Day 22&23...

Well, it's been a rainy weekend, and I tried (oh, how I tried) to make my snowflake for the trade on Imagination Tribe. I should have taken pictures as the sad thing progressed...at least now I feel okay about it. I had this grand picture in my mind of how it would turn out....guess that's why I had a hard time getting to a "happy place" when it didn't look exactly like my vision, lol. First, I painted 5 wooden skewers with blue glitter glue and glued them together in an "asterisk" pattern. Put blue beads on the pointy ends and let it dry for the night. I used fishing line type stuff and strung a bizillion beads onto it...here's where my product fell short of my vision...I imagined the beads strung in between the main "pointers" and looking like a glistening, well, snowflake! Instead, the fishing line went slack in a bunch of spots and looked like shit! So then I tried embroidery floss in a pretty shade of pale blue, but that didn't look good either. So I bought some cool white yarn with the hairy pieces hanging off of the main yarn and used that.... I like the way it turned out, but it's still looks like a cross between a dream catcher, spiderweb and snowflake :) What do you expect...I live in Central California and was born in Southern Arizona, lmao





Here is a full shot, and a close-up where you can see the beads in the middle. I may add some other beads to the wooden parts before I box it up :)

Day 21

Day 21- Did some ATC for the Magnet trade!! I call these "Ribbons & Feathers". This isn't the best pic, I did them as one piece, stuck to the back of a pizza pan, and this was before they were completely dried.




I started on a magnet base (like for business cards to be stuck on) with a paper background...then painted with pastel pink, blue and green scrapbooking paint. Before it dried, I sprinkled some of my favorite teeny, tiny beads. After it dried, I added some bird feathers, pieces of ribbon, and this styrofoam paper stuff that I painted...and a couple of sparkly things. At the end I did a last minute swipe or two with the brush I had blue glitter glue on :)

posting Day 20

finally...and guess what I made?? ANOTHER BOOKMARK!! Hopefully today (for Day 21) I'm going to make some ATCs, as there are a couple of trades I wanna take part in...we'll see. I could stick with bookmarks and get a headstart on Christmas gifts (or open an Etsy store!)

I love the colors in this book-crack mark...it's for another one of my almost-daily readers :) and coordinates with the cover. It's about motherhood, so I thought that the butterfly was nice :)

Day 19

Another bookmark....hehehe. This one for the new Eckhart Tolle book. I used a sterling silver wire star and stones (carnelian?) and wooden beads to coordinate with the book cover, as I expect it's one that I'll read over and over. I do need to start reading it, tho. Haven't really had the mind for it today...or the other day when I made the bookmark, lol

Day 18

I made an angel bookmark for my Mother Teresa book....The Joy in Loving. That was all I could manage, and as you can see...I DIDN'T manage posting it that day, lol.

What Weight Watchers had to say...

about my miserable weight loss last week...

If you're feeling neutral about your weight-loss result, here's a little fact to make you smile: A safe rate of weight loss is up to two pounds per week. So you're seeing success! You're doing the right thing.

Why not pin this anonymous quote up on your fridge or bulletin board: "Feel pride in how far you've come and confidence in where you're going."

Take care this week…

Guess I need to see where I'm not doing great (hmmmm....maybe the Starbucks in place of lunch yesterday?) and make better choices. I feel FANTASTIC after my trip to the gym this morning...boys are NOT loving having the sitter come so I can go tho. Gotta figure that out...anyhoo...don't know if it was the exercise or the HOT shower (uninterrupted, no less) that did it :) but I feel great.

happiness...

"No matter what you are doing, keep the undercurrent of happiness. Learn to be secretly happy within your heart in spite of all circumstances." -- Paramahansa Yogananda

Day 17

My creation yesterday was a "Passions and Projects" poster (thanks to Jules for the idea!!) We had a family discussion (while I was lazy-ing outside in the beautiful sunshine, the boys were playing and Dirk was working on the car :)) about what each person was interested in, and what we'd like to do in the future.




Some common themes on the boys' lists: travel, having friends over, family trips to the beach (versus boy trips with mom staying home to read and relax, lol)...



D and I both listed the tree house that we want to build for the boys in the front tree, and the "loft" addition above the boys' rooms as passions...I wonder which one we'll get to first?! FUN< FUN< FUN!!!

Give JOY a voice!

