Chaos Makes Me Happy

One a day? For real?

2011-04-03T18:27:00.001-07:00

I'm thinking about taking on another one a day kind of challenge. I don't know what yet... but maybe something will stick out to me. Any suggestions?

Day 14

2010-03-03T12:18:00.000-08:00

Today I mailed a package to my boyfriend overseas. I stuffed a flat rate shipping box to the point of bursting and took that ten pound sucker to the post office to send it on it's way. I hope that he gets it intact and that he enjoys what's in it. It drives me crazy though that he won't get it for 2 to 4 weeks... I can't wait to see what he says about the contents and a month is a long time to wait!!!!

Michelle

Day 13

2010-03-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

The gift of listening: that's what I gave today. Unfortunately a couple of my friends had really terrible days today and I spent some time listening to each of them. One of my friends is going through a divorce and is struggling trying to figure out how to keep her family together and the other has lost her job unexpectedly. I felt terribly sorry today that I couldn't do more to help everyone, and I felt thankful to have the blessings in my life that I have. I really wish those of you going through some hard times a lot of luck and blessings. I know that things will end up working out fine in the end... we just have to struggle through it a bit right now, but I hope you all know you can count on me to help with whatever I can give!

Best Wishes to everyone!
Michelle

Day 12

2010-03-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

Cheryl took me out to see a movie today--she won free tickets and let me share them with her! Before we left I went to her house and used her internet. I wanted to let her know I appreciated both the internet usage and the free movie--so I bought her popcorn (or rather our popcorn--I did share it!) and bought her drink... definitely got more than I paid for if you look at internet costs and movie tickets! Well worth it and hopefully she enjoyed it too!

Thanks Cheryl!
Michelle

Day 11

2010-03-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today was a crazy busy day! I went to the auction and met up with my cousin and her husband as well as my parents. My dad decided not to stay so he left my mom in my care and she and I bought up the place! Actually we didn't do too badly--my mom got a couple of things she really wanted. I picked up some fun random stuff, and we had a good day overall. I ended up taking my mom out for lunch as my act of giving today. She bought my random goodies at the auction and I wanted her to know that I really appreciated her just coming and spending time with me. Also after the auction we boxed up whatever we bought and didn't want and took it to give to my cousin. She then got to go through what was left and pick things for herself and also to keep the stuff to try to sell in a garage sale later. Hopefully it's a gift that gives her a bit more money down the road during garage sale season!

Best wishes!
Michelle

Day 10

2010-03-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

For today I decided to write a letter to my boyfriend to appologize. He's currently overseas and I had a bit of a hard day and kind of got more frustrated with him because I was just frustrated with my own stuff. So I wrote a letter to tell him I care about him and I'm sorry to put that pressure on him when he's so far away. I hope that he enjoys it when he gets it--although mail going overseas to a military base is ssssssssssllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

I just want him to know he's always in my thoughts!

Michelle

Day 9

2010-02-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

Um... crabby city around here today! I'm in a terrible mood! Yesterday I fell down at the gym and totally felt foolish and then my dog stayed with my parents last night and my boyfriend is out of the country and unable to comfort me. Poor Lydia did all she could to get me through and make me stop thinking of how silly I was and it worked until this morning when I started just feeling grumpy and wanted to stay in bed all day long! I finally went to work though and the mood didn't end... especially after trying to have a phone conversation with the boyfriend in which I could only understand every 2nd or 3rd word he said because the connection was so bad. I was in a crappy mood anyway and really that didn't help.... although I realize that's exactly what he was trying to do. So in order to make it through the day I decided to get some Hershey's Kisses for myself and my coworkers. I just figure if I'm angry and frustrated today then they might be too! So I got some and put them on the table and already felt a little bit better. We started joking at work about how I was having one of those days where I just wanted to throw a tantrum, scream and stomp my feet, and then proceed to leave the building. My coworkers understood and agreed that they have those days too. After acknowledging things my mood improved, and one of the other ladies actually asked if I brought the chocolate and thanked me for it. Hopefully it helped her mood today too!

Day 8

2010-02-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to write some thank you notes online for a postcard swap that I was in. There are a few more that I didn't have any sort of address or contact information for so I will have to mentally thank them, but for those who's art I did receive with some sort of contact information I tried to thank them and let them know I appreciate all that I got!

Day 7

2010-02-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

Today a friend of mine and I decided to go to the gym and give it a try. We had a good time and laughed and worked out a bit on the treadmill and then afterward we were both starving! I decided to pay for dinner tonight as my act of giving. We went across the street to Wendy's and got something quick for dinner and then went home and ate it. My friend is always helping me out with things like preparing food for parties or picking up the dog on the way home for me... she's a great friend and dinner wasn't nearly enough to pay her back for all the little ways she helps me out!

Day 6

2010-02-25T12:12:00.000-08:00

So for Day 6 I guess I am just counting something that I do all day at work... I helped a patron! I work at the library and honestly every day I'm helping people... but today I'm counting it for my act of giving. Sometimes at work I can help someone and not have time to get into everything or go very deep at work, but today I had a more relaxed day and I got to help a patron at work who was very pleasant and was willing to pay for a book that she thought she had returned. She was very nice and I took a few extra minutes to search for the book before she actually paid for the fines and I ended up finding the book on the shelf. Of course she was delighted and I was apologizing for missing it in the first place. She was very sweet though and it made me glad to make a little extra effort at the time. I do appreciate working in a job where helping people is a big part of my day. I actually like helping, although it's so much easier to do when you are helping someone polite or pleasant than someone crabby or someone ungrateful for your assistance. Today I'm glad to give to people at work!

Day 5

2010-02-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

UPDATE--Sounds like Harley has a home--she's living with the family for now. Thanks for helping though to anyone who asked around!Okay so it's Day 5 and I offered to give my friend's dad's dog a bath. This is her--her name is Harley and she's a Basset Hound with a wiggly little tail and a bit of spunk! She was super cute, but smelled awful because she lived in a house with a smoker. Unfortunately her owner just passed away and she's kind of in a state of Limbo right now... looking for a home... if anyone knows someone who might be willing to take in an older dog--she's about 10 and has some issues that come with old age--like Arthritis, deteriorating eyesight, and hearing loss--but she is house trained and shows affection ALL the time! Um, and you can't look at her sweet eyes and not want to pat her cute little head! Especially if you could see how her little short, stubby legs turn outward when she stands there and her floppy ears almost hit the floor she's so cute! Oh, and don't try to stop her tail from wagging!

In a funny note to those of you reading though, Harley gave me a gift of her own, she actually ended up showing me that an old dog isn't as feeble as you might think. After getting her bath I let her out to go to the bathroom without her collar on thinking she was an older dog and wouldn't go far.... um, she wasn't happy with the bath apparently and she took off down the sidewalk. She's got some spunk in her when she wants to show it and she took off running (or hopping on those funny little legs) and we both ended up tripping and falling in the neighbors driveway! Um.... glad the neighbors weren't out because that would have been terribly embarrassing--the neighbor girl wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top with a coat on top is chasing a short, old dog down the street and wipes out! Argh! Totally embarassing! But she certainly taught me arthritis is no match for her when she's on the go, she taught me to have a good laugh at myself and the situation, and she taught me that you are never too old for an adventure!!! So go lopping down the sidewalk if you need to and see what happens!

Day 4

2010-02-22T12:04:00.001-08:00

So it's Day 4 of the challenge and I did a couple of things today. I listened to someone vent their frustrations about a work situation, and then afterwords I actually just agreed and changed the subject so we could both be encouraged to do what we can to make things better. This is a big deal for me and this particular work situation because it's one that frustrates me a lot and I was able to allow someone else to get out their issues with it and not get stuck in that angry frustrated mood afterwords. Hopefully it helped both of us to know that someone had similar issues and that we weren't floating around alone. I enjoyed my day which was a great way to prove that you can have some impact with a positive attitude and I guess that was honestly my gift for today... having a positive attitude in the face of frustration!

Best Wishes!
Michelle

Day 3

2010-02-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

Fell off the wagon today. Don't you have days where you get so overwhelmed by everything going on that you don't end up doing what you want and need to do? I thought about fibbing and saying that I gave more to a patron at the library than normal or that I helped out a friend or something, but honestly I'd be lieing to myself not to anyone else... and if there is one thing I try not to do it's lie to myself! So I'm telling you truthfully that I missed a day and that tomorrow I'm starting over again... and maybe I'll just consider it a redo of day 3 and get myself back on track! Here's to tomorrow and giving it another shot!

Michelle

Day 2

2010-02-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

For day 2 of the 29 day giving challenge I sent a letter to my Grandma. I haven't talked to her since around Christmas and I wanted to tell her thanks again for her support when I bought my house a year ago. It was great to have family and friends supporting me so much and she gave me just a bit of seed money to help with a down payment which was a great relief! Actually I used part of the money to put in new carpet, which was wonderful!!! It felt nice to look back on something I had given thanks for over a year ago and remind someone that I'm still grateful for the impact it made. So thanks again Grandma and thanks to all of you who helped me paint, strip wallpaper, remove carpet, and do all the moving and packing and cleaning necessary to start a new home--a home of my very own! I can't tell you how happy this house has made me this past year and I'm glad to have all of you around to continue to share in that awesome, wonderful feeling!

Best Wishes!
Michelle

Day 1

2010-02-18T14:13:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the first day of the giving challenge and used that opportunity to double the tip to the massage tech who worked on the knot in my back. On Monday my back was actually really sore to the point that I had to ask my dad to bring me a heating pad to work so I could hopefully make it through the day at work. It was a long, slow day and I was not in a very good mood. After using the heat through the evening and then through the night my knot was less sore though and I scheduled a massage appointment for Tuesday after work. I decided that since they were giving me a discount on the massage (the monthly special discount) that I would double what I usually leave as a tip. Granted I don't make a lot of money and I'm not one to tip a ton when I get a massage, but I felt like she was very thorough and helped out a lot. I'm still a bit tight in between my shoulders but honestly it's worlds better than it was on Monday and the therapist earned every dollar she made!!!

