Last Tuesday, my doctor put my left foot into an aircast to try and heal some damaged tendons. I am still working but am staying off my foot as much as possible when I am home so those folks at Circle of Crafters are keeping me busy. There is always something new posted that can keep me occupied for hours. These are 3-D cards although you may not be able to tell that. I spent most of the day playing with them and actually have several more pictures put together, ready for cards. They really are very pretty and I don't think the pictures do them justice.

I have been having more fun playing with these. The red card is made in a "pyramid" manner with that mandala made of 5 or 6 layers, each one cut out and then glued on the next. I need to get some mounting tape so it looks more 3D.

The blue/green card is done with tea bag tiles. i just love the colors in this one.

Most all of my "motivation" is coming from the ladies at the Circle of Crafters. They have great information and links to lots of supplies and ideas. Check them out!

This one was posted on the COC board today and I did it one way and thought it would look better in another way so I ended up doing it twice and I love them both. This may be my favorite one so far.

making those medallions with the tea bag tiles. I put together two cards tonight...neither are really good cards though. I am just not a scrappy person I guess. in any case, the medallions are pretty.

These all use the same pattern square. Folded and mounted together differently, you would barely know it.
These are all the same pattern, different size and pattern squares. This is this month's chalenge square on the Circle of Crafters board. You have to make it into a card to enter the challenge and it has to be a green medallion. I may do another. This green one is really big.



I just love this one. the center pops out.

I found something "new" to play with. It is called Tea bag folding. Tea bag folding is a paper folding technique, with Dutch origins, using tea bags or small printed pieces of paper to form a geometric design. It is also known as kaleidoscope folding or miniature kaleidoscope origami.

I have been cutting and folding since Thursday evening and having a great time. the ladies and gents at
Circle of Crafters are winderful enablers and are VERY creative. I am looking forward to maybe making some cards with my creations but even if I just hang them on my christmas tree it's fun.

It is called Today in Seven. he (or she) asks us to describe our day in seven words or less. It is really pretty neat. I have done it twice and found one of my comments posted so far. I am really sick of winter so that has been my topic and since I hve yet to describe my "day" in seven words or less, the weather seems to be a safe topic.

Check it out and find your seven or less. :-)

Garth Brooks was on Ellen today promoting this album. $10 out of every $15 goes to the Komen Foundation. You can find it at Komen Foundation

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Fabric from Silkweaver...I can't find the tag to tell me what color it is but it is so pretty! The thread is from Carrie's Creastions and called Bliss.

I love this pattern. It is from Pointe Passion and called Arabesque Coeur. This is done on 32 count hand dyed lugana from Silkweaver's. The color name is Parkland. The thread is Carrie's Creations' Pansy Splash.

I already have a second one started. It's an addicting pattern, really fun for overdyeds.

Some brainiac decided to fit volunteers with a helmet of sorts that would allow them to tell how effective a politician's commercials are in swaying the way a constituent would vote. Basically they measure their brain waves and report the results ....Hey, I think I am all for that but I think they may be going about it backwards. How about we put the helmet on the candidates and we ALL get to see how the brain works so we can tell what they hell they are really thinking.

I am so sick of the mud slinging. Can we get past that crap? Obama, that was a good speech... especially the first time it was said, and yes as you know, you should have given credit for it because it was good and you really could not have said it better. Give it up Hillary, we all knew the speech came from somewhere else and we certainly don't need you to tell us that it was not his original thought. We are not as stupid as you seem to think and we don't need you to explain plagarism to us.

As for Hillary poaching Obama's signature lines... come on folks. We know we are all ready for a change, and we are all fired up and ready to go where or not we vote for either of you.

Meat folks... we want to know where you stand and what you plan to do. Let's all run on (are you sitting down?) ISSUES!!

Just where can we get those helmets anyway?

When I was heading home in the snow last night I was thinking about how much I love walking in the snow. I especailly love it at night. I love how everything is muffled, I love how everything looks frosted and sparkly. I really do love snow when I don't have to drive in it.

That brought me to thinking about other things that I really love. Everything I thought of is something really simple too.

Summer rain
Homemade soup
A hot bath full of lavender oil
My favorite herb and spice shop
Fresh baked bread
Sliding into a freshly made bed, made with sheets fresh from the line still smelling of sun and wind
Watching my dog lying in a sunbeam of the glow of the fire
A pile of leaves in the autumn
Babies' smiles
Sunshine
The smile of an old friend

What's on your list?

I woke to a winter wonderland this morning. We were getting snow when I came home from work last night and it turned into sleet and freezing rain. I was looking out the window and noticed that mother nature had put a tablecloth on for me. It is funny how the icicles look like fringe. The birdfeeder is ready for the sun to shine on it too.

I love when we get ice storms and then the sun comes out. We aren't going to see the sun today though, we are still getting freezing rain and will have a break for a couple of hours before more moves in. The dog and I are planning to stay put and just enjoy the view!

