pretend this is friday......

Happy Birthday Sarina!!!!! I know I'm a couple of days late, but I had to wait until I got my mojo back. This mornings walk with Connor and the dry sunny day got me going though.... I love you lots!

sunday part one

I have been working on the house lately leaving little time left over for crafting. Honestly I think I may be in a little creative dry spell. I am sure it won't last long and I am taking this time to learn more about some photoshop features.... just playing around with some grids....




I am heading back out to move more things to the garage..... cleaning out James room since he is here very little anymore (he stays in Seattle with friends). Moving the high school memories to permanant storage in attic; after all he is now a junior at UW.

closing with some photos taken this morning when Connor and I were outside playing.....

simple saturday night

Yesterday I was playing around with the camera and took photos of my surroundings. These photos are bits and pieces of larger pieces created by my mom. My mom taught tole and canvas painting for many years in our home. So I have been surrounded by art my entire life. Even though I spent hours down with the "paint ladies" my incentive then was to hear the off color jokes the ladies would share. I sure wish now that I would have picked up a brush more often!

I haven't always appreciated the art that has surrounded me but I am looking at it with fresh eyes lately. As I grow in my own creative experience I now can appreciate the love and passion that she enjoyed through her art. Oh, I forgot to mention that she was also self taught but quite good at floral arrangements (both fresh and dried)..........

So last night I had a great Saturday evening complete with a cup of creamy hot chocolate and a chick flick on Hallmark station. I got down to business .....

It was a nice evening... excercising my right to vote in the comfy of my own home.....

Have a great day today! Off to make Stuffed Peppers & Zucchini; another family recipe that I haven't made in years. Explanation: gotta use up that bag of peppers bought at Costco! LOL.

learning something new

This week I have tried to venture into working with collage and canvas. I took a primed canvas and began layering papers, gesso, paint, rubons, stickers with gel medium and inks.

Many, many many layers later I achieved this = Faith angel - 2008

I enjoy working on canvas and am obviously still experimenting with a lot of different mediums here. I want to add some metal to my next canvas.....

I am off to take pictures for a project I am working on.....

has anyone noticed I like to do this........

to end my sentences with.......

later......

quick post ...

so why is it that every time you go to Costco for toilet paper & laundry soap (needed HE kind for new washer) you get back home with a car looking like this........




spent way more than my budget allows right now. I did get a few Christmas gifts..... and got some much needed basics. I also now have several packs of meat marinading in the freezer (a big time saver)

Any one checking back to see a follow up to yesterdays post..... Mark is now a new member of Studio Calico and we are getting together Friday to make Christmas cards and catch up!!! Welcome to SC Mark......

call out to Mark

hey there phone tag brother......


I am calling you out to sign up for the Studio Calico kit I showed you the last time we had lunch..... each month just keeps getting better so you really have to join the monthly membership!


Kind of like the time I talked you into buying the Silhouette when you haven't even started scrapping yet. The one you need to bring over so I can play with it.... JUST like that time. Just do it and do it this month! Just look at the paper that is in this months kit.... you know you have photos of you just made for that chalkboard paper!




and look at these school pics of James.... too funny! The journal says: "You know this is one of those school pictures James will cringe when his wife and family sees" love Mom.


So back to Mark, you know how you want to have everything coordinated for you? They do it for you and it will help you get inspired to start using the stuff you are collecting.....


so just click on the blinkie over to the right >>>>>>>>>>


then leave us all a post so we can celebrate with you!

for the love of dogs.....

It is a cold one out there today but is dry so Connor & I are going to the dog park later. Little does he know as he sleeps by my side that in a few hours he'll be willingly jumping into the chilly waters of Marymoor Park. But first the Texas vs Oklahoma game...... I know I am an odd Duck, I have always liked college football. But here are some Connor pictures - I love this guy!!!





The photo on the Rescue Group website.... Now if you saw this photo wouldn't you go see him? His brothers and sisters were just as cute but they were way too wiggly and yappy. I really liked how he sat in the middle of the huge crated area and looked up at me. He was patient and then to seal the deal when I picked him up he snuggled. Best of both worlds.....

See you later - Go Hug your dog......

2 hallelujahs & a LOL

Yesterday I was the happy recipient of this big beautiful Energy Star front load baby.....

It may be white on the outside but inside she is all green! I was a happy lady watching the action of a front load for the first time. Listen to me, I'm like the female version of a guy and his car. But I'll never admit to petting the top as we bonded..... Back to the point, my kids gave me this beauty for my birthday this year. I do have the coolest kids, pretty thoughtful and nurturing of their Mom. Thank you Mel(inda), Sarina & James!


Right as the evening news started I heard a familiar clunk at my door. Already in splendor over the hum of a washer I think I actually ran to the door.....







I think Connor knows he'll be spending a lot of time in the office this weekend!