So Day 1- I want to say thanks to Amanda at the
Massage Therapy Clinic in Georgetown Square here in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The web address for the site is http://www.myfortwaynemassage.com

Best Wishes Everyone!
Michelle

29 Day Giving Challenge

2010-02-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

I recently read the book 29 Gifts by Cami Walker and I really appreciated it. The book was pretty basic, but the point of the book is that you are supposed to give one thing every day for 20 days and learn to connect more to others through giving. The gifts can be anything from calling a friend who needs some encouragement, sending a package to someone, volunteering your time or services to those around you, or just smiling or encouraging a stranger. The point is that you are supposed to give gifts not with the expectation of getting anything in return and not because you feel like you have to give something. You are supposed to just learn to give to feel connections and to honestly bring about something positive for another person... and that's why I've decided to give it a try. I'm starting tomorrow. Tonight I'm at work and although the opportunity surely will present itself I guess I'm just feeling like I want to start fresh tomorrow with the idea in my head from the start of the day. Wish me luck on giving my 29 gifts for the next 29 days!

Best wishes!
Michelle

What's new blueberry?

2009-08-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

We went Blueberry picking last week!
It was great fun for the whole family,
or my family and my friends and their families--I don't discriminate!
And we only got lost like 4 times on the way and got to see an old man who drove his car into the shrubs on the side of the road... that made for some interesting conversation--
FYI no we did not actually see him drive into the shrubs, we just saw the cops and wreckers trying to get the car out and were coming up with some crazy theories as to what made someone just drive into a shrub....

Blueberry picking in white shorts?
Yep that's Elizabeth...she said she hates those shorts,
um and they aren't so white and clean now!

Alyssa gave up first--stating that Blueberry picking was hurting her wrist--then she proceeded to eat the berries from her bucket! No!!! Eat the berries on the shrubs--those berries are free!

Yep, even my mom got in on the action...although mostly she ate the berries and pulled weeds. I think she was trying to get a discount on berries by pulling weeds for them... but it didn't work!

Best Wishes!
Michelle

Puppy Love

2009-08-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

So my parents ended up getting a puppy this past weekend. It's soooooooooo cute! It's an Irish Setter and seems to be healthy and fun. It goes to the vet on Thursday for it's checkup and first set of shots. Hopefully it's got a clean bill of health! Here are some photos though of the cutie--his name is Sammy and we got him from a guy who was going to give him and his siblings to the rescue organization, so he was a free puppy. He's soooooo stinking cute--did I mention that already!?!

Best wishes!
Michelle

What do you want for Christmas?

2009-07-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

So it's time for me to think about getting people Christmas gifts--or better yet making people Christmas gifts. Does anyone have anything special they want to throw out there as a potential Christmas gift that I can make for them? If so feel free to post it on here--I might be willing to oblige!

Merry Christmas in July Everyone!
Michelle

2009-05-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24425305

Check out this website and you will see the adorable dog that is on the postcard I received in the mail today! It's so cute! Apparently his name is Bean and he is a cute little Boston Terrier with a fun little hat on his head! I love the pictures of him in the "beanzilla dog hat"

I so want to make one of those little town backgrounds and take some photos of Gussy playing in it!!! Fantastic!

Michelle

Louisville Art O Mat

2009-04-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

So I recently went to another Art O Mat--this time in Louisville KY. It was great, except the piece of art that I got from the machine was terrible!!! I still love the machines though and I'm totally enamored with finding them and visiting them and hoping for the best when I put my money in! Check out the great machine itself:

FYI the piece that I purchased was a weird distortion of a picture of a woman smiling. The piece was made by art students at a college somewhere as a fund raiser. It was interesting... and frightening at the same time! I'm glad to have supported the arts, but I don't know about hanging that one up on my wall! :o)

What does Gussy think?

2009-04-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

So everyone asks me all the time, what does Gussy think of the new house? Well let's ask and see, shall we:
"This carpet smells funny and my toys are all over the place, where do you keep the kibble? I don't know where I am anymore? What about those walks and the neighborhood kids? I swear why do you have to put me in this crazy place?"-- Gussy in March

"Okay, nevermind! I found the couch and the bed and this carpet actually feels pretty good when I rub my ears all over it. I mean I guess I can get used to it. There are those two neighbor dogs and I think that there might be kids around here... and people come visit a lot right now which is sweet! Although I wish they would bring me some treats... treats would be good... or leftovers... maybe a steak or a steak bone... I mean I'll take what I can get... you know it wouldn't be so bad here if Michelle would just go to the grocery store every once in awhile! And maybe she could buy me a steak when she goes next time!" --Gussy in April

All in all I think we are adjusting well! :o)

Friends help Friends... destroy!

2009-04-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that my friends are the best?

Did I mention that when I bought my new house--alone--as in a single woman making the best of her own life--that my friends kind of unwillingly joined me in that task...
And that they are now helping me to destroy the things in the house that I need to get rid of?

For example:

Steph rips that dang wallpaper border right off!
Who likes that border anyway?
Not me!

Stef pulls that carpet up with her super strong, gloved hands
And makes me laugh so hard I think I might pee my pants in the process!
People say tearing your carpet out is hard, apparently they don't have Stef around to vent her frustrations on their old carpets because it made removing mine a snap!

And Lydia jumps right in to the messy jobs!
She got right to work on making that hole in the wall into a lovely flat wall without a hole--
by putting on a protective mask and sanding the crap out of it!
She's a trooper for sure! Although she probably isn't glad about me putting this picture online.
Just remember Lydia--I'm doing it to tell everyone how wonderful you are
at dealing with dirty situations!

You are all so great and wonderful! Thanks for helping me to: Paint, clean, wash, remove old fixtures, put in new ones, plumb the sink, fix the electrical problems, you know all the stuff you did, and so do I! Thanks so much for all of you! Even the ones not pictured here!

Best Wishes and let me know if anyone wants to join me
in my giant craft project, AKA: the house!

Broken Heart

2009-02-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

The same day that I found out my bid on the house went through was the day that I ended up with a stray dog jumping into my car. These pictures break my heart. They were the pictures I took of her before I took her to animal care and control which I will NEVER ever do again! She was lovely and would have been a perfect pet for someone but unfortunately they have a policy at Animal Care and Control about not adopting out any kind of pit bulls. Also they only have to keep them for about 5 days before they euthanize them so she was put to sleep instead of having a home found for her. I'm really upset about it because I even put wrote on the paperwork that I would have been more than happy to pay to adopt her if her owners were not found. They however did nothing to contact me and when I called back about her was when I found out she was already gone. Please, just read this post and realize how important it is to take care of your pets--spay and neuter them! Keep their tags and collars on them--she didn't have anything! Microchip if you have a dog that wanders! And if you are interested in getting a new pet please consider doing something good for yourself and the world by taking in a stray--from the newspaper, from Animal Care and Control, from the Humane Shelter, from a neighbor who can't keep their pet, from whoever--but realize that dogs who are free are often just as great if not better than pure breeds that you pay a ton for!

I called her Zara--I loved her for the short time she was in my life!
I wish I could have saved her and if I had known what was in store
for her I would have tried harder!

Here are some pictures of my dog--
he was a free dog and he is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time!
I love him and would definitely recommend strays to anyone!

He's a great, fuzzy, little snuggler!

Please take care of your pets!

Or Gussy will bark at you!

Random Art Bits

2009-02-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

These are some random bits of arts and crafts that I've done over the last couple of months. I just like sharing them, hopefully someone enjoys looking at them. :o)

This was for an encouragement swap on swap-bot.com.

These were some fun postcards that I recently made from
discarded books, paint chips, and stickers!
Cheap, easy, and fun to do!

This was one of the ATCs that I did recently. I love it!!!
I want to make some more with buttons for myself!
This one really cracks me up though!

Art Journal Pages

2009-02-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

I signed up to take an online art journal class. It was pretty fun, but honestly I wasn't able to keep up with everyone because things have been kind of weird the last couple of months, but I was going to share a few of my pages. I would like to say though that I was definitely trying to follow the instructor too much and not following myself enough, so honestly out of the pages that I did, these are the ones that I felt were the most "me."

Big News!

2009-02-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

So it finally is happening! I bought a house!
It's in an addition, but the back yard faces a field, so that makes it feel a bit more secluded.

This is the first of two full bathrooms!!!
(That yellow spot on the floor isn't there in real life--only in the pictures!)

This is the kitchen with the Jenn-air stove which needs repairs.
The kitchen feels really small to me, but I'm going to live with it for awhile and then maybe do some remodeling in the future. When I save up some money!
Oh, and that's Cliff the inspector--he told me the house needs some maintenance, but overall it's not that bad! Woohoo!

Um, that's my dog Gussy checking out the carpet by the back door. He's just making sure the house is dog approved--apparently it was since before we left he was rubbing on the carpet!
(Of course he is a dog and he rubs in bird poo in the yard too!)

This is our newest family portrait!
That's my mom, my dog, and myself in front of the fireplace!
The walls in the living area are currently cranberry--that will be changed soon enough!

Only a couple more weeks until we get the keys and start working on the place and moving things in. Thank goodness for family and friends because without them I would be in so much trouble! Now keep your eyes open for a washer and dryer combo and a new dinning room table!

Funniest thing that happened today!

2009-02-09T12:46:00.000-08:00

Today at work a routine customer came to the desk and told me he doesn't get to see me very often but he was glad to see me today. Then he smiled and showed me his few teeth that still are intact and told me "When I see you, I think of a stuffed cabbage." This made me laugh and I said I'm not sure if that's good or bad, he said it was good and told me, "Have a good day beautiful, I mean that!" It was so funny! I guess this is what I look like to him:

I've been feeling really bad about myself lately, very unwanted, unsupported, and unloved... but now I just feel like a big stuffed cabbage!!! Gotta go somewhere and try this dish, maybe it will turn my life around! (Although the kind gentlemen is not my type--because of the age and bad oral health--I do appreciate that he said something nice although slightly unwarranted, but still not too sleazy... I don't think unless of course "stuffed cabbage" is a metaphor for something I don't know about....)

Last year...

