WOW!! What a trip

My son had no idea we were coming down for his BD. Hubby walks in holding a bottle telling my son he couldn't send alcohol through the mail (I wasn't there) . When asked where Mom was, hubby says she's home, I have to get back on the road. (It's a 3 hour drive from our house to his) Rich said he wished he'd had a camera because the look on our sons face was priceless. WE seldom get to surprise  our kids. Rich finally told him I was  at the house (the one we haven't sold yet on Long Island) making him his BD dinner which is Sauerbraten and potato dumplings. THAT really made his day.
We had lunch with dear friends Ellen and John and present4ed them with their quilt/wall hanging. Ellen had picked out the fabric during a trip up to visit. She knows how busy I can get and I'm sure she never expected to see it done (isn't that right Ellen?) So now I can post a picture of it.
I also finally took a pic of the adorable  post card Norma sent me in a swap. Norma does such lovely work on her cards.
The mica samples chips are done...I turned them into pendants...feel free to comment. I'm pretty thick skinned LOL I did them with Adirondack inks, which I love..the chips are glued back to back because I couldn't remove the  label ...it helped with the hanging beads :-) then I did some twisted wire to give it a pendant look.
My sewing tray swap went out yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing the one I get. Don't worry, I'll post a pic.
I'm making Rich crazy with all these swaps. He says I'm always getting happy mail and all he gets are bills...Join a group Babe! Since some major running is out of the way, I'm hoping to be a better Blogger.
Lot's of projects on the table.
Got to take my daughter and family out for their 26 wedding anniversary and I will see them again this coming week. They are coming for a visit woohooo and next week my Grand daughter will bring her Mom and dad for a visit LOL It's a fun time of year. We get to go Pumpkin Picking!!

I'm baaaack

My, my it has been a busy time. Am I the only person that feels life is in high speed mode? Seems the days are just flying by... Lot's going on in my life, not all of it good. Fortunately what IS good is VERY good.
After promising myself I would take a break from swaps for a while, I went and joined another fun group...a very busy group. I looked at their swaps, took a deep breath and kept repeating "I can't, I can't"...but I did...I joined their Santa swap. Those are always fun...you just make a small gift for anyone that joined the swap...6 people, 6 gifts. It can be a card, a pin, a charm...anything really. The only rule is that it MUST be hand made. Doesn't it seem like I will have lots of extra time on my hands to commit to such a swap? When do I EVER have extra time? When do any of us have EXTRA time? What is that anyway?
So aside from life being busy I have also been doing swaps...Those charms were a swap...Then I joined one that used Formica sample chips (funny story with that one) they are to be zipper pulls or pendants. I decided on pendants...They are only half done but I'll post a pic. I used some ink, beads and I experimented with a twisted wire thingy...You'll see.
I also sent a PC to my Birthday sister Corrine...she was my partner in a PC swap hosted by Norma. Norma is a kind and patient friend that puts up with me under the worst of circumstances, so I made her one too.
Now about the sample chips. I was going to ask at Home depot but one of the girls got a phone # for a place that had retired chips that they were willing to send. I happen to remark to Cherie (another very patient and understanding friend) that "with my luck I'll call and get 1000 of the things"...but I did call and made a point of saying I could use about 12 of them. I few days later I heard a loud THUMP on my deck...It was UPS dropping a 10 pound box of sample chips. Oh stop laughing...I plan to share the wealth when I send out my "goodie bags" so there! Not so  funny anymore is it?
So let me share the pic's of the experimental pendants , so far. Plus the Post Card swap Summers End and the spooky one for Norma...Presently I am working on a quilted wall hanging that was commissioned...I hope to  present it Friday :-) Oh the wonder of my dreams...be still my heart.

Playful Moments

What happens when you wake up after being in a blue funk for weeks...You look around you and ask "What the....?" The studio you have been trying to organized is more disorganized then ever. Every flat surface is covered with stuff from about 15 different projects...Where do you start? Folks who know me, know that I have been cleaning this studio forever. Where did I go wrong? I truly think that tops should be made round, like a ball so you can't fill them up...Gosh it's like having 10 corners in a room, I'd fill them up too.
Okay, so I decided to start with just one small corner...My computer desk and it's surrounding area (which consist of many flat surfaces) Guess what? I have a carpet on the floor in that corner. Who knew? I wasn't even sure there was a floor...Thought perhaps it was just a mound of paper I was standing on. Found those coffee cups I thought Rich broke and just didn't tell me about, some bowls (no telling what they once contained) about 150 pens, about 7 pair of scissors and money...Not wealthy but I bought a pattern...it's like FREE. Speak of patterns I found a few of those I was looking for as well. Are you amazed? Me too. LOL
I found a box of tiny gourds, like I said sometimes I amaze myself. I'm talking small, like golf ball small and smaller...Decided a series of gourd dolls might be fun, so I experimented...You'll see pictures of Gourdino, my first...he was so much fun. He is smaller then a golf ball and that REAL pumpkin he is holding is smaller then a dime. He was a BD gift. I also made a purse as well as a purse charm...I'll  eventually get back to my studio Rome wasn't built in a day...There were some people I've overlooked along the way...good people that just fell between the cracks while I was over whelmed. I think they are more important then finding another floor, or carpet or...........