me it was more about the creativity:  "How in the world did they think to do that with this?"

So get out there, get out side your comfort zone, make life an adventure! (you'll see me say that often just ask anyone who knows me).  Enjoy!

~Hugs of Love