So it's only a few days later

I'm getting better at time management. I think LOL

Old man winter just keeps piling it on. But it is scenes like this (That would be Nellie and her twins Jesse and Jordan) that make me love all the seasons. We have a large herd of deer and yes we do feed them in winter. They get corn, sweet potato's and pumpkin. Processed feed can be dangerous to their health. Our herd grows each year and just like a Mom can tell her children apart, I know each one of my deer and those who just stop in for a free meal now and again. Both Bucks have shed their horns so they are safe for another year.
So what have I been doing? I have an on going challenge on the group Cherie and I own

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediastudio         check it out if you don't already belong.

Each month I DARE YOU to use something I name...first month was a metal can. You have to make something from the thing I dare you to use. This month was a fork. You could use one or as many as you wanted, but you had to make something using a fork. This is what I made from 2 forks.

Of course as an after thought I should have made it Steampunk so I will probably take it apart.

In the ATC group I belong to (ATC-FUN) we had to make cracked glass ATC's and this is what I did, but I'm thinking I need to embellish before sending. They were fun but look a bit blah.

Not sure you can see the cracks in the glass (layers of UT) but they are there. Those stamps were part of a gift I got from my friend Ceil for my BD.

Robyn has a paper studio as part of our Mixed Media studio and has her own challenges. One due today was a Love letter box with cards. The box was fun to do and I began embellishing in Steam punk fashion but ran out of time. It is due tomorrow, so I posted a pic but will continue to work on it.

I was in such a hurry I just threw a paper towel over all the junk on my work table. This is one of those projects that look much better in person LOL The gears are silver and patina copper..I will be adding a clock and some other do dads.

Also in the works are Birdhouse charms and match pendants and for the same charm group a color palette that changes each month. This month is Spring colors of Yellow, orange and green..so stay tuned.

So as I was saying....

Not quite sure what AOHell doesn't like about Blogspot, but I should realize there is always a problem. Sometimes Yahoo doesn't work there either.
Anyway, before I show you what I have been up to, let me show you what Rainer has been up to.I got a BD surprise from NZ. Sweets that I could only get there, a really cool Kiwi towel (ILka knows I love that little bird)

I just love the colors.

Now some of you know I love working with light bulbs. I think they are wonderful pieces of art. So you know I truly appreciated this  Gift and the amount of patience and time that went into it.

The word "BELIEVE" is hanging inside the bulb. I Love it!!! It is a beautiful work of  heART.

As for me. Well you know I am always busy doing something....

My newest banner (I have to make one a month) this is a year long project...all Vintage Winter.

Trading cards with a twist. They are shaped like kites. Cute idea huh?

The theme was Purple, Green and Gold. What you can't see is the pin striping which I think really makes the cards pop <sigh> so much for pictures worth a thousand words.

The theme was birds. bet you couldn't figure that one out huh?

Oh and remember the Valentine swap. I made that Punky heart? Deb (I forget her Blog addy but I will list it because she does beautiful Prim stuff) had me for a partner and this is what she made for me.

The heart pin was for the swap and it is so pretty. They other pin was a surprise, made from felt and so exact...like I said ,Deb does some beautiful work.

Time does fly

Seems like only yesterday I was making a promise to myself to  post here every day. Where does the time go?
Oh I know....I had a birthday week LOL My friend Sue organized a little BD celebration and got in touch with gals I haven't seen in a while. Not because we don't love to get together, we are just a bunch of very busy ladies.
The evening was wonderful and it was so good to see them and here what has been happening in their lives.
Sue made me this planter out of pots put together. Very cute idea. She claims I inspire her. She sees herself as having no talent. Trust me, everyone has talent, some more then others, while still others THINK they have talent that they don't. Sue gives it her all and that's the very best anyone can give or ask for. She (the planter now sits with my other plants and seems quite happy) Not to worry, I will take pictures.

Teri had a butterfly collage made of glass, especially made for me. Having worked with glass, this was no small task and it is just beautiful and already hanging in my window.

I opened this funny card from Janet that told me how awesome I was...No really, it talked LOL, with it was the cutest little Teddy that played Happy Birthday. I was sitting at the table a while before I realized that the Lucky Bamboo plant was also from Janet and Eric. The Bamboo was shaped in a heart so I thought it was a Valentine center piece Duh!!

Ceil surprised me with a Cricut cartridge I've been looking at but refused to buy for myself. She also include some stamps with a sewing theme.Of course she made a lovely card to wrap it all up.

I got a surprise in the mail from my friend Norma, a cool heart, a BD Angel and a pattern to make an Elf (I love him) Norma and I have been on line buddies forever. She has been a wonderful friend over the years.

I got more cards then I can count from people in different groups that I belong to. I will be saying thank you forever LOL

My kids were up, Ron,Karen and DGD Krista. They weathered the storm (didn't like it one bit) but they helped celebrate yet another year. Krista gave me some scratch offs and I actually won on two of them...that along with the gift certificate from Ron and Karen (for AC Moore) will make for a fun day of shopping.
 Yup, I had a BD week, plus went for my eye exam and was on the run as usual. I keep hoping I will get here every day...Hope springs eternal LOL
I will take pic's of my gifts  but for now I will just be able to share pic's of what I've managed to fit in with all the celebrating.
I see as usual, when I sign through AOHell I can't do shit!! So stay tuned for pic's of what I've been up to.

