Just thought I’d share this cool site I’ve found. Ever find yourself looking for a new swap to participate in? This one offers all kinds of swaps, from ATCs to gift exchanges. Read the rules carefully, though, as each swap has different requirements! Happy Swapping!

 

Swap-bot - Welcome

Paper Cowgirl Collaborative Memory Book

I vow to get caught up on all the wonderful things I've experienced over the last few summer months. While I guess I could get bogged down (or should I say "blogged" down?) with discouragement for not being able to keep up with all the things I want to write about, I guess instead I should just enjoy EXPERIENCING them!

One of the great things that happened at Paper Cowgirl at the end of June (the Altered Art / Mixed Media convention in Waxahachie, TX) was my great friend Alisa presented me with a...uh, well... I guess I don't really know the name for it. I call it a collaborative memory book (to henceforth be declared as CMB in my blog posting...if this is the wrong name for it, shoot me.) It really was a most thoughtful gift, as on multiple occasions I had seen such books when shopping together and had emphatically exclaimed, "Alisa! I want one of these! You HAVE to teach me how to make one!" She kept reasurring me that she would take care of me. Oh why did I ever doubt?!

In keeping with the Paper Cowgirl theme, she created this little memory book to which I could later add memorabilia and photos, reminiscient of our Paper Cowgirl experience together. It consisted of multiple pages of varying textures including: paper, chipboard, fabric, antique ledger paper and even BURLAP--now, that's how a girl gets her COWGIRL on. And, as a special tribute, she included photos of both a likeness of the Cackling Poultry With Guns and one of (my many) alter-egos, Pearl Hart.

For those of you who may not know me well, I've always been known as kind of a self-proclaimed renegade. I get that from my mother. While I didn't mean to necessarily become this way, I almost just naturally developed into the kind of "lady" who bucks the system. It's not really that I'm dishonest or a thief...that's where Pearl and I differ. However, I do tend toward the outspoken and strong-willed and am not well-versed in how should I say it...putting up with others' crap. Throughout the years as I've matured I've tried valiantly to learn to share my opinions in a more affable way; however, my miserable attempts at being demure and coy and all those other ill-conceived feminine characteristics have all but failed. Ergo, I wear my badge as Pearl Hart, proud member of the Cackling Poultry With Guns (Society for Displaced Women), otherwise known as the CPG gang.

I so value the time and effort Alisa put into this wonderful little keepsake. From the linen and lace envelope it came in, to the tiny little leather and brass buckle and keys, each detail was a treasure!
















So, I've noticed that most people don't post pictures of EVERY page or EVERY little detail of the things they do or recieve. But I can't help it! I just SO love the little details. Not only that, I KNOW how much time (a surprising lot more than one might think) it takes to do something "little" like this, and that's why it's even more special to me. Maybe I'm a nerd, but I waited my whole life to have friends who really "get" this part of me...my creative self. Not only do they "get" it, but they seem to embrace it.

Artists tend to understand the FEELINGS that accompany seeing life through different "eyes" than the more "logical" or less "emotional" kinds of people we coexist with. While I've spent 35 years trying in vain to "overcome" being a person who is full of FEELING and EMOTION (though I can't tell you how many, many times I've wept to have it be differnt), I am finally learning to accept that this IS who I am. God made me this way. Instead of trying to hide my emotions and feelings because others don't understand them or it makes me easier to bruise, I'm finding a community of people who are teaching me that it's okay to be me. It's not just OK. They CELEBRATE people like me. Everyone gets hurt sometimes, and none of us are perfect. But an artist's community seem to be more accepting of the ups and downs we feel and doesn't seem to be as hard on us when we get a little "over" emotional about something. They celebrate the passion and they try to be there for the sorrowful moments.

I don't know if this makes much sense to anyone else, and I am just learning it myself. But that's why I LOVE these little details. To me, each feathered stroke of the pigment ink to "antique" a page, and each special little cut with the "deckle" scissors is an expression of love and acceptance that fills my oh-so-emotional heart with thanksgiving.

Life-Changing Events

I had my hair professionally cut, colored, and styled for my birthday 2 years ago. Since then I've trimmed it a handful of times, but I had become disgusted with it. See, whereas most women would probably go out to get their "hair did" much more often, I struggle. There are so few good hairstyles known for those with my combination: naturally curly fine hair and round chubby faces. Cut too short...and you have an insta-fro. Too long, and it doesn't look any different. Most styles are geared toward those with straight hair. Ergo, I put off getting my hair done.

Welp, I was finally SO absolutely sick of it that I bit the bullet. I spent several weeks contemplating and psyching myself up for it (as well as many hours on the internet searching photos and doing virtual makeovers of myself). I finally came up with what looked like a cut that might work for me. I took it to a new stylist at the Jon Scott Salon in Frisco. After discussing my fears and ideas with Tina, I was reassured that this new style was going to work well for me. I threw caution to the wind and let her at it! I mean, at that point, I figured it couldn't be any worse than I felt my hair already looked anyway.

After coloring and highlighting my tresses, she whacked off more than 9 inches. Then with some snip snip snips, she was shortly finished (pun intended). A good shampoo and head massage later, I was ready for styling. She blew it out straight for me, but with the TX humidity that afternoon, the natural curl took over, causing the ends to curl up. Nonetheless, I liked the look and am SO pleased I took the plunge. It's totally manageable. I can straighten it, or just wash and go and both styles look great.

If anyone needs a new stylist, I'll hook you up with Tina. With my referral you'll get 20% off, too! Let's all get new cuts this summer!

BEFORE...

AFTER...

LATER IN THE DAY...

THE SIDES...

AND THE BACK...

Red-Letter Day

Today was definitely a Red-Letter Day!

A new friend I made, Cara Weatherby, invited some gals out to her beautiful home in Burleson, TX (near Fort Worth). It was about an hour drive from my home in Frisco, and I struggled to achieve mind over mattress this morning. But, I'm so glad I won that struggle because I had a

FANTASTIC

time at Cara's! She is ever the gracious and welcoming hostess. I also got to meet her amazing daughter, Candy, a graphic artist (and uber-talented). I was surprised to find out Cara had a daughter Candy's age. When she introduced me, I thought they looked more like sisters! Both Cara and Candy were so warm and genuine; I couldn't help but feel immediately welcome and at home. That's that Southern Hospitality for ya.

I had met Cara a few months ago prior to the Paper Cowgirl Altered Arts Convention (PC) I attended last month in Waxahachie, TX. (Which I still have A LOT to blog about, but haven't gotten caught up yet!) A few of us had decided we wanted to meet other gals prior to the PC event we would all be attending. A few of us managed to meetup in one of my favorite areas, Downtown Historic McKinney square, for lunch at The Pantry and a quick stop into Smitten.

Donna Garcia, Alisa Noble, Marie Jenkins, Cheryl Bass, Nina Little, Cara Weatherby

Maybe it was because Nina, Donna, Alisa and I can be somewhat overwhelming as a group together, but Cara seemed fairly quite and reserved that day. It was so fun to be able to visit with her and her family in her home today and get to know her so much better! She is very lively and fun and has a great sense of humor. I SO enjoyed my time.

She invited us all out to an Altered Altoid Tin workshop. She had all the supplies and provided us with a lovely lunch. We spent the entire morning and early afternoon creating these precious little altered tins with a Mermaid theme. I had wanted to create an Altoid Altered Tin for quite some time, but my "to do" list just keeps growing, and I don't always get around to all the things I want to do! So, I was so excited for the invitation, as I knew it was something I was going to love doing. And I did. I also got to see another gal I had met briefly at PC, Gail, and met another tremendously nice lady, Marie. I just love the feeling of commaraderie because of our shared passion for creativity. The tins everyone created were all so unique, but beautiful. Cara is going to send the pictures she took of everyone's tins and I will update here. But for now, I'm just posting a few pics of the one I made. It was a great day!

My Altered Altoid Mermaid Tin

Closeup of the Left Side

Closeup of the Right Side

Just for Fun--In front of a Sommerset Magazine! Imagining my work on the COVER! :)

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates...

Okay, so you know how Forrest Gump says, "Momma always says,

Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know whatchyer gonna get?"

Well, that is SO wonderfully and deliciously true. Just when you're going along minding your business and trying to cross off all the "To Do"s on the list, something totally unexpected and interesting happens that just makes life interesting and reminds you not to take things so seriously all the time!



Yesterday, I was on my way to Donna's new home, but I forgot her new house number. I knew it was on White St. (not the real street name), but couldn't remember the exact number. She said, "5208. It's the 3rd house from the end."

Donna was at her old house with the movers and couldn't be in two spots at once so she had asked if I would go over to the new house to wait for the gas guy. Sure, no problem, I could do that. She also mentioned I might want to bring a chair and a book since there's nothing there yet. So, I load up my folding lawn chair (you know, the pointy-legged UFO-unfolding type that comes out of the bag but you can't ever seem to get back INTO the bag?); my mammoth-sized 64oz. 7-11 Ultimate Gulp; a six-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper (because who knew how long I'd be there and I might've needed a refill); a bag with papers, bills, and various and sundry "to do" items for which I needed to make some phone calls; and a book.

After I got out of the car and reloaded myself with the necessary essentials, I waddled to the front door. It was then that I realized I did't know where I'd put the key Donna had given me. So, I painstakingly UNloaded all my stuff onto the porch, dug through the abyss of my purse for 5 minutes until I found the key (although I truly don't know how I lost it in the first place, as it was bread-wrapper tied to a roughly 3"x"6" discarded piece of cardboard from a new corkscrew opener. Apparently Donna was wise to my propensity to forget where I put things. To prevent me from losing her key, she had attached it to the only thing she currently had available. Incidentally, later once inside her new home, I noticed the only "unpacked" items there were a bottle of wine, 6 wine glasses, and of course the corkscrew.)

After the victorious 5 minute key treasure hunt in the glorious 97 degree Texas morning heat, I slipped in the key and turned the lock. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nadda. I tried turning, twisting, upside-downing, pulling, pushing and overall manhandling that key and door in any way I possibly could, all to no avail. I muttered to myself, "Great. The darn key doesn't work. Figures. Probably some idiot at Wal-mart doesn't know how to make a darn key copy!" Why I feel compelled to automatically disparage Wal-mart employees is beyond me. I really need to work on that...they're just everyday hard-workin' folks like the rest of us. So then I decided I was going to have to trek around to the backyard to see if the key would work in the backdoor.

After struggling to get through two child-safety gate latches, I finally got into the backyard. I was instantly impressed that Donna had already got her doghouses there, along with a nice patio set on the deck that appeared to be the future location of many outdoor girl's night gatherings! I saw two doors. I figured one was probably a door to the garage and the other to the house proper. I went to the garage door first, as it was closest, and tried my key. Again, no luck. "This is getting ridiculous," I thought. "Well, they say third time's a charm." Next I moved to the back door. Lo and behold! The key WORKED! Yippee!

My relief was shortlived, however, as two dogs immediately started barking and yipping at my legs--my uncovered, shorts-wearin' legs. "What the heck?", I thought, "These don't even look like Donna's dogs! And wow...she's already got her couches and TV entertainment center moved in!" Just then from around the corner, a lady came into the room wearing nothing but a t-shirt and panties and both of us nearly jumped. I stared at her and she stared at me, all while these fierce little chihuahuas were threatening unalterable damage to my legs and ankles!

Finally, coming to my senses, I said, "Hi. I'm Cheryl. Are you a friend of Donna's?" She looked at me like I was insane and replied, "No. Who are you?" "My friend Donna asked me to come to her house and wait for the gas guy. Is this 5208 White St.?" "Yes," she answered cautiously. "Is this the 3rd house from the end?" "Yes. This is my house. Why are you in here?", she demanded. She was beginning to appear not only confused, but angry, as well. Maybe she thought I was there to rob her or to kidnap her precious little pups--which I can assure you was the FARTHEST thing from my mind at that moment, or any other for that matter. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say. My friend Donna is moving into a home here and gave me this address. She said I was to use her key to go in and wait for the gas guy to come. The key didn't work on the door so I came around back to see if it worked in the back door which, as you can see, it did." Both of us marvelled at how odd that Donna's key opened HER back door! Finally, I apologized several times again and turned to leave.

This time, I went around the other side of the house (as it seemed it might be easier). That was yet another mistake. Not only did I step in dog crap (wearing flip flops...oooooooh!), but that side gate was locked and rocks were shoved against it to keep the dogs from escaping. So, I had to tromp all the way back through the back yard and around the other side of the house again to get my stuff on the front porch. Just as I began REloading all my junk upon myself, I saw the Atmos Energy van pulling away! I must've missed him while I was busy being eaten by chihuanas (I swear those dogs were a rare mixed breed of chihuahua and pirana). Loaded down with all my gear, I started "running" (and I use the term loosely) down the block waving my arms and shouting at the Atmos Energy guy to come back. Thankfully, he saw me and stopped.

Just then, the neighbor lady came out her front door (having donned a pair of shorts) and said, "Hey, sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I was just shocked, especially since your key worked in my door" I said I completely understood, I would be, too, etc. etc. We both agreed, though, that perhaps she had left her back door unlocked and that's how the key had "worked". Then she said, "I was thinking, maybe it's supposed to be the house across the street. I've seen people cleaning over there, and it's been on the market for a few weeks." I figured I had nothing to lose at that point, so I crossed the street to try the corkscrew key. Bingo. Why couldn't I have just tried this keyhole to begin with?

I removed my odious flip flops and welcomed myself and Mr. Gas Guy into Donna's new home. After we got things straightened out and he went to do his business, I call Donna and say, "Hey, Donna? What's your new house number again?" She confidently replies, "5208." I wondered if I should tell her, or just let her meet the neighbor and chihuanasthe same way I had?



It was all just so unexepected, I couldn't do much else but laugh. Good thing I love chocolate!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

We just had our spring ATC swap! From my title here, you can see I went with the simple, "April Showers Bring May Flowers" notion. I've always loved the whole Mayday tradition. I remember as a little girl in elementary school making May baskets out of construction paper, filling them with live flowers (most likely dandelions and wild morning glories) and secretly hanging them on our neighbor's door handle (Mrs. Campbell) to find later. I always felt so proud to have created something pretty that I was absolutely convinced would bring utter delight to the receipient!

