if you don't like the weather . . .

Here in Missouri, there is a saying. If you
don't like the weather, wait about five minutes.

Thursday was a no-coat day, very nice. The
red winged blackbirds are back in our yard,
scoping out the pond, warbling in the morning.
Lovely, lovely. But it did NOT fool me; we've
lived here way too long for psuedo-spring
days to soothe me into a false sense of "go
ahead an plant something, you know you want to!"

This morning--



Our deck railing also serves as our birdfeeder.
Sure, birds are slobs, and they gets seed hulls
all over our deck, but we know how to work a broom.


These swirly earrings came in the mail yesterday,
another lucky-me One World One Heart surprise.
Thank you, Holly, these are FUN!


And last night I made a tea cache kit for
Altered Pages--here's the sneak peek--


It's an accordian style holder for four tea
bags. It's kind of simple--no paint or
ink or beads. I think it's the teacher thing
in me--"You need to make it your own, not just
copy my example."


There is no trouble so great or so grave that
cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.
Bernard-Paul Heroux

If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of
understanding truth and beauty.
Japanese proverb

one world one heart for me!

Look what came in the mail yesterday from
Lydia, Oh Lydia!

As I happen to fancy cats, this altered
domino pendant is perfect for me.

**Please note the demonstration of great restraint,
as the above does NOT say purr-fect. Thank you.**

However, she could have just sent me the box--
look at this--

Seriously, how fun is this box?? By the way,
Miss Lydia, I about wet myself when I opened
the little box inside, and it SCREAMED at me!

Literally screamed. But it was only James
Brown, singing "I feel good," so then I
laughed instead.

But if you think about it, the disembodied voice
of ANY dead performer belting out a serenade
from a box containing a kitty pendant really
SHOULD be enough to make anyone wet themselves . . .

still sharing . . .

Cleaned out the artpit, and it's been great,
because it's inspired a flurry of scrapbooking.
This wave won't last long, so I'm riding it for
all it's worth. So anyway, here are some of the
lovely things I've acquired lately, none of my
own making:


This book is from the Collage Contessa. I love it. She
had six of these cuties posted on her blog, and
I made some comment like, "Oh, how pretty," but
what I was thinking was, "OH MY GOSH, I REALLY
HOPE ONE OF THESE IS FOR ME!" And it was.
Thank you!!


This atc was from a Vintage Valentine swap, and
I think it's wonderful. Michelle said it was
actually one of her first atcs--isn't it great?
The couple are her aunt and uncle, which makes
it more special. As if this wasn't good enough,
she sent the amazing packet of Valentine goodies
below--

these are so much fun! Michelle, you made my
day with this swap, thank you!


This we found at an antique mall. I collect
Nemadji pottery here and there, and the daughter
found this one for three dollars! Well, yes,
thank you, I think I will . . .

sharing

These are my Valentines (yes, the chocolates
are as delicious as they are pretty).

The lovely angel collage piece is by Nancy
at all pulped out.
It's from her One World One Heart
giveaway--thank you, Nancy!

One World One Heart

OWOH UP-Update: Have heard back from five of
the six recipients, all of whom are very
talented. You could stop by for a visit
and say hi to:

Jona, at My Art, My Life, My Space
Dani, at Eagle's Wings
Wanda, at Two Crafty Mules
Lynn, at Trash to Treasure Art
Tracey at jasmoon butterfly

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The time for comment leaving is over, and the
time for announcing of happy recipients should
commence. So by tonight, I will have contacted
and added to this post.

Good luck, everyone, this was great fun. I look
forward to visiting everyone who left a comment.

Okay, okay, I've contacted, but will wait for the
responses before posting and linking everybody up
here.

blog candy around the world!

UP-Updated! Even MORE worldwide candies!
=================================

Look, it's true, I've already admitted I'm addicted
to the whole looking around at other people's blogs.

Blog snooping. You know.

Anyway, can I read Russian? Or pretty much any other
language?? Well, okay, thanks to a few years of Latin,
I CAN manage to pick out some words here and there in
all the Romance languages, but that's beside the point.
The point being, artwork and blog candy transcend all
language barriers. ;)

Ever heard of a Slanket??--All Things for Baby and Mom. But don't lose heart if you miss
that one--check out the adorable Abba Dabba bag.
But if you have a wee one, the giveaway for the
Teething Bling necklace is genius, and who couldn't
use a little bit of air freshening? And all at the
same site!!

The names are linky
An Ordinary Life has several great giveaways closing
SOON, so speed it up!! But ONLY if you
like chocolate, or would like a new phone,
or a gorgeous new sparkly bracelet.

I'm starting to do some yoga, so this looks like
just the thing at Discover . . . Yoga. But you
have to go check it yourself, but hurry! (CLOSED)

Sandier Pastures has some gorgeous earrings
made by Little Brown Bird.

Simply Stacie is offering some sweet scented soaps
by Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen, and a necklace, as well.

In Canada, you can visit Ally (open to US & Canada
entries only),

Hannah's Crafty Blog has some goodies, too;

Mel is having quite a party at Mad4Creations . . .

