Yay!! its the weekend again.. you know I live for them. Actually I woke up feeling a tiny bit under the weather, like i could be coming down with something.. and have been a bit off today.. but wont let that stop me from having fun! I went and got my hair cut this morning and have been poking around trying to create something this afternoon, not coming out as planned though.. so I'm not sure what I'll end up with.
I talked on the phone with two flickr friends, Natalea of "Kandeland" and Jenny of "Be cherry". we 're going to get together tomorrow afternoon. jenny's plane comes in around noon tomorrow and Natalea and another flickr girl, edible art (I dont know her yet) are already in the buffalo area. I'm an hour south of there. In any case , we're all meeting at the Cheese cake factory. I'm so looking forward to meeting the girls! I think my daughter Jennifer is coming also. I will be sure to take my camera with me!
Tonight Jen and I are going shopping as soon as she gets home from work. And in the morning I'm going to the BEACH with my little beach buddies for a few hours, til its time to come home and get ready to meet the girls!
Monday.. no plans as of yet. probably veg around at home and work on projects!
hey halloween ball doll swappers!! How are we doing? Any glitches? no problems?? I'm assuming not. I havent started my dolls yet.. but I do have many ideas rolling around in my head and I've been collecting lots of halloweenie supplies! Maybe Monday I'll get started. I'm trying to finish up some other swappy things and doing something for my pay it forward girls! Ok.. I'm off for now.. sorry no pics today.. but stay tuned for pictures tomorrow night! I wouldnt be surprised if we all have our cameras out snapping away!!!

vacation in a box and apron swapping!

this ones kind of long.. but then you have lots of time to listen to this pretty song!
I just have so much to show on this entry.. Im starting this at 7:30 in the morning and I know I wont be able to finish it till I come home from work tonight!! damn work gets in the way of my fun all the time!!! OH well.. I'm sure most everyone I know feels that way about going to work.. I actually have a good job that I really like .. but I also really like staying home puttering, cleaning, cooking and most of all...creating things!

Lets see... I have my vacation in a box to tell you about and show you some beautiful things I received from the fabulous Ele. I also need to tell you about the "vintage apron swap" and how I received the most AWESOME package yesterday, and that I'm sure my partner wishes she didnt end up with me for a partner.. lets just say I dont think my apron even begins to compare to the wonderful things she sent me! but I'm going to make her something special now as a thank you giftie. I might also have a couple other little things to show.

So I will begin with my VACATION IN A BOX!! My partner was Ele at a bit of pink heaven. Ele is a very creative and talented girl and she was the perfect partner for me.. both Ele and I wanted a beach vacation.. (would you have guessed that about me??) Anyways..she took me to a wonderful beach, full of seashells and whimsy! I was about squealing with delight when I opened her packages! first of all she wrapped everything so nicely and even her ribbons and little flowery trims were special! here are the pics which dont do her things justice.. I suggest when youre done here, you pop over to her site and look at the pics she took.. they are much better then mine! Look at this wonderful stuff! paper lanterns, a seashell dish, candles coconut bath gel, citrusy bath fizzies, a sweet little vacation frame a wonderul picture of a girl on the beach! and two very special pieces , a sweet box that Ele made and also the spoon that she wired precious beach glass colored beads and seashells on to. LOVE IT ALL.. I do!!

Then there is all these other goodies too.. a beautiful seashell frame, and a wonderful little ball of shells!

Here is a closer look at the sweet box! I love it, see the little seashell and the wonderful ribbons! and the next picture down is what was in the box,

wonderful pink and glittered starfish!! Love them!

I think if you click on this spoon you can see the detail on a larger scale! its is so pretty. I have it sitting above my kitchen sink so I can look at it!Thanks again so much to Ele! I loved my vacation in a box! I had been to the beach the day the package came and actually was in my bathing suit when I opened the gifts! how perfect was that!!

Here is a picture of the things I sent her.. I too, tried to send her to the beach! I made her a sweet little desk top sandbox to play in, with a minature chair and umbrella and a little rake to play in the sand . I have one similiar at work that I play in while i'm on the phone! I sent her a beachy pinkeep.. (Which Ive had posted here already a few posts ago), seashells, a beachy charm bracelet, some beach themed cards, teabag holders, a little mermaid ornament, fish candy and saltwater taffy! I think she loved her vacation in a box as much as I loved mine! we were perfect partners! Thank you kai for hosting such a fun swap!!

OK.. next on the agenda.. the VINTAGE apron swap hosted by the marvelous MICA!( of garboodles!) and again I had the best partner ever. My partner was Lydia of "lydia oh lydia art"! She is a sweetie.. I LOVE my apron and she also made me sweet dish towels to match and then a sweet little bonus gift, she made these precious tags and magnets with pictures that she altered off my flickr site.. I ADORE them and lydia too!! Thank you soo much LYdia!

look at these sweet towels!!