"And the true realism, always and everywhere, is that of the poets: to find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all." -- Robert Louis Stevenson

When I appreciate, I feel so very good.

That's what my Well-being card for today says :) and it's oh so true....the back side:

Appreciation is the secret to life

Become a person who appreciates, and you will thrive; you will fulfill your reason for being.

ahhhhh. life is good :)


What I appreciate already today...
having a chance to play the piano this morning,
having an almost-clean house,
deciding today is the day to figure out how I'm going to get it all done (big, fat laugh),
waking up to a sweet kiss from the man, who is off today,
boys jumping on the trampoline together happily,
decaf Irish breakfast iced tea :)
deciding that, though the word "unschool" doesn't bother me, calling us "Life Learners" feels better,
knowing that I will create today, and may even post about it later!!

Well-Being Card...

My Well-Being card for yesterday....

I inhibit no one. (We each create our own reality.)

As you find vibrational harmony with your desires, you are never inhibiting or preventing anyone else from living what they are creating--but you ARE controlling and creating your own reality.

and for today...

I can always reach for a thought that feels better.

Your decision to reach for a thought that feels good is a powerful decision, for it serves you in many ways. The better-feeling thought reverberates within you, opening passageways to Well-being that reach far beyond this one good-feeling thought.

Creating Nirvana :)

Here goes....and now I'm going to try to keep up, lol. The creating is not a problem, it's getting on the durned computer and finding my camera, lmao :) I've found the camera, and just in time!! My Valentines day from Dirk came in the mail today and I opened it and WHAM!! Unbelievable....and by far the most awesome the man has ever given me. It's something we saw almost a year ago in a store window in San Francisco...and I stood there drooling. I opening the box this morning to find Nirvana...





The sweet little tie-dyed froggie that stole my heart that night in San Francisco :) I cried and beamed at my sweet man who said he'd felt led to track him down after I mentioned Nirvana as a tattoo idea awhile back. So, I had to find an appropriately safe and honored place for him...and now he's in the top space of the bookshelf in our bedroom, with a candle glowing behind him. Torin said "now you can come in here and look at him and you'll be happy like this whenever you want" (I'm sure that's paraphrased, but the idea's the same). Indeed.




So, I have many pictures to post of the last few days of "creating"...first is the book-crack mark I made for Dirky.
It's also a good shot of the ring I gave him for Christmas, that has " omnia vincit amor " engraved on the outside, and "our love conquers all... Cid" engraved on the inside...












Here's our version of "creating a joyful mess unto the Lord" (oh, I guess that's create a joyful noise, which we're also good at!) Making Valentine's cards for our book club friends was great fun....we used stamps, stickers, paints and markers... Declan should look into a job with a card company :) the sayings on his cards were so cute!! For the boys- "Trick or Treat, Smell my feet, give me something good to eat" and on the inside "oops! Wrong holiday! Happy Valentine's Day!!" and Torin's were sticker inspired. Also, a pic of the cute little boy stamp I used for the boys' return address...A good time was had by all, and the chaos in the kitchen was worth it!!







Here's a couple of pics of the Valentine card that I made for D- The bottom says "your love is yummy". It's artwork by Brooke Fuller of The Pear Project (Tons of neat stuff there to look at, and purchase, btw). Across the top of the valentine, I used my most favorite blend of tiny glass beads, and crystal brads hold the artwork in place...







Some fun pics of the boys enjoying their Valentine's Day loot!! Or, should I say booty, argh Matey!! I saved all the bookclub Valentines they received and made a big basket with candy and cards :)







One day I only created a made bed, and peaceful space in the bedroom....wait, did I miss something under the covers?? lol Torin and I enjoy some silly time together...






And for the rest of the month, I have some ideas for creating....more book-crack marks (because you can never have enough of those, and they make great gifts :) and the shadow boxes that I've got all the stuff for, but just need to spread out on the table and lay out and put together. It's loved items that used to be on my "tack board" behind the other desk, pictures from childhood, cards, pins, etc. And now that the table is cleaned off....oooooh, time to create!!!

Oh, that is, after I create some peace at my desk...the paper monster is raging. The clutter monster is all but dead (can I get an "Hallelujah!"??) but the paper monster, his sneaky cousin, musta hid in the corner and eluded me when I waged war.

Good GRIEF!!

