Sneak Peek!!!

Just for fun, I'm posting some Sneak-Peeks of my finished collage for Jenny's "bits & pieces" collage swap! This was just a blast to make! It was hard, though, hard to stop working on it once I began. Each participant in the swap has their own collaging ideas and scraps; but remember: we were paired with someone who listed their favorite colors and themes! More about my partner, Amy, next week! For now, here are the sneak peeks!

This post, with these sneak-peeks, might seem a little odd! Our day to mail our creations is Monday, June 25th. I want Amy to be very surprised when she opens my box! After that, I can post pictures of my collage to my heart's delight!

Swaps and More Swaps!!!

Well, we're back to normal here temperature wise. My next door neighbor, who's lived here over 50 years, broke down and installed an air-conditioner last week! It was that toasty! I think some of my stickers even melted together!

First, here's what my sweet swap partner, Briana, sent me for the Mary Engelbreit swap. She just touched my heart, the way she hunted high and low for Mary Engelbreit items in her area. She mentioned in her letter shopping at 9 different stores for me, finding only these 2 items in no other patterns! She thoughtfully hand made me thiese 2 pretty flower magnets! I love them! Briana, I collect bookmarks, and just love this one! And I've never seen this magnet, it's fantastic! Thank you very much!!! (Should I send you some gas money? Ha!)

I'm in Jenny's "Bits & Pieces" Collage Swap!!! It's supposed to be a "what's left on your craft table" collage. My, my, my this is fun! Just for fun, and to practice, I made a collage for Erica! (But, hint, hint, hint: just maybe I'll use some of these same ideas for you, Amy! If you read this!) I'm in the middle of making my swap collage, the real collage. Next week I'll post a picture of it. The collage is on a 9" by 12" piece of stretched canvas!!! I've never bought a piece of canvas before, much less paint and collage on it - what a thrill! I felt so proud, standing in line at Michael's with a piece of canvas...I'm what you could call "artistically challenged". But boy oh boy, I do love to collage! I'm really looking forward to pictures of what the other 65 people in this swap make!

Lastly, are my 6 ATCs for the "Watercolor on Baby Wipe" swap. I just love this background technique! Try it! It's like making your own colorful fabric.

Well, off I go to go dream up some more ideas for little 3" collage squares!

My Grandmother's Swing

Oh, how I loved to go to Grandma's house! That pure Grandma love and attention was so precious to me. Here's a picture I thought I'd lost!!! Since I recently located it I'm posting it to show how happy I am to have found it. It's one of my favorite pictures from childhood, age 4 in this picture. My Grandma wore her apron all the time around the house. I know she was busy fixing supper or something for me and my big family, 6 at that time. Yet, she still had time for me, to come outside and push me on her swing. My Grandma lived for 8 more years after this picture, and I still miss her. Can you see their big garden behind us? I remember it being full of raspberries and corn. Everytime I see a raspberry I think of my Grandma.

Swaps!

Here are some pictures of swaps I'm in! First, are pictures of ATCs I'm sending to my 3 swap partners, then are pictures of my Mary Engelbreit swap! Ever since I signed up for the "Found on a Walk" swap I haven't been the same! While out walking my eyes scan the ground for little shiny or interesting things, or even a fallen rose. Each picture is a group of cards for a partner. I was supposed to send each person 2 cards, but actually sent 4 cards to each since I had so much fun collecting and creating for this swap.

I found lots of neat stuff. I didn't use it all, but here's a list of things I found and used for these cards: a rose, a geranium, little colored dots, little felt dots, bird egg shell, jewels, cardboard, glass, puzzle pieces, fun foam dragon fly, and a Make-A-Bear pin.

I'm getting my Mary Engelbreit swap packed up for my partner, too! Lots of thanks goes to my sister Heidi for sending me 3 nice pieces of Mary Engelbreit fabric, and one of her lovely tags! I also included some ME Cherry Tea, a teapot stamp, a small journal, stickers and other goodies! What fun this was!

Nathan's Graduation from SJSU

Here's a bunch of pictures taken at Nathan's college graduation. It was just such a joyful and happy time! The significance of graduation this year, is that 2007 is the 150th anniversary of San Jose State University! So, it's a pretty cool year to be graduating. Another tidbit is that both my husband and I graduated from SJSU, and now Nathan! And in a few more years, Erica will graduate! I'm very proud of you Nathan. I know it was a long time to go to school and you are very dedicated. You should be proud of yourself!!!!

I Was Tagged!!!

Oh dear! I've been "Tagged" by dear Miss Heidi, and now I have to "list 7 weird things about myself!!!" I came up with some ideas, but still I had to copy Heidi's example of asking others around here what they think! After all, that's the true picture, right? So, here's my list! It's supposed to make you laugh, cry, scrunch up your face in horror...

1. I've been told I smile too much! Not much I can do about that, since it's an emotion, isn't it?

2. I've been told numerous times, in a negative way, that I am too nice!!! Horrible, huh?

3. Now I'll shock you! I can't ride a bike!!!
also...
4. I can't swim!!! All I can do is dog-paddle, just like my mom!

5. My toes curl under???

6. I laugh too much, and many times at inappropriate times and places!!! Church, the doctor's office, while singing in front of the church!!! Dinner...you get the picture!

7. Now, I asked Bruce (my husband) what he would say. Here's his answer: "I would NOT answer that!!!"

So, I asked Erica (my daughter) what she would say. She got a funny look on her face and reminded me how I "tend to talk about the grossest things while we eat! Medical things about people or animals, even with company present!"

8. I had to ask Nathan (my son), too, since he's so witty! He excitedly said, "Oh, I've got a good one! You wear my pajamas!!!"

9. For fun, I asked my daughter's (very helpful) boyfriend, Collin, what he would say. Oh was he ever helpful! But he very kindly said, "Oh, this is awkward." Then he gave his list:
a. "You're overly obsessed with crafts."
Collin: "let's see...what else..." Me: "I only needed 7!"
b. Collin: "You're super-nice to everyone." (He didn't realize that could also be a negative! (See above.)
c. Collin: "You watch the TV on your computer rather than on your big screen TV."

I had to stop him. I think he'd go on and on...He's just so helpful!

OK, there you go. Hope you like this list. And now who shall I tag? I don't know very many people with Blogs! Nevertheless, I hereby TAG: Roberta, Elizabeth, Erica, Collin!, Nathan, Thuy, and Sue! And, this tagging business is actually a DARE! Here's the rules: You write your list of 7 weird things about yourself, then go tag 7 more people! Have fun!

"You Spent All That Time on That???"

This is a direct quote from my Bruce, "You spent all that time on that???" UGH! However, he was right! I had a huge mess surrounding me, papers on the floor, and just a little 2.5" X 3.5" card to show for it! But what fun! Bruce understands hobbies, and has recently taken up a renewed interest in golf. And golf is time consuming, not much to show when you're done, AND expensive!

Here are some of my recent ATCs. The first four and last four cards were made with some of the Vintage supplies Heidi gave me for my birthday!

Some of the other cards will go to a partner for the "Found on a Walk" Swap. I found all those little felt circles while on a walk, the side jewels on that purple one, and of course the bird's egg. I'll show the rest of the cards in that category when I get closer to the due date for that swap. It's a great idea! I'm also pressing a few flowers for that theme.

So here you go! Here's how I've been having fun lately!