The First Birthday!

My great-nephew is one! We had fun today watching him with his presents, cake, icecream. What a big day for a little boy. We love A.T.!

More Grapes

I mentioned my brother's grapes a while ago but today I had a chance to take a few pics of them on the vine. They're so pretty! I also tasted the wine made last year but it's definitely not ready yet. It's a beautiful color and has a wonderful aroma but it's not ready for consumption quite yet. Maybe next year.

Eclectic Music Collection

If you have your speakers on, you'll hear I added a music section to the sidebar over there ------> My playlist is rather strange....maybe a very eclectic collection. As you can see, I love all sorts of music. Hop through and see what's in there. Maybe there's something you'll like, too!

Stampaway USA 2007

I told myself I didn't need to buy any more STUFF so wasn't planning on going to Stampaway USA this year. But when Freda called and said she and Cecile were going to be taking classes and wouldn't I please change my mind and meet up with them for a little visit, I couldn't resist! They are such awesome artists and fun to be with. Every year, I wish I had signed up for classes with them after hearing and seeing what they created. Maybe next year. Ü I shopped for a couple of hours and this is what I came away with, although, you should have seen the bazillion dollars I didn't spend! Artful Illusions and Eclectic Marketplace are the best (web sites still under construction). I love Stampers Anonymous and now they have a line of unmounted, including Tim Holtz, so you can get more for your money there. The leather band is a bracelet created by Linda Crofton at Studios Blackbird/Invoke Arts (buy some stamps, get a bracelet - what a deal!). Their booth had some wonderful finds also! Wish you could have been there with us!

Freda & Cecile

Caught up with Freda and Cecile at the convention and they were so gracious to share with me their 'trade' for the event. Ironically, I have the same stamp that Freda used but I would never have thought to use it like she did. Isn't it beautiful?
Cecile made a tiny little wooden block -- she stamped images and then reduced them (with permission!), to fit on the block. It's like a die (singular of dice?) but with images instead of dots. So cool! The picture did not look detailed enough to post here -- you'll just have to imagine it. Thanks girls, for sharing these with me. Just love 'em!

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
-Albert Einstein

Kevin & Winnie

I miss The Wonder Years. Happened across this on YouTube and it reminded me how much I enjoyed this show set in 'my era'. Where does all the time go?

More July travels....

Thunder over Michigan was a different sort of adventure this year because we had official "Photographer's Passes". Yep, never saw so much camera equipment in my life. Most of the photographers were men in love with warbird and other vintage aircraft. It was SO HOT and humid but we managed to have a great time anyway. If you're interested in airshows, this one is at the top of the list for some of these guys. They travel from all over the world to see this one!

Where did July go?

After a business trip to Windsor, CT, I rented a car and drove for about 1.5 hours to to spend a few days with my Dad, his wife Suzanne and my sister and her family. Dad and I drove up the coast to Glouchester, MA.



It was a fantasticly beautiful day -- perfect temps, blue water and lovely clouds. We toured Cape Pond Ice company -- a very interesting and "cool" place. You'll have to watch the Perfect Storm to see the town and the ice company (and of course, George Clooney....Kentucky boy!).



We had a huge lunch at Woodman's of Essex and drove through Newburyport on the way back home to Chelmsford. What a wonderful visit!

More Elton

Charms Galore!

I don't think I ever showed you my finished charm bracelet! Kristen did a beautiful job assembling all of the wonderful charms from all of our creative friends. In addition to the charm that I made and described in a previous post, I made the "ART book". It has a few stamped pages for fun. I know now that I should have made it even smaller. I'd like to do another swap like this in the future. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Cones & Butterflies

The cone flowers in our garden are really beautiful this year. Before the rains came, there were lots of butterflies and bumble bees all over the place. Sitting on the front porch, I could hear birds chirpping and little yellow finches flitting about. Last night, a toad (or a frog?) hopped across the driveway and into the garden on the other side. I watched him for a while and saw his long tongue fly out to grab a bug and take a big gulp. It's dark now -- whoa, what was that animal that just ran through the yard? I love livin' in the 'country'!

Christa's Favorite Michael.....

and my favorite Buble song. Enjoy!





But who's version do you like? I think I like Elliott Yamin's better!

More Elliott....

