LET'S ROCK!

My youngest niece, Jessica, has a new PINK electric guitar! As soon as I saw this picture, I knew I had to scrap it. She’s so cute with her new “axe”! Looking forward to the concert the next time we see her.

A few days after I got her photo, the Fiskateers were having an online crop. It was also National Talk like a Pirate Day and one of the challenges involved creating a layout of someone or thing that you treasure and using a skull and crossbones on the layout. Perfect! Here’s what I did.

Now you know I revisit and tweak layouts on occasion. The ROCK portion of the title has been tweaked on this one. I originally used one inch alpha stickers in the blackadder font. They were okay but I felt they just weren’t heavy enough. I carefully removed the stickers and stamped ROCK with Making Memories foam stamps and Liquitex black acrylic paint. The letters are intentionally out of line. I wanted them to look like they were rocking out! Other products used to create the layout include DCWV textured cardstock (background), Inks by Steph Fletcher Cove stickers (photo corner, stars, skull and crossbones), Me and My Big Ideas adhesive rhinestones (princess and flowers), Bazzill (black) and Heidi Grace (pink) flowers, Making Memories medium star brad, Colorbok journaling block, Michael’s and Hobby Lobby brands ribbon.  Photography by Christina DePalma.

Thank you for taking the journey with me. Rock on!

A NEEDLE CASE for National Sewing Month

Long time since I did any embroidery and it shows!  I copied this piece from an old needle case that I have had for a very long time.  My mother gave it to me and told me that my Aunt Eva had made it from hat felt and a scrap of flannel.  I had been using it for almost 40 years and was heartbroken when I tore one of the bonnet ties trying to retie the bow.  I needed a project for a sewing challenge on Fiskateers.com and decided to replicate the original needle case.  Here's a shot of the original

My Aunt Eva was born in the late 1890's and I love her precise needlework.  I updated my needle case in a few ways.  I added additional slips, for a total of 3, on the inside

I also added a back pocket to hold a needle threader, extra floss or tiny embroidery shears.

The materials used were just the odd bits at hand--an orange felt square (dyed with coffee), some floss and thread, a bit of muslin and lace. 

I love vintage and I love my family heirlooms.  I promise to take better care of our heirlooms in the future so that future generations can enjoy them as much as I have. 

Now, I have a guestion for all of you!  I think the pattern for my little case is a quilt piece named Sunbonnet Sue but I'm not sure.  I remember my mother calling it something but don't remember exactly what it was--wan't Sunbonnet Sue, though.  Anybody have any ideas?

Thank you for helping out my tired old brain!  And thanks for visiting Traveling Down A Crafty Road!

SO HAPPY IN LOVE, A Not So Christmas-sy Layout

Our oldest nephew is getting married next year!  I know its been said many times before, but it really does seem like yesterday when the call came that he was ON THE WAY and his momma and daddy were headed to the hospital.  Now he's all grown up and engaged to a lovely young woman.  They are very happy and we are very happy for them!  Take a look at the double layout I made from a few of their photos.

Their photos don't shout Christmas.  The wreath in the large photo is the only indication of the season.  The papers are from DCWV's Christmas Stack but only one is specifically Christmas themed.  It's used on the flowers and is printed with Christmas related words.  I thought that one litle bit of definite holiday themed paper balanced with the photographs and didn't detract from the layout's theme of love and happiness.

I punched the top and bottom of the red dotted paper with the Fiskars Threading Water border punch and threaded natural colored twine through the holes.  This was a little tricky because the twine was stiff and I had to be careful not to break through the holes.  A little slack will keep the paper from curling, too.  For the title, I printed the SO and IN from MS Word.  HAPPY is cut from the DCWV Christmas word paper and LOVE is spelled with Heidi Grace alpha stickers from the It's My Party line.

There are a number of sites on the Web that provide step by step instructions for the construction of torn paper flowers.  I find it easiest to pencil circles in on the back of my paper, wet the pencil lines and then tear the circles.  I also find it helpful to label the back of each set with a number; i.e., for the four layer flowers I had a set of four circles labeled 1, a set of four circles labeled 2, etc.  It makes assembly much faster when you don't have to search for the appropriate sized circle.

The pine like sprigs were a bit serendipitous.  Since my paper had a herringbone pattern, I cut strips and clipped little "needles" along the pattern.  I also drew a brown line down the center and inked the outside edges.

