My daughter asked me if I would make a last minute Christmas gift for a friend of hers at work ( for the 1 year old daughter of the friend) and I told her if she brought me a skein of yarn, I would gladly do it. When she brought me the yarn, I was dismayed that it was a light gray. At least she brought a bag of cute lady-bug buttons!

So with that, I embarked on the hat. Used a needle sized too large and hubby is ending up with a gray hat in his stocking. Then found the right sized needle and made a child sized hat...but gray for a little girl? Well, I couldn't stand it and started doing a little of this and a little of that and pretty soon I came up with the finished present. Of course I couldn't stop, so I made a pair of yarn "boots" in red, trimmed in gray and little white florals on each toe. (no buttons, as those could be a choking hazard)

Thought you would enjoy seeing my creation and my last needlework for this Holiday. I am hoping to start a freeform afgan in either off-white or a mustard color the first of the year. I think a solid color would show off all of the textures.

Rented this movie last night and I must say it is one of the best ones I've seen in quite awhile. It was simply delightful, full of facts about Julia Child's "fun" side and just an all over "feel good" movie. If you can't tell, I highly recommend it!

When I embarked on writing murder mystery scripts, I never dreamed that within a year and a half I would sell this many games! Especially keeping in mind that it takes about 6 - 8 weeks to write each one and another few weeks to go through the editing process. So far I have written 10 games, eight for adults and two for children. My ninth and tenth are still in editing, but they should be out sometime this month.

I love the creative process involved and there is such a feeling of accomplishment when I type the final words, "Case closed.". My husband has a new pet name for me...Agatha Kathy. He is always getting roped into reading some of the lines aloud or being my guinea pig for some of the puzzles within the games. If I have a mental block in an area of a game, he'll make a suggestion that will spark a new twist or turn that I hadn't thought of. He's been right at my side and my biggest supporter.

I can't thank Joanne Smedley, the Managing Director of Red Herring Games, enough for her kindness, patience and for giving me a chance to express this other side of my creative nature. She opened a door to a whole new world for me!

So, off I go to contemplate my next cast, plot, setting and the all important "who-dunnit?"! In the meantime, you can peruse my published mysteries and I hope you'll take the opportunity to play one of my games sometime! Happy sleuthing!

(Image courtesy of www.demonfox.net)

Where did the time go? I believe the last time I posted was right before Halloween... On November 7th I broke my ankle...before I knew it it was Thanksgiving and now Christmas is almost here! Even though I was home re-couping, I kept busy with my needle work. I knitted 3 baby sweaters, a baby cocoon and have done 4 hat and scarf sets for Christmas gifts, crocheted myself a Christmas scarf and made a friend a ruffled twisty scarf for a gift.

Besides the knitting and crocheting, I edited two Mystery Party Games, hosted a family Thanksgiving Dinner, helped with my Ladies' Club entry for our town's "Festival of Trees", went back to work full time, have been doing my Holiday cookie baking and am hosting two Holiday parties in the next 3 weeks. Need I say things have been really busy for me????

The pattern for my Holiday scarf and all of the Ladies' scarves is my own creation. I love the textural quality of these scarves and I crocheted them using a variety of yarn, colors and hook sizes. I am so happy with my Christmas scarf, with the red bubbles down the center. They remind me of holly berries.

Sooo, I'm back and hope to start regular posting, soon. Happy Holidays to all!

Just in time for Halloween! "Twisted at the Transylvanian"...my newest Murder Mystery Party Game. Here is the premise of the game:

The Transylvanian, a popular nightclub in town, is holding its yearly anniversary party. Mike Hobb, the club owner has sent out invitations to only a handful of friends and social elite to attend the gala event and have a howling good time. Unfortunately, poor Mike will never get to enjoy the party as he has been found dead at the bottom of the wine cellar stairs! Was his death due to natural causes…. or was it murder?
Some things might prove to be a bit “twisted” at the Transylvanian…

Help Detective I.C. Moore and the other guests figure out what really happened.