Happy HUmp Day

I always hated that expression until I saw the commercial with the camel...Now that's the only dopey voice I hear in my head when I see Happy Hump Day. Okay moving on...
WE got slammed with snow last night and it will be days before we did out. It is always bad up on this mountain. meanwhile I talk to friends who live down town and it's 10 degrees warmer and about 6" of snow LOL We already have a few feet up here and it's still snowing like crazy.
I've been busy creating as usual but now I forget what I showed you and what I didn't LOL

This is a card I made. The swap was create  a card in the shape of a teacup or mug. I created a teabag envy to slip into the cup to make , what I believe to be, the perfect not card. You can't see the sparkle on the flowers or the shiny gold rim, but it's a pretty card.
I had to come up with a robot Valentine, so this is what I made for that.

yes she is a female robot. What gave you the first  clue? hey you have to have a sense of humor when you're around me. On a more serious note I also needed a Robot as a BD gift for a very special friend.

Did he make you smile? I've got lots of charms in the works, plus some challenges. Not to mention several BD gifts that, as always, are much too late.There just aren't enough hours in the day for me.
Feeling a bit blah today so who knows how much will get done? Nothing if I stay here and babble. Thanks for stopping by.....

Finally something to share

How's that for some pretty roses. My son Rich and his wife sent them when I got out of the hospital recently. Did you ever see anything so beautiful and different?
So I had to go around my fingers to get to my thumb in order to place photo's here, but at least it's working.
I had a Banner due in one of my groups (AFTCM) The theme is Vintage Winter (which covers a very wide range) I wanted an industrial look. Sorry, but that's my comfort zone. Here's what I came up with.

Then in my charm group we had several things going. One was a color palette and Jan. was a range of pinks and reds. You had to use at least two colors. I decided to make a bead from fimo using two colors and then adding a star.

Then we had a scrabble tile to do. I covered both sides with birds or butterflies or crowns...added some turquoise  and diamond glaze and this is what I came up with:

Then, also in that group

we had a challenge box. We purchased a box with 6 months of challenges. Each thing has a month marked on it and then we got a package of embellishment's that we may or may not chose to use. We can use our own findings and wire. Jan is a glass blob...two, but we only had to use one.I decided to give it a dicrohic glass look by using gold leaf and spider web fabric, then backing with felt. Y'all know I'm not crazy about live spiders...but I do adore the look of them.

I have to admit, this was fun to do and I'd actually wear it.

For Feb. we got a wood laser cut heart, in the embellishments I found a brass flower that I colored with alcohol ink and added a crystal bead (also included) I made copper wire filigree and backed it with red felt.

In my group Mixedmediastudio.yahoo.com

we have a valentine swap...either a pin or a pendant, so I decided to add to this creation and make it sing...

right back to that industrial look.

I hope my partner likes it. I do.

Then we had some ATC's going on an Elephant swap and a Queen of Hearts.

So, as you can see, I stay busy.

and what have you been doing?







New Look

While this isn't the look I wanted, it will have to do for now until I learn a bit more about how to customize my BLOG. I see so many lovely Blogs and wonder how it's done. Now if I could just find the time to read all this stuff and then play around. I really need some time management classes LOL

I still cannot up load pictures to my blog so I'm not sure what that's about. When I can I will. For now it will just have to remain dull and uninteresting. Stop back just to see if I ever figure this out.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

What a mess this Blog is. I have no idea what went wrong, but it is truly a disaster. Please bear with and hopefully over the next few weeks I will be able to neaten it up and start the New Year with new pictures, some tutorials and hopefully some interesting links.
The end of last year was so very exciting. I spent 3 glorious months in New Zealand. I fell in love wit the country and the people and look forward to going back. The New year started with a Hospital stay, so the month of January is getting wiped off and my year will begin with February LOL Hows that?
 I consolidated my two groups into one mixed media group. There is a button linking you to the group up on the left side of this page. Please come and join us if you dare :-) We do some fun things with mixed media and we also have a paper studio, for those who would rather play with paper then clay or other mediums.

The first quarter of the Mixed Media studio started with a Challenge (due March 31) it is an altered work alarm clock. I can't wait to see what these ladies come up with. One of the Swaps is taking a broken clock and making a scene inside. People seem to be having a problem finding clocks (broken ones). That's a shame because I think this would be a fun swap. We also have a Valentine pin or pendant swap which is closed. The girls , as far as the pic's I see, have done a great job. An on going challenge is "I Dare You" each month I dare the girls to use an item and alter it in some way. January I dared them to alter a tin/aluminum can.  I tried posting a pic of what I did but as usual Google sucks.Maybe tomorrow.
I will also post a picture of my Valentine. In another group I belong to we were given challenges for each month, using what was provided. We paid for a box of 6 months  full of challenges. Ironically February's could be used for my Valentine swap so I got to kill two birds with one stone.

I'm thinking, that once I get my act together, I'd like to have a contest. I'd like to get my blog membership up to a certain # and then give away some prizes. But I have to give that some thought.
So for now I thank those of you who managed to drop in even when this Blog wasn't very active and I hope to keep up better in this new year so hang in there......