Last week started out like this....a night of craving "punkins"...O.K. so my kids are 28 and 35 but what the heck....kids are kids no matter what the age on the week of Halloween. They can be mature adults next week. but wait.... 
I had this glaring white shadow box frame...fortunately, I also had Tim Holtz products....I think I used all of them....just kidding. First I used ginger alcohol ink to change the color of the plastic like frame...then I grudgingly dipped into my new paper... I am a hoarder.... using paper from the lost and found pad I covered the back with music paper, cut out a clock and mounted it grunge board and added a game spinner. found an image I liked of a boy playing the fife....everything was inked with vintage photo and wild honey....my favorites...... I popped them out with doubled sided tape from the home improvement store at different levels sure made nice depth and shadows. A coffee filter sprayed with distress ink and perfect pearl mixture made the very delicate rose for the corner. The font I used for "play on" was tilez. Glossy accents hold the box feet in place on the bottom, I decided to grab my alcohol ink pen and knock back the color a bit on the feet. Digging back into my new papers, this time the retro grunge, cuttlebuged a scalloped hexagon and fan folded a top accent with a bead from an old necklace for the center.TA-DADONE
Chrissy and Kristin have turned on the music and grabbed a beverage ....I think we may be able to start crafting now......of course I have worked my poor old fingers to the bone, I gathered all the supplies and prepared snacks..............Oh well, a mothers work is never done. Thank goodness I am here for those two....
Kristin the "bride-to be" was busy making the flowers out of paper....Looks like it would have been easier if she just had one more hand.....but when it came to a touch of glitter......she turned into missy crafty girl......there is just something about glitter that brings out the creativity.... 
How much fun were the paper flowers made from the Tim Holtz new tattered floral sizzix die ? I think they turned out wonderful. Placed on the paper cones that will hang on chairs to hold flower petals, they should be stunning. 
Scott and Kristin were looking kinda hungry waiting for their food at the Normandy Inn, probably famished from all that intense crafting.........but they survived.....it was such a wonderful weekend....too darn bad it only happens once in a blue moon.
Yesterday four of us had a girlfriend day at the bluebird tearoom here in Carrollton. The day could not have been more perfect, warm, sunny and here we were nestled in the trees on the patio. It really is the most charming place, a real must visit.
I, too made a few things for my "girlfriends" Maura sews, and makes the greatest dolls so I themed hers on sewing....ribbons buttons....I also made a dress form and a pin cushion
For Joy I did make a cone and decorated it, even added paper flowers attached to colored pencil "stems"and then since she is an avid stamper, I rounded up some interesting ephemera for her future projects.
Stella .....ooooo Stella...remember when we were in the Tim Holtz class and I was grousing about colors I was not comfortable with and you said....."think outa the box" well, I sure did, certainly not my colors. This scrapbook purse is totally not my usual style but I have to say I had fun doing it ......and I guess you may be right....stepping outa that box can be exciting and it was for my dearest friend.....EVER
I hope the whole swap went as smoothly as the one we had at lunch. Happy May day everyone.
Wow, this was the tussie mussie I received from Stella Ford.....look and all the little details of things I love. the flowers are real, the candle lights, and the photo on the little book is wonderful and it is all in a charming tin cup. I love this.....those sweet flowers are going in my window box outside my "peek at the world" window beside my favorite chair. 
working, working, working, O.K. I admit it............I love making tussie mussies. It is nice to go outside in April in Ohio and absorb some spring and transfer it to art. Hope all my friends are having as much fun as me. Going out to that mailbox is going to be exciting. All participants are to send me pictures before they send them off to the waiting girls so I can post them here. Stay tuned.
Chrissy had no idea when she made me this fabulous bag for Christmas two years ago exactly how abused and overfed it would be.
I'm going to get to it. It's just a scary pile. That's all. And none of it is junk mail.
Well, didn't I feel just like the mad hatter? Chrissy and I had just finished lunch at the Cadillac Ranch and jumped in the car to go to the movie....when I realized her purse was under my butt....maybe I should not have had that second beer at lunch...and I bet she was wishing I had not had that BIG hamburger. Oh well, everything survived and Alice in wonderland was so perfect for me......visually outstanding. I am usually way to fidgety for movies but I was sorry to see this one end. 
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I truely do enjoy birthdays....no matter how many I have had. This 60 thing is not as exciting as 16 or 21 was but it is still good. 
my photo skills need so work so I will describe it a paper bag....image of an old photographers studio surrounded by vintage text....then grunged "JUST enough and tied shut with string.
Well, I could hardly wait to open it and there was the most beautiful box inside. An antique photo frame surround a image of old books and a lamp. The greeting is embellished with a watch face, key and lock.....as if that isn't enough....there is something inside this treasure.......
Isn't this just fabulous????? and just my style.....and not purchased, handmade, we all know how I feel about handmade, and it was handcrafted by Stella. Is she good or what??? It's like I can't wait to see what she is up to, and it is always something wonderful.
Saturday Scott, took me to amish country. We hit a few antique shops and our favorite meat market......then Chrissy,Jim, and my forever best buddy Jodey got together for supper.....we ended up at the Normandy Inn in Minerva....and had the best darn steak ever. Sure don't know what took me so long to get there.....geez, 34 years to find a good place to eat in the neighborhood....o.k. i do live in the boonies....22 miles.
Wednesday Chrissy and I are going to see Alice in Wonderland....I am really taking advantage of this 60th birthday thing, huh?
woo hoo.....I finally got outa the house and went shopping with my friend Stella....what a feeling...I had just been in here too long. we had breakfast, shopped a bit and then had lunch, shopped a bit more....it was wonderful....and I did not have to cook a thing.
Thank goodness, March starts tomorrow. First off my birthday is coming up (can we say hip hip hurrah for golden buckeye, 60 years old yuk) and futhermore this whole month has been a big aggravation....all the snow and mess has kept me locked in the house. My hair is so long I can't even see. My cats don't even recognize me.
Look what I captured...... thought just maybe she knew where spring was hiding. Since I am stuck in this house I have been trying a little paint shop work.....more frustration than work, but I did stick that selfish fairy in that mason jar for not sharing spring.
yep, along with a wonderful lunch and great conversation last Saturday , Dolly gave me six of these gorgeous hand made and hand painted fabric flowers. She told a charming story about watching her Grandmother make these flowers to put on family graves during the depression. I am so glad she remembered the art and made them again.