This game has all the traditional Halloween characters, but with a different "twist". Check out Red Herring Games for more details on this game and many others I've written. Next one up will be "Death at the Double D Ranch"...

Hot off the Press...My nephew, Joshua Bland, won the Indianapolis Marathon yesterday! The picture I am posting was taken from the IndyStar (dot com). Josh has always been a joy to the family with his humour, good nature and dedication to sports and education. He's currently living in Chicago, after receiving his B.S. Degree. He's always competed in running events and I would have to say this is quite an accomplishment with over 6,000 people running in this event!

Sorry to toot the family whistle, but we are all so proud of him! Way to go, Josh! Hope you can come home for Thanksgiving!

Working on my newest Mystery Script for Red Herring. This one is of the Western Genre' and I'm calling it "Death at the Double D Ranch". It's been coming right along with the plot and character development. I haven't been able to leave it alone since I started it! No spoilers, but I'll let all of you know some of the major characters: Sheriff, Redfeather and daughter, a cowboy, saloon owner, oriental cook, gambler, school marm, hired hand, dancehall girl, a drifter and a travelling medicine woman. The names for each character are very unique and the whole premise is reasonable but very predictable if you are a fan of the old time western stereotypes. I never thought I'd like to write one in this genre', let alone play one, but I think this will have something for everyone and be hilarously fun! Hope to have it finished before Thanksgiving.... :>)



(Photo Courtesy of SuperStock.com) Check this site out!

Here goes folks... my one hundredth post!!!! That seems like it should call for some kind of celebration or something, doesn't it? I thought this would have happened sooner, but life takes priority. How sweet it coincides with my daughter's Birthday! Just wanted to let all of you know how much I appreciate your support and friendship. Cheers to all of you and Happy Birthday to my lovely daughter! Life is good today.

Okay, here it is...a dumb thing I had an idea for and made it, but I did flatter Barbie. I gave her a whole new look for Halloween, right down to the hand sewn clothes, stuffing and clay sculpture that encases her whole head and face. Copied it after that Menopausal Altered Barbie that sold for a bizillion dollars on EBay a couple of years ago. If you would like to read my diary of this creation, visit right here. Of course, she didn't sell, but we've had lots of fun with her since. :>)

Otherwise, enjoy her. Unfortunately, she is no longer in my possession. My best friend who thought she was spooky and dumb now has it posed in her China Cabinet on display. I do plan to retreive it on my next visit! I miss my Pumpkin Head Barbie...

Here we come...Mr. and Miss America, 1974! Yep, our Halloween costumes for the upcoming party on Saturday. Simple, comfortable and should prove very entertaining for others. I'll make some glittery banners for us to wear across our shoulders, we'll adorn with tiaras and off we go. (Maybe a wig or two here and there and a can of hair paint!) For our next one, in two weeks, we're going to re-visit the Colonel and his "Hot" Chick:

Yeah, Right! :>) Hope you weren't expecting something X-rated!!!!! It will be fun and looking forward to both Halloween Parties, as well as the Birthday Bash for our daughter tomorrow!

Oh I forgot...it's "Rainy Days and Mondays"... none the less, rainy days do get me down! Trying to prevail over the gloomy weather, I had a productive day. Finished sewing DD's Hostess Apron, cleaned the house and in the midst of fixin' a Hamburger Pie. Its my very own concoction that I've been doing for over 25 years. To describe it - I would say it is an American version of Lasagna.... and it is "yummy".

Gearing up for a busy 3 day weekend. Daughter's B-Day is this Monday, so family is coming in for a dinner over the weekend. Two Halloween party costumes to prepare, plus a bunch of other stuff and that puts the pressure on ol' Craftola right now.

I LOVE it. October is my favorite month because it is so busy and fun! Until next time....

Maybe I'm a bit out of touch, but I just heard about Amazon's Mechanical Turk. It's probably been around for several years but I found the concept intriguing. In case you aren't familiar with it (like I was) they offer a place where employers post tedious, menial type jobs and "Turkers" can choose from the jobs listed and take the "HIT" (Human Intelligence Task) for pay.