Here are a few pictures of the ATC I created to share:



I found this image of the little girl making the little boy hold the umbrella over her in the rain just TOO ADORABLE to pass up! So like something I would do! There were actually quite a few layers that went into making the front side of this ATC, though one can't readily tell from looking at it here. Of specific note, however is the fact that this is MY handwriting on vellum behind the image. I also learned how to create rain in Photoshop and added the falling rain to the image here. I was quite pleased with myself, I must admit!



And the backside--early 20th Century children wrapping the Maypole:



I made little MayDay Baskets out of satin heart boxes I had snagged on clearance months ago for 25 cents (I just KNEW I could use them for something!). I distressed them with varying shades of ink to have that blush look. I sewed handles out of scrap paper and crepe paper. The handles were a little large for the tiny heart baskets, but I didn't have time to go back and re-do them! Oh well. Live and learn. I placed vintage roses inside the baskets to mimic fresh flowers one would normally place in a MayDay Basket.





As always, I was incredibly impressed with the ATCs I received from my swap partners, and fellow Cackling Poultry with Guns gals (CPGs). Just when I think I've done some pretty decent work, I see theirs and start asking myself why they continue to let me play with them?

Here's Donna's:



Donna never ceases to amaze me with her unique style. I am always excited to see what she will surprise us with! I LOVE LOVE LOVE her take on "April". What else for this southern MS girl than Mardi Gras?!? How perfect! I love this image!



Donna explained that the goldish looking fabric underneath the masked face is a piece of a vintage handkerchief she found while on vacation a few weeks ago in Florida. She was so sweet to bring us all back several beautiful hankies and tatted doilies. I just love it when people think of me while they're away on vacation! I don't know if it's because I'm narcissistic, I like gifts, or what. But, I will openly admit that I love little gifts! It doesn't really even matter what it is. I just love the idea that someone was thinking of me and wanted to please me with a small gesture. I guess it makes me feel valued. What can I say...it's my Love Language.

Next up was Nina's ATC:



Nina always has such a way with placement and her work has a natural beauty.



I love how she wound the vintage seam binding around the edge of the card which, along with the tulle and crown, give it a 3-dimensional element of texture.



Nina's beautiful ATC was presented in her version of a MayDay Basket: a vintage tussie. How cute is that?! She made these wonderful little cones and adorned them with velvet ribbon, vintage sheet music, and filled with shredded pink "grass"!

And last, but of course certainly anything but least, was Alisa's presentation!



She, too, totally got into the spring theme! Her ATCs came presented to each of us in our own little "tub o' garden". She even fashioned her own ATC scrolling wire card holders to stick into the "earth".



The front of her ATC has this ornate black and white scrolling garden gate look, complete with a miniature (or as my brother, Connon, likes to say, "Shetland"--he thinks anything miniature should just be called "Shetland". He even thinks "little people"/midgets should be refered to as Shetland people) lock.



A peek inside...I could hardly wait to see what was behind that little hinged "door"!

Inside was nothing to disappoint! Each of our ATCs had a unique Fairy poem inside. Keeping with the purple flowers in my "tub o' garden", my Fairy and accompanying flowers were all purple. The Canterbury Bell Fairy poem reads:

Bells that ring from ancient towers
Canterbury Bells
Give their name to summer flowers
Canterbury Bells!
Do the flower-fairies playing
know what these bells are saying?
Fairy in your purple hat,
Little fairy, tell us that!

Isn't that wonderful? I love being the purple-hatted fairy girl (one step closer to the Red Hat Society!)



Alisa spent great time and effort in hand-stitching all these beads and flowers and vintage seam binding into this lovely floral creation. I'm always amazed at the detail-work she puts into her creations. I couldn't have been more thrilled to receive this piece!

I love artist trading card night. It's always so fun. Next month we are forgoing ATCs and instead doing a coin roll album collaboration. I saw the idea here and presented it to the group as something we might do. Luckily they all agreed. We'll have to see how it all comes out...but knowing these gals, it will be lovely!

Stubby Little Pencil

I've been a busy little bee! Seems like "stuff" just piles up so quickly. I can't imagine how people with full-time careers AND children manage to get so much done. I've always marvelled at the capacity some women seem to have to do EVERYTHING! A few years ago, I came to the sad, but true, conclusion that I simply am not one of those women. I am so limited by my own personal challenges and handicaps, that at times I can be overwhelmed to the point of paralyzation.

Though I don't always remember the lesson as well as I would like, I often reflect on a principle I learned several years ago by reading a book by a Japanese-American woman I greatly admire, Cheiko Okazaki. I've always loved her writings, as hers is the elegant, yet rare voice of both brutal honesty and enthusiastic optimism. In one of her addresses to the women in church, Cheiko talks about her years growing up as a Japanese woman in a primarily Caucasion society, where she often felt like she didn't quite fit. She explains that as she grew, and came to understand her purpose in life, she became a champion for differences!



She said, "...look around...Do you see women of different ages, races, or different backgrounds...Of different educational, marital, and professional experiences? Women with children? Women without children? Women of vigorous health and those who are limited by chronic illness or handicaps? Rejoice in the diversity of our sisterhood! It is the diversity of colors in a spectrum that makes a rainbow."

by Marcia Diane

She further explained that no matter what our specific individual circumstances, we can each have a profound impact on the lives of those around us. She explains, "Do not feel that your gift is insignificant. Mother Teresa says, 'I’m a little pencil in the hands of God. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything—and it’s really hard-—sometimes it’s a broken pencil. He has to sharpen it a little more. But be a little instrument in His hands so that He can use you anytime, anywhere. We have only to say Yes to Him'.”

When I am feeling a bit discouraged because I can't seem to accomplish all the things I set out to do (or rarely even half of them), I try to remember Cheiko's (and Mother Teresa's) wisdom. I envision myself as a pencil...albeit a fat, stubby, chewed on, worn-down eraserless pencil. I try to remind myself that I don't have to be perfect to do something. I can give a part of me. All I need do is say YES.

Whether or not one shares my Christian philosophy is irrelevant. While I personally believe that while in God's service, He will magnify us to be more capable than we would normally be, the principle is equally true for nonbelievers. Whether we are saying "YES" to God or simply "YES" to ourselves, we become stronger in the act of doing. Instead of holding back our gifts (creativity) because we fear they may not be good enough, or well-received, or whatever the case may be; instead, we must move forward with courage. We have to trust that our best efforts WILL matter. We will believe that our unique gifts DO make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. We commit ourselves to sharing our gifts, talents, or simple acts of service. We have faith (or even the tiniest bit of hope) that in so doing, we will be filled with personal purpose. The spectrum of our collective rainbow will shine brighter, bringing joy to those within its arching reach.

Marie Antoinette Bits and Baubles Swap

Well, it's finally OVER! Don't get me wrong, I pretty much loved every minute of it, but I am finally finished with the Marie Antoinette Bits and Baubles Altered Canvas Swap hosted by Maria at The Junkk Drawer. I know I learned a lot over the last one gazillion hours I spent crafting my little "piece"!

The lowdown for those of you who don't know: This swap was open to anyone interested. You "sign up" and then the hostess, Maria Rodarte, put all the names in a randomizer and they all got switched around. She then emailed everyone to let them know who their partner for the swap would be. The reqs: use one 9x12 canvas, divide it into 12 squares. Decorate/Alter to your heart's desire. The theme was simply "Marie Antoinette". You were to create this piece and then mail it off to your partner by Friday 4-24-09.

Well, after many many hours of tiny detail work that you wouldn't necessarily notice, but is there nonetheless, I finally finished my piece...EARLY EVEN! But, I somehow still managed to mail my canvas out LATE! How did that happen?! I was ever-so conscious of the deadline.

At the "last minute" I decided to send my swap partner, Suzie, a few handmade "extras" to go along with the work I'd created for her. Here they are:



I made some digital/altered Marie Antoinette inspired birthday cards (package of 6), along with a Marie Antoinette inspired necklace. Here's a closer look at the beadwork of the necklace:





I was surprised at how many hours I actually spent crafting this piece, but was happy doing it nonetheless. I only hope Suzie will forgive my tardiness! :)

The other "extra" item I included was a really cool "crown" hang hook I found at Hobby Lobby (one of my all-time favorite stores!) When I saw it, I knew it was just what Suzie would need to hang her Marie altered canvas on. How perfect!

Now, before I "reveal" my creation...and try to explain what I did...I want to share Sweet Suzie's gift to me! Suzie, for one, was ON TIME with her creation. Way to go, Suzie!



I can tell by the details on her altered canvas that she worked really hard on it and I so appreciate her efforts. It can be daunting to create something for someone you've never met before, but Suzie faced the challenge head on! I especially LOVE the awesome vintage rhinestones she placed on it. Wow! So much sparkly sparkly. What a lucky gal I am to be the recipient of such generosity. Thank you so much, Suzie!

Now, with an explanation, of sorts, of what I attempted to do with the piece I created: I was feeling somewhat limited by the small canvas size, and then struggling even more to divide it into 12 squares! That was going to make it really difficult to incorporate everything onto the canvas that I had wanted to. So after thinking it over several nights as I was trying to go to sleep, I finally came up with a solution! Pockets! I created 12 "pockets" that would add additional space for me to be able to tell Marie's story. So, not only did I get to "decorate" my 12 squares, I was also going to be able to include the history of Marie's life. This was really important to me.

One of the things I really like about working with vintage items in altered art is that the items have a story. Every tattered piece of lace and every tarnished jewel belongs to someone's life story. As I've journeyed into this world of vintage and altered art, I've learned that it's not just the items themselves that I fall in love with...it's the stories behind them that matter most to me. When I go to an estate sale, I like to ask questions and find out about the lives of those who lived...why these items might have been important to them. For me, the items are only a representation of their owners. It's always been the PEOPLE and their stories that matter more than the trinkets they leave behind.

Ergo, when creating my Marie Antoinette altered canvas, I wanted to do something a little more than just using items to represent Marie Antoinette. I wanted to incorporate my other favorite artistic medium to tell her story...words. I love words as much or more than my paints and brushes, my glitter and bling. Words are my most favorite artistic expression and I felt my piece wouldn't be complete without their inclusion. With this in mind, I took several hours over the course of a week to research Marie Antoinette's life story. Within each of these 12 pockets is included a tag. On each tag is a picture that represents a portion of her life. On the backs are very brief summaries of the differnt aspects of her biography. While I wasn't able to write everything I wanted to, I was able to give a portion of the details and I felt satisfied that I had completed my primary objective!

The fronts of the twelve tags:



The backside of a few of the tags:



Here are the black and white images on the fronts of the pockets that represent aspects of her life and the story contained within the interior of the pocket:














Here's a few upclose shots of the 12 pockets:




And here, as the French would say, without further adieu, is the completed canvas:



Though it's far from perfect, and there are many other wonderful versions/creations by others involved in this swap, I was pleased with how it turned out...especially considering the time I invested into it. Funny thing is, after you work so hard on a project, it is difficult to give it away to someone else! I can only hope it makes Suzie as happy as it made me while dreaming, thinking, pondering and creating.

I also wanted to thank our sweet hostess, Maria, for such a wonderful opportunity to get involved, so I made her a little gift, as well. Hers was also a package of Marie Antoinette inspired birthday cards and a Marie Antoinette inspired charm bracelet:





My favorite thing out of all the things I created in the last two weeks, however, was this Thank You card for Maria. Silly, huh? Spend many many hours on jewelry and an altered canvas and the thing I am most pleased with is a silly little greeting card!



But, as previously stated, this was a growth experience for me and I really was thankful for the stretching it caused me to do!

TWO GIVEAWAYS!

Hey, Friends! Guess what? Yvette at Charm House is giving away FREE MONEY! That's right! A $25 gift certificate to Target. Who couldn't use that to buy herself some yummy bubble bath and ice cream bon bons? That's what our husbands think we do all day anyway, right? Go visit Yvette before 04/21/09, leave a comment, and you are IN!

Also, Diane is giving away the cutest teacup nest! Go enter the drawing so you can win this little lovely!

Diane Knott's Teacup Nest Giveaway!


Good luck everyone!

Easter Gifts!

Easter didn't go unnoticed at the Bass household this year! Imagine my surprise when the Easter Bunny (for the first time in the 5 years since I've known my husband) left me a goody-filled Easter Basket this year. It was even more of a surprise because I didn't find it "hiding" in my craft room/studio until late afternoon. Apparently the Easter Bunny thought that was the most logical place to leave my treats, even though I usually don't go in there until night-time (when I create best). Oh well! I'm just happy he showed up at all!

The second great surprise Easter treat came much later in the day. At about twilight, the door bell rang. While fighting down the oh-so-eager Chance (a.k.a. Chanuisance), I managed to open the door a crack. Would you believe it? We had our first-ever Easter caroler?! I know, I know. One usually thinks of carolers at Christmastime. But, Easter is all about Christ, like Christmas, so it only makes sense, right? Why didn't anyone ever think of that before? Brilliant!

Actually, it was a friend's little girl sporting a bunny-ear headband, singing "Hoppy Easter to you. Hoppy Easter to you..." You get the drift. She was cute, though!

Lori Tolbert is my Visiting Teacher from the Relief Society organization at church. Don't know what that is? See my earlier post about the Relief Society. In the women's organization, they match everyone up with a partner or what we refer to as a "companion". Each companionship is assigned a handful of 2 or 3 other women from the organization to visit at least once a month. Everyone is paired up with a partner, and everyone gets assigned to have someone visit her. That way everyone has at least 2 other someones in the group to look out for her! This is known as Visiting Teaching, because you "visit" the gals you are assigned to and after lots of chatting and catching up, you usually leave a spiritual thought or scripture "teaching". Usually your visiting teachers (those who visit you) and/or your visiting teachees(those you and your companion visit) become some of your best friends simply because you're so invested in one another's lives and well-being.

