POM POMS

Just couldn't resist bringing these home with me from my mom's house earlier this week. The bush is just loaded. Man! they are spectacular.

Had my first quilting lesson this week, too. Silly, me. Thought I was just going to tear it up with the rotary cutter and get all my pieces cut in one night. Little did I know all the prep work involved in beginning a new quilting project. Managed to get all the strips cut for the first colorway and assembled three 6 inch blocks. WOO-HOO!!! Only 45 more to go! I think once I get into the groove it will go quicker, but want to do a good job so don't want to rush either. There is so much to learn, but I'm learning from the best. Hope I can do her proud.

I titled this post POM POMS at first because of the flowers. We've always called them snowballs, but I've also heard them called Pom Poms and lately I have been thinking about my Mom and how she has always been my biggest cheerleader. Sometimes without my knowing and often without me realizing it.

Recently, I had to attend a rehearsal several miles from our home. Since it was a bit of a drive on a windy road and I'd be coming back after dark my mom offered to ride along with me. We had a nice visit on the way to our destination as we recounted stories and events from years ago as we made our way through several small towns in which much of our family had lived. I was very nervous about going to this rehearsal as I have not sung and performed other than a few isolated occassions for some time and I think Mom knew the visit would help me to relax a bit. Once we arrived, I quickly got into place and began doing my thing. At one point, I looked out to see a very familiar site. There was Mom nestled into a pew about three quarters of the way back in the sanctuary quietly listening. Just being there for me. At once, I felt more at ease and confident. Just as it had been when I would look out and see her sitting and listening in the auditorium of our home church when I would practice for hours on end as a high schooler.

That is just one way she has shown her support for me over the years. There have been many times throughout my life that I don't know what I would have done without my mother. Always the voice of reason, always the teacher, always there for me.

Abraham Lincoln said, " All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother." Thanks for being my biggest cheerleader, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

P.S. Can't wait for my next quilting lesson. ;)

Marvelous May

It hardly seems possible, but we're nearly a week into the month of May already. Seems the more I try to savor the days the quicker they pass. I love May so I'm hoping it hastens a bit longer than precious April. Here are some of the things I love about marvelous May.

peonies in bloom

mine and my brother's birthdays

the first official summer holiday

our wedding anniversary

warm, breezy afternoons

cool, rainy mornings

hearing the bugs and frogs settling down for the evening

celebrations-proms, graduations, confirmations, weddings

garage sale season

dining al fresco

spotting a hot air balloon

buying flowers to plant and digging in the dirt

So, here's to each and every moment of this delightful month. Do you have a favorite month? If so, which one and why?

P.S. Just in case you didn't recognize the two kiddos in the photo above-that's me and my brother on our 2nd and 1st birthday's. Oh, and no clothes on me mostly likely meant that Mom didn't want me to get that chocolate icing on my clothes. :)

As long as I can remember, my brother and I celebrated our birthdays together as they are only four days apart. Today is his birthday so "Happy Birthday, Mike"!

45

Inspired by a recent blog post by the lovely Andrea Singarella of One Hundred Wishes, I decided to bake myself a cake in celebration of my birthday today. And it's a bigee-the cupcake and the birthday! 45.

forty-five.

10x4+5.

4 decades and a half.

45. (said in my best Rob Schneider voice)

This is the first birthday that it's seemed to bother me that I'm getting older. I'm trying to take the high road and follow Oprah's lead. Trying to embrace the whole aging gracefully thing. But I feel like she's yelling from the top of the hill, "Come on, girl! Move it! Let's go!" as I trudge upward falling steps behind with every step I manage to take forward. But trudge on I must. So embracing my inner Oprah, I'd like to share 4 things I've discovered about myself since turning 40 and 5 things I'd like to accomplish in the next few years before I turn (gulp) 50.

fOUR things I've learned since turning 40

1. the past belongs in the past-let it go

2. be grateful for the everyday and savor it

3. life is not perfect and neither am I-and that's okay

4. trust your gut-you know more than you think

fIVE things I'd like to do before turning 50

1. learn to quilt

2. visit a California flea market

3. plant a rose garden

4. start my own business

5. celebrate my 50th birthday in Paris (or New Zealand)

Home Sweet Home

One more of the CasaBella houses. Hoping my aunt enjoys it as much as I enjoyed creating it for her.

