Crafting the Flowers with Ink

A friend of mine is doing a series of photos of Victorian Christmas' through this whole month. It is "eye candy" for sure. So won't you please go visit her at Aunt May's Cottage.
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I found the most incredible ink the other day at Joanns Fabrics and decided to try it on a white cardboard rose. This project is just super simple if you want to make them for attaching to gift packages. Just dust the ink over the leaf and voilà it's colored. Go back here to learn how it begins. Even if the card stock tears it will still turn out just fine.

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My granddaughter's kitty, Hugs. Hugs needs a diet for sure. He is one BIG kitty, I tell ya. He followed Love Bunny around just waiting for him to drop a piece of meat or a pancake with syrup or a piece of bread. Hugs will eat anything!

Please, please, don't believe what they tell ya; I'm one hungry kitty, gramps!! They're trying to starve me.

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On Just Being "Restless"

Since getting back from my granddaughter's home for Thanksgiving I've been a bit restless. I'm guessing that some of you know that feeling: lethargic, apathetic, sluggish, don't want to do anything like cleaning or laundry, but maybe just a tad restless also. Yeah, I thought so.

But today I definitely had to do the floors at least. The dust can wait until I'm good and ready to attack it. Maybe not the toilets though.

But I volunteered to do a Christmas swap with my eBay group friends. We're not many, just 14, but very close for the last several years. I don't regularly hop onto swaps as I just cannot seem to motivate myself to do many and my time is precious. But I love them and thought it would be fun.

So today I've spent a bit of time fixing up one of the items to be sent to my swap partner. I don't believe she reads blogs so this isn't a "reveal" to her. Plus she has been in on my quest to be a rose painter. This tiny project will be a little something extra in the box for her and it didn't involve much time for me. She's getting other things also, but an "original" by me will delight her, I'm sure. You can view how pathetic I truly am! But I do try and that's what is important.

My practice sheet from today is below. I'm either masochistic, have no shame or very brave to show you this. Not sure which! :-)
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Here we have one box of pink decorations I plan on putting on our tree next year. Trust me, there will be a couple of boxes with items I'm crafting or buying throughout 2010 to use. This is just a start. If I spot something on my walls or see something that I have that will go on the tree, it goes in these boxes till next Christmas. I also have some stuff in my craft closet in bags that I plan on using, too. Throughout the year I'll be culling things as I go along. Some things in the box may not be used I suppose. I hope the reality is as good as the fantasy. Dream on...

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Bedrooms 12/2/09

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving and has returned home safely.
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A darling vignette with an old washstand and bowl. To complement the scene the owner has hung a sweater and various items on a trellis and it looks just fabulous. I have a trellis just like that with no place to put it. *Sigh*.....

Oooh, to have the luxury of a small dining table in a bedroom would be exquisite, don't you think? I do.

I think I shall go find a pair of hubby's old USMC boots and let them establish a presence on a plant shelf in my living room. After all, this looks fantastic, so why not?

An artist's bedroom with the brushes just waiting to be picked up and put to canvas.

Bead board hints at a cottage by the sea to me. Snuggling up in a fluffy robe and a bed with wonderful comforters is a luxury for sure.

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Bedrooms 11/30/09

Let's look at some lovely bedrooms today since it's a holiday weekend.

Isn't this lovely in its English countryside feel? What a joy to see that old trellis used in such a way.

A tad formal in its elegance this bedroom could be home to a courtly gentleman or a ranch out in the west.

A lover of plants must live here, but for me, it would have to be faux plants as I kill just about anything I try to water.

An English author resides in this bedroom. Very simplistic.

A retired ballerina resides here and even has a barre with which to practice on every day. Lovely...and not at all "put together" by an interior designer. The owner's taste definitely shows through in this room.

I love this look but my ceilings aren't tall enough to establish the look. My bed, however, looks very much like the bed...sans the poster frame.

Since we lived in the San Francisco Bay area, this scene is very reminiscent of our home there. Rain on the windows and plants just outside the door are a very common scene for that area.

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Random Thoughts for Pink Saturday 11/28/09

Be sure and visit with Beverly at howsweetthesound for Pink Saturday. You'll see lots of pink, chicks.
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The end of October I won a giveaway. I usually enter just to add my name to the pot never thinking I'll win it, and it's not a big deal with me anyway. I mean I love them but I just want to help support the bloggers. Anyway, several days ago I received the package in the mail from the blogger. I actually gasped when I opened the box. It far exceeded my expectations. Pictures never do the items justice as I well know, but this is just stunning in person. I'm delighted, Debi, just delighted!!!!

Full of little surprises...

...and more surprises.

The cutest tag I've come across in a long time.

And...squeeeeeeeeal...some vintage jewelry!!
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And this is the kind of tree I'm going to have for the holidays next year hopefully:
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And now that we've had the "eye candy", let's go to the...

Random Thoughts:
Recent experience. Men cannot multi-task like women. Love Bunny got quite distraught recently when I asked him to do something and he was doing something else. Now, this didn't involve something hard. But he actually got a bit testy. Men want one focus at a time. Heaven forbid we should disturb them when they have a tool in their hands! And just think of all the things a "mom" can do at one time. *Smile* Men don't seem to have the ability to do that, but they are worth keeping around. I love my man!
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A book was recommended lately called Cracking the Boy's Club Code and it is truly wonderful for those women who are still in the working world. Basically it tells you to stop acting like a little girl when dealing with men. Lower your voice instead of that high little girl voice and you'll have more authority.

Dress for success! Yep, if you dress like a slut, you'll be treated as such. When I was in the working field I dressed professionally. Nothing on my body gave away my modesty. I cringe now when I go into stores and see what they wear for work! Even in my lounging I don't wear what those women wear to work. Flip flops? T-shirts? Sneakers? Bra straps showing? Tummies showing? How in the world do you expect to be treated like a lady if you "put it all out there for show? And don't give me that "Well, they should respect me"; noooooo, they shouldn't if you don't respect yourself! Act like a professional woman; you'll get farther.
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Never drive around with a license plate that says "SPDBRAT." Duh...
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Money talks, but chocolate definitely gives ME a buzzzzzzzzz.
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While driving by the high school on my way shopping the other day I noticed the cars in the student's parking lot. Let me tell you, most of them have more expensive cars than I have. Now, we do not live in a wealthy town. This ain't Hollywood, folks! But those kids couldn't possibly afford those kind of cars even if they do work. Mom and dad had to buy it for them. Oh, maybe they pay for the gas, but there is no way most of them could afford a car as nice as the ones I saw in the lot. We never bought our kids a car. They bought it, maintained it, bought their own gas and worked at jobs to do this. It has served them well. They are both very independent and well off today for the things we wouldn't do for them. I feel sorry for the kids today who will now certainly inherit the debt from our government and will not have the extra money we had.
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Love Bunny had a meeting with the bishop this past week to discuss some details on home teaching assignments. Just before he was to leave I noticed he had on a Harley-Davidson t-shirt (the one for H-D biker wanna-be! LOL) Conversation went like this:

She: I woudn't go visit the bishop in a Harley-Davidson t-shirt.

He: You're going to visit with the bishop?????

She: No. Let me put that another way: YOU'RE not going to go to church and visit with the bishop in that t-shirt.

He smiled. He changed his shirt.
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At any given time, hubs can have 2 to 3 pairs of pants along with shirts on the chair next to his bed. I asked him recently if he would try to reduce it to one set of clothing for the next day. I think the key word he heard was "try". *Sigh*.........
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