Jingle Belles - Peace on Earth (Day)

One of my favorite challenges from the Jingle Belles is the Earth Day challenge where you get to recycle items to make a card.  Of course, this might be in part due to the fact that I save things like old cards, wrapping paper, tissue boxes, pretty packaging and more hoping to one day give them a new life.  My card uses some recycled wrapping paper from a gift I received and some elements punched out from a Christmas card I've been saving for a few years because it was so pretty. 

The wrapping paper is what you see in red with those beautiful gold embossed polka dots. It feels handmade and most likely is specialty paper of some sort.  I just couldn't see balling it up for the trash and knew I would find a use for it again (even if it was to wrap a smaller gift, or is that too tacky?).

The little animal circles are what I punched from the card and I popped them up on dimensionals. I also recycled those green triangles from squares I had cut out many moons ago for these cards.

At the corners I added some unwound metallic red embroidery floss.  The card is on a red base that I wish I could have made bigger, but it's a 6" square I don't have any red paper larger than 12".  But now that I'm thinking about it a little more, I guess I could have made it an easel card and had the base little smaller.  Hmmmm.  There's still time for that before Christmas fortunately. 

There's gold embossing all around those little animals and the botanicals with them - I hope you can see that in the picture below.  I think you can see the shine of the gold circles for sure.

It's nice to put a dent in that pile of things to reuse, even if it's only a little one.  There is so much beauty in the things that we often throw away.  People make a living designing packaging and wrapping, and even when you think about it, the beauty in the cards that we, ourselves create and send forth into the world can be reused.  I don't think I'd have a problem with someone dismantling a card that I sent them and using it again as a whole or pieces of it.  

One of the things that really bothers me at work is when the librarian orders bookmarks.  Yes, they have catchy phrases for the students to encourage them to read, but they're not as inexpensive as one may think and they're so expendable.  Just thinking that maybe next year, for a 365 project, I'll do my mini scrap collages on strips to be used as bookmarks instead of the ovals I've been working on.  Maybe before I retire in a couple of years........

Okay, let me get off my soap box and get over to the Jingle Belles to see how the belles are celebrating Earth Day for Christmas.  

Catching Up With April Pics

A sunset from a couple of weeks ago.  With the days getting longer, we usually can make it to the condo before the sun sets now.

Taste-testing a new flavor of m&m's - Orange Vanilla Cream.  They taste like Creamsicles, the vanilla ice cream wrapped in orange sherbet popsicles.  Whenever a new flavor of m&m's comes out I like to have a taste-test with the staff at school.  I let them know via e-mail that I have them at my desk and that they should drop by during the day and give a try.  I keep a sheet next to the bowl for them to tally Y, N, or M (maybe).  It's fun to get their reactions.  These seemed to be a hit.  We'll see if the m&m company keeps them around. 

Little Picasso.  

Investigating the whirlygig that grandpa made him for Christmas.  He loves to be outside!

Oops!  I didn't realize that my camera bag was open as I was taking it out of the car the last time we came home from our weekend away.  The camera fell out of the bag onto the driveway and hit smack dab on the lens cap which immediately popped off.  This was the result.  I think I was lucky in that the lens itself did not break, just the plastic ring that holds the lens cap on.  I was able to use superglue to hold it together.  I will just have to remember to be very ginger with removing the lens cap from now on.  

The fog we woke up to on Saturday morning was even thicker than this.  Thankfully it burned off in a couple of hours and stayed relatively pleasant so we could do some saling - of the garage/yard type.

These were my purchases along with with a little plastic adirondack chair for a little boy who can use it when he visits.  The wooden fish was marked $4 and I paid $2.  It will be sanded and repainted. The same with the recipe box which will fit my ICAD's if I choose to use 3 x 5's this year (BTW - that will be starting in June if anyone is interested in participating this year).  I bought the phone cords for work.  I like the longer cord so I can "get places" not too far from my desk and they're always tangling and those plastic clips give out after a while.  Technology always gives me the raised eyebrow when I ask them for one, so at 50 cents, how can I resist.  These should last me until I retire!  Oh, and the adding machine tape..... that's for taking notes on.....a future project for HWNSNBP to make me a "dispenser" for it.   Also not pictured, a pair of unfinished wooden shoes. Now you know who gave me the raised eyebrow on those!  I forget if he asked "what are you going to do with those" or said "I'm not even going to ask."  They're going to be planters..... you'll see.

We did some exploring and then stopped at "The German Butcher" for lunch.  This building is adjacent to their parking lot.  Isn't that door intriguing?

We finally are having a bit of pleasant spring weather.  Not too cold and not too hot.  I think the spring wildflowers are more appreciative of the cooler weather.  These Confederate violets are outside our back door and they've never been this intense before.  I'm actually quite happy to see it look like this but I may come to regret it as they are self-sowers and I have a feeling that next year the walkway will be needing a lot of weeding.  But for now I will totally enjoy them.  I'm half-tempted to candy some of them.  I never have before because I've never had as many (this is only a portion of what's really out there).  If I do, I'll post pictures.  Better add superfine sugar to that shopping list now.