Got a little more brave with the beeswax and did some reheating on the house itself and kind of shrinking it away from the papers. Love how it seemed to darken and further age the areas I heated up. Interesting to just play around with it. Working on the canvas was a little more challenging than using the wood base, but I was happy to find the size and shape I'd been wanting to use for this project. This one is a little more like the inspiration piece, but proud to say that adding the quote was my idea. And I love this one by Laura Ingalls Wilder. And the emellishment on the door-mwah! had a hard time parting with that beautiful button. Another from the stash I scored several weeks ago. And the frill-well, from my pantry. Yep! a cupcake liner. It works when you don't have just the right shade of crepe paper.

While I was working on this piece I thought about the copy of Little Women that my aunt gave to me when I was a little girl. I must have read that a hundred times-and still have it. I remember watching American Bandstand with her on Saturday mornings when I was at my grandma's and she still lived at home. She always reminded me of Marlo Thomas-I think it was here hair then. Classic 60's and 70's hair-shoulder length with bangs and of course, the flip. She has it long again after many years of a pixie cut-so, so cute on her. She has the greatest laugh and smile, too. So happy for her to have this new home of her very own. A sweet nest for two!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

You know how the saying goes. Yeah, I hate when things don't work out. But then again, funny how they do. Had been signed up to take a class at Red Lead yesterday and then it just didn't work out to get down there and back before school was out so... Spent my 2.5 hrs of weekly solitude running some errands and popping into a couple of my fav spots. Picked up the small pieces I was having painted at Robin's Nest. This one I decided to use in my teeny tiny laundry room.

And this one still needs a little work. Naturally, I had a debacle with the glass knobs so it's not quite finished, but this will help me begin to get organized in my studio. Sooner than later, I hope. Got this at the local junk store for $10-coat of paint and new knobs and ta-dah! Well, that's the idea anyway. Like I said, best laid plans...

And because I just can't help myself, my next stop brought me to Willow Lake for their Spring Sale. That Eileen, she is so clever and finds the best stuff. I need to find out how I can be her wingman on her next antiquing trip. Even the little ducks you pull out of the water for an add'l discount were vintage. And pink! Love it!

These screamed at me when I got out of the car. Love the blue glass and loved that they came grouped together on the carrier that helps lower them into the boiling pot when canning. They make a great centerpiece filled with flowers or just about anything. They would also look cute with vintage buttons or other small pieces stored in them. For the summer though, I think I'm going to keep them on my kitchen table or island with sand, shells and maybe a tealight or two.

And these pink linen napkins tugged on my sweater-at $1/ea, I thought they were a great deal. The color is divine! Need to have a girls lunch or something so I can use them. Hmmm...

For a little treat I picked up these. Going to send one along in the care package I'm sending to my friend in Ethiopia. She is an angel ministering to children who have been orphaned by AIDS or who face other daily challenges we cannot fathom. These are handmade by a local gal and was just one of many yummy soaps and bath stuff Willow Lake is now carrying. Too pretty to pass up!

If you're local, Eileen still has some great stuff left and will be open on Sunday this week, too! EVERYTHING ON SALE plus tasty treats and door prizes. Also, on my driveby's passed Oma's looks like the girls are in full Spring planting mode. Email me if you need directions to any of these terrific local shops. I linked to their websites if they have one.

BTW, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my brief stop at Raspberry Patch, too. The ladies there are so helpful and their enthusiasm for quilting is infectious. I was really just supposed to be window shopping for fabric to be used on a project my mom is going to work on for me. But ended up buying fabric for me to try and make my first quilt. Well, a wallhanging really. Here's a peek at the fabrics I selected.

Feel like I should wear a button: SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOUTIQUES. :)

Whether you have plans or not-Have a great weekend!

