A Box of Crayons...

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the 'creative bug' is just a wee voice telling you, I'd like my crayons back, please. - Hugh MacLeod

My book review of Faithful Place

Faithful Place by Tana French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 STARS! Faithful Place by Tana French, set in Dublin, Ireland, captures the dynamics of a dysfunctional family with well defined characters and their personalities so that each one becomes a tale all in themselves. A decades old mystery brings together family members in a gutwrenching horrible conclusion. I will definitely read this again!

This story should be made into a movie!!!!

View all my reviews

Dumpster Dive...

...Crafter style! This kleenex box was headed for the trash can but the colors and design were so pretty I just hated to throw it away. So...to the rescue came my Fiskars 4XL Squared Lever Punch to cut out the little hummingbird,

and ta-da! a cute card! finished off with Fiskars 1/2 Round Corner Squeeze Punch & Fiskars 3-in-1 Rotating Corner Squeeze Punch, Summer Fun!

movie review...

...of The Hunger Games. Excellent! After reading the entire trilogy I knew I just had to see the movie and I was not disappointed. It stayed true to the books especially since the author, Suzanne Collins, was in on writing the screenplay. Exciting, suspenseful and there a few moments I actually jumped and ooo'd and awww'd from the drama. The casting was right on but I wish Woody Harrelson's character was given a bigger part as in the books. I want to definitely see it again, 142 minutes runtime but you would never know it!

Spring Blog Hop!

there's a Spring Blog Hop! going on today and tomorrow, March 24th & 25th by my friends at Fiskateers!



If you are thinking a “Fiskawhat?”, you should know that Fiskateers is an online community of craftiness (paper crafts, sewing, gardening, etc.) all based around our love and appreciation of Fiskars (think orange-handled scissors to start).There is a blog, gallery, and message board led by four lovely Lead Fiskateers who along with the other Fiskateers are fabulous at getting creativity flowing via chats, challenges, on-line crops, and interviews with other crafty celebrities. After hopping with us today (see complete list of hop stops below), if you would like to join in the inspiration of Fiskateers, or would like to learn more, you can hop over to Fiskateers to join :)

Start hopping now! there are awesome projects and how-to instructions using Fiskars tools, ...and some suprises, like a chance to win some of these fantastic supplies! So go on over to Kelly's blog and start the HOP!

sweet layout but ow!

When my niece showed me her new piercing I just had to take a pic! It's her first. Will it be the first of many or the one and only ;)

my take on...

...this card sketch from My Favorite Things



using Pure Innocence "Fresh From the Oven"





love putting these papres and images all together, adding buttons, gems and ribbon! doing a little fussy cutting to paper piece the hat, bowl and pants.
very relaxing :)

countdown to Halloween...

...this time of year is one of my favorites. The colors, the creating and all the fun memories that go along with Halloween. When I was younger, much younger, for Halloween my costume was a princess. A blonde hair plastic mask for my face with two little holes to breathe through making much condensation on the inside of the mask. I can still remember how damp and wet that felt.

Trick or Treating was always a treat. Candy galore! and the fun of running around after dark bumping into ghost and witches :) Very scary but oh so safe because our parents were right there behind us.
(with garlic to ward off vampires) LOL

mysterious passage of time...

...why as I get older does time go by so much more quickly? I mean, now as I have time to while away, my time is "whiled" away. I notice this today as I look at my blog. Can it really be almost two weeks since I've posted anything? It seems like yesterday.

So that's why I've decided to start my Halloween decorating now! The stores are all decked out in spooky decorations and treats. If I wait 'til October to start putting out the eerie fun decor the season will be over and I'll just have to take it down the next day. Or maybe this is more likely to happen...I will buy my batty windsocks, ghost garland and jack-o-lantern sign posts, bring them home and then forget about them or at least forget where I put them when October rolls around to "deck the creepy halls".

Today I have bats in the belfry! "jacks" dancing around the pine trees and ghost peeking in the windows...and it makes me smile :)

busy, busy, busy

here it is the last day of August! Summer is almost over and I haven't got around to doing half of what I wanted to do ;)
Oh well, "tomorrow is another day"...
Busy is the word for the last few weeks, busy with making projects for challenges I'm hosting for the online crop at the Fiskateers site :) and then joining in on some of the challenges which include "lifting" other Fiskateer's projects, being inspired by them and then creating to make it my own. These are a few projects that I've completed,

Love making Halloween cards, orange is one of my favorite colors :)

first pinwheels that I've made

created this layout playing Simon Says challenge, what a Fun! game...after following the directions you just don't know what it's going to look like in the end, it's a surprise :)

I have realized that I am hyper-motivated by challenges! not competition but the challenge to get 'er done :) and working under pressure seems to push me to complete the project. Not sure if this is a good thing or not but just looking at my work, looks pretty good to me ;)