This is Lexi, my granddaughter. She's a hard player! When she's done, she just drops to the floor and goes to sleep. That is her pit bull friend, Sarge...we call them the dynanic duo because they are always together. So many people say pit bulls are mean but all you have to do is look in those golden eyes. They both had a great nap and were rejuvinated when they got up. In other words they took up where they left off in their crazy cavorting.

This is what I used to do to Lexi when I tried to feed her. As long as she got her sweet potatoes, she was patient with me. Course she didn't have a clue what she looked like and even if she did, she wouldn't give a fig.

Maybe I should have let Sarge clean up her puss. He would have enjoyed every single lick of that little face.

I guess you can see it's been a loooooooong time since my last entry. Slight understatement! A lot has happened in my life since then. A few major things are that I had open heart surgery, I have a new granddaughter and another grandchild on the way VERY soon. I can't wait to meet #4! One of my sons is now living in Florida and another is living in a new house. And.......life goes on.

Since my surgery in February 2010, I haven't done much crafting and I sorely miss it! It's what kept me reasonably sane. I've gotten a lot of inspiration from a blog named "Creative Chaos" and I have been trekking up to my third floor "studio" to do some creating. I have been working on a stack of vintage wallpapered journals that I would like to sell before Christmas. I'll be posting some photos tomorrow. Right now they are works in progress but I'm loving it. If I can muster up enough ambition, I might actually list a couple in my empty and dusty Etsy shop that has never been used. Boy would that ever be an accomplishment!!!

Another thing I HAVE to work on is cleaning up and organizing my studio so I can work up there. It really is Packrat's Nest up there! Hubby got me a little fridge last year, Mom donated a small microwave, #2 son left a T.V. for me, there is a coffee maker and most importantly.....a 1/2 bath! What is my problem?! I'm afraid if I start going up there on a regular basis, I won't want to come downstairs to the real world. I desperately need more workspace and #3 son has volunteered to make a work table for me. My neighbor across the street (she's a major scrapbooker!) came up to take a gander and loved it mess and all. Only thing she said was to add a "big ass table" right in the middle of the room and get going. That's what I'm gonna do! I'll start with a 4' by 8' piece of MDF and go from there.

Well, I guess it's time to roll my tired bones to bed. I'm actually looking forward to getting moving in the AM. Hey wait...it already is the AM. 2:45 to be exact. Guess I need to rethink that. Oh well, I really am off to bed!

SHEESH! Here it is, the end of May already!! Is this how the summer is going to fly by?? I sure hope not. Mom always told me the older you get, the faster the time goes...I have to admit she was right!

Well, on to better things! I received a RAK from Shelly over at Paper Patch Crafts...it was a bag of empty ribbon spools. When I opened the bag, I hooted with laughter! I've been begging around for the empty spools but Shelly was the first to oblige me. *big grin for Shelly* Now, for why I wanted them...I want to make some "Spoolies" with them. What's a Spoolie you ask? Well, just take a gander at the pics below.

This is just the coolest little album made with the empty ribbon spools, thus a"Spoolie"

When you flip the lid up, this is what you find inside. There are five circular pages held together with a loose leaf ring.

This is what it looks like without the pages spread out.

You start out by taking apart the spool. I use a knife to separate the ring from the circle piece carefully. Don't puncture the circles. After all is separated, I sand both flat sides of the ring to get any remaining bits of paper off before going any further. Next I paper both circle pieces on both sides and when finished, I held them together and punched a hole through both with my Crop-a-Dial, allowing room for the hole to be inside the ring. I papered the ring and once again sanded then glued to one of the circles. I cut circles from card stock allowing 1/4" around them so they come out easily when everything is put together. Embellish however you like and then put all together with the loose leaf ring and add ribbon if you wish. I added two tails of thin ribbon to the bottom of the circle pieces so I can tie it closed. TA-DAH! A Spoolie! They go pretty fast after you do one or two and are loads of fun. They make great brag books and I even have one hanging on my Christmas tree with photos of a previous holiday. If you have any questions, just give me a shout!

*scratching head* Now what can I share with y'all in my next post? Hafta think on that a bit.

I have really been enjoying Spring! I guess it's finally here to stay! Yesterday morning I was sitting in my craft studio with the window open, a soft breeze and the chirps of the birds drifting in while I enjoyed my daily Hazelnut Coffee. So peaceful!! I love my children dearly, but this was one of the occasions when I appreciated their being grown up. I didn't have to rush anywhere or do anything in particular other than just enjoy the weather.....and it was GLORIOUS! I hope everyone else's days are becoming just as enjoyable.

