Allow Me To Introduce...

Bianca and her friend, Miss Swallow. They managed to lure me away from my previous intentions of cleaning this afternoon. Begged and pleaded with me to escape with them, but I graciously declined. After a quick jaunt they promised to return and help keep watch over my wishes which I plan to hide inside the box they sit atop. What good peeps they are!

This was one of the Bellatoria projects courtesy of the oh so imaginative, Sandra Evertson. She truly is a paper artiste creating one of kind characters embellished with glitter, crepe paper and all manner of craft store goodies. I often chuckle when I see her creations because they are so magical and fairytale like. Oh to be endowed with such originality! I loved this and it really didn't take much time at all to assemble. I had attempted one of the projects from Sandra's book, Fanciful Paper Projects before, but for some reason didn't finish. Same basic concept, but I guess I just gave up too easily. Maybe now I'll go back and try it again. I'd also like to have her book Fanciful Paper Flowers. Check out Sandra's BLOG to see more of her art or the current issue of Romantic Homes magazine. The issue includes a complimentary project from Sandra for readers to complete.

Been thinking about all the projects I used to do with my mom alot this weekend. This is a project she would try. Although, I have to admit she would probably be tempted to make her own box instead of using a purchased one like I did. Once we made hat boxes literally sewing them together and then covering them with wallpaper. I still have the heart shaped one she helped me to make.

Oh, I need to go. Bianca and Miss Swallow have returned from their ride so I need to get the window open for them. I see she's brought me a little posey-how sweet!

Button, Button

Do you remember the game Button, Button. Who's got the button? Loved that game as a little girl. And my love affair with buttons didn't end there. Today, I truly have the buttons!

My favorite store, Robin's Nest had a HUGE sale today and I scored big time in the button department. I don't know if you can tell just how large a container these are in (got this there as well in my favorite hob knob milk glass), but these are just the white, cream, gold and silver buttons from today's purchase.

This is after I sorted them-the red and yellow ones with the yellow thimble and red buckle are so fun. It was like a treasure hunt within a treasure hunt searching for one more special after the other as I dug through each bag. Lots of shoe buttons, cut glass and pretty, pretty blue and pink. I even grabbed up the sweet little basket they were all stacked in along with a few button cards.

Not sure what it is about me and buttons. Maybe it's because my mom has always been a seamstress. I remember a large round metal tin she had when we were growing up that was decorated with an oriental pattern. My mom used to store buttons and extra sewing notions in it. Whenever we would need an item for a school or craft project she would send us to look in the tin for something we might be able to use. There were always buttons. And a favorite toy my mom used to make us (and now the grandkids) was made with an oversize button and string-I loved the magic and whirring sound these two simple items produced. There is something comforting and familiar about buttons to me and their texture can add so much to the things I like to create. So this was button heaven for me today!

It was so much fun racing to be one of the first ones there on a dreary day I would've just rather slept in. Turned out to be SO worth getting up and out early today. Got several other great items including this lampshade I'll switch out for summer (only $5!)

and this, this was my very favorite purchase of the day-besides the buttons, of course!

Can you imagine who might have been lucky enough to carry this to school? Well, now it will house some of my vintage supplies. Fun, fun, fun!

I vowed to go home and get everything cleaned up and put away to store for future use so I'd better finish up. I'm even super motivated to get down to the studio to work on sorting and purging. Better run as the day will be over before I have a chance to get much accomplished. Think I'll work a little and then play a little-several projects I want to work on and/or finish up.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Wish I May, Wish I Might

Not really a voracious reader like the rest of my family-unless you count blogs and magazines, but here are some books currently on my wish list.

<-------- just found that this is coming out very soon-can't wait

<-------- i've been wishing for this for awhile now-wishin' & waitin'

Speaking of magazines, I'm already counting the days until the newest Somerset Life comes out (April 1st). Lots of my favorite artsy gals are included. And I'd like to get my hands on a copy of Romantic Country-the office of Heather Bullard of Present Past fame is in included.

