Patriotic ATC...

As we come upon a very important day in our United States of America I realize we all celebrate differently. Some of us make a long weekend out of the Fourth of July. Some of us make it into an entire week or more. We celebrate with picnics, BBQs and pool parties. We go camping. Whatever we do or however we celebrate it is a very meaningful day in our history.

I am thankful for all those that came before and for all those that are now fighting for our American freedom. It is so easy to take it all for granted. This time of year allows us to reflect on just how fortunate we are and how grateful we are for our freedom.

I have made this ATC to honor my freedom and to remember Freedom is not Free.

Twyla and Lindsey of Two Crazy Crafters are having a blog hop of Patriotic ATC's. I am not able to link to them but wanted to participate.
May you each enjoy your Fourth of July celebrations and stay safe.

Life Happens...

This is some super cute fabric that makes me smile. It is chickens with a kitchen food theme. This photo does not do justice to how truly adorable and cheerful it is. And with the lining fabric of fried eggs it just had to become a tote bag to carry car trip snacks for a road trip.

Now Miss Lorraine and her hubby Mr. Rickey can easily carry a few much needed energy foods for a very long road march. Hmmm...pbj sandwiches, apple, peanut bar, water, M&Ms...check and good to go.
Now for the Life Happens...let me just say that is an understatement. We all experience it. It never happens at the right time or situation but it certainly happens. Yesterday I came home from errands and found Mr. C sitting at my desk computer. UhOh...not a good thing. I just kept on walking. What? Oh you need me to listen to you? Okay. Oh you decided to do what? Upgrade my computer with new versions of everything! You? Why? You never want new versions of software! Oh okay...

Needless to say after the entire day was over and it was late evening when he finished I sat down to post my Memory Lane Monday post and read my blog friends posts. Nope! Not going to happen! No way! No how! I couldn't even find my own blog let alone anyone else's. I spent hours trying to figure out where things were. Mr. C said things would be different and that too was an understatement. I, of course, am not the technical one in this family as Mr. C spent a great part of his life in the leading edge of technology and therefore I merely follow as I am told. Well, that can be a really big problem for me as I don't even speak his language and certainly cannot tell him what I lost or where I lost it from. We are really Mars and Venus and normally being opposites works pretty well for us. However not in technical computer land. I was lost and worse yet, my blogs were lost. Think Sherry! What is the perfect name to type in from scratch to recover your blogs you love? Not that! Oops! There has to be a better way...

Hours and hours later I did manage to find my lost blogs. So I begin to retrieve them and it takes forever as each one must be re-formatted to this new system of foreign software updates.

I have just discovered that I am not able to add any links or to preview in this post. DRAT! Needless to say I have gotten too far behind to catch up so I shall begin from this point forward.
Thank you for letting me vent. And thank you even more for staying with me on this journey of life and how and when IT happens.

At least I made a really cute little tote bag and feel good about being creative. Yay for crafts!!!

Please tell me what you are working on and how great it makes you feel to be creative.

Frozen Charlotte...

A wonderful surprise in my mailbox. I think we all agree that it is so much fun to receive something in the mail. Unexpected, semi-expected or completely expected it all is very exciting. This is the package I received recently. The little box did not give me any clues. I had been notified that I had won a giveaway but was not certain what my gift would be. There were three items and mine was the last name so not to select which one I would receive. Oh goody I love good surprises. Hmmm...
I can't see how a set of wooden stamps could fit in this little box as that is the one item I thought wouldn't be selected 1 or 2. So Mr. C and I sat by the pond and I opened my little box. You would have thought I got stung by another bee from my scream I let out. Mr. C could only sit perplexed.

In this little box was this sweet photo and a handwritten note. A beige cloth bag tied with seam binding and I am so happy. What? How could it be? The exact item I would have chosen was in this little soft pouch. Oh thank you Lynn of Trash to Treasure Art. Thank you so very much!

I think you all follow this super talented lady. She has been published yet again so please go visit her today.

This is a frozen charlotte. She is tiny and precious and so very sweet. Lynn has embellished her with a crown and heart gilded in silver. She is standing on a musical stage within her little glass house surrounded by rhinestones all soldered together to keep her safe.

This photo is not the best and is filled with shadows however Tiny Dancer is shy and she doesn't mind being in the shadows.

