First Day of Kindergarten

Last week was "back to school time" for kids everywhere, and Moms and Grandmas are making the adjustment to a different schedule. My niece, Tammy, put her 4th and last child, Alyssa, on the school bus headed for Kindergarten. The first day, they took the bus ride together and returned home together an hour later. But the second day, Alyssa left on the bus and Tammy stayed home. Tammy has always been very close to her children and it was tough for her to see the last one depart for school. I decided to try and cheer her up by inviting her to lunch yesterday. We went to Red Robin---a pretty cheery place, I thought---and had some of their amazing food. I took along this decorated lunch box and matching card for her to give Alyssa, and filled the lunch box with some Halloween craft kits as well as packages of candy corn and of course, M&M's. Tammy and I spent the afternoon shopping and having a great time! I hope it made her feel better about saying goodbye to Alyssa, or at least took her mind off of it for a while.

Wedding Corsages

I met a very nice young couple in the store on Saturday, preparing for their wedding. They were looking for corsages and I helped them pick out silk roses, baby's breath, and ribbon. The bride-to-be wanted to make them but didn't know how, so I offered to help. I had a day off today and spent the afternoon making the six corsages they needed. It took me back to six years ago, when I was making wedding flowers for my daughter.

It's been a week filled with variety so far, from school shopping with my grandkids yesterday, to teaching a jewelry making class last night, and arranging flowers today. Fun !!

Blogger's Block !

Did you ever hear of Blogger's Block? I've heard of writer's block and artist's block, when writers and artists just can't seem to produce what they normally do. I went on a weekend trip in mid-August, and it's been a real challenge to get back into the routine ever since!
I've been working extra hours at the store and teaching classes, but I have completed a few projects and just haven't been posting them on the blog.
So, here's to a fresh start for the new month of September!
Keep checking in . . . . :o)

Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul

Did you ever spend weeks looking for something and then find it??? Well, today I did!!! I have been working on 6x6 scrapbooks for the "scrapbook crew" at Aurora House. The four of us started, in the Spring, sorting through notebooks full of press releases, newspaper articles, photos, and programs from events, to create an Aurora House scrapbook. Aurora House, for those who don't know about it, is a 2-bedroom home that has been built on Union Street in Spencerport where end of life care is provided. Patients as well as their families will be welcomed to a home-like environment to spend the last days with their loved ones in a peaceful setting. Fundraising started more than 3 years ago for this project. Many businesses and volunteers donated materials and time to make this a reality and the grand opening just took place in July. It was felt that a scrapbook depicting the story of Aurora House would be an important addition, and so our "scrapbook crew" was formed. Linda, Rosemarie, Fran and I met 12 times to work on it and were so proud when the book was finished. Pictures were taken, which I decided to make into mini-scrapbooks. I had purchased a book entitled, Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul at Ollie's, which contains scrapbooking-related quotes to add to these mini-scrapbooks. The book had been misplaced, and I was thrilled to find it today!! Now I can complete the books and give them to my new friends.

Hats Off To My Granddaughters!!

Now, do I have cute granddaughters or what??? We had a special day recently at Marketplace Mall. My daughter brought all the kids in from York and we met in Henrietta. We had lunch at the mall and then shopped together for a while. The girls and I went into the Icing store and they immediately put on hats and posed for this picture. We had lots of laughs and lots of fun that day and now I have pictures to capture my memories of that day!

A Little Painting Project

I bought these particle board letters at AC Moore after my niece, Jessica, found some sparkly foam letters that were similar to these. There was only one "L" in the foam letters and I decided that these particle board letters would be much more long lasting to decorate Lily's room. The colors are pink, purple and turquoise, although the photo makes the colors look different. I painted the letters with metallic Folk Art paint and then went over the top with DecoArt Craft Twinkles crystal glitter paint just because glitter is important for little girls----and big ones, too!

The Most Incredible Day

Hi! I'm very excited about my new blog heading/background, whatever it's called. I had the MOST INCREDIBLE DAY yesterday! My niece, Tammy, had a birthday on June 18th and we have been trying to get together for lunch ever since. She has a wildly busy schedule, with kids, grandkids, appointments, etc. etc. . . . Anyway, YESTERDAY it happened! We went to a place called LaTeaDa, located on Park Ave. and Alexander St. Tammy drove in from Livonia with her 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter, and WE HAD A BALL! LaTeaDa is decorated as a Victorian tea room, complete with fancy hats to wear, floral topiaries, ribbons, roses, a dress-up room for little girls, and the most WONDERFUL FOOD! After lunch, the waitress brought out a tray of cupcakes that was just breathtaking! We took tons of pictures and had a great time! This is the birthday card I made for Tammy and I printed a verse inside about nieces. Our day together couldn't have been more perfect.