A lot of creating has been going on here....not much blogging tho! I have pics to add, really I do :) but I'm not sure which are still on the camera and where the camera's at right now, lol.

We had a fantastic day at the park with our other homeschooled friends today! A Chinese New Year/Valentine's Celebration... Susan brought her big dragon (I know I have a pic of that on the camera, lmao:) and lots of good food was eaten.

We made homemade valentines for the boys' friends (and some of mine, too) on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I made Dirk's bookmark on Monday. What did I create today?? Steak, orange roughy, and other stuff for dinner after the park....yummy!

This will be good enough for now, cause I want to spend time with my Honey :)

Day 10- Book "crack" bookmarks...

I love these things....I modeled them off of a bookmark I bought for myself at Borders awhile back. They are made out of waxed thread (like button thread or really thick dental floss) and they lay in the book's "crack" (I probably came up with that from school, where kids would sign your yearbook "I bet you didn't expect me to sign your crack" down the inside edge of the page, lol) and don't mess up the binding at all. Then the pretty beads, charms, etc. are showing on the outside... I decided I'd do a couple for my 10th day "things". You can never have enough bookmarks, I think...especially when you have about 5 "daily" readers (well, almost-daily, lol) and are in the middle of reading about 10 other books! I can't help it....my mood determines what I feel like reading at any given time :)

So, I decided two of my daily reads needed bookmarks, and I think it's cool that I picked out the stones and beads based on the "feel" of the books, and the colors ended up coordinating with the cover art. "wooooooooo, kookie" I also decided that I'd put one silver bell at the bottom of the first book's mark, and two on the "More..." book's mark. Ain't I clever??










I guess I can post some pics from the past few days' "things" now that I've uploaded the pictures...here's Shaylah's monogramed apron, that I can't wait to give her. It's her non-birthday gift...I've been in search of the perfect apron and have had a hell of a time. So now it's time to start searching for this year's gift!! Then, Nancy's scarf (which I am making longer now that I know that it's for Nancy....funny story on that one- I was working on it at bookclub and Nancy sat next to me and said how much she liked it. I'm thinking "perfect, it's gonna be your birthday present then!" and at the same time thinking, "damn, that one skein didn't make as long of a scarf as I'd hoped". WELL, Becky, who started the bookclub, mentioned that she had a skein of the exact same yarn if I wanted it :) Seriously, yarn manifested!!! And it's going to look so nice on Nancy!!! I love the colors, and the "eyelash" fringe-y yarn :)

Days 7-9....whew!!

I got behind on my posting :)

Day 7, I used a finger-knit "rope" and sewed it together to create a Ninja-Turtle mask for Torin! It turned out cute (not exactly as I imagined it, but cute) but he didn't want to pose for a picture, or share it with "your friends". If he changes his mind I will add a pic...

Day 8, I "almost finished" an initial I am cross-stitching on an apron I'm giving a friend as a gift. I'll post a pic when I finish!!

Day 9, not quite over yet, but I have the first bookclub meeting tonight for my new bookclub, so I thought I'd post now to make sure I get it posted :) I started this morning on a scarf, I think for myself, outta this cool "eyelash" yarn in turquoise and green. I'm just going to use the whole skein on a skinny scarf, so I'll see how long it gets and post a pic.

Finger knit flower....Day 6

Didn't get this posted yesterday...quite a full day!! I finger knit a flower (Dirk says it looks like a poppy) while the boys played at the park (that was before they talked me into playing tag, whew...got a cute little compliment from Declan "you run really fast when you're scared, Mom!)

Day 5- ATCs, if you please!

This first picture is Declan doing a "happy dance" (and Torin joining in) because he'd beaten the WHOLE ENTIRE Yoshi Island game boy game he's been working on! We were all very excited for him :)



We had such a fun time with the boys' bookclub friends today! The kids made masks for Fat Tuesday, and I thought I'd make one for my THING today, but alas, the extra ones were used up... :)



So, I was glad that I brought my ATC stuff to do Valentine ATCs...my theme was "Lucky in Love" aww :) I was able to incorporate one of my items- fortune cookie fortunes! And another.....those teeny tiny little glass beads! Fun, fun, fun! AND hopefully we've turned on some other mommies to the joys of ATCs. :)

the things they say...

