This is too funny.  It has been so long since I added anything to my blog that it took me a little while to figure out how to post!  It is almost May and we are still with frost warnings.  Daffodils and tulips are in danger of being frozen but the little purple flower bulb that has bloomed in my grass for the last thirty years is blooming bravely. 

Arthritis in my hands is acting up more and more.  Especially when I am really busy with my hands.  But I guess they say if you don't use it you lose it!

 You know when life gets in the way sometimes?  I finally found some time to create some cards and mini albums.









I created these double pocket cards with double sided card stock.  I like that the colors coordinate so well from the paper packs.  I can not take credit for this design. It came from You Tube, and I can't find it again!

                                          They fit in standard card envelopes. 

These rosettes are an origami technique that I found on You Tube.  If you Google Origami tutorials, all sorts of marvelous techniques pop up.  I used my Cricut to cut the circles.  I discovered that if you make the first center fold against the grain of the paper, it makes it a lot easier to make the other two folds.  This one came from a You Tube tutorial by
thepinktornado called Create a flower with Circles.

The black and white explosion box below is modeled after a You Tube tutorial called:

  Explosion Box with Stampin UP products 

 I used their basic design, then created pockets where they had pages.

Instead of cutting out the corners of the outer box, I used those as extra pages for pictures or journal space.  I rounded the top corners for easier closure.  This also holds the box together more soundly and makes a sturdier end product. 

The red heart in the very center of the box is the only color.

 I used some elegant metallic, marbled wrapping paper for this woven technique.  You can see the difference in the end result when placed on white and black backgrounds.  I think it is very rich looking.

This is my first attempt at an envelope mini album.  I used purchased cards that were already cut out for the short pockets.  They were from the dollar bin at Michael's.

Hope you have enjoyed looking at my creations as much as I enjoyed sharing.  I have never done this before, and have a lot to learn!!!

Winter in Iowa this year is really weird.  We have had spring like days and only one snow enough to have to plow out.  The grass finally turned brown and there is one snowbank in front of the shed doors that will probably stay all winter since it is in the shade most of the time.  We have been collecting things for the Chris Holt Scholarship Fund which is this weekend.  We have 23 boxes of stuff.  Betty and Tony are going with us.  I'm not going to the conference this year, just putting up the tables and chilling.  It will be good to see old friends.  If we are lucky, it will snow just enough to be beautiful but not too dangerous! 

On the coldest night of the Fall, August 7, 2011, 54 degrees,  I was sleeping out under the stars with two wonderful women who have influenced my life in uncountable ways.  Time spent remembering people who have influenced us, entertained us, and inspired us.  Campfire was warm and there is nothing better than staring into a fire on a chilly night with the company of the best!  We were celebrating and mourning, and thinking of the future.  Change is inevitable.  We don't have to like it, but we do have to get through it or over it. 

And the rains came

Four AM.  The rain came.  Hard and fast.  Wind driven, like sheets of laundry hung to dry.  Sheets, wind driven, clinging to imaginary lines with old, weathered wooden clothes pins.  The rain came and went all within ten minutes.  Cleaned the air and left the laundry dripping with fresh rain from every tiny tree branch. 

Getting Organized

I have taken on another project class!  Getting Organized.  It is a six week course, and I am already defeated by the time line!!!  LOL!  I am creating a studio from our small dining room and with two room doors and a patio door it will be a real challenge.  See my facebook profile for latest before pictures. 

Di Was Just Thinking...

   Yes, I actually do think on occasion!  Interesting, I thought that occasion had another 's' in it.
   Oh well.  Moving on.  I was just out picking black rasberries this afternoon.  The breeze was just enough to be refreshing and keep the insects away.  I got 2 cups of berries yesterday and about 4 cups today.  They are delicious with NOOSA yogurt.  MMMMMM!  Thank you Mrs. Evans where ever you are. 
   This got me thinking about when we were kids and there were wild black rasberries back of the chicken house on the home place.  They were so good.  Warm with the summer sun, juicy and ripe.  They were so tempting that only about half of them made it to the house.  Good thing there were lots of them!!!  It didn't matter then that it was hotter than hot and humid.  Rasberry scratches were a badge of honor to me back then.  
  No matter where you go or what you do, if you let your thoughts drift, something will trigger a memory from home.  Remember those to tell your grandchildren and great grandchildren,  Oral history is so important.  Even more important today than earlier, because children are so caught up in all their activities and electronic devices that they are forgetting how to carry on a conversation.