Le Fleurs ~ Adventures in Bib Necklaces

I have something huge in the works that wraps up this weekend.  I will be able to share more of that with you soon, but until then here is a little romantic piece to hopefully inspire you.

I created it for a "Ribbons & Fleurs Bib Necklace Swap" for my Marie Antoinette Mail Art group.  I really got in to the fabrics and making all different kinds of flowers.  A silk flower I just adored didn't make it in because the color wasn't just right.  I loved it so much that I made about 25 of them in a bunch of varieties to sell to my scrapbooking group.  I customized the center of one to use on my movie card.

Here are more close ups of the necklace I sent to my gal, Kim.  She requested muted colors, so I had a little free reign which was fun and stressful at the same time.  I have to admit I obsessed a bit over whether she would like it.  Turns out, she did.  :)  Hooray!!

Love and {{Hugs}}

I "Heart" Theater!

Don't you just love the movies?  This card was fun to put together once I came up with the idea.  I used this week's sketch from the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge.  Gotta love em for the inspiration they bring.  Thanks gals!  Creating this card triggered memories of all the phases I have been through with regards to theater.

• Riding in my aunt Cherrie's car to the movies with all the cousins, taking turns sticking our heads out the sun roof.
• The first movie I saw without my parents was Look Who's Talking. The beginning was pretty risque and embarrassing for my age.
• Ditching my mom to sit with a friend for Jurassic Park.  (Poor mother dear was totally freaked!)
• Edgar Allen Poe The Raven at Gammage.  (English geek, yes I am.)
• Titanic in the old Payson theater.
• Driving to Superstition with my older than high-school beau (now hubby) for a flick and a mall crawl.
• Renting movies and getting Papa Murphy's every weekend in Washington State.
• My virgin musical, Wicked.  Got hooked, saw Lion King & Little Shop of Horrors.  (Side story: Until the playbill was in my hand, I thought I was seeing "The Little Shop of Whores" about a man-eating plant. Hahahahaha!)
• Now movies are a. . . well, a delicacy to be savored when allowed the pleasure.

Isn't that fun when crafting helps you reminisce?  Maybe that's why I love this card so much.  Or maybe it's the awesome paper.  Don't you love Graphic 45?  I handmade the silk flower and customized the center beads to coordinate with the papers.  I used a cool curved stictch on my sewing machine to soften the straight edges.  Really I let the paper do the walking.  :)

 Thanks for stopping by.  Just think...tomorrow is Friday!  Celebrate!

"Hi" from the garden

Before I share my card with you I want to share a dream with you.  Not like an, "I aspire to do blank" type of dream, but a sleep (or really fitful sleep) dream.  In this dream, yours truly was The Next American Idol.  After I went through the doors at the end of winning it all, no news crews were there to meet me.  I was running around looking for Arizona's Fox 10 team for my time in the spotlight.  It was all very stressful, but exciting and amazing that I won.  (Chuckle.)  One good thing from the dream was that Jason (my hubby) was very proud of me, and that I think meant more than exposure I missed from the media.  Oi!  That's what I get for watching my DVR late late into the night.  Crazy dreams.  Now on to my card. . .

I just adore the Crafty Secrets brand Garden Creative Scraps that I got in my DT kit from Mystic Paper this month.  For this card, I layered several of them and stamped "Hi" right over the most muted pattern.  Then I used Stickles to add some sparkle to the blue words and the background of the garden tools.

Have you tried the Tim Holtz Distress Stickles?  They are amazing because they add a great touch, without being too Bling Bling.  Not that this girl doesn't love the shiny things in life.  I wanted this card to stay a bit more earthy and unisex.  I made the envelope from a sheet of the Domestic Goddess  paper.  This kit was a bit out of my frilly dilly box, and oh so fun!  Be sure to check out the blogs of my fellow team members, Sheri and Jenna to see their projects; or even better, visit Mystic to see them in person.

With all my heart, thanks for reading,

Tea Time

Tea for me or tea for you.  Tea for us because we're two.

I played the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge this week using the paper and embellishments from my Mystic Paper design team kit.  I love how Graphic 45 paper offers such versatility.  It's fun to study it and think of all the possibilities.  Like, "What can I do with this?"  My DT captain, Sheri, furthered the challenge by asking for two cards.  I enjoyed trying to give both cards a different feel.  Here is the first card.