So, Lori's daughter, Ariana, came to our door and sang us this cute "Easter carol" (while our ever-loving pooch, Chance, kept barking and clawing to get out!) Then she gave us the sweetest gift Lori had made for us!



I love this simple, but elegant Easter expression! How clever is Lori?!



What a great gift idea...something both calorie-free AND reusable each Easter season! I just love how she spent such time making these adorable stuffed fabric eggs! A few scraps of fabric...who knew?!



Lori, herself, is just a pretty amazing gal. I'm always so impressed with how gracefully she balances marriage, motherhood of 3 little ones, AND still manages to come up with the cutest and craftiest things! Even though she and I haven't been able to schedule a time to sit down and "visit" much lately, that sweet treat sure made me feel loved!

Marie Antoinette Artisting Day

As I may've mentioned (I don't know...can't remember!) I'm participating in an awesome collage swap hosted by the oh-so-lovely and talented Maria Rodarte at The Junk Drawer. With the April 1st release of Sommerset Studio's Marie Premiere issue, the theme for our collage swap is of course, Marie Antoinette .

With mail-outs occuring on 24, April, there isn't much time to create a stunning piece for our partner's pleasure! I received my swap partner's name just a few short days ago and am so excited to exchange pieces with her! Suzie Buttons lives in nearby Garland (a suburb of the Dallas Metroplex) and seems to be a master seamstress, among many other talents!

A couple of friends and I got together last week to spend all day working on our project (as we are all participating!) As the morning began with clouds and rain, I texted Alisa excitedly, "Today is a GREAT day for artisting!" Because of the rain, my Red Velvet Cake was ill-prepared for traveling. I need one of those tupperware-style plastic cake-carriers! (Do they even still make those?) But, alas, I didn't have one. So, being the Creative-Carey* that I am, I fashioned my own handy-dandy-cheaper-than-dirt-but-still-functional cake-carrier! (*Creative-Carey is standard nomenclature in my native family. We use the term to massage our egos for always coming up with weirdo ideas and contraptions! Growing up as one of seven children, money was very short. We continually found ourselves inventing all kinds of items or "fixes" for things that "normal" people would've bought replacement parts for! It's okay, though. We're actually quite proud of our creative ability to always find a winning solution to any problem--and usually get a good laugh out of it, too!) Here's how I handled the rain and transporting my fancy cake:



You've got to admit all that masking tape and aluminum foil is a real BEAUTY!!!

Alisa, as always, had prepared a wonderful place for us to craft, complete with BLUE decor and treats (to match the Marie cover!) She's so dandy that way!



While I somehow managed to control myself and not devour the all the lovely little candies, I DID heartily partake in the Red Velvet Cake and Nina's yummy spring cupcakes! Thank you, Nina! Next to Red Velvet , white cake is my favorite!





Nina apparently had a little trouble with transporting her goodies, as well, so I didn't feel so badly! They tasted YUMMILICIOUS nonetheless!

While I can't yet reveal our collages, I CAN tell you that the sun came out and we had a wonderful time together! And, frankly, you can be assured that anytime cake is involved in my creative process...the results will be worthwhile! We'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out! I'm so glad Maria decided to host this swap, as I am having the BEST time with it! (But then again, it's not April 23rd yet. Ask me then!)

Red Velvet Cake Makes Life Better

I'm not sure why, but for quite a few years, Red Velvet Cake has been my favorite kind of cake. Don't get me wrong, I love cake. Pretty much any kind of cake will do when I need a fix. But, if I had my "druthers", I'd choose Red Velvet every time. (Disclaimer: it can't be dry or bland...it has to be GOOD cake.)

A couple of weeks ago, I came across this recipe for "Mom's Red Velvet Cake" on Feathering the Nest and decided to give it a whirl. Boy am I glad I did! This is the Red Velvet Cake recipe for me. Not only was it easy, but oh-so-tasty!





Admittedly, I DID add a couple of changes to make it "mine". I'll give you a hint: I subsituted half of the called-for vanilla with another favorite flavor of mine--both in the cake batter and the frosting! The other specialty item I added was 1 small box of vanilla pudding. I do this with pretty much every cake I make, whether from a box mix or from scratch (as was this). It makes your cake fuller and moister every time. I learned this trick from MY mom! (And she thinks I never listened to her about anything!)

Booking Your Blog

Just a quick post to let everyone know about this great site that my friend (and UBER-AMAZING mother) Valerie clued me into: BLURB.COM. Valerie always has so many neat things to write about in her blog. At the end of each year, she uploads all her posts and photos into a book and has them printed. That way her whole family will always have a physical reminder of everything they've done as they've grown together. I plan on doing it myself at the end of 2009. I just think it's so amazing, I had to share!

March ATC Swap

Nina Little, Cheryl Bass, Alisa Noble.
(Not Pictured--Donna Garcia, taking photo!)

Another great part of my weekend was Saturday! We had our monthly ATC swap. This month's theme was "March". As you may've guessed, some of us were struggling to come up with a concept that speaks "March". We didn't necessarily want to do St. Patrick's stuff, so... Then Alisa suggested maybe we could expand our theme to be "The Written Word." At first, me being the "religious zealot" of the group (hee hee) thought she meant we should do something with a Bible verse. She laughed and mockingly said, "Not THE Written Word, silly. Just the written word." Okay. Gee, Alisa, that clears it all up! Crystal.

I struggled for weeks in my head trying to figure out just what I should do. Finally I settled upon the idea of the importance of correspondence between friends (as you know I am big on!) I lament the loss of written correspondence. Receiving a letter or card in the mail (no matter how brief), is one of my most favoritest things ever! No one really does that anymore. We talk on the phone because long distance isn't expensive anymore and you can call anytime anywhere with cell phones. Thankfully, email is at least responsible for SOME form of written communication, but even that is lacking. The loss of properly formulated sentences and overall cohesion probably causes my 8th grade English teacher such grief! So, with my respect for the value of written correspondence, I made these ATCs:



The Front has a cutout image of two women reading letters in the garden. The image is imposed over a vintage french script letter, with vintage lace at the bottom and pink crepe paper on the side (Ann-Denise would be proud!):



The Back includes a fabulous quote by Walt Whitman, "The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity."



Additionally, I wrote teeny tiny actual letters to each of my three friends I swap with: Nina, Donna, and Alisa. They are tucked inside these little vellum envelopes that I made. It was really sweet when they took them out and read them.



Donna (the tough-exterior-nobody-messes-with-me-gun-totin'-warrior) even got teary-eyed. We bonded and had "a moment".

For presentation, I stuck with my "brown paper bag" concept, as implemented last time. I figure if you put things in a plain jane brown paper bag, they won't expect much. When they open it up, no matter how lacking my ATC may be, it will be better than they expected! I mean, who really expects something great to come out of a brown paper bag? It's always a nice surprise. Good logic, huh?

My real "presentation" were these little birds nest I made for my ATCs to rest in. I'd seen the idea in a recent magazine (though I can't for the life of me remember which! Sorry!) They're constructed from plain kraft paper run through the shredder. You staple the ends, then kind of twist them and then staple them into a cirlce shape. It's not as easy as it might initially seem, and it took me some practice to get them to resemble a nest. I added Tim Holtz distressed embossing powder to give some texture. I didn't realize that the distress embossing powder doesn't smooth out like other embossing powders when heated. It does melt, which allows it to stick to the paper surface, but leaves a real texture...like a fine sandpaper. It wasn't what I had planned on, but turned out to be better than my idea! I used Gesso and a small amount of robbin's egg blue acryllic paint to whitewash the tiny paper mache eggs. I love how the Gesso didn't take away from the natural speckledy look of the paper mache.



We met at Lavender House Tea Room in downtown McKinney. I had not been to this venue before and was very pleasantly surprised. Walking in, you are greated by great lighting (crystal chandeliers), chic tableware (black linens and toile tableskirts), and lovely "live" piano music. Okay, someone had to point out to me the fact that no one was actually playing the black baby grand (it was one of those modern-day player pianos), but that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the "Phantom of the Opera" theme song and other goodies.



With red roses adorning the table tops, and small white tealights glowing in small but elegant crystal vases, I was ready for a fabulous "froo froo" lunch with my best girlfriends!

Though the tea room was crowded with a Bridal Shower, a Red Hats Society gathering, and a Birthday luncheon, our waitstaff was courteous and attentive. As we were waiting on one member of our party to arrive, we were offered a small appetizer of carrot/bran muffin top. They were both soft and tasty, and took the edge off our hunger! The salad course was well-received, as we each enjoyed our individually selected house-made dressings. The Parmesan Vinagrette I had selected was well-blended and perfectly complimented the freshness of my salad. The warm crescent wrapped chicken dish was delightful! The crust was just the right balance of flaky and tender and could easily be cut into with one's fork. The chicken mix inside included mushrooms, some sort of cream and cheese mixture, and fully cooked and cubed chicken breast. This is just my sort of dish and I don't mind admitting that I ate every crumb on my plate!

With lunch finished, we could hardly wait to begin "swapping"! Donna first presented her ATCs. Now, it should be noted that Donna has had a killer week at work. They are closing out their fiscal year, and she has worked nights and weekends, with only the occasional break for any type of social activity. We were fortunate she could even get away this weekend to gather with us. Incidentally, Donna had stayed up until 5am Friday night/Saturday am to complete her ATCs in time for the exchange. I couldn't have been more thrilled with how they came out. Donna, being a woman from the south (Louisiana--the Bayou state) had no trouble coming up with a concept for "March". It didn't even occur to any of the rest of us, but to Donna, March = Mardis Gras!



She created these amazing little pieces, complete with crackle medium, embossed masks with peacock feathers, and tiny little Mardis Gras beads! Thankfully, she didn't make any of us show us our TA-TAs to get our "beads"! She had a clever idea for her presentation. Another part of her heritage is the King's Cake, in which someone finds a tiny plastic "baby Jesus" in his piece of cake. This person, according to Wikipedia, "has various privileges and obligations (such as buying the cake for next year's celebration)." Donna purchased 3 cupcakes from Celebrity Cafe & Bakery, with Yellow, Green, or Purple frosting (Mardis Gras colors). She then hid a tiny plastic baby Jesus trinket in one of the boxes, and presented us each with a cupcake and our ATC. Our gorgeous Nina was the winner!



Then we took a break for dessert! All I can say is DELICIOUS! I had this amazingly creamy lemon cheesecake with berries dish; donna the chocolate cheesecake, and Alisa the lemon tart. They were all great!





After inhaling, er, I mean politely nibbling on very small bites of dessert, it was time for Nina's ATCs. See, the thing about Nina is this: You want to hate her because not only is she gorgeous, funny, AND nice, but she's also amazingly talented! Funny thing is that she undersells herself and her abilities. There's no way anyone could hate Nina because she's just so fabulous, though she doesn't see it the way we all do!



I'm always so impressed with the things she comes up with. I love the way she imprinted the fleur de lis in the pink paint, and then "dusted" a brown pigment across everything. (I'm quite certain that doesn't aptly explain what she's done here, but you'd have to ask her!) The effect she has created is one of old, but elegant, not at all unlike the French romantic style she prefers.



Inside her envelope, she has adhered her ATC with vintage creme seam binding.



Upon untying the ribbon, one discoveres this wonderful little gal! I love how the "ideas" are flowing from her mind!



Not fully having recovered from Nina's brilliance, we moved on to Alisa's gifts.


Alisa's ATC Package Front


Alisa's ATC Package Back

Now, as I've stated before, Alisa is kind-of our little ringleader in this group. It is she that inspired us all to start along this "altered art" path, and it is she who has continued to encourage our growth and lead us along to bigger and better things! So, as one might guess, in some ways (though not consciously) we probably have higher expectations for Alisa. Though clearly not fair, it's a good thing she ALWAYS DELIVERS! I couldn't have been more thrilled with Alisa's presentation. In the format of a miniature book, she did a front "cover", as well as a back.




Within, one finds a "fold-out" of Lewis Carroll's 1865 classic Alice in Wonderland's Tea Party!




I can't believe both the cleverness and patience necessary to create this mini-book! Alisa knows how I love all things mini! I love how she also used paper from one of DCWV's newer stacks, "Garden Party". This, coupled with lunch at a real tea room, and her lemon tart for dessert, couldn't be more congruent!

The ladies had their "tea" served in beautiful china cups, and we relaxed and chatted for a bit longer!




After a WONDERFUL time at lunch, we went to Smitten (an AMAZING store of vintage art and decor). Was having a wonderful time browsing (aka "dreaming") when a gal I had said hello to asked me where I got my magazine. I was carrying around the newly released issue of Sommerset Life. I pointed to a "tub" up by the register and walked her over there to show her. She picked up her copy, and next thing I knew, I overheard her telling her husband, "This is the one I'm in!" Me being the non-shy person I am said, "Oh! You're in this magazine?" She said, "Not this one, though I have been in others." Then she pointed to the back cover, which is advertising an upcoming Sommerset special issue, Marie Antoinette. I said, "Oh really?! Wow! You're going to be in Marie Antoinette?!" From there we introduced ourselves. Imagine my surprise at having encountered Ann-Denise Anderson of Whim And Fancy Designs! Not only is she an amazing craftress (she is widely known as the Crepe Paper Queen), but she is also going to be the instructor for a class that we four signed up for at Paper Cowgirl in June! I quickly called over Alisa, Nina, and Donna to let them know who had been "discovered" right there in Smitten! What a delight to have met a fellow Paper Cowgirl and mixed media artist! Since this chance encounter, Ann-Denise has graciously emailed us to let us know how much she enjoyed meeting her, as did we her!

It was a wonderful time shared with friends both old and new!

Friday Night Card-Making "Sparkly Eyes"

I had a Fabulous Weekend! Once again I am reminded of how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends and family!

Friday night was our monthly Scrap Happy Ones Together (SHOT) Scrapbooking Meetup at my place. We had about 18 ladies turn out. It was potluck and that was some good eatin', let me tell you! Not only are the ladies in SHOT amazing and talented scrapbookers, they are some of the dang finest cooks around! This month's theme was "St. Patrick's/Irish". We had everything from homemade lasagna (with spinach, of course!), pistachio fruit salad, to Wisconsin Sushi (pickles rolled in cream cheese and corned beef--surprisingly yummy!) and Corned Beef and Cabbage pizza. Yeah, I'd never heard of Irish Pizza either, but it was good.

