Ahhh...August...

This is typical of me.

August is my very favorite month of the year and always has been since I was a little girl. I understand it isn't polite to chose favorites however I cannot help myself. You see I am an August born child/woman. When I was growing up my birthday was never special because there was no school in August so no classroom party for me with cupcakes like the other kids. I did get to celebrate my birthday in the mountains at our family cabin. That was my very favorite place to be. We sisters got to go for walks and play all day in the meadow and the stream. We climbed a "giant" boulder and slid down until our shorts had no fabric covering our bottoms. We walked to the little store and bought nickel candy and ate it whenever we wanted. We spent hours in the local library reading and loving books. I used to practice the fancy "symbols" in the Japanese alphabet...of which I know nothing about. I merely loved copying those beautiful strokes. We played Scrabble in the evenings with our mom. She always won so at night I would sneak the dictionary from the bookshelves and read it in my feather bed with a flashlight so I could play better. We went for nature hikes and walked everywhere. Back in those days there was very little fear of letting kids be kids and free to play outdoors with no supervision. Life was simpler back then.
Another reason August is my favorite month is that my one and only daughter was born just 20 days before my birthday. So we celebrate our month together. She is a Leo and I am a Virgo but that doesn't keep us apart. :o)
August is also my favorite because it is Summer and I love Summer! The heat doesn't bother me and it helps that I live in the foothills where it is at least 10 degrees cooler than other places. Of course don't ask me about winter and snow which I detest. When I was younger August also meant going to the fair which I used to love doing. Our family was big on fairs and traveled to many up and down the state. My mother would make all of us matching gingham dresses and a shirt for dad. She said that way if one of us girls got lost people would at least know to match us up with the rest of the family wearing gingham. Too funny!
August was also the last freedom before going back to school for another year. Not my favorite thing growing up. I did always like getting new crayons and to this day I treat myself to a new box of Crayola crayons each year. Something about the smell and feel of a brand new crayon. I also just bought new yellow pencils and some new glue sticks. Some habits are hard to break and why should I when I use these supplies every day.
If you have a favorite month which one is it and why?
I think it is time for me to go and eat some ice cream for you see it is still my favorite food even at this point in my life.
Awesome August Summer Smiles to all...

Quick Thankful Gift...

This is a very quick and simple thank you or thinking of you gift. I recycle the cardboard from sewing trim packages. Then cut wrapping paper to fit and glue to the cardboard.

Here they are glued and trimmed. I also punch a hole in the top center to add a ribbon or strip of fabric. At this point you could use them for tags or bookmarks.

Here I have stamped a message onto muslin strips and ripped them into squares with the edges left raggedy. I use very strong double stick tape to adhere the fabric to the backs of the "tags". I have left a little room for a pocket to fit in a colored pencil.

Here is the front of the tag which I have sewn a fun turkey button with sheer polka dot ribbon and a piece of wool felt together. Then I glue the entire piece to the tag. A strip of the torn muslin is added to the punched hole for additional embellishment.

Very quick and simple. Now I shall enclose these with a yummy See's chocolate bar which I purchased from the Chamber as a fund raiser and wrap them together in a cellophane bag. Tied with a piece of twine and a simple hand punched tag to add the recipient's name and your gift is complete.

Now that was quick and simple wasn't it?

I am very grateful for having the time to spend in my studio making things for my friends and family. Somehow this month of November brings out the theme of being grateful and I really do reflect on all of the many things I am thankful and grateful for in my life.

May you have a month of lovely thankful days.

Happy creating...

Gift box simplicitiy...

I love these "take-out" boxes for their simplicity. For the ease of gift giving. For their ability to perform multiple duties.
Here is one that I wrapped a gift inside and then wanted to keep the box very plain and let the design show. So I embellished the wire handle with a very simple small doily and a fun flower button and some twine. This way the box can be opened without disturbing the adornment.
Quick, simple and sweet.
Happy creating...

Make Now & Give Now...

This is a wonderful quick gift to make for the men on your gift list. My very creative and intelligent sister Marie actually made this one for my husband for his garage and he loves it.

One day Marie and I were shopping and we bought a large package of scrap booking papers. We sat in the car and split the package so we each had half the papers. Not knowing what we were going to do with them but very happy to put them in our stash of craft goodies. Well, this year Marie used the papers to make wonderful gifts. She glued a car photo from a magazine onto this one as my husband is a guru of supercars. Then she printed with black permanent ink the rules of the garage. She used "manly" twine to fashion a hanger for the nail on the wall.

Personally I think this is very clever and what a winner it is for the difficult to buy for men gift.

Thank you Marie and you did a superb job of not only being creative but of making my man smile when he opened his gift and then hung it in his garage!

So bloggers you can easily see how quick and simple this will be to make and give. And you can change it up to suit any hobby or space your men need rules for. I will definitely be making these for next year.