be yourself: live with passion

celebrating another family birthday...

Today, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday (she's eighty-something, but I keep telling her that eighty is the new seventy...don't think she's buying it!).  Of late, I've not been posting as much family stuff as I have projects, classes, kits, etc. and I wanted to share a few of the pix I captured today.  My indoor lighting wasn't all that good so the best shots were taken outside.

Here's one of Ashley...I love her smile and how she is almost always willing to pose for the camera!

This is my nephew, Michael...he's quite the handsome guy...cover material for Junior GQ, don't ya think?  He's single and available...inquiries are welcome...smirk.  He's going to kill me for this post!

This is my nephew, Joshua, with my sister-in-law's dog, Austin.  Love how the two of them are sitting. At this point, neither of them knew that I was taking their picture through the arcadia door.  By the time I took the next shot, they were both looking at the door.

Here's my sister-in-law, Beth, with her other dog, Dallas.  Miss Dallas is being naughty...she has Beth's shoe in her mouth and spent quite a while walking around the house and the yard with that shoe...she loves carrying things and around there, what's yours is hers!

These three lovely ladies are my sister-in-law, Blanca, on the right, her mother, Nellie in the center and my mother-in-law on the left.  I think someone told the grandmas that they weren't allowed to smile for the camera today.  Everytime I pointed it in their direction, they got quite sober...I couldn't catch them off guard today.

Blanca and Josh...Josh is not going to be happy with Tia Carol for posting this...at all.  I thought it was such a great, spontaneous shot of the two of them.  Josh just turned 11 and he doesn't want any of us treating him like a baby...I told him that his mama was just lovin' on him!

Here's one of my mother-in-law opening her gifts.  What cracked me up was that my father-in-law was opening them too!  I guess that's what all the years of togetherness does for you.  Mom got lots of clothes and bath stuff...she still loves getting clothes even though my father-in-law says that every closet is jammed...some of the clothes still have their tags!

These were the best of the shots...didn't capture everyone but just wanted to share a bit of the day.

Hope you have a great week!

Tattered Angels

Have you ever seen a product with which you have instantly fallen in love?

Such was the case with me and Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels.  From the first spray, I was hooked and I've been collecting different mist colors since that time.  If you check out their site, you know there are a LOT of colors!

I was thrilled when Michelle from TA asked me to be a guest designer for them.  It wasn't hard to come up with project ideas at all.  In fact, it was a case of so many ideas, so little time.  To check out some project pix, click here.

I wanted to post a couple more pix that are a bit larger so that you can see some of the detail.  The first is a banner made with glimmer chips and, of course, glimmer mist.  It's attached to a large wire garden gate wall hanging.  The center panel (which has a circle of red) is a mirror which is reflecting my sweatshirt...so it really isn't red! :))

Another piece that I made is a pillow...canvas background with layers of mist and screens, finished off with stamped images and linen fringe.

For additional project pix and answers to some interview questions, check out this site. 

Hope you're inspired to either start or add on to your collection of Glimmer Mist! 

 

Technology.

I have a love-hate relationship with technology.

I love the benefits of blogging, love communicating via e-mail, love the digital aspects of a camera and the photo editing capabilities of the computer.

I hate when technology doesn't work.

I am not a geek...not by any stretch of the imagination.  When someone teaches me a software program, I get it.  But, I follow the rules...and don't "mess" with any of the systems.

My relationship with technology in the past month has not been a loving one.

It all started when our former neighbors (who moved out about two years ago and were trying to sell their very neglected house) moved back in.  Apparently, they weren't able to get their phone service to work...the phone service provider decided that our phone lines were a good way to get phones into their home.  Of course, we found out about it after they hooked up wires from our house to theirs...and, according to the tech who did it, it "absolutely wouldn't affect anything" in our house.  Right.

Periodically through the day (we think it's when they were on the phone), our phone lines would have a ton of static.  When that happened, faxes couldn't come in or be sent out and it would be hard to hear the other person on the phone line.  Our computer cable service was affected as well (it's through the same carrier and wired into the same box) and were (and still are) losing our internet connection several times a day.  Not so fun when you're trying to post to the blog, or have an email that HAS to go out immediately.