The tiny card on the front is popped up and has two interactive flaps to open.

The inside of the card has a pocket for a tea bag with a strawberry Garden Creative Scraps label.  These Crafty Secrets sheets of labels were a blast to work with.

If you saw my gnome post, there I cut out individual images from the labels and used them as the gnome hat (a lovely rose print), the belt buckle and other garden frippery to tuck in here and there.  Come back tomorrow to see my second card for Mystic.

Love and big {{HUGS}} this beautiful Monday morning,

Happy Valentine's Day ~ 1950's style

I present to you another treasure from my grandfather's boxes.  This is a vintage valentine circa 1951. 

I love the inside nearly as much as the front.  You could use this image for wedding cards also.  Do I love it? Yes I do!

This card was mailed from my great-grandmother to my grandpa.

Funny how us mommas love our kiddos like nothin' else huh? My mom sent a valentine package for our family this year. Chocolate & books & stickers & lots of fun goodies.  After church today, the girls and I ate Sweethearts while we made cute foam ladybugs that I got from my scrappy secret pal.  It's so fun to be a kid again through the girls.  I have to admit, it's even better this time around seeing them experience the little things I have begun to take for granted.

Jump

I can't stand waiting to finish my cards for Mystic Paper before I reveal the first part of my DT assignment.  I'm really excited to share this french hanger project with you all.  It took me a couple days of obsessing over the beautiful paper to come up with the "Garden Gnome" idea.

My parents have a camper van (lovingly named "VanGo") they use to travel all over Arizona and other states and enjoy the wilderness, each other, and pre-retirement. One summer they traveled around with a ceramic "traveling" gnome. The whole thing had the feel of an inside joke, but that's mom and dad, incredible senses of humor.  The theme of my project finally became clear when I found the photo.

The precious baby is my dear aunt Amy at 6 months. My dad's youngest sister died about 3 years ago after only 42 years of life. When I get this back from Mystic I am giving it to my daddy. He is quite the gardener actually and I hope he loves this piece which commemorates aunt Amy's sprite-lyness and connection with nature.

 

I'm amazed when inspiration hits. The "ah ha" moment. Lightening shock. Like, "By George, I've got it!" And a little bit of pride for what my brain has envisioned.  It's a feeling always followed by an intense desire to create; to pull the vision from the dancing images and then to hope. To hope that when I manipulate the raw materials, the finished project will even fractionally live up to the dream. It's exciting.  Like leaping off a cliff into glossy water.  Whether or not the vision was everything I wanted, at least I jumped.

Part Trois ~ 3rd DT Kit

To top off a wonderful day with the girls, scrapbook stuff!  I love being on the Mystic Paper design team.  Such fun to look forward to something new to work on every month. 

Our new captain, Sheri, started off her role by giving us a cool assignment.  1 hanging item and 2 cards.  Check out Sheri and Jenna's blogs to see their kit's this month.  Here are my pretties:

And the reverse side of the papers:

They are from Graphic 45's Domestic Goddess line.  I also got a half sheet of Crafty Secret's Garden Creative Scraps, Prima flowers, 2 trims, and a french hanger.  Score!!  I have already begun the hanging project which just needs a few more little things.  Wait until you see it.  Sorta vintage, very garden, but not what you would expect.

Until next time... {{HUGS}}

The Calm ~ Part Deux

So after hitting the thrift stores Monday, Mary and I drove across town to meet Alex for lunch.  We showed her a sandwich & coffee place/yoga studio called Inside the Bungalow.

  

Adorable and perfect for even more soul cleansing time out with my girls.  :)  But most of all, Yummo!  Very simple.  Very good.  Alex and I had the Gobble it Up sandwich with turkey, avocados, and tasty pesto.  Smart Mary was thinking about tryptophan drowsiness and opted for the Waldorf sandwich.  I also ordered a coconut flavored Italian soda which they make with cream soda vs ginger ale so it's sweeter, always a plus for me.

My girlfriends are such a huge blessing.  They are strong women and being around them is always uplifting.  It blesses me to be there for them too.  It's like I find a little piece of me when I am out with them.  That little piece becomes concrete, like a step.  Knowing who I am is helping me be a better wife and mother.  I'm so grateful.