Happy Earth Day

"The earth laughs in flowers." -- e.e. cummings

I love this quote and I always think of my Grandma Swan when I see it. She loved flowers. And all the little backyard creatures that came to her door. Just like Snow White, she would feed many of them from her hand-squirrels in particular. You know, she had a baby squirrel named, Jethro. At her house on Clark Street she had enormous hydrangea bushes. I think that's where my love affair with hydrangeas began. She always had African violets in the house and lots of potted plants on the porch or patio. This past Sunday would have been her birthday and so I thought it only appropriate to blog about her and her love of flowers and all living things on Earth Day. Boy, do I miss her. I spent alot of time at her house from middle school through college just visiting and hanging out with her. If I spent the night on Saturdays we always watched The Lawrence Welk Show, but she had very ecletic tastes in music from Jim Nabors to Elton John and Leo Sayer (remember him?) to Leonard Skynard. Oh, and Rod Stewart-one of her favorite songs was Maggie May. She was a high spirited lady with many a colorful story, but to me she was my grandma and made each trip to her house special whether it was for the afternoon or several days. Each time I see flowers in bloom or a little creature- especially a bluebird, I like to think she's thinking of me. She'll definitely be one of the first people I'll be looking for in Heaven. I'm sure she'll be puttering in a garden somewhere ready with a glass of iced tea when I get there!

Okay, enough of that. I'm crying as I type!!! Want to encourage you today to do what you can to be a good steward of the Earth. As a family, we have been recycling since we moved to a community that provides this service with weekly trash pickup. Once we got into the habit it is so easy and you wouldn't believe what a HUGE difference it makes in the amount that goes out to the curb to go to the landfill. We can still do more and right now are working towards changing out some of our cleaning products and trying to cut down on the amount of paper towels and water we use. I've stopped buying bottled water for at home and instead invested in a water filter pitcher. Just recently I switched to taking reuseable bags to the grocery store and Target and recycling what plastic ones do come home with me. Overall, just trying to be good stewards of the resources around us. Eventually, we need to make a decision about the lawn service we currently use and switch to organic. (Yes, I know. If you're really environmental you might have just lost faith in me there.) And in general, I need to reduce the amount of stuff that comes into our home. But we're trying to do our part and increase what we do to better the environment as we are able.

There are so many little things each of us can do to make a big difference. Awareness is key. We live on such an amazing planet with such diversity of plant and animal life. What a gift and privilege! I think the Native Americans have a wonderful perspective about Mother Earth.

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."

PEACE to all who enter

Here's a little something I've been working on. This is the first project from the new CasaBella e-Zine which began last week. BTW, it's not too late to subscribe HERE. I'm getting a little better about using what I have and doing my own spin on things. Although this is still in keeping with the sample inspiration piece-I'm not that brave! Love all the texture and that charcoal pencil is like a magic wand. It gives depth instantly. Love that!

One of the new techniques from this issue of the 'zine was to use masking tape to pull away at the papers in order to distress the project. This was done after the initial layer of book paper was adhered to the base with gel medium. Very cool method, but on this project alot of that gets covered up by the house, but cool none the less and you can see bits of this and then I highlighted with the charcoal pencil.

Another new technique I tried on this was beeswax. Yep! just took a deep breath and finally tried it. Love how it blends everything together and gives a mellowness to the piece.

I was also able to attach the gold dove before the wax dried. fuN! Got really bold and scattered some mica flakes for some sparkle. I had been wanting to try this for awhile and really this was just to be a practice piece for a housewarming gift I'm wanting to make. But as I got deeper into it, I loved it more and more. So I decided, why not tailor this for my front entry. I kinda like how it came together.

Other points of interest-used vintage flocked wallpaper for the door-chose the yellow as I'm toying with painting the interior of our house a different color. We've had the same color (similiar to the wallpaper piece) since we moved here six years or so ago. So just in case I repaint, I want to remember the yellow. I do love it-see my dilemma?

The door knob is some sort of vintage button I got in the lot of buttons I bought a few weekends ago. There's a little rhinestone in the knob-do you see it? Knew they would be perfect for collage projects like this when a doorknob was needed. Fortunately, I have several of these to use on future pieces!