Anyway, it's been an interesting month...the new wiring that was supposed to go to the neighbor's house, ended up going to ours. Oops, guess the work order wasn't too clear as to whose house actually needed wiring.  Another crew out to fix the job.  And, the saga continues as the wire connecting the two houses is still there.

Then, there was a complete internet service meltdown in the Phoenix area earlier this week...no connection for the better part of a day from our provider.

Add to that the software challenges...my computer eating up (as in erasing) camera picture cards...and dealing with technicians who think that if you don't understand what they are saying, they can just say the same thing slower and louder and you will then understand :)).  At this point, I think I'm ready for a bit of a separation...just to get the frustration out of my system.

Can any of you relate to what I'm saying?  I'm feeling like I need to be in a support group of sorts right now!!!!

 I've decided that I need to stay focused on good things...so thought I'd post this adorable picture of Bodie out on one of the mountain trails at a local park.

Ashley took Bodes out on President's Day...it was a new experience for the pooch and she loved it!

Quite elegant in how she's sitting, no?

Anyway, this is a relationship of love-love...I love her and she loves me!

Happy Wednesday...off to work on more kits for Friday's class.

Oh, and by the way, speaking of technology, I am now tweeting through Twitter...it'll be fun as long as it works!

living the romantic life...

Romantic Homes magazine had an article in their February issue that featured various artists, designers and shop owners who were living the romantic life.

As I read through each of their descriptions, I had to think about whether or not I was living the romantic life.  If I am honest with myself, I would have to say that, overall, I probably am not.  Life is too busy, too messy, etc....I'm sure some of you are probably shaking your head in agreement as I'm writing this.  Most of us don't have homes that are ready for a magazine photo shoot...we probably don't have perfect little vignettes of our treasures and collectables perfectly positioned through our house...we don't have meals set out on pretty china and lit by candlelight every night...are you with me?  Or, maybe you are living the romantic life...making it happen is your profession or hobby...you have to share your blog sites, please, to inspire the rest of us!

For me, I would have to say that living the romantic life is like getting peeks of sunshine through the clouds...it's there but it's just not always visible.

So today, on what is considered the most romantic day of the year, Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a few of those rays of romantic sunshine in my life.

I love collecting old silver...it's not highly polished, but rather, the patina of age covers some of the gleam.  I found 5 of these amazing soup spoons (along with teaspoons, forks and knives) when I was in Virginia in January and they were a bargain...just 50 cents per piece!  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the bowl of the spoon is deep and very round...definitely an older style...love it!  We get to use these tonight for dinner...Ashley just called me to let me know that some friends of ours who live in Northern California but have a second home out here just brought fresh cioppino with them and they are sharing some of it with us.  Yum!

The love of clear glass jars and containers, as well as roses of any kind, goes back many years ago to when I was a child playing at my grandmother's house.  She had a china cabinet built into one of her basement walls and in it were glass serving pieces, crystal bowls, etc. that I was allowed to play with.  She grew gorgeous roses in her postage stamp backyard and she let me pick the spent blossoms and make "rose soup" out of them.  Rose soup consisted of blossoms mixed in with water and "cooked" for a bit (the patience of a child means it cooks really fast)...I would then serve it in the various glass/crystal containers.  I can still smell that soup...even to this day (and it's really been a while, trust me :)).

I love the color red...little accents here and there brighten a room...and add some spice and romance.

Vintage images are common in our home...I love images of women and children, old newspapers and magazines, menus, postcards, etc.  There is something romantic about them to me.

So there you have it...some of the romantic life around my home.

What about you?  Are you living the romantic life?  Or, maybe just bits and pieces of it?  Hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day!

 

P.S.  To enhance that romantic life of yours, don't forget to pre-order the February creatologie kit...available from the PayPal storefront on either this blog or my creatologie one...it's loaded with romantic elements to keep all of those special love notes.

mmmmm...it's sure been smelling good around here...

  ...and this is why.

Several months ago, Vern asked me if we still had our bread machine...that would be our "Zo", short for Zojirushi.  We sure did and it was collecting dust in our garage; it was in retirement for several years after I gave up making homemade bread.