As you can tell, I am in full on accomplish NOTHING mode this week. We are all off our regular routines since sweet boy is still on Spring break. With no TV to tempt me tonight, I'm hoping to get a few things done as I gear up for the weekend. Guess I'd better get after it. Toodles!

Tea for ONE

Rounding out my extended holiday weekend with a lovely cup of tea this afternoon complements of my swap partner, Cindy from YappingCatStudio.typepad.com. As part of the Bellatoria eZine, I participated in the Queen's Tea Swap and was delighted to receive my package from Cindy today. Inspired by the tea and traditional biscuits she sent, I pulled out a pretty cup and saucer and prepared a little afternoon tea fit for a Queen-a lemon bar, fresh strawberries and cream and of course, biscuits. YUM! Why don't I do this more often-what a treat! Here's a peek at a couple of favorites included in the package I received.



Her handwriting is tres magnifique! love the HRH, especially. Look at all the detail she added to the harlequin pattern and the queen herself. This is the cover of a journal. It IS good to be the Queen!





And this is a darling keyring I've already added to my keys. Thanks, Cindy. She even addressed the package to Queen Patti-yeah, Brady got a big kick out of that. Jeff just rolled his eyes and said, "she got that right"!


Earlier today, we met Jeff's folks for an early lunch in celebration of Linda's birthday. I was so excited, but nervous for her to open her gift. Enjoy wrapping gifts for her-she enjoys it so and I love that! Here's a peek...








Loving these butterflies that come with the Shabby Chic gift wrap set at Target-the paper is really nice quality, too.






The birthday girl with her gift-made with love.



To my delight, I think she really liked the journal I assembled for her to use as either a prayer or travel journal for her speaking engagements. This was modeled after the one I purchased from Rebecca Sower's etsy shop. I wanted Linda's to have a bit more detail and in her colors though so I made one myself using Rebecca's as inspiration. Love the idea of the cabinet card for the cover and kept it simple for this one, but Rebecca embellishes the photos with wings or crowns which is very cool. Used some of the ideas I picked up from the Red Lead girls, too-pockets, tabs and using the Lumiere paint on top of acrylic paint (on corrugated cardboard)-one of my favorite things. All in all, I think it went over well.




Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. We had a very quiet one with lots of time to reflect on the true meaning of this special day. A little different as it was just the three of us and we woke up to snow which continued off and on throughout the day, but good nonetheless. Old man winter just doesn't seem to want to let go! Got some things marked off my to do list and Brady and I even managed to get to the movies. A little R&R is good. Here are a couple other photos from today for the grandma's and the aunties who frequent my blog.





The boy loves his Mee-Moo! (And Grandma Swan, too!)



I'm off to work on the Sandra Evertson project from Bellatoria-it's SO very Sandra-love it!
Have a great week!

Randoms Unplugged

Well, I'm afraid this may be my last blog post for several days as I have been "grounded" due to my lack of attention to the house and other important family matters. I just realized today that I haven't purchased an Easter outfit for Brady and Easter is Sunday! So perhaps my grounding is warranted. At any rate, it's good to unplug a little every now and again. So, that's the plan. But before I sign off for a few days I wanted to get a few thoughts out of my head. (Maybe the title of this entry should really be Randoms Unleashed!)

We are getting a TON of rain here with flash flooding in some areas. Pray with us that our sump pump keeps pumping. The moment it stops we're in big trouble! With the rain comes lots of green though. Have you noticed little by little the gray and brown is being replaced with green? Still waiting for the first glimpse of forsythia and red bud blooming.

This month is flying by and the fact that Easter is so early doesn't help. In fact, here's a bit of trivia I found really interesting:

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here's the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year

I'm hoping the Old Farmers Almanac is wrong and that the HUGE snowstorm they are predicting for April does not come to pass. Man, would that be a BUMMER! My brother told me the Almanac has predicted the others we've had this year within a couple days. Hmmm...

Missed the Dancing With the Stars premiere last night, but hoping to catch up tonight. Anxious to see how Steve Guettenberg and Marlee Matlin do. Do you have a favorite yet? Who would you like to see on that show? I think Priscilla Presley is a pretty interesting contestant. Someone said Bill Clinton would be interesting, too. What about Martha Stewart? She's always wanting to learn new things.