Be happy, my readers!  Make me happy and leave a comment, LOL!  I appreciate all your comments.  Thanks so much.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

Are you ready?  If you wait to the last minute, like I usually do, you have 92 days left!  "We" still have a bit of time to get crafty though.  Take a look at this little quickie gift card holder/bag I made.

Here's my template.

I cut and scored plain white cardstock then punched the top with the Fiskars Threading Water border punch.  Next, I stamped snowflakes (Making Memories acrylic stamps) with Colorbox silver pigment ink.  Once the ink was dry, I added Terrifically Tacky tape strips as indicated on the template and assembled.  For the ribbon handle, I punched holes with a hand punch and threaded Heidi Grace pink velvet ribbon through the holes.  I knotted the ends of the ribbon to hold the handle in place.

The tag is just a little rectangle of scrap white cardstock, folded in half, with a snowflake stamped on top.

I'm looking forward to using this silver ink on navy blue cardstock and gold ink on dark green and maroon cardstock.  The possibilities are only limited to your imagination!

Thank you for checking in and best wishes for all your holiday projects.  Until next time, my stamps are calling!

HEIRLOOM SCRAPBOOK PAGE Part 2

Finally!  The second page of my double layout is here.  It's been ready but I had hoped to get a better photograph for you.  Our weather has just not cooperated.  If the rain keeps up much longer, I'm getting the snorkel gear out!

This is the right hand companion to the page posted on 9/19/09.  It is the reworked version.  In the original (and you have to be a Fiskateer to catch the before shot, Ha, Ha!), I used the invitation along with a copy of the actual newspaper announcement.  I didn't like the way they were displayed so I played around with those elements.  The gray patterned paper mat and the three bejewed inchies are additions.  I also took a few sentences from the newspaper announcement and typed them in MS PowerPoint--"The bride wore a dress of Copenhagen blue crepe, with sweetheart neckline and draped skirt.  Her hat was of matching blue crepe."  Don't worry, I'll add the copy of the entire announcement elsewhere in the album.  I didn't change the patterend paper border (the "rest" of the Fiskars quilted corners border corner punch from the left side) or the ribbon with the inchie and oval photo. One more thing to note--I used white paper for the newspaper lines for the sake of album continuity.  All the journaling blocks in the album are printed on white paper. 

Here's what they look like side by side.  Trust me; I do believe the right hand page is a bit more elegant in the reworked version.

Thank you for swimming by!  Now where did I put that snorkel?

ANOTHER HEIRLOOM SCRAPBOOK PAGE Part 1

Would you like to see another layout from what will be my mom and dad's wedding album?  A little background--I posted a double page version of this one in my Fiskateer gallery last night for a border challenge.  I wasn't happy with the right hand side of the page and am reworking it.  NOW, I like what I'm doing with the right hand page and will share that side with you in my next post.

Do you ever go back and rework a page that you're not happy with?  Wish I got each one right the first go round, but I don't!  Those not quite right pages nag at my serenity.  I go to bed at night thinking I can do better.  Sometimes I have a Eureka! moment before sleep claims me.  Sometimes I even remember that moment when I wake up!

Here's the left hand page.  Please know that my borders are straight, my photograply is crooked.  The photo is a solo shot of my mother.



I used the Fiskars border corner punch, Quilted Corners, around the mottled gray patterned paper (The Paper Studio) and carefully cut the outside edge off (more on that in the next post).  The photo is matted on the same gray cardstock but I left about two inches on the left side.  Punched that side with Fiskars Diamond border punch.  On another piece of gray cardstock, I used the Fiskars Leave it to Weaver border punch and threaded pink organza ribbon through the punches.  Then I poofed the ribbon.  Not sure who made this ribbon--it's labeled Decorative Ribbon, made in Taiwan.  I'm sure it was a bargain!  The ribbon bedecked piece is adhered to the mat with medium sized glue dots.  To complete, I made 5 inchies with cardstock and square rhinestones to place along the far left side.

Thanks for visiting!  I would love to know the if, when, how, and why's of reworking your own pages--leave me a comment.  Come back around for part 2, round 2, page 2, whatever you want to call it!

IT'S NATIONAL SEWING MONTH! DO YOU SEW?