Finally I was so rolling in bed in laughter over the SNL Weekend update Thursday.... Does anybody out there know how to insert UTube videos onto Blogger sites??? Please please email me so I can link last nights episode.... The economist just had me rolling. They need to FIX it! Go Fix it! Just FIX it!

Oh Baby it is so cold outside it calls for a night of scrapping by the fire! Have a great weekend everyone!

Using the voice God gave me....

When Mel lived in Seattle and worked at Brooks in Bothell she would drop off Katie to spend the days with me. So we saw each other daily and had plenty of time for conversation. We occasionally had moments with relationship overload but now that she has moved to Oakland I really miss our conversations about social issues. Between the two of us we could find a variety of causes to discuss. Good thing I’m blogging now because all this stuff keeps rattling around in my old noggin……

Did you know that 1 of 2 men and 1 of 3 women in the US will be diagnosed with some form of cancer?

I hope you all got to see the fantastic show recently broadcast on 3 networks known as Stand up to Cancer. I received an email update and went on the website and started checking out what has happened since the show. With Barack encouraging us all to get involved fueled by my disappointment with the current administration & congress I went directly to the tab “get involved” and found email congress. I figure that if I am going to complain about congress for not supporting issues I find important, then I better make sure they know what I want first. By entering in my full zip code, it directed me to the appropriate email addresses for my area. It also supplied a sample letter format that you could fully edit to make personal. Most organizations I support have this feature and I have used it often for environmental issues (WE). So I sent my 3 out yesterday and have only received a reply from one of my Senators so far. I am looking forward to their reply to see what they have done to support the cause of finding a cure for cancer. If anyone is interested in the cause I have provided a link below. Play around on the site as I have learned a lot from it…..

find site here

Returning full circle and back to Mel. I will leave you with a layout done of their first home bought. They have it decorated very Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware style….. Gorgeous!





Thanks for reading.....

What do you do when you have so many blog post ideas bouncing around in your head that you don't know where to start? Will it be cancer, small houses, Peace Corp or green guide..... I could be a walking public service announcement today. so much to say - so little time..... back later when one of these topics wins the prize.

a few photos of mom

These 2 photos were in the stack my sister gave me a few weeks ago. I love getting new old photos to play with... first one is of mom when she was 5 years old and on her toes. She was a dancer with the Portland city Ballet until she broke her leg playing on the stairs.... there are some real doozies around with her in some pretty interesting costumes. (calling all jpegs from relatives)


This next one is a photo of mom with one of her best friends Helen Maul. Helen and mom were the garden club mavens in Ridgefield, taking care of the towns gardens & pots for years. I love that mom is in her "Paint Sweater". Here they are setting up for the yearly garden club plant sale.

My heart and prayers go out to Helen right now as she battles colon cancer. I have so many happy memories of her. She was way beyond cool when I was growing up and I really love her. I even planted a vine maple in my back yard when I first moved in "just like Helens".

do as I say not as I do

I always thought mammograms were so scary and yukky that I convinced myself to ignore the standard practise of annual screenings. I had one in my late 30's so I knew what to expect and didn't much like it. I visited my family practitioner yearly and would always get that little referral slip and I would tuck it in my day timer and try hard not to think about it again......skip ahead 14 years (yeah yeah save your lectures, just go get a mammogram). But last December my Dr. felt something that bugged her on my left breast and urged me to get a mammogram. Something in our conversation told me to do it and I made the appt the following day. There starts my roller coaster ride marking my 50th year. A winter filled with weekly trips to the Breast Center at Evergreen Hospital for mammograms, ultrasounds & MRI's. During one of these early visits they found another suspicious lump on the right side. WOO HOO - I got to learn the term Bi Lateral! After the battery of tests, the decision was made to surgically remove and biopsy both sides. You see, since I had no prior mammograms to compare to, they just couldn't be sure if these were my normal changes or something to worry about. My story has a happy ending and I am not afraid of getting mammograms any more. They aren't fun but they are nothing compared to the other tests & I want to believe that most Breast centers are filled with the same care taking angels of empathy that took care of me. So do as I say not as I do: please have regular mammograms. Key word - Regular.

This morning Dr. Susan Love (Avon Foundation) is launching a new campaign called Army of Women. Dr Love is creating a network of women across America for the purpose she explains below:


"To recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all."

"To challenge the scientific community to expand its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women."


You can read more about this movement and how you can get involved here:

http://www.armyofwomen.org/

I have joined cause and hope you do to. How incredible would it be to have a tiny little hand in the cause by joining the Army to find a Cure for Cancer.

We have to do this..... Find a Cure......We have to do it for our little ones.

We have to do it for little Nora who we welcomed to our family this week......

My brothers 3rd grandchild and first little girl..... so very pretty.

I WANT ONE aka "ME TOO"