Starting to really get into this season of American Idol now. Takes me awhile to get invested in some of the contestants. My favorite is David Cook who did an awesome job on Eleanor Rigby last week. And I love the Beatles as much as the next person, but why are they doing another week of that?!?

We love our Sunday School kids. Some of them have been in our class for nearly three full school years. We're going to miss them when they move up to the next class, but we love how we have seen them grow physically and spiritually. Several new kids recently, too who are adding a lot to our class.

Speaking of American Idol, my sister loaned me her Elliot Yamin cd. Can't remember which season he was in, but I love that cd! Have you heard it? Very laid back groove to it. Think about all the Idols who have made it that didn't win or who weren't even in the final three. Man! one of my favorites in that category is Chris Daughtry. Some of them end up being far more successful than the actual winners. Interesting.

Decided to participate in my first swap as part of the Bellatoria e-Zine. The theme was The Queen's Tea so anything crown or tea related-purchased or handmade. Mailed my items today and I'm SO glad to have that finished. Guess that's one of the reasons I never participated in a swap of any kind before-I over think it WAY too much. Just ask the 4 or 5 people I've driven crazy by asking them about it over and over for the last two weeks! Or the UPS guy who looked at me like I was from another planet when I asked him to " please sprinkle this (printed pink shreds) over the top of the items before you put in the last layer of peanuts". Yea, he didn't appreciate it like I thought he might! :)

Since I had to delay my shipment until today, I decided last night to go ahead and try to make something to send as well. I'd been thinking about this for at least a week anyway so might as well give it a whirl, right? Well, this is what I came up with-mind you, it is only partly original. I was totally inspired by a peek HERE at one of the classes Pam Garrison is teaching in Paris and imagined that this is what her project might look like (minus the Eiffel Tower and all). I was really happy with how it turned out and was particularly pleased with the glittered bird which I traced and cut out since I couldn't find the right chipboard bird to purchase. And the other thing I really, really liked was how the little bit of paper shred under the bird's feet seemed to be just the little something to keep the whole thing from looking too flat-that was totally Pam Garrison. I can't wait to make one for myself, but not for awhile. I need to finish some other projects and get busy cleaning up my various messes around here. And buy Brady an Easter outfit!

See, I told you it was an explosion of randomness. Here's to being unplugged--until I return, dear readers!

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

They say that everyone is Irish on St Patrick's Day. But I'm proud to say that I am Irish thanks in part to my beloved Grandma-Anna Irene McDonald. As my dear husband has said to me on many an ocassion-what's the big deal about being Irish anyway? To me, to be Irish means...

you have fortitude

you are grateful for the land

you value family and community

you have pride of God and country

you carry a song in your heart and a twinkle in your eye

you believe in the magic of the world around you

you treasure the comfort of your mother's home, a good pot of stew

and the loyalty of dear friends

And so I treasure this day in all it's revelry and celebrate all that it means to be Irish.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

to be Irish

is to embrace all that was

with the hope of all that can be

to smell the clover across oceans

to take her heart wherever life leads

to wear history like a medal

and to hear the wind whisper over the moors

from a poem by Becky Crist

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. -Ernestine Ulmer

As is typical for me, I've already planned the table decorations LOOOONG before planning the actual Easter meal. Yep, and this was the inspiration. My first completed Bellatoria project.

I had SO much fun with this. I used vintage earbobs, millinery and mother of pearl buttons. Added a little wallpaper scrap and some glitter and TA-DA! instant crowning glory. She was supposed to get a "welcome" sash, but I wanted to use the rosaries I've been collecting instead. Poor thing, she's one of those pieces that comes with a tag that says, "not for outside use". Yeah, well, I didn't pay attention to that and now she's flaking and looking very shabby-don't look too close. IRL she is really very pretty with all her finery.

Although we may or may not have a sit down meal for Easter Sunday, at least we already have the centerpiece!