I am finished with the exchange squares for COBS. This one is for JoAnn and it is Patrica Ann Designs' Rose for all Seasons. I changed everything to pinks. I just lvoe it. I still have to put my name on it but it will be out of here at the end of the week!

A couple of Elizabeth Designs' pieces, Five Flowers from JCS Feb 2007 and Little Things.

mentally and physically. Yesterday was hell at the "club" since it was Super Bowl Sunday and people had to have $300 worth of groceries each to watch it. No lie, the carts full of so much food that it would astound you. I stayed an extra hour and a half so that one of my co-workers could leave early to have dinner with her family to celebrate her daughter's 18th birthday. That wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been working with the folks I was working with. I survived but by the time I left, I felt like I had been beaten with a battering ram.

I came home looking forward to a little dinner and a BIG drink and I no sooner had gotten changed and stuck my head in the fridge than my MIL called. Tommy had "taken his clothes and left" she told me. He wasn't coming back... Well hell, I knew that wasn't true. THEN she told me that A) she was sick of my son's mess and she was calling someone tomorrow to clean everything...he has plates and cups all over the office and there is paper and clothing everywhere...I told her I would be over in the morning to see what was up but she was adamant that she was going to go in there and start pitching stuff last night. The last time she went on a tear, she threw out Army information he needed. I put Tom on the phone and told him to straighten it out but she wasn't listening. Now God forbid he should miss some football and take care of his own mother but no way was he moving so I put my shoes back on and headed out.

I get to the house and I am furious. First, by this time I have talked to my son and he had simply gone out with friends to watch the game somewhere. He didn't take anything with him and had TOLD her when he would be back. I get to the house and she acts surprised that I am there. "Is there a problem?". (in the meantime while I am driving to her house, she has already alled here AGAIN!) I march into the office to see what the fuss is about and there is one cereal bowl and one paper plate on the desk. Yes, there were papers but there weren't even 24 pages...some were bills he had paid and some were Tom's. Thankfully, I did go over before she could toss stuff because all Tommy's tax papers were there.

We had a bit of a "come to Jesus" meeting as my GF calls it. I asked her if she wanted him to leave...of course not, she can't do much on her own and frankly at this point she likes being waited on (which is another sore point. I told her this was the last time I was listening to this crap too. If she doesn't like him living there, I will bring him home and that will be the end of it. SHe has to become a little more tolerant. I believe that in the end, she was just bored and wanted some attention... Well she got it!

I got home after 9 and by then could not eat and of course having had no dinner, couldn't drink. I sat and stewed until after 11 since if I had gone upstairs, I would have killed Tom. I finally went to bed and lay there until after midnight.

This morning Tom called (at 6:30) to make sure Mark was up (which he was, showered and dressed and ready to go out the door)and THEN he asked about his mom and I let him have it with both barrels. I told him that Tommy would stay there for one more month and then he was coming home (or going to Aberdeen for some classes he wants to take but has put off with everything that is going on) and then it would be TOM'S responsibility to take care of his mom even if that meant moving in with her. I am calling this morning on some apartment information and Tom is going to hit the bank this week and finish up all that stuff and we are moving her, end of story. I fail to see where is becomes my son's responsibility to be a parent to an 82 YO woman.

Well breakfast is about ready and Marth is on so I am settling in to sew and do nothing much for the rest of the day...Good grief, what a way to start a week.

not one minute of stitching today but my kitchen is cleans as is the bathroom. There is something really satisfying about that even if I didn't get to do what I wanted to do, I got done what I needed to do. Oh well, I am off again tomorrow.

I can't believe I haven't been here since January 15. Time just seems to fly.

I am getting some stitching done but seem to be sinking in the winter doldrums with not a lot of motivation in sight. I am reading though and enjoying the China Bayles mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert. I am just starting book 4, Rosemary for Remembrance. They are cozy reads. It is easy to sit down with my favorite afghan, a cup of hot chocolate and get lost for a few hours! LOL

On the home front we are once again battling an infection w/ MIL. This one is a UTI and God knows how long she has had it, I am pretty sure a couple of weeks but she is at the point she is not going to say anything because she is afraid of going to the hospital. After what happened to my FIL, I can't say that I blame her but you can't just sit home and be sick! We are still waiting for lab results and hoping that things have not moved into her kidneys.

Well I'd better get moving, I need to get heavy handed with the cleaning in my kitchen and I would like to bake some cookies this afternoon. It's garbage day so if I am ruthless, I can have things to the curb and gone before I second guess myself about keeping something. LOL

A couple of pix of the progress on this box. The stitching is beautiful and not terribly difficult but holy Hannah! Getting that top sewn together was a challenge. I still have the bottom and the little pincushions that go inside the top and bottom to go. I just love the blue and white. As my firend Becky says it is so "crisp". I ordered some Carrie's Creations threads yesterday and I would love to make some more of these boxes with those!