Mom's Birthday

Mother's Day, Birthdays and Father's Day creations have consumed all of my creativity lately. Tried something different for Mom's birthday. It's three pieces of matte board hinged together, painted and covered in cheese cloth. The images were printed on matte-finish photo paper that I think I'm liking now. I never cared for the shiny finish but didn't take the time to go buy more paper. Duh. Found some really cheap paper at Staples that even came with a rebate. Today I read about printing images on the shiny side of freezer paper and then transferring them onto polymer clay. I'm off to try that in the next 'spare' moment....whenever that will be!

Happy Birthday, John!

Even though he tried to ignore it, his 60th came along anyway. We celebrated last year with a surprise party so John didn't want anything (and I mean anything) for his big day this year. I couldn't resist making a card using a picture from an old box of pictures from the family collection. It's of a cub scout meeting, some sort of party. I imagined them all saying, "Hooray" for you, John -- you made it!

Mother's Day

Just got around to taking pictures of the 'card' I made for my mom.

Women in Art

Found this the other day on www.youtube.com. It's from www.videosapien.com.

Hannah's Graduation

Was busy creating this Memorial Day weekend. My niece, Hannah, graduated from Troy Highschool and I made a little 'book' for her. She is an awesome artist and I had to do something special -- couldn't buy a card for this chickie!

Mini-Quilt Project

Here's a little art project for my pal Vicci - it's a tiny 8x10" quilt with a secret message hidden under the tags that button on the bottom. Enjoy!

Charms

Up next for Creative Journey is a charm for the charm swap. It's made of a stamped shrink plastic tag with a Tuscan Rose image glued to the back. I drilled into the plastic to attach the jump ring at the top and the fishing lure piece at the bottom. Finishing touch is a blue bead and a scrap of pink fabric for a tiny bow. The plastic piece is tiny (less than 1/2" x 1"). I made a dozen of them!!!

Today is Rachael's Birthday!

Happy 23rd Birthday, Sweetie! Wish we could spend it together but I know it won't be long and you'll be living within driving distance. Hope you liked your "card" and your Jack LaLane Power Juicer. Can't wait to hear what you whip up with it!

Love,
Mom

Altered Ancestors?

Here's my submission for an Altered Ancestor swap that I recently completed. The requirements were to submit a 5x7 altered photo and add a bio on the back. Meet Samantha Elisabeth Englehart---my faux ancestor. Her bio is below. Sound like fun? It was!

“Samantha Elisabeth Englehart was a woman of strength, passion and courage, an American patriot, a loyal and dedicated friend”, so read the Kansas City Tribune upon her death on July 4, 1994.

Born to Elisabeth and Roderick Englehart on April 1, 1923, curiosity and adventure shown on her face from the day she was born. Being an only child and looking much like her father, she toddled around behind him as soon as she was able to walk. Having a daughter when he fully expected to have a son, Roderick called her ‘Sam’ and taught her as many things as she was willing to learn…..how to bait a hook, how to fix the tractor, how to shear sheep and how to fly. Roderick, Elisabeth’s ‘Flyboy’, had fuel or petrol in his veins. The single engine crop duster housed in the barn had been the catalyst that set him on his course. When he was 18, he pledged his oath to his country and promised Elisabeth he would return home safe and sound at the end of his tour of duty. He survived his missions in France during WWI and lived up to his promise to his betrothed. Elisabeth and Roderick were married in a simple ceremony on August 1, 1919. The thrill of flying and the love of the skies did not end with the war. He passed on his passion to little “Sam” and whether she knew it or not, the inherited petrol in her veins would fuel her to great adventures.

She was 12 when she flew the crop duster for the first time. She never forgot the feeling of the sun setting and the colors that washed the clouds into a beautiful painting as she dipped up and down in the two-seater. The pockets of warm air blew through her long wavy brown hair as she flew from one side of the farm to the other. Her father was so proud.

In 1941, when she was 17, most of the boys in the Kansas City area headed for the different branches of the service in WWII. At graduation, Sam thought to herself, “what could I do to help my “Uncle Sam”?” A high school teacher had suggested she apply for clerical work with the government. She knew that she wouldn’t last a day sitting in an office, typing letters and telegrams to the families of lost servicemen. She longed to fly and simply joining the ranks of the women building the planes wouldn’t be enough either.