2009-01-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

Last year I decided to try to challenge myself to cook 52 new recipes during the year--they could be things I had eaten before, but the recipe had to be something that I hadn't tried yet. I'm a recipe addict by the way--I work at the library so I'm constantly looking at cookbooks and other things trying to find something tastey and fun to try for dinner or dessert. So basically the idea was to try some of those recipes that I copy and hoard in my house. And I did it! Over the last weekend I ended up making the last of my 52 recipes, and here they are in no particular order:
Focaccia and Dipping Oil, Oat Bread, Black Bean Tortilla Bake, Pina Colada Cheesecake, Crepes, Random Casserole--not good!, Peanut Butter Valentines Day Chex Mix (which is super yummy and I think I need to make some really really soon!), Sugar Cookies from a jar--and the icing to go with it, Beer Bread, Fried Rice, Coleslaw, Margarita Frozen Dessert (definitely a good one too), Taco Casserole, Peach and Raspberry Pie, Tex Mex Lasagna, Papa Johns Pizza Crust (Cheryl loves this), Lasagna rolls, Crispy Orechiette with Broccoli Pine nuts and Garlic, Zucchini "crab" cakes, Sweet Potato fries, Crab cakes with stovetop stuffing, Sesame Noodles, Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo, Couscous with yogurt dressing, Peach Cupcakes, Raspberry Buttercream Icing (my first attempt at buttercream, it wasn't very good either), Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings, Penne pasta with Spinach and Ham, Sue Schoppman's Pie Crust, Homemade Apple Pie filling, Cheesy Chicken and Biscuits, Apple Dumplings, Layered Enchilada Bake, Cheesy Turkey and Rice Burrito, Pumpkin Pie, Crockpot Thanksgiving Turkey, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Sweet Potato Casserole, Mom's Chicken and Noodles from Scratch, Mini Spice Cake Tarts (super yummy!), Apple Pear Crumble Pie (also a favorite now!), Bruschetta Chicken Bake, Creamy Pasta with Peas, Oatmeal Scottchie Pan Cookies, Apple Swirl Bundt Cake, Cream Cheese Cookies, Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake, Lasagna, Spice Cookies, Chicken Crockpot Curry, Velvetta Taco Pie, Pineapple Upside Down Cake (which has been the best thing ever in my mind! I love coming home to it at the end of the day!).

I'm actually pretty proud of myself for just setting a goal and sticking to it! It was a lot of fun!
What to challenge myself to in 2009? Well I didn't decide to do this until the end of January, so I figure I'll give myself about a month before I start the challenge, whatever that may be....

Best Wishes!

Boxer Puppy for Christmas and a few other dogs too!

2008-12-30T16:47:00.001-08:00

This is my cousin's boxer puppy!
He's so cute!
Lets call him Steve!!!!

Look Steve has his own puppy teething ring!!!
You are too cute Steve!!!

Gussy found a girlfriend!
That's Maggie his favorite Puppy friend!
Um... and Blue no longer has ears...
actually he is no longer living at my house because he had to
move on to greener pastures after his stuffing was systematically removed by two crazy dogs!

This picture just makes me smile!

Enjoy the New Year Holiday and see you in 2009!
Best Wishes!

Last of the Christmas Items to Share

2008-12-30T16:40:00.001-08:00

This was the handmade felt Christmas Tree Top that I ended up making for my tree. I couldn't figure out what to do for the top, but after looking online at different things I realized that a dove symbolizing peace was the perfect thing! I modified some ornaments and patterns from online and made my own tree top--it doesn't light up, but it does make me happy to see it!

This was a fun and creative wrapping job I did for my mom's Christmas present. I think she was actually more excited by the wrapping than by the gift. :o)

This was the ornament that I made for Lydia--she has a dachshund named Eddie and I made her a tiny felt version of Eddie. It was so hard to sew! Nothing that tiny again!

Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday!

Handmade Gifts from my cousins

2008-12-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my cousins got together and made all sorts of fun handmade items. Here are a few of them:

Salt Dough Ornaments--the star is my favorite!

This is a mug filled with chocolate that the kids melted and poured--
they are peanut butter, white chocolate and milk chocolate
and there are some chocolate covered pretzels in the back too!

Thanks for the Christmas gifts kids! I loved them!

Steph and Michelle's Ornament Swap!

2008-12-30T16:13:00.000-08:00

This year my friend Stephanie and I decided to do our own ornament swap at home. We asked every participant to bring six handmade ornaments which we traded with one another. Actually we chose to set them all out on the table and took turns choosing them. They were so fun! There were some really great ornaments and the party itself was a lot of fun to co-host as well!

This is a photo of my parents, Lydia, Stephanie, and myself. We were the ones who came early put everything together and then stayed late to clean it all up! You can tell us by our aprons--even my dad joined in the fun!

This was Stephanie before the party putting together her cookie tree creation!
It turned out lovely!

Here is Gussy waiting for the party to begin and hoping for snacks to fall from the heavens! He's dressed for the occasion too in his cheery little Christmas bandana

These were the ornaments sitting out on the table. We had pinecones, crocheted snowflakes, decorated glass bulbs, felt ornaments using all sorts of fun stitching, beaded ornaments, painted ornaments, and collage ornaments. Honestly it was a great mix and left me wishing that there was one of everything for me to take home!

These are some of the ladies making their choices.
See you all next year at the next ornament swap!!!

Online Ornament Swap (last one)

2008-12-30T16:06:00.001-08:00

The last few ornaments from the online ornament swap:

Probably one of my favorites! This one is made from an altered domino!

Cute little handmade house!

Fuzzy little hand felted penguin--he got smushed,
but I think I basically got him back to normal.

There was one more ornament too--but unfortunately someone stole him!
I got the package in the mailbox, but it had been cut open and the ornament had carefully been removed. Someone probably thought they were stealing a gift card or something and not an ornament, hopefully though they at least gave him a place to live instead of just throwing him into the garbage!

Online Ornament Swap

2008-12-30T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some more ornaments from the online Cake and Pie Ornament Swap that I did on swap-bot.com:

This one is totally creative and was done with a button maker!

This one was done in plastic canvas--it's making a comeback!

(This is a hand felted heart ornament!)

This ornament is my mom's favorite!
On this side it has a tiny glittery deer on it and on the back side
it's equally as cute and has a glittery M on it.
My mom loves it and points it out to me every time she sees the tree!

December 6th

2008-12-06T14:34:00.001-08:00

It is currently December 6th, 2008 and I am going to list 6 things that I'm thankful for:

1. Being inside today since the weather is nice and snowy! It's so pretty to look at from the inside and it makes me thankful that I have a house and a nice warm place to be today instead of being without a home or heat--I'm really thankful for that!
2. Children who say the silliest things that make you laugh and smile! Like the kid who wanted to wash a real dinosaur so it wouldn't be "stinked" anymore and a kid at the library who is from another country and tried writting the words "I like you" but instead wrote "I live yes".
3. Subway! They have great cookies! And the sandwiches aren't bad either! Today I splurged and bought myself lunch since I had to work on the south side and the weather wasn't very nice--and it was worth it! It's so nice to treat yourself to something normal that makes the day feel better than normal!
4. Mail from friends or family! I am so excited when I get mail or email from people who I don't see every day--I'm also excited when I do get email from anyone but honestly snail mail is always much more fun to recieve!
5. Books. I work at a library--this should be a given. But I really have to say that I love reading!!! I'm so excited that tonight I'm going to go home and put on an apron, make dinner, bake some treats for my swap tomorrow and then read a book curled up on the couch with my dog. Should be perfect! I might even leave the window blinds open and turn on only the Christmas lights so that it's nice and dark and I can see the snow falling outside! Sounds heavenly to me!
6. New Recipes! I look forward to trying new recipes and tonight I have one set out to make for the party I'm cohosting tomorrow. I can't wait to try it. I hope it turns out fantastic!!! And I also can't wait to try another recipe that I found online recently for some Cranberry and Orange cookies. They sound great to me! So do scones--does anyone else just really want a scone sometimes? :o)

Best Wishes everyone who might see this! I wish you well and can't wait to come and post some pictures from the ornament swap next week!!! Woohoo!!!

Michelle

Online Ornament Swap

2008-12-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is my tree with homemade decorations on it--and yep that's the old paper chain garland you see on it! It's currently missing a tree topper, but I plan to figure out a way around that soon! Anyone have any good ideas?

This is the ornament that I got in the mail today--it's a cute little sheep ffrom Lorraine in California. She was so thoughtful that she even sent the pattern to make more for yourself if you wanted to! That's a great package!!!

This was the first ornament that I actually got this year from the swap--it's a fun little snowman! This cutie came from Corinne in the UK. He made it all the way over here safe and warm and I was so excited when I got him that I actually put the tree up just because of it! Thanks Corinne!!!

Only 8 more ornaments to go! I can't wait to see what other delights come in the mail in the near future!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Meanwhile back at home....

2008-12-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

Back here in Fort Wayne I'm hosting an ornament swap with my friends Stephanie and Cheryl. Well, Cheryl isn't really too into it, but Steph and I are going all out!!! Actually I ended up making this fun little creations for our swap. I'm giving everyone one of them as a party favor for coming! They aren't completely handmade--they are actually glittery plastic bulbs that I used beads and wire to make decorative ornament hangers with and put together. But the idea of the swap was that you had to make or embellish something, so I think they still fit the bill! I would be happy if I got one! Actually though I made a few extras for myself! :o)

Online Ornament Swap

2008-12-04T15:49:00.001-08:00

I'm participating in the Cake and Pie Ornament Swap which they are hosting through www.swap-bot.com. I was so excited about it this year because I decided to do an old fashioned homemade Christmas Tree this year and wanted a bunch of hand made ornaments to hang on its lovely little branches. So this week I sent out all of my ornaments and here are a few photos of what I sent out to my 10 swap partners:

These were the greetings that I stamped and put in all of the packages! I love that stamp which came from http://www.starvingartistamps.com/These are a few of the ornaments that I created--all of them are hearts in

Christmas colored felts.

I love the buttons!

It was fun to embroider a bit--I used to do it when I was younger but it's been awhile. This is all 10 of the ornaments before they were wrapped and put in padded envelopes with a couple of pieces of chocolate and were sent on their way! I hope the other ladies like them. They weren't too hard and aren't too special, but they are lovely to me atleast!

Best Wishes!

