Oh India

Great mail day

I had a great mail day on Thursday! Got three handmade letters from Norway (thank you Heidi) and a bunch of Martha Stewart punches I ordered from the US. I have been having so much fun with the butterfly punch.



I decided to use an old frame that no longer had glass and use it as a quasi shadow-box-of-sorts. I played around a bit before I decided how to place by butterflies in the frame.

This version is fun because it looks like the butterflies just landed on the paper.



The organized version.



I have been making a lot my embellishments lately. The other day I made some ribbon flowers on my sewing machine.I got the idea from a great book called "52 more scrap booking challenges" by Elizabeth Kartchner. You should get out her blog - it my absolute favorite. She makes so many pretty things.
Blog link: http://elizabethkartchner.blogspot.com/

Friends

I have been thinking a lot about friendship this past week.... what it means, how it is born, and whom I truly consider a friend. Being a scrapbooker I decided to create an album that celebrates those people that I cherish. I wanted to document:

1) How I met them
2) What I love about them
3) Why I wanted to be their friend
4) Best memory with them
5) Favorite things to do together
6) Duration of friendship.

It has proving to be a wonderful project and I can't help but recall lots of great memories with these individuals. I must admit, that while I am friendly and outgoing, I tend to only open up to those that I trust my heart with. I often find that I am the "listener" in so many of my relationships. I tend to classify those relationships as an "acquaintance", rather than a friend. While I love to listen and help draw people out, it often means that I am not heard. Real friendship is an equal sharing of hearts and time and is not one sided. I have also realized that it is better to have one or two close girlfriends than a slew of people that you can't possibly stay in touch with. Ahhh exhausting.

Okay normally I hate cheesy quotes but here a few really good ones about friendship....

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, What! You too? I thought I was the only one." -C.S. Lewis

"One measure of friendship consists not in the number of things friends can discuss,
but in the number of things they need no longer mention." -Clifton Fadiman

"True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable."
-David Tyson Gentry

Check out this stunning picture of my dear friend Sarah. Sadly, I had to miss her wedding, but I thought I would share this incredible photo of her on her wedding day. She made the lovely flower hairpiece and has a etsy site here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/konigin.



For those of you that are reading this post I would love to know what your description of a good friend is. What is important to you in a relationship?

Ants and other problems...

Perhaps it is a bit strange to blog about the ant infestation in my house, but it is driving me crazy. The thing that gets me, is not the fact that there are insects crawling around collecting Amelia's discarded food, but the fact that I feel AWFUL about killing, maiming or poisoning them. I know, I am ridiculous. If I accidentally wound one while I am sweeping the house I feel terrible. I don't feel a particular affinity for ants, I just don;t like killing creatures unnecessarily if there is another, friendlier option. I have been known to carefully remove spiders from my home with a cup and a piece of paper, and hide moths from my husband so that he doesn't kill them.You must think I am insane.

That said, I really should be a vegetarian. The more I read about how chickens and and other frequently eaten animals are raised, I am horrified. If you don't know where your meat comes from, I strongly encourage you to do a little research. Interestingly, I have no problem eating the animals that my husband skillfully hunts.
The reason: I feel that they have lived good lives and have been killed respectfully(if such a thing is possible). When my husband shoots an animal with his bow, he aims to kill, and does so in a manner that ends the animals life instantaneously.
Many of the meat products we purchase in our grocery stores are the result of a great deal of suffering, and cramped miserable conditions. That is not to mention the fact that they have been shot full of hormones and force fed. Not cool.

Spring!!!!

The sun feels so lovely and warm and I can't help but feel that Spring is coming. People keep saying that it is going to get cold again but I hope that it just keeps getting warmer. To celebrate Spring I made a shadow box and filled it with favorite bits of paper and spring inspired things. It was so fun and easy to make. Here are a few little detail shots.










Amelia's favorite book right now is about a butterfly so I thought it would be fun to create something that captured her childish fascination.

Out for a snowy hike

A couple of days ago we decided to go for a hike.and explore some caves we had seen on one of our many drives (my husband loves driving). As soon as we bundled up and got Amelia into her carrier huge flakes of snow started to come down. It was beautiful, but my dear daughter did not enjoy getting blobs of cold snow in her eyes. Once we reached the caves she was content to look around and enjoy the hard earned view. (lots of scrambling and clambering over loose gravel and large rocks)



We found bat caves, mountain lion poop, cool little geod crystals in the rocks and some neat icicles. All in all it was nice to get out of the house and get a bit of a workout.

Reasons I'm loving my new home....

Live blue grass music. mandolin players. bright blue skies. turquoise water. bright starry uninterrupted skies. a bowl full of raspberries from someones garden. a yummy burger and fries at Lee's Corner. hitching posts outside. wrangler jeans. belt buckles and cowboy hats galore. delicious lasagna. good company. a forest view from my window, snowflakes, sunlight.... and so many other things.... so thankful





snow

Mandolin

Love is in the air.....

I happen to like Valentines, despite the fact that it has become quite commercialized. It is a great reminder me to take time to appreciate those people in my life that I love. This year I made a whole bunch of homemade cards and sent them to all my dearest friends and family.It made for a fun trip to the post office.



I decided to host a cupcake decorating party as an excuse to play with icing and candy and get to know my neighbors. It all turned out splendidly and even Amelia got in on the action..... little monkey.



I adore this art project I found on the Martha Stewart website. I haven't tried this yet myself, but I plan to sometime before Valentine's day arrives.







Ahhhh infatuation...

Creative slump

I am experiencing a creative slump. I don't even have the energy to get dressed. Perhaps I will spend the day eating chocolate and wearing my husband's clothing. My little sprout is sleeping at the moment so I am stealing some time to blog and peruse the Internet for inspiration.... I really would love to spend the day curled up in bed with a good book. Those days are loooong gone.

I have not been completely useless...I did re-arrange my craft room. Organizing is something I often do when I don't have the energy to create. It makes me feel productive. I have a bit of an obsession with being "productive". It is rather difficult for me to just "be", especially when there are dishes in the sink. I can't stand it when my house is messy and it takes everything within me to ignore it and take my daughter to the park. I think that I am starting to get a little bit more relaxed, or at least I hope I am. I still freak out when I know that someone is coming over and there is stuff strewn everywhere. It doesn't help that both my daughter and husband are walking whirlwinds. Dahhhh!


I am planning a cupcake decorating party for a couple of mom's I recently met. I really enjoy Valentines and have been furiously making cards for my dearest friends. Normally my husband and I always do something extravagant but this year I think we will be doing something simple. Last year we did a camel safarie in the Thar desert in India... this year we will most likely have to settle for some home cooking and a cuddle.


I started riding my bike this week. It is attached to my wind trainer (a far cry from tearing down the side of a mountain, but it will suffice until the ice melts. It is depressing to realize how out of shape I am. I think that I have been putting off strenuous exercise for fear of discovering that fact. *sigh* My husband, on the other hand, is in the best shape of his life. Once and awhile he invites me to do push-ups on the floor with him .... what generally ensues is the following.... (Nathaniel) "You can do it, just straighten your back and focus".... (me)"arrrrgggg so hard.... and then landing flat on my face and laughing hysterically. Did you know that it is incredibly difficult to do push ups when you are laughing. One day i will be able to do more than three... in a row.