Curiosity got the best of me, so I signed up as a Turk. I wanted to see the types of jobs that were offered and I did some Turkin' for 3 days. Here are a few of the Hits I accepted:

-Went to the listed website and found the email addy of the person in charge. Copied and pasted the addy into the form. (Pay 1 cent per Hit - But this person had over 12,000 hits available for this task!)
-Compared pictures to see if they were acceptable to the requester's standards (2 cents a hit)
-Reviewed words as to if they made sense or no sense to me (nonsensible-pay 1 cent a hit)
-Rewrote a sentence with the exact same meaning, but used different words (2 cents)

In short, if you have a few minutes to waste and want to help someone on a huge, daunting task, the program is a great thing. On the email Hits, it went from over 12,000 to 8,000 in just a couple of hours. There must of been hundreds of people helping this poor soul out. Pay is lousy and Amazon doesn't payout until you have at least $20 in your Amazon equivalent of Pay pal. On the upside, it is quite interesting to see the types of jobs listed and when you take a hit, you get this feeling that you are helping someone out.

It seemed to take forever but my favorite month of the year has finally arrived. Don't get me wrong, I love all the seasons we experience here in IL, but Fall is my favorite....especially the month of October! It's not just the fact that Halloween is this month, nor the fact that my DD's birthday is this month.... I like the weather change, the color, the crispness in the air and the settling, home feeling that Autumn brings.

When the weather gets cooler my interests shift. I want to bake, knit, do more crafting and concentrate more on my writing. It must be a "nesting" syndrome, getting ready for the colder weather yet to come before the renewal of Spring.

Enjoy your weather...what ever it may be or what it inspires you to do!

As I left for work this morning, I had to grab a lightweight jacket, as the morning air was a little "crispy". I looked into the front lawn and noticed the leaves that had dropped to the ground over night. Yep, fall is here!

I love it! The cooler air, the beautiful colors and the smell of burning leaves make this season a favorite for me. Its almost more of a renewal to my psyche than the coming of Spring. I always feel more inspired when the cooler weather hits, as far as my art and crafting goes.

Take a little bit of this and a little bit of that ~ what do ya get? An Altered Art Collage'! I started this project right before school began, on a muggy August day, then got busy with preparing to go back to work. I put it aside to finish when things slowed down and I could get back to it.

The photo above captures the true colors with actual depth, layering and sheen of the work. Keep in mind that the water was collage using different colors of tissue paper. I employed one of my favorite photo transfer techniques for two vintage photos used and the actual boat scene was a torn up print that I decoupaged into this. The background was paint, my own handwriting and tissue paper, too. The key was to layer, layer, layer! I love the way it turned out. With collage, there are no mistakes ~ you can always "fix" them.

Perhaps I will be able to offer a workshop on all of the techniques I used in this piece, someday. Let me know how you like it!

Here is my entry for this week's challenge over with Jana and Rosemary at the Order of the Opus-Gluei. This week's theme was "National Sewing Month", so sew some seams, I did. (alliteration intended here!)

This is my daughter's Halloween Costume for this year. The pattern is from Simplicity - #3685. Of course we had to substitute fabric, as an exact match wasn't available in our local fabric stores. Once the jacket grommets are in to lace up the red ribbon and she adds a can-can slip under the full circular skirt of the dress, it will hang just right and be so cute!

Beware though - this pattern is NOT for a beginning seamstress. They are very fitted and experienced level of knowledge in sewing would be necessary to complete these garments. Even though I am a very experienced seamstress, the garments took over sixteen hours to complete and that was with my daughter's help on cutting the fabric and pressing seams open.




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Just thinking about how rainy days can bring a person down. I guess I've been spoiled by the beautiful weather we've been experiencing and today has been yukky, weather wise. It makes a difference on a person's attitude and temperament - I do believe.