And Natasha has quite the collection of goodies, too!

Kristen has some more fine things I want to have in my
hot little hands, so please do NOT go by and visit her!

Sarah at Sparkle Cards
has a nice bag of goodies, and

Carlz Cards has some sweet, sweet candy, too, as does

Lena Katrine --pretty flowers!

How could you NOT visit a blog with a name like Pink Piggy??
Don't you wanna know what she's giving away?

There's another at Imagine, Create, Inspire (gotta love
that name, too--thanks for the chance, Maria!),

This one is from Hege-Annie in Norway, who is also
participating in the One World One Heart giveaway.

Kaboodle has some yummies--I've got my eye on that
chipboard for sure,

And be sure to check out the Crafty Coo, too!

Okay, one more--Crafty Emma, this is a great bag o'candy!!

All these tips come from Аленка,
either directly or indirectly, at her blog.
Which I CANNOT read AT ALL. Not a word.

Guess what we did today?

Took down our Christmas decorations. BEFORE
Valentine's Day this year!! Congratulate me!!
;)

swaps!

Look at these delicious atcs I received from Ariane!
(The picture really doesn't do them justice, by the way.)
The one in the middle is my favorite--the image she
chose, and the colors, and the pieced/painted/stamped
background--it sings a little song to me! You can
see more of her lovely things at stemplewerkstatt.

These three collages are what I'm swapping out to
Christina for one of her amazing bags. I guess you
could call it a commissioned swap, because these are
specifically for her boys' room, which has a sports theme.

Who better to work on a sports collage than someone
who hangs out in sports card and memorabilia store???!!


Actually, I had TOO much stuff, and it didn't all
work. It was hard to scale back, with so many neat
vintage cards and images to choose from.


Once again, my pics aren't the greatest. These are
6x6 canvases, and around the edge is a strip of denim,
which (I hope) will blend well with the reddish burgundy/
navy blues in the room.


The Babe Ruth card is a copy (of course!) of a
1948 Leaf baseball card. He wasn't playing at
that time, but I like the picture and the colors.
The definitions are coated with Crystal Effects,
which helps them stand out in person, but the pic
kind of reflects the light.

Both Christina and Ariane are participating in
One World One Heart, so be sure to check out their
giveaways . . .

one world one heart ate my lunch . . .

Okay, this is out of control. Really, I probably
shouldn't be allowed near the computer until this
thing is over. Is anyone else obsessively visiting
every single site on the One World One Heart list??

I haven't visited my regular blogs; yesterday at
our shop I didn't do ANYTHING except goof off!
(Good thing the boss kinda likes me . . .)

Anyway, Miss Lisa Oceandreamer Swifka, do you also
have some type of support group set up for those
of us who have developed a OWOH disorder??

On a happier note, some very sweet bloglanders have
agreed to trade atcs with me, so that, at least,
should be enough to make me rise up and make
something. AFTER I check out a couple more blogs.

;)

One World One Heart

***Hey, everybody, owoh is over, so if this
is the only post you're seeing, click on the
blog header--it should take you to the newest
post . . .***

Here are my offerings for the One World One Heart
Giveaway. Not any one big thing, but several
smaller ones--I hope they'll find a happy home
somewhere out there! So here, you will have
six chances at a little something fun . . .


These are bookmarks--one of Edgar Allen Poe, the other
featuring my favorite, Alice In Wonderland, both altered chipboard with collage images, glass beads, and black
waxed linen cording.


This is a needlefelted flower brooch--it's almost spring!


And here are three different bamboo pendant pieces--
Ciao Bella featuring a chow, Kiss Me with a bulldog,
and Puppy Love with the Golden Retriever. Or Lab?
And below are the reverse sides of the pendants.


So, if you aren't familiar with OWOH yet, here's
how it works:
Leave a comment on this post.

The giveaway ends Feb. 12. At that time,
I will contact the winners via e-mail, which
means there must be some way for me to contact
you. If you don't have a blog, or your blog
is private, or comments aren't enabled, you
need to leave your e-mail in your comment.
The first to e-mail me back will have first
choice, etc.

Most of the vintage collage images I use come
from Altered Pages,
including those in the Valentine atcs posted
earlier. If you like this type of image,
be sure to check out the OWOH at the Collage Contessa's.
She has a $50.00 gift certificate for
Altered Pages to give away, not to mention
some fantastic art work to gaze upon.

And you can always click on the OWOH link in
the sidebar for more giveaways and some really
great blogs!

Have fun!
:)

I'm going to (eventually!) visit every
blogger who comments . . . so expect
me when you least expect me . . .

creepy or funny?

I don't usually do challenges, simply because
of time constraints, but when I saw
June's creepy clown challenge, this little
guy came immediately to mind. You may
recognize him from Halloween. Yes, yes,
I cannibalized my own atc. How ecofriendly
is that?? Color me green . . .

Tommorow's the big day--the start of
One World One Heart. I hope to see you
all there!