Snowy Sunday...

Ahh...It is Sunday May 15th, 2011 and it is snowing. All the poor leafing out trees and the freshly planted flowers are really getting a rude greeting to Spring/Summer. I learned many years ago NOT to plant any beautiful flowers until at least Memorial weekend just because of the probability of snow in May. The snow is truly beautiful.

I do not have TV when it snows so I have no idea of the Amgen progress. Amgen is a bicycle race that is supposed to begin in South Lake Tahoe this morning and ride around the lake a couple of times to end up at North Lake Tahoe tonight. I have yet to hear of their alternate plans in case of snow. It will be interesting for the riders. I do hope they all stay safe.

Today will be a day of rest once I get my chores done. We will be celebrating one of our friends who is turning 40 and graduating the RN program. There will be lots of people and food and conversation and laughter. Mr. C put together a DVD of her life in pictures that will play throughout the day for all to see.

For those of you who have sunshine...enjoy.

For those of you who are having flooding and uncertainty in your safety...I am praying for you.

For those of you who are being creative...fabulous.

May the week ahead be the best for all of us.

Quick Packaging...

Hello faithful followers. Do you ever have those days that just get lost? I completely lost yesterday while it was happening. Today I have decided that there is just no catching up so I shall merely move forward from here. Even my computer has been misbehaving for no known reason. Right in the middle of my post yesterday it decided to just lose all capability of functioning. Maybe my computer was relating to how my day was not progressing well.
I have always been told I am unfocused and therefore not able to stay on task. I like to think that is a good thing as I get more done...or not. :o) So anyway today I have been flitting from task to task to task and I will admit I feel like I haven't accomplished a thing, however I have cleaned and cooked and helped Mr. C put together a BBQ by fetching and holding, which is something I am very good at by the way, sewed two more lace bunnies as Easter is approaching quickly, opened the mail and paid a few bills, visited with a friend who stopped by, answered the phone several times and been able to put away some winter themed candles. Whew! Even I am impressed with all that I have accomplished and it is only early afternoon.
Let's get to the title of this post. Quick packaging is what I made for a couple of my Sister's birthday gifts. I used a beautiful ribbon that I knew she would like. Stitched the sides of the folded ribbon. Then I wrapped a blue Swarovski crystal tennis bracelet I made in tissue paper and slipped it into the ribbon case. I am sad I didn't take a photo of the bracelet as it really is stunning and Marie loves blue as much as I do. In the shorter ribbon case I placed a dragonfly key ring wrapped in tissue paper. As for the closure I decided to keep it very simple and used a small red colored safety pin that I attached a charm to for decoration. I am sorry my scan did not come out very straight or clear. I think you get the idea of how simple and quick these ribbon cases are for giving gifts inside of them. Next I will use the beautiful gold embellished ribbon Marie gave to me on my present as her next packaging for something I shall make and give to her. Ribbon is not only for wrapping around a gift. It can be the gift as well as the packaging. Now her delicate bracelet has a safe case for storage as well.
Let me see what shall I accomplish next? Maybe I better file the stack that has grown taller on my desk that also looks ready to take a dive over the edge. Of course better the papers than me. Oh thank you bloggers for staying with me as now I feel a little better realizing just how much I have completed today.
Happy mid-week to everyone...

Happy Birthday Mr. C...

A very Happy Birthday to my dear Mr. Createology. Today is his special day. We will be celebrating at one of our favorite local restaurants tonight for dinner. As for projects...Mr. C wanted some new specialty car towels so he researched and this is what we did. Bought the nicest thickest plushest towels I have ever seen or touched. Of course in white! Next as you see in the photo above we cut them apart. Why? Because there can be NO banding or edging to impair the surface of the towel or cause any roughness or drag. So we cut the towels apart. Have you ever cut up a super thick plush towel? The "lint" is overwhelming and covers every surface...me, him, the cutting table, the floors, the carpet. What a mess.

This is just a small bit of the mess on the carpet in the sewing room. Looks like it snowed. :o)

Next we sew the cut towels. With a special cotton thread in white. No other blends or types will do for these car towels. Only cotton or the thread might scratch the car's surface. I merely zig-zagged the edges to control the amount of raveling that might occur. Then a nice clean run through the washer and dryer to remove any contaminants that the towels might contain. NO softner in the towels as that will hamper the ability to dry and buff. Alrighty then!

Now we have the new "required" car towels for Mr. C. One large bath towel minus all edging and borders cut in half and one cut in thirds. Special sizes for each special task.

Happy Birthday Mr. C.

P.S. I am still sweeping and vacuuming debris. This is one project I am glad to have finished.