Scribble Picnic - QUILTS

We're supposed to bring QUILTS to the picnic this week.  I don't have a scribbled quilt but I do have a paper quilt.  Well, the start of a paper quilt with the help of a new Neat and Tangled die.  I die cut a few different colors and played with possible combinations knowing that I wanted the green as my background. 

And I decided that I wanted the blue as the framework.  

Because I was going to add this watercolored stamped image.

A

And then I added some yellow.

B

And more blue.  

C

I decided to stay totally away from the lavender and pink and I haven't glued anything down yet so can you help me decide which looks best - A, B, or C so I can finish this quilt card?  Choosing colors was always the problem I had when making a quilt.  I think I spent more time in the fabric store trying to make up my mind.  There are just so many patterns and colors to choose from.  I thought it would be simpler using non-patterned paper for this.  

And now I have all the other colors I can use, along with some patterned papers to make some more quilted cards.  There is a bonus in that.

Speaking of bonuses - there are more quilts to check out over at Michael's Scribble Picnic.  Time to stop by and visit.  You can too by clicking here.  And should you care to join in next week the theme is PICKET FENCE.  

Mermaid Marker Play

Mini Scrap Collages - 85-91/365

Challenged myself this week to only use 4 or less scraps on the background.

Jingle Belles Take II - An Orange in Your Stocking

Wouldn't you love to get closer to that tree to see the decorations?  I know I would.  This is, once again, the photo inspiration for this fortnight's Jingle Belle challenge.  

The closest I've come to an out-of-the-box, non-traditional Christmas tree is the skinny, candy apple green, metallic tree we've had for our Merry Fishmas in July.  

I was playing around with some Mermaid Markers in a teal and coral shade and it reminded me of the beach and then I remembered the stamp set I had bought - SU's Beachy Little Christmas.

And this was born. 

A tree kind of like our Merry Fishmas tree (but in very different colors).  You can't really see in the picture, but the shells on the tree and the ornaments have a little Wink of Stella sparkle on them.  

I'm going to head on over to the Jingle Belles blog and check out all the other "orangy" creations.  You can join me by clicking here.  

Mini Scrap Collages - 78-84/365

EDITED - I thought I was being creative using the tan tissue paper behind these, but the camera would edit the colors as the picture was taken as you might have previously noticed from the variance in the tissue color.  The lighting was always the same as was the distance and I tried to make edits to them to get them to appear more like what they really looked like.  However, when I pulled up this post on my work computer today I was horrified at the way they looked.  So, I decided to retake the photos with a white tissue background and I am more pleased with them now.  So sorry if this shows up in your feed more than once, but I think you might appreciate them more now as I can actually tell that there are some papers with texture and everything is not dayglo!

Scribble Picnic - PAJAMAS or PYJAMAS

This week's theme for the Picnic is Pajamas or Pyjamas.  (My computer spellcheck feature underscores pyjamas but it also underscores words like colour and theatre and favourite which are not wrong but just spelled differently depending where you're from.)

Now I like a good "pajama day".  What's that? you might ask.  That's where you know you're not going out anywhere, the weather is usually bad, and you stay comfortably in your pj's all day.  It might involve taking a little "bird bath" and keeping those jammies on, or showering up and putting on a fresh pair.  Hygiene aside - however you're comfortable is fine.  I've had a couple of pajama days this winter coinciding with the snow days we had off from school.  Below is a picture of my grandson his mom sent me from his pajama day he had when daycare closed because of snow.  Doesn't everyone wear boots over their jammies when they Swiffer the windows?  (He LOVES sweeping!)

Initially I thought I would try to recreate that scene, but, falling short of time as I usually do I opted to go another direction.  

When I was substitute teaching, I often was called to the lower elementary school - grades K-2 at the time.  I loved working with the younger children.  Every sub has their favorite age group I'm sure.  I once did a long-term sub assignment for the vocal music teacher.  One of the songs that she had me work on with the youngest students was "Bananas in Pajamas".  After being there for a couple of weeks, it became quite an "earworm" - that and the second-graders singing "I Can't Spell Hippopotamus".  

I must admit that I did not know that this was a cartoon of sorts.  I just thought it was a kid's song.

I don't sub anymore, I've been working in the office for 14 years now.  Amongst my duties is updating attendance.  This is our late sign-in sheet for today.  The second student has been late a few times in the last month or so and every time his dad cracks me up with the reasons.  "Sock wars" today.  One day it was "procrastinating" and the boy gave him a look like "really?"  Dad just shot back at him with, "well, it's either that or dilly-dallying"  you choose".  

Below that, a grandma came in with her twin grandsons and she looked like she'd been through the mill.  Reason - dog ran away.  Poor grandma had to help the boys round up the dog and they missed the bus so she had to drive them to school.  I felt bad because I think she was still in her pajamas!

Time to see the Pajama fashion show at the picnic.  

Mini Scrap Collages - 71-77/365

Birthday

Easter

Spring Snow Storm