Friday, April 24, 2015

a swap for all seasons no. 4 - what I made for my partner





My fourth mini sampler in A Swap For All Seasons, arrived at my partner Patty's mailbox, so I get to share it with you. WOOHOO! (Sorry for the eternally poor photos.) It's all about daffodils - I was thinking "April showers bring May flowers" and "Springtime" and found these darling vintage daffodil images to use.

What crafty fun are you up to?

Happy weekend to you!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

happy 45th anniversary Earth Day

 (free poster found here at the Earth Day Network)

"Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste . . . ” ~ Wallace Stegner, excerpt from his famous "Wilderness Letter", December 1960

"Is it not likely that when the country was new and men were often alone in the fields and the forest they got a sense of bigness outside themselves that has now in some way been lost.... Mystery whispered in the grass, played in the branches of trees overhead, was caught up and blown across the American line in clouds of dust at evening on the prairies.... I am old enough to remember tales that strengthen my belief in a deep semi-religious influence that was formerly at work among our people. The flavor of it hangs over the best work of Mark Twain.... I can remember old fellows in my home town speaking feelingly of an evening spent on the big empty plains. It had taken the shrillness out of them. They had learned the trick of quiet...." ~ Sherwood Anderson, in a letter in the 1920's, quote included in Wallace Stegner's "Wilderness Letter", December 1960

Wallace Stegner's "Wilderness Letter" may be found in its entirety here, at The Wilderness Society (scroll down).

The history of Earth Day here. at the Earth Day Network.

What are you doing for Earth Day this year? We're going on a neighborhood garden tour, focusing on drought resistant landscaping and water conservation and native plants.


Friday, April 17, 2015

gonna be an auntie


My oldest niece is expecting her first baby on July 2nd, a little boy. Her baby shower invitation came in yesterday's mail. Fun fun fun. I've been enjoying looking online from time to time for our gift to her ever since she told us ... but I've gone a little OCD since the arrival of the invite LOL. You knew I would!

My brother passed away when she was just nine years old (and her little sister was only three), needless to say they are very dear to me and I want to give her EVERYTHING that's cute out there!

(I'm also gathering children's craft ideas, so Auntie can make the little guy stuff and also have craft dates with him!!!)

Anyway, began bookmarking contenders for damage to Auntie's bank account this morning and that just wasn't working for me. Need to see it together! Because - if you know me at all, you know that I'm a girl who loves themes. So I put these together this morning ... there will be a million more to follow, you can count on it.



Thursday, April 16, 2015

can i get a high five


I kept running across reminders recently that if your home is chaotic, it can make your inner emotional life feel chaotic too. I've been living with a house and garage full of my parents things since my dad passed away in 2011 and it makes me crazy. You would not believe the amount of things I have already let go of and given away. I'm still very much digging out from under. I also accumulated too much myself. I feel so defeated a lot of the time. But I am determined to find balance again. 

Five more boxes of books went to Good Will this week and eleven years of Martha Stewart magazines left the house and I shredded one storage box of paperwork. WOOHOO! High five!
 

I don't know about you, but this is me - I kept buying storage boxes and organizers from The Container Store, thinking all I had to do was organize all this stuff and then I wouldn't have to think about it until I wanted to. I read on a blog recently, paraphrasing here, that it's impossible to organize stuff when you have too much stuff. Reading that was a light bulb Oprah AHA moment for me! So understandable, so simple, so clear, SO OBVIOUS. DUH. As they say in Twelve Step groups, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I dream of surfaces with (nearly) nothing on them. I am so tired of having to move boxes to get into my craft supplies or shift stuff around on my desk to be able to craft or have books two rows deep, etc. I also need to curb my buying tendencies --- I want less stuff and yet I bring home more books and crafts supplies when I already have too much of both. Old habits die a slow tortured death.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

a swap for all seasons no. 4 - what I received from my partner

 




YIPPIE! Yesterday was another Happy Mail day over here. Super duper stupendous to receive something other than bills, market advertisements, etc. and over-the-moon-exciting when charming pieces, made lovingly by hand come through the mail chute. TWICE this week. WOOHOO.

Yesterday, I received my fourth mini sampler in the A Swap For All Seasons swap, from my partner Joy, of FiFi's Daughter. (My fourth sampler I'm making has just hit the drawing board, in the early stages ... Joy is speedy!) 

Thank you so much for my darling sampler Joy, I love it, so very sweet and precious! First I opened the adorable card --- aren't they sweetest girlfriends?! Joy, I love how you used the scallop, the other-way-round, I never would have thought of that (and am now going to borrow it from you!) and I love the bead accents, never seen that before and um, borrowing that too.  :)

Joy said my sampler was made with Spring in mind and it looks like Springtime. So darling Joy and as I emailed you, not only sweet-as-can-be on it's own, but also because of the yo yo you included that reminds me of my mom - something we both adored. Thank you so very much for my sweetest of samplers and card, Joy. It was so much fun being your partner! 

Happy Springtime!

(I seem to be finding reminders of my mom everywhere this week - I'm missing her and my family so much with the holiday upon us - so very hard to go through them without any family. Sending hugs and love to any other holiday "orphans" out there.)

Thursday, April 2, 2015

a swap for all seasons no. 3 - what I received from my partner





OH! How I love this swap, hosted by darling Linda at A Swap For All Seasons!!! For those that haven't been following along, it is a year long swap and we make a mini fabric sampler for our designated partner each month ... resulting in twelve darling samplers to make a garland or frame or whatever we choose. So much creativity, so much fun. I'm beginning work on number four today.

I just received my darling sampler in today's mail from my third partner, lovely Linda F., of Lambworld. So very sweet and charming. I love it so much Linda, thank you so very much! 
 
Linda also enclosed a chocolate bar from Seattle Chocolates - not only is chocolate my favorite thing in the whole wide world, ahem, my dirty little secret between you and me ... but my mommy was from Seattle and seeing it brought back a flood of memories for me of trips with my mom to see my grandparents in Seattle.

Hope you're having a lovely crafty handiwork kind of day today and wishing you a lovely Passover and Happy Easter!