Looking back, I realize that I sew in fits and spurts!  My mother actually sewed that way, too.  As a child I remember my mom sewing me clothes that I absolutely hated and wouldn't wear!  She eventually stopped and kept her sewing skills well honed with mending and the odd home decor or gift piece.  My mother actually cursed at her sewing machine, so I didn't want to go anywhere near the evil thing!

My school system didn't offer home ec classes until high school but I decided to brave the evil sewing machine thing and take Sewing 1 as a freshman.  I loved it!  Even after the thread take up arm bonked me in the forehead, and left a giant, zit like, red mark that lasted for days (don't ask me how because I still don't know what happened), I signed up for Sewing 2!

My original sewing fit continued until I moved away from home after college.  My mother's evil machine and I had become friends but she wasn't going to let me take it.  My mother acted like she hated her machine but she really loved it.  So, I ended up making a few things on weekends here and there until the rest of life got in the way.

About 20 years ago, I bought my own machine.  Well, my machine hated me and I finally understood my mother's love/hate relationship with her machine.  Most of the time, my machine hung out in the closet but it helped produce curtains, a few dresses and got me through the mending.

Not long ago, I bought a Singer Futura--a late Christmas present. So far, we've collaborated on an apron, some mending and the valance shown here.

It's a simple rod pocket valance.  All straight lines, no pattern required.  I lined it with unbleached muslin because I just happened to have some on hand.

Please note the finials.  They are Styrofoam balls that I painted with Modge Podge and wrapped yarn around.  I stabbed the balls with a bamboo skewer first to make them easier to work on.  Then I used straight pins to keep the yarn in place until the adhesive set.  Most of us have paper scissors and fabric shears?  I now have fabric pins and craft pins (complete with dried glue blobs!)  I finished the finials with bits of blue silk flowers.  I nailed a long thin brad into each end of the rod (actually a closet rod, $0.68/foot) and stuck the finials onto the brad, flush against the end of the rod.  There's probably a "right" way, but this worked for me.

I like my new machine and it seems to like me.  I have several new projects lined up and I still need to try out the embroidery function.  I think the two of us can go places!

Happy National Sewing Month!  Thanks for stopping by Traveling Down a Crafty Road.  

READY FOR AUTUMN

I'm not ready for summer to be over but I love the colors of fall.  I like the change of the seasons, especially summer to fall.  There's just something about wearing sweaters and closed toe shoes again that makes me happy!  I'm looking forward to cooler, crisper weather, raking leaves and making soups and chili.

I created this layout using the Fiskarscrafts.com September '09 sketch.  The photos were taken during one of my "tagalong with working husband" visits to New York City.  It was a lovely, late October day, a perfect day to be outside enjoying the scenery.  I had decided to explore Greenwich Village and found myself in Washington Square Park.  This squirrel was not afraid of me or anybody else.  Must have been a native Manhattanite!

All pattered paper is from Cloud 9 Outdoors Collection.  The NUTS title is Heidi Grace Harvest Row adhesive alphas.  The rhinestone leaves (on vellum paisley shapes) are from the dollar bin at JoAnn's.  I used Fiskars Leave it to Weaver, Threading Waters, and Diamond border punches, Comma, Comma Chameleon squeeze punch and scallop paper edgers.  The journaling block and Got part of the title were created in MS PowerPoint with the stationary fill background and Bradley Hand font.

Thank you so much for checking in.  Enjoy the last little bit of summer!

BIRTHDAY BLOG CANDY WINNER!

We have a winner! There were more than 100 entries for the prize and I had an independent, unbiased person go to random.org to select the winner.

Drum roll, please . . . and the winner is Barb Fiskateer 2975!

Congratulations, Barb! Please forward your mailing address and phone number to me at travelnlesa@gmail.com.

Thanks to each and every one of you for making this giveaway, and my extended birthday celebration, so much fun. I hope you’ve enjoyed this leg of the trip as much as I have.  My brother and I both thank you for all the birthday wishes, too.

Please check back in on Traveling Down a Crafty Road soon. I’ll be back to posting about crafty things in the next few days.

A TEENY HOME DÉCOR ITEM

Like many crafters, I started out on my kitchen table. For scrapbooking, I had a Rubbermaid open tote and a shirt sized gift box of “stuff”. The sewing machine, sewing box, and a few other baskets and boxes for other crafts were stuck in closets here and there. I was so unorganized!