And do click on these and see them in the large setting! they are so funny!

Now, I know Lydia is too nice to complain, but I have a confession to make about the package that I sent her.. it is no where as wonderful as the one she sent me. first of all, I missed the boat when the swap said VINTAGE.. ummm I thought I was doing vintage,, but my brain was warped.. My daughter says I went country.. oh blah! shes right I did.. and not only that, its a good thing I make small bears and tiny things.. I dont do too well at machine sewing .. and I didnt use a pattern.. I just made up the apron... ehhh!!! ( I should have gotten a pattern!) well, all I can say, is I'm sending something special to lydia as soon as I can! She deserves something very sweet! I do have to say that I had fun making it.. just didnt really know what the heck I was doing! Heres a little peek at her package.

I should probably stick to dolls and bears and puddy tats!

I'm freezing.. im closing the door and putting slippers on! when Jen gets home we're going to buffalo stamps ( about an hour away!) to look at the new halloween papers!! oh yes.. we love to waste very expensive gas! Although, is it a waste if were enjoying ourselves? of course not! it just depends on how you look at it! For now.. I need to go cook some fried chicken!! or not.. he just said he wants hotdogs... (Yes! easier!)

see yas later!

good morning girls..

( ... little edit here: I just have to say that I love this piece of music! are you listening to it? I guess you have to love big band to like it.. which i do.. I think Ive heard this song about 15 times in the last couple days! love it.. appropiately called "girl talk" perfect for blogging..... oh and .. need one more to play.. pay it forward!)



good morning girls.. Yeah!! its the weekend.. you wont believe this.. but I just turned down going to the beach for the day!! my daughter bethany called and wanted to go, but I just really dont want to spend the whole day there.

I think we're going to go to our new spot at the lake, which is much closer and we can stay there for a shorter time and still enjoy the lake and the sun! The pictures above are from our new spot just up the road abit! Tony and I went up there the other night! dont ya love the picture of him on the rocks, he looks like a gnome!

two things...

one, I want to show you the halloween purse that i just finished!

I love it! what do you think? It was from a pattern in a book... I think it's by penny mcallister. I added to it and changed it around a little.. as I just can't seem to follow a pattern !

second:

Ive been bitten by the pay it forward bug! what a great idea.. I kept trying to get in on one, but kept missing out by not being one of the first three to respond and say they wanted to play! I got into this one through the fabulous ELe (who I may add has the same color hair as me! and who is extremely creative and talented!)

So This is how it works:

I will send a gift of my choice to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog and ASK to join this "Pay it Forward" exchange. You must make the same pledge on your blog! Please keep the item small so that it can be mailed in a mailing envelope or small box. So, if you want to receive goodies from me and are willing to do the same on your blog, leave a comment and let me know!!! I will need your email and mailing address from each of you so that I can get your goodies out in the mail, (my e-mail is located on my profile). Oh and if you stopped by and you don't want to play, you can still leave me a comment and let me know you were here! You will only be included to play if you say you want to play and you are one of the first three! LET'S PAY IT FORWARD!

OK: New change of plans.. my son is camping with his girlfriend at Darien Lake.. he just called and wants us to visit him. there is a great beach there, so Beth and I are going to visit for a bit and hit the beach after all! till then, I have a project to work on!

Later girls! Hope you all have wonderful weekends!

PINKEEP GALORE

Well its been a while, but I'm finally uploading and posting the pictures that I have from the awesome pinkeep swap! This was a fun swap and everyone of the girls told me how much they enjoyed it! thank you so much for "playing" girls. I just love seeing what everyone comes up with. Everyone was SO absolutely creative! I had two partners, and they made the sweetest pieces! I know they made them special for me! And I appreciate it soo much.. When my daughter moves out, her room will become my craft studio and then I will have a place to display my sweet pinkeeps! thanks to my partners for the other sweet things they sent me as well!
So on with the show!

This first pinkeep was made for me by the awesome Sherry! I adore it!!

This one was made for me also, but the equally as awesome Amelia.. for some reason both amelia and Sherrie have taken to me! They have both become great blogland girlfriends! and I'm so glad!

These youve already seen, if you follow my blog. I made these for my partners, the blue one went to Amelia and the cranberry and green one went to Sherrie. The one in the middle was my giveaway that went to the also very talented Susie Scott.

I dont know if I posted this picture or not.. I probably did, but this pinkeep I made to go into my vacation in a box swap and it went to Ele.. she loved it. I do think this is my favorite of the ones that I made.
this following piece was made by another sweet blogland friend Jillian.. and it went to Gina. both of these girls are so talented.. I've had the priviledge of swapping with both of them! Talent oozes out of both of them! (well, really out of everyone of these girls!!)

This is the sweet sweet little baby shoe pinkeep gina made for Jillian... What did I tell ya? sweet or what?? (I love that little birdie on the back!)