Declan said to me, when I giggled and commented on his singing along to the theme song for one of my favorite shows (Psych):

"Mom, I've got a whole 'nother secret life that you don't know anything about"


tee hee...I love my life :)

Thing a Day: Day 4

I'd planned something different for today's thing, but necessity breeds creativity around here. Torin was disappointed that there was only one "find the queen bee" game in their crayola magic pen/paper thing (can you tell I'm thrilled with the stuff??) and so I decided that we'd make something similar that could be used over and over. I had 14 little frog stickers, so we used them to make our "Find the Frog Prince" game :)

You flip all the cards over, frog side down, mix them up, lay them out and take turns flipping over a card until someone finds the Prince! The Wondercolor one, you took turns coloring in a circle to see who found the Queen Bee. I like mine better :)



































And to celebrate signing up for Weight Watchers online, a homemade soup, lol. Super yummy because I did the chicken on the stove (with just a bit of EVOO spray) and seasoned it with Pappy's. mmmmmmmmm!

I love hugs...

God, this video makes me happy :) Now I need to get my ass off the computer and jump in the spa, and then TO BED!!

The Grateful Dance...

I am so grateful that Diana had this posted on her blog!!

Thing a Day: Day 3

Today's THING....a quickly crocheted bookmark, with a bell at the end. I've been going to make one of these for Declan's current book, Kringle, and decided now is the time! Great book and he deemed it "perfect" for the story, so that makes me happy!



Oh, and I made peanut butter cookies, yum! Glad I snapped this pic, because they're all gone :)

Thing a Day: Day 2

Well, I got the Lyrics trade ATCs done!! I had cut up a painting ("Cotton Candy") that I had done awhile back into ATCs, but never found the right project or trade for them.





So the pretties were just waiting to be put to use today :) The 6 of them took less than an hour, since the hard work was already done, lol. I put vellum over each, attached with a bronze-ish brad at the corner. (this picture shows them after I'd put the vellum/brad on the top left one)






I used lyrics from my favorite Sheryl Crow song, The Light in Your Eyes.

1. This is the good stuff, yesterday's only what you leave behind, it's only in your mind
2. No use pretending you never existed until you saw the light
3. You're just beginning...you haven't missed it, it's all ahead of you...and you know what to do!
4. Here comes the world and she is beautifully mysterious...
5. Nobody's happy...that's not the world I know inside...where everybody hides
6. Talk to the One who gave you all the light in your eyes


okay...it cracks me up that someone put this song to a Yugioh clip, but I wanted to add the song, so here it is!

and....FREEZE!!

Thing-A-Day: Day 1

OH MY GOSH! I can't believe it's February already!! Woke up this morning and was like "crap! it's day one! where did that creep outta?" anyhoo....

I wanted to create a piece of artwork with the theme "create" for myself for over my desk. It's an idea I've had since the word chose me as my word of the year ;) and now seemed a great time to just DO IT!!




so, first, I created a big 'ol mess, lol. I got out my Cricut and cut out the word "create". Wasn't sure if I was going to use the cut out letters or the paper it was cut from (negative side, so to speak). I picked a cherries on yellow background paper, because it was sweet and yummy and I've been just waiting for the right thing to use it in...

then, since I already had my frame, I messed around with the letters on the black background (I love the colors on the black!) and came up with a use that I liked, and then decided to use the "C" in the corner to stand for Cid :) I used a little square from a painting I used for ATCs under the red heart....layered them all.

I went through all of my quotes, cut outs from magazines and other doo-dads and picked all the ones that had the right feel to them, then placed and moved around and this is what I ended up with.

The quote in the middle says

There's nothing to do here but be together, shoot the breeze, cook, nap. That's the joy of this place. Abbie Gordonson

That's how I feel when I get into "CREATE" mode...at least the crafty one.

The little papers at the top say "Get in the habit" and "Have you done it lately?" and the one at the bottom says "You amaze me"

I love it...and hung a nail just now to hang it over the desk, lol. Barely made the cut-off for posting, lmao, so I didn't even clean off my desk before I took the pic to show yas...

oooooh, and my "extra credit"??? tee hee! I found a new use for an old thing....love that :) I have this little drawer dealie that I'd used on my dresser for jewelry and it didn't work real well. At Christmas my mom suggested putting it in the kitchen and it looked pretty on the counter....but tonight I figure out that the drawers and drawer openings are the perfect size for tea bags! SCORE!!