I am enchanted with my tiny frozen charlotte doll. Thank you Lynn for sending her to me.

I smile each and everyday when I look at her in her little house.

I have seen many of these little frozen charlotte dolls in lots of crafts and art pieces and have wanted one for so long. My wish has come true.

Happy Summer Weekend to all...and winter for those across the pond...

Happily creating...

I just can't help myself. I keep making these little lace chickies and they keep flying off to new homes. This little lady is still here as she hasn't decided where she is off to.

This little gal just left on a very long trip. She has chosen to fly clear across the ocean to a far away country. Far away from here in California. In fact she is surprising someone who is celebrating a birthday. Little Chickie knew before I even knew. Funny how a real personality comes forth as you are creating something. Bits of paper, lace, trims, a button and some twine and before you know it her little heart is beating and she is full of wonder and smiles. She has a long trip and then must endure customs so when she arrives I know she will need a tender loving hug. Fortunately her new home will give her lots of hugs and love. A dear sweet lady will take very good care of Little Chickie.

This little beaded heart leash is for a lovely lady who gave me these pretty floral needle nose pliers. I use them everyday it seems. They are so handy and also add a flair of floral femininity to my workroom studio. This photo really does not show how pretty they really are in green and pinks. Her beaded heart leash is in pretty yellows as that is the color she was wearing the day she gave me the pliers and she looked so pretty in yellow. Yellow is a difficult color for some to wear...like me. I love how sunny and happy yellow is but it looks awful on me with my skin tones. So I like to craft with yellow and that satisfies my love of the color yellow.

The studio and sewing rooms have been busy of late. Lots of creating and making of gifts for thank yous and birthdays.

Is it just me or are these longer sunshine days just evaporating all too quickly? I have so much more energy with the sun shining however I seem to be so far behind in every area of my day. Before I know it the sun has gone to bed and the daylight has changed to darkness and I am still not done with my list of daily items to accomplish. I do know I am spending lots more time outside enjoying the great weather. After seven months of super cold, wet and snowy winter I am loving the outdoors with all the green grass growing, flowers blooming, birds flying from tree to tree, and lizards lounging on warm rocks or pathways. I can literally spend hours hand watering plants and just enjoying the calmness of it all. Mr. C always reminds me that he installed complete drip systems and I do not need to hand water however I always tell him I don't mind doing it...I actually love it! Hmmm...maybe this is where I am losing time each day. Well if so, I am not going to complain as it is a wonderful way to wile away the hours enjoying nature and all it has to offer.

How are you spending your time in this glorious season of ours called Summer?

Or Winter where you are in the world?

May you enjoy every moment of every day and feel good about what you are doing...

Rescued Chair...

This little chair was just waiting for me to rescue it. I was at the local Hospice Gift and Thrift and in the parking lot was a bunch of used...very used pieces of furniture. I saw this little chair and heard it calling to me. Sherrrrryyyyyy...
Of course I had to go take a look. And I always give furniture the wiggle test to see if it is too wonky. This little chair was only slightly unsteady. I knew Mr. C could strengthen it for me. The price? No way...$4. So I go inside and tell the clerk I want to buy this chair. She says are you taking it home today? Well of course I am...we have bonded and I can't leave it behind.

This is the label from the underside seat of the chair. It is solid wood and made here in the USA. I am now really bonding with this chair.

Here it is on Mr. C's workbench. All that needs doing is a little wood gluing to the spindle that connects to the chair back. How easy is this? Done and all better. Thank you Mr. C.

Now maybe a coat of white paint. After lots of sanding and priming and painting...

More sanding and painting. Thank you again Mr. C. Of course we had to wait until June for winter to end. I bought little chair in January.

And now little chair is beautiful in her new white coat and she is so happy to reside at the kitchen desk where she can be part of the family every day.

She is a very comfortable little chair and I am so glad she called me over to rescue her.

By-the-way...when I told the clerk that of course I would be taking little chair home with me right then she announced that the price was half the tag price. What?!! Little chair only cost me $2 and I am completely over-the-moon happy with her.

So sometimes being creative and crafty is not about fabric or beads or paper...sometimes it is the act of rescuing a worn out chair that someone disposed of and giving it new life with a fresh coat of paint and lots of love.

What have you been working on lately?

Pause To Enjoy...

