Valentine's Hearts

Stacey is working on some 30" hearts with fun words for a party. Our work room.....messy though it can be....looks very colorful at the moment. Stacey also found out that soft and fine iridescent glitter falls off her nylon jacket liner much better than the way it sticks like glue onto fleece....helpful to know when you are iridescenting 15 big "candy" hearts outside on a beautiful sunny winter day.

Brain Teasers...most unusual in 3 ways.

Here's my vote for 2008's most unusual theme, most unexpected colors and most challenging to make in foamcore....all rolled into one very interesting party. I must say that I very much liked it.

The colors were burgundy, burnt sienna, chocolate brown and touches of golden ivory.

Stacey had to ponder this a few days before she jumped in with both feet and blended her engineering side with her creative side to make three dimensional brain teaser puzzles into two dimensional party illusions. We also spent more time than usual finessing and discussing and pondering the color combinations and supplies to order to make our colors blend with the balloon colors selected.

The party planner in charge of this party...Darlene from Starlite Stage Productions.....has a flair like no one else I've met. She also wowed me with her thick organized binder.

It was a party that we'll always remember.... as I'm sure it was for the guests that attended and had something very different to experience.

I love new ideas. Years ago we did another one that I'll always remember for it's uniqueness. It was archeology. (yeah....I did have to look up that word) It was done in black and copper and had treasure chests with jewels on some tables and pails and shovels on others. Black and copper is a stunning party combination, in my opinion, and it's hardly ever used. I wonder why?

Snow and water lilys

We have snow by the tons here in Michigan. Actually....I love it. It's very beautiful stuff when it's fresh and clean and you have warm enough boots on. The only part I don't like is shoveling it off my big white van that doesn't ever see the inside of a garage because there is too much party stuff in there. Priority #1 is party stuff....sorry van.

How could you not love snow when it gives you so much fun and great photo opportunites.

If someone said what is the opposite of winter snow, I would say water lilys. I love water lilys in the summer on the lake. They very well might be my favorite flower. (and therefore is the reason they are in the title of my blog) They remind me of my grandmother and lunch in a row boat on her lake when I was a little girl....a warm and happy moment. It always amazes me that they grow in the water like that and are sooo hard to pull out. I don't often pull them out because they look the best right where they are and they aren't the kind to put in a vase. Although I have floated a few in a bowl of water but they close up and just don't look happy to be there. And you can't bring snow in the house and put it in a vase either.

I guess you just have to enjoy certain things right when they arrive and where they are meant to be.

Swirly Candle Fun

Thanks to Judy at A-BnCParties and a video she posted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ZZiEHysos&feature=channel_page), we've been having some candle fun here. I made some for a candlelighting centerpiece last week because I needed some orange candles. While I was in the midst of making them a crowd gathered in my kitchen. I had 4 grandkids gathered around saying "Let me try" and "I can do that". We all ended up with sticky gloves and messy fingers and lots of orange candles.

I couldn't get my camera out because I didn't have any clean hands left for picture taking. All my hands and fingers were covered in paint...not to mention the mess on the counter.

So today we had another go at it. Haley dug into my candle cupboard and found some gold candles and held up some red paint and that was the beginning. We grabbed a base that will someday be used for a Candlelighting Swirl for a Bar Mitzvah but today it was perfect to hold her creations while they dried. She made some beautiful candles and she is wrapping them up for gifts this holiday season. How sweet is that!

I tested them on the last go around and they burned very nicely. What a great idea Judy had. Her videos are fast and easy. I admire her ability to make videos. I was thinking of trying to make a few myself but my hair...my hair!...and the makeup....wow...just getting myself ready to make a video feels like more work than making the video.

Why I chose "Musing with Marlyss"

Laying in bed last night pondering my blog the word "muse" came into my mind. It was about 4 a.m. when I should have been sound asleep. I kinda liked the sound of it with Marlyss tagged on the end. But I also liked what it meant. It also sounded like amuse which is a good thing too and what I hope this blog will do....amuse and inspire and make me think about things. It just seemed to fit... so here we are and it's a start. Everything starts with a first step.

If you capitalize the M, then you have a noun instead of a verb. My dictionary says a Muse is a "force personified as a women who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist." So, to all of you creative artists out there who are planning, making or otherwise having a party.....bar mitzvah or otherwise...then I hope when I post pictures of what Stacey and I are working on that it will inspire you or help you in some way. I find an abundance of help on the internet myself and I think of it as one big circle of enjoyment and personal learning and growth.

THE GOAL:
This blog will have updates on our party decorating adventures and also family and fun we are having in between. I'm also planning on sharing web sites and other web sources that I personally use and enjoy. If you have something newsy or interesting to share with me, I'd love to hear that too.