Stacey's Beautiful Quilts Part 2

Is it spring yet?

Do I have to remove the pine garland from around my front door yet? Is it spring yet?

The ground is so dirty and muddy-looking now with the snow melting and the grass so brown instead of green that I hate to remove the greenery from around my front door.

It's not so green anymore but..hey...the needles are still there so I'm keepin' it a bit longer.

Do you think I can get another month out of it??

Yeah, I think so. I think March is the appropriate month to remove such items. I think I read that somewhere in a Martha Stewart Living magazine...didn't I? (Martha would never approve of me.)

Fashion Frenzy.....more Pink Stuff.

Here's more pink stuff for a different party in various shades of pink as described in the last post. These were the top themed designs for elevated centerpieces for a Bat Mitzvah.

These designs were two sided and slid onto our clear pvc poles filled with silver shredded mylar with ribbons down the poles and poufs at the base. Girly-Girl ....that's for sure.

What I think about PINK.

WHAT I like about pink is everything.

HOW I like using it best for a party is with lots of different pinks all at the same time.

I think that pink is a difficult color.

There are about a bazillion shades of pink and when you try and use just one shade and try to match everything to that one shade (and you absolutely can't), it can look "off ". That's why I think purposefully using several shades of pink works like magic. Soft or bold... pink is still pink and nothing is more girly than pink.

Stacey's Beautiful Quilts Part 1

Before Stacey and I started working together she had more time to make some really gorgeous quilts. Quilts take math skills and Stacey has those in a big way. She could teach high school math if she wanted to and everyone in the family comes to her for math questions . She always knows the answers. Her cutie pie Jeffrey is following in her footsteps. You either have it or you don't.

I fall in the "don't" category. I've never made a quilt but I looove them. I can do math and balance a check book but I'm not even sure what calculus is and even whether I spelled it right. I am the proud holder of 2 of Stacey's quilts of family pictures. I cherish them. I always thought if I had to spend some time in the hospital I would grab one off the wall and take my whole family with me to wrap around me.

I'm going to take more pictures of Stacey's quilts and make one of those fun little animated Smileboxes. That's on my To Do list.

Are you "On" my website?

I have a very smart and web savvy nephew named Mickey. He's a big cute grown up guy with 2 sweet little girls. He has a blog called: MickMelSEO

He recently posted 10 interesting things most people are confused about pertaining to technology that he hears most often. I guess I can be considered "most people". #4 on the list was that you are never "on" someone's website. If you say that then....well....Mickey would give you that look. I think I've been given that look more than a few times by Mick. (But he's also one of my favorite peeps anyways.)

He says you're never "on" someone's website. You just pull the page to your computer screen and then you're disconnected until you pull another one. Isn't that so interesting? Did not know that.

BUT....who wants to replace the word "ON" with "I just pulled your webpage to my computer screen and then I was disconnected and now I'm going to try and pull another one". I like the word "ON" better. I'm going to continue to say it and I'm going to expect that most everyone else is going to say it too. I'm very fine with that. I"ll just try and remember to not say it in front of Mickey cuz I want him to think I'm cool.

Candy and color trends

Here's a new and fun Sign In Board we made for Hannah's party. There are sharpie markers for writing just everywhere all over the board in all three party colors.

Turquoise, red and yellow has long been one of my favorite color combinations.

Lime green has replaced turquoise somewhat these last couple of years but I still love turquoise. The place I get paint from has finally decided to carry a true beautiful lime green paint called sublime green...about time.

I understand orange is going to be big this year...I'm watching. We've bought some very good looking orange glossy mylar but haven't dented the roll too much yet. We also finally found a true chocolate brown. What happened to pink and brown? And blue and brown? Now I have it and I'm not using it so much.

We're sailing thru red, black and silver though. And royal blue is always popular..every year.

I also love all the pastel shades together and when it's mixed with pearlized balloons it just never misses in my opinion.

Crappy Crafter Designer Wear

Susie and Stacey bought me the SAME birthday card and neither one knew it.

I always love creative new ideas.....but I'm not sure I'm up for this one!

Maybe if the bows were a different color it would work for me.

Baby Shower: Potty Like a Rock Star

Sometimes an idea comes over to us that is just so darn cute we are smiling all the time we are working on it. This was one of them...thanks to Katina in Missouri and the baby shower she was giving for her twin sister. Katina made the logo and came up with the cute phrase "POTTY like a Rock Star" and we made the little 10" guitars that sat on her 24" round tables. We also made the star guitar for the 30 guests to sign in on and added the parents-to-be's name on it. We loved using the cute variety of pink guitars we have in all sorts of fun shapes like hearts and bubbly shaped.

I think this is a refreshing and clever way to make a baby shower memorable and Stacey and I were glad to be part of it.

Fairy Health

So you do your mammogram like a good girl on a regular basis but you never want to be invited back for a "do-over"....uh huh.