In this very busy time of year when the days are lighter longer and the temperatures are perfect for outdoor chores and fun events I make certain that I pause to enjoy the wonders of nature.
This photo includes a beautiful Japanese Maple (red colors) and some struggling Mock Oranges with double flowering blossoms.

The deer eat both of these to the point of devastation. This year I have blossoms only because these branches grew very tall and the deer don't seem to be able to reach them or the blossoms and greenery would be completely eaten to the bare branches and so not attractive.

So everyday I take a stroll around my property and enjoy each and every wondrous leaf, blossom and furl of a new fern.

May you have a week of enjoyment, creativity and time to pause to enjoy it all...

Happy Father's Day...

This Sunday is Father' s Day here in the USA. I wish all Fathers, Grandfathers, Sons, Uncles, Brothers and anyone else a wonderful day.
Mr. C is all of the above and my husband I love dearly. We are do-overs in life and I feel so very fortunate that we found one another.
He really does put up with a lot when it comes to me and my quirkiness!
A few years ago I brought a used bowling ball home. No, neither of us bowl. So he simply had fun and bowled it down our steep driveway. I retrieved it as I needed it for a project. Oh No! Not another project. So he bowled it down the driveway again and I never found it. It probably went into the water canal and navigated who knows how many miles.
So I have always been looking for another used ball. All of them were far too expensive for me. Finally I found one at the local thrift store for $6. When I brought it home I hid it from Mr. C so he wouldn't bowl it down the driveway again.

This is my finished project. Mr. C actually bought me a steel post to place the finished ball on and he pounded it into the rock hard red clay ground. This is my new "gazing" ball.
This project is pretty time consuming as it goes slowly to glue the pennies on and then let them dry really well before rolling it to a blank space. I forgot to count the pennies but I think it is about $8 worth. So for about $25 total I have a really unique coppery yard art piece. It will be interesting to see the real pennies verdigris and the new non-copper pennies just remain the way they are.
My heartfelt thank you Mr. C and a very Happy Father's Day.
May you all enjoy a day of time spent together and making happy memories...

Follow Up To Guess This Project...

Way back in May I posted a photo of these cardboard pieces and asked if you could guess what I was going to do with this "trash". It has taken a lot longer to complete this project however here is the reveal.
Each little hard cardboard tent got handpainted with gold paint. Then each one got a strip of gold paper attached to it. Then there was a lot of punching out names and hearts and attaching them to the little tents.

Here you see the finished project. Table place cards. A dear friend is having her 90th birthday and her stepdaughter and I are doing the table decorations for the party. In an earlier post I showed the ribbon bookmarks we made for each guest. We have also done candy bags with a cute header and edge punched and hearted with Happy 90th Elsbeth on them.

This is the special place card for the birthday girl. I think she will be pleased with the extra attention. This will be a grand celebration for a grand lady.

So never look at anything with only one purpose in mind. Anything is possible if you just imagine. My Grandma would be so proud that I learned such a valuable lesson from her. Thank you dear sweet Grandma. I absolutely know she is watching me from heaven and smiling.

My dear friend Lindsay reads my blog and guessed correctly. I think I may be putting the creative vibe in her mind as well. Good job Miss Lindsay Lollipop. :o)

Another week comes to a close and may you each have a terrific weekend. Celebrate the men in your lives as we have Father's Day this Sunday. I will be spoiling Mr. C as I am so fortunate he is in my life.

Happy Creating...

Christmas in June...

This box is truly Christmas in June for me. I was the super fortunate winner of a massive give away by the uber talented Roni of Ink Stains. Please visit her blog if you are not already following her and her incredible talents. Today she has the cutest paint brush charms. Roni never hesitates to share all of her techniques and she makes it so easy for everyone to create amazing art.

I gathered Mr. C and told him this box is Christmas in June. Then I slowly opened the box. What to my wondrous eyes did I see...

More art supplies than I could have ever imagined. And...a beautiful large Vera Bradley tote bag. Each and every item I brought out of the box was just so much fun. Mr. C was clearly amazed at how much was in this box of goodies. We were both overwhelmed with the generosity of Roni. So many of the supplies are exactly what I wanted to buy for my crafting.

Thank you so very much Roni. You are the best! I feel like the luckiest createology gal in the world. I am inspired by your talents and now have lots of wonderful supplies which I can use to create some super fun art pieces. I will definitely be reviewing many of your posts so I know how to use some of these supplies.

