OK, so, I have been experiencing.....

cRaFT eNVy!

Yes indeed-de-doo I have.

I mean..all the great sites....the painting, the calligraphy, the photography, the sewn journals..the sketches..all of it.

And, if money were no object (yeeeaah, like that's ever going to happen..) I would take each and every class that catches my prolific crafting eye..

But, alas, I have no hen to lay the golden eggs..and, ewe... they'd be covered in..ahh..henpoo,

So I stalk...I Google, I YouTube, I blog-hop, I search, I clip magazines, I ask and most of all, I dream..

..of time

..of supplies

..of talent

..of learning

..of great teachers

And, I have been very fortunate to find almost no-cost ways to learn from the best....their BLOGS :-)

So, this month, it's learning how to create beautiful hand-made journals.

I am trying to use all available supplies (no running to Hobby Lobby to buy the 'latestgreatest" ) and hopefully, ending up with something that I can use, enjoy, share and keep.

On one completely WondERfuL blog, http://marthalever.blogspot.com/ (Art Du Jour) the "lovely & talented" Martha Lever {Hi Martha! Waving furiously from my cubicle at work..} showed a great new tool {at least I *think* I saw it there} that will make your plain, old (new) perfect pages look worn and raggedldeley (my word)..

Love to have it..

...but in the mean time, a sharp pair of scissors, a newspaper on my lap for the scrapings, a patient and accommodating Mr. B, and a re-run of NCIS on TV, I managed to rough-up 24 manila folders into 48 lovely pre-signatures (6 signatures made up of 4 folders each) just awaiting their final dressing of ephemera, scraps, fabric and fun!

So, ta-da..

before...

after...

sideways after....

It certainly does "Plump-them-up" huh?!

Here's an older lunch-bag-one I made a while back...

..and, when I was still in my "neat" phase...(I would totally grunge it up now, heehee)

So, there you have it...and please, take a moment to visit some of my "faves" on my sidebar..you won't be disappointed :-)

-me

Way cute video from Cute Overload..

“Your skills are weak, young pup. You are no match for my advanced spinning-laying-down-surprise-attack technique! Hah!” Piglet, as quoted by Cute Overload {www.cuteoverload.com}

See more every day - it's a wonderful diversion to all of life's icky to have a spot of funny...

Enjoy!

-me

I l.o.v.e. Sushi !

Wait..what? No, not to EAT..ick..

My new office partner - Sushi- the beautiful Beta fish..{so, does "beta" mean it's still in the experimental stages?? }

I had another Beta for 5 years..some of you may remember Angelina Jolee {yes, it was a male Beta, but had really big lips..and yes, I could totally have gone with Mick Jagger..but..}

Bygones..poor AJ ( I called him AJ) died during a winter snowstorm back in '02..

(hey, that sounded like a voice over movie promo by Sam Elliot...huh..??)

We had a power outage..poor AJ..seems he didn't like the cold much..I think he froze his fish-sticks off...'

....hahahahhaa, I crack me up sometimes...

But, as Sam would say...{in his deep gravely voice} "There's a new sheriff fish in town.."

Meet...Sushi..

He's talented...does impersonations..

Here he is impersonating a Boeing 747..

And here he is with "Hungry" from Weight Watcher's..

Guess that was kinda insensitive of me to pose Hungry with Sushi..

But, as a non-Sushi eater...I wouldn't really have made the connection now would I??

{Special instructions for the cleaning crew..}

Well, I vote for a new holiday..."Bring your fish to work Day"

.....but not on a bun ...with tarter sauce..

Oh, and little dose of Western "hubba-hubba... "

"The Shadow Riders" I think from the '80's
and remember.....

"a kiss without a mustache is like a pick-up without a gun rack.."
-unknown

-me

Owen is like the Energizer Bunny..with an overbite...

He just keeps on going and going!

"Dog's Expressions"

Last month, as you may remember, he won the Second Place ribbon for "Most Handsomest Dog in Lake Havasu City", where his Mom, my sister, Kathy lives.

Well, as some of you can also remember, Owen has a thing for adventure...

Yeah...like exploring Southern Arizona for 4 days and 3 nights...

..for finding his way to a safe home and a nice man and a brave Great Dane that saved him from an attacking coyote..

Well, Kathy being the non-dummie that she is, decided it may be time for little Owen to go to school and learn some rules and regulations...like "sit" and "stay"..

.. and "dammit Owen, come back here... NOW "

"well, since I can't trust you... Polo will have to walk you on a leash"

So off they went, Kathy excited, Owen grudgingly, to Obedience School.

When Kathy first mentioned it to him, he thought she was already pretty obedient, but what the heck, everyone can stand some improvement.

When he found out it was for HIM...well, that shined a whole new light on the word "obedience",  huh Owen?

Kathy worked, studied, did homework and Owen watched...

But little by little, Owen joined in..and whaddyaknow..

They he graduated with honors...well, with this ribbon anyway.

Yep, I don't know who is prouder...oh who am I kidding?  

Good going, Owen.Good going, Kathy...we're all  proud of you.

And all of our healing thoughts to my Grand-dog, Marley, after his operation to get his..uh.. um..to get fixed...{poor little guy didn't even know he was broken..}

"I'm feeling a bit...woooozy.."

"You did WHAT??"

Oh no...say it ain't so..?? Oh no..

Happy Healing Marley!

-me

OK, um, what do ...4 purple high heels,

..Lulu ......

....wearing the 4 purple high heels...

..Dean Martin..

..a make-up artist..

.and Ellen's haircut have in common??

One really weird night of dreams...after a bowl of cereal right before bedtime...

Uh..quite possibly.

So, did I learn anything?

You betcha!..some of the best TV is not on TV...but in my dreams!

Have a cuddly, warm and loving Saturday, OK?

-me

no, that's not me.

...I don't smoke cigars..or anything..

..although, sometimes when I share my dreams, people say "What have you been smokin'??"

I need help...I'm a 'craft-idea' junkie...

This interwebby thing can be so great..

You can get a photo of the teensiest frog...

You can find beautiful places to visit..

You can peek into some of the most beautiful homes...

And you can find all kinds of crafts, ideas, images, how-to's, videos, tutorials..

And I have...

information overload..

..an image hangover..

..chronically overstuffed files..

..self-defeating crafting plans..

Because I want to:

sew

paint

collage

read

write

bake

decorate

journal

collect

frost

knit

crochet

print

build

garden

quilt

 I want to do it all..

..and blog..

And so I am paralyzed by the options..and I end up doing ...nothing

And I am so fortunate...so lucky..

Am I the only one?

Huh...didn't think so.

So, how do you sift through it all?

Hmm...something to think about.

-me

"Dancing with the Scars"....

..otherwise known as..."Dancing with the Oldie"

Yes..I've been Zumba-ing again.

2 times a week.

Sunday & Wednesday.

And sometimes they shake parts that I don't have anymore....

and that's OK..'cos I have a lot in the front to do the "pop & lock" with.

Puts those young-thin-coordinated-put-their-feet-where-they-are-supposed-to-be-girls to shame..

One even asked when she saw me outside of the studio.."Are you going into Zumba class????"

Yeah, Chickie-little, I am...so go in, stay outta my way, and I'll show you what the New 60 looks like..heh heh heh..

Don't let anything stop you from dancing..from enjoying..or from learning..

After all, if an old, scarred overweight exercise-hating me can do it...seriously..why would you think you can't??

Excuse me while I go watch a Shakera video and see if I can get some of those moves down....

Move your body, shake it, shake it...move your body..shake it...

I dunno..maybe after I take 2 Tylenol, I'll take up......

Pole Dancing...

riiight...

-me