Despite the weather, I wasn't deterred from my project this week. I've been working on a 16" x 20" Altered Art canvas. On this particular project I have taken a pix of every step along the way so I have a record of the process. Stay tuned, folks. I think it might be finished tomorrow??? I'll post a pix when it's finished and framed.

Happy Autumn, Everyone! In the spirit of a new season's start, I am holding a Fun Fall Giveaway. The winner will receive a handmade altered art piece from me, signed and dated. I will be giving "hints" in the next week as to what is you might win, but I assure you it is a "one-of-a kind" piece that captures the essence of Autumn and Halloween.

All you have to do is be one of my followers and leave a comment below this post. There will be a random number drawing on October 1st. Good luck, everyone!

Just in time for Fall! Two of my mystery games went live over the weekend; the "Mardi Gras Masquerade" and "Mayday, Mayday... Murder". These last two games took most of the summer to complete. I'm hoping to Have "Twisted" finished by October 1st. To read all about these games and see what others are offered check out Red Herring Games...

It seems that I can only put 3 pictures at a time up on the blog.... So enjoy the fruits of my labor. Each tag on the inside front pockets (4) are decorated front and back. Each little piece of candy corn on the niche area were painstakingly cut out individually, varnished, glued and re- varnished for the final effect. This book was a challenge, but a joy that will be treasured for years to come!

After two weeks of work, my Altered Halloween Book is finished! Hands have cramped, fingers are numb, but I really feel I captured the Halloween remembrances from times past and the jovial spirit of Halloween as a child. I have many more pixes, but it's a big hassle to put them all up at once.... Stay tuned - tomorrow even more photos of my be-dazzled, be-stitched, be-ribboned, be tagged Bewitching Book!

I can not begin to explain the amount of work that went into this endeavor. Each piece was precisely thought out and meticulously cut to into place. I struggled with the placement of the handmade beads but decided to include them into the front spine of the book to add a hidden sparkle. Putting them all along the front and back covers was just too "over the top".
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Hello my Friends,

Thought I would give you a glimpse of my altered book. This thing has intensified.... I've done, re-done, re-thought, but it seems to be coming together. There is a lot of intricate hand work involved in this monstrosity, but I think when it's finished it will be something that I will be very satisfied with.

I will share what is done to the outside cover so far and my plan for the large niche'. There are other surprises to come on the inside; even though its a front cover and one niche". (I decided to only have one niche' and do something with the front inside cover for some "surprise"). I re-did the bead work and removed the beading while working on the inside of the book. I reattached a couple of them for the photos. Enjoy and remember that this is my own creation...please do not copy my ideas.

(Notice the heavy glitter on the background of the niche' piece...sometimes it's frosty on

Halloween!)

This will entail "The Spirit of Halloween" when I'm finished!!!

I made significant progress on my newest endeavor, an altered book. Actually, my hands are cramping from all of the intricate bead work going all around the front and back covers. Having time yesterday to plan exactly how I wanted to do everything was helpful, then a trip to the craft store to buy the supplies and double check my plan of action made it all fall into place when it came time to do the work... helped my brain, but boy do the ol' hands ache this evening.

The base of the book is completed inside with two niche' front and back. My plan is to have hidden pockets within the front cover that hold 4 over sized decorated tags. The book front and back are about half-way completed with the bead work, applied fabric to the spine that overlaps the front and back. It's all here in my head and I can see it as I type, but hard to explain. I'll try to take a quick shot of it tomorrow to share with those who are interested. For now, I must bid ado.

My RHS Ladies Club is back in action today, after our 2 month hiatus for summer. We're having our annual White Elephant Auction! I'm hosting and am ready for a fun afternoon. We wrap up our "goodies", give a starting bid and a cryptic clue as to what it is. No one knows for sure what they're bidding on until it is paid for and unwrapped! It is a lot of fun and it is one of our major fun-raisers for our Chapter's Treasury. Of course everything we spend is eventually spent back for our merry-making on future parties and expenses. Just incase you're wondering, we are not your typical RHS group... Our members range from 26 - 57, we get rowdy and love to have fun. Our motto is "What is said or done in the Chapter, stays in the Chapter".... everyone can be themselves in a bond of "Sisterhood".

