Break out the sparkling cider (or champagne if you are so inclined)

After 7 years of being a reluctant contract employee with several interesting jobs, I have joined the ranks of Prudential Real Estate and Relocation as a permanent employee! It’s official. Of course there are good things about being a contractor such as being able to take as much vacation as I want. But trade-offs must be made and since we have been praying for a job for me for 7 years and this is a pretty good job, I’m taking it. Hooray for me! I will try to get away as much as I possibly can to visit family because you are all more important to me than any job.

Miss Liberty stopped by to celebrate July. I'm looking forward to the October witch.

The card project is ongoing with some good and not-so-good results. There certainly are getting to be a lot of them. Hopefully I have some more pictures to share soon.

More Cards

OK, so I'm sure that I will have something more to talk about than cards sometime soon...

These 3 cards are 3 that I did in the class I took. You can see why I think they are a cut above what I do.





This is one I did with a cute image Amelia sent me.

Juat a few cards

OK, so I guess I am going to display a few of my cards. They are really starting to pile up. I am not sure they are getting any better. In fact, the one I made tonight may be the worst one yet. I can't quite figure out why some are better than others but I guess that is the way when you create things. Anyway, here they are.

The Challenge

So my sister, Susan, challenged the world, via her blog, to commit to doing a selected something every day for a year. She is writing a happy thought blog for her project. She described an artist who had made a doll every day for a year and then displayed them on the wall. It sounded very cool. So I was thinking about what I could make. I have been looking for something to keep me busy. The obvious choice was something with paper or fabric since I already have a large supply of both and don't use much of either. So I decided to make a card a day for a year. I thought I would make some that I could send like birthday cards, Mother's Day, etc., but Gary suggested I keep them all and then take a picture at the end of the year. That's what I am going to do. I haven't figured out how I will take the picture yet but I have time to come up with something. I may decide to show some of the better ones here. But I haven't made any better ones yet. Hopefully my skills will improve through the year as well.

Since I started (on April 15) I have been thinking about nothing else. I love having something to look forward to each day (besides my lovely job, of course). It will be a challenge as I have several trips planned for the year. I already took stuff and made cards on my weekend trip to visit the gang in southern Utah. I'm committed so wish me luck!

I still play with dolls

When I went to France on a Study Abroad program (ca 1974) I lived in a room above a patisserie and a toy store. I spent many hours looking in the windows of both. I bought many pastries from patisserie but only 2 small winter figurines from the toy store as that was all I could afford. There was a doll in the window that I really wanted and pined for every day as I passed by.

The years passed and one day when we were living in California (ca 1978) I happened to look in the toy department at Macy’s. Low and behold, there was a doll just like the one I had pined for. She was quite expensive especially for a struggling young couple. I had no reason to have such a doll. I did have a baby girl but I knew I would never let her play with the doll so I couldn’t justify it in that way. I told Gary about it and how much I had wanted that doll in France. Of course, as young husbands do, he bought her for me for Christmas that year. It was a great gift and I placed her carefully in her box in my closet. I took her out every so often to comb her hair and just look at her. Then back in the box.

Years passed again and Gary and I returned to France (ca 1980). Gary was on a business trip and I was able to go along. I couldn’t help but wander into a toy store one day to see if the doll still existed. There wasn’t one on the shelf anywhere that I could see. So I summoned all my courage and my best college French and asked. I tried my best to describe the doll. I knew the brand. After several attempts, the owner finally found what I was looking for. She was a blonde version of my brunette doll. I loved her instantly and begged to buy her. As you may know, not being very fiscally responsible, we bought her. I got her home and lovingly placed her in the box with her “sister.” Now I had two dolls to look at occasionally and who could live in my closet together.

Many, many years passed. I think I may have shown the dolls to my girls once or twice growing up but none of them remember it. I did get them out a few years ago for Madison to play with. She undressed them and combed their hair. It was the most daylight they had seen in 25 years. I considered giving them away since they only sat in my closet and I was sure someone could get more use out of them than that. I had considered several times making clothes for them. I started a nightgown once but it didn’t fit and I threw it away. About a year ago when Amanda was visiting, I asked her if she would like one. She said yes and took the blonde one home to live in her closet.

Then, something happened. I was putting out my St. Patrick’s Day decorations and found that I needed something more. I have only very few St. Patrick’s Day things and most of them are quite small. I could find nothing in any of the stores I looked in that I liked. So as I thought about it one night in bed, the thought came to me that I could make my doll into an Irish lass and display her. I already had shamrock fabric from a previous craft so I didn’t even need to go to the store. I began the next day and had a ball doing it. Here is the result.

I thought she looked so cute and I was so excited to finally display her that I decided I needed to get her sister back from Amanda so I could make her an Easter dress and display her too. I was able to use an old party favor basket from the American Fork house for her Easter Basket and I made the flower wreath for her head. Here she is. (Sorry I was an Indian giver Amanda. You can have her when I die and her outfits too if you want.)

It has made me very happy to finally be able to display my beloved dolls if only seasonally. I am already planning the Betsy Ross outfit for July. I’m sure the dolls are happy to be out of the box too!

An Unpaid Political Announcement

As you may know, I am completely apolitical. I hate politics and refuse to have anything to do with them. So, in order for me to have a comment on something political, it has to have been unavoidable and really pushed my buttons.

We have a Senator running for re-election here in Arizona. Let's call him John. He has an ad on the radio that makes me very angry and I just needed to air my grievance. The ad states that this Senator is leading the fight against the President. Since when did we elect officials to "fight" the President? To disagree with, to negotiate with, to propose to, to work with, but to fight? I am sick and tired of the complete lack of respect we have (starting at the top) for the office of the President. If our elected officials go to Washington with the attitude that they are there to fight, how can we expect any sort of useful legislation? Why can't we all just get along? And give respect where it is due even if we disagree?

OK, Here's the Deal...

Because I have been out of work since the end of December, you might think that I would be a blogging fool, but alas, I have not been so inclined for some reason. I guess I have been somewhat busy with visits to Utah and visits from Utah. In any case, I guess I may still have a few more posts in me.

So, back to wallpaper... The wallpaper of my "raising family" years is also very colorful. There is actual wallpaper that I lovingly picked out and helped to hang in all four of our homes. Easter dresses, many of which I made, are part of the wallpaper. Dancing children and school busses are there. Four sets of baby blankets and wedding dresses are found along with piles of dirty dishes and laundry. Love notes scrawled in crayon and handmade macaroni and toothpick Christmas ornaments are included. Bugs in jars on the kitchen counter and tadpoles frolic. Many giggles and much singing in the car are sprinkled throughout. Trips to Disneyland and St. George are mixed in with fun at Grandma's house and playing with cousins. Skinned knees and broken hearts can be seen if you look closely. Four happy girls (three blonds and one brunette) who have occasional squabbles are featured prominently.

This wallpaper seems to be more of a watercolor where everything runs together to form a lovely picture when viewed from a distance. This wallpaper has many sounds and smells as well and I miss all of them with increasing intensity as the years pass. This wallpaper is as permanent and enduring as all the generations that will follow me.