Once again something I started did not get finished.  Problem:  lack of focus.  And here I am getting ready once again to start something new, something in no way related to this blog.  I'll tell you what it is so it will be related to this blog.  It's a composition book with the pages taped together with washi tape.  Sue made one and it was really cute.  Of course if I continue here, beginning my project is going to be delayed, but I am focusing on something.  Ok, (said with new resolve) I will go begin a new project and try to get my focus on  More later....

Fall is in the air and it seems summer just began.  Most of the summer was spent going back and forth to LeMars because Sandy decided to take a 6 week vacation at the bed, breakfast and IV inn.  Her wounds look much better so I guess the spa treatments were worth it.  Unfortunately, her absence gave me a lot of unsupervised time to watch crafting videos and to discover I need many more supplies which were easily acquired thanks to internet shopping.  When the men in white coats take me away (hopefully to a place with a large stocked craft room) I'm going to name names of all the videographers so they can be held accountable for my disease.

Today I'm bringing her home so the gig is up.  I'm going to have to actually demonstrate how to use all my new supplies.  Jolly fun, eh?  Yes, a lot of the videos are done by friends across the pond, and I've also been watching a lot of British shows on Netflix, so a bit of the vernacular might have crept into my vocabulary.  Ta-ta for now!

Still no sign of spring.  But summer is here.  I have a nice little area with an overhang so I can sit outside and feel the breeze without  being in the hot sun.  However, I do feel that the town fathers should start naming our breezes since sometimes they are gale-force.  I would be happy to help with that process.  Hey Sue, should we have Joey AND Alli come up with some names?

Summer arrived with a vengeance.  I think this is the 5th day in a row of over 90 degrees and one day we hit 100.  But that one day of spring was nice.
While the rest of us struggled through our colds, Sandy got pneumonia and spent 12 days in the hospital for IV antibiotics.  Her recovery has been slow.  Kris and family were just here for the holiday weekend and today she is trying to catch up on sleep.
Our latest passion is art journaling.  Mostly the passion is buying supplies we need after we've watched some videos.  But it's fun, and a great way to relieve stress.

I went to Cedar Rapids to meet my newest grandboy.  He is a sweetheart and adorable.

My other little grandboy went with his mother into a mother/infant treatment center.  I miss him but have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time with him again.  

Thien misses him, too.  He really loves the babies.

Spring has indeed arrived, warm temperatures, no snow  But on the negative side, the wind is blowing so hard.  I can't even go and sit outside.  I'm just sitting by the window waiting for that lethal stop sign to come blowing in and decapitate somebody  Since there are only two of us here right now, it might be me.  If anybody feels warmhearted, perhaps you can leave us some "amens"
in our comments.  Then maybe God will drop by and see about the wind.  more later.

It finally warmed up and the snow has melted, and Thien and I got sick with colds.  If you should catch my cold, I beg you not to take a decongestant.  I'm not even sure what they are for.  I took one today in hopes that it might help dry up my nose; instead my nose instantly turned into a snot faucet.  It just dripped and dripped and I sneezed and sneezed and my eyes watered and it was very miserable.  Now it is bedtime and after some Benadryl, I'm feeling somewhat drier.  I'm hoping for a good night's sleep.  Because you know what else came with the warm weather?  My son and his 6 week old son moved in temporarily and since he works 12 hr days (my son, not the baby), I am the babysitter.  And babies are exhausting!  Grammy needs to start lifting weights.   Wait.  I AM lifting weights.  I feel like I've gained 10 pounds.  So now I need to lose 10 pounds to make up for the 10 pounds I gained....hmm, I'll have to think on that.
Meanwhile we are busy working on our art journals, or at least shopping for things we need for our art journals.    But maybe I will just take my weights and sit on the deck and rock.

Friday Fun

Today I got my Magical powders from Lindy's and I can't wait to use them.  But....I'm saving them for tomorrow so Sandy and I can have fun together.  I keep picking them up to look at.  They are in tiny containers so I will have to be frugal with them.  I will try not to hoard them.  I also got some clear gesso, that I think will work better on my collages.  We are having lots of fun experimenting with art journaling and magazine collages.  Unfortunately we keep seeing products we need, yes, need, but someday we will be world famous for our page spreads and the money spent will be well worth it.