What is the most unusual project you might have done? I would love to hear your comments.

Happy week and may the sun continue to shine for everyone. What? Really? More rain coming tomorrow? No thank you. We have enough water this year. I hear Florida might need some water table moisture...

Happy Hearts...

In my sleeping hours I had an idea and decided to try it. It involves a large and small heart punch (I love the new squeeze Fiskars punches), some metallic paint chips cut from an idea booklet, some glitter string, glue stick and a piece of cardstock. Very simply punch out lots of hearts, both large and small, and then begin gluing them in a heart shape onto the card stock. Add some strings and a small bow to represent a balloon.

Then the cardstock was mounted onto a piece of mat board in a contrasting color. This was made to celebrate Miss Lindsay's recent birthday and let her know she is very special. After the photo was taken we (my Saucy Chick girlfriend, Lorraine) personalized it and signed it.

So with a small amount of supplies and a lot of fun and laughter this was created with our hearts and hands.

Don't you just love paint chip samples? Can you honestly walk past them in the store and not collect just a few colors for your crafting? There are so many colors and choices now days it is impossible not to find some you like. Then to use them is sweet inspiration.
I do hope this gives you some inspiration and possibilities for gift giving. I would love to see and hear about what you create with punches or paint chip samples or paper or whatever you fancy.

Happy creating...

August Birthdays...

August is a very busy month around here. We have 10 birthdays to celebrate. Not everyone lives so close however we still celebrate all that we can. My daughter's birthday was on the 7th and because she lives in Southern California she got a phone call and a mailed birthday gift. Then we have my friend and creative coach Margaret on the 8th. Now Margaret lives very close and we can truly celebrate with a party. I made her a card with fabric and paper and chipboard letters.

I used the same fabrics to make yo-yo's for decorating this framed bulletin board as her gift. Once again with the chipboard letters to spell out abundance as that is Margaret's inspiration word. Since Margaret is a wordsmith (http://www.goldrushwordsmith.com/) this might come in handy for slipping notes into.

Of course we played games. A very silly game involving plungers and toilet paper rolls. We all laughed so hard I think we gained years instead of aging. You really should try this as it is much more difficult than it seems. We considered it exercise and therefore got to eat a lot more yummy birthday food.

I didn't get a photo of the tables but we had a wonderful indoor picnic with lots of great food. Cold cuts, cheeses, assorted sandwich makings, chips, cole slaw, green bean potato salad and lots of beverages. We even had super fun ants on the table. For the birthday dessert we had home made lemon meringue pies and yum yum!

Birthdays are so much fun when you just let them be such.

Happy Birthday Margaret and all my August family and friends!!!

Now I think you secretly want to try this plunger game. Do you? Have you?

Happy creating...

August-My Favorite Month...

August is my very favorite month of the year. I think it is for several reasons:

I was born in August
My beautiful daughter was born in August
The sun shines in August and keeps us warm and happy
Life is both relaxed and very busy with fun activities

This photo is overlooking the valley below Cortona Italy. Last year when Mr. C and I drove through Tuscany on our trip we stopped here. Yes, this is where the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" was filmed and we thought it might be too touristy. Not at all. It was charming and beautiful and magical all at once. We only spent the day but wished we had more time to explore and enjoy Cortona.

May you have the best August you have ever experienced. That is what I am planning.
What are you hoping to do this month of August?

Happy Birthday Mom...

As I sit here at my desk and take care of business details I am reminded of the date today.

This would have been the day to celebrate my mother's birthday.

However she has passed on and so no celebration. No cake. No gifts.

Merely a wonderful day to remember all that Mom meant to me.

So I wish her a Happy Birthday in memory and know that she is happy and enjoying herself.

I am grateful that I have her genes for creativity.

I am grateful I enjoy the wonder of the world.

Thank you Mom.

Chillaxation...

This is another view from my Kitchen and Great Room deck. It is our pond Mr. Createology built himself. He went to pond college and then got busy creating this masterpiece. I can truly say that nothing gives me greater pleasure than this spot of nature and all it's wonder. As the summer progresses I will post better photos of it however for now this is a sneak peek.
Yesterday was the most relaxing day in a long time. It was also one of the busiest days. How could it be relaxing?
We visited with friends at a local open house for a super interesting business that just happens to have set the world land speed motorcycle record at Bonneville Salt Flats last fall. I had not seen the production plant and I love all the equipment and parts and what it takes to produce product.
Then we stopped by a local car show for Mini Cooper cars. They are so cute and quick. I just love seeing what people do to make theirs unique.
Then we went to town where all the super excitement is as Amgen preparations are in full swing. It begins here today in a few short hours. Lance Armstrong is here again folks.
Where are my pictures you ask? I forgot to take my camera along with me yesterday. How thoughtless of me. I do apologize.
Last evening we celebrated Mr. Createology's birthday with friends. We each bring food and that way no one person has all the burden. Dinner was delicious with BBQ Tri-tip, baked beans, potato salad (made from scratch!) and cibatta bread. YUM! Then we had birthday fudge brownies with home made vanilla ice cream. Yes, that would be Margaret who brings dessert. She is a master at desserts...especially chocolate. Lots of eating and lots of stories and lots of laughter with friends. It doesn't get much better than that.
Such a great day. I think we shall have another one today!
How are you relaxing this weekend?