Swap-bot.com Nature Swap

2008-12-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to put a post on here about the Nature Swap I did on Swap-bot.com--I received my package from Linda Crabtree and I loved it! She filled all the requirements and added some extra bits of ephemra that I can play with. I really appreciate it! Here are some quick although not great photos of the lovely things she sent and the beautiful packaging that she sent it in!

The best part of this great gift was the bar of soap in the corner of this picture. I don't know what fragrance it is or anything, but as soon as you opened the box it smelled wonderful! She does sell her own soaps at www.ljctree.etsy.com if anyone is interested.

Happy Thanksgiving--in Retrospect

2008-12-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year I decided to make dinner for my parents and myself. Plus two happy little dogs who hid under the table eagerly awaiting scraps!

It turned out wonderfully--well, almost. First there was the crockpot turkey--good but oddly enough not that moist, but the flavor was even better when I used the leftovers to make turkey and homemade noodle soup. Then there was the array of

comfort foods: Sweet potatoe casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, salad, cranberry salad (purchased by my mom from a place in Waynedale and it's really pretty good), mashed potatoes and gravy too.

Then there was this:

Yeah, it looks good, but it's really not that good in general!

It was a pumpkin cheesecake and it never really set up that well.

It looked lovely, but honestly the taste was just kind of lacking something... maybe

it really needed more actual cream cheese.

It was my first time to use a springform pan though and it turned out pretty--although the butter cooked out of the crust and just kind of burned on the bottom of my oven. Argh!

Cheesecake: 1, Michelle: 0

Oh, and the other problem that I had was the deviled eggs!

They tasted great, but dang if they weren't the most impossible thing to peel!!!

Michelle: 1, Deviled Eggs: 1

(That's a tie!)

Oh, but the piece de resistance:
Homemade Pumpkin Pie
(in a store bought crust)
The most yummy thing of all!!!
And let me just say that I think I ate all of it myself basically!
Yummy, yummy, yum!

Anthony Hamilton in Concert

2008-11-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

So the reason we went to Cleveland Ohio on Veteran's Day was actually to see Anthony Hamilton live in concert. Can I just say that the man is fantastic--he has so much soul, he's got a great voice (just as good as what you hear on his records) and he's got the energy of a teenage girl!!! He was amazing!!! Check out some photos of him at our concert at the House of Blues!

This was his wife with him. Apparently she's from Cleveland, Ohio and is working on a CD of her own right now. She's gorgeous and has a great voice! They make a super fantastic couple and they even kissed on stage a couple of times--the sweet pecks on the lips that make you happy to see them together (not at all jealous)!

This was him when he first came out--with his nerdy, huge glasses and his gold jacket.

I think the jacket was crazy, but hey, it worked for Elvis I guess. :o)

This was him after he took of the nerdy stuff. Although the man did look really nice in that hat!
This was him in the crowd. He was great! He went all over the crowd
and sang and danced and was crazy!

This was my mom and I. She was tired--we stayed up late and had to stand the whole time, but regardless it was a great concert, mom even liked it! And she's not one for R & B!

Hot Dog Man, this one's for you!

2008-11-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

This is a giant hotdog in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. It's hanging from the ceiling and it is probably twice the size of that car that's down in the lower level! So, for everyone's sake, I hope that it's not an evil road weenie!!!

A little more Cleveland, Ohio

2008-11-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

Here is a little more from Cleveland, Ohio.

This first one is from a piece of street art I saw down by the river. Someone painted over it, but it still was pretty cool.

This is the entire piece.

Okay, so we were driving to visit a friend and we saw the sign saying,
"Dollar Paradise--World's Largest Dollar Stores"
although we thought it was supposed to be THE Worlds Largest Dollar STORE--not just one of the largest chain or whatever their criteria was. So basically we went for nothing, but it was still fun and we took some photos in front of it too!

What do you buy at the Dollar Paradise? Well you buy pop that is bottled in Cleveland, Ohio of course! 25 cents a can--can't beat that price!

Oh, and No Fishing!

Don't you love this sign?

I think it's too cute!!!

Cleveland Rocks!

2008-11-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

We just went to Cleveland, Oh for an overnight trip to see a concert, and here are some of the bits of the trip that I wanted to share:

This is from the skate park outside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--I just loved the red metal flaming gates that were surrounding it. There was also some graffiti there, but nothing too exciting. I was hoping to see some stickers while I was there too, but those were also lacking in teh more touristy areas that we were in. Although at the end of the trip we saw some nice stuff, but I didn't get to take any photos. :o(
This is my mom, Elizabeth (a friend of the family) and myself, on a windy morning in downtown Cleveland! It was lovely weather that day!

This is Downtown Cleveland from one of the private beaches on the Lake Coast.

This is downtown Cleveland, Ohio!

Hello Cleveland!

Swap-bot Dotee Doll Swap

2008-11-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Ever do a swap and then realize that you never took a photo of what you sent?

That's what I did for the Swap-bot.com Dotee Doll Swap, although to be honest with you, my Dotee doll was not very good and I don't think I'll be making another one any time in the near future! Regardless, check out the doll that was sent to me by Colleen from Novi, Michigan. She's so cute! She kind of looks a bit Christmasy, but she's not supposed to be. Colleen said she just kind of turned out that way. :o) I think that I will put her on my Christmas tree this year though and after Christmas I will find her a place on my art wall. And I will never find a photo of the doll that I made, which is probably a good thing since she's really terrible in comparision!!!

Fall is here--time to break out that B-day present!

2008-11-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

For my birthday--in May--my friend Stephanie made me the most lovely of all scarves!! I saw it in a book (can't remember which one now) and asked her to make it sometime, not at all believing that she would, but she did! It's it so fun! It is a scarf with a rose, leaves, and even little thorns--she did a fabulous job at crocheting it! I'm so happy!

Since the weather has been chilly I actually got to wear it one day--I even wore it at work all day. People kept looking at me--not sure if they thought I was crazy for wearing a scarf in the building or were actually admiring the beauty around my neck!

This is a really bad close-up of the flower on the scarf. I like it the best, but it is kind of large and sometimes you have to readjust it to get it to lay right, but I sewed it tighter and that helped a bit. I'm trying to figure out a way to display it on my art wall when it's not being used to keep me warm or as a fashion accessory. Thanks again Stephanie!!!

Pretty Fall Pictures in Fort Wayne--City of Three Rivers

2008-11-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

Great Tree Canopy Comeback!

2008-11-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

This year my friends and I participated in the Fort Wayne Friends of the Park's Great Tree Canopy Comeback. The deal is as follows--you and your friends show up at 10am at a local park where they have pre-dug holes and you plant a tree (or 4!) and then you get a free t-shirt and a hot dog and some chips. But you get tons of fun and entertainment from it too!

We named this tree "Rick James"

This is Andy, Lydia, and Steph trying to cut the twine out of the branches of our tree--we didn't realize until it had been planted that it had twine in the branches and we didn't have a ladder or a tall enough person to get it out--but no fear, we did it! We used the handle of a rake and some snips and got most of it out.

We named this tree "Nancy Drew"

This is Steph trying to measure the hole in the ground to make sure that the tree bulb was planted three inches above ground level--Gina, Lydia, Alyssa, Laura, and Andy are assisting her.

We named this tree (see the right side of the picture) "Duck Poop" in honor of the many piles of duck poop that we had to walk through to get to the back of the park where we planted this tree.

This is Andy standing in the hole stomping the ground down before we can put the actual tree inside of it. Andy had on his stomping boots so he got to be the main stomper! Gina is in the background laughing at him. :o)

We named this tree "Java"--it is a Kentucky Coffee Bean Tree

This is Lydia, Gina, Laura, and myself after planting the fourth and final tree of the day!

This is the whole crew of planters (with our tree--Nancy Drew).
Sorry but Andy was taking the picture, so he didn't get to be in it.

Survive the Week ATCs

2008-11-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

I recently finished a swap called the Survive the Week ATC Swap at Swap-bot.com. They were fun to do this time! Thank heavens! You had to make seven different ones--for each day of the week and mail them to your partner. They were supposed to be fun and encouraging. I made them all and then put them in little ATC envelopes which I then wrote a quote on for a bit of fun and encouragement. I hoped my partner would open them one a day for a week, but I think she went ahead and did it all at once--can't say I blame her--I'm not good with temptation either! :o)

I have had fun playing with bugs on ATCs lately. These two make me pretty happy. :o)

I love these little monster ones! They crack me up--I made a few of them for a couple of different swaps.

Strangely enough these are my favorite two ATCs that I've made in awhile. I love that high heel stamp (which I got at the Paper Arts Festival last month) and that martini cracks me up! I love the retro fifties/sixties feel of it! I'll have to make a couple of these for myself!

Where did you get that mustache/Unibrow?

2008-11-04T12:10:00.000-08:00

My friends Steph and Andy accompanied me to a Halloween party at Nick and Michelle's house. It was an interesting time. We actually left early so we could see Rocky Horror Picture Show--but we ended up freezing to death since it was outside and only saw about half of the movie. But these are the photos of Steph and I getting ready for the party.
This is Stephanie dressed as a little old man. She's a pretty good looking little old man--although everyone thought she was dressed up as Andy's dad--not because she looks anything like him, but just because she kept calling him son! :o)

This is me as a man--obviously not a good idea!!! I'll stick to not getting dressed up for the holidays from here on out! And it almost caused Steph to pee her pants from laughing so hard too--so it's obviously not a good idea!
This is Steph and I sharing the fun of the mustache and it's various forms--the Unibrow in this case. Steph actually has an entire box of these mustaches at home, so if you need a mustache, let her know and I think she can hook you up with one!
Oh, wait! Is that Lewis--wearing the aformentioned unibrow? Wow! Those things sure are popular this holiday season!!!

Gussy you Devil.... or Gangsta...

2008-11-04T11:04:00.001-08:00

THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS WERE ALL TAKEN ON HALLOWEEN.... BE SCARED... BE VERY SCARED!!!

Gussy, are you supposed to be a "gangsta"? What's up G? Ask Mellissa again for those lyrics to "Bringing Gussy Back" to the tune of Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake

Gussy, you little Devil--that's more like it!

Angels, Devils, and is that the Easter Bunny? Is he disgruntled? Huh? Talk about scary!

Library girls have all the fun--whether they are perfect Angels or Devils with aprons on--it's always a party at the library!

