HANUKKAH CAME TWICE THIS YEAR!

It's great to have a fun holiday last just a little longer than normal. This season's Hanukkah did just that. Today we got 2 belated Hanukkah gifts from our girls.

Today, Tracy handed me her gift; a beautiful memory tray with tons of great detail. I've been thinking of making a tray like this for quite a while, but I've too many projects going on right now. So glad Tracy beat me to it!

Then, today's mail brought a gift from Steph and Grant, her fiance. They sent us a beautiful framed photo of the two of them. This pic was part of their engagement photo shoot, although I don't remember seeing this one. It's such a great photo!


I feel so lucky to have 2 great daughters that always think of both Frank and me.

I MADE YARN...NOW WHAT?

I was very reluctant to start with Pinterest, Very. When my daughter sent me that first invitation, I just deleted it. I did not want to get involved with anything else on the internet. I wanted to simplify not add to my life. I don't remember how or why I finally started looking but, boy, am I glad I did. There are so many great ideas!


Making t-shirt yarn is my latest thing. The tutorial was easy as was finding the shirts. Now, I have a small basket full of t-shirt yarn in lots of colors and don't know what to do with them now.

Do I make a hook rug?

Or a crochet rug?

Or, How about a crochet basket?

Anyway I look at it, I probably don't have enough right now to start AND finish anything. And, I thought I bought a lot of shirts. I guess it's back to the thrift stores!

ON BEING PRODUCTIVE

I've been home since late December. I got sick and have been having a hard time shaking this upper respiratory infection and having some asthma trouble as well. I haven't consistently needed a rescue inhaler in about 9 years. I have been SO under control that the asthma just hasn't been an issue and I forget that I even have it (since 10 years old). I've been limiting my time outdoors; I'll run one errand and then come home. And, I cover my face so I don't breathe the cold air.


So, what does one do when you don't go to work and have to stay home? Create!! And, I have a lot to work with. Just before I got sick we went to Florida for my jr. college sorority reunion and then went on a cruise. Plus there were other events during 2011 that I've been wanting to scrap. It feels good being productive but I do miss going to work too. I wish there were a happy balance. I know I'll get better but it's still going to take a few weeks.

The family all got together for Thanksgiving...a rare treat.

And, of course, there was a bit of just plain fun & silliness.

This layout is about my group of friends that call ourselves Red Hots. Whenever we get together we (almost) always manage to get a foot picture. Not sure how this tradition got started but we always have fun with it.

And, of course, I can't forget Adam Luther. He had a great time this Halloween, dressing up as a magician. One of his best friends "trick-or-treated" with him as a dragon.

These next layouts are about the cruise. This was Frank's first cruise. Not sure he'll do it again but it was a trip we'll never forget.

Thanks for peeking in my life for just a little moment. I hope to be back with more.

WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG??

Wow! I haven't posted since May!! Good excuse on that one. We went to New York City!! Had a great time despite the rain. And, I guess I've been too busy to post since then. In November we went to Florida for my Jr. college sorority reunion and then a week long Caribbean cruise. Fun!


But, this post is about some little gifty things I've made for the holidays this year.

This is where I found the idea for these key chains.

And here is where I got this snowman idea.

It is again time for These Are a Few of My Favorite Things May challenge #2. This one is "what is your favorite photo? This was a hugely difficult task. Narrow down years of pics to just one. Well, I have two, so far.


This first one is of a pigeon sitting on the ledge of the Empire State Building's observation desk. He just sat there. Not afraid of anyone or anything. I took several pics of this little bird and this one was my favorite because of the contrast of bird vs. New York. I printed 2 pics, cut out the pigeon and pop-dotted the cut out to make a 3-d effect.



But, this is the one that I am submitting for the challenge. I took this pic in 2009 from the airplane as we were going home. What a lucky shot! Over and over this one comes up as my favorite pic!
Thanks again for stopping by!!

MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT SPRING

Well, it's one of my favorites, anyway. Here in Louisville, Derby IS Spring!!

I did this layout for These Are a Few of My Favorite Things challenge for the first half of May. "What is your favorite thing about Spring?"



Thanks for stopping by!

BIRD NEST UPDATE AND OTHER THINGS

So, Ms. Robin moved in and I am so amazed that they can build these things and they are so wonderfully round!

Then I had to climb up on a ladder because I just needed to know if anything was in it...

And, there is!!!

Today we went to the Cherokee Triangle Art show. It is always the weekend before Derby. Fortunately, everything has dried out enough to be comfortable. But, tomorrow is another story...more storms a-commin'

It started out with a little parade. It's for the kids, really...they love to dress up too.

This was early...it did get crowded

If you know me well, you know that I have an eclectic set of dishes. We get a place setting from various artists when we find them. I love setting the table with different patterns and colors for each person. And, of course, you do develop favorites for one reason or another. Today, we picked this pattern. The artist didn't have dining dishes in stock but he's going to make them for us with this pattern. We normally get a dinner plate, salad plate, and a bowl. This one pictured is actually a pasta/salad bowl. Really looking forward to this one!

And, of course, I found a little something for myself. I had the chain at home but saw this neat pendant! It is made from china dishes...the lady said they were called "alphabet dishes".

As always, thanks for stopping by!

BYE-BYE BIRDIE

Look what I found on our front porch last evening! Some little birdie was quite busy during the day. So sorry...I took a broom and swept it all away. I could just hear the blasted bird yelling at me, "Man! I worked all day on that! No I'm gonna have to start all over again!"

So, when I came home from work today, I looked out front and this is what I saw... Well, if that little bird didn't start all over again! I think no matter how many times I sweep this away, it will be built all over again. So, I'm gonna leave it...for now.

Now, I love birds as much as the next avid bird watcher but, what a mess!!

RED HOT BINGO

7 of us got together at Mylinda's this month and, as usual for Mylinda, we played bingo. This time it was White Elephant Bingo. Each of us brought a wrapped something to serve as bingo prizes.

Pam, Laura, Mylinda

Karen, Phyllis, Lorie

Game 1 Winner

Game 2 Winner (hmmm...OK, that's enough for you!)

Game 3 Winner (that's better!)

Game 4 Winner (that's what I contributed)

Game 5 winner (great basket!)

Game 6 winner...Steal time...Mylinda stole this one from Phyllis!

So, Phyllis got to pic another gift. Uh oh!! What have we here!!

Final game winner...What? You again?

YUM! Dessert time! :D

And finally, our monthly foot shot...

Congrats to all the winners, especially our big 3X winner, Laura!


We missed you, Barb, Sharon & Doreen. I'll see you all again in June.
Thanks for stopping by!
:D

CHALENGE TIME

I just love doing challenges. It's not winning or losing...it's the challenge itself; the departure from, perhaps, my usual. Great prompts or material challenges are so inviting!!

HERE WITH YOU is my response for April's #169 Scrapping the Music challenge - "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse.

The journaling reads: "What is it about photos that you shy away from them so much? Did I have to coax you to sit for this one? One of the girls took this one at Red River Gorge 10/10."

Maybe it's because I take SO many pictures or he just doesn't feel confident in pics...don't know, maybe both. Hmmm....

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things challenge for the first part of April is to scrap about your favorite scrapping tool. I chose my Slice Elite. How ironic is it that just as I sat down to add all of my envisioned "Sliced" embellishments, it goes down. So, I called Making Memories and explained the problem. "Sounds like an internal problem", she said, "you'll have to send it in so we can check it out". Gahhhhhhhhhh! So, no Slice created embellishments on my Slice layout!

As always, thanks for stopping by!