I'll let you all in on what I've wrapped up for this afternoon's event. From down in my basement, I found a wooden "country" cat and a 2 liter "Hardees" thermos. Then from my attic, I dug around and found the most wonderful item, ever...a never opened plug-in Carbon Monixide tester and just what every gal might need: An emergency kit for when you have a fight with your spouse - all in a can...again-never opened. The unopened things are my "high" ticket items!!!!! Starting bid $2 and $3 .....LOL

The Auctioneer can make or break sales and one of our members volunteers every year to do it. She is the best and makes the most of every item! Usually on this deal we make enough to fund our Halloween Party w/spouses, our November meeting and December Christmas Party.

Oops, better get going...almost ime to get my snacks ready. The gals should start arriving in about 1/2 an hour. Cheers!

There is one good thing about going back to work after a three day weekend.... you have that Monday feeling on a Tuesday! That means when you are eating lunch on the next day, the work week is half in!!!!!

Started a "new" project today...another altered book. This one will only have two pages, one of which will be a deep niche' for a very embellished 3-D element. I'll keep you posted on the progress, but I don't want to give away any "spoilers". The only hint I'll give out right now is that the main colors will be black and orange.

My progress on the "Transylvanian Twist" mystery script has been slow but sure. I managed to spend a few hours over the weekend doing some edits and have advanced on into the next two characters. It is my goal to have the main body of work completed by the middle of next week. I hope to have it out in time for Halloween sales.

Lots going on, here, so stayed tuned for further developments!!!!

It is my hope that I will get back on track with this blog! After a very busy summer hiatus from Craftola and my new position at work, I am feeling refreshed, ready to get back into my blogging.

This week I finished an altered art book. What started with a "bind your own book" kit, this evolved into a Gypsy's Journal. Maybe because from my travels this summer and feeling free to roam? Who knows, but it was a fun project for me.

I used some techniques in this journal I've never tried before, including hand sewing a sound element with the bells and matte medium transfer with heat. I was very pleased with the quality of most of the transfers. My Gypsy journal is not only pretty, it has the sound of a tambourine when you pick it up.

Here are some pixes from my "Gypsy" book. I am going to also post these to O.G. in this week's challenge. Enjoy!

Just returned from vacation number 2 this summer... This time a nice visit with my best friend and family down in Texas. It was way, too short, but we had a blast! Had some wonderful news when I returned home...an article I submitted to the Teacher's Gazette was accepted for publication! I am very happy about that.

Now on to the business at hand... Supper, the fresh peach pie in the oven and the mound of vacation laundry to tackle...

I hope to post again soon. Just in case you have forgotten what I look like, here is a pix of my husband and myself on our trip.

"Mayday, Mayday....Murder" was just published last night! This was a custom written game that I revised for the general public a few weeks ago. For those of you who are not familiar with the writing process, it takes several weeks from completion to the actual publishing of the work. Here is the premise of the game:

What started out as a routine flight to the Galapagos Islands ended in disaster when, as the result of unforeseen weather, the aircraft was forced to crash-land on an uncharted island. Due to the skill of the pilot, Captain Skyler King, everyone survived unharmed…at least, that was the original situation.

Not long after the survival tents were pitched, the Captain was found dead in his tent. Was it from natural causes or will the next radio message be, “Mayday, Mayday…Murder”?

Here is the link so you can read all about the interesting characters and who knows, you might even want to play it, sometime!

http://red-herring-games.co.uk/catalog/mayday-mayday-murdercharacter-based-large-group-p-377.html

It was a great weekend and then on to serious business for most of the day. I have started my newest Mystery Party - "Twisted at the Transylvanian"... an interesting mix of characters from all walks of life. My goodness, who could resist playing Pam Pyre, the Disco Dancer, John Wolfman, the DJ, Jacques Rippiere the French Surgeon or Ivanna Hunt, the Safari guide? Many other characters are in the mix.