She started off with them at the local factory where military aircraft was built and quickly showed her superiors that he was more than a riveter. She knew the planes, inside out and backwards. She was given the chance to prove it when planes were needed at other bases and men to fly them were in short supply. It would be a day she would never forget. This time, the sun was rising, the colors were more pastel but the clouds were still washed in them just like in the painting in her mind from the first time she flew the crop duster. There was no wind to blow through her now short bob of wavy hair. The noise of the propellers took its place and the power she was controlling was invigorating. Landing required all the strength she could muster. As soon as she was on the ground, she hopped onto a transport plane or train back to her home base in Kansas where she could get a short rest and fly the next plane to its destination. She flew anywhere from 2-4 planes each week, depending upon the destination for the mission. Sam never tired of the routine, even after four years. Her ‘tour of duty’ ended in the spring of 1945.

But like her father, her passion for flying did not end with the war. She scouted out the opportunities for pilots but being a woman, her options were limited. She flew for the U.S. Mail postal service delivering from city to city and made her home base in Chicago. Her free time was spent working on restoring a WWII Mustang that she bought from surplus. She quickly found that being a pilot for so many years did not make her the mechanic that she needed to be for the project. She networked with other pilots and mechanics who put her in touch with Charlie “Ace” Wright (no relation to the Wright brothers), who was both a pilot and mechanic extraordinaire. It was love at first sighting. Both could sense the fuel in their veins and knew that their future lie ahead in the skies, soaring to great heights.

A Time for Us

Heard this music today and it reminded me of the movie from 1968....loved it. Oh how I wanted to be Olivia Hussey. Ü Funny how sounds, smells, sights can take you back to something in your past (good or bad).

An Art Journal just for me!

This week I started an art journal. Never having officially done this and never captured my doodles in one place, I decided I would give it a shot. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to put in it yet but I've scouted out the internet and found a lot of writing 'prompts' to help me. Here are the first two pages. It was so much fun and relaxing!

Rhonda's Birthday

Here's another attempt at a tunnel card, this time with Paula Best's stamps. I love her style and the way it makes me feel like I'm coloring in a coloring book.

Shadow Box for Mike

My brother is really into grapes. He's a man with a can and a plan and wine fermenting in the closet. We came across two old recipes in our grandmother's recipe box and mom says that our grandfather wrote the recipes. Seems the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. We thought they deserved a place to live and this is what my mom and I created for Mike. Enjoy - I think he likes it!

The Freeze Continues

Here we go again. This time with freezing rain, sleet, ice and snow. I made it to work without any problems and we all left early in order to make it home before the roads were closed. As I got closer to home, I noticed everything had a coating of ice---everything is now frozen. The trees are cracking and some branches are giving in to the cold heavy burden. The big pine tree in mom's yard is losing some branches - I hope we don't lose the whole thing. That was a tree that we transplanted from our old house about 25 years ago. It's been through a lot of winters and storms...maybe it can make one more, at least. Chili is on the stove (it's not the Cincinnati style chili....it's Frisch's Big Boy style chili. Hope we don't lose our power -- the lines are icing up and getting heavier. Tomorrow's forecast is not any better. Can't wait to see what sort of adventure I'm in for in the morning for getting to work. Well, maybe I can wait. I love being cozy and tucked in here at home. However, I am wishing winter would end soon.....like this week. I've had enough. I took the pictures above just before I typed this.

The Deep Freeze

To add insult to injury, we received several inches of snow today to go with our single digit and below zero temps. What joy! The company closed early today and thanks to God's help, I made it home safely after a 1 1/2 hour-12 mile journey (that normally takes 15-20 minutes or so. Trying to stay warm and avoiding the chilly studio in the basement tonight, I came across this link on Cris Cunningham's blog. Haven't seen this in years and had forgotten how beautiful it is. Enjoy and stay warm, no matter what little corner of the world you are in:

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/

More Expressions of Sympathy

Last weekend, the father of one of my co-workers passed away after a battle with Alzheimer's. I spent the week making an accordian card for him and used some of the same quotes from the neighbor sympathy book (geesh, this has been a depressing year so far). Thought you might like to see it:

Another Stampindipity Feature

ok, I promise this is the last enhancement I'm going to make to this blog thing (but it is sort of fun in a sick sort of way!). I don't really have any idea about what I'm doing but when I see something that someone else has on their site, I just have to try it out. Enter the slideshow of some of my work (and some of it is really old!!!). I haven't figured out a cool way to put it where it doesn't take up a lot of room. I'll leave it on here for a few days and see how it goes.

Thanks for visiting! Now, back to the studio....I have 4x4 pages to make!

