Birthday cards...

Well, I made it back Friday safe and sound from Charlotte, North Carolina. Their gas shortage was as bad as ours and I didn't find any until I got into South Carolina on the way back. It was all very exciting and a bit stressful not know absolutely that I would make it home.

I went up there to attend a work related class. It was kind of lonely but at the same time it was relaxing. I wasn't constantly pulled in multiple directions with work and got to learn some new stuff that I can't wait to implement. Part of my geeky side. Fortunately I'm only a little geeky.

The weekend before heading out I did spend some time with the girls at Archivers. I actually finished two birthday cards, the first for my brother and the second for a friend. I managed to work faster than I usually do although it helped that I already had all the paper picked out. Before and after that I worked on a project for family Christmas presents. Once in a blue moon family members actually look at my blog so I can't show any pictures of the project. I can tell you it involved a lot of cutting, glueing and sanding. Both cards are actually collages which was fun to do. I'm not sure I'm completely happy with the butterly one but I was late with both of them so had to go ahead and send it out. Hopefully the recipients enjoy them which is the whole point anyway.

PS. I looked up my spider and it is a she and a Argiope aurantia and is referred to as a Yellow and Black Spider, Writing Spider or Corn Spider. I'm not sure if she has moved on or was just out today. I wanted to take some more pictures but with my macro lens this time to see just how much detail I could capture.

Scary creatures...

Sunday someone came to the front door and we noticed a very large, dangerous looking spider. Had to run out and take a couple pictures of it. I also noticed a very large mushroom growing at the edge of the front yard. Just had to share.

New purchases...

Bad me! I keep forgetting to post this beautiful pendant I purchased from Charlie. One side is a lovely young lady and the other side is the Eiffel Tower. I read her blog on a regular basis and enjoy her artwork. When I saw she had made this I had to have it and love it. Now I have a collection of two glass pendants. I'm not really intending to have a collection per se but if I see one that expresses something of joy and beauty then I will be sorely tempted.

Another recent purchase is this book. I found it in Home Goods of all places for $10. It was published in 1925 and is from Denmark and weighs a ton. I just loved the cover and had visions of an altered book but the more I look at it the more I'm not sure if I can bear to do that. I have this thing for books, especially old ones and feel like I would be desecrating it. I don't have a problem if the book is falling apart or if it is a new one. I have a reproduction 1902 Sears catalog that I will be using at some part but it was produced in the 70's so don't have a problem with that. If it was truly from 1902 it would be more than I could bear. Here are some pics of the book. I'm guessing it may have been a schoolbook since it has English lessons in it.

Yellow and an award...

I know, this is crazy. Two posts in one day. Well the IMT challenge this week is yellow. It seems I don't use yellow much in the things I've done and I've had trouble thinking of something to make so I'm just going to go with yellow in nature which is my favorite topic anyway.

On another note, a lovely lady, Patti, who has not one but many blogs with different topics has awarded me with this:

1) I have to pick 7 of my favorite blogs

2) The winner can put the logo on their blog

3) Link the person you received your award from

4) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

5) Put links of those blogs on yours.

6) Leave a message on the blogs of the ones you’ve nominated.


It's very hard to narrow it down and I couldn't decide if I should worry about sites I love but have already won this award so I'm going to try to stick with ones who I don't think have had it yet:


Lauren is an adorable little girl who has her very own blog so her mother can have her blog back.

Rebecca is one of my best friends who is also very talented.

Misti who is another friend of mine and takes the most wonderful pictures of her adorable son.

Chris who is Misti's husband and has stepped out there to expose some of his innermost thoughts and I admire that.

Stephanie who also puts herself out there and is an inspiration


Well, I guess that's just five. I can't find two more that haven't already won it and there are just too many that I like to narrow it down so go check out some of the ones in my favorites list to the right. Do it now before I add some more on there. ;-)

Creative Escape recap...

Well, Rebecca and I had a fabulous time at Creative Escape and met some new friends (Michelle, Terri and Anne) along the way. We had a lot of fun projects in our classes but only finished one in Tim Holtz's class. Most of the projects were more involved than could be accomplished in our allotted time but they did send us home with instructions. It'll only take me weeks to get them all done. ;-) Here are the pics for the altered item we completed. It is actually a pin/necklace that hangs on a button on the collaged background so it is very versatile. You can tell Tim does a lot of classes because his was the most relaxed and the project was small enough to complete. Altered objects is something I want to do more of so this was right up my alley. We got to play with Grunge Board and his crackle paint.

Let's see, the other projects were a gratitude journal, an album about yourself, a personal memory album, a perpetual calendar, some layout pages, an acrylic album, and a cute hodgepodge type mini album. All different styles but all cute ideas. Once I get them completed I'll post them. We also had a class on making quick cards. Those are almost done so should be able to post them soon.

Arizona was hot with a capital H! Fortunately we stayed in the ac most of the time so we survived. It's always a culture shock to go from the lush green forests of Georgia to the deserts of Arizona but there are still things of beauty. Also got to spend some time with my aunt and uncle and one of my cousins and his wife. They are such a fun crew. Here is a slide show from Picasa Web of the resort and some of our activities.