The room that started out as a home office, but evolved into a junk/storage room, became my crafty space.  For the last few years it was an okay space but wasn't very pretty or inspiring.  Last month, we started a redo of my craft room. It has new paint, carpet and a new window valance. I’m still working on a few storage and decorative things and will share all when complete. Until then, this is my switch plate cover.

It's wooden; painted with antique white Krylon spray paint follwed by Krylon matte sealer.  I dipped blue yarn into Modge Podge and shaped into flourishes.  The yarn dried hard and fast but a bit darker.  The flowers are from an ancient arrangement that I'm slowly deconstructing.  I must have had that one for at least 25 years but the colors worked for this room.

The birthday RAK winner will be announced sometime tomorrow, 9/13/2009!  Thanks for your participation and best of luck!  Contest rules listed in 9/5/2009 post.

Thank you for visiting Traveling Down a Crafty Road and for celebrating with me!

BIRTHDAYS = GIFTS!

Since it’s still my birthday week, I thought I would write a bit about gifts. I love giving and receiving hand made gift items. Don’t you?

Not long after I started scrapbooking, I saw a sweet photo cube gift idea in a 2008 issue of Scrapbooks, etc. magazine. I loved it and decided to “lift” it to suit a specific purpose. My purpose was a Mother’s Day gift for my wonderful mother in law, Arlene. Now keep in mind that during our 2007 Christmas visit, she casually mentioned that the only photos she had of us were from our wedding, GASP, 18 years before. I guess we had been too busy behind the camera to get caught in front! Well a star was born (my husband) and I think the cube turned out pretty well.

Now it's time to let you in on what I did, how I did it and what I used.   The original magazine project called for a Memory Makers brand photo cube but I couldn't find one in my local shops.  I improvised with an upside down chipboard box, top removed (now holding post it lables and notes on my desk).   Lightweight enough to ship but stable enough for tabletop display.  You could also use a 4 inch section of a 4 x 4 post with edges sanded and corners filed off, especially if your not concerned with shipping fees.  I had to ship and the only 4 x 4's at my house are supporting a deck!

The first step was painting the box with celery green acrylic from Americana paints by DecoArts.  I then cut rectangles and a square of Provo Craft patterend paper and inked the edges with gold pigment ink from Rubber Stampede.  I attached the rectangles and square to the box with Modge Podge and sealed with several additional coats.

The cute shaped frame was part of a set from Martha Stewart brand mats that I bought on clearance at Michael's.  I covered this one with patterned paper from a Paper Impressions paper pack.  All of the other mats were made from coordinating paper from the same pack.  The initials are naked chipboard from Making Memories painted with gold acrylic from Plaid.  I'm not sure who manufactured the butterlies or the ribbon but know that I picked each up at Hobby Lobby.  The silk flowers were a gift and I dyed them with a bit of tea before adding  the Spare Parts round metallic mini brads and adhering with Fiskars glue dots.

Hope you have enjoyed my little photo cube.  It could be "re-lifted" and adapted to any holdiay or other gift giving occasion.  You could also flip it upright, line the inside with archival paper and decorate the lid for a mini photo storage box.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I will post once more (late on 9/11 or early 9/12) before the big drawing for the Birthday goodies.

Don't forget!  I have a guestbook at the bottom of the page so please shout out your location!  Thanks again.

WHERE TO PUT ALL THE ATC’s?

ATC’s are really mini works of art and I find them very inspiring. When I receive a package from a swap, it’s like opening a birthday present! Incredibly thrilling! I look through them and am amazed at the creativity. The conversation with myself usually includes “Wish I had thought of that!”, “Wonder what adhesive was used?”, “How did they do this technique?” and on and on.

After participating in a few swaps, display and storage questions arose. The precious, little cards are too pretty to hide away in a drawer or box and they stimulate my own creativity. I thought and thought—maybe a tree type thing? Nope—too big for my space. Maybe a clothesline? Hmmm, that might work. Or what about a teeny tiny shelf? So off to the hardware store and this is what I ended up with.

I found plastic ceramic tile starter strips and screwed them into the wall. They have a little groove along the horizontal edge that most of my ATC’s fit right into. A few of the ATC’s in my collection don’t fit exactly—they are thicker and made with multiple layers of cardboard or include fibers or top heavy embellishments. For those, I added a little rolled up painters tape stuck to the back of the sleeve and the wall to hold them upright. (I was concerned about the tape pulling the paint off the wall but after a month, it’s still intact.) The best part of this project: it was CHEAP! An 8 foot length was less than $5. I just cut the strips with a hacksaw to the desired length and cleaned up the cuts with a bit of sandpaper.