Amazingly, I also managed to get some work done. Usually at the SHOT crops, as the organizer, I don't always get much done. Not only do I enjoy chatting and goofing off with the others, but by the time everyone gets there and settles into work, I'm too pooped to drag all my stuff out of my studio to do any work! This time, however, I wanted to re-purpose a few greeting cards I'd come across in my stash. I've been sorting through my stacks and stacks of stuff in preparation for our annual SHOT Scrapbooking and Craft Yard sale. I have so much good stuff I know I'll never use. I can't stand to part with it unless I know it will go to someone who really wants to use it! So, I had come across some old greeting cards that had little bears or something over-the-top cute like that on them. I'd also saved a few sheets of 5x7 paper from the Scrapbook a Day calendar I'd received as a Christmas gift. I knew I could add a few vintage images and vintage lace to make something simple but unique.

I was able to complete 3 sets of 6 Birthday Cards. I love to send a personal birthday greeting, but had gotten behind due to the fact that I was out of hand-made cards! It's been on my "to-do" list for a long time, now, but if you're anything like me, your "to-do" list seems to keep getting longer, no matter how many items you cross off! I was very happy with these cards. Though they are pretty simple, it's okay. Sometimes QUANTITY is what is needed. I can't always afford to spend 2-3 hours on just ONE card. But, it's still important to me to send a card that is SOMEWHAT crafty.







What's funny about the last two here is that once again I had Mr. Kirky's sing-songy-voice in my head, "There's no such thing as a mess-up!" I accidentally blemished the face of the birthday girl pictured here with a water droplet. The photo ink bled a little bit, but I was too busy/lazy to go print out another. So, I thought that I'd just make a little "mask" for her. My crop buddy suggested that I use her mini-butterfly punch for the mask shape. What a clever idea! I did so, used an exacto knife to cut out eyeholes, and then covered with german glass glitter. How lovely she turned out! I'm tempted to go back and do five more mini-masks for the remaining cards.



Speaking of card-making, a few weeks ago my family came into town for a cousin's wedding. The afternoon of the reception, after carefully wrapping the jumbo-size pancake griddle, I retreated to my studio for a few minutes to create a card to accompany. Because my Mom and my Grandma came in to "chat" with me while I worked (how do I concentrate?!), I was literally just "throwing" stuff together. I created this card in no more than 15 minutes, and was happily rewarded with how it turned out okay! Mom, obviously impressed with my ability to "whip something up" told me to make her a card, too! Apparently, she had completely forgotten to get a gift for the lovely couple. Now I would "save the day" by making a card she could stick some cash in. (Either she was truly impressed, or just too darn unwilling to get back in the car after the long drive here to go buy one!) See, that's the funny thing about doing something halfway decently well. People just love to get your "help"! :)

St. Patrick's Day

I always dress up Chance for each holiday! We don't have children to torture, so Chance gets the brunt of it, poor thing!

St. Patrick's Day was Tuesday 17, March this year. You know what that means. Everyone felt that was free license to party from Friday 13 through Tuesday. I'm sure there was plenty o' green beer flowing throughout the country. But, as you know, I don't drink, so I had to find other ways to celebrate the Irish!

Which got me thinking. What exactly is St. Patrick's Day all about anyway? All many of us know is that it's another "holiday" that has been commercialized into trivial trinket-buying and another opportunity to "eat, drink, and be merry." I decided to actually learn a little bit more about St. Patrick's day and its origins and meaning. After reading multiple articles on Wikipedia.com, here is a very brief synopsis:

St. Patrick was a boy, who at 16 was captured in his homeland of Wales and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he remained in captivity for 6 years. Later, after returning to his family, he had a self-proclaimed vision, which inspired his return to the people of Ireland as a Christian missionary. The remainder of his life appears to have been in evangelic service to the Irish, concluding with his death, which most believe to have been March 17, 460 A.D. Ergo, the date of St. Patrick's day we now celebrate. "Legend also credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God'..." Modern day celebrations include wearing green which most likely "...gained its prominence through the phrase 'the wearing of the green' meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing." Many US cities, as well as those throughout the world, participate in multi-day celebrations and parades. Increasingly more employ green dyes or other measures to demonstrate their respect for St. Patrick and his example of Christianity and missionary work. Chicago, Illinois is famous for dyeing their river green and even the White House's fountain water was dyed green this year to commemorate the occassion.





Still, the question remains unanswered, "Why do we pinch someone if not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day?" Though no one has an official answer, it is generally believed that it's to remind the offender (not wearing green) to honor the Emerald Isle (moniker for Ireland). (Pictures and info courtesy of Wikipedia.com.)

There you go. Now I understand what St. Patrick's Day is about and I can really get behind a holiday that celebrates Christian service!

This year I was lucky enough to hang with friends at Lochran's Pub in downtown Frisco for a large part of the afternoon on Saturday the 14th. The chips (fried potatoes) were great and the entertainment festive! They had different bands come and play both traditional folk and more modern Irish rock music. Additionally, there was a group of Irish dancers who performed many different Irish dances (think Riverdance with Michael Flatley.) Two of the performers (a little boy and girl) couldn't have been over 6 years old, and were cute as buttons! Still, they did much better dancing than I could ever attempt to do! Most of all, though, I just enjoyed hanging with my true-Irish-blood friend, Kathy, and her awesome mom, Mary! What a riot those two are! Great fun!

Here's a picture I made Lloyd take wearing Chance's hat. I told him I wasn't going to put it on my blog. Ha Ha! Sucker! This will be a test to see if he actually reads my blog! The laugh's on you, buddy!

ESTATE SALE

I've been wanting to post about my first Estate Sale adventure for a couple of weeks now! But darn it all, between sleeping, creating, visiting with friends, and the occasional cleaning (and I use the term "cleaning" lightly), I just haven't had a chance!

Being so excited about this new-found passion for altered art, I decided that I needed to accumulate some vintage items to work with (Yeah, I need to "acquire" more stuff like a fat kid needs more cake!) And then it hit me: Estate Sales! Yippee!

I went to my trusty friend Google and within minutes had discovered 2 Estate Sales happening the next day in Dallas! While one promised to be "The Big One" and was my first stop, the second was WAY more intriguing.

The first house was just your normal everyday 2 story brick suburban home in Plano. I wondered "who had died"? Interestingly enough, I discovered that the lady who owned the home (and all it's overflowing contents within) had not passed away at all. According to the estate seller, she was just tired of this home and all her stuff. Decided she wanted to move and "start over again". She couldn't be bothered with selling all her stuff so had hired the Estate Sellers. The closets were full with brand new clothes with tags; there was even a bedroom upstairs where one whole wall was covered floor to ceiling with shoe boxes full of never worn or hardly worn pairs of shoes; the garage was packed with Christmas decor that had never been opened! There were 4 bedrooms, two living areas, 3 baths, a dining room, study, and garage full to the hilt with "stuff" that one single woman had accumulated. It was sensory overload! I had difficulty wrapping my head around the life this woman had lead. I can only imagine that she must have felt lonely and buying all these "things" helped stave off the emptiness.

Because most of the items at this home were not "vintage" or "antique", I only found a few pieces of "junk" jewelry that I could use for altered artwork.

Here are the pieces I found tucked away in an old drawer at the back.










I am most excited about this little "spoon ring" above! I've wanted one of these for a long time. I remember, as a little girl, always looking at the one my Grandma Carey wore and thinking how cool it was! Getting this whole little bag of goodies was great fun. Other than that, though, the only other thing I picked up was a gold-plated serving set from Sheffield (which needs major polish work!)



After this Estate Sale (which was my very first ever), I was kind of bummed. I had envisioned it to be different, somehow. The other sale I had mapped out was much further down in Dallas. Because of this first experience, I was talking myself out of venturing down to the other sale. But then, I thought, "No. I've made a plan to go to these two sales today, and that's what I'm going to do. Just because this one was a bust doesn't mean the other will be!" Boy, am I glad that I talked myself into going! I found many, many cherished treasures!

Gorgeous Hand-Embroidered Vintage Linens!




A Lovely Yellow Hand-Embroidered Vintage Pillowcase

Look! A Hand-Embroidered Napkin with my first initial!

Vintage Creme Tablecloth in Beautiful Condition

Vintage White Tablecloth in Pristine Condition

Sheer Vintage Scarves!

What a Find! This Vintage Geoffrey Beene COLLECTORS scarf!

More Vintage Linens, Pillowcases, and Doilies!

Love This Precious Little Children's Pillowcase

Look at the Little Angel Cherub Print! Soooo Sweet!


Speaking of things for little children...I found this tiny little infant dress at the back of the closet! It was handmade and was likely the baby dress of the deceased.

This pintucking in front is all hand-stitched! What patience and precision!

The Back.

More hand-gathering at the arms.

Notice even the tiniest detail--the pleating under the arm to allow full movement.


I also found not just one....but count 'em....FIVE adorable vintage hand-sewn aprons!
Red and White Gingham Check with Ric-a-rac edging!


Pocket Closeup

Cute "V" Apron with pockets!

Adorable pattern!

Loving this sheer white with blue flowers one!

Pocket in contrasting blue floral pattern.

Sheer makes it dainty!

There's always room for a pretty RED apron!

Welcome SPRING with this wonderful edging done around the flowers!

And this....this hostessing apron. Perfect for a dinner party!

When showing my Mom, can you believe what she said? *BLUSH* "Yes. I remember these! Can't you just see a young bride serving dinner to her new husband wearing this and nothing else?!" Oh my goodness, Mom! Please tell me that was just an IDEA...not an actual "memory" you just shared! :)


I found these tiny little ceramic birds. They were mixed in with a few other tiny little HOLLAND MOLD pieces (collectors items) so I snatched them up. For those of you who know me, I love miniature things, and these are just so adorable!









I also discovered two mini tea sets! Oh, how lovely! The first is a light robin's egg blue color with a white cameo on the tea pot and tiny white roses as the lid handles.



The second may very well be my FAVORITE find all day! It's an actual Blue Willow collectors tea set that is as tiny as can be! So dainty and devine!






I also found this little silver plated coaster set with filigree-style etching!


Some sweet vintage stationery still in the robin's egg blue box!


And here are the beautiful and authentic vintage pieces of jewelry I grabbed up before anyone else could! I won't even tell you the price I paid for them! I will treasure them!


And I hit the motherlode with one of the items I went out seeking: Vintage Lace! I got unbelievable yards and yards of these pretties!
























As I continued to gather up these mulitple treasures, the ladies administering the estate sale started a "stack" for me at the front. One very helpful lady asked me, "Oh. You must be a dealer?!" It gave me pause. It was with a mix of both pride and new-found certainty that I responded, "Oh, no. I'm an artist!" This singular moment was a turning point in my life. It is the first time I have ever verbally referred to myself as an "artist". Though I've done artistic things my whole life, I never felt that I was actually worthy, if you will, of the title "artist". I'm coming to understand, however, that art is not something that can be categorized very simply into titles such as painter, sculptor, musician, etc. Artists are those who are attempting to live life through an everyday expression of creativity. I am doing that, and thereby qualify as an ARTIST.

THOUGHTS ON THIS ESTATE SALE

The listing for this sale had advertised, "Couple lived in this home for over 40 years..." I figured if they'd lived there over 40 years, SURELY I'd find SOMETHING worthwhile. I couldn't have been more pleased! Walking into that home was like walking back 30 years. From the decor to the "old people" smell that permeated, every one of my senses was carried into a past era. I spent 3 hours looking in every nook and cranny of that home for some unseen treasure. I was rewarded again and again for my diligence. Where others idly rummaged and passed by with a cursory glance, I spent time to "feel" what was there. It was a life-changing experience for me.

Where I had been looking for items, I found feelings. As I pulled out pair after pair of white long and short-sleeved gloves, I envisioned a woman in the 60's attending the infamous Dallas parade where Kennedy was shot. Finding a small pill-box hat with netting and flowers only further confirmed my vision. As I stood in this woman's room, amongst all her jewelry, handkerchiefs, and even underclothes, I couldn't process all the emotions that were stirring within. It took me days to process what I was feeling! I can't even now adequately describe everything I felt. But I do know this: I felt like I was intruding. I felt somewhat ashamed. Here I was, (amongst many others), sifting through this woman's belongings, casually discarding whatever I didn't "want". How callous! This poor lady hadn't even been deceased more than a few days and already we were rifling through her slips and underthings laid out on a makeshift plywoodboard table. A woman of such decorum would be mortified to have such a thing happen!

It's different when you go to an antique shop. Everything has been taken from the owner's home and put into a nice, neutral spot. Going to an estate sale of the recently departed is not at all what I had expected. The very ESSENCE of the deceased lingers pervasively. Though her body is gone, her spirit is still very much attached to those items and the home she dwelt in for over 40 years.

The scents and tactile objects reminded me SO much of my granmother who passed away just a few years ago. These are REAL people...who lived a REAL life. These are their THINGS. But, at the same time, I feel the odd paradox there: they are just THINGS. The person is gone, and these things that she spent her whole life accumulating mean nothing. In fact, they mean so little to even her children, that they have opted to sell them to the general public. It feels simultaneously tragic and sobering, nonetheless.

I spend too much time collecting "things": nice furniture, pretty dishes, special clothing. In the end, my things will end up on a makeshift plywood table in the garage, too, won't they? The general public will rifle through my slips and underclothing and discard them as things of naught. And, rightfully so. For after all, they are just things. Things don't matter. It's the people we've loved and the memories we've created that matter.

That's why we, as artists, work so hard to preserve these memories. We speak for those who have passed. Our voices mingle with theirs crying out from the dust, speaking what their voices have left unsaid through our work. Our art is more than just a bunch of pretty little objects put together. Through it, we seek to give tangibility to the nuances that are so difficult to capture and convey. It's a legacy of those who have gone before to remind those in the present and those to come of the intimacy of life lived: feelings and emotions and relationships, which mean everything.

