Just for you Dad

Well the rain has cleared and it is time to get out into the garden. What is it about smell of clean and refreshed after a good rain. That has got to be one of my all time favorite smells. Right up there with baby powder, fresh brewed coffee, cut grass and a bonfire. Chocolate is a gimme!
I think I am up for a mess in the garden with the wet dirt but it has to be done. I have neglected the flower beds for a few weeks now and if I don't get to them, my neighbors will think I have become a weed horticulturist.

It was my father's birthday last month and this was the card he received with a gift card to his favorite family diner. He enjoys the taste of a home cooked meal and the company he has when he visits his favorite restaurant. Throughout their marriage my mother did all the cooking and now that she is no longer with us, my father has learned to eat his own creations or should I say Stoffers. On a side note- I remember my mother telling me that when I was two and she was in the hospital having my sister, my father took care of me and he cooked the only thing he knew how to; eggs. I was fed eggs cooked every conceivable way and most likely some unconventional ways I am sure. It must have been a long week and hence I didn't eat eggs again until I was an adult.

My father lives 10 hours from us so dropping in for dinner here at our house isn't very realistic. He has become friends with the owners of the restaurant who will actually be a part of the extended family when their daughter marries my cousin's son. Being so far away from him, it comforts me to give him something that adds a little joy to his life. I know he misses my mother deeply and since I can't be there to visit him regularly this at least helps to fill the loneliness. I don't think we will ever get him to move closer to one of us kids. His home is where he and my mother spent their lives together and he enjoys spending the summer at their cottage which is only a 40 minute drive from their home. I am looking forward to seeing him in two weeks at a family wedding- boy the old man can still dance.

Well the weeds and earthworms are calling so I better get going. I hope you all have a wonderful week. As I had stated in my last post- I was going to do an altered book on the architecture from a recent trip. I soon realized that the shape of books I had purchased for the stamp club weren't the right dimensions and I would need a much taller book. I still created a book of "Doors" but with post cards of doors a dear friend Kay had given me. It turned out totally awesome if I do say so myself. I will take pictures of the book tomorrow and post pictures later in the week.

Have fun and enjoy!

More Treasures

As promised here are the pictures of the other pieces of Idea-ology that I made in Tim Holtz's class last Saturday. This necklace was the frosting on the cake and very easy to make. The black heart was created with a mold and ultra black embossing powder. Tim had this already done for us so all we had to do was rub some of his paint dabbers on it to get it to look like soap stone. He even had several pieces of dictionary print in our packets so we could choose what word we wanted. It might be hard to see but I chose "Cherish" because it is a piece that I will cherish for a very long time. Take a look at the close up.

And last but not least, here is the charm bracelet we made. Can you believe we made all three pieces in two hours. Unbelievable! We each received a set of fragments and a full set of the alphabet charms so we could spell out what ever we wanted. Oopsie! Looks like I spelled DREAM backwards on my bracelet. I had mine turned over so that when I connected my jump rings, everything was facing forward. No big deal- all I have to do is unfasten the two outside letters and put them on the other end. the "A" can stay where it is. Click on the picture for a closer look.

Here is picture with all my "little pretties" together. When I have all three of them on, I am just stylin'- Tim Holtz style.

Not much else to talk about today. I have the house to myself for the weekend which is pure heaven. I am working on an altered book of "Doors" which I need to finish this weekend. On our Florida vacation we went to Raleigh, N.C first to visit my daughter and son-n-law and see the new house. While we were there we went to Duke University and I took a ton of pictures of the architecture. The arched doors and doorways were magnificent and I wanted to capture them in a book. I am teaching an altered book class this week and I want to have mine finished as a sample.

Don't forget the "Closing the Door" sale over at The Stamp Castle. Everything is 25% off while supplies last until the end of the month. I think I will be doing a bit of shopping myself to pick up a few more alphabet sets. Which means I had better see what is on my shelf so I don't order duplicates- one more project to add to this weekend. At this rate I am going to be out in the garden pulling weeds with a flashlight.

Have fun and enjoy!

Flowers for Mother's Day and a sale

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. One day certainly isn't enough to set aside and celebrate for all we do but we'll take it and make the most out of it. These aren't the typical flowers you might receive on Mother's Day but they certainly are one of my favorites. Yesterday I attended one of Tim Holtz's Ideology classes and I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had. I am still on cloud nine from the experience. Remember in one of my last posts I told you about the night I was going to register on-line for one of his classes and I wanted to be ready as soon as the registration opened up at 7:00 PM. We were in Florida and I had my son and hubby waiting to go out to dinner but we couldn't go until I was registered. I had to throw them a few crackers to hold them over. Well it is a good thing I kept them waiting because I was told yesterday that the class sold out in 19 minutes. I looked around to see how many were in the class and I know there were at least 75 people there. Tim really knows how to draw a crowd (and get paid good $ for it).

We started off the class by making these shabby flowers. Tim and his assistants had all the pieces cut ahead of time for us and each project was in it's own little package so all we had to do was put it together. There were three projects and we completed them in 2 hours. I will be sharing the other two with you later this week.

The flowers were created with several layers of different material including upholstery, burlap, silk, lace table cloth and grunge board. There were all cut with Tim's new Tattered Florals Sizzix die and one of his vintage buttons. It was very quick and simple and the layers were pulled together with linen thread up through the layers and the button and then back down for a knot in the back. This one has a clasp on the back so I could wear it on my shirt. After the class I went to the Mega Meet show to shop and was the envy of several other shoppers who were dying to know where I got it from.

Tim commented that you can cut up to 5 layers of thin material with this die. He showed us a flower he made out of blue jeans and it was awesome. Of course he could show us anything and we would think it was awesome-right! He then went to his booth at the show and did demos the entire afternoon. I found him and his staff to be very friendly and down to earth. I really enjoyed his charisma and the creative inspiration he provides.

On a second note, I am very sad to report that I got a message from Joanne at THE STAMP CASTLE and she has decided to close her store. I really enjoyed working with her and I know this wasn't an easy decision for her but the economy has made it's impact. Right now she is offering 25% off everything in the store while supplies last until the end of the month.

Well it sounds like the rest of the family is waking up so I better put my crown on and get ready to eat bonbons.

Have fun and enjoy!

15 minutes or less...

So this is what you can create in 15 minutes or less. I kid you not! Sunday night I was getting ready to climb into bed when I realized it was a co-workers birthday the next day and I needed a card and a treat. Mind you this is 9:30 at night and I am up at 6:00 in the morning. I ended up making some blueberry muffins to have with coffee and start the day of a totally messed up diet.

The card stock was a pre-made folded card that I inherited in a stack of odds and ends and this was the only black metallic one. It looks like snake skin which I thought was very fitting for a masculine card. The rest is just punched borders with a MS punch and I even used the scrap pieces as stripes. The sentiment was stamped onto a new EK Success punch called Real Estate Sign.

I thought I would get something new on my blog this morning before I head off to work so this post is another creation that was done in 15 minutes or less. I am off to see Tim Holtz this weekend so I will have something from his class on my next post.

Have fun and enjoy!