Since I only have a few free feet left, I started thinking about long term storage. I visited a local sports card store and found bunches of cardboard storage boxes—all different sizes and price points! I bought a midsized one for $4. As soon as I personalize my plain white box, I’ll share a picture with you! I don’t want to put any of my treasures in a box but my wall space is limited. I plan to rotate the display and am anticipating how much fun that will be. Just thinking about it brings back memories of playing with dress up dolls. I’ll just be playing dress up the wall!

If you’ve joined the ATC brigade, let me know how you display and store yours! The birthday RAK is still up for grabs so leave that comment, or another, here and become a follower if you aren’t following yet. Thanks for stopping by!

THEY WANNA MAKE ME GO TO ATC REHAB

But I say NO, NO, NO! Anyone who has ever crafted an ATC knows exactly what I mean. They are super addictive. I’m participating in four swaps this month!

For those of you who haven’t succumbed, they are 2.5 by 3.5 inch Artist Trading Cards meant to be traded among an ever growing community of artists and crafters. Yes, traded--not sold. It’s a sharing thing!

Any arts and crafts media is acceptable—collage, watercolor, rubber stamping, fabric, photography, embroidery, oil paints, etc. Whatever makes your heart sing is okay as long as you adhere to the size rule. I save cereal boxes and cut those for my card base but you can buy precut cardboard ATC bases or even use old playing cards. The front is your artwork and the back provides the space for the title, edition or series number if any (1 of 20, etc.), name of swap, your name and contact information, date created and any other information the swap host requests or you want to include. A few that I’ve received have cute little poems or personal notes on the back.

This is one of my earlier efforts and is titled Hunka, Hunka Merman. It was part of a mermaid swap hosted by another blogger. “He” came from a magazine ad for watches, photocopied onto matte photo paper. The watch is why he has an embroidery floss wrist band. I added little beads to the band as I sewed it on. The background paper and his tail are from a ProvoCraft slab. His hair is made from unraveled twine with a little peat moss glued here and there. The hair was rather unruly so he ended up with a ponytail holder made from a bit of jewelry wire and the Fiskars Itty Bitty Cassette Punch sun shape.

A wonderful resource is Bernie Berlin’s Artist Trading Card Workshop. Her book is full of techniques, trading information, and inspiration. She recently shared her art on FiskarsTV (http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/tv/). It’s Episode 99 and definitely worth viewing.

A big THANK YOU to everyone participating in the Birthday RAK! Your comments warm my heart. I’m thrilled that you have joined the celebration. We are still celebrating so leave a comment for a chance to win the RAK. Become a follower for another chance. Thanks, Amy Winehouse for today’s post title.

Gotta run! My ATC addiction is calling.

THE CELEBRATION CONTINUES WITH A LAYOUT!

Welcome and welcome back to Traveling Down A Crafty Road! Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and comments. The RAK winner will be chosen on 9/13/2009 so keep them coming.

I made the following layout to honor my parents and there’s no better time than my extended Birthday Celebration to share it with you. They have passed on but left us with wonderful, loving memories and many boxes of photographs and keepsakes. While attempting to sort through the myriad “stuff”, I came across their Bride/Guest Book and all six of their wedding photographs. Buried treasure!


The background patterned paper is from The Paper Studio. The gold charms are Favorite Findings from Blumenthal Lansing Co. Fiskars lace border punch was used on one side of the cardstock mats. I used two different ribbons and added some floral embellishments I put together. Here’s a close up of the flowers


The flowers were very easy to make. I used an EK Success flower punch and outlined the petals and center with Stickles. A self adhesive rhinestone went in the center and some fun fiber was adhered to the back in pinwheel fashion.

Thank you for visiting. Have a wonderful Labor Day! Until next time, happy crafting!

CELEBRATE WITH ME!

Today is my birthday! I am now 50 something—at least for the next nine years, LOL! This photo was taken at our first birthday party. I’m on the right and that cutie pie on the left is my twin brother. Happy Birthday, Bubba!