Cackling Poultry With Guns

I always have way too much fun laughing with my friends! The other night we met up for dinner and had as wonderful time as always both discussing the unwanted "drama" in our lives, and laughing our heads off at the inanity of it all!

At one point I think Alisa said something sarcastic to Donna. I said, "You'd better watch out, you know Donna's packin'!" (Donna used to be in law enforcement, and although we can't be sure if she actually still carries a gun on her regularly or not, there is a running joke that if she bends down and reaches in her boot you'd better start running the other way!) Well, that comment got us all giggling even more than we already had been. Alisa said something about us sounding like a bunch of cackling hens. Then Donna, "Cackling Poultry?" Then of course, me, not wanting to be outdone, added, "Yeah. Cackling Poultry...With Guns." To this we found ourselves cackling even more!

I know it probably sounds like one of those "I guess you had to be there" type jokes, and very well may be, but I still had to share!

Later that week as I was at home watching tv with my husband, I thought, "I could be doing something other than just sitting here watching tv." Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE advocate of tv watchin'. But I just figured I could do 2 things at once. That's when I got the BRILLIANT idea to actually MAKE "Cackling Poultry With Guns".







I made one for each of us. We met again this week for dinner and I couldn't hardly wait to share my surprises! We got another good laugh. Alisa said she was going to hang hers from her rearview mirror in the car. Who knows where Donna's ended up!

Alisa has decided to call hers "Belle Star": "The Bandit Queen" From 1875 to 1880 she was the undisputed leader of a band of cattle and horse thieves.

Donna has named her CPWG "Lola Montez": Early feminist of sorts and writer of a book of beauty tips. Homicidal temper; carried a whip. On of the most outrageous women of her time.

Mine is named "Pearl Hart": First know female stage robber in Arizona Territory. After being captured for the stage robbery, she said that she "would never consent to be tried under a law she or hersex had no voice in making, or to which a woman had no power under the law to give her consent." She had become a strident voice for "women's emancipation".

Yep, our Cackling Poultry With Guns sure do represent us!

February Art Party

I am so blessed to have good friends and family in my life. I am even MORE blessed to be doing things that I love! As most of you know, I've loved scrapbooking and papercrafting for quite some time. Nowadays, I'm moving into Altered Art, as well. It's a mixed media type of art that combines pretty much any element that one finds attractive and/or meaningful.

February 13th was our first combined "Art Party". We (4 of us: Donna, Alisa, Nina, and I have started a journey together this year. We are trading ATCs every month and then having an altered art project and party every quarter, in an effort to live creatively.

I SO enjoyed our maiden party and ATC swap! I had one of the best times I've had in YEARS! Not only do I completely love and admire these 3 amazing women, I feel fulfilled when we bond together over the creative process.

Alisa, ever the gracious hostess, went all out to make it a lovely evening! From the wonderful display of hand-made and Vintage Valentine-themed decorations throughout the house,


right down to the pink sugar crystals lining the stemware, no detail went unnoticed.


We dined on delicious chicken spaghetti, salad, and yummy garlic bread knots (I'm a bread fiend!) Later, Dessert was a magnificient second feast of fresh fruits and chocolate sauce, pink champagne (and sparkling cider for me!), amazing little two-bite brownies (which I am embarassed to admit sometimes only took me 1 bite), and of course the French wonder that is the petit four.





We then moved into the family area for "art time"! Alisa had SO generously provided each one of us with our own surprise box of vintage goodies. I cannot describe to you how flabberghasted I was at not only the sheer AMOUNT of goodies she gifted, but the quality, as well.




There were sheets and sheets of aged sheet music, ledger paper, and journal paper all fromt he early 1900's. Additionally, there were wallpaper pieces, crepe paper, doilies, fabrics and trims, costume jewels and beads all beautifully tarnished by time.

Our project for the evening was an "altered" heart. How appropriate for Valentine's Day Eve! We were provided with a roughly 14" wood heart to decorate. Though daunting at first, I decided to just jump in and go for it! It was difficult actually "using" the supplies I'd just been given. They were so pretty and so cherished I just wanted to wrap them up, tuck them under my pillow, and sleep with them! Nonetheless, I am learning that beauty is to be enjoyed and shared. I am trying to live my life in the NOW and not just waiting for "good things" in the future. I'm trying to learn to be happy NOW, with the unfinished me that I am, instead of waiting for that ever-elusive day when I magically become "good enough"! This newfound ideaology includes using the "good stuff" now. So, I dove into that wonderful box of goodies and just let my creative sensitivites take over!



I am happy with my creation (though I know it is far from perfect), and more than anything, am pleased with how full of joy the process made me feel!


My altered HEART.


I had a little time to also work on a second piece. I wanted to practice using crepe paper. I love the vintage jewelry and beads Alisa made available.

At about 1am we suddenly realized it was LATE! Though the other 3 of us can sometimes be found lazing away on Saturday morning, Nina is a wonderful and devoted mother who needed to get up early to tend to her small children the next morning. Ergo, we put our art aside and got down to the most-anticipated event of the evening...the ATC REVEAL! For the prior 3 weeks, we had all been feverishly laboring on our first little ATCs, and couldn't wait to see what each other had come up with. I couldn't have been more pleased with the others' creations. Now, admittedly, we knew Alisa's would be GREAT, as she is an old pro! But, I was equally impressed with the workwomanship that went into Donna and Nina's pieces.


Donna's ATC--She Used Mica Chips and Gel Medium to Create This Look. Donna tries to teach me about real art mediums...but I still haven't got it all down!


Nina's "Gifts"! Love the Yummy Lavender Paper and Vintage Seam Binding.


Nina's Amazing ATC. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nina's use of color and fantastic hand-stitched rose!


Alisa's Perfectly-Packaged Treasures.


Ooooooh! Look! There's one with my initial on it!

Alisa's ATC is made by covering her card with Vintage Lace. I can't imagine the painstaking effort it took to cut out each delicate image placed over the lace!


I think she said she saw the idea on Cerri's"The Little Pink Studio" site! She did a wonderful interpretation of this clever method!

As each of us took turns "opening" our swap cards (I truly believe art swaps are better than Christmas...Christmas is for kids...THIS is for US!), I just got happier and happier! Everyone had invested her heart and soul into her creation. I loved to listen to the stories behind the creations.


Presentation is Supposed to be Part of the ATC Swap. For My ATC Presentation, I Placed My ATC Card, Along With a Jewelled Clip, Inside an Altered Box.


The Inside Pocket of the Box I Decorated to House My ATC. There Are About 10 Mini French Poster Images Tucked Within.


The Front Side of My ATC. I made the "roses" out of beads, wire stems, and tiny green sequins. I chose a quote from the Quote Garden credited to Victor Hugo,

"How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said."


The Back Side of My ATC. There are also a tiny lock and key hanging out from the side of the card. I love miniature things!

After the "gifts" had been opened and hugs goodbye, we all went home to a contented night of sleep. Nothing makes me feel better than to be surrounded by people I love and admire, who "get" me. I can't wait until our next swap! Cheers!

Austin Rocks

A little birdie got onto me for not updating my blog sooner! I won't say her name, but I'll give you a hint: It starts with "A" and ends in "lisa". She didn't really get onto me, she just wanted to encourage me because she knows of all the fun stuff that's been up with me in the last couple of months. That's part of the problem, you see. The more neat stuff happening, the less time to write about it! I've got a series of events that I want to share about, but feel I have to blog them in chronological order. Plus, I tend to "overwrite" about everything instead of just placing a couple of great photos. Ergo, the delay. You know how sometimes you just have so much to do that you avoid it or find other things to do instead? That's been my problem both with blogging AND creating. I find that instead of actually getting into my craft room (known as my "studio" when I'm trying to impress people), instead I find ways to think about what I'm going to create or hunt for new items!

Following my awesome birthday in January and the fun scrapbooking retreat some friends and I shared at Memory Lane Inn in McKinney TX, in February we had a fun girls-weekend trip to Austin. My friend, Clare, turned 40 this year so we decided on a jaunt "out and about" to celebrate! A caravan of us drove the short 3 hour trip south on February 7th, and returned the next afternoon.

I had never been "to" Austin before...had merely passed through on my way to Houston, San Antonio or Galveston. I had heard really cool stuff about it, however. The biggest thing I knew about it (other than it being the state's capitol) was that every spring there is an uber-cool music festival known as SXSW (South by SouthWest). It's really more than just your average "festival", as it lasts over a week and "showcases more than 1,800 musical acts of all genres from around the globe on over eighty stages in downtown Austin." Since I first learned of SXSW from MTV's Real World Season 16 in 2005, I've always imagined that it would be one of the coolest things EVER to be a part of. (Personal notes: A)yes, I LOVE "reality" tv. B) yes, I only learned about SXSW in 2005 and feel like an uncool loser for not having been aware of it sooner!)

Me and the BLUE Guitar!


Anyway, I digress. So, we went to Austin, but not for SXSW. (Although I would like to go someday, I'm kind of put off by the idea of mingling with the masses of teens and twenty-somethings and the drunken chaos that likely ensues. However, it could be worth it, as the MUSIC aspect of it would be AMAZING!) We went to just "see" what's there and do a little scrapbook shoppping, as we no longer have a real scrapbook store here in Dallas. I know, weird, huh?

A couple of friends and I wanted to leave Dallas a little earlier than the rest of the group was planning to leave, as we wanted to visit a few antique stores, specifically Alisa's favorite, Uncommon Objects. Uncommon Objects is truly that, uncommon. From the giant-sized rabbit? with a lassoing cowboy atop the entrance, to the prettiest little handmade doiley you've ever seen, this place is a haven for collectors, artists, and those who just love the idea of making something old into something "new". We could have easily spent hours purusing the nooks and cubbies that make up the layout. But, alas, our pocketbooks only permitted so much! I walked away with some great vintage sheet music, bingo cards, books, doilies, lace, and other trinkets. There were at least 3 giant cases of jewelry that I remember seeing, with some gorgeous antiqueware that I covet! Maybe someday I'll get to go back and pick out something for my birthday!

Uncommon Objects


Upon arriving in Austin, our first priority was to EAT! Although, as is customary with any self-respecting road trip, we had managed to consume ridiculous amounts of sugar and caffeine on our drive down, our bellies were now urging us toward "real food". Alisa and Donna both being the "civilized" type ladies that they are, were in search of a fine "spot of tea". All I really cared about was eating somewhere unique/different and perhaps a little on the Frenchy/froo-froo side. After multiple what we'll refer to as "sightseeing" trips around the block, we finally managed to arrive at The Driskill. This hotel "offers an elite level of luxury and service to rank as one the world's finest hotels." I had read about the Driskill prior to our Austin trip and had longed for it's luxury. Though our party had selected a different hotel venue for our stay, we were delighted with the opportunity to dine at the historic 1886 Cafe & Bakery, "long known as 'Austin's socializing parlor'." We enjoyed an absolutely delightful (and I don't use that word often, but that is truly what our experience was) brunch, as we basked in the warm sunshine cascading through the original stained glass windows. The food was simple, but elegant, and although I didn't care much for my french fries cooked in truffle oil (I guess my palate isn't sophisticated enough!), Alisa and Donna both immensely enjoyed their afternoon tea!

The Driskill Hotel Exterior


The Driskill Lobby


Donna Thinks She's Oh-So-Proper on This Phone in the Driskill Lobby


1886 Cafe & Bakery


Donna at Driskill



Alisa enjoying her "spot of tea".


Driskill Dessert


While in Austin we also visited Archiver's Scrapbook store (in which I only spent a whopping $11.31--I guess I've seen it all before!)

The Gang at Archiver's


In the hotel, before dinner, we had presented Clare with a 12x12 scrapbook with pages created from many different friends and family. Clare's best friend (and a wonderful person!), Dunree, had worked dilligently behind the scenes for several weeks. She discreetly collected everyone's finished 12x12 pages and put them together in an album for Clare. What a great idea! I hope someday I have a friend who thinks to do that for me--what a cherished gift to have a book with pictures and stories of all your friends! Here's the page I had completed for Clare.



Later in the evening we went out to dinner to celebrate Clare's birthday at Austin Land & Cattle (not to be confused with the chain-restaurant, Texas Land & Cattle.) Again, being the research geek that I am, I had both Googled and visited TripAdvisor.com to ascertain the general consensus of where we would be dining. Although the restuarant boasts having won the "Best of CitySearch.com" award in both 2002 and 2006 (along with a Zagat rating of "Very Good to Excellent"), I was not particularly impressed. Obviously, it would have been poor form to say such a thing at the time, so I kept my mouth shut. Later discussion, however, found there were others in our party of the same opinion. While the food was clearly not "inedible", we were disappointed with the cook's lack of accuracy with cooking the steaks to the requested doneness. Further, there were no notable "highs" for any of us...nothing stood out. In my mind, if a restaurant is "great", it has to have at least one dish or item that is exceptional and/or that stands out from competitors'. At this point, I can't even remember what was served other than the steak. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time sharing Clare's birthday and she seemed to really enjoy it, which is what really matters! Besides, no matter where you go, with Clare it's always a PARTY!

Austin Land & Cattle


Me & Alisa at Dinner


After dinner, as we returned to the hotel, there was talk of "doing 6th Street." As I am neither a drinker, nor a partier, I was not inclined to join. Fortunately, Alisa was ready to put on her "comfies" with me and return to the room. It was funny how we both curled up on our beds and enjoyed reading the Sommerset Studio Magazines she had brought. Though we didn't speak much (other than the occasional, "Hey, look at this! Isn't this cool what she's done?" in regards to someone's work), there was a palpable feeling of relaxation and shared contentment.

I thought Alisa looked so cute in her flannel PJs enjoying her Sommerset!