The Anything Store

I was shopping at Walmart the other night when I overheard a precious little boy tell his mom, "I wish we could go to the Anything Store". Hmmmm, I was thinking to myself, does he mean the dollar store? He continued to explain to her that The Anything Store is where they sell anything anybody would ever want to buy.

I like the way he thinks. I bet he grows up to be a billionaire of some sort. Ü

It's a SNAP

Good Evening. (and as my friend Tess would say, "good evening...think Alfred Hitchcock while you say it).

I learned a little about widgets from Michelle Ward's blog so I thought I would give it a shot. If you hover over a link on my blog, SNAP pops up a little preview of what that site looks like. Then you click like usual to go there, if you like what you saw in the preview.

It's interesting but maybe annoying. I hope if it gets too annoying, I can remember how to take it out of my HTML code! Ü

The Perfect Circle

Man, I wish I could do this.

Sad News on our Lane

My neighbor passed away last week and I was in a quandry about what to do. My mom (who lives across the lane) jumped in a took a fruit basket over. Her neighbor, Deanna, suggested we all get together and combine our donations to buy a tree for Mrs. Verst to plant in her yard in memory of her husband. We are the 'new people' on our little lane and right next door. Inspired by the recipe book I made for Deb Lewis, I decided a memory book might be the right thing. I constructed the base and turned over pages for the neighbors to sign to the collectors, Mom and Deanna. I took a B/W photo of each neighbor's house to use in the book. It was dreary and raining (in fact it has been raining for days and days and days). They ended up collecting $285 and the greenhouse rounded it up to $300. Here's what I ended up with and Mrs. Verst said it's her most cherished gift of sympathy:

Aaahhhhhhchheewwwww!

If I keep sitting here in front of YOUTUBE, I'll never get down to the studio to create anything. Oh well, I'm still feeling like crap - now I have the full blown cold thing going on so it would be hard to work and sneeze at the same time. Check out my new favorite group - Little Big Town. It was on YouTube here but now it's gone. Sorry......:

2007 - Today Your Book Begins

Was watching Medium tonight and "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield was used at the end of the show. I think it's 'blog appropriate' for today's mood. By the way, the picture above was taken in Savannah on our November trip (actually, it's Tybee Island which is next to Whitemarsh Island where Rachael lives).

Unwritten

I am unwritten
can't read my mind,
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning,
the pen's in my hand,
ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else,
no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition,
sometimes my tries,
are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't livethat way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else,
no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
The rest is still unwritten.

Happy New Year 2007!

I have not really gotten into the blogging thing but maybe 2007 will be the year for journaling for me. I'll give it a shot since I'm up, can't sleep because I feel like crap. I hate scratchy throats and that feeling that I'm in for a great cold or bronchitis or something. I don't have time to be sick and that's not a good way to start off a new year. So, let's get my mind off of this somehow. I haven't been 'tagged' by anyone but I saw an interesting topic on another blog. Here are six wierd things about me:

1. I count steps as I go down them. I don't remember counting them as I go up (maybe that's because I'm usually too lazy to go up them -- when I'm at work, I take the elevator most of the time).
2. If I'm folding laundry, it has to be warm out of the dryer. Can't stand it if it's cold and slightly wrinkled.
3. I can't stand the necks of t-shirts. Have to cut them out, turn them into boat-neck shirts. Sometimes, the sleeves and bottom get wacked, too, if they're too long.
4. I am a pen and pencil freak. Ok, an office supply freak but that's too long of a story. Back to pens - I won't write with black ball point pens......the ink smears 'cause I'm left handed.
5. I love Post Toasties corn flakes (not Kellog's). Put them in a pan, drop a few pats of butter on them and broil them in the oven until they're toasty and buttery. Yummmm.
6. I am a technique junkie. I love collecting new ideas, organizing them in binders with samples. If I spent as much time on my art as I do on collecting and organizing my stuff, I'd be a much better artist!

ok, I'm headed for the Post Toasties. Maybe that would make my throat (and my belly) feel better.

Art for Friends

The art muses left me all alone in my studio again (for a few weeks!) but I guess their vacation is over and they were back to work over the weekend. My former boss asked me to make cards for her to give her bridesmaids in her August wedding. A second marriage for both of them, the bridesmaids are her soon to be stepdaughters and her son's serious girlfriend. They're wearing black dresses and carrying red roses. By the way, she picked the one with the dress on it. Now I have to make three more just like it. Ü