Feather your NeST

In my momentary cleaning mode this weekend, I was feeling rather satisfied with myself and while at Target was looking at this candle thinking it might keep my homekeeping mojo going. In fact, I had looked at this candle so many times on other trips to Target that Brady finally said to me on Saturday, "Mom! just buy it for crying outloud!" So I did. It's so clean and fresh and SO not my usual vanilla. And it IS doing it's part to help me stay a little more on track with the picking up and cleaning around here. I don't know what happened to me. I did pretty good around the holidays and after the first of the year, but sometime during the month of February I just lost control. And it shows!

So I'm sorting and cleaning and weeding through. And finding inspiration to keep motivated. A daily source of inspiration for me comes from Rebecca Sower. I wish I could adapt her gentle attitudes in my own life. She is so inspiring whether or not you are artistique or trying to stay motivated to clean. Saw this on her blog HERE and so had to pull out this silver tray I found while shopping last summer for Grandma Alice's soiree and give it the Rebecca treatment. Now if that doesn't inspire more spring cleaning and nesting, I don't know what will.

Need to breathe some life into our surroundings in a big way. As Spring makes her grand entrance we'll have a hearty list of things to accomplish so we're making our list and prioritizing. Along with some unfinished projects from this winter it will be nice to realize some of these to completion. But for now, we catch up on the basics and make lists of things that need to be cared for once the weather breaks. And find inspiration not only from the blooms peaking out and the occassional warm sunny day, but also from the pages of the newest ME Home Companion magazine.

My issue arrived today with features on two of my favorite blog girls-Heather Bailey and Jenni Bowlin.

This is Jenni's featured project. Besides the birds and the buttons, I just love the whole sentiment behind this project. I have two little bird cages like that in my trunk just waiting to be revamped-may have to use this idea for one of them. (Don't ask why they're in my trunk!)

I had a fairly productive weekend overall and even managed to get a couple creative things going.

Making these inspired by the Red Lead gals for teacher gifts. Covering those box lids is not as easy as it looks, but I love all the layers and how the gold pulls it all together. Also, started working on a little something for the Sunday School kids using the new Garden Party paper from Making Memories .

Need to have 18 more completed by this weekend to distribute since we won't have class on Easter Sunday. Still didn't get to my Bellatoria project, but I'm going to work on it a little tonight-my reward for getting the rest of the kitchen picked up. So hopefully, I'll have something to share tomorrow.

Finally, I haven't found something in awhile where I screamed in the store and then have to look around and make sure noone's looking at me like I'm crazy.

But I found this at TJ Maxx on Sunday. Beautiful photos, great projects with instructions and only $4.99!

Other terrific finds at Marshalls and the local antique mall-could've spent twice as much there especially, but I didn't. See? I'm getting better. Now, if I could just stop obsessing over the stuff I passed up!

Okay, gotta go or I won't get anything accomplished today. BTW, there's a great little essay at the end of the ME Home Companion magazine about mom's who sew for the family. Yep, couldn't read it without crying-love you, Mom. Hope you're having a good day today.

Until tomorrow, I'll be the one shakin' my tail and struggling to feather my nest. Or at least getting the laundry put away and the kitchen table cleaned off!

Weekend To Do List

• Clean bathrooms
• Brady's ballgame
• thrifting for supplies
• barnes & noble - maybe, maybe not
• target - my weekly trip
• easter tags
• bellatoria projects-can't wait to do these!
• a little springy something for my sister - hopefully
• grocery shopping (maybe at Trader Joe's)
• oh, and RELAX

off to bed so I can get an early start. want to make the most of my weekend. ;)
hope you enjoy yours to the fullest!

The Harbinger of Spring

I saw a little Robin today

said I, "Welcome! Welcome! Come and stay."

She winked at me as if to say,

"Spring will soon be on it's way."

I actually saw two or three outside my window at work today. One was gathering supplies for her nest. They all looked ready to settle in and stay for awhile. Sure hope so! It's always so exciting to spy the first ones returning from their winter homes. Now I'm ready to start seeing the forsythia and red bud trees begin blooming!