After a decent night of sleep (I consider 6 hours pretty good when you're on a girls trip!), we awoke somewhat refreshed and, you guessed it, hungry...yet again! A few text messages from our other party members suggested breakfast at the local Denny's, for lack of a better plan. Now, don't get me wrong, in college I was all over Denny's like white on rice. It offers a mean "Super Bird" sandwich and stays open 24/7/365. But, on this occasion, I had really been hoping for something a little less 1970s and a lot more 2009! Someone, more familiar with the area, recommended a local spot, Austin Java on 12th & Lamar. Two Words: HAL.....ELUJIAH! They had everything from your standard bacon and eggs, to signature made-to-order omelettes. Though not a coffee drinker, their available bean confections were fascinating! My friend, Nina, thoroughly enjoyed her Mexican-style "migas", and I couldn't help but "eye" someone else's breakfast quesadillas. My favorite, though, was the giant full-plate-sized Gingerbread pancake I had dared to order. Having never had a Gingerbread pancake, I could only imagine the delectable combination of sweetness and piquant spice that would culminate in my tastebuds singing! All I can say is that Waffle House's Pecan Waffle has some fierce competition in the Gingerbread pancake.

After a short tour at the Capitol (where some walked off their morning's caloric consumption), we were soon back on the road.

The Capitol


Though our trip wasn't ALL about food, though admittedly it is one of my favorite topics of discussion, we also stopped at this gas station-type joint in West, TX, known as Czech Stop & Little Czech Bakery. Throughout the last 10 years of my Texas residency, I had heard tales of this legendary pastry and dessert deli, but had yet to experience it for myself. Though it was an average-nothing-special-going-on weekend afternoon, I was surprised to see a long line of customers waiting for their specially selected little "treats". The line DID move quickly; however, it just wasn't quickly enough for me! From the moment I selected my cream cheese and lemon "Danish" from behind the glass display case, until I was seated in the car, it was all I could do to keep from inhaling my pastry! The aroma alone could have tempted me to seriously injure anyone who dared get between me and my intended victual!

Here's a picture I found on the internet of a similar Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish from the Czech Stop


(P.S. Why do they call them Danishes at the Czech Stop? Shouldn't they be "Czechishes"?)

The trip was fun, the company was both entertaining and enlightening (had some pretty serious discussions in the car ride), and as well-documented here, the food was plentiful! Thanks to all for a splendid time!

Old Lady

January 14, 2009 marked my 35th birthday. Whew! That was a big one for me. I know, I know. People say, "35 is still so young!" But, really, it's not so young. 35 is on the cusp of 40! Don't get me wrong, I've earned my 35 years! I mean, EARNED them! It's not like I've lived a charmed life. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Far be it from me to complain. I'm just saying that if the next 35 years are anything like the first 35, I'm a little bit trepidatious, to say the least.

I am thankful for the experiences I've had in my life, though. I've always felt that way. Sure, like everyone else, I tend to bemoan my fate when things are rough. But, usually with enough consideration and prayer, I can find the lesson to be learned from the experience. Sometimes it's not immediately, but more oft than not, it comes sooner than later. One thing about being a little older is that you realize that there's an ebb and flow to life. You have enough experience and just TIME doing life to realize that all things pass. I think most of life is about endurance. You've got to endure through the trials to get to the good part. The shinning moments are few and far between (kind of like diamonds). But, when you come across one, you realize it was worth waiting for! You soak it up and treasure the moment because you don't know how long it's going to be until you find another gem! And, like diamonds, with every passing year, we grow stronger and more brilliant. It takes incredible amounts of pressure to create a diamond, but I think we all agree that the result is worth it. I have to try to remember that I'm like that...we all are. There is a purpose for our existence and God has a plan for each one of us. Though we can't always see the diamond we are meant to become, we can trust in the process and know that our experiences and TIME are what will shape us into who we need to become.

I am so thankful for this time in my life, old lady or not! In addition to a WONDERFUL husband and best friend, I have been surrounded by amazing women in my life. Nearly 2 years ago I started a scrapbooking club for local scrapbookers to gather and share our passion for creating and keeping a record. Many people don't understand how we can get so engrossed in paper, scissors and glue. But it's so much more than that! It's really about connecting with others who have a love for living. Scrapbookers care about people. They want to create something beautiful to remind themselves, their families, and future generations of the milestones and happy moments in their lives. In a way, scrapbooking is a celebration of living. Aside from the creative outlet it offers me, I love spending time with so many other positive women who "get" it the same way I do. They, too, love life and are seeking ways to enrich themselves and their families. They share their talents and experiences with one another and lend an empathetic ear when they find another who is struggling with one trial or another. I have been so blessed by the strength, beauty, and talent of the women with whom I associate. I constantly feel inspired to stretch my wings and become a more authentic me!

My husband, Lloyd, and brother and niece who live with me (Connon and Rainee) celebrated my birthday on my actual birthday. Lloyd got me a great card and CAKE! He knows I LOVE cake! He also got me this funny little animatronic dog thing that sings a song. It was silly, but fun. Chance, our dog, didn't know what to make of it! We went to a YUMMY dinner at Rafain Brazilian Churrascaria in Plano. It was delicious!
Lloyd also got me a $50 Amazon.com gift certificte so I can buy scrapbooking stuff! Yay! (I'm glad he didn't try to pick it out for me!)
I got phone calls and wonderful greeting cards from my Mom, Dad, and little sister, Casey. My older sister, Carla, TOTALLY surprised me with this AWESOME and YUMMY candy tower from Harry & David. Mmmmmmmmmmm. I wish she could visit, but candy was a good stand in!

Some of my friends went on a scrapbooking retreat with me for a weekend in January to Memory Lane Inn in McKinney, TX. We had 3 1/2 fun-filled days of cropping, eating, laughing and precious little sleeping. Essentially, it's a grown-up gals 3 day slumber party! Jenny-Bop is single (though I can't for the life of me figure out why--other than the fact that it's tough to find a guy good enough for her) and so I got her a "grow a date" guy! She named him Buck Rogers and promised to let us all see when she "grew" him in the bathtub. Supposedly he grows 600%.

Other strange and funny things occurred, which cannot be mentioned. What happens at the retreat, stays at the retreat. I had a FANTASTIC time and was so glad I was surrounded by great friends for my birthday!




On Thursday night they took me to Maggiano's Italian restaurant for dinner. It was so good and so much fun! I couldn't help but smile the whole time! It made me feel so good that so many people would come out to share a birthday dinner with me! I hope my table is always full of good friends and good food. My friend, Donna, even offered a toast in my honor. Not being a drinker, I had never had occassion to be toasted before! But, I ordered my virgin strawberry daquiri and was all set! It was great. Everyone should get to have a toast in her honor at least once in her life.

When we got back to the retreat house after dinner, I got to open up the COOLEST gift ever from my awesomely talented friend, Alisa Jane. Visit her: www.lifeisabeautifulplacetobe.blogspot.com. She knows that I have an odd affinity for all things miniature. Well, actually, it's not just the miniature items, but those that are not the right size altogether. You know, like these GIANT heart-shaped sunglasses my nephew River is wearing?!

I don't know why, but I just love these items! So, Alisa being the awesome friend (not to mention amazing life-artist) made me the cutest Matchbox Vignette ever! You probably can't see the amazing detail in the photo here, but trust me...nothing is left undone. She hand-crafted the cake, complete with frosting and a mini candle in the center! I adore the nifty banner sign (with gorgeous imported glass glitter) in the background! I couldn't have been more honored (that she would take the time to do this for moi), nor more delighted!

I can't say enough how thankful I am to feel so loved by everyone and to have had such a wonderful 35th birthday! Thank you to everyone who made me feel special!

New Year's Success

What a great surprise I had this New Year's Eve. My younger sister, Casey, called me on Wednesday morning about 11am and said she and her husband, Glenn, and her children were coming to visit! I am originally from Springfield, MO (aka "The Ozarks"). My Mom, Dad, 2 of my brothers (Colby & Creason), and my sister, Casey, all still live there. It's in the southwest corner of Missouri and only about a 6-7 hour drive to Frisco.

Casey said that Glenn and she had driven to Ada, Oklahoma to check out a hospital there and the Ada community. Glenn is finishing up his doctorate as a physical therapist and wants to go into public health upon his graduation. Apparently, one of the opportunities to work for the government would be in Ada (the closest opportunity to both Missouri and Texas.) Ergo, the trek to Ada (why else would anyone choose it as a "vacation destination"?) Ada is just a couple hours north of Frisco, TX so they said they'd go ahead and head on down to see me.

I got on the phone with my brother, Chad, who agreed that he and his new family (Kenda the wife and Deacon the cutest most adorable and hilarious 3 year-old son) would join us! I called one of my scrapbooking friends, Donna Garcia (who has become one of my best friends over the last couple of years), to see if she'd come over, too!

We had the BEST time playing games and hanging out. I love board games, but since it's just me and Lloyd, we don't get to play them often (except our cut-throat Boggle competitions.) I can't think of more fun people to play Balderdash with (a game of lying and conniving) than my siblings. No one makes me laugh more or feel more understood than they do. There's the rare occassion that someone else really gets the "Carey" humor, and those are the people we let come over to play (ie: Donna.)

It's not really profound, and not too terribly intersting I guess, but I just had to post about how grateful I am for my siblings. As the third of seven children, growing up it was hard to get along with so many other kids all vying for Mom's limited amount of attention. But now, as adults, they are my best friends and I always look forward to our visits. I know "only children" get a lot of perks, and I often wished I was an "only child" while growing up. But now, I wouldn't trade my siblings for anything (well, except for Colby, but he wouldn't fetch much at market anyway! J/K.) My siblings are some of the most intelligent, acheiving, independent thinking, talented, and verbose people I know. Sometimes it's annoying because we all seem to think we know everything and the other person is always wrong. All in all, though, the interchange of thoughts and ideas and even the occasional "feeling" or two is a delight to take part in.

My siblings probably don't realize how wonderful they make my life, even though I don't see them as much as I'd like to. I'm one of those people who needs to "belong", to have a sense of "connectedness". While I enjoy that feeling regularly with my husband (who, incidentally, is an only child and can be overwhelmed by the chaos when all the "Carey Clan" gets together), I also like being part of a large family and the foundation that it affords me. On top of that, these are people who have seen me at the worst and lowest points in my life, but have also seen me achieve and conquer some of my most difficult challenges. Their understanding of who I really am and what I'm capable of, inspires me to want to be a better person: more loving, kind, and generous.

Incidentally, I've been working on my craft room overhaul today. It's frustrating because I don't have much handyman experience. I have to learn as I go, which can be both time consuming and dangerous! I'm working on building shelves so I have more space for all my excessive scrapbook paraphenelia. Lloyd is totally on board with this idea, just so long as I don't make him "help". After several attempts to drill a screw into a "stud", I sat down and started crying because I couldn't understand why it wasn't working. I went through the whole "woe is me; no one will ever help me with anything; I'm a loser 'cause I can't figure out how this works" pity party in my head. After crying it out for a few minutes (which is just the way I do things), I went to my computer to try to Google information about screwing into studs.

That's when my Dad called. Today is my oldest brother's, Connon, birthday. I guess Dad called me trying to get ahold of Connon. Connon rents a room from us (but is out of town right now on a ski trip to Colorado--lucky!) After explaining that Connon is out of town, I was ready to get off the phone and back to my Googling. For those of you who know me, I detest talking on the phone. But, if you know my Dad, you know he's a talker and once he's got your ear, there's no easy way out. He went on and on for a few minutes about the weather and how the neighbors' dogs are rotten and they just don't make this or that the way they used to, etc. You know, standard old people stuff.

Then he asked me how I was doing. I don't know what got into me. What I should've said to try to speed up the call and increase my chances of getting off the phone within the next 5 minutes was, "Fine." But no, for some odd reason, I decided to just tell him that I was frustrated as heck because of this stupid screw and the studs and how I couldn't get my drill to drill it in properly and I didn't know what was wrong and how miserable I was because I had to do it all by myself, blah, blah, blah. Dad kind of chuckled and said he thought it was pretty cool, though, that I was making the attempt, as most gals wouldn't even try. He then went through a series of questions to check what tools and hardware I was using, etc. After affirming that I had all the necessary equipment and I was on the right track, he concluded that I must've inadvertently picked the wrong part of the stud to drill in and I should try a new location. Dumbfounded, I said, "Could that really be it? I should just try a new spot?" Dad said, "Sure. I mean, I know you don't want extra holes all over the wall, but there's a small chance that your screw wouldn't go all the way in because you hit another nail or screw." I thought, "Hmmm. That never occurred to me. I guess I could try another spot. Wouldn't hurt."

After finally getting off the phone with Dad (and I mean that in the nicest way possible), I went back to my craft room to give his suggestion a whirl. Would you believe he was right? I had no problem the next time! Dumb "Carey" luck dictates that if there's a way to get something wrong by rare and unknown factors, a Carey will find it every time. I was near gleeful at having found a solution and being able to continue on to the next step of my project!

My Dad and I aren't close and really don't see eye to eye on much. We usually end up getting into some kind of disagreement or misunderstanding if we're around each other too long. Mostly, I've just "written him off" as an old, troubled man. How refreshing it was, though, to be reminded today that everyone has something to offer. How can I, someone who prides herself on trying to be an open and loving person, so easily forget that everyone has value? Sure, my Dad has made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime. Those aren't easily forgotten. But, that doesn't mean he's totally useless as a person. My Dad spent many, many years working as a roofer, a janitor, a lumberjack, whatever he could to earn a living. He has tons of experience to offer, if but given the chance. I wish I could be better at remembering that. And, not just about my Dad, either. I wish I could more often look at those around me and instead of being annoyed or bothered, look for the good in them, their experience and wisdom, or what they have to offer. After all, maybe others look at me and wonder what it is I have to offer? How horrible it would be if they never bothered to look deep enough to find out who I am and what valuable experience I have to share. How lonely and forgotten that must feel.

I'm not making New Year's Resolutions. I don't do that. But, I am trying to be mroe thankful that I feel so connected in my family. I'm also trying to look for ways to be more inclusive of others. I want to love better and stronger. I want to be more consistently aware that every person is SOMEBODY. One of my favorite quotes was written in 1905 by Bessie Stanley of Lincoln, NE:

"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction."

