The one about the diet update

Giant Microbes just announced their new releases. Fat Cell is one of them. He's a cute little thing. He ain't in real life, though.
I have officially lost 20 pounds! I am 1/3 of the way there. I was measured and weighed at Contours again yesterday and while there is progress, it is still very slow. I have found that after weeks of honest dieting with no results, cheating is often the way to get that body to let go of a few pounds. whatever.



I bought myself a present for the 20 pound mark! Artwork from Nancy Baumiller. When I showed my kids what I had purchased, they just rolled their eyes.

This guy is still with us, unfortunately. Savannah had a relapse last night and was throwing up again. Weird little bug.

The one about Wheeler Farm

Amelia at Wheeler Farm yesterday. We went looking for a good outdoor place to take some large group photos for next month.

I am pretty sure I am getting the awful stomach flu my kids have had lately. :(

The one about Project Party Hats

Today is Teresa's birthday! I wanted to wish her a very happy day. Kim Kwan put together a huge surprise in which we all make a party hat for Teresa. We sent them in the mail for her to receive it on her birthday, and then posting about it on our blogs!

Happy Birthday Teresa!

Here is the birthday tiara that I made. I loved how it turned out and I might just make one for myself! 'Cept I cut my thumb while cutting out the intricate patterns in the white cardstock. Doh!

I used tiny paper roses, old book paper washed in pink watercolor, a really neat tarnished silver glass glitter star, and a "T" cut from an old book!

To see the other hats in the project, visit Kim's blog for the links!

The one about the new background

My art group met last night and I forgot to take my camera again. We had loads of fun! I can't work much outside of my studio, but I did get this board started. I am not sure where it will end up; it will probably get more layering added before I am finished. I like the ribbons running through the whole thing. Making backgrounds is my favorite---I should just do a pile of them. Made on a 12x12 piece of chipboard. Magazine scraps, gesso, ribbon, watered-down ink, charcoal pencil, book pages.

The one about the other handmade book

When I posted pictures of my handmade book for Maria, I wanted to mention the one I received from Sandra. But at the time I couldn't find it! I have been working on the piles of neat stuff that have been growing in my studio, and yesterday, I found Sandra's book and took some pictures. The book is just perfect! I couldn't be happier with it. I really admire Sandra's talent so it was neat getting book made by her. :) She made pages from sheet music, book pages in German, and pages from an old diary written in German in that beautiful old script I am crazy about.

The one about the new lens

I haven't been happy with my cheapie wide angle lately. Actually, I've never liked it. It was less than 100 bucks so that should tell me something. I did my sister's engagement photos in May and was horrified by the crispness of my shots. Or should I say the lack of crispness. Even my 50mm lens didn't give me great shots. This week I splurged and bought a new lens and it arrived today! Way wide angle! 17mm! It also stays at the f-stop at which I set it, and opens up to f2.8! No more changing of the aperture as I zoom in and out. yay!! As soon as it came I immediately slapped it on my camera and did some test shots against my other wide angle and my 50mm. So far so good. I have another suspicion about my un-sharp pictures. I am afraid my precious 10D is going the way of other 10Ds that were owned by friends. My pictures are getting soft. Its a Canon conspiracy. Don't you think expensive digital cameras should last longer than three years!!??
btw---taking pictures of myself in the mirror is harrrd.

The one about the milk carton

Okay so it's not really made from a milk carton, but it looked like one after I finished it. I actually started out with a small cardboard box because I couldn't find a paper mache house to work with.

This is another Foof-A-Life project that didn't get much coverage in the book due to space limitations. I thought the little windows with the kids peeking out were fun!
The original Foof line is the best--including those rub-ons!! The windows were made by inlaying small matchboxes into the house. The children are cut from Foof paper. I stamped behind their heads before gluing them into the matchbox.
See more photos HERