Hold up Sunday, I ain't ready to go back to work!

I love a lazy Sunday, no work to mess with, just chilling with my Mr and the kitten.  Today is a lovely day in Nashville TN.  The weather promises to be bright and sunshiny and just freaking lovely! 

Yesterday I worked on these cards.  At first these were going to be Marie Antionette xmas cards.  But, I just couldn't get motivated to make them xmas cards.  Instead I just let the ladies dance across the cards.  I am getting smarter on mass producing cards: making several of the same at one time. 

Doesn't this Marie look nice.  I was a bit worried about the simplicity, but just couldn't bring myself to add more to the cards.

 The Mr felt like this Marie's hair was weird, but what would I do with it?  What would you do with her head?  I'm up for solutions.  Otherwise...I'm leaving it.

 Sookie said, "No more work!!" And starting lying right in the middle of everything!

This canvas will eventually turn out as a collaged piece.  But, I have been stuck--

Until...I ran across this blog yesterday  paperlicious delicious. Lesley has inspired me to work on this a bit more! Thanks Lesley!

Monday is a lame way to spend 1/7 of your life

HEELLLOOOO Monday (darn you--**frownie face)

Here's a quick little update on the items I'm making for a couple of holiday sales. 

2x2 memory glass individual stamped with alpha stamps.  Glued onto a cork coater, magnet placed on back.

this one needs a little bow at the top where the ribbon didn't quite meet.  Note to self....buy more ribbon.





And, of course we can't have a posting without the kitten!!  (please don't pay attention to the human--it was a lazy sunday)

We live in a little place and my "studio" is a little corner of our master bedroom.  You can see my organized stash in the background. 

Go...have some fun this Monday. 

By the way...you have just a few more hours to get in the drawing for  a magnet very similar to the one pictured!

Tea time among the gravestones

Annual Confederate Cemetery Tour in Nashville's historical Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

This looks like a scene out of a movie.  But, really, this was taken by me with a point and click camera. I'm soooo proud.  These were tour guides hanging out before it was time for their tour to begin.  Pretty neat huh?

Mausolem of  adelicia acklen THE richest woman of her time. Plus the historian told us she was the first woman to make her soon to be hubby sign a prenuptial agreement.  She was a very smart woman!!

 Actor portraying Adelicia Acklen.

My twinny and little sister, Nancy.

 Another set of sisters: Sphinx sisters

 The MR looking handsome, as usual!

A wingless angel watching over the dearly departed.

You have one more day to get your name in the hat for the this week's tags!  Remember Sookie Horn will pick a winner on Tuesday:

Getcha Some,
Puddin n Pie

Slow Down Sunday, I ain't ready to go back to work...

Durn if it ain't Sunday evening again and I'm gearing up for the work week.  What is your normal Sunday night routine?  Do you pull your clothes out for the day, iron anything and shine your shoes?  Funny story for you...my twin, ya'll remember her, right?

Georgie Porgy, puddin N pie and her twinny: Jaymie

Jaymie makes fun of me cause I'm a little bit over the edge when it comes to organizing.  Maybe not so much now...I've relaxed a little bit--really--really I have.  Her actual comment to me was that I was anal retentive. Welllll...I just don't like the way that sounds, so we'll just say that I'm a good organizer.  

When I was a young girl in high school I was very particular about my clothes.  I would take Sunday and pick out my clothes for the week.  I would organize the clothes in my closet.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.  All laid out and ready to go.

I just loved looking in my

closet during the week and seeing my clothes all lined up and ready to go.  Of course there were days when that particular outfit just didn't work for my mood.  We all have those days, right? 

Or, remember when you were in high school and your bff would call and say she was wearing a dress that day and you HAD to wear one too? 

Facebook is a wonderful thing, isn't it? After so many years out of contact with my best friends from high school, I've reconnected with some of my best friends on the planet.  It's so nice to have friends that knew you when you were just a young person with no problems.  I'm gonna give them a shout out before we move forward. 



Cheryl and boo from high school.  Why am I the only one that has her mouth open?

Today I was working a little on canvas I'd like to sell at the Mistletoe Market Place    this November.  By the way, if you're near Nashville TN and want to be a vendor at this, sign up and come on down.  If you spend a couple of days, I 'll give you a tour of Music City.  Here's the beginning of a canvas, I was planning on the lay out. What do you thnk of the cool bird? It's  a vintage image from a bird book from my mother. 

I'm going to color the canvas with light blue acrylic paint, then stamp and then paint again.  A few pieces of collaged papers, covered again with paint.  More stamps, more paint and an inspirational saying--I'm not going to tell you yet. It will be a surprise! 




Tell me what you think of the vintage bird.  I was so intrigued by her and I'll be wrapping her long colorful tail around the canvas.  Yummers! 



sookie giving her 2cents



Encouraging Words Magnet Swap

Happy Saturday Blog Friends! 
Today I have a moment to sit and catch up on the wonderful blogs I follow and also to do a litte posting too.  This time of year is the busiest time of year for me. I'm visiting local schools, hosting Girl Scout events in the park, making radio appearances and generally keeping busy as a bee.  Check out some of these cute shots.....

come and play with me!

I know their moms are proud!

aren't these the cutiest faces!

Thank goodness for a patient hubby that doesn't mind making dinner and handling household chores, while I rustling up some Girl Scouts!  Thank you Mr. Horn....

our wedding day...only a few years back!



If you're a Girl Scout Alumnae(or former Brownie) remember that 2012 we are celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouting.  You can find out about some upcoming events by visiting your local Girl Scout councils website, go to Girl Scouts USA website to find out more.  If you'd like, leave me a comment about your favorite Girl Scout memory.  I love to hear your stories.

This week I participated in a swap with the very talented artists at Gingersnap Creations.  I had to make 4 magnets with encouraging phrases and then I'll get in return 4 magnets from different artists.  **excited** 

I'm very happy with the final look of these magnets and may reproduce them in the future. 

Believe good things will happen to you!

Somebody's gonna do it, why not YOU?

                                               

Be confident and proud

dream big dreams, have big ideas

My favortie is the  birdbath stamped image with the words, "Dream big dreams, have big ideas"  Don't we all need to think like that?  Here's a close up where you can see the glossy accents I added to give some dimension to the magnet.(A suggestion from the MR.)

These were magnetic frames from Michaels that cost me a whole whopping $1.49!  First I printed out on regular copy paper the phrases and cut them to fit the frame.  I added Adirondack Alcohol Inks to the frames, let that dry and then slid the copy paper in to the frames.  After that I figured out where I would place the stamps.  After I was all done, I just felt like something else needed to happen.  I pulled the paper with the phrases out of the frames and added distressed ink around the edges in Black Soot.  These pictures were taken before I added the distressed ink.  Take my word for it, adding the distressed inks around the edges really gave the magnet another dimension. 

I love working with the alcohol inks--I need to buy some in all the different colors.  Sookie isn't too fond of them, I guess her little sniffer can really pick up the chemicals from the blending solution and her eyes get all squinted when she smells the bottle. Why is she sniffing the bottle you ask?  Because that's what cats do. 

ready to sniff whatever is on the work table

                                   

After a few too many sniffs, the kitten is ready to party!  She even puts silly things on her head!  Sookie, you are now limited to a one sniff limit. 

Have a wonderful weekend people! Take a moment to remember 9/11 and those that serve our country.  Hugs and kitten kisses,

G

Orange you glad I used Tsukineko Walnut Ink?

The Summer of Color Challenge is almost over and I'm very sad to see it go.  Additionally, my Fridays off for the summer have come to a conclusion...wonder why I'm in such a funk?  Could it be the two coincide and make a person sad.  (weep).

It has been such a fun time following the Summer of Color, seeing the work and visiting the blogs.  Check out the  blog yourself, here.  This week I need to work on my card stash and decided orange would do just fine, if I could figure out how to make it work without looking Halloween.  Not that that's a bad thing. (Jerry Seinfeld saying)

Since it has become my custom to share with you some family pictures, let's take a little stroll down memory lane.  Here's my mom sporting my most favorite dress of hers.  She looks hot, even after having 6 kids.  Looks like this picture was taken when my baby sister was around 2.  Way to go Mom--you look marvelous!

baby sister, Nancy in the high chair, Margie peeking out from Mom(the ham always). Patsy frowning in the background.

I love my mother's hair in this photo, it reminds me of Saturday afternoons when my mother would do her hair for Sunday church.  Ya'll remember those days right?  My mother would put big curlers in her hair and then  put a hair dryer on to set the curls. That usually signaled nap time for us, she would settled us in front of the tv, with Lawrence Welk, of all people.  Then on went her hair dryer and we would all settle in to watch the tv and  nap.  