Steph's Pumpkin Carving Party

2008-11-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

For my friend Stephanie's Birthday she had a pumpkin carving party. It was great--lots of treats, hot and tasty apple cider, smores, a campfire, and of course pumpkins!
These were our pumpkins after being carved--sitting on the table waiting for the judge to come along and choose the best one!
Here is Seth--Steph and Andys' Newphew who got to choose the best one. He actually picked the one done by Cesselly that was supposed to be like Charlie Brown's Ghost costume--although honestly it was a pumpkin completely covered with circular holes. It's been too long since I watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for me to remember much about the ghost costume--but I'm sure some of you get the joke!

This was my pumpkin--kind of a vampire/pissed off girlfriend kind of look! Seth didn't really care for it--although he did try to put a stick in it's mouth so it had something to chew on!
Here are the pumpkins--let me tell you who was there and you can all try to figure out which pumpkin matches which person: Cesselly, Lewis, Stephanie, Andy, Seth, Michelle--you already know two of them anyway! :o) Happy Halloween!

Heirloom Rubber Stamp & Paper Arts Festival

2008-11-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

October 18-19th, 2008 was the Fort Wayne Rubber Stamp and Paper Arts Festival at the Coliseum here in Fort Wayne, IN. I was really excited to go because I heard good things about the festival and also heard that they have an ATC swap that you could participate in. So I made only a few ATCs--a dozen that had fun little fairies and papers made from watercolored book pages and met up with friends to go.
It turns out the festival is really just a rubber stamp convention pretty much but I ended up having a lot of fun and got a couple of stamps and a lot of fun ideas for ATCs. This is one example from a place called Starving Artist Stamps--they have these great stamps that you can use to make mosaic looking images--it was awesome! Lesley and I ended up standing around watching for a few minutes because we just couldn't understand how it worked. It's so awesome though and I totally want to buy a stamp and try it out at my house! The picture below this gives examples of them--click on it to enlarge it and see how cool they really are!
I did buy this stamp while I was at the festival--it's an apron stamp and I have so many cute ideas that I want to try with it and see if they work out! Plus I love the card they made with it! It says, "Don't make me have to poison your food." I love that!
This was another cool idea--a lady used stamps and also some course brushes and painters tape to make these fun little cards. I really wish that I could just whip things up like they do--it's so awesome to see the people at these fairs and see what they can do--although I might not really want to do the same thing, it still gave me a lot of great ideas!
Here are some more ideas. Lots of them! Apparently the new thing is making your own cards. I thought there might be tons of scrapbookers--there were a few, but mostly these people were making their own cards and buying tons of fun stuff to do it with!

Guerilla Style Random Acts of Kindness--3

2008-10-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

My third Random Act of Kindness was one that I wanted to be a bit more "pay it forward." It's actually a postcard that I made and then I asked someone to mail it to someone else that they know. I made the postcard and put a stamp on it so it would be ready to send in the mail.
This is where it was dropped off at--at the Ivy Tech Cafeteria. I hope that some college kid comes in for dinner and gets the post card and mails it home to tell his mom he loves her.

This is the cafeteria. We went for a movie there in the Cinema Center at Ivy Tech and the place was busy with all the tables full when we left, hopefully someone grabbed it instead of putting their food tray on it! :o) I remember those days!

~Best Wishes!~

Guerilla Style Random Acts of Kindness--2

2008-10-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

For my second Guerilla Style Random Act of Kindness I decided to use a picture that I had taken of the Lakeside Rose Gardens. It's a photo of a pale pink rose that I enjoy. I made a copy of it and wrote a message on the back. I hope that it's owner is enjoying it right now!

This is the picture on the bench where I left it. This bench is absolutely my favorite spot in the whole park--it's kind of hidden and has a fun little stone path to walk back to it. The wind was out that day though so I had to put a little piece of chipped sidewalk on the picture to hold it down. I hope that it didn't blow away!
This is the bench with the picture on it.

This is what the bench area looks like, isn't it adorable? Many people have snuggled up on this bench. Maybe the person who went home with my photo actually was snuggling up, making out with their significant other and took the photo home to remember the day by! That's my dream atleast...

Guerrilla Style Random Acts of Kindness--1

2008-10-16T13:22:00.001-07:00

This month I decided to participate in a swap on Swap-bot.com called Guerrilla Random Acts of Kindness. It's a fun swap in which you make three items and leave them in public places for other people to find. The items could be anything, but they had to be left in a public place and you had to document what you did.

For my first one I decided to use a scarf that I made last year. It's the softest, cuddly scarf. It's made of something that feels like a teddy bear and even though it's lovely, I never use it. It just seems like it goes with the fewest items of clothing in my closet and plus I have so many scarves that many of them don't get the love and attention that they deserve.

This scarf was left at the Lakeside Rose Gardens on Lake Avenue in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The gardens are beautiful and the weather was gorgeous that day. There are always people walking dogs and marriages taking place there, so I figured the scarf wouldn't have long to wait until someone would happen upon it and decide to do as the tag says and "Take me home".

Actually after placing the scarf down and taking a few pictures my friend and I walked around the park and by the time we returned to that side of the park, the scarf was gone. I think it might have been a woman with two small sons who took it. I hope so, maybe it will make her feel warm and snuggly this winter! Although ironically it was actually about 84 degrees that day, so it was not getting used at that time!

Mission Number One--Successful!!!

I'm in love with street art!

2008-10-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Can anyone tell me what genius is behind this piece of art? Seriously I was walking the dog and walked around the corner and saw on one of the dumpsters, this delicious little stencil of a goggled rat/mouse parachuting to earth. I'm in love!!! Anyone familiar with this guy/lady, because if so tell him/her I love it and that I want to get one on a piece of cardboard or wood and attach it to my art wall! I'm in love with street art!

P.S. Yep the neighbors think I'm crazy because I'm walking around the apartment complex taking pictures of the garbage dumpsters! :o)

Apron Christening!

2008-10-16T13:10:00.001-07:00

My mother and I went to the Kendallville, Indiana Apple Festival a few weeks ago. I found a fun, quirky little apron and my mom ended up purchasing it for me. It's as cute as can be! The fabric is bright and bold with butterflies and fuscia flowers. Plus it has great big heart shaped buttons on the top and pretty little lacey pockets on the front. So here it is:

And of course since we went to the Apple Festival I had to christen the apron by using it to bake an apple pie! Completely from scratch by the way! Which was exciting for me. Although to be honest with you it did have one major issue... um, I kind of had a little accident when sprinkling the sugar on the top--instead of looking like beautiful glitter sparkling on the shiny, warm crust... well it looked like someone didn't put enough milk on the crust and then accidently dumped half a shaker of sugar on it. Really, I just don't understand how that could have happened! ;o)
But the good news was that it was delicious!!!

I ate 3/4 of it by myself and the rest went to my dad.

I should have shared more, but no one was around that week and

the pie was just too dang tempting!!!

~Best Wishes!~

Books I love!

2008-09-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

These are classic books from the 50's!
I don't need to explain--just enjoy them!

This one is my favorite! I should have bought it just to read it!
And then I could have hung it on the wall to enjoy looking at every day--maybe
even hanging it over my bed... I hate making the bed!

James Dean Look-a-Like contest

2008-09-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

So one of the best parts of going to the James Dean Festival is getting to see the world famous James Dean Look-a-like contest at the end of the evening on Saturday night. Usually people come from all over the place to participate (and by the way ANYONE can participate--you just register when you get there--no fees, no tests, no verification that you actually look like James Dean even!). It's not uncommon to have people from overseas who come for the festival even. It's amazing how well liked James Dean is in Europe! So, this year there were people participating from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennesee, Wisconsin, and California to name a few places. The participants this year were not very good compared to previous years.

This is a picture of me with the real James Dean in the background--just in case you need a frame of reference to compare contestants.

These are the 2008 James Dean Festival Contestants

FYI the winner was the guy in the cowboy hat.
He actually was the MOST similar to James Dean!

This picture makes me laugh. It's me and Cheryl with two of the contestants....
Obviously not the closest Look-a-like's!
P.S. NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES call them impersonators--they are not impersonators, they are look-a-likes! I learned this lesson the hard way a few years ago...just trying to educate the public now!

What do you get to see at James Dean Festival?

2008-09-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Every year since I was in college at Ball State I've been going to the James Dean Festival in Fairmount, Indiana (James Dean's boyhood home!). It's so much fun and I love going! It's just a small town festival that has carnival rides, greasy food, a giant car show, and of course any kind of James Dean Memorabilia that you could ever want! So, what might you see at this particular festival.... well possibly some of these things:

Beautiful old cars--spanning many years--most of which are chromed up and polished until you can hardly see anything but the sun glaring off of them--gorgeous!!!

50's clothing and rockabilly wear--my favorite part of the festival! I love this shirt that is made by a guy named Lenny who used to make them in the basement in Fairmount. I heard he works out of New York or somewhere now, but I'm not really sure. The one thing I do know for sure is he had some he had made using old bedsheets with Waldo (from Wear's Waldo) on them. It was hilarious! I love a guy who comes up with those ideas and I love a guy who would feel comfortable wearing them around!!!!

You might see a great rockabilly band like this one: Mandy Marie and the Cool Hand Lukes! They were great! They are a rockabilly band from Indianapolis, Indiana and if you get the chance to see them definitely do it! Mandy Marie has a great voice, plus I love that's not a size two! She's so beautiful!!! And those Cool Hand Luke's are pretty cute if I do say so myself!

You might also see something like this: smiling faces! These two girls were definitely enjoying the day! 12 hours in small town America at the most fun festival of the season! Hooray!

Homemade checkbook cover

2008-09-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

I was using a wallet with a checkbook holder in it--but it was so large and bulky that it was driving me crazy trying to put it back in my purse every time I got my wallet out. I was going to use the one they give you for free, but I think I threw it away awhile ago when I got the other wallet. So I decided to search for a way to make my own. I was going to sew one--but I don't have a good relationship with my sewing machine, so I decided to make one the easy way--with tape and the sunday comics! And voila! Behold my fun/funny creation:

This is the detail from the front cover--it's kind of blurry, but I love that comic!
This is the comic I put in the middle to use as a divider for the duplicate checks. (Crappy picture again! Sorry! Originally it was full sized and showed the checkbook too, but then I realized you could see my check numbers and I had to crop it!)
So, what do you think? It's kind of fun and funky and fits me and my personality well I think!