Everyone Loves A Cupcake

By now it's pretty clear that I've become an e-Zine addict. Miss Foof herself is at it again and the newest Bella e-Zine sounded just TOO good to pass up. This round will include 3 guest artists including the delighfully whimsical Sandra Evertson. WOW! The fun begins for subscribers on March 5th so if you're interested in this technique based online mag check it out HERE.

Can't remember which e-Zine this came from, but these projects were made with a template created by T McFayden.

This little canvas was inspired by another e-Zine participant. I looked for DAYS to find a picture frame like the one used for the original project and then when I saw this I wished I would have thought of using a canvas.

So when I came up with this take, I was proud of myself for breaking out of the box a little-it's baby steps, you know. The base is a Jenni Bowlin BINGO card that I altered with a word she didn't have in her line - Yet!

Looking forward to doing another spin on this template for a precious little gal's first birthday. Then I will have made something handmade for a ONE year old and a ONE HUNDRED year old's birthday. Surely that could be used as a tagline or something! ;)

Off to basketball and a movie with Brady and his best buddy/cousin Matt this morning. More to come of the crafty-ness later this weekend, hopefully. Stay tuned!

Leapin' LiZardS!

It's Leap Day! and the sun is shining and it is 50+ degrees and it is the weekend! Those are reasons enough to celebrate indeed! Been wondering all week how to celebrate this infrequent holiday so yesterday I decided to grab Brady off the bus after school and make a mad dash (in rush hour traffic no less) to one of my all-time favorite stores. Yep! that's right-RED LEAD! You've probably guessed I don't need a particular reason go there!






Look at the stash I brought back with me?!? Yes, I know. I didn't need any of it, but that place just ooozes creative inspiration goodness. I just couldn't help myself. If it's any consolation, I was able to stick to my list for the most part. I know I've said it many times, if you are local and you have never been you MUST go.


Do not delay.


go.


now.


quickly.


Well, okay. I realize you might not be able to drop everything and go right this instant, but at the very least, check out their webstore HERE-especially if you are not in the vicinity to go to their physical store. I was particularly inspired by all of the yellow and green they had going on yesterday and my two new fav things there are the teeny-tiny pom pom trim and the buttons by the scoop. Some of their ideas just stop me in my tracks-literally. Love what these gals come up with! I know you will,too.





Can't wait to dig into all my goodies. Lots going on as usual this weekend, but I'm definitely working in some crafting goodness and hopefully will have much to show for it come Sunday evening. Starting with this evening, I am cranking up the music and getting my glitter on! May even try to work in a little Sweet Bella action as this is the last day for it. Ended with a bang, though-just love the final project. One of those-why didn't I think of that kinda things!?!





So! how are you celebrating leap day? Does it make you want to use exclamation points like me?! I think I'm addicted or maybe just really happy to see the sun and know that it's Friday!

Did I Mention...

that I am sick of winter?!? It doesn't help that we have been very fortunate the past several years to have had very mild winters. It only makes the current seem worse than it actually is, but seriously I'm SO over these grey days and cold temperatures!


that I am loving the color YELLOW right now. I'm sure it's in direct relation to the previous observation, but it is also everywhere. Have you noticed? Guess I've always kind of been drawn to it (main interior paint color of our house), but I even recently purchased a yellow sweater and I'm on the look out for a pair of flats to match.




that my baby is now in the double digits? Oh, my! yes it is true. In spite of his very crabby momma who was succumbing to the flu this weekend, he says he had "the best birthday ever". Seriously thankful that he is more like his laid back daddy than his uptight momma. We did have a good time despite some snafu's like the totally popular new bowling alley having a 2 hour wait for lanes and dragging the cake and ice cream here and there.



that I've managed to apply my stockpile of vintage wallpaper to my studio wall? and I'm liking it aLOT. Now just have to keep hunting for more paper-that's half the fun. I was able to cover half of the wall with what I had collected, but started in the middle and worked outward just in case I changed my mind so that I could frame it like an oversize piece of artwork. (BTW, thanks for that tip, Mom!) Hope to get back down there later this week to keep working on the piles. It's SO frustrating looking for stuff I know I have and not being able to locate it. Seriously trying to purge in a major way.


that I have only made a couple things from the Sweet Bella e-zine and it's almost over. So sad. It's not like I can't do the projects later, but I actually like to do them along with the posts. Oh, well. Some of them have been techniques I've been wanting to try anyway like using beeswax and dying ribbon and paper. Something to look forward to when time allows.


that my new guilty pleasure is Lipstick Jungle on Thursday nights. Watching it for Andrew McCarthy-remember him? Always liked him, Timothy Hutton and John Cusack-notice a pattern?