This was a moment of rest for her too, she was always asleep when we woke up. As a little child I can remember thinking how strange it was to see my mother sleeping.  She was/is a whirlwind of activity, that's is unnatural to see her quiet.  As an adult I think back on those Saturday afternoons and imagine her enjoying the nice warm hair dryer on her wet head and how it relaxed her.  Check out this favorite of my sister Kathy.  You haven't met her yet:

baby Kathy drying her hair

On to the cards...let's see what we've got this week.

set of four cards

Last month, I won from a Bella Creations Viola Ink Group. (yay me!!) a set of Tim Holtz stamps.   I bought some Walnut ink for another challenge on the Viola Ink Group on Bella Creations  and added it to the paper.  But, first I used Versa Ink with  Tim Holtz butterflies stamps.   I added a little bit of black netting and a button.  Some stickles gold to add some accents.

Inside of this card says:
I loved the layering I did with the inside of this card.  I ended  up enjoying the orange on this card.

This card has a little saying on it that says, "When I want to see love defined I look at you.  It gets a little lost in the walnut ink of this paper.  Lesson learned.


Sookie gives her approval of this card.  Of course she was very interested in the round button.

Puhlease let me play with the button!

A little Asian inspired soap opera

This summer I've had such a fun time experimenting and learning new techniques, not to mention visiting other blog sites and seeing all the talented people in the world.  Kristen at Twinkle, Twinkle like a star is hosting a summer of color challenge....omg, such fun. 

I was excited for red this week, because I've had this idea percolating in my head, just waiting for a chance to try it.  I ran across these at the local Goodwill store (thrift) and had to have them.  Does anyone have any idea what they are? 

No matter, I'm going to have fun with them.  These are the kinds of images that I'm squirreling away for just the right moment. 

Ya'll know what I mean, you have those items in your stash too!  I almost sent a few of these images to my Mystery envelope swap hosted by the Altered Paper blog, but I just couldn't let go of these delights just yet.

Anyone know what this is?  I don't?!





They look like cards, but they are really small. 



The pictures seem so melodramatic, as if they are depicting soap opera themes.   Soooo, that's what I created.  Don't laugh, ya'll.  I just wanted to break outta the mold and have some fun.

This is my first time making an ATC, and how fun they were!  I don't feel that these are complete just yet.  I'd love to add some more details.  Have you ever visited this blog,  Artfully Musing by Laura Carson ?  Laura is so inspiring with her masterful ways at layering, working in mixed medias and her tutorials are fabulous. 

These are the individual ATCs.  I thought it would be funny to put "western" names on the Asian faces and then add soap opera themed comments. 

I'm chuckling as I post these.  They were fun and out of my box.
We can't end a post without a peek at Sookie Horn, which, by the way, if you're a True Blood follower, on HBO, then you'll know that the character Sookie was just revealed to be a fairy!  Now, we have a fairy cat...yay!

How is a girl supposed to blog? AND a sad day today.

Had to make a quick post of these pictures.  That durn Sookie!

The MR helped me install a shelf for her viewing pleasure....

Here he is trying to coax her to stay....a few minutes later....

We'll have to work on this....
One more thing:

On a sadder note....Today we say farewell to a dear Volunteer for my company,(Girl Scouts of Middle TN)  Debbie Hobby has devoted the last 6 years of her life to do good, encourage girls, act as a wonderful role model and create community spirit in her little town of Hartsville TN.  I'd like to pay tribute to her with a small word here.  She's in much less pain then she was, now it's the family and friends turn to grieve.  We'll miss you Debbie, but your spirit will continue on. Her friends in Girl Scouting plan to make a dedication of some kind to her in Hartsville.  She was inspiring!

Have to post this picture from my friend's memorial service.  I was stunned at her loyalty, that she would ask for her Girl Scout table cloth to be on display at her Memorial Service.  Unbelievable.  It makes me feel very humble to have served her for 6 years.

By the way, this year was my first time to ever participate in Relay for Life.  Have you ever?  If not, you need to check into it.  This year I dedicated my efforts to my friend Debbie Hobby, who is mentioned above and lost her fight against cancer on Wednesday.  I relayed for you Debbie! Here are a few picks from Relay for Life in Hendersonville TN this year.