Got Duct Tape?

 Duct tape, who knew it could be so much fun?  We bought several rolls of printed duct tape last summer, but never got around to using them. My daughter went to a craft camp offered by the local school district.  One of the girls at the camp brought in purses that she made using duct tape. We thought that was very cool so we pulled out the rolls of duct tape we had and started to create.

 Look at how proud she is of her crafts.  I helped with the purse but she made the matching bow and wallet herself.

 Here's another look at the goodies she made.  I just love that polka dot duct tape!

 This is the cheetah print hair bow I made for myself.

We had so much fun with the duct tape that the next day when we had the little girl from next door over for a play date, they pulled out the duct tape and created some more.  I just love the penguin bag my daughter made.  She made the main part of the bag and I taped it together using the last of the polka dot duct tape.  I wouldn't have been brave enough to put those patterns together but I'm glad she was because I love how it turned out.

This was my first try at making a rose pen from duct tape.  There are so many cool colors and prints of duct tape available; the possibilities are endless. I've been amazed to see all of the things people have created using duct tape.  I've seen some very creative items made with just duct tape. We've been having fun with it and I'm looking forward to trying to make a few more things with the duct tape.  Have you got duct tape? What is the most creative thing you've seen made of duct tape?

Long Time, No Blog!

It's been a very long time since I have blogged anything. Yes, long time no blog, but I'm happy to report that all is well, we've just been very busy.  We sold our house and moved into a new house.  We're still getting settled in and getting use to our new town.  We moved about an hour from our old home which means a shorten commute for my husband, a new school for my daughter and a longer commute for me.  The new house is amazing(more pictures to follow in another post.) We love it!  The buying and moving processes were wracked with huge headaches and stress so we're glad it's over and at this point we have vowed to stay in this house for the next 20 years in order to avoid a repeat of the horrible time we had.

The new house has a paved driveway.  My daughter had fun drawing with sidewalk chalk.  This is a picture of Love Bunny(see this post to see who Love Bunny is.) Doesn't she look so young in that post!  Time really flies!

 Our dog Chunk even got into the drawing action.  He kept walking across the drawings, leaving colored doggie prints all over the driveway. Chunk is adjusting to the new house and seems to like it.  I think he really likes having us at home during the day now that it's summer time.  He'll be sad when we head back to school at the end of August.

I'm still unpacking my craft supplies so I haven't done much in the way of crafting.  I hope to get unpacked and remedy that this week.  Hopefully I'll have some crafty goodness to share soon. I hope all is well with you.  I hope to venture out into blogland and catch up with everyone very soon.

Thoughts for Spring

These are my thoughts on paper this week. Can you tell I'm thinking of spring? We had some unusually warm weather last week so now I'm itching to see flowers blooming, trees budding and my feet in flip flops.

With this last warm spell I've been pessimistic about it lasting. It's only the end of March and we had very little snow this winter. I keep expecting a big snow storm, but hoping it won't really come. May spring be here to stay!

These are my thoughts on paper for today.

An Owl Package to Make You Cry

My daughter has swapped along with me for the last few years. She loves swap mail! She knows the drill, you wait until Mommy gets home from work and has the camera in hand to open the package. She even reminded me that I usually snap a picture of her with the package.

After posing with the package, then it's time to dig in to see what's inside the package. She was excited to find an owl bag stuffed with tissue paper and more goodies!

Look at all of the things Julz (and Barb) sent. As I mentioned before my daughter has lots of swap experience but she was so cute about this package. She started to tear up and made me stop taking pictures until she cleared her eyes. She loved the pillowcase for her travel pillow(Barb made her an awesome Florida pillowcase and travel pillow when we met them in Florida a year and a half ago. She still uses that travel pillow all the time!) They also included owl paper, owl cards, an owl craft. an owl pouch, an owl purse and our favorite . . . .

This owl picture, painted by the talented Julz! Don't you love it? We do!!! Seriously, I LOVE this picture! It's already on display. Thank you Julz and Barb for enough owl love to make us cry! Awesome package! Thank you!!!!

Paradise

I've probably mentioned this before but I am married to the most amazing man. He is so good to me and I love him beyond belief! Not only are we husband and wife, we're friends. We like spending time together. We both work a lot which can be stressful and finding time to relax is a challenge for both of us. This year for my 40th birthday my husband took me to Jamaica. We stayed at the beautiful Couples Resort - Tower Isle in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was paradise!

The view from our room was beautiful! The sand, sun and sound of the waves were wonderfully relaxing. It was just the break we both needed. While there were many activities and excursions we could have done, we opted to remain unscheduled and just do whatever we chose to do in the moment.

That was mostly sitting on the beach, napping, eating and drinking grown up drinks. It was a great vacation!! Nature Girl stayed with her grandparents and had a blast so there was no guilt over leaving her. As a matter of fact, half the time she was too busy to even talk to us, so I knew she was having fun and was well taken care of.

It was a fabulous way for me to turn 40 and a great break from our busy lives. Now the only question is. . . when can we go back?

We had a problem with a flight getting cancelled so we received 2 free round trip flights for our trouble, that just leaves saving up for the resort and finding the time to take another break from reality to enjoy paradise. I'm looking forward to it!

Family Thoughts

Recently while visiting some of our family members I pulled out my old yellowed book pages to work on some more thoughts on paper. Nature Girl and her cousins were curious about what I was working on and sat down to watch me. Always a teacher, I passed out markers, book pages to all of the kids. I explained what I was making and gave them instructions to ensure they didn't ruin the table with the Sharpies we were using. They got right to work on their own thoughts on paper.

This was Nature Girl's. She made it for her younger cousin who is totally in love with sharks. I love how the letter S has a bite out of it. Funny how one word can show so much.

This one was created by Nature Girl's nine and a half year old cousin. She made this one for me. I thought it was very sweet! It says I love to smell the flowers. It is a simple joy in life to stop and smell the flowers. We really should take time to do it more often.

I found this Persian proverb for my thought on paper. It reminds me that beauty and kindness should be enjoyed and shared with others. That's how it spreads and makes the world a better place. Along those same lines, I've always thought that if you want to make the world a better place you should start by making your little corner of the world better.

Owl Goodies for Me

We hosted the Give a Hoot Owl Swap. By now all of our owl swap packages are flying around the world, just waiting to land at their intended destination. I was lucky enough to receive this owl package from Ngaire. It arrived the day before we left on vacation so I'm a bit slow posting a picture. Now that I'm home it's time to share my owl goodies. Ngaire sent an owl emery board, a wooden owl and an owl softie all tucked into an adorable owl gift bag. The owl softie is made from a sweater, so you know I was going to be in love with it! Thank you Ngaire for my owls, I love them!!!

Today I received a surprise package from my friend Val. It's fabulous! Val sent me these wonderful goodies for my birthday. Thank you so much Val! You spoiled me and I love everything! I'm wearing my neck cowl as I type and my ornament has been added to my YOE tree. The owl pincushion is next to my sewing machine awaiting my next sewing project and the bookmark will be used when I start my next book since I just finished reading Winter Garden. I set the napkins aside to use in the coming weeks. The paper owl box was filled with MardiGras beads so it was scooped up and claimed by Nature Girl.

Here's a closeup of the owl ornament and the owl pincushion. Aren't they cute?!

Val, Thank you so much! Your kindness and thoughtfulness means the world to me! THANK YOU my friend!!!