A few weeks ago, I made flowers - Bachelor Buttons – out of patterned paper. They were fun and fairly easy. While I had the folding idea fresh in my mind, I tried it on different materials. Can you tell what I used this time? Guess. (This is a re-creation…the first one I experimented with was white, but I think this would work as well for the colors I used, although the finished color might differ slightly!) Anyway, it had been sitting here, buried on my desk, until my cleaning uncovered it. (This is what happens when I start to clean…I get distracted!) I hate to just toss those little "trial and error" pieces, but it had no purpose and trying to find it a home can cause serious delay in my schedule. But then I spied my Glimmer Mist sitting up on my shelf, and a recent trip to the Carlsbad flower fields was fresh on my mind and I thought, "Hmmm…if I spray it with color and don't like it, I can justify tossing it." Guess what? I kind of liked it. I played with it a lot and was happy with the end result. So I kept it…and kept playing with it. So much for cleaning! And on to finding a suitable background for my flower. I have been taught to have great respect for books. I love books, not only for their content, but for their visual
Warning: (Written AFTER I composed this post 🙂 With all the concerns in the world – disaster, earthquakes, political upheaval, hunger, unemployment and much, much more – this is an absolutely trivial rant that was most entertaining to myself to write, but if solving world problems is on the top of your list today, DON’T BOTHER TO READ! I am not a perfectionist per se**. My motto reflects a description of Mary Poppins…simply to be “practically perfect in every way!” I will claim “planned imperfection” as my way of “keeping it real”! But there are certain things that drive me crazy…about myself and the way I do things – it’s totally a personal thing, meaning that I do not have the same set of standards towards anyone else’s manner of doing things. What bothers me about my imperfection does not bother me about someone else…personal standards are just that: personal! There are reasons of expedience and necessity for which the world has evolved and developed a number of conveniences like sliced bread, Kleenex and for today’s rant, lined paper. Can you imagine teachers assigning our kids homework and then trying to read a sentence as it travels all over the page? It would have been that way for my teachers without lines on my notebook paper! Lined, or ruled paper is one of those modern conveniences that we probably take entirely for granted. Until we try to do
Yesterday, Scott handed me a folded up piece of notebook paper to read. It was a note from one of the Boy Scouts in his troop…a thank-you note from a 13 year-old young man that was unexpected and really sweet. It spoke of his appreciation for all that my husband had done: the camp-outs, the activities, their tradition of stopping at In-and-Out on their way home from overnighters. My husband is not a man of many words, but I could tell that this burst of appreciation was very well received. In my never-ending job of cleaning my workspace, I came across a note that a friend had written me, shortly before she passed away. It wasn’t long…just a quick thank you for something small I had done. But this note serves as a tangible reminder of our relationship. We hadn’t known each other long, but I am reminded of her sweet personality and the spirit around her by that small card. I don’t think she had any idea of the impact that card would make. It got me to thinking about the importance of showing gratitude. I am blessed to be surrounded by very kind, thoughtful people. I don’t THINK I need praise for a job well done, but it does make you feel good when someone shares their gratitude, when YOU know that THEY notice what you’ve done. I’m not saying
At least, most of it! You all know how hard it is to not miss something! That Christmas stocking that someone carried into their room, that box of ornaments that got covered by a jacket on an out of the way chair. Putting away our boxes is such a rush and madness that once they get up in the attic – and this is not a traditional attic with stairs that I can go up into…it's a garage attic that requires a big ladder and some major muscles – if we have "stuff" (more of that collection at my house) that we miss, it may be sitting around until we get the Easter "stuff" down! Thankfully, that's the next holiday when we have decorations with any major bulk, and the containers are minimal…mostly baskets. Anyway, I'm making a pile. Hopefully, as I clean my workroom, I won't find too much more Christmas stuff! I do keep all my Christmas scrapbooking "stuff" in my workroom all year…who knows when the urge to scrapbook the holiday might come upon me…so it is better if it is all kept together. But I have work to do, so I must keep cleaning! Perhaps when it is more organized, so will my brain be…which you can tell that "it" isn't just by my sentence formation! A couple of days later… It is not a good idea to walk away when you are
Thanksgiving cards, that is…there's ALWAYS time to give thanks! With all the preparations underway to start Christmas, Thanksgiving doesn't seem to take center stage as a holiday anymore. But we shouldn't forget to count our blessings. Take time to make a list of things – or people – that you are thankful for and why! The act of writing it down makes the blessing more tangible, and telling someone you are thankful for your relationship with them lets them know, too! This paper line is called Domestic Goddess by Graphic 45…don't you love the name? I love this line! It has a vintage feel that invokes how I feel about the traditional role of women in the home and how we can make it feel…warm and cozy! (As I once again sit freezing at my computer!) Oh well, at least the product and projects are fun to look at! I just have to clean before I dare bring a heater in here. With all this paper around me, excess heat might not be a good idea! Sometimes I feel a little non-symetrical and I rebel against sharp corners…I really did this time. When I do that, who cares how the buttons are sewn on? I love stitching "outside the box"…its amazing what patterns and designs that can originate with 2 or 4 holes on a button! I have a little project that
It really is challenging to learn new tasks the older you get. My first thought is to get my son, Jacob, to rescue me. Because he is so adept at computer/website/publishing things, I automatically think of him when I get stuck at any technical project. At one point he set it up so that he could get on-line with me remotely so that he didn’t have to struggle to understand my non-technical attempts to explain my problems. That has shortened the diagnostic time drastically. But there are times when it isn’t a good time to call him for assistance…like 3 o’clock in the morning when I can’t go back to sleep! Just after shutting down my computer last night, a thought came to me of how to get an image header on this blog. As you can see, I was successful! Jake will be so proud! Not to say it was easy. Nothing wrong with the typepad program, just the ineptitude of the user! But one thing I have learned. When you figure it out for yourself, it gives you confidence to try and solve more problems by yourself. That is how the learning process goes. I remember when Jacob got the first computer in the house. All I wanted to use it for was making invitations and fliers. It was easier for Jacob to do it for me than to
This delicious home-made granola makes a great snack, even without the milk!
This delicious butterscotch sauce, best when served warm, is quick and easy to make!...
Make your Jell-O Cookies merry, just in time for you Christmas cookie plates!...
I love to bake, but I am basically a lazy baker. It has been a really long time since I baked a...
Oh what fun it is to work with October Afternoon's Holiday Style product line! ...