I am also grateful for all the neat scrapbooking opportunities that have come my way.  Stay tuned tomorrow for Part Trois ~ My 3rd Mystic Paper Design Team kit.

The Calm ~ Part 1

Oh hallelujah! The cliche reversed and The Calm came after The Storm.

Monday I took Izzy for a follow-up with her pediatrician.  A-Okay!  The bite did not go entirely through her tiny tongue and I got to stop giving her the antibiotics which she flat refused and were only preventative anyhow.

The good news from the doc was a start and I let the soul cleansing commence.  My friend Mary and I hit our favorite thrift stores.  I scored the most fabulously mauveish-nude colored lace trim for $0.75 and a McCall's magazine from 1970 with a Thanksgiving Betsy McCall paper doll and a Campbell's soup kid add inside for a quarter!  I was doing a little dance for only spending $1 total.

  

The Storm

The Storm last week came before The Calm this week.

Wednesday I started on the South Beach diet (which has worked for me before), determined to finally begin to lose weight.  A compilation of weight from being pregnant or nursing for nearly 2 years, eating with my kids who breakfast (then snack) then lunch (then snack) then supper.  Add to that, birth control and ~ let's face it ~ depression medication for a sad funk that I couldn't get out of, my husband losing his job and the holidays: and here I am today, weighing as much as I did at the very end of my pregnancies. - - - -

- - - - Decided I must truly bear all and post this. . . A few weeks back someone I know (not too well) put her hand on my belly and asked, "When did this happen?"  Mortified, but trying to save her I discreetly offered, "Oh no, I'm not pregnant."  She argued with me like I was fooling her, "Yes you are!"  Completely degrading right?  I am trying hard to get over it, which is why I nearly left this out of my post.  Onward now. - - - -

I spent Thursday enjoying my salads and even salmon for dinner.  Diet on track.

Sometime Friday, my 2 day, caffeine withdrawal headache went away.  A relief.  That evening, after preparing for weeks, I co-taught a cookbook class in my home, recipe exchange/potluck style.  Very fun, but extremely exhausting.  Especially the part where (after no diet-cheating for 3 days) I had to restrain myself from the vittles which were all desserts, my weakness.  You should have seen me swoon when a gal took the lid off the Scotcharoos.  Death by chocolate whiff.

Early Saturday morning, my maternal grandpa died.  My parents headed to Wyoming.  We couldn't possibly go to support them because money is tight and we couldn't risk the chance that Jason may get a call to work.  Right now he is contracted with a local survey company, but does not have a full-time position there yet.  (We're praying.)

I decided with only some regret to quit my diet.  My reasoning... I have already given up too much, namely over excessive shopping in a down and dirty heart to heart with Jason recently, and food just makes me feel good.  I got out of bed and ate a Scotcharoo, an Italian Wedding cookie and a Peanut Butter Chocolate No-Bake cookie with a Diet Pepsi for breakfast.

I felt better.  A lot better.  Is that sick?

Sunday, Isabella went down for her morning nap and yelped the oddest scream cry 15 minutes later that I went to check on her right away.  There was blood on her teeth and little paisley sheets.  She uses the wooden crib rail as a teether (shiver), so I figured she was cutting a molar.  But there was a lot of blood, and on closer examination I found a deep gaping gash on her tiny tongue.  It's a good thing Jason was sitting down or else I might have had to mop up his blood too.  I was really worried by the size and depth of the bite, so I put her in the car and drove to the ER alone.  No sutures thank goodness.  She's a trooper and hardly cried, but I could barely keep it together this time.  (As you know, this is my 2nd trip to the ER for mouth wounds in less than a month.)

My husband was, I'll say "Out of order" and my mommy was out of town dealing with her own grief far worse than mine.  Now the song lyrics come to mind, "I've been down, I've been downhearted babe."  I had this hole.  This empty space.  This longing for comfort.  The cool thing is I realized my God is the only one who could fill it.  Somehow He is helping me live.  And be.

Gift from a friend

Look at this amazing wreath my dear friend Alex made me.  She brought it over on Tessa's birthday and it was perfect in the dining room as another decoration with all the "fancy" plates.  Right after the party I took it down and gave it a home in my happy place.  Can you guess the wreath's secret ingredient?  Coffee filters!  Isn't that amazing?  Check out Alex's beautiful blog to see how she did it.