Since I collect "M's" I decided to use a letter rather than a number on the nest to represent our family. This is a felt one in "bella blue", of course and a little homage to the modern. And the phrase, well, that was inspired by my sweet husband who always reminds me that HOME should be a sanctuary. Yes honey, you are exactly right.

PEACE to you from our cozy little nest!

Great Balls of Fire!

We were abruptly woken up this morning by an earthquake. Yes! in the midwest and not California-can you believe it? Really a bizarre sensation. I thought maybe we were having a tornado when we realized EVERYTHING in our house was shaking. Seemed to go on awhile although it was only for a minute. Really freaked Cam out at his place-said stuff fell off a shelf even. I'm sure we don't have any damage, but for some of our family and friends you know I'm going to be checking our basement!

What a way to start the day. Happy Friday!

Spring Fever

Spring
When daisies pied, and violets blue,
And lady-smocks all silver-white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight

--Shakespeare

Man! do I have Spring fever today! The weather here is absoutely gorgeous! Sunny, breezy and mid-70's. Not sure if everything is actually blooming more this year or if we've just been waiting so long for spring to arrive, but the ground is coming alive with all sorts of blossoms. My daffodils have been particularly generous this year and I've really enjoyed them. The redbud outside my window at work is now starting to bloom-one of my favorite trees. Can't help but get energized when it's SO pretty outside. Guess I'd better do something with that energy. Have so many things needing my attention not sure what I should choose first. Or how.
Draw straws? Throw a dart at my list? Eenie, Meenie?
Had a productive day at work so I need to carry that over here at home. Fingers crossed!



Hoping to work tomorrow night on a couple little art projects while Jeff plays golf.
The most recent Bella e-Zine has begun-Casa Bella.

Lots of fun home decorative projects in store and I'm already two behind! It's been a few weeks since the last one ended so I've been missing it. Being a part of these really keeps you motivated to be creative. I've kind of lost my mojo the last week or two.



Enjoy your evening! Guess I'll start with the laundry...

La Couleur de Joie

The wind has been blowing here like mad today. One last shot of winter breeze trying to chase out the lovely spring weather we've been enjoying this week, I suppose. Had to come home and rescue a few of my jonquils this afternoon. 18 stems of sweet-faced babes are now keeping me company in my kitchen. Their fragrance is divine! Don't they just scream JOY? Oh, how I love the color yellow-the color of joy!

Time Flies

This past Sunday was a day of family gatherings. Beginning with our 21st annual Swan family brunch, we enjoyed visiting and catching up with aunts, uncles and cousins. Can't help but think of my grandma whenever we're all together. In her honor, I had bread pudding with vanilla sauce-YUM! And iced tea, of course. My grandma claimed there wasn't much a glass of iced tea couldn't cure. I always loved her "tomorrow is another day" philosophy she imparted when one of us was upset or forlorn. Miss her-terribly.





This is my dad and two of his sisters, my Aunt Bonnie (left) and Aunt Wanda (right). My sister and I had a chance to visit Aunt Wanda's new home and meet her sweet dog, Susie who is part Westie. Yes, be still my heart. Was fun to have that extra time with her after the brunch. It's really her doing that we have our brunch every year. We owe her big time for that!




And these are the "original" cousins. Well, minus 2-Jen and Anna and Krista, our first cousin who was always more like one of the "originals". We all spent ALOT of time together when we were kids.


We ended the day with a family celebration-Cam's 21st birthday. Just realized that bit of coincidence-hmmm.....



Cam's favorite place for his birthday the past several years has been the Japanese steakhouse. Since you only turn 21 once in a lifetime, we were happy to oblige him by having dinner at Ariaku, a nearby steakhouse. I can't believe how fast the time goes by. How did he get to be 21?!?



My mom made a really special card for him-I'll have to borrow it so I can snap a photo or scan-it was very sweet. My sister and I were crying before we even actually saw the card. Just the look on Cam's face as he took it all in-well, I can't describe it. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Grandma's are special people.



So grateful for birthdays and family reunions. So grateful we could all be together if even for a short time. So grateful after all this time memories of years gone by bind us together. Time flies, but at least that means it won't be long until we are all together again!

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!