What's in the fridge?

2008-09-26T13:36:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's my fridge--look at that crazy magnet collection!

(You know you are a real friend if you have a magnet that is on my fridge!)

Guess what's inside!

Peach Melba cupcakes!
Isn't the color of that raspberry buttercream frosting just beautiful!!!
Sadly though they looked better than they tasted. But they aren't bad!
Also, I have a great cheesecake-it's a peach melba cheesecake--no bake--the best kind in my mind! It has a great topping of peaches and raspberries!
Oh, and I have a bunch of these too--DIRTY DISHES!!!

Eyes have it swap

2008-09-23T13:02:00.001-07:00

These are the new ATCs that I created for the Swap-bot Eyes Have it Swap. I really did not enjoy making them this time! I had such a hard time doing something with eyes on it. It's funny because I think I was focusing so much on it being about the eyes that I wouldn't do anything that just had some eyes on it. They aren't the best cards that I've done. But they turned out okay. This is one of the few swaps that I've been in that I didn't end up making a couple of extras for myself either. That's not really cool. That's part of the fun is making some for other people and challenging myself to come up with a few extras that I can keep. Oh well, I guess maybe the next time it will work out better. Actually I'm really excited about my next swap--it's a swap where you send someone a pack of 7 ATCs--one for every day of the week--to encourage them. I think this is definitely more my style! I'll put up pictures when I get them done.

Guess who....

2008-09-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Guess who got a bath?
*
*
*
*
*
This girl!
*
*
*
Just kidding! (Well actually I did take a shower)
*
*
*
This dog!!!

That might be why he looks as if though he's muttering under his breath about how stinky he is now that he smells like fresh apples and wet dog!

But he's so clean now and his ears are so soft!

And he didn't even have a seizure!

That's my happy thought for the day:

Clean, soft, apple-fresh dog!

Beautiful Blue Scarf

2008-09-19T14:11:00.002-07:00

Recently I was given a pattern from a coworker for a gorgeous basketweave scarf. It was pretty looking (and not a hard pattern) so I went ahead and made it! It's so lovely! Check it out!

This shows you the basketweave pattern up close. It really was so easy! I love this scarf! The only problem is that I used cheap yarn so it's not too soft! I think I'm going to handwash it though with some fabric softener and see if that makes a difference.
This picture shows how the edges are scalloped--it's totally natural based on the pattern! Great! It takes shape itself!

Umm... this is how it looks on.... a dog! Who doesn't want a scarf on... he just wants to be left alone to sleep in front of the fan without having a photoshoot! Silly Dog! Just pose and then I'll take the scarf off! :o)

Be a tourist in your own hometown!

2008-09-19T14:11:00.001-07:00

A few weekends ago was "Be a tourist in your own hometown" put on by the Fort Wayne Visitors Bureau. It's a great event where you can get a pass and go to numerous museums in Fort Wayne on one particular Sunday during the year for free. The possible places to go were:
African-American Historical Museum,
Allen County Courthouse,
Artlink,
Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory,
Fort Wayne Firefighter's Museum,
Fort Wayne Museum of Art,
The History Center,
Science Central,
The Lincoln Tower

My friend Lydia went with me and we decided to hit the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Artlink, the African American Historical Museum, and The Lincoln Tower. It was great! We had a lot of fun even though we realized after we got there that the African-American History Museum had been hit by lightning a few months before and part of it was closed, plus the Museum of Art didn't have anything on display because they were between exhibits, and that Artlink really is free all the time..... but alas... there is one place you can't just stop by anytime that you like: LINCOLN TOWER!

So we made the best of it and went to see the Lincoln Tower and take some pictures while we were up there. It's such a great view! And the best part was that 98.9 the Bear radio station was actually having a concert out in Freiman Square and we got to hear Deuce playing while we were up on top of the tower! Fantastic! Great way to spend a Sunday for nothing at all!!!

Art Link Guitar Show

2008-09-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

The Fort Wayne Gallery Known as Art Link recently had a show (actually it might be currently going on) called The Guitar Show. It's a great show and has a lot of really interesting pieces. Unfortunately I don't have the names of the artists who created these pieces, but they are beautiful and fun and really just caught my attention. I especially love the guitar made out of spare parts! Wonderful idea! Check it out! If I get to go back again before the show is over I will try to update some of the artists' names.

Warning--Cusswords!!!--Warning--Cusswords!!!

2008-09-10T12:51:00.001-07:00

Recently I participated in the Vent your Frustrations ATC Swap on http://www.swap-bot.com/ and it was great! I have only received one person's cards (which is disapointing) but I had a lot of fun making my own. The only thing was that you had to have atleast one cussword on each card, so enjoy if you are having a bad day!
Michelle :o)

These were the cards that I did for the swap....

My favorite card of all! I love this one! I think I'm still dealing with

breakup crap--yuck, and yet what delightful fun at the same time!

Deuce--How I love you!

2008-09-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

If you know me--and I think you do if you are reading this because no one else reads this blog--then you know how I love a rockabilly band called Deuce. They actually were the ones who helped me celebrate my birthday this year... and I've been unofficially stalking Kenny Taylor since I turned 21 (back in the Blue Moon Boys Days). Anyway, here are some great photos of the night that Mellissa and I spent at the Latch String listening to my favorite band. Please check out their website http://www.myspace.com/2mandeuce and see what kind of fun they create wherever they are!

Kenny and Pat play their instruments like pros!

The best part of the Latch String other than music and Pete and Cathy (the staff) would be the cheap and yet delectable fries and the 50 cent tacos! On this particular night Mellissa and I broke the piggy bank to eat some food!
Gotta love those fries!

Belle Weather

2008-09-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading the book Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits by Celia Rivenbark. She is hilarious! I really enjoyed it! Seriously you have to check it out sometime. I am now going to go back in history and read all the other books that she has written. She is on my list of hilarious, enjoyable authors along with Laurie Notaro!

Check it out! If you live in Fort Wayne, then I guarantee your local library owns the book!

Last post about Short North... for now!

2008-09-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

Uh... hey, what is that? Oh.... I get it now!

Ladies, ladies, ladies.... keep your hands to yourself!

Uncle Sam doesn't need THAT kind of attention!

P.S. If you really want to know the best part of the trip then ask me about the orgasm inducing bread created at the Artisan Bread Place at the North Side Farmers Market--I think I might still be interested in marrying the man who makes that focaccia--oooooooooooo... I need a moment... Plus the most hilarious part of the day was getting a little bit of a discount on my second GIANT slice of focaccia because I made the guy laugh--I want to go back, I want to live in the market! It's the closest thing to Pike Place Market here in the midwest... and let me just reiterate... THE FOCACCIA IS WORTH IT!!!!!

More from the Art Fair

2008-09-09T12:47:00.001-07:00

More from the art fair in Columbus, Ohio:

This was a community embroidery project, anyone could sew on it, it was awesome, although none of us participated in this particular one!
This was a three paneled piece of art made from paper pulp and dedicated to a friend of the artist. It was really interesting because it had so much texture.
Art on the walls in North Shorts Art District
A piece of art that spoke to my heart since I've been looking into purchasing a house lately.
This was done in chalk and pastels. It was pretty cool.

Although the ladies did notice that one of the rows is completely out of order--that

might be why it looks a little funny. Still a really nice concept!

Short North Arts District

2008-09-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

Check out these great pieces of public art in Short North Arts District during the art fair:

Pac Man's been shot!
This one is called Nature Vs. Nurture--there are two piles of bricks and you are supposed to bring a brick from one side of the road to the other side of the road--it's kind of question as to which side of the road will win out at the end of the day--the only weird part is that they are covered in golden spray glitter--which came off all over us! It was great though--we were just glittering down the road that afternoon. :o)
Ahhhh... Street Art, grafitti, call it whatever you want, I still love it!

Window covered completely in bottle caps!

Honestly this was so bring and vibrant, it was awesome!

Craftin Outlaws!

2008-09-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

This year one of my goals was to go to an indie craft fair. They have them all over, but apparently not in my hometown (Fort Wayne, Indiana) so I had to make a trip to go to one . Although I'm not sure my friends were anywhere near as excited as I was, they still indulged me and went along. It was so much fun for me! I loved the craft fair--Craftin Outlaws in Columbus, Ohio (www.craftinoutlaws.com) and I also loved the farmers market and the Short North Arts District (which was having an art fair that day too). It was such a great day, here are a few photos to show you:

Waiting in line for free goodie bags at the Indie Craft Fair
Check out the size of those lily pads!!! Huge!

Oh, and there was a wedding going on the park behind us... someone wanted to go join the wedding party but we had to reign her in and keep going!
Girls! Come on! You can cross on yellow lights--just hurry!
The most macho Angel of the day!
Surly Girl--why I think that could be my own personal saloon!

Girls Night Out

2008-09-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been couped up all week long
I've been workin' my fingers to the bone
Well, it's a girl's night out
Honey, there ain't no doubt
I'm gonna dance every dance 'til the boys go home
Well, it's my night to rock
No watchin' that ol' clock
Oh, ain't no doubt,
Lordy it's a girl's night out
Thank you Wynonna--I couldn't have said it better myself--enjoy these photos from our most recent Girls Night Out!

The ladies at The Botanical Gardens for a Rockabilly Concert from HillBilly Casino
Who's kissing that seahorse? Get out of those flowers!
It's like the pose from Titanic--only I think Mellissa is actually trying to shove me out of the boat instead of keeping me in the boat.... er... uh.... yellow submarine...
No Lydia! Don't sit on that!

Lydia just said, "atleast I'm wearing pants" and we are all making fun of her--she was simply trying to explain that sitting on fake rocks in the humid rainforest is much better in a pair of jeans than a skirt--well all I can say is that we were fine!

Susan Kline

2008-08-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know Susan Kline or how to get a hold of her? She's from Northern Indiana I believe, but I honestly don't know where. This is her artwork--I love it beyond belief and I really wanted to get something done by her at the last art show I went to, but she had already started packing up at that point because of the bad weather. Next time I see her stuff out, I'm going to snag up something before I lose the chance all together!!!