Now look at this gorgeous piece made by the fabulous Sandy! Sandy you and I need to do a swap I think! this is adorable! Sandys piece went to Cindy. how lucky was she??

the also very creative and talented Cindy made this pinkeep for sandy! Both are amazing!!

Then theres one of my favorite girls of all time.. Barbara.. and she made this awesome cone pinkeep with the sweet little vignette on the base! (look at the bear.. looks like this one should go to me doesnt it!) heres pictures of the front then the back! dont ya just love it? (dont ya just love everyone of them??????!!!!!) We havent heard from Barbs partner yet. but we are eagerly anticipating something wonderful from susan! ( I think she up and left us to go on vacation!! lucky her!! hope shes at the beach somewhere!)

This very awesome pinkeep was made by Kathy for her partner Carol. I have to tell you, I adore this pinkeep. I'm just amazed at the things you girls came up with! And I have to say, everyone is into pinkeeps right now.. they are all over flickr and blogland! (now all of ours are too!)

This very sweet flower pinkeep was made by Carol for Kathy! I love it! ( I love them all really!) and notice the little strawberry piece with it! I'm so glad you joined Carol!!

this next little pinkeep was made by the really fabulous doll artist Fran! (her dolls are exceptional!)
Her piece went to the very lucky Catie ann. I love the colors in this one!

And last but not least! Is a wonderful pinkeep by Catie ann which was sent to Fran! i love how she put the heart on a candle stick holder. Actually I think there were a few done like that! I have to tell you that Catie Ann is one of the most kind hearted people I know! and I seriously mean that!

Girls thanks so much for joining the swap! I seem to have a very faithful little group! I'm glad that you all enjoy the swaps! There are a couple more that I havent recieved pics of, but as soon as I do, I'll post them!
If you guys have any ideas for a swap you want me to host, let me know. I'm thinking we should do something for christmas! last year was the snowman ornament swap.. give me some ideas... I have a couple of my own, but Id love to hear your thoughts!
OK.. i've got some projects to work on.. I'm not making dinner tonight, I really havent felt very good the last couple days.. If I do get hungry later, I'll have a bowl of ice cream, or popcorn.. or maybe even both!!! sounds like a good dinner to me. see I can get away with it now, because Ihave no children that I am totally responsible for feeding! and because my hubby isnt home tonight!
Jen and i had talked about going to see the musical beauty and the beast at ARTPARK tonight, but I really dont feel good enough to go so I shall stay home and work on a project!!
Hope you enjoyed seeing the pinkeeps! have a sweet night!

♥♥AWWWWW! WE WUVS EACH OTHER♥♥

He actually seems to be feeling much better the last few days!

isnt he a sweet pie??

(by the way.. try to take a picture of yourself while your hugging your kitty...not very easy.. I had to take a bunch before I got one I could use!)

Sunday morning church bells ringing!

Sunday morning church bells ringing!

Breakfast on the porch this morning.. that and looking at magazines and a little bit of needle punching! My church is just across the street and I was listening first to the church bells ringing.. calling everyone to come worship together, letting them know that church would be starting and then to the sweet singing and the trumpet and piano.. I havent gone to church in so long.. I never used to miss a week.. its hard to go back when so much time has gone past. I do think about it every weekend, but I just never seem to get there! but I did enjoy my porch this morning..

I have no real plans for today except to work on a needle punch project and do some sewing on an apron Im making for lydia! There is a possibility of a short trip to the lake.. just because I cant get enough of it. I was there for about 4 hours yesterday with my daughter Bethany. she is like me.. (oh god, in sooo many ways...) anyways, she is a beach baby too. cant get enough of the beach and the lake.



we took books and just vegged out. the lake was choppy and full of huge waves that we played in for a long time. my knees got sore and tired from jumping up and twirling around when the big waves came (which is what Bethany and I do in the waves.. Jump and twirl!! I just love the lake and crave to be there.. everyday!! I need a cottage on the lake .. Id be sooo happy there all the time! my husband says I would eventually find something to complain about about it! hmph! what does he know.. He says the days that it smells like dead fish I would be miserable. (OK, he is probably right about that... but I wont admit it to him!) So anyways.... maybe one of my kids will get rich and buy me my sweet little cottage on the lake someday!






I think today if I go there, I'll just go down to the end of the road, instead of to the beach. There is a nice grassy area to put a chair to sit and veg out. Theres a lot of cottages down there. but theres also a public spot. We used to swim there sometimes, but I dont think I can climb down the rocks (a little steep) and the stairs are grown over!

well, thats it for now..I need to go make another cup of tea and then its back to my needle punching on the porch!

(by the way.. Jasper is still not well... :( Im very worried about him. I guess since I have tomorrow off, I should take him back to the vets.. )
next post will be all the pictures of the pinkeeps!