I have no excuses now!

P.S. My favorite item in the entire box is a copy of Roni's book titled "Collage and Altered Art". This book is one that you definitely should acquire for your library as it has enormous amounts of techniques and ideas and finished art pieces as inspiration. When you visit Roni's blog there is information on how to get your very own copy.

P.S.S. When I set the cigar box on the table Mr. C immediately opened it hoping for a cigar. Not. More art supplies. He said, "This is a really old cigar box. Look at the price, 2/27 cents!" Too funny Mr. C.

Sunshine-Splitting-Stacking...

With the winter weather comes disaster when you live in the forest. This happened a couple of months ago during the night and thankfully just missed our house. Half split and impaled the lawn which damaged the drip irrigation Mr. C installed. The other half crashed across our steep driveway and of course was covered in snow. That was then...

This is now...

Mr. C and I borrowed a log splitter and spent hours splitting the huge rounds that were cut into 16" lengths. They were too heavy to get up the driveway so we had to dangerously split on the downhill. This photo is very deceiving as this is pretty steep.

I am so not a fan of doing this type of physical work. And Mr. C and I are truthfully too old to be doing this type of work. However, we have to do it to have wood for the fireplace come winter again.

This one truck load took us the better part of the day. And...we are only 1/3 done splitting.

Hmmm...now how is this wood going to get out of the truck and stacked into the wood chateau?

Oh yeah...Mr. C and I! We spent the next morning unloading the truck and stacking the wood neatly into it's home awaiting next winter.

And...we are only 1/3 done! Joyous!

Me...I don't even care for a wood burning fireplace. It is very messy and can be very dangerous. My mother always taught me..."Fire can be a wonderful servant but a terrible master." I am and always have been very much afraid of fire.

Mr. C however loves the real wood fireplaces and has two of them. He carries that messy wood all through the house, splinters and spiders included.

Maybe our next house will have one of those new-fangled remote controlled electric fireplaces. Lots of ambiance but no real wood smell or warmth like the real thing.

So while the sun is shining and the weather here has finally become glorious you will find me outside splitting and stacking wood.

I am managing to sneak in a little creating in the studio for a future post or two.

Wonderful weekend to all...

Ribbon Bookmarks...

Ribbon Bookmarks.

Very easy to complete.

Grosgrain ribbon...approximately 12".

Punched card stock hearts...large and small.

Needle with crochet thread.

Fold over top of ribbon.

Layer small heart over large heart.

Both front and back of ribbon.

Stitch through all layers.

Tie off and cut threads.

Done.

Very easy...right?

These will be part of the table favors for the 90th birthday girl's party. If you look closely you will see the bookmark in the center of the photo is special as it has both a heart button and a punched cardstock crown on the front and back.

Can you think of events that you might make these bookmarks for? Sunday school...birthdays...teachers...home bound seniors...library book groups, kids or adults...

We have finally had two days of glorious sunshine and I am Happy Creating...

May Baskets/Cones...

Yes, I realize this is June and May has come and gone (quickly I say) however I am running behind and I admit it. I made these for some May gifts just because. Remember the days of May baskets? Hanging a small gift of flowers on someone's door and ringing the bell and running off before they opened the door? Well I didn't do this with my cones. I thought about it and would have tried but I don't run so fast anymore and my vehicle is NOT quiet (at my request). I believe custom race car tuned exhaust helps warn the deer that I am on the roadways. But I digress...
I used hard paper cones that come from spools of yarn. Covered them in music paper. some lace and buttons and ribbon. Crinkled paper shreds for a "nest" and an egg to add ambiance. Very quick and easy to do. The ladies seemed to like them.

We had a beautiful day of sunshine which is so nice after the tremendous amount of rain and winter we have had right through yesterday. I understand we have had over 87 inches of rain in just under a year. No shortage of water table for us here. I tried to send rain to Texas and Florida but it never got that far. It made it to Utah where my aunt lives however she has had her fill too.

May you enjoy your week and make something creative...

Remake of ReMarthable...

Is this bag ReMarthable? You probably have one of these same bags. I got this "free" when I paid my subscriptions to some Martha Stewart publications. When I received it I couldn't believe the super short handles. What on earth would anyone use this bag for with these useless short handles? If you are shopping you want your hands free and probably want to put your bag over your shoulder. So I put it in a pile and forgot about it. Useless bag?