I'm way behind and it's only Tuesday. With busy weekends back to back and coming down with the flu and crashing yesterday it's put me behind before I even got out of the gate. So I'd better get with the program around here. Hoping to catch up and even make a real dinner on Thursday night- a new recipe I want to try from Everyday Food. Looking forward to using a new book my mom got me too, Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious. Great looking book and interesting approach to getting vegi's into non-veg eaters.


Oh, one more thing-I'm interested in the new Oprah book selection-"A New Earth", but wondering what the deal is with it. Anyone reading this? Email me if you are. Very curious to know what it's like. She's hosting an online class with the author that has a staggering number of people registered. And did you know she purchased the Discovery Health channel? Anyway, email me if you are reading the book-have some questions.

It's A Good Day For...

staying in, cuddling up with a good book or movie. I got this one from Jeff for Valentine's Day and due to an early "release" from work due to the weather, I'm going to indulge with a big bowl of popcorn and watch it.

I'm not a big Jane Austen fan, at least of the books. I have seen many movie adaptations and enjoy them a great deal. So I know if I took the time to read I would like them alot. However, this piqued my interest and I know just enough about the Austin heroines to be intrigued by this little quiz. Check it out just for fun.

Now if you will excuse me, Mr McAvoy awaits.....

SPRING DREAMS

Oh, how I dream of all things spring! I definitely have the winter blah's and I'm growing more and more eager for Spring to arrive. This past Saturday, I popped in to Willow Lake, another one of my favorite shops here in town. I was delighted by all of the wonderful spring things that greeted me including this from a company called, ESC Trading Company.

Loved the glitter and the font, but especially loved how well made (of wood) and reasonably priced it was (less than $20.00). In addition to a wonderful selection of decorative items from the likes of Seasons of Cannon Falls and Bethany Lowe, they also offer unique vintage and antique items which can be incorporated into decor from traditional to cottage. I loved the old movie film reels they have right now-would make a great gift for my son, Cam with his film interests. They also have several old cameras right now and a wicker chest that pulls out for additional display or organzing space-very old and very shabby chic! But, this is what I couldn't resist-I just couldn't go home without it.

The little blue bird on the side was purchased there as well and is from the Bethany Lowe collection. The stand itself is quite something and I plan to fill the cage with glittered eggs for Easter and afterwards it will find a home in my studio and can be used to display all sorts of fun things-flowers, party hats, the occassional fairy who comes to visit. In fact, I'm thinking of putting some sort of paper-crafted birthday cake or one of my party hats in it for Brady's birthday this weekend. Oh, and see how the door says "CROWN"?-loved that!

If you are local, take in a breath of Spring at Willow Lake. The owner, Eileen is a sweetie and is always willing to let you bounce ideas around with her. She also carries a collection of jewelry by local artists and other great gift items. With the weather forecast they've predicted for us beginning tomorrow, I may just have to stop in there again soon myself. Spring can not get here soon enough for me!

P.S. I'm sure my sister is wondering if I'll be able to actually use the bird cage with my germ-a-phobia and all. Don't worry. As soon as it's warm enough it'll get a good scrub down. Until then, I'm trying not to think about it-it was just too good to pass up!