Goodbye April...

April is always a very busy month with the hope of winter ending and Spring arriving, lots of family and friends birthdays and this year the Letter Writing Month challenge I joined.
The photo above shows the wonderful amount of snail mail I have received this month. We each were paired with a "blog pal" and the criteria of sending at least one snail mail item to that person. Well, the list included 32 participants and we could also send to any one or all of the list. You know me...I sent to every person on the list at least once. Some of them more than once. And my blog pal several times. I was so lucky as my blog pal sent me lots of wonderful mail. Each so very clever and handmade which is just what I love.
Thank you each and every one for such a fun month of snail mail.
I also took this month and sent mail to some of my friends and blogland friends. I thought it would be the right time to remember so many people who mean so much to my daily living.
I am awaiting one more piece of mail from my blog pal because she gave me a hint that she made me something and I am so excited to see what it is.
So as this is the last day of April we say goodbye and put this very busy month to rest for another year.
When was the last time you handwrote a letter or handmade a card and mailed it to someone?

Thank you blogland...

Thank you to each of you who took the time to make such wonderful and comforting comments on my post of yesterday. This is what I know about blogland...there are not only extremely creative souls...there are extremely caring souls and I feel so fortunate to be able to be part of such a warm community.

This blue fabric sewn envelope is one of the items I made and gave to my Sister (Marie) yesterday. Notice how the button reflects the pattern in the fabric. It is the little details that I so enjoy about creating something. Blue is not only my favorite color but also Marie's favorite. I had included a pair of artisan made wire wrapped dragonfly earrings. I missed keeping a photo of them but they looked perfect on Marie.

Here is a pair of very plain pink feminine slippers that I embellished and gave to Marie for her birthday. I love how they turned out.

This is the box with the slippers in it wrapped and ready to give. I was carrying it around when we met at The Fountains for our day together (5 women) of lunch, laughter and shopping. We were in Chicos clothing store and one of the sales ladies was so enamored with the box she practically scared me. Wanted to know if I had gotten it at Anthropolgy across the way. My friend told her I created it. The woman was agast. May I just say the entire time I carried this box around women were commenting on it and so amazed at how clever it was. Thank you I humbly say. I am merely following in my mother and grandmother's footsteps as this is how we always did things. "Think outside the box" was common place for our family of creative people. My mother was Martha Stewart without the fame and fortune!

I took a thrift store uncut pattern and wrapped the slippers in the tissue. Then I wrapped the box in the pattern instructions. Cut the pattern package and put it on the ends of the box. Used a tape measure for the ribbon and glued some colorful buttons to the top. Even Mr. Createology said how clever the package looked. That was a compliment I cherish!

All in all the weather was perfect, the company was perfect and we had a wonderful and very relaxing day. The Fountains was bustling with people, the roses were blooming and very fragrant, all the flowers were happy and proudly showing their stuff, young entertainers were putting on little shows at the stage...ballerinas, glowing pumpkins, fairys wearing butterfly wings. I was in heaven with all the wonderment of a little girl enjoying every moment. Yes, I did think of Uncle Bud and smile thinking of how he owned a small train that gave rides to children of all ages just like the one at The Fountains. It was a glorious day.

Happy Birthday Mr. Wonderful...

A very Happy Birthday to my Wonderful husband. Today is his birthday.
We are do-overs and since we have only been together since our forties we got a rather late start. We couldn't be more opposite - in everything and everyway. Somehow it not only works it actually enhances the togetherness of us. We seem to balance one another.

So today is all about food which he loves dearly. Yesterday in the cold rainy weather it was so nice to turn on the oven and bake this chocolate cake from scratch. Thank you to Ina Garten for her fabulous recipe. This cake is so moist and delicious. But wait...