Awesome!

2008-08-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

I wish I had more artistic talent and creative skill. I'm a great mastermind at times (well really though I mostly play off of other ideas I've seen or heard of) and I can do a few things--mostly the easy things, but regardless, I really wish I had more talent! Check out this piece of art from a 10th grader in Ohio. I saw it at the Scioto County Fair when we were visiting the 4-H Fairgrounds. The creative guy behind this piece is Tyler Kephas of Scioto County, Ohio. Honestly, I'm so impressed that I want to go try to do something like this too! I wish I could go back to high school and take an art class now! Maybe then I could draw, paint, do all sorts of fun creative things that I feel like I don't have the skill to do at this point. Oh well, I'm going to try to force myself to create a bit more! I need some craft time! I need to just try it and stop worrying so much about the results!

I want another puppy!

2008-08-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

These are garage sale puppies!
They are mixed Lab and Coon Hound
And they are beyond adorable!
Me and Gremlin--he's so cute, but please ignore the fact that I look like I'm on crack! I'm not!!!!
Random Bulldog Puppy I saw online--makes me want to snuggle his little wrinkly body so bad!!!
Enough said!!!

Happy Gussy!

2008-08-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

So earlier this year I decided to have a portrait commishioned--of my dog! I know, I might be a little crazy, but it just seemed like I couldn't stand the thought of not having him up there on my art wall--I mean sometimes he's the best part of the day! So I went through Etsy and chose a woman to do the portrait--she did a great job too! I'm showing you the picture of Gussy as well as the actual finished portrait which proudly hangs on my wall now! I love her work! Please go to the following website and check out some of the other dog portraits and even some of her other work. I think she's got a lot of talent, and I love her creative colors!

http://www.ceceredesigns.com/dog%20paintings.html (this takes you to her dog portrait site)

Post Card Swap

2008-08-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

First of all check out this blog and you can see some random postcards that I made for a postcard swap from the Mail Art Collective:
http://mailboxfriends.blogspot.com/2008/08/from-post-card-exchange-2.html
The great thing about this site is that you can swap postcards without signing up--you just wait until they are having a swap and send in the postcards (random ones you made or altered) with their own postage on them and then a few weeks later you get five of them back in the mail. It's great! I was so excited the last time and I'm even trying to get recruits to participate this time as well. Here are the five that I did for this swap. I really hope they make it through the mail okay-perhaps someone will let me know if they do not! They are just cardboard from food boxes that have been collaged, stamped, and altered and then sealed with two layers of decopauge glue--not sure how durable they are. Yikes! Now I'm freaking out about them falling apart!!!

Art Wall

2008-08-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these lovely photos of my art wall!!! I love this wall more than anything else in my apartment (well besides the dog that is!)!!! The wall is mostly handmade items that have been given to me by friends and a few were purchased or swapped for online. They are gorgeous and they inspire me creatively all the time! Please take a look and see if you recognize anything--if you have given me something in the past, it might be on the wall in the present, or even in the future since I still have a few to put up there!

I wish you all great creative experiences!

Randomness

2008-08-14T14:11:00.001-07:00

So someone new left a message on my blog. I looked at his blog and really liked something he said there--so the following quote is from TJ the Taurus from Canada--just please understand that I can understand where these words come from--I think I've felt them before myself. Thanks TJ!

"No one falls in love by choice, it is by chance.

No one stays in love by chance, it is by work.

No one falls out of love by chance, it is by choice."

Things I love

2008-08-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

Honestly I don't even remember what this mosaic was supposed to be about--just something having to do with what you love, where you came from, where you wish you were, with a few of your favorite things thrown in there for good measure--I really don't think it matters too much though. The point is that I love it! And yeah, that's a great set of pictures of Matthew McConaughey in the middle--he's my dream guy. Even though he's weird, married, was arrested for getting high and playing the bongos in the nude, and of course there is something now about him saving the placenta from his child's birth to plant under a tree or something--I'm okay with that--just please plant it already! Don't wait forever, I think there might be an expiration date on those things! Yikes! (P.S. That dog in the corner is named Gussy! Weird! It's not my dog but he looks like my dog and his name is Gussy also!!! I love that! I so want to go visit him!)

The wedding of friends--in June---I'm so behind

2008-08-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well a few months ago my friends Stephanie and Andy got married. It was a lot of fun to participate in the wedding--but here are the highlights that I want to share with people:

First of all!!! If you are having a Bachelorette party and need to find some fun little cupcake toppers--think about getting out the colorful tootsie rolls and shaping them into cute little penis shapes! They made a great discussion piece and they looked wonderful--the cupcakes were chocolate with vanilla frosting tinted pink and had multicolored sprinkles and tootsie roll penises on them. One note of caution though--do NOT put them in the fridge--it made the little tootsie rolls penises melt a bit and they had a slick glossy coating on them... not quite what I wanted, but still they were cute. I would just recommend doing the penises at the last minute and putting them on right before the guests arrive.

Our Bachelorette party was called the "Naughty little pink and black party" and everyone was encouraged to wear pink and black and at the end of the party I gave out party gifts that were pink bags with black decoration and inside was a getting laid kit--each one had a lei in it, a fruity condom, some great lubrications in fun fruity flavors and also a tiny bottle of alcohol. Here were my winners and they seemed to enjoy the prizes. I hope that they used them!

Before the wedding we made a bunch of these paper cranes to put on the tables for decorations. They were cute--lots of fun colors and papers, but they were crazy to make! It took forever! I did like 80 in one night and by the end my hands were hurting! But honestly they looked lovely on the tables, so it was definitely worth it! Here is a small sampling of the ones that I made and yes they do kind of look like they are fighting one another.

Here was the cupcake tower that they had at their wedding. Stephanie didn't sound convinced when I originally mentioned doing it, but after seeing some pictures online I think she really enjoyed it. I wish that you could see them better, they were cute and tasted great! Oh, and Andy looks evil because he is planning to shove a half of a cupcake into her mouth right now... watch out Stephanie!
This is the last picture--it is them at the Rose Garden where the wedding took place. There was a lot of rain and some storms the night before and even early that morning, but it was absolutely beautiful when it came time for the wedding, so it didn't really matter--other than watching out for stepping in mud when we walked in the grass--dang those high heels really do get stuck in that mud!
So, overall it was an absolutely lovely day and they both looked so wonderful. I enjoyed being there and being a part of it. Good luck to you both!

End of an Era--bring on the candy bars!

2008-08-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

Alright so here's the deal--that boyfriend I posted about last time I blogged (in March!) is no longer in the picture! Yeah! I have a new procedure about him too--NO ONE discusses him--and if they do then they must provide me with either 75 cents or a candy bar! He's banned from my life at this point--he's going to just go away in my mind even if I have to force him out of there! So, here is a little tribute to the end! Good luck to anyone dealing with similar issues!
Michelle
(The crazy ex-girlfriend)
(FYI that song makes me so happy right now!!! Thank you Carrie Underwood! And for anyone interested in a great list of breakup music let me know--I can hook you up! But please realize that I like the angry music for breakups not that sissy stuff that's all about loving you so much and wanting you back into my life... blah, blah, blah! Don't make me have to turn the radio off!)

Knitting Projects--Old and New!

2008-03-07T09:17:00.001-08:00

This was my last knitting project--over two months ago now!!! Wow! No wonder I've been craving a new project lately! So anyway, for Ben's Birthday I made him a hat and scarf (the pom-pom on top was optional). I made the scarf as the real gift and then tried my hand at a hat for the first time. Yeah! It turned out decent I thought--not great, but decent! It's made of a rectangle of knitting that is sewn together. It's kind of fun and super easy and quick and didn't involve those frightening double ended needles that scare me!!!

After knitting it, I gave it to Ben for his birthday. Strangely enough he liked the pom-pom on top, although it was just a joke and has since been removed. He wore the hat to work a few times though and they made fun of him because it's red--but red is his favorite color!!! I guess he's been called Raggedy Andy a lot, but hey! I don't care! I'm strong I can take it!!! Although I'm kind of secretly mad too. I think Ben only wears it at home now! I guess he's scared of people making fun of him.... mean, mean people! Just because his girlfriend made him a dorky hat doesn't mean they should make fun of him!

After Ben got done trying on the hat and scarf birthday present, Gussy thought he deserved a shot too! Doesn't he look lovely! He's ready for winter now... and it seems like winter is still hanging around for a bit!

That's me in the hat too--why can't I figure out a way to black out my face? Why am I even putting this on the internet? Scary!

Awww... it's Ben and Gussy--although since Ben is wearing the gear Gussy had to wear the fun little pom-pom from the top. I didn't want anyone to feel left out!

So now the question is this: What am I going to get into next? I'm really interested in learning some more knitting stuff. I like knitting, I think I'm realizing that I miss it a bit. I'm going to try to get a project started this weekend. Seriously, I need to get back into knitting--I think it made me feel happier--I'm going to try it again! Maybe I'll even try cables! They scare the crap out of me, but dang it, it looks so pretty... or maybe a blanket--I keep saying that but not doing it and I think now is the time!!!

Dang blog!!!

2008-03-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

This blog is making me angry. I need to vent for a second. So if you aren't into listening to my short rant then just stop looking right now!!!

Okay so now that I'm working at a different library I hardly ever have time for a real break or to actually get to post a pic to my blog--which means I'm not blogging. If I had a computer at home something tells me I would do a lot of blogging and photo posting, but with no computer and no time to do things at work then I'm not putting anything out there! Frustrating!!!

Alright, I have a ton of other rants: granola girls, sickness, snow that doesn't get plowed from my apartment complex and leaves me with snow in my shoes in the morning, dirty books, picking up after someone else's mess, dirty dishes-coming from the dishwasher, toilets that have issues, friends that don't call, not calling my friends, taking care of random bratty kids at work... you name it!!! But that's all I'm going to talk about right now, because my carpal tunnel is acting up, my hand is going numb, and the library is closing in three minutes...and I don't have a computer at home.... did I mention that!?!

Thanks for listening!

