One More Try

Thank you for having patience with me as I try to match up images with written text on my blog posts! This is the patriotic necklace I was describing.

A Patriotic Necklace

As we quickly approach the 4th of July weekend, I am BURIED in projects! Birthday, anniversary and baby cards, congratulations cards for my grandchildren, who finished out the school year with awards, and on and on and on . . .
I did make an 8x8 scrapbook for a girl at work who celebrated her 30th birthday last week by going on a wine tour with her husband and several other couples. I wrapped it with purple paper and a beautiful purple bow (her favorite color) and she was so excited to receive it last night at work.
Today, my son's girlfriend is picking up a brand new Honda Civic. She is over-the-top with excitement, since this will be her first "brand new" car, after years of driving "beaters". I'm thinking of a "Congratulations on your New Car" card for her.
So, my post for today is a necklace I made using red, white and blue beads as well as a flip flop charm. As I get my cards completed, I will share each one, but in the meantime, enjoy my patriotic necklace!

The Need to Bead . . .

I told the girls at work the other day that I was feeling "the need to bead". I find jewelry making so relaxing and enjoyable. It just releases the tension from my body. I had a day off today and met my friend, Sue, for lunch. We had a great time catching up on each other's lives and decided we don't get together nearly often enough ! Afterwards, I made some necklaces and thought you might like to see them. Have a great week, and be sure to call a friend and make plans to get together !

Reflections about Father's Day

I've had a busy couple of weeks, but didn't want to let Father's Day go by without posting something. My daughter and son took their father out to dinner Saturday night while I babysat the grandchildren. They returned here afterwards for dessert and we had a fun time, taking pictures and being silly together. Cards and gifts were given to my husband and son-in-law, but I think they felt that being together was the best gift of all. Father's Day wishes were even extended to my son, Kevin, from his dog, Audi. We all look forward to the day that Kevin will join the ranks of fatherhood.

Father's Day is also a day to reflect on the fathers in our lives who remain with us only in memory. I have a favorite quote that I would like to include as part of this post in memory of my father, stepfather and father-in-law:

He has achieved success who has lived well,
laughed often and loved much;
Who has gained the respect of intelligent men
And the love of little children,
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has left the world better than he found it;
Who has always looked for the best in others
And given the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.

---Bessie Anderson Stanley

Introducing Khloe Lynn !

I attended a baby shower on Sunday for my nephew, Randy and Gina's baby, due on July 25th. While there, I was able to see his brother, Jerry and Laura's new baby daughter, named Khloe Lynn. She is 3 months old already, but they live in the Niagara Falls area and this was the first time I was able to see her. I offered to hold her so her mom could get some food at the shower, and I really didn't want to give her back. I even suggested that I could take her home as a door prize, but that was just not acceptable to her parents. Oh well . . .

I decorated this letter "K" for Khloe's room by covering the letter with scrapbook paper and adding ribbons, buttons, and punched out flowers. It's a fun little gift to make and give for girls or boys of all ages !

About those Silly Bandz . . .

Well, somehow I managed to delete the text part of my Silly Bandz post, so I'll try it again.
This seems to be the latest craze with kids of all ages!! The store where I work gets truckloads of them and can't seem to keep them in stock. Parents and grandparents shop for them during the day and then we hang onto our hats as droves of kids come in search of them after school in the afternoons! They are rubber bands, in many categories of shapes, which the kids wear on their wrists as bracelets (this makes it impossible to see the shapes, by the way). As soon as they take them off, they snap back to their original shape. Kids trade them and play with them, and teachers take them away. It reminds me of the Cabbage Patch Kids craze and the Beanie Babies craze and makes me ask myself, "Why didn't you invent them???"

Have you heard about Silly Bandz???

It's A Boy !!

No, I didn't give birth, but our niece, Amanda, did. Amanda and her husband, Kevin, live in Missouri, much too far away from me . . . but that's just how it is. They have a beautiful family, starting with Rebekah, age 2, Noah, age 1, and their new baby boy, Elijah, just born on May 17th. I made this card to send along with a gift for the new baby. I just love to use the DCWV Nana's Nursery matstacks. This is from the Baby Boy stack and of course, the Baby Girl stack is just as adorable. The animal print paper comes in two sizes, so I was able to use the smaller one for the background and then punch out individual animals from the larger one. I mounted the animals on 1-1/4" scalloped circles and used dimensional dots to adhere them. A few simple pearls completed the card---not too frilly for a baby boy, but just enough, I think. I hope you like the card and thanks for stopping by !