Recycle It! LFB

This is the LFB that I made for my Recycle It! Swap in the In My Vintage Room Yahoo Group. The challenge was to create a piece of art predominantly comprised of recycled materials from around your home. I saved the waxed paper image of the lady from egg roll packaging, punched circles from the Chinese food Menu, used the gold coins from an old card I was given, beads and ribbon from an old sewing box etc. It was a challenge that took me outside of my Vintage realm.

Snow Day Snowman

Well, it worked out that everything I was supposed to do got cancelled today and I enjoyed myself outside in the snow with Aly and Brinkley and Jeff. What do you think of our Snow Friend?

A Winter Wonderland @ Midnight

Jeff and I were looking out the window of our bedroom last night admiring the way the snow was coating the world outside. I wanted to grab my camera and attempt to capture some of natures beauty...but I still haven't quite mastered those night settings and snow was still falling heavily causing me some anxiety about getting my camera wet. Nevertheless, I snapped these shots and then we walked Brinkley around the block and threw snowballs for him to catch in his mouth. It was a sweet spontaneous little moment that ended with cold noses, wet socks, and happy hearts.

Saint Patrick's Day Twinchies

Here are the twichies that I made for Fran's St. Patty's Day Twinchie Swap in the In My Vintage Room Yahoo Group. I hope they will be lucky charms for whoever receives them!

Will You Be Mine? Check Yes or No

It's hard to explain my relationship with my boyfriend Jeff. We have been dating for almost 3 and a half years and we have a house, a dog, and two cats. Essentially, we have our little fur family, our jobs and school, our house...and tending to those things, and taking care of our responsibilities is our life. It unfortunately has left little time and energy left for each other. It's hard to know whether it is by our own neglect and fault of ours, or by the pace of our lives and circumstances whether we have let the flame of our love fizzle to a dull ember. Is this what it is to be in an adult relationship, to get comfortable and to grow apathetic? Or are we taking forgranted what we have and letting it die? These were the questions I posed to him the week before Valentine's day, as I felt my unrest intensify when I tried to find the words to describe how I felt in his Valentine card and nothing seemed right. My heart felt like it was breaking, and I questioned how much he really cared for me and me for him. How could this be when on the surface we co-exist so peacefully and take care of our home and our pets and our responsibilities so balanced and seamlessly? What more could I want? Emotion. Passion. And a true reminder that I was loved.

On Valentine's Day morning, Jeff was sleeping for his night shift, and I was getting ready to work the day. We literally got to see each other for 15 waking minutes, but somehow he managed to make the day seem special. With a singing greeting card, a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a stamp set with the words love, always, grin, and imagine, and a silver jewelry box containing a white gold heart pendent. I felt so pleasantly surprised and relieved that he had thought of me and put such effort into the day that we wouldn't even get to spend together. The best part came when I got home though; I found a letter on my pillow explaining why I received each gift and what it represented for him. He even revealed that I was supposed to have received roses too, but the florist closed before he could pick them up. The letter was in an envelope that read "Will you be my Valentine? Check Yes or No." It made me smile, and my heart soared with the emotions that I've missed for a long time. I checked yes, and put the envelope on his side of the bed for when he came home in the morning.

I'm not a jewelry person and I don't expect lavish gifts or large expensive tokens of affection, but this occassion called for a special reminder, and he made me feel special. Now when I wear his necklace I play with the pendant throughout the day and think of him with a smile, just as he said in his letter that he hoped I would.

One More Valentine

I must confess, I did not make this Valentine this year. It has been sitting in my small stash of pre-done cards waiting for the occassion. I made it a few years ago when I was living in my apartment with Jeff in Schenectady. I can still remember having all my supplies spread out on the floor of the circular room that was our living room in the touret of the old victorian house on Union Street. I don't know why this card never found a recipient that year, but this year it found a worthy one. I decided to give my cooperating teacher from student teaching this card along with a box of chocolates when I went back to the middle school this week to help her with Yearbook club. It's nice to get back into a school now that I am done with my student teaching and she has been a great mentor and profound support. It made her day. And I'm glad she appreciated my hand-stamped, hand-cut, and hand decorated chocolates as much as the real ones I brought her.

Cupid LFB

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This is the final little fat book page that I will be making for the Stampassion Little Fat Book Club. Sadly, the owner of the store where the club has been offered has decided to close her doors. I was taken aback by the news and will miss my monthly get-togethers with the group of ladies there. I remember the first time I went to Stampassion when I walked to the store from my college campus my first semester of school. It seems like the store has been there as long as I can remember, so its sad to see it go. Rumor has it that some of the girls are thinking of alternate locations to continue the group so hopefully it will all work out anyway.

This page is for the "Cupid/Angel/Winged-Person" Swap that we decided to do for February. I decided to depart a little from the pinks and reds and I think the blues and golds are just as elegant and lovely. This page is pretty simple but I wanted the focus to be on the pretty victorian images that I cut from a Cynthia Hart victorian calendar. I embossed the words "struck by LOVE" on the front using a CTMH stamp, but its not as legible as I would have liked.

A Half Dozen Valentines

Well, I have been in Valentine mode for weeks now between inchies, twinchies, LFBs, secret packages etc...but when it came time to actually sit down and make Valentines themselves...I've felt drained and overwhelmed. I wanted to make some for co-workers, and my art friends in the In My Vintage Room Yahoo Group, but its not going to happen. Too much to do, and time has run out. Today I at least got this half dozen done for some family. My grandmas and my great aunt always love recieving handmade cards from me, and I think that the Kiss card will be for Jeff. I used some shimmer paper and the Gossamer Memory Box paper that I bought at Stampassion a few weeks ago, and the stamps and ink are Close To My Heart.

5x5 Beeswax Canvases

I busted out the crockpot of beeswax to work on some collages for gifts today. I used patterned papers, vintage book pages, antique buttons, dress making pattern tissue, paper lace doilies, and images printed from this website.

I purchased the metal heart on the top canvas from Walmart the other day. It is a pin that I cut the back off of. The bottom canvas has an old cigar label for an accent. It was fun to go back to this beeswax collage technique that the talented Marilyn Rock taught me this summer.

Secret Valentine Beeswax LFB

Here's a LFB I made for my Secret Valentine while I had my beeswax out today working on 5x5 canvases (see next blog entry).