ATC Swap

2008-02-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!
At Tecumseh Branch Library last night we had an ATC program where about seven of us got together and made some ATCs. It was fantastic! We had so much fun and it was great to get to share some materials with other people. The really cool thing is that I'm trying to get the Tecumseh Branch to do a blind swap where we all just give two cards to a moderator who then swaps them up and gives them back. I'm really excited about it and I'm hoping to maybe get some friends involved. Are any of you interested? Can you please leave me a message if you are! It's going to be hosted by the library, but really it's open to anyone from anywhere. I'm really excited about it and I'm hoping to get people involved. Plus--I think I'm going to have an ATC party at my house and get people making some! Check it out!!! Please let me a comment though if you read this--Um, Stephanie, Cheryl, Barb and anyone else who might do it although as far as I know it's just the three of you!
Thanks!
FYI--ATCs are Artist Trading Cards--they are the size of a playing card or a baseball card and are made out of card stock. Then you can take them and decorate them in any way that you like and swap them with friends. Check out this website for more info if you are new to the whole thing--and don't be overwhelmed--trust me mine are NOT this good!
http://www.cedarseed.com/air/atc.html

Oh Doughboy--I love you!

2008-02-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

So today at work some kids printed this image out and left it sitting near the computer. I know that if you know me you will understand how I saw this picture and thought it was hilarious. It's something about his big googly eyes and how he'sd trying to look all scary and it's just not working. He looks like a runaway float at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! It cracks me up! So basically what I'm saying is that although I've been stuck in the kids side of the library all day dealing with the numerous black history month projects and book reports about random people throughout history--the point is that this happy little Doughboy has made my day and made me smile throughout the afternoon. He's so funny! I can't stop smiling! I just want to post a huge picture of him outside of the offices of my grouchy coworkers and see if it improves the mood around various library branches!
Enjoy! Hope he makes you smile and laugh too!!!
Happy Saturday!

Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl-a-thon?

2008-02-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I'm in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program and I'm contemplating bowling with them for the Bowl for Kids' Sake program. Is anyone interested in participating as well? The only thing is that I really hate to ask people for money! I hate it! I think it just brings back memories of childhood when we had to go door to door soliciting for Girl Scout Cookies and my friend Heather and I would go through the neighborhood together and we each got to do every other house--but SHE always got the good houses where people would buy like 4 boxes while I either got turned down or else I only sold one box to some random old lady who felt sorry for me! Plus Heather's mom and dad took flyers to work and sold cookies there for her, but my parents wouldn't do it! Darn those parents who try to make you think that you have to sell things for yourself! Silly parents! Don't they understand that you can't get the good prizes for selling a lot of cookies if you just have to go door to door and hope that the million other girl scouts who live in the edition haven't been through yet! Anyway, asking for money makes me antsy. Anyone have any comments?

Anybody?

Nope, no one ever does.... except for Barb and her comments are always gross! Barb--no gross comments on this one please!!!!

Bloggy Giveaways!

2008-01-31T10:14:00.000-08:00

I've found out about this page called the Bloggy Giveaways page! The website is:

http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/reviews/

It's short notice, but go check out the page and you can enter to win numerous giveaways by bloggers all over the place! Actually I really think that I would like to join up the next time and maybe give something away myself. Some people give away books, chocolate, food, APRONS, fabric scraps, mystery gifts, anything!! It's so exciting! I really do want to give something away the next time--that would be an awesome thing to join!

So, any ideas of what I can give away?

Hmmm.... let's see....

More Collages!

2008-01-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some more New Year's Collages. I couldn't get them all in the same post, so I'm sharing them through two posts. And by the way thanks to everyone who did come and do a collage at my house. For those of you who didn't get yours finished while you were there, I would still love to see how yours turned out so email me a picture sometime!!! And thanks to Anna by the way who actually made more than one collage that night--Anna you rock!!! Way to go!!!

New Years Collage Night!

2008-01-24T07:43:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share some pictures with you from my most recent gathering! It was a New Year's Collage Party. I invited friends to come over and have an evening of making a New Year's Collage--basically it's a way of stating what you want to encourage in your life during the next year and then making a pictoral representation of it that you can use to help you focus throughout the year! It's a lot of fun and we had some fantastic collages come out of it. I'm not going to tell you who made which collages, except I will tell you that mine has chocolate on it and a little pink elephant! Enjoy the photos!

North Carolina Here I come... hopefully!

2008-01-09T11:50:00.001-08:00

So the good news is that I emailed someone a picture of the art-o-mat machine I bought recently in Indy and they told me that it is from SECCA which is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina--so I think that's going to be my destination for this year! I can't wait! Does anyone know anything about this area? Anyone have any suggestions for things to do?

Anyone want to go on a trip this year?

Enjoy the New Year!

2008-01-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hello! Okay, so it's been awhile since I have written anything on here--because of course it's been crazy with the holidays and family things going on. But now that we are safely into the new year and I have the opportunity to write a few things I'm going to do my best to stay on top of it a bit more!

I guess since it's thew new year and everyone is talking about resolutions--I want to add my two cents to the matter. First of all I think resolutions are usually a means for failure. You feel like you should make them now even if you aren't really ready to do them--that's not a good set up! Seriously New Years Resolutions tend to just be about denying things from yourself and then you feel bad when five days into the new year you end up indulging in a pint of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food and it all goes downhill from there! So that's why I think instead of taking things out of your life you should try to add things to your life. Last yearI decided that what I was going to do was focus on two things in my life--Travel and Art--those were the two things that I wanted to focus on and I think it was pretty successfull! I ended up traveling to Nashville, TN; Seattle, WA; and numerous other little trips along the way. Plus I participated in my first art swap and made a set of ATCs to share with people.

This year I'm going to try to continue to work on Art and Travel and the first of these projects is that I'm trying to locate the home of this Art-O-Mat machine which is hopefully somewhere in the United States:

If I can locate the machine then I plan to try to visit it sometime this year--regardless of it's home location! So that's one way that I plan to continue my focus on Art and Travel--let's just hope that I will have the funds to do so!!! Anyone interested in a road trip this year? I would also like to travel to Chicago for the handmade market on the weekends that they have there where they sell fun, hand-made items. Check out the website for it at http://www.handmadechicago.com/

Along those lines, one thing that I want to add to my life this year is sewing. I am going to try it and see if it's really a craft that works for me. I like the idea of it because I love looking at the fabrics and the colors and having the freedom to try to make something yourself just sounds so lovely, so I'm going to try to add it in to my life this year--although it might not actually work for me. But still I'm going to attempt to try it! I'm going to continue in my quest for finding an artistic outlet that suits me and my needs.

Alright so my real addition to my life this year is that I want to try to cook a bit more and a bit better!!! So wish me luck and share with me some good recipes, because it's time for me to learn some cooking skills that will amaze me, my friends, my family, and maybe even my dog... although Gussy really isn't too picky! :o)

Happy New Year!!!!

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas... if you can!

2007-12-19T10:53:00.000-08:00

Things are crazy around the holidays! Seriously I always think I'm doing so well and then at the last minute things get crazy and I'm scrambling for everything. I hope my friends don't mind that this year I did more usual and unique gifts. Lots of handmade things and also lots of weird gifts that I've found throughout the year. Of course my friends know that coming from me you just kind of take whatever you can get and enjoy it however you can! Tradition isn't necessarily a strong word in my vocabulary for those of you who hadn't already figured that out!

So, anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone and enjoy your holidays! Don't get too stressed out and just think that you can indulge in all the cookies, candy, food, and goodies you can handle right now because for the next few months there won't be any around anyway!!! :o)

Merry Christmas!
Michelle

Festival of Trees Pictures

2007-12-05T11:27:00.001-08:00

These are pictures from the festival of trees in Fort Wayne at the Embassy Theater! Enjoy!
This tree is called the Penguin's Parade--not sure what it is supposed to be exactly, but the tree is on it's side and it's really kind of different than anything we've seen there in the past!
This was our favorite tree--it was done by children at a local school and the entire tree was done with a theme of mice! The ornaments are so cute--sponge cheese ornaments, mice houses from milk cartons, felt mice with candy cane tales, not to mention they took groups of three round bulbs and put them together in the shape of a mouse. It's so cute! I think these kids did a wonderful job!!!
That is Ben wearing my mom's hat. (He thought he was Indiana Jones.) His favorite tree was one with a spanish theme including pinatas, sombreros, and a little Santa playing a guitar, wearing boots and standing by a cactus. It was cute!
I love the top on this tree--I'm going to have to look for one like this at the after Christmas Sales this year! This tree actually was done by a dentist's office and if you look closely you will see the cute ways that they used dentist office items to decorate this tree in a really bright, festive sort of way!

If you don't have your tree up, let me know if you need ideas! I'm sure to come up with something--although whether or not you like it is another story all together!!!

Merry Little Christmas Tree!

2007-12-05T11:16:00.000-08:00

I'm having issues blogging today--it keeps getting turned down! Wish me luck this time! :o)

Okay, so here is the top of my Christmas Tree this year. It's done in origami. The ornaments were done by my friend Stephanie, but the top was done by me and Ben. He made the pinwheels and I made the ninja stars, then we glued sticks to the back of them and stuck them inside of a couple of rubber bands that were stuck to the top of the tree. Then we made the cute little origami fan flowers to go around the tree and hide the rubberbands and sticks.

I won't lie. It didn't turn out quiet like I had expected, but honestly it's still fun and cute and I have to say that I really love it! It's nice just to have something bright and colorful and creative around! Merry Christmas little tree!

This is my Christmas Tree this year--the total cost of the materials was less than five dollars! The ornaments are all from an origami-a-day calendar that my friend Stephanie did for me. Then I paid $2 for a string of white lights and $3 for some cheap snowflake garland and a set of little plastic icicles. I love it! It's colorful and cute and non-traditional! Plus it was so cheap--that's how I can continue to come up with a new theme for my tree every year!

Here is a picture of Ben and I before we went to the Nutcracker Ballet in Fort Wayne. He's wearing a Grinch tie and I'm in a nice little black and red shirt that I love!!! I wish you could see it in the picture, but you can't and the ones that I took that showed out clothing made me look terrible or made him look goofy--so I'm keeping those private so I don't have any blackmail pictures out there! :o)

Happy Holidays!!!