Christmas Cards

Yesterday at my Scrap Happy Ones Together (SHOT) meetup (the scrapbooking group I organize), a controversial discussion topic arose: Send Christmas cards vs. don’t send Christmas cards? Email vs. USPS mail? The opinions expressed ranged anywhere from “I don’t think it really counts as a Christmas card unless a reindeer delivers it to my doorstep,” to “Ba-humbug! It’s a waste of money and time because no one really cares how many soccer games my kids won this year, or how our poor dog FiFi had to be hospitalized for her severe dog asthma.” Me, personally, I love both sending and receiving Christmas cards in the mail. Email doesn’t do much for me; but an actual physical greeting card in the mailbox, complete with a note, annual letter, and/or a family picture is always fun to receive! In fact, I so love this tradition, that I actually designed and fabricated my own version of a Christmas greeting cards holder. I’m selling them, too, as they have been quite popular! Typically, the cards received just get taped to the back of the front door or thrown in the “inbox” with the other bills and junk mail. But, I decided since I really love getting these cards and accompanying pictures and notes, it was worth making a display. That way I could enjoy and remember my friends and family all season long. After all, isn’t that what Christmas is really all about anyway?

It’s a shame that late November and the entire month of December usually get so busy with scheduled events, parties, shopping, etc., that too often we find ourselves overextended. We barely have enough time to accomplish the tasks of our “ordinary” daily routines, let alone extra events and shopping. Too often the notion of sending out Christmas cards gets pushed to the low rung of the priority pole. It’s understandable. In addition to being pressed for time (and energy for that matter), we may find ourselves thinking, “I don’t have anything interesting to write in a Christmas letter,” or “What’s the big deal? My friends and family know I love them? Why do I need to send a silly little card at Christmas?” While I can’t answer those questions and concerns for everyone, I can speak for myself.

The main reason I make it a top priority to do the whole Christmas card “thing” is because I really want people to know that they matter to me. If one tangible way I can express my gratitude to them is by sending out a little greeting card once a year, then I’m on board. I may not have talked to the person all year, or even for 3 years. Some of the people I send cards to I haven’t really “talked” to in over 10 years (college roommates, etc.). But, I send those people a card every year as a simple way of saying, “I know we don’t really keep in touch much anymore. I know our lives have gone in different directions. But, I just want you to know you are, or were at one point, a really special person in my life and I appreciate you for that. I will always remember the good times we shared and hope you and your family are happy and blessed.”

Now, I know that everyone has his or her own different Love Language (see Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages) and “Words of Affirmation” don’t work for everyone. For some, getting a card doesn’t mean much at all. They do better with one of the other 4 Love Languages: “Quality Time”, “Receiving Gifts”, “Acts of Service”, or “Physical Touch”. But, since I usually can’t spend quality time, afford to send gifts, hug or touch or do much to serve those far away, I do the best I can by sending words of affirmation and love.

I openly admit that I struggle with depression. It’s taken many years to get to a point where I am willing to admit it and talk about it. There’s a “stigma” that seems to accompany this malady. Although, nowadays, people are becoming more aware of mental disease or defect, there are still some who are uneducated who don’t know how to deal with it. Nonetheless, it is a real affliction for me. Although I take a daily medication to help “even out” my highs and lows, there are still some days that are not as “level” as the others. There have been many, many times when I have had to run errands, go to work, church or whatever, even though it seemed to take all the effort I had in me just to get out of bed that morning. On days like that, the simplest kind word or deed can help me so much! Although not everyone struggles with depression, as I do, everyone needs love. Have you ever had someone unexpectedly let you know he or she really admires you? Or perhaps someone gave you a sincere compliment and it made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? How about the random act of kindness you received, or the welcome smile and greeting the grocery cashier offered? It’s amazing, to me, how much these little things can do.

Christmas cards are really a “little” thing. They’re pretty inexpensive (except the 42 cent postage stamp for each—don’t get me started on the United States Postal System again), and sending them really doesn't take that much time, once you set down to do them. But, they can have such a BIG impact in someone’s life. You just never know how much someone might really need an extra boost—to know that he or she is in another’s thoughts. Maybe not. Who knows? But, personally, I’d rather err on the side of sending a kind word than not. I mean, you never hear stories of people sitting around lonely and sad because he or she received just too darn many Christmas cards in the mail and died of annoyance.

Today I was opening the mail that had accumulated on my desk this week. Imagine my surprise to receive not just one, but five Christmas greeting cards! Okay, granted, one was from the CPA who does our taxes, and another was from the Vet where we take our dog, but still! Five! WOW! That felt really great! They are promptly being hung on my “Seasons Greetings” card display.

My older brother, Connon, shares our home with us. He also gets his mail here. I noticed he and I both received a Christmas card from our Dad. That’s pretty cool. I won’t go into a long history about my relationship with my Dad, but I can tell you that it hasn’t ever really been very good. My Dad is a recovering alcoholic and we had a pretty troubled childhood growing up under his "reign." Even though as an adult, I’ve tried to make peace with my past, it’s not the easiest task and definitely isn't “finished.” Occasionally, I find myself still harboring ill feelings or resentment toward him. It’s not right nor Christian, and I try to practice true forgiveness and repentance for being so hard on him. Nonetheless, forgiving doesn’t necessarily equal having a great relationship now.

Before opening my card from my Dad, I noticed that the two cards (mine and my brother's) looked different on the envelope. While I easily recognized my Dad’s beautiful penmanship (he’s always had this gorgeous, artistic looking penmanship)on Connon's card, I was confused at the writing on my envelope. I started to look more closely at the differences between the two envelopes. While the return address labels were identical on both cards, the writing on my card didn’t look much at all like what I knew to be my Dad’s. It was kind of crooked and jagged looking and looked like it may’ve taken great pains to scribe.

That’s when I found myself crying. It started slowly, but then built into a full-on weep session. My husband, Lloyd, came over to see what the matter was. It took me several minutes to calm down before I could explain. My heart just felt so much sadness and sorrow. Here I sat with a wonderful husband and family and friends nearby, counting my five Christmas cards received in one day. Conversely, my Dad could probably be found sitting alone in his little one-bedroom house wishing for a call or letter—from anyone. My dad has some pretty serious health-issues. Some of them, like his heart problems and knee problems, the doctors don’t even know how to fix. He lives with some fairly intense pain at times, and at best, limited mobility. My parents are divorced, though they still both love each other deeply. All my siblings have difficult relationships with my Dad, as well, and he doesn’t get much family interaction.

With all this, my Dad is sending Christmas cards. He has been beaten down by life in so many ways (some a result of his own poor choices and actions—but aren’t we all that way?) Yet, still, he makes the effort to send a little note to those he loves. He isn’t expecting us to return the favor. In fact, he probably pretty much expects us not to, given the troubles we’ve shared. In reality, there’s probably not much Christmas or any other kind of “cheer” in his life. Nonetheless, he sits and painfully addresses a card to each one of us, as a way of saying, “I love you. You’re in my thoughts. I care about you.” There’s probably even a cup or two of “I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve ever caused you,” written in there, too.

And so, I sit weeping. How can a man with so little give so much? How can someone who I have hated at times make me feel so loved? How can someone hurting so much make such a sacrifice to make others feel better?

That’s why Christmas cards are important to me. They’re a little thing that can mean SO much. Everything won’t magically be “fixed” between me and my Dad. But, my resolve to continue working on our relationship has returned. My desire to learn from him has increased. As much as I have fought it over the years, I am my Dad’s daughter. I am like him in so many ways! I have to wrestle with similar weaknesses, but have similar strengths to improve upon. I am a passionate person. I FEEL things. I get that from my Dad. While I can accurately say that I learned most life skills from my Mom, Teachers at school, and Church Leaders, I’ve learned a great deal about how to LOVE from my Dad. Throughout my life, I’ve watched him get knocked down (or trip and fall, whichever the case may be) again and again and again. But, the most amazing thing is that he ALWAYS gets back up. I don’t know how. I really don’t. But, he does it. I believe a large part of it is because of those he loves. I don’t believe he’s done it necessarily for his own sake. I believe it’s been because of his love for my Mom or us, his children.

While I’ll probably never fully understand my Dad, I am learning to admire different things about him. From him, I’ve learned the value of family and friends—that they are what matter most. That’s why I put aside time each Christmas season to express my love and care for those who matter in my life. I don’t want it to take 35 years (as it has for me) for those around me to recognize how much I love them.

TV Rocks!

I am thankful for digital video recording (DVR). I LOVE watching my tv shows. With DVR, now I can record them and watch them when it's convenient to me (minus the commercials). Some people say the TV is a big waste of time. I agree, it can be. But the way I look at it, it's a cheap form of entertainment. Some people go to the movies or rent movies; others may buy books; some may play sports or poker; others may workout or shop. All of these can be forms of relaxing or entertainment, which serve the purpose of self-renewal. Watching TV is what I like to do.

My husband isn't as big into TV as I am, but I kind of try to trick him into watching shows with me anyway. For example, there's a "reality" (and I use the term VERY loosely in this case, as it appears to be somewhat scripted) show on MTV called "The Hills". It's about a 20-something girl, Lauren Conrad "LC", and her friends who live in Hollywood CA. It's pretty silly overall, but I can't help but like it. There's a couple on there, Spencer and Heidi (Lauren's ex-BFF). Spencer is a totally egotistical, rude, controlling, jerk who seemingly purposely alienates all of Heidi's friends and family. I always feel like I've gotta get Lloyd to watch the show so he can agree with me on what a loser Spencer is, and Heidi for sticking with him! I ask Lloyd questions like, "Why do so many beautiful girls fall for jerks like Spencer? I just don't get it!" Lloyd never fails to tell me it's just "Hollywood" and not to believe everything I see. Even though Lloyd doesn't like these shows and only partially "watches" them (as he surfs his computer), he makes an effort to please me by conversing about it with me. Usually our discussions just result in the confirmation of what we already know: we're lucky because we both chose a good mate!

Other shows that I like (and there are many) are all the "Law & Order" dramas; Criminal Minds; Without a Trace; Cold Case; The Mentalist (who's star, Simon Baker, I've dubbed "the English Matthew McConaughey"); CSI; The Unit; The Closer; Damages, etc. Most of these are some variation of the Good Guys vs. the Bad Guys drama. Both Lloyd and I most enjoy the more complex episodes that make you think about what's going on and aren't totally "predictable".

On the other hand, I personally don't always mind "predictable" shows. Lloyd doesn't like these TV shows that I like: Grey's Anatomy; The Practice; Gossip Girl; 90210; Privileged; Brothers & Sisters; Lipstick Jungle; The Real Housewives of Orange County; The Real Housewives of Atlanta, etc. Others that aren't his favorite, but he'll tolerate just to appease me are: Top Chef (but mostly because he thinks the hostess, Padma Lakshmi , is beautiful); Project Runway; So You Think You Can Dance; and Big Brother.

Now, this is not an exhaustive list of all the shows that I follow. But, it gives you a broad idea of what direction my tv viewing preferences run. If it were up to Lloyd, we'd be watching a combination of The Military Channel, ESPN, The History Channel, and Discovery pretty much 24/7! I'm thankful that he lets me be the controller of the remote! Most men aren't that accommodating! But, in our house, one of my titles is "Entertainment Committee".

Reading is Cheaper Than Going to the Movies

Today I am thankful for so many things! I'm thankful for the magic of reading.

I've always loved to read. One of the best and smartest thing my mom ever did for us, as kids, was take us to the Public Library on a near-weekly basis. I imagine it had a lot to do with the fact that we were poor growing up, and the library is a free way to entertain children for a couple of hours. I know my mom, herself, loves to read, too, but she couldn't have had much time to do so with 7 children to rear. Nonetheless, she always managed to take us to the library and let us check out several books each (at least 5--which multiplied by 7 children is 35 books/week!). That meant that come next Saturday morning, she'd have to go through the inevitable 2-hour process of us "finding" our books so we could return them and get new ones. Now, that's some serious dedication to develop a love for reading in your children!

I remember even as a teenager, loving to go to the library. During the summer time, we'd bring home high stacks of novels to read. One summer my goal was to read 100 novels. I surpassed my goal by at least 10 books! I often stayed up all night reading. Part of it was probably a mechanism of escape--things weren't always "rosy" in our home. But mostly, I've always loved to find out about different types of personalities and ideas. Reading offers that. Fiction, or non-- there are still so many things to learn about!

Of course, in my youth, I didn't recognize reading as a desire to "learn". Only now, much later, do I understand the principle. Reading has been such a developmental tool for me. I have seen studies that indicate reading enhances students' vocabulary, analytical skills, and even relationship skills. They say reading teaches one how to deduce. Deductive reasoning is a great skill to have in all different types of life situations: professionally, socially, or other.

I wouldn't say I necessarily have a "passion" for learning, as I might describe others as having. But, I would say that I have a love for learning. Some people have talked about how they can spend about 1/2 an hour on the internet and then they're done. They get bored. That always flabberghasts me. How could you be bored when you have a virtual world at your fingertips? With just a few key strokes, you can learn about ANYTHING! Often when I'm searching for a specific thing, I get sidetracked by other links that I come across. I have about 10 different "tabs" on my browser going at once because I've bookmarked so many things I want to come back to! I could sit at a computer all day every day, and still be fascinated!

But, don't get me wrong, I still love reading BOOKS. Nowadays they are selling "e-readers". These are handheld devices that are similar to cell phones. Their function is to store and "play back" up to 500 books in the palm of your hand. You can take them with you wherever you go. I think e-readers are a fabulous idea! I've long been a proponent and practicer of taking a book along with me in my purse wherever I go. Whether waiting for an appointment in the doctor's office or stuck in traffic, I find I am much happier if I have a good book to distract me. As for the e-reader, I'm not sure yet if this is a gadget I'd like to invest in. While, conceptually, I think it's brilliant, I'm unconvinced it would fulfill my needs. I love the FEEL of paper and book binding; the smell of freshly printed ink; the sound of pages turning. It's not just the story in the book I enjoy, it's the book itself. I don't think it would be as satisfying cuddling up in my bed with an e-reader as it would an actual book.