He found it...dusted and cleaned it and started making homemade bread.

Now, several days a week, there is the fragrance that takes me back to my childhood days of visiting grandparents.  What a great way to jog my memories of my two bread baking grandmas...two women who were so very different from each other...yet so accomplished when it came to making bread.

This loaf is oatmeal raisin, a favorite for our morning toast with peanut butter.

Vern is an awesome baker...he has researched how to get maximum rise out of a recipe and ways to enhance the flavors.  Now me...I was a pretty efficient and pragmatic bread baker.  If a recipe turned out well, it was marked as a keeper in the cookbook...if it was lousy, it got a big "X" next to it.  Contrast that with Vern, who figures out why it did what it did and makes it better the next time.

Here's to a fragrant home and great tasting breads.  A steady of diet of these breads is going to have me back at the gym again...says my crystal ball and hmmm, bathroom scale. :)

Any great tasting and great smelling foods coming out of your kitchen these days?

my thoughts...today

I'm in the middle of dinner prep right now...it's salmon chowder night (using cedar plank grilled leftover salmon...yum!)...and started thinking about the good things that happened today.

I finished my Creative Escape project this morning...I've had the idea for a while and actually built the basic structure...today I did the finishing touches...that was so much fun.

I had a chance this afternoon to present the project and it was accepted...as is, no changes.  WOO HOO...I am so excited to be teaching there...and to be teaching this project.  Can't share any sneak peeks right now...but I can tell you that it is unique...and that there's a fun inspiration story behind it.  If you haven't gotten your name on the list, head over to the website and get yourself signed up.  There is such good value at this event...the inspiration from classes and speakers, the great food, beautiful accommodations, and just the fabulous synergy that comes from being with other creative people. 

When I came home from my meeting this afternoon, Ashley told me that she thinks she passed two more of her speed tests...her court reporting program is self-paced and based on speed and she is motivated to get finished and be out there working.  Go, Ashley!

There was a voice mail message on my home phone when I got home today, asking me to call the store...they wanted to let me know that my French Flavored book class (which I'm teaching on February 20th), was almost full and they had several women who wanted to take it...which would put me over my limit.  Hey, bring them on!  We're gonna have a full house in there, ladies...the class is now sold out!  YAY! 

OK, time to head back to the stove to finish the meal.

Hope you've had some good things happen in your life today...it'd be really cool if you'd share...not only is it great for all of us to share good, positive things in today's world, but I think that it really impacts us positively when we take time to acknowledge and write down the good things that happen.  Looking forward to reading some of your thoughts today!

"Pay Attention. You May Have What You Want."

This header, along with the following excerpt, really struck home with me:

"We often forget to sit down and think about where we started and where we are now.  The human tendency is to always want more.  A better approach is to remember where you started and appreciate how much you have accomplished."

Header and quote from:  100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven, Ph.D

As I mentally reviewed my to do list yesterday morning, I started that old negative rant about how much I had to do...looming deadlines, stuff to do around the house, trips to get ready for...blah, blah, blah.

Then it hit me...I had read the above section of 100 Simple Secrets yesterday morning, yet I had fallen into the very trap he was talking about...focusing on what I still needed to do rather than appreciating how much I was able to accomplish this past week.  So, I sat down and wrote a list...I must say that I impressed myself.  Here's some of what got done last week.

1.  Completed and photographed my project, and wrote the stepped out instructions for Donna Downey's Inspired event in May.  I promised you a sneak peek of that, so here it is:

2.  Finally took down the Christmas stuff (an improvement over last year, for sure!) :)).

3.  Unloaded and found homes for stuff from 6 large boxes in my family room...no small feat, for sure.

4.  Created 2 layouts and wrote my "It's About Time" article for Memory Makers magazine.

5.  Spent 4 hours on Friday with my techno consultant, Jodi, who "tuned up" our desktop and my laptop...Qwest and MSN kept pointing the fingers at each other while our emails kept disappearing.  The worm that they said we had did not exist...but we had some corrupted software...removal and reinstallation solved the problems...and the computers are actually acting like we have high speed internet!