Just a note before I get to the crafts: With a little tutoring, I'm actually getting my act together and this is starting to look like a blog that was done by an adult rather than a Kindergartener! Thank you Lynda and Wendy!

This was a layout I did for a challenge/contest on Paper Patch Crafts with a fixed design sketch for National Scrapbooking Day this past Sunday. The owner of this store, Anne, had contests going on all day. I really pooped out on all the others but I won this one. My prize is a large stack of paper and, as y'all know, you can NEVER have too much of that wonderful item. The letters were done on my Cricut Expression and stickled with dots just to bring out the color a bit more. The flowers are Primas with micro beads and a little touch of fine glitter for the centers. The swirls are Fancy Pants stamped in gold and then copper on top of that. This is a whole different style than I've ever done before and I'm having fun with it.

This second layout, "My Three Sons", is all Cosmo Cricket paper and now I'm in LOVE with their whole line. The lettering was done on my Expression and the swirls are Fancy Pants with some brown glitter on some of the swirl parts to highlight them. The journaling was done on the computer on a transparency then attached with eyelets. Never tried that before but will be doing it more often since I'm not crazy about my handwriting anymore. The centers of the flowers are brown buttons from my large stash. I love to distress and age my works but this didn't need it at all because of the style of the paper...was already done for me. This was a specific layout design that I tried to stick to pretty close. I haven't shown it to my sons yet but I'm hoping they will like it. I can't believe they're so grown up!

It's been a looooong time again! I am so sporadic with this journaling thing but I really am gonna try to do better.

Lately I've been working on adding texture to my work on canvas. I've discovered Gesso and Punchinella (sequin scrap). This collage was my first attempt and it came out pretty good. I started with a really cheap stretched canvas and gave it a good coat with the Gesso. Boy did I ever make a mess of myself and that stuff is a brute to get off! First lesson learned: BE AS NEAT AS POSSIBLE! I had a piece of large open weave stuff that I laid on the wet Gesso and went over it with another coat. Then I found this little piece of sequin Punchnella that I received in a swap on Flickr and thought I would give that a try. I just laid it on the canvas and put a heavy coat of Gesso over it and gently lifted it off and...TA-DAH...instant texture. I used it a bit more than left the whole thing to dry overnight. Next I painted the whole surface with mint green craft paint. When that was dry, I gave a few spritzes with homemade Pearl Mist than highlighted over everything with Perfect Pearls. I really impressed myself and can't decide if I want to part with this collage or now. Also, I have invested in 20 yards of Punchinella...no more scraps for me!

I finally finished my first Tussie Mussie for the Goody Swap and boy was it ever fun. Mine will go out in the mail tomorrow. I'm probably the last to mail theirs. My partner, Jenny, is late too. How, oh how, did they manage to put the two of us together...we so need Procrastinators Annonymous!! I'm anxiout to see what Jenny did.







I would like to host a swap myself...perhaps an Altoid Tin Goody Swap. They're small but fun to work with and you might be surprised at what you could include on the inside. Once I figure out how to actually do a swap, I will post it. Maybe a Christmas theme.



I'm off to my first scrapping event Friday and can't wait! I don't do much scrapping now, but I'm sure anything I learn can be used with my altered art projects. I do have some photos that I want to scrap though.

Sure has been quite some time since I wrote in here! I got caught up in making and trading ATC's on flickr and seem to have let a lot of other things slide. They are so much fun though!! I've listed a fewof my favorites here. Let me know what you think.
I just signed up for a Tussie Mussie Goody Swap! Never done a tussie mussie but they sure look like fun and they even come filled with goodies! I'm ALWAYS up for swapping goodies! I found this on flickr which is fast becoming my second home online! I love all the ATC's and am especially liking the Shabby Chic Decorating photos. It's inspiring me to move my "studio" across the hall and do it in a shabby style with white painted furniture and gauzy curtains. I am running out of room rapidly in my small room! It's gonna get so bad, I won't be able to get in here soon! I know my son hates it because he has to walk through it to get to the door up to his room...plus he's a neat freak!

Just got invited to a Scrapping Convention in Virginia in September. Never went to anything like that so I'm looking forward to it. I am on the Design Team for girlygirlstreasurebox.com and will be attending with one of the other Design Team members and we will be meeting the owner of Girlly Girls Treasure Box. Can't wait!! I've chatted with them and the other ladies but have never met any of them yet. Shelly, the one I will be riding with, lives about a half hour away from me...what a shock that was when I found out! You just don't expect to meet people on the net that live that close to you.

Well, not I'm off to get something listed on ebay so I can afford the Scrapping event!