You never want to hear that you need to come back so that they can take a second look...especially if you've had two grandmothers die from cancer and one specifically from breast cancer and your mother has also had breast cancer. I don't have a sister to compare her issues with but I think I have enough information to know that I'm taking this seriously and do not take the "put your head in the sand" approach.

So I do the "do over" but first I get to ponder it for a day or so. I decide to go garage sailing. What do I find but something I've admired and craved. Huron Valley's Cricket Gift Shop carried these darling whimsical dolls for over $40 and I really loved them. I have lots of dolls in my house that I've made or been given. Did I need another one? Besides they were all so cute that I couldn't pick a favorite.

At a garage sale I found this special lady....still in the box and only $4. Really? Only $4. She's mine! They all have little themes and she was Health. Is that a sign for me? And if so... of what? Regardless of what...I loved her. She now hangs in my fairy-themed powder room and whenever I look at her I fondly feel thankful that my "do-over" was nothing and I'm fine for another year.

What Happens at Joey's, Stays at Joey's

Here's a sign that will make people smile at Joey's Bar Mitzvah. How can they not. It has fun and a sense of humor all over it.

Stacey's got 3 layers goin' on in "JOEY'S" name. It looks great. And, we found some really nice silver sparkly paper over the holidays that works great for light gray silvery backgrounds.

If it sparkles, I'll buy it.

My heated seat on a very snowy day

I just received a very wonderful gift. A heated seat for my plain 'ole white van. It's a pretty basic van but has a very cool coin holder and that's been it's biggest "feature" until now. Except for that fact that it holds EVERYTHING I need and it continually amazes me how much I can cram into it.

But now it has a heated seat! Thanks Jim. I really really love it.

I was driving today in this lovely and hazardous weather and I was smiling and going "Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah! I'm good to go......I don't even mind this snow." So I took a picture out my front window while I was enjoying my warm & cozy ride home. I thought it would be a more interesting picture than one of my gray vinyl seat.

Little Reminders

I have a pretty little picture I found at an art fair. I've always loved it and it fits in a tiny space between my pantry doors and coat closet. It says "Write it on your hand that everyday is the best day of the year" by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I guess every day should be the Best Day since it's the Only Day that we have at the moment. I like to be reminded of that.

I also have a wall vase on the opposite side of the door that I can put fresh flowers in whenever I have them. I love that little vase. I keep some curly bamboo in it because I don't always have fresh flowers but there are some in there now and I enjoy their temporary beauty.

Above it all are the Tae Kwon Do words: Courtesy, Integrity, Self-Control, Perserverance, Indomitable Spirit. More reminders for me. I guess I need alot of those! I also need to watch my spelling because I spelled Perseverance wrong on my wall. Did I feel the need to change it? Nope...I just don't usually point it out.

In my last post I mentioned I like letters. I guess I also am very drawn to words too....and reminders to keep me on track and in the appreciation mode.

Favorite Fonts and not so favorite

Yes, I really do hate having to use Helvetica. Sometimes it's necessary & required but I really do prefer to use a font with some distinctive style. It is easy to read ...just the opposite of the one above but that's it's only redeeming feature in my opinion. There are so many more that are easy to read as well and still have flair. One worth noting is "Unicorn". It's very helvetica-like but has enough small changes to make it interesting.

I took a Lettering class in college and really got hooked on letter forms and how they work together. It was one of my most favorite classes.

Now I search on the web at some favorite font sites. I love to visit:

www.abstractfonts.com

www.dafont.com
www.letteringdelights.com

They have loads of wonderful free & inexpensive fonts and I got Goombella and Reisling there and a weird named one called Feast of Flesh. Weird name but cool looking font. Also...all Kingthings are worth having in my opinion.

I've also purchased fonts when I just couldn't resist. I purchased Sarah Script, Hardy Har Har, Satisfaction, Elephant Bells at www.myfonts.com and I use them all the time.

We used Unicorn for "V.I.P. ROOM" and Goombella for "ROCK STARS"

4 resolutions for 2009

Resolution #1: Be less "in my own world" and more open....hence this Blog. Good start in that direction. That's what stalled me before when I started a blog.

Resolution #2: Be less conservative....Oh yeah...I like this one. It convinced me to buy an iphone that I have been craving. I didn't even have an ipod. Now my phone has one and I've uploaded some Elvis, Josh Groban and Nora Jones. I also can now check email wherever I am. I don't have alot of minutes.....I'm still working that "conservative" thing...but I have all I need for right now and I do have a bit of texting....again...small but enough to start with.

Resolution #3: Stop worrying so much about nothing that I can really control anyway. Deal with things along the way as they happen. I'm trying that...it sounds like the way to go.

Resolution #4: My personal favorite.....Enjoy more beer. Yes, I love Guinness and my new favorite is Blue Moon Belgian Wheat with a slice of lemon. Oh yeah....that is very good and it's a good thing I have that conservative side so I don't start enjoying it too much.

I'm sure there's more I could be working on but
I'll save those for next year.