Last 6 months

The last 6 months have been a doozy. It started with a diagnosis of Uterine Cancer Sept 19th and has ended in a Pulmonary Embolism and Deep Vascular Thrombosis Feb 13th.

That is extremely traumatic to a person who has been relatively healthy all her life. I can count the times that I have been in a hospital for myself other than delivering my children on one hand. It just seems so unreal.

I am hoping now that I am on the mend I can get back to creating cute and useful things. Until then....

Magpie Journal

New one on me.....Magpie Journal.....never heard of one until I stumbled upon a swap for one. Always up for something new, I dove in.

Apparently a magpie is a bird that collects odds and ends, bits of the pretty and sometimes valuable things to decorate its nest, often stealing them from unsuspecting people. Magpies are not exceptionally pretty, but exceedingly intelligent.

Magpie Journals are junk journals with a fancy name. A hodgepodge of just about anything that is not truly garbage gathered together and stored in an book.

Well I didn't steal for my journal but I did collect a good bit of odds and ends. I also wrote, stamped and colored my pages.

I had to have my gnome to greet my partner. I think he is cute.

Jokes and a bit about me.

Since I started with a Smash Book™ I already had some pages with comments, prompts and such before I even began.

This was actually my 1st layout. No Magpie but at least a bird. 

The background print here added to the chaos. Loved it.

"Play Time" says it all.

A mixture of recipes.

The pages were printed with a calendar of sorts. I went with it.

Did you know August was Friendship Month? Neither did I, but I do now. How cool is that?

A picture of me and space for my partner's pictures.

Some pages I just added glitz and bling to the existing layout

When comparing my journal to others,
I seem to have a lot of open space.
My art work is like that too. 

The bouquet to the left opens to a scratch and sniff.
Just another dimension to my journal.

This and the next set of pages demonstrate I am not consistent in my open space.

By gluing pages together and making doors
 I added a bit of interaction.
 I would hate for my journal to be boring.

Then to say good bye I added another of my gnomes. Olav is a bit shy and has played peek-a-boo for some time.

This has been a long post, mostly pictures but, I hope you have enjoyed it. If you have any ideas for improvement or otherwise please drop a comment. Thanks.

Another Flip Book

As I said, I am fascinated with these little books and am finding more and more ways of making them. The latest is made from 4 handmade envelopes a fellow butterfly lover sent me.

front made of envelope #1

pocket side of #1 and front of #2 with flip down

same but with flip up

I added a few tags and/or die cuts to the pockets for the recipient to use as they see fit.

the pocket sides of #2 and #3

By tucking the flap of #2 into #1 and the flap of #3 into #4 I got 2 sets of pages. I then glued #1's flap to #4 and used #4's flap as my closure for the whole little book.

pocket of #2 and #4 plus the front of #3 showing with the flip down

same with the flip up

This project required at least 3 pockets and 2 flips.

the back which is actually the front of envelope #4

The envelopes used here were nearly square (about 4 x 4½) but realistically you could use any size you wanted to as long as you have 4.You could even use envelopes of different sizes as long as the smaller ones tucked into the larger. I do hope someone reading this tries some flip books of their own. (BEWARE they are addicting) Happy Creating!

Flip Books

Finally I seem to have gotten my creative mojo back. It started with a flip book made from Project Life™ cards someone had sent me. It exploded into Halloween and Fall. Now I am thinking Snow and Christmas. Yeah you heard right, SNOW!!!!

I didn't take any pics of the 1st one (typical me), but I do have some of a few others I especially like.

My 1st Halloween was a small accordion folded book of 4 pocket pages.

back

backs of pp 1 & 2

front

inside front & p 1

p 2 & inside back

__________________________________________________________________

"Mostly Gold" inside with all the flips folded in

"Mostly Gold" inside back cover with flips moved to the side

"Mostly Gold" was just that. It sent me looking for anything gold I could find. It ended up being what is essentially a cover with added flip pockets left, right and center.

Is hard to get a good photo of anything shiny but gold is especially hard.

I continue to be inspire to create these little books so you will be seeing more soon.

Flowers of the season

Two post without pictures. How boring is that? Let me see if I have something to cheer this blog up.

Crocus that popped up in my sister's yard

Flowers my son sent me some years back

Flowers my sister Barb brought me from her garden

Isn't it lovely that pictures of flowers do not fade like the real thing? Of course they do not smell like the real thing, more's the pity. Guess you cannot have everything.

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Grand babies

Having two Grand babies in the same year is exhilarating. Especially since my children were married for so long with no prodigy.

There is not a day goes by that I do not wish I could be with them. Impossible; since they live miles apart. I must make do with pictures and videos. Thank goodness for technology.

I wonder what my Mother thought when we had our last in Germany and all she got was photos and recordings of the children's voices. Oh and all that hand made "Art". Makes me wonder how old my Grand babies will have to be before I start getting their Art. Soon I hope.....soon.

Relief?

I don't usually do this; Put something very personal on here but I need an outlet and my normal channels are all clogged with their own grief.

My cousin died yesterday. My Uncle's youngest child, many moons younger than I, passed away. I know my Uncle and Aunt are devastated. I imagine I would be too if it were my child.

I do not feel the hollow lose I expected to feel at his going. He has been suffering several months from an inoperable tumor in his brain. I only feel relief. I can only imagine how he felt trapped in his own head unable to communicate or move for these last few weeks. I remember a vibrant person full of jokes and high on life. I am glad I did not see him after that nasty growth took hold.

Good-bye dear cousin. Be at peace and enjoy a much better place.