6.  Completed and posted my new creatologie kit project called "Love Notes"...which entails writing an email blast, updating my PayPal storefront (which was quite a chore considering my computer issues), creating a new blog banner and writing a blog post (which ends up sometimes being a copy and paste of the email...with some edits!).  Here's a detail of the ribbon flowers that we will be making for the cover of the book which is inserted in the metal envelope.

7.  Got much needed laundry and filing done.

8.  Rearranged some stuff in my studio.

9.  Read John Grisham's new book "The Associate"...a pretty good read...better than some of his most recent works.

10.  Actually updated my blog on a regular basis!

So, there you have it...lots of big stuff done.  I'd encourage you to do the same...make a list of everything you accomplished last week.  You may surprise yourself with how productive you were!  If you're just down on yourself about life in general, make a list of goals that you have achieved...accomplishments that you have forgotten about, etc.

Hope you have a fabulous week...and don't forget..."Pay Attention.  You May Have What You Want"!

true story

For someone obsessed with time and clocks, I sure missed the boat today.

I woke up thinking today was Friday.

Went through the mental checklist of things that needed to be done before the weekend and even talked to Vern about one of those things.

Friday is recycling trash day around here, so I went outside and hauled the big blue container from the yard to the street.  I happened to look up and down the street and noticed something odd.

There wasn't a single other blue trash container on the whole street.   Hmmm.

So, I had this little niggle thing in the brain...is it really Friday?

Came back in the house...checked the computer.  No wonder ours was the only trash can on the street!  Everyone else knew exactly what day it was.

So, I went back outside and pulled in the trash can.  Our two young neighbor boys were waiting for their carpool ride and kept looking at me with funny expressions on their faces.  Finally, the older one couldn't resist.  He wondered what in the world I was doing, taking the trash back to the house.

I told him that I was trying to shorten their school week...and then told them the story.  They told me that they wished my story was true...they would rather be home tomorrow than go to school!

OK, so I'm back on track...Vern's take is that I now have another day to get all the stuff done that needs to be done.  My take is that tomorrow is going to go really well...after all, I had a dress rehearsal today!

Happy THURSDAY!

If you haven't signed up yet...

NOW would be an excellent time to do so...before the classes sell out.

I'm so excited about being at Scrap Lovers and A Work of Heart Studio (San Jose, California) on February 27th and 28th!  I've got three classes lined up and am really looking forward to teaching them!

Here's what I'm teaching:

 

BOOK OF 9:   This is a fun list book all prettied up with ivory, sand and aqua.  For a complete description and to register for the class, simply click on the Book of 9 title and it will take you right to the site.  The slide show will allow you to see additional interior pages.

 

FRENCH FLAVORED JUNQUE BOOK:  This is one of my favorite structures to create...one that can be done over and over again.  Add the French images...yummy...no need to say more!

 

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS:  This book just makes me smile...the colors are fun and happy and you will love the covers and random insides (some of which are defnitely unique!)...a great class to play and have a good time!

Looking forward to two awesome days of creative playtime!

trial size...

Little things make me happy.  Seeing any kind of product in a trial size makes me smile.  It's one of the reasons I love the jenni bowlin line of products so much.  She's got the miniature papers that are reduced from 12x12 to 4x4...with the patterns totally downsized and preserved.  She's got mini bingo cards and now, she's got sets of alpha rub-ons that are in trial size...a new CHA release.  Jenni, keep on bringing us the minis!

In keeping with the subject of "trial size", just wanted to share one of my junking finds from Virginia when Pam, Kitty and I spent the day scouring the shops of Leesburg and Lucketts.

It's a trial sized scale for my collection...a postal scale from the early 1900's (date provided on the back...how convenient is that?).

On it perches a trial sized mercury glass bird (the mate keeps it company down below), and a gorgeous chain of chandelier crystals, also from the same shopping excursion.

In the background (behind the tail of the lower bird) is an egg coddler...a very cool ivory colored ceramic container made in Chechoslovakia (that's how it was spelled on the bottom of the container).  When I bought it, the lady at the antique store asked me if I was going to coddle eggs.  Was she serious?  I told her that nothing got coddled at my house, most especially the eggs! :))  It's a great mini container for glitter!

Do you love trial sized stuff...if so, what are your favorite mini's?