Apache Blessing

May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being,
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of
your life.

Today we are enjoying the day off. And I am counting my blessings. Never take the day for granted. Sadly a neighbor friend of ours decided to stop chemo. It is a reminder not to take for granted that we have forever.

Make the extra effort and time for those you care about. Leave behind wonderful memories.

Thanksgiving Card

I got to make several Thanksgiving cards to send out. This one was my favorite...

Here is a collage of of the cards I made so far...



 Notice the one card with the upside-down stamping. I didn't want to toss out the card after realizing I stamped it upside-down, so I made the writing inside work with the outside. The inside says "No matter how you look at it, you & your family are wished a blessed Thanksgiving!".  That made me happy that I didn't have to toss out this card. I liked it to much to toss. I enjoyed the chalking and popping effect using Versa Mark ink and chalks. The other cards I took a 12 x 12 sheet and was able to make several cards from that one piece.  (Another grateful moment that I figured out a way to save the card.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I try to reflect everyday on moments I am grateful for. From the moment I get up, I say thank you for the HOT shower. As I have learned that is something we take for granted. After living in an apartment that seemed to not have a hot shower, yet I could get hot water at the sink and in the kitchen, the shower would turn cold within the first few minutes. The landlord had a plumber come out and after several visits from the plumber, the cold water remained and I moved to a new apartment. So ever since, I say THANK YOU when I am under that nice HOT water.

Through out the day, I make sure to say thank you even if it is a whisper to myself and say I am grateful for what ever good is happening. Simple things like being able to have one on one time with my boys, lunch date with my husband, being able to enjoy a day out with friends. I truely believe that when you reflect on what you are grateful for, more will come to you. (Hmmm, this makes me think of if I am grateful for my ONE son eating what I make for dinner more then once a week, that he might eat more of the things I make through out the week. Hmmmmm? I will keep trying for that!)

May you all be blessed and surrounded by loved ones this Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Halloween "WELCOME" Banner

My boys like when I decorate for Halloween. I almost thought of not doing it all this Halloween and changed my mind. My one son came home from school and said. THANKS MOM, it looks great. So that made it all worth while.

This is what he walked in the door to...

I made this Halloween Welcome banner at a crop with a group of friends. We decided to make these as a group project for that month. It was interesting to see how different each persons turned out. I made 3 different size tags and used the paper tearing techneque across the bottom of each tag and layered the three tags. Then embellished each tag. The WELCOME letters were chipboard letters and painted with acrylic paint. The ghost are Sizzix die cut ghost. I used an assortment of ribbons and yarn, silk fall leaves, buttons, stickers, and Jolee embellishments. Some items came from the swaps that our one group did together.

Close ups of the tags...

There you go! To think it will only be up one more week and back into storage til next year.

Learning Rivoli Beading

At the Bead Cave, SuZ taught us how to bead a Rivoli. While some finished theirs at the cave, I only made it this far before having to go. I will have to post a photo of the finished piece once I have completed it. I have made it all the way around with the beads and petals and now need to add the crystals. Not sure just yet about adding those. Suz, I need your help on the next step. LOL! I would have gotten to this step had i not had to be different and place my petals behind the gold beads and left them in the front like we were shown. But I liked how it looked when seeing the petals from the back, so I created more work for myself while learning a new thing. What can I say?

Learning Kumihimo Braiding

Here are photos of the Kumihimo braiding I did at the Bead Cave weekend. I had so much fun learning this techneque that I continued to make several others that weekend and even tried a 12 strands Kumihimo braid later in the week.

Here is the first one I made at the Bead Cave Weekend...

Thanks Carolyn for the refresher class. It was very helpful!

Here is my first attempt I made adding beads at the bead cave weekend. I added beads to the 8 strands. I made a few without beads first to make sure I felt comfortable enough and not missed any steps that would leave a gap in the braid. I enjoyed the bead adding techneque.

Here is a close up to see the bead pattern...

Since I had so much fun with the 8 strand braid, I decided to give the 12 strand a try. Here is a photo of my first attempt at the 12 strand...

For those of you that would like to see how to make a kumihimo braid, you can watch this great how to video on YouTube. This womens video shows you every step and takes her time with each and every one of them...

Kumihimo Kumiloom Braiding Instructions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RNbFjvZycs

Halloween Cards

I had lots of fun creating Halloween cards. Here is one of them...

and another...