I'll try to keep you posted on all the happenings at the Transylvanian as it goes, but at the meantime, so far, so good.

(photo courtesty of http://www.flickr.com/photos/statelibraryofnsw/3403038219/)

I wanted to share this recipe that I will be making for the 4th of July. My best friend served it at her 4th of July Celebration last year, when we were visiting her in Texas and it was delicious as well as cooling! It's called Blueberry Sangria Lemonade.

(Photo courtesy of the Food Network)

Blueberry Sangria Lemonade:

• 1 1/2 cup Frozen blueberries
• 1 12 oz can frozen pink lemonade
• 1 bottle (750 ML) Chardonnay
• 3 cups lemon lime soda
• 1/2 cup Cognac

Mix all ingredients in a large pitcher. Refrigerate one hour before serving.

Caution: This is a "sipping" drink. Too much could cause dizziness.... *LOL*

It has been a few weeks since I've blogged. Beleive me, I deserved a much needed rest and have returned from a wonderful vacation. It was one of those that you will always remember!

We went to Memphis, enjoyed Beale Street and on down to New Orleans for a four day stay in the heart of the French Quarter and back North, with an over night stop in Tunica, MS (Little Las Vegas). The sites we saw, food we ate and fun we had is beyond words. So was the heat! Of course it was the hottest week on record down there, but there was a nice breeze coming from the Gulf, which helped. It was a wonderful trip!!!!!!

Hope to be posting more regularly, now. I have my "summer" attitude! Ta-ta for now!

Can you remember when you were a kid, embarking on the first real day of "summer vacation"? If so, you know what I am feeling right now... Freedom... so many plans, so many things to do, trips to take and thinking of the long, lazy , summer days ahead. Garden is planted....the great fresh green beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini will be only a few steps away in weeks. There is nothing like Summer... I don't care if I am a teacher! I'm a kid at heart.

So if you find this post boring, so be it... the Summer gods dictated that I write my feelings on the subject. Old Craftola deserves some R & R with the end of year I've put in. I'm sure I will share some different projects I'm working on all summer. Cheers to all to a great Summer!

For this week's challenge over at Opus Gluei, I decided to share this bizarre piece of knit and crochet scrumbling that I created. It is perhaps the oddest thing I have ever made! It started with a bag of vintage yarn my Mother found while she was cleaning out the attic. Most of the yarn was mine that I had bought in high school. I'm surprised it wasn't rotted! Anyway, I never use varigated yarn and this bag had such weird colors I felt challenged to put something together that made sense of all the unusual colors. I made two squares measuring approx. 12 x 12 inches and somehow I think the colors turned out working together...if nothing else they are very textural and interesting. Haven't decided if I will make a purse or a throw pillow with them. Hummm.....time will tell!

My newest Murder Mystery Party script is finished, well mostly finished, except for a few rewrites.... thank goodness I gave myself a few days "wiggle" room on it. This was a custom written game and had a quick need deadline. No spoilers, but the title is "Mayday, Mayday...Murder". The premise: 18 people rent a chartered plane to the Galapagos Islands, but end up in a crash landing on a deserted Island. Shortly after the crash, the Pilot is found DEAD! Yep, can you believe it? Deader than a doornail! Then, its up to the group to decide which of the 12 suspects "did" him in, how and why... It was a rough couple of weeks to get it all in place, but it will be a fun one to play. I'll keep you all posted as to when it will be available to the public. So, here I go off to start on the re-writes. I only have 40 pages to go through....

For this week's challenge, I thought I'd share a few pages of one of my first altered books. I love going to the beach on vacation, as I am basically "land locked" - living in the Mid-West (unless you count lakes and rivers as having a beach). Some of my best vacations were spent by the sea. You can't imagine my joy when a discarded book titled "Here By the Sea" came my way....it spoke to me.

