Top of the Mornin'

Just playing around today - my daughters are coming to visit, and they love St. Patty's day...

Ok, you caught me - I just added the little clip.  That spot needed something...

My oldest daughter had a friend who played the bagpipes in high school.  She was very good, and was in great demand.  Melissa loved being her "lady in waiting" and going along with her to performances, to help her with all of the trappings that went along with her skill.
 (Besides, it got her out of school for the day.)

They both dreamed of visiting the Emerald Isles someday - I still have the hope that she'll get to go someday.  Maybe if I click my heels...

Spring...

One thing I love about the desert is that winter is so short.  Spring is in full swing here - the trees have blossoms on them, and it is beautiful and WARM outside!

It has also been a good week for other reasons - I actually got 2, (count them, TWO!) emails from real people, not just junk mail - and I've been getting fun prezzies in my snail mail too :-)

My baby sis sent me a box with three new paperbacks, just because she thought I would like them.  How sweet is that?  Plus, I got some wooden ornaments to paint and some pretty new papers from a new scrapbook store that a friend just introduced me to.  The papers were so fresh and springy that I couldn't wait to use them...

That tiny little "hello" is from a cute little die that I got with the papers, I just love it.
Spent some time out shopping, and even had a lunch date with my BFF, so it was a really good week!

I spent this morning at another friend's house making these fun apothecary jars:

We've been anticipating this project for a while - it took me forever to round up the supplies, but they turned out cuter than I thought they would :-) ...And I got to visit my friend's cute little baby to boot.

Definitely a good week!

Challenges...

Lately I've been complaining of the lack of mojo (scrapbook slang for out of crafting ideas,) so a Facebook friend of mine invited me to an online crop.  The crop took place during the Super Bowl.  What better time for ladies to get together and have fun, right?  I ended up going to my son's house to watch the game with him (and play with my grand kids,) so I missed the games and chat, but the challenges are ongoing until next week, so I am working on some of those...

These cards are for the "gridiorn" challenge - making a card with a grid of any kind as a background.  Two cards are required, so I went a couple of different ways with it.  It has helped get me back into  the creative mood.  :-)

Be Mine...

Valentines is no fun these days with my family a whole state away, but I made Valentines anyway - call it force of habit or just a love of all things pink and pretty...

For this one, I wanted to mix the sparkly glitter (on the frame) with the shabby country look of the pillow ticking stripe.  I softened those with a grey floral and the background piece inside the frame that gently mixes all those colors.  I added the rose and the bow, and the pre-made heart garland finished it off.  My # 2 grand daughter would love this - she is all girl and loves anything with ribbons, sparkles, flowers and lace.

This second valentine was one of those experiments that you never know how it will turn out until it's done.  Lots of pattern mixing here - I added some rub-on stitching to make the edges more defined.  A button and a chipboard heart tie it all together.  My oldest gran would get this one - she's a little more tom boy and prefers things that are interesting and a little... crazy.

I made this one with my youngest grand-girlie in mind.  She's 8 years old and all girl - but she doesn't go anywhere without her pink cowgirl boots and hat.  This one is definitely girl, but countrified.
Grandpa gets to go see them at the end of the month, so I will send these up with a special treat.

Love my family!

Friendship Cards

I have this friend who is always taking me for "secret" adventures - secret because she picks me up and never tells me where we are going.  I love it - I'm always seeing places I would never see otherwise, and doing something fun to break up the monotony.

This friend has another quirk - whenever I complain about having nothing to do - she finds me things to do.

I made that comment a while ago, and she told me that I could make some birthday cards for her.  For her whole family.  For the whole year.

I did actually get that bored one day - I texted her and said, "ok, tell me the ages and genders of everybody."  She has a small family, so it was no problem at all...

Only one man in the clan...

This one was so fun to do, I did it twice...

While I was in the card making mode, I thought I should probably do this for my family too - I'm always running late, so they don't get done.  The first birthday in my family is my oldest granddaughter in March - I love her to pieces, but she is not one of those girly girls :-)  This was really fun to do...

A Year of Cards

This past year, I was asked to make birthday cards for all the women in the ladies auxiliary of my church.  (LDS Relief Society)  It was a fun project.  I am pretty much home bound here, without a car to get around, so I haven't been able to be as active as I would like to have been.  Because of that, I wasn't able to get to know people as well as I would have liked.  By making their birthday cards, I felt that at least in some small way, I was able to have contact with every lady in the ward.

The cards only had a few requirements - they had to be flat, so they could be sent inexpensively, and simple so they wouldn't be costly.  Truth be told - I don't think I spent anything on any of them because I have so much paper etc. in my stash!

I made them in batches of 6, and I did about 2 batches per month, so that is a lot of cards!

As you can see, I did keep them super simple - which was a trick for me, because I do love my embellishments :-)  In November, our ward boundaries changed, and my subdivision was shifted to a different one, but at least I was able to complete a full year.  I already miss doing it!

*Please check my other site - www.scrapworthy-arts.blogspot.com for my former creations.  (I can't remember my password, so I jumped ship...)

On Geezerhood...

I have a constant struggle with my husband because he refuses to admit that he is old.

I do not have such misgivings - I have considered myself an old woman since I was in my 20's.  (Long story)  Don't call me middle aged, because that is just a LIE.  I refuse to even entertain the notion that I will live to be 120!

I embrace my geezerhood, and am determined to take full advantage of it - senior citizen discounts?  Love it! - Handicapped parking? - Perfect!  I can say whatever I want, and I'm just considered colorful - I can wear what I want - fads mean nothing to me.  Do I look wrinkled and ugly to you? - Who cares, no one looks at me anymore anyway!

Am I over the hill - I sure hope so.  Have you ever been on a roller coaster?  The ride up is boring - the chugging and dragging and anxiety are unbearable - but when you get to the downward side - that's when all the fun happens!  

Who wants to deal with the agony of climbing to the top all of their lives?  Let's have some heart stopping, grin inducing action!  ...And if we slobber or wet ourselves on the way down - well, that's just one more thing to laugh about.