Vote for my Birdhouse !

http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/app/voting/index.jsp?id=/templatedata/sbe/voting/data/1285360313106.xml

Hello,
My birdhouse was selected as one of 9 finalists for a contest at Inkadinkado. 

The final selection will be selected by voting.  You can vote once a day per email address until October 31.

Please vote for my birdhouse!

Sometimes life has surprises

One never knows what a day holds...As I'm sure you've noticed, its been awhile since I've posted.  Shortly after returning from family camp we heard from our son Chris that he still was having some stomache issues that had started several weeks before we went to Family Camp.  Up to that time we had attributed his upsets to a virus, but it was clearly time to look a little deeper.  Chris visited a physician who suspected that the culprit was his gallbladder.  Gallbladder!? I said....your barely 23 years old!  We need another opinion.  Chris said that he didn't fit the four F's.....fat, forty, female and fertile.  This was true, but further tests still pointed to the GB as the guilty party and so we found ourselves packed in the car and on our way to Missouri to be with Chris while he had surgery.  All went well and he is feeling much better now and back to work.  To keep ourselves occupied while Chris was recovering, Samantha and I painted a few birdhouses.  IMy next blog I will tell you about the next trip that I took and show you some new cards that I made

Paper Casting Dragonfly

I wanted to try paper casting.  Here are the results!  The technique is quite simple.  I layered 8 layers of toilet paper squares, sprayed them with water and then mashed them into the mold.  They were difficult to remove, so I went back to the instructions and learned that I can use a spray vegetable oil on the mold.  The card you see is a result of the first method.  The second method with the vegetable oil spray did come loose from the mold very easily and the paper did not have oil stains or feel oily.  The mold is an Arthur Grummer mold.  The dragonfly is chalked with Stencil Chalks.  The paper is from My Mind's Eye 291132 ...something Mamas Curtains.  The stamp is from Stampin Up.  Ink is Tim Holtz, Spruce.  I'm not sure where I bought the sparklies...probably Michaels or Archivers.

Presidential Posterity

While I was busy at The Great Family Adventure and after this most patriotic of holidays, a friend of mine was digging in the genealogy garden and came up with a great find for me.  It seems that my roots produced a President.  What a surprise.  For 25 years I have found only commoners and scallywags.  Of course they are all very special to me. But, who knew? [smile]. It appears that my great great great grandfather Baldwin Harrel Taylor who lived in the remote Smokey Mountains mountains of Cherokee County North Carolina in the late 1800's was a second cousin to President Zachary Taylor....they share the same grandfather...or great grandfather, I'll have to look again to be sure...my...my... my... [tapping my finger pensively.]

The Great Family Adventure

The last two days of The Great Family Adventure Paper Crafting Activity were spent making embellished mini birdhouses and bookmarks.  I am always amazed at the creativity that God places within each one of us.  This year was no exception.  It was great to hear that some of my students went home last year and applied what they learned and made paper crafted gifts for their friends.  Time passes and sometimes good things must come to an end. Paintbrushes were cleaned, boxes were packed and the car was loaded with good memories, friendships built and little treasures to help us remember and look forward to coming back.  See you again next year.!

The Great Family Adventure

A place to gather your wits and put pen to paper with words of encouragement, hope and loving thoughts.  I had two books here to stimulate thinking...sometimes its hard to come up with just the right words to say what is on your heart.  This area was complete with a writing blotter, ink pens, envelopes and postage so that you can get that card in the mail while it is freshly made and the recipient isn't kept waiting forever.  You can't see the words on the little cups, but they are from the Cricut Cartridge "Just Because" and have words of encouragement such as "A Little Pick Up for You, Sunny Side Up!, I'm Pulling for You (wagon), In a Pickle? and Families are Forever."

The Great Family Adventure

Here are some of the finished products from yesterdays class.  We used all kinds of tools, Sizzix Big Kick with Cuttlebug folders, Copic markers for Airbrushing, Purple Daisy Stamps with punches, and chalks.  Great work ladies!  Today we will work on mini-birdhouses!  I apologize for the blurry pictures.  I have trouble holding the camera still sometimes.

The second day we worked on crafts and used our home made paper.  One of the nice things about paper crafting as a hobby is that it brings together ladies of all ages and it is an activity that mothers and daughters enjoy doing together.  We had several mother and daughters in our classes this week.  What a pleasure to see them working together creating ideas and helping each other make beautiful works of art.

The Great Family Adventure

This week I have been teaching ladies classes in paper crafting.  We've been having a great time.  Many of the ladies are novice stampers and it is a great fun time to introduce them to my fun hobby.  Our first day we spent making paper.  Take a look at our beautiful paper.  Paper making is truly an adventure, you never quite know how it will turn out until its finished. 

My Favorite Sandwich

I'm not a cook, but I've run into a great sandwich that I thought I would share. It is a very simple turkey sandwich on your bread of choice with mayonaise. Add chopped red pepper and snow peas...you know the sweet ones that taste like you just picked them out of the garden. This simple combination makes one of the best sandwiches I've had. Try it!

Birdhouse Blast! Honeymooners

A honeymoon cottage for a couple of newlywed tweeties.  Actually, it was inspired by a decorative full sized birdhouse that I saw in a new shop on High Street in Columbus called Found, Objects for the Home.  The Grand Opening was last Sunday and while I was there I noticed this cute little birdhouse painted white with vintage metal trimmings.   I should have taken a picture so I could have followed it more closely.  Oh, wait, there is a picture on their website!  http://www.objectsforthehome.com/ check out the inventory :) Congratulations to Kris and Chelsea on the opening of your store.