Dwell on These Things

Inspired by Sandra Evertson, we made these in Sunday School today. Well, attempted to make them anyway. We are learning about our spiritual armor and today's lesson was about the Helmet of Salvation. I thought it would be fun for the kids to learn how to fold a hat/helmet out of newspaper and then of course, we had to gussy them up a bit. Then I had them cut apart key phrases of the memory verse and it became a learning tool. Add a little glitter glue in lieu of glass glitter and TaDA! Well, that was the grand plan anyway. We were short of tools and just not enough helping hands. Only about half of the kids got theirs completed. Guess I was a little over ambitious. In fact, none of the boys got finished so we'll finish them up next week. AND no snack today-they love snacktime when we catch up about everything that's happened in their lives over the week. They weren't very happy when they all left. :(

But all in all a very fun project and such a great reminder...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Phillipians 4:8

Just Playin'

Okay, I just couldn't wait any longer to try and see what this would look like. Using teacher's putty, I started putting a few pieces up on the wall. However, it doesn't really give the full effect. In fact, I've had a hard time getting the putty to stick to some of the more fragile pieces, but you can kind of get the idea. I think I'm going to go for it, but want to play around with it a bit more before I totally commit. But before I do anything I have to do a HUGE purge. So that's what I'm going to do tonight and tomorrow. Purge, purge, purge. Hopefully, this will motivate me to stay on task and get this long over due clean up completed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope this day finds you feelin' the love. Planning a very simple dinner for my very uncomplicated husband tonight. He's definitely a steak and potato kinda guy! He'll have to wait until this weekend for his Red Velvet Cake though-sorry, baby. I've got my fingers crossed for a new DVD that came out on Tuesday-we'll see. I'm afraid it's not going to be the most romantic of evenings. Oh, well. Can't have that EVERY year. One of our favorites was the one we spent watching The Notebook together. And last year was pretty great when we ended up with a snowday around the 14th and made Red Velvet cupcakes all afternoon. See? It'll have to be pretty great to top those!

Whatever you have planned just remember--all you need is love. Love is all you need.

Weekend Creative

Borrowing my entry title from Ali Edwards today. A couple weeks ago, Ali began posting a Weekend Creative every Friday-a project or prompt to get your creative juices flowing. Check out this week's project and the inspiration for it HERE. This was my version of the project.

Decided my junk store frame was better suited for this application. All of the butterflies were punched from a sheet of collage paper by Pam Garrison from Somerset Studio magazine. Oh, except for the black and white striped one-that came from a piece of junk mail-TOTALLY inspired by Ali. Love that she is always on the look out for everyday things that can be used in her art. The punch is from the Martha line at Michaels-love the detail of the silouhette and that by folding the wings up they magically become dimensional. This was a very doable project and although not necessarily on my list of things to get done this weekend, I just couldn't stop thinking about it and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Anyway, here are a few other things I worked on this weekend. This one is part of the Sweet Bella e-Zine. Love this drawing of the little girl sitting amongst her toys with her dolly. The pink shading is floral spray paint-loved this tip. Dries super duper fast and is great for adding a light mist of color to paper. Would still like to add a little sparkle if I can get my hands on some platinum Stickles. The backside is a book cover-one of those Reader's Digest ones from the junk store. Just couldn't bear to cover up this sweet deer and of course love the pink and blue. The original idea was done on an oversize playing card and meant to be "traditional" valentines. Just can't resist danglies so I threaded mine on seam binding-Martha's, of course!

This one is from Winter e-Zine and I've been working on these for awhile now. See? These aren't even finished yet! Wasn't terribly difficult, but had to do a couple layers of the glitter since it is so fine. Each little shadow box is actually a Necco coversation heart box and the original idea was to string them together with ribbon and tulle for a banner. In order to spread the handmade Valentine wealth, I decided to layer them on top of small canvases-an homage to my pals at Red Lead. I like how they're turning out.

Hoping to put together a couple more and some other bits and bobs before V-day. Here's what Brady took to his Sunday School helper today. He was a reluctant cupid to say the least. :)

Still dreaming about that vintage wallpapered wall and ordered a paint sample today-sandcastle from Dunn Edwards. Thinking of using that in my art room and in our master bedroom/bath. We'll see. Those are things for another Weekend Creative or at the very least another week! Alas, being creative means the house is a shambles, hubby is crabby and I'm not ready for the week to begin. Better go!