It is all about the chocolate butter cream frosting from scratch that makes this cake To-Die-For! It is also Ina's recipe. When it came time to turn on the Kitchen Aid mixer and make this DH just had to help. He cut up and melted the chocolate which I was certain we wouldn't have enough because of his sampling so much. He mixed all the ingredients and did some more sampling. Butter is definitely his favorite yellow food. He has been known to put a dollop of butter right on top of his Oreo's that he is eating. Yes he has! I, of course, am a neat freak and about fainted to see the mess he was making but had to remind myself this is his birthday and this is his cake and let him have fun and that I, the maid, could actually clean up this mess and all would be fine. DH thinks you aren't a good cook unless you make a huge mess all over the entire kitchen. LOL He then spread the frosting on his cake and TA DA!
Happy Birthday Honey. Job well done.
P.S. We did eat a piece each after dinner last evening while it was snowing and OMG this cake is the best I/we have ever made.
Birthdays should be a joyous occasion so in the spirit we will be eating our way through the day as food is what makes him happiest.

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday dear DH...

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday...

Happy Birthday today.

I shall celebrate this day with my dear hubby and then friends. I have already celebrated with girlfriends for several days. You know as we get older we get to celebrate our birthdays for many days before on and after.

On Tuesday five of us ladies enjoyed our local tea house http://www.mycupofteagv.com/ for lunch and desserts and presents. It is always such a treat and I just love going there. A very special and relaxing day indeed.

Wednesday four of us ladies spent the day enjoying delicious Popeye Pizza, chatting and laughter which is always yummy and fun. Then we headed over to our local Ben Franklin www.benfranklin-crafts.com and did some serious shopping. Since it was the last Wednesday of the month we loaded our "tote bag" full and enjoyed 20% savings on everything we bought. Such a deal.

This coming Sunday I will be enjoying my birthday with my sister Marie and two of our friends. We always have a really fun time because we all shop for incredible bargains that Marie finds as she utilizes her "special radar" to locate just the perfect item at just the best possible price. Then we must fuel our energy with lunch and birthday cake. We will do just that at Buca di Beppo www.bucadibeppo.com . This restaurant knows us and we always have such a great time there.

So Happy Birthday to me and to all my August family and friends who celebrate birthdays this month. Where were each of you when I was little? No body had August birthdays and school was out for summer so I never got a cupcake party with my classmates. Boo hoo hoo...

However I am not sad any longer as I have wonderful birthdays now and they last for so many days of celebration. Hooray!!!

Studio welcomes me...

This is my studio and it is welcoming me with open doors! I feel a spring in my step just knowing I can get into making my creative messes. As you can see I do have a lot of sorting and organizing and putting away to do but at least the door is open.
I usually don't spend much time in here when the weather is cold and nasty as I am not motivated unless the sun is shining and I am toasty warm. Yes, of course I have heat and air conditioning in my studio but that is not the same as sunshine coming in through the windowed french door.
Today I spent a bit of time working on a birthday gift for my sister. I actually have two sisters with April birthdays. They were born 12 months and 12 days apart and spent their younger years being treated like twins by our mom. Of course both of them are younger than me.
I also put some paint on my new journal I am working on. I am inspired by the Somerset magazine "Art Journaling". I have no artistic drawing or painting skills however I do have a love for colors and collage. I realized while reading the magazine that I never even doodled in my life. While growing up I was not allowed to doodle, or twiddle my thumbs for that matter, because it was considered a waste of time and showed no intelligence as per my mother. Yes, now I realize that she was "different".
Actually my mom was very creative and was always crafting, sewing, cooking, canning and talented. She was left handed and I think that is why she was so creative. I am right handed as a side note. One year we all went collecting pine cones on our property in the mountains and then mom spent the summer wiring all of them together to place around the outside frames of the windows of the cabin. I loved the look of them. I remember her hands being pricked from the sharp pine cones but she perservered and completed every window. I think there were at least a half dozen on the cabin front.
I learned lots of crafting and sewing from my mom. Thank you mom. She is flying in heaven.
So sometimes I struggle with artistic endeavors but I am not giving up. I think I can learn to doodle and hopefully draw even at this stage of my life. I just need to remember that there is no perfection and that everything is a learning experience. I certainly have lots of artful supplies as I like to be prepared for whatever when it hits.
My wonderful husband built my studio and carefully measured every nook and cranny and counted all my storage containers to build them in perfectly and mainly to be organized as he HATES clutter. Nice try honey...I love to squeeze more stuff in every space possible. He even put an electrical outlet in the ceiling over the island for glue guns and such so I wouldn't get tangled in the cords. He made certain that I have doors that close off the studio and no one ever has to see my mish-mosh.
I really love my studio and having my very own space to be creative in. I think I shall go and splash some more paint on some paper and plan the next step to the birthday gift.
Happy creating everyone and thank you for letting me ramble on.
Saucy Chick Sherry