This book was only made for my own enjoyment... If I am violating any copyright laws on photos I used, turn me in to the Internet Police... This book gives me great joy everytime I look through it - and the poem I found as far as I know, was authored by "Anon". I hope some of the pages speak to you, as they do me! :>) I even used a few shells from my beach combing stash to add to the fringe on the binding.

I am waiting for the middle of June, as I shall see the sea again, tasting the salt and sand - (Pardon my alliteration - its the writer in me, I guess!)

I can't believe its been almost a week since I've posted, but I have had more than my usual irons in the fire this week. School is almost finished up for this year and there have been many deadlines I must meet. Throw in a few unanticipated bumps in the road and that equals a real rough week for me. Thank goodness for a nice long weekend to regroup with family and friends. I should be back on track by Tuesday, I hope!

What a day, yesterday! Our R.H.S. meeting was in the afternoon with a "Mexicana" theme, in celebration of Cinco de Mayo this month. Everyone brought such delcious foods and unusual beverages to our fiesta. As it so happened, it was also my son-in-law's Birthday, so after we ladies had our meeting, several of the spouses came over and we continued our fiesta with Birthday revelry. Needless to say, it was a very late night! Everyone had a great time, I do believe... :>) Probably too good, by the way I am feeling right now. I'm just not used to staying up late anymore, so the old inner alarm clock still went off about 6 a.m., but the old body sure didn't want to get up that early. Thank goodness for lazy Sunday afternoons! Oh, I think I feel a "siesta" coming on....

(Photo courtesy of Bobbie Peachey)

Okay, here goes....

Scenerio - looked around my work space, saw a papier mache box that I had primed last fall (but never did anything with it!) Looked below that shelf and saw some old sheet music that I had used for my "Memory Bag Book from Memphis"....

then, the big jar of Matte Mod Podge was right behind me, too.... so the 3 met together to start on the box! Of course, I did embellish with stuph I already had. (String, ribbon, some edging stuph and wooden beads, AND the all important GLUE!) The thing I really liked was that I did a new technique I hadn't tried before. The woven flower on the top of the box. I had done this with fabric, but never on a solid surface. This junk came out of a box that I've had in my work room for 20 years+. The flower is made from some kind of silky-ish hem tape - not ribbon..and the white-ish looking one is more like a yuckky ecru color, but it seemed to work and add an antique look to the flower. I'm happy with it and it will go great in the Black and White room! I think it would be great to store some earrings, chapstick, etc....

:>)

Upon arriving home today from a tough day at work, I found a package that was delivered in the mail. Ohlalaa, it was the "Pay It Forward" package from Joanna over from This Southern Girl's Nest...

What a wonderful "perk" to my day and beleive you, me....I needed a perk today! Look at all of the goodies she sent me:

Pens, Notecards, a Wish Token, Coconut Candies, Mints and a Postcard from her home in Florida... Such a kind and generous thing to do. I am paying it forward, too. Check my post further down. Thank you, Joanna, for such a nice and thoughtful package. :>)

Anyone who has ever seen "My Fair Lady" will remember this hat and outfit Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie. Being excited about getting all of the new black and white things for the bedroom, I did a search today just on "black and white". I found several interesting things!

Take for instance this lamp shade:

Doesn't it kind of remind you of the My Fair Lady hat in the picture above? It sure did me. but not as much as this next accessory. I'd call it the My fair Lady Pillow:

I guess classic styles and colors are always in vogue! A black and white combination is my inspiration for Opus Gluei challenge this week... :>)

This is a card I made for my mother for Mother's Day! Like many others of her age group, my Mom doesn't need or want for material things and many times I make her a card or a gift for Mother's Day. We have plans to spend the day together here at my house, going out for lunch with my daughter at our favorite Mexican Restaurant and spend the rest of the afternoon at the Farmer's Market, looking at/buying plants and who knows what! Forgive the wonkiness in the photos, the scanner didn't quite capture the colors correctly. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day early!