Where is your quality control Martha? How could you put your name on such a piece of poor workmanship? This photo is not an optical illusion. The handles really are this crooked! You can see why I merely threw this bag into the pile of "deal with it later" stuff. Throw it away? Me? Never.

Hmmm...I have an idea for this bag. When will I ever get to it? NOW. Now has come.

Here is the bag shown with a very small piece of fabric I picked up for 50 cents one day. I just liked the colors in this piece. They look like watercolors in happy Spring hues. Besides the piece was just 50 cents. How could I not buy it for only 50 cents? :o)

So in the spirit of doing things NOW I have deconstucted the bag of poor quality and useless handles. Martha...Martha...Martha! Your bag already looks so much better.

I am so very happy with my "new" bag. It has handles that fit over my shoulder so my hands are free to shop. It has pockets on the front and back which before it had no pockets. No pockets? Where would I put my shopping list? Or my bottle of water and snack? What kind of bag has no pockets? I added some delicate lace just because I like lace and feminine. I also pinned on one of my fabric and lace flowers just for fun.

Now this bag is functional and fun.

Martha I hope you are taking notes.

It feels so good to have this project completed. Maybe I'll go shopping this week.

Happy and productive week to each of you...

Do It NOW in Review...

This lovely photo has nothing to do with my post. I merely took this of the back part of my yard after winter's fury. Lots of work has been done to clean up yet there is a lot more work to be done. This is June and we are still having extreme cold temps, rain, hail and WINTER. Enough I say. Bring on the sunshine please.
As for my word of 2011 I chose NOW. In keeping with my review of how I am doing with NOW hmmm...Let me just say I don't do well without sunshine. I would just as soon stay in bed and pull the covers over my head which isn't conducive to getting things done.
While I was reading through my latest Costco magazine I see the title, Do It Now written by Wally Amos of the former Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie empire. This short article was actually sad however it definitely reminded me of my action word for 2011...NOW.
Wally poses the question, "How often during the course of the day do you put off doing things...calling old friends, apologizing for errors made in judgement, following up on an idea?" Bingo! Following up on an idea? Oh that is me. I put off so many ideas that they get lost or forgotten. What a shame I lose my ideas just because I don't act on them NOW. We have all heard the tired old line, Never put off till later what you can do now. Do it now or it might be too late. You can never turn back the hands of time.
So in review, I am going to really focus (my word of 2010) and try to do things NOW more often. Maybe I will be more inspired by not putting things and ideas and techniques to try off until I never get to them.
As for me I am doing something NOW in order to feel more healthy and fit. Every week I make time for me. I go to Weight Watchers faithfully (this way I feel better about the poor food choices I make far too often). I also set aside time for me as I have been doing Zumba for a couple of months now. Me? Exercise? Do something physical? Not me! Ahh but Zumba is not exercise...it is dancing and moving around to fabulous music. It is so much fun. I have truly found a form of physical activity that I am enjoying and it is helping me feel very healthy and smart about my life.
Wonderful Weekend to all. May you each spend some time on yourself and may you enjoy something special just because...
Me...I will be acting on the here and NOW and I will be keeping happy healthy thoughts.

Appreciation Gift...

Many of you have gifts to give at this time of year. Appreciation gifts to teachers is what comes to mind. That can get costly and truthfully what do you give that will be appreciated. This is something that can be done for either male or female. It can be personalized which really adds to the sentiment.
I didn't spend much money as I used mostly what I had on hand.
I did spend a little time to really "speak" to the recipient and let them know how much I truly appreciate who they are and what they do.

The entire little "book" is about 4" x 4". It can stand on a table or desk. It can be folded and put in a drawer or album. I presented this in an organdy bag.
The base is chipboard with holes punched and tied with ribbon to keep them together. I used chipboard alphabet letters to add the name to the front. Lots of stickers and punch outs in the theme of dragonflys which I know Cindy really likes. In fact the scalloped punch is from a card she gave to me so I know she really likes this dragonfly. Some meaningful words printed from my trusty label maker and my project is coming together.
I wrote my personal message to Cindy to tell her how much I appreciate her.
Finished and given. Well received and appreciated.
I hope this gives you some ideas for those numerous gifts that happen at this time of year.
Happy creating...