I want YOU to help me celebrate! No cards, mini books, or layouts today. I have something else “sweet” in store—blog candy! I want to give one of you a birthday present—straight from me to you! It’s a bit progressive but so easy. I know you will want to do it. Here are the rules—

* Become a follower of my blog—you get one chance to win,
* Comment on this post—you get another chance to win,
* Comment on additional posts from this one forward until 9/12, midnight CST—you get one chance to win for each post you comment on. I can promise at least 5 additional posts between now and 9/12/2009.
* A winner will be drawn on 9/13 and announced on the blog.

So you can have at least 7 chances in the “birthday bucket” if you want. Go for it! A little spreadsheet will keep up with your entries and I’ll rely on random.org for the winner. I’m looking forward to giving away . . .

NOTES: Because of the size and weight of the package, I must limit this prize giveaway to US residents only.
The quality of the photo does not accurately reflect the quality of the prize. Argh! Lighting issues here--it's raining!

Thanks for joining my birthday celebration! Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the page to sign my guest book.

BRICKA, BRICKA FIRECRACKER SIS BOOM BAH - FOOTBALL, Part 2

Did you enjoy the mini cd album from my last post? I enjoyed making and posting it! One of the sweet benefits of scrapbooking is the opportunity to relive treasured memories again and again.

Remember this from my last post: “Everything is held together with a jump ring with pretty ribbon attached (more about that in Part 2, stay tuned!)”? I didn’t tell you how I got the jump ring in there, did I?

There are quite a few web tutorials on this type of mini album so I won’t bore you with all that. I learned two things from the web:
1. Save the unsolicited advertising and obsolete user guide type cd’s.
2. Save/rescue : ) a spindle from some new cd’s to use when drilling the hole for the jump ring. That’s right, folks, get out the power drill! Gather all the cd’s you will need for your album, stick them on a spindle and drill them all at once so the holes all match. Just hang the spindle a good third off your surface so you don’t drill through anything important like your kitchen counter or dining room table.
Something I encountered but never saw any warnings about anywhere was the Mylar coating usually on one side of the cd. Some of the Mylar coatings are very easy to remove. If they are, go ahead and do it. You may need to use a bit of sandpaper here and there. I encountered a problem with this and had to redo a page or two because of peeling Mylar. Go ahead and get rid of it if it's peels easily.

Now let’s move on down this road. I guess it’s Part 2 of Part 2? What should I put this little mini album in? I needed it to go in something structured since there were no page protectors and I didn’t want it beaten about. Besides I needed to ship it to Iowa!

I found a plain, round chipboard box at the craft store—not too expensive, a little wider than the cd’s and a good 3 inches taller. Perfect! It gave me the room to cushion the cd’s with extra tissue and bubble wrap for shipping and would give him room to add tickets and other ephemera afterwards.

This is what it looked like once it was completed:

I painted the entire box, inside and out, with red acrylic. The stadium photo and Alabama Crimson Tide (MS PowerPoint Word Art) are adhered and sealed with Modge Podge. That’s hounds tooth check ribbon around the rim of the top part--homage to Bear Bryant and his hat.

Thanks so much for coming along on this journey with me. Next post will be extra special, so do check back!

RAH, RAH! SIS BOOM BAH! aka FOOTBALL, Part 1

Football! Hard to believe but it is that time of year. Whether your team consists of peewees or professionals, I wish you a successful season!

Most of my extended family loves University of Alabama athletics, especially football. Last season one of our nephews and his friend came down from Iowa for a whirlwind weekend visit of football fun. Christopher is definitely a devoted, enthusiastic, and passionate Alabama football fan! And this was his first “live and in person” game.

To commemorate the weekend, I made a cd mini album for him.


I used Provo Craft patterned paper scraps and card stock as a base for the cd’s, adhered with a Xyron adhesive tape runner. Then I added photos, stickers and word strips created in MS PowerPoint. There is a pocket page for some nifty little tags. The tags are card stock and include the fight song, a map of where we parked (it was a long walk, LOL!), coach info, and other cute stuff. Everything is held together with a jump ring with pretty ribbon attached (more about that in Part 2, stay tuned!).

Having our nephew as a guest in our home was wonderful—it had been more than 5 years since he had been here! Sharing time before, during and after the game with him, seeing all of that through his fresh eyes, made it a special moment in time for us.

I hope you will drop by for Part 2 of this post topic. Thanks for taking a look today and why not sign my guest book! Just scroll to the bottom of the page. Please feel free to leave a comment—I read each and every one of them.