I am sick to death  of this weather.  We're in the midst of another blizzard on the 15th of April.  I never thought I would hear myself say a tornado would be refreshing, but a  tornado would be refreshing.  Let the storms begin.

We are interested in mixed media and are building up our supplies.   I know I've mentioned that I lack focus.  I don't know how to fix that.  If this were still two years ago, I would still be working on my paper bag albums and I would be crocheting my baby photo props.   But it's not and I'm not so I'm stuck with unfocused.    One of the most annoying phrases that is spoken today is "it is what it is", but it is what it is.  More later.

A change in weather, maybe.

One would hope that with the end of March would come the end of blizzards, unless one lived in Iowa.  But I think that we can hope that the snow.....wait, I just checked the weather and apparently we might get more snow next weekend.  But for the rest of this week we are looking at 60 degrees!  Our snowy weather is getting very close to tornado weather, and that would make an interesting weather pattern.

One thing I can say about our crafting is that we never get stuck in a rut.  Which is a good thing.....except when Sandy watches you-tube videos and decides we need a whole bunch more products.  But I have to admit that some of the things we've seen on you-tube are beautiful and it will be fun to expand our expertise.  What is scary is when I come to her house and tell her that the night before I was looking at Dick-Blick and ordered some things we'd talked about getting and she says she was also looking at Dick-Blick.  This has happened before and proves that our brains are in sync.

March is almost over and I can't wait.  I plan to sit outside at every opportunity.  Maybe I'll be able to take supplies for an altered book outside to work on.  That's if my internal planning gets completed.   I think I'm almost done with preliminary planning.  Which reminds me of planting.  I ordered some rose seeds and some succulent seeds  I need to plant them in April.  I also want a couple of tomato plants, a pepper plant and some cucumber vines.  Better get busy.  More later.  (Somebody please follow me)

I'm wanting to make an altered book but I need  a plan and I lack focus.  I'll keep thinking about it in my head until some of the sludge clears away and then I'll be ready to go.  It should go pretty fast  with all this internal planning.  More later.

Another altered book journal.

35 double sided pages, lots of room for journaling.

Yesterday I got a new grandson.  This makes 4 boys and 8 girls, and next month I get another boy.

Isn't Sue's book beautiful?  A lot of time and thought go into her books and they look even prettier in person.  I've been listing on ebay, key chains and lanyards.  Right now I think my peeps on ebay have gone on vacation.  My friends, though, have been all over these things.  Thank heaven for friends and family, right?  I'm going to go and see if I can create something.  More later.

Here is a new book I just listed on Etsy.  I love making these books.

And just like that, spring is gone.  But I have no doubt that it will be back.  When is another question.

We have more purse charms:

 More later

Spring is here.  Well, maybe not officially, but good enough for me.  It's 50 degrees and the snow is melting.  Unfortunately, the wind is blowing but it does that all the time and a warm wind is better than a cold wind. 

We've made some more purse charms.  Just can't get enough of these things.  More later.

Two more days of February.  Spring is almost here.  It's about time.  I can't wait to go sit outside and get hot.  Stick around people, pretty soon you'll hear me complaining about heat and humidity.  Oh, and tornadoes.  I guess nobody promised me a rose garden.

My entertainment will be traffic watching.  We live in a new development in a small town.  Our house is actually the most recent to be built and is located at the top of a "T" intersection.  There's a street that goes east and west and another comes from the south.  We have a fair amount of traffic on our street because there's a day care center across the street and a country club down the street.  So the town decided to make this a three way stop.   Well, people don't even see those stop signs.  They just breeze right thru them.  Some people slow down and roll thru them, but very few people stop.  If the town cop were to set up in our  driveway, he could make enough money in tickets to pay any debt the town has within the first week.  If he kept coming at random times, we could start some kind of urban renewal, bring in some big businesses, maybe locate a federal prison here  Sadly, by my count, nobody has been ticketed for running a stop sign.

We're still working on purse charms and lanyards.  The latest:

More later.