That Time Of Year Is Approaching Fast...

Now that Halloween is over, the whole Holiday Season is quickly approaching. I am trying to get motivated to start the whole hustle and bustle of creating gifts, decorations, and baked goods. I know this post is short and sweet today but we have been without a computer for the last three days. I am going to spend the next couple of days catching up on emails, Facebook, and a few other things that I use the computer for. Boy though, did I feel out of the loop not having the computer (and the internet) readily available. The first twenty four hours were liberating; as I didn't feel the need to go check my email because I couldn't access it anyway. But by day number two I was starting to feel anxious. We now have a new computer, (much much faster too!) and my hubby also bought Photo Shop Elements 8.0 I can't wait to play and experiment with it!! I hope everyone has a great Monday and I will be posting again soon. I am just about finished with my layer cake collage...

A Button Tells A Story...

About a year ago my dad had given me a CD with a bunch of scanned old family photos on it. I had been thinking about using them in a project but I just wasn't sure what I should do. Then about two weeks ago I was looking around on clothpaperscissors.com (They have a member site that is fabulous!). They had posted a reader challenge involving buttons...

I knew almost immediately that I wanted to somehow utilize one of those old family photos into a project for this challenge. I didn't want to just do a collage - I wanted it to be something that would be more like a treasured family object. I came up with a button picture frame.

Buttons truly do tell a story. When you see a button in a jar, you are seeing only the button, but what about the coat that it came from? Or the cuff link that it was turned into? What if it made it's way from a wedding dress to the eye of a favorite doll? The next time you look at an old button, stop and think about where it has been...

A Very Girly Birthday

Isn't it amazing how good a cupcake looks when you take an extreme close up of it? I had seven little girls and one little boy for Alexa's birthday yesterday...

There was no set theme to this party, just "girly", with purple cupcakes of course. Purple is Alexa's favorite color...

I'm grateful for the fact that Friday was a teacher in-service day at school. I was able to have the party right around lunch time. They all had a good time playing dress up and having fashion shows. Everyone was quite tired by the time the party was over. Something as simple as purple cupcakes left them with such great memories!

A peek at a layer cake...

After the birthday party I had some time to work on my latest embroidery project. Here is a peek...

It's going to be used in a collage. I'm still working the color scheme in my head. When I do a collage I usually get an idea in my head for the embroidery first...

As I work on the embroidery, colors, patterns, ideas and even words and phrases pop in to my head. I usually have a small notebook or journal next to me when I embroider - that way I can write the ideas down as the come in to my head. If I don't write them down - they will be gone with the next fleeting thought! As you might have guessed, the birthday cake was inspired by Alexa's birthday. I hope everyone has a week worth celebrating!!

And to think a simple charm inspired all this...

As I had posted earlier, this piece was inspired by a one dollar charm I had bought Alexa at Jamie's Flea Market. I would take a picture and show it to you, however, she wears it all the time! She takes it off when it is time for bed, but by then, I have no more good lighting...

I wanted this collage to be a bit whimsical but to still send an important message; the simple things in life are what's really important: cuddles on the couch on a cold rainy day, a good family meal, quiet time early in the morning, and whatever other simple things that bring you joy.
This was a very busy week for me, a lot of work, a lot of activities, and just a lot of running. It was nice to finish this and be reminded that it's okay if the dishes don't get finished, that it's okay if I get a little bit behind on the laundry. Although - the laundry I really do need to catch up on! The point is, what is important; those simple moments in life that we only get one chance at...
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and enjoys all of those simple things that our children get so much pleasure from. Who knows - maybe that is the secret to all of the never ending energy they seem to have!

Keeping very busy...

I've been keeping very busy lately with Christmas Ornaments and Halloween stuff. But I have found the time to create a collage that popped into my brain one afternoon when I was watching my daughter Alexa play dress up. A few weeks ago I was at a flea market and picked up a few charms. One of them was a turtle that Fiona wanted to make into a necklace, and another one was an ice cream soda that Alexa decided she wanted to wear...

She was so excited about that little charm that she wore it every day for a week. It inspired me to make a collage around the theme of an ice cream soda. We get so caught up in "important adult" stuff sometimes that we forget to see things like our children do. She was the happiest kid in the world because of a one dollar charm!

Here is a peek at the first two layers; paint as a base, then a layer of tissue paper, wrapping paper, old book paper, and old music paper. Next comes a couple more layers of paint, then some stamping or writing, then some inks. Once the layers are finished I can add the embroidery and embelishments. Take some time this week to look at things the way a four year old looks at them!