I'm thankful for my book club because it keeps me reading. It's easy to get so busy with our lives that reading falls out of our top priorities list. Book club not only keeps me reading, but challenges me to read things that I wouldn't normally pick out. I love that! I've learned so much about different cultures and people this year. I've also just had a lot of fun reading again! I even registered for a free online social networking site called goodreads.com. It lets you connect with other readers you know and share what you're reading, what you have read, and what you'd like to read (3 different "shelves".) If you know someone who seems to share similar taste in books, you can check out her bookshelves. That way, you might find books that she's read, that you'd like to read in the future (provided you ever finish the 6 or more books you're currently reading!)

I'm thankful for my mom teaching me at an early age about the magic of reading.

Nothing Better Than My Husband's Arms

I am thankful for Lloyd for SO many, many reasons! But today, I'm thankful for Lloyd because I've been depressed all day. I struggled to do ANYTHING at all. When he got home, he knew something was wrong and made me come snuggle with him. He always knows that will get me talking and talking will make me cry and crying will make me feel better. He holds me and tells me it will be okay and reminds me that I'll feel better in just a little bit. He's always right. I don't know how I ever made it through my life without him!

Post-Its are the Bomb!

I am thankful for Post-It notes. Silly, I know, but it's true. I love Post-It notes. I use them for everything. They're just so handy and pretty. (I always get the neon bright colors.) I have a horrible memory, and so Post-Its are like my "to do" list alarm clock. They should invent that: an alarm that goes off and gives you verbal reminders to do things. Like, you'd be sitting there watching tv, reading a book, knitting, or whatever and then all of a sudden you'd hear some kind of alarm and then a computer-generated voice (or even your own recorded voice) say, "Don't forget you promised to take the trash out today," or "only 3 more days until your anniversary--don't forget to get a gift or your wife might kill you." You could choose the frequency of how often you wanted certain messages repeated. Or, you could select "random" mode and you would get messages throughout the day. The surprise element could enhance your memory's ability to record the data. Wives would no longer have to "nag", and husbands could no longer claim they "forgot" or "no one told me" (or whatever other lame excuse they invent in an effort to cover up the fact that they've just been too "busy" playing "Ma Jong" for 2 hours and stuffing their face with microwave popcorn, to get up off their fat butt.)

I know, some people are thinking I'm dumb. They are thinking, "But, Cheryl, they already have that, it's called a calendar. You write things on it you want to remember, then you look at it to keep track of things." I know. I know. I'm not a COMPLETE moron. I use my electronic calendar (Outlook) AND my cell phone calendar, but inevitably there are still MANY things that are forgotten! I mean, it's one thing to put "Doctor's Appointment 9:45am" in your schedule, and yet completely another to enter "buy dish soap." Buying dishsoap rarely requires a specified date and time (at least not for me, although I'm sure there may be for others who are far more organized.)

I know there are "task" lists also available on my mobile and pc. The downfall to those programs is that I never remember to access them. Maybe if I schedule a date and time on my calendar to remind me to check my task list, I'd have a shot? It just doesn't work for me. Unless I have a hot pink post-it note attached to my wallet, my pc, my purse, etc., certain things don't seem to get done!

So, until someone comes up with a portable device that spits out reminders, I'll stick with my post-its. (Get it? That was a pun!)

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Today I'm thankful for Pumpkin Spice cake. I know it's silly. But, I LOVE pretty much anything pumpkin spice flavored! I was cleaning out the pantry yesterday and I came across a cake mix that was about to expire. I also found a package of Jell-O instant pudding Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice flavor I had bought last year. So, knowing I'm going visiting teaching later this afternoon, I decided to whip up some Pumpkin Spice mini-loaf cakes to take as a treat! I've been adhering to a strict diet, which I'm fairly certain does not include Pumpkin Spice Cake. But, who could resist the warm, moist crumbliness of Pumpkin Spice cake? I sure couldn't! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It's sad to say, but little things like this make me happy.

FYI: For those of you who may be unaware, you can make pretty much any cake flavor your heart so desires. In my family, I grew up enjoying Pistachio cake. (Picture shown) But, I've taken the recipe and altered it to accommodate any flavor that Jell-O makes in an instant pudding flavor. Ergo Pumpkin Spice Cake the easy way!

To make flavored cake, all you have to do is take a white or yellow cake mix and prepare as normal. Fold in 1 small box of the desired Jell-O instant pudding mix. Bake as usual.

For frosting, you can choose whatever frosting you prefer. For pistachio cake, we usually take a regular sized tub of Cool Whip, another small box of same-flavored instant pudding, 2 T milk, and whip. And by whip, I mean, I just usually stir it all up together until it's spreadable. Use more milk if necessary. Sprinkle with crumbled walnut or pistachio pieces if so desired. Viola!

Mediocre Friends

Today I am thankful for friends: friends of all shapes, sizes, classes, colors, and status. Status? I have a couple of really fun friends that I joke with, Alisa and Donna. I don't know how it came up, but one night we were joking around (as it is pretty much every time we get together), and someone mentioned not being invited to something or another. Alisa said, "Oh, so I'm just your mediocre friend, then?" It's an ongoing joke now if someone forgets to tell the other something, the response is always, "Yeah, I know. You don't have to remind me. I'm just a 'mediocre' friend. I'm not on the A-list, the 'inner circle'." It makes me laugh every time.

I don't know if it's just because I'm a "grown up" and I have learned to develop a lot more "layers of defense" or what, but it seems harder to find close friends than when I was younger. I find that it takes much longer to develop deep frienships now than it ever seemed to before. Maybe I've gotten more jaded, a little less trusting, I don't know. Or maybe it's in part because of the hectic societal pace we all maintain. There's not a lot of time to develop deep and meaningful friendships because we're always in such a hurry; all we seem to have time for is a quick "hello" or "nice to see you."

Part of making stronger friendships, or relationships in general, is about investing. Most people are struggling just to hang on, and don't have much energy left to invest in anything other than their families and jobs. I understand that. It's just a shame that we get so overloaded with life that we deny ourselves the beauty of what a great friend mean to us! It's having someone to be there when you can't keep up with everything. It means there will be another person who "gets" what you're going through and wants you to feel okay about sharing so your burdens aren't quite so heavy. It's also someone who shares the happy memories of your life with you, especially when you can't quite remember.

In order to have a friend like that, you have to be one. I know it's been said a million times, but it's true. You have to be willing to let down your guard a little bit and share yourself, trusting that the other person will handle with care. You have to reach out and show the other person you care about them, too--that you are interested in the important things in their life. It's not easy. It can be daunting, uncomfortable, and sometimes even downright overwhelming. But, I know it's worth it. I know, because I have had some great friends in my life! I don't always keep in touch with them as well as I should, but I would hope my great friends know they're always in my heart and prayers.

One of my very best friends ever is Dee Dee. Dee Dee moved to Missouri, where I grew up, when I was 12 years old. I don't think I ever needed a friend as much as I did then. My dad was raging in alcoholism. Abuse and sadness were not uncommon in our home. Although my mom was a strong and faithful church-goer, and took all 7 of us children to church every week, that didn't necessarily make things easier at our house. When I was 12, maybe with the changing in hormones and whatnot, my depression began to set in. I wasn't diagnosed until many years later, but looking back, it was evident. Life was so difficult! Dee Dee became such a good friend to me! Her mom seemed to understand how things were for me, and was always generous about letting me come over to hang out or sleep over at Dee Dee's house. She taught me a lot of things about life and growing up that I wouldn't have learned at my house . Some things were simple (like how to use a knife and fork to cut food.) Other things were more complicated (like how to believe in myself even though I felt like a "loser" for coming from the family I did). Some of the biggest life lessons came from my friendship with Dee Dee, as did some of my happiest memories!

Now, as adults, we live in different parts of the country. We're both married and have busy lives of our own. But, I have to admit that even though I don't call or write as much as I should or would like to, I think of Dee Dee at least once a week, if not more often. Sometimes I'll see something humorous that will make me giggle and I think to myself, "Dee Dee would crack up at that!" Sometimes when I'm having a specific challenge or feeling a little bit low, I think about how she would say something like, "Don't believe it, Cheryl. You ARE great!" The most important thing, though, is that I know, that no matter what, I could always call her and she would be there for me, as if no time had passed. We'd pick up right where we left off. Sure, there might be some details we'd have to catch up on, but the feeling of support, encouragement, and love would still be just as strong as it ever was.

I'm trying to develop more friendships like that. Right now I may only have a bunch of "mediocre" friends, but I'm working on making them lifelong friends. I need to let my grattitude for friends inspire me to action! Instead of waiting until New Year's Day, instead, this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday I resolve to spend a few moments calling or writing "old" and "new" friends to let them know how thankful I am for their influence in my life.

Relief Society

Today I am thankful for Relief Society. For those of you who aren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka "the Mormons"), allow me to explain:

The way the church is set up (and all are welcome to join!), is every Sunday there is a 3-hour block of meetings. Typically, members attend all 3 hours of church, but it's not a requirement, per se. The first hour is known as "Sacrament Meeting". In this meeting ALL members of the congregation (including children) sing hymns, join in prayer, listen to a couple of speakers (also members of the congregation who have been asked a few weeks in advance to offer a few words about a given topic), and most importantly, partake of the Sacrament (bread & water to remember Christ's atonement of flesh and blood for our sins).

The second hour consists of Sunday School. Lots of things happen during this hour. The kiddos each go off to their own class. Each class is comprised of an age group (ie: 8 year olds, 9 year olds, etc). In their classes, they are taught lessons from the scriptures by a Sunday School Teacher (again, an ongoing voluntary assignment by a member of the congregation.) The littlest children (below age 3) go to what is known as "Nursery". In nursery, they also have lessons about the scriptures, but get to play with lots of toys and eat snacks, too! Because they have so many important things to do, they stay in Nursery for the last two hours of the meeting block of time, so their parents can be involved in other aspects of the Sunday services. Those adult members of the congregation who don't have a Sunday School teaching assignment, attend adult Sunday School class. All the men and women and children age 18 and older attend this class.

During the 3rd hour, the children who have now finished their Sunday School classes go to what is called Primary. In Primary, they sing children's church songs, play "reverent" games, have "sharing time" (where a few kids are chosen each week to share about themselves or a certain topic), etc. A few of the children are also asked in advance to give a "talk" (a 1-3 minute speaking assignment about a topic like prayer, family, etc.) This helps children develop and strengthen their own understanding of the gospel principles they are learning. The "youth" (ages 12-17) split up by gender. The girls go to what is called "Young Women", where they are taught principles about growing up and making good decisions, etc. The guys go to classes about similar subjects, also including how to treat the yound women with respect. Also during the 3rd hour, the men and women (ages 18+) split up and go to different classes. All the men go to a meeting called Priesthood, where they talk about how to be better men, husbands, fathers, etc. (I love to hear from my husband and brothers about the "lessons"/"sermons" they receive in this class--they usually tend to involve something about learning to treat women better and to be more sensitive, helpful, and understanding!) While the men are in Priesthood, the women go to what is called Relief Society. The reason it's called that is that when the organization first began, back in the 1800s, the women of the church got together to find out how they could be of service to one another. Having strength in numbers, they were able to work together to help each other and others in their community through difficult and challenging situations. One of their main objectives was to give aid or "relief" to others. Ergo the name, Relief Society.

Today, the Relief Society (RS) is still a strong organization full of women of all races, ages, backgrounds and talents. As a group, there is so much that the RS does to help both within the church, as well as the surrounding communities. During our 3rd-hour RS lessons, I always feel such a strong love for all the other women sitting beside me. Even though I am still learning the names of many of the other women, and I don't even really know many of them, I just love the feeling of connectedness when I'm there. It's like we're all united in a good, worthy purpose. Everyone always tries to be so welcoming and kind to each other, and that feels good.


Sometimes, because life can be so overwhelming, it can be difficult to get up on Sundays and go to church. It can, at times, even feel like a chore rather than a blessing. But, then I get to RS and there's always a morsel or two of just what I need to keep me going another week! The instructor (another voluntarily assigned woman from the congregation), always works really hard to bring a good "lesson" to us. Just yesterday, we talked about how women need to make sure they keep their own "inner well" filled. We can't properly take care of our own families, let alone reach out to others, unless we have something to give. If we're "running on empty" all the time, our lives will be out of balance and we'll end up feeling like it's all just a futile effort. Different women in the class shared thoughts of ways they try to keep their lives balanced by first filling their own inner wells. For some it means taking just a few minutes a day to spend in prayer--real prayer, not just the repititous versions we rush through at dinner; for others, it means leaving a pile of laundry undone another day, while taking an hour to go sit in her favorite recliner and read a new book. Everyone had her own idea of what she needed to be filled. All agreed that our spiritual wells must be filled before anything else. We all felt similar frustrations with the hectic pace of life, individual and family stresses, and feelings of not being able to measure up to the expectations we feel others have for us, or we set for ourselves. It was really good to be able to share that feeling with others, but also be reminded that not only is it okay to do things for yourself, but it's necessary. You can't give to someone else if your well is empty.

Upon continuing to think about this principle, I came home and went to the church's online archives to find more articles on this topic. I came across a few that were really encouraging: The first one is called, "Was I Meant to Be a Mother Today?"

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1d8e605ff590c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Even though I'm not a mother yet, I can certainly identify with the things Mary Ellen (the author) discusses. Another great article I found was recently given at our bi-annual General Conference. (Every April and October there is a conference for all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and anyone else who is interested, held in Salt Lake City. The conference is broadcast via satellite and cable everywhere, as there are members of the church throughout the world--actually more are outside the United States than inside!) One of the worldwide leaders, Joseph Wirthlin, talks about how we can get through challenges and difficulties we all face. It's inpsiring.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=2fd5a0ad4843d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

My point is this. I love Relief Society because I feel like I always get something good from it! I leave feeling inspired, uplifted, or at the very least, comforted. I'm so thankful for the RS program. I wish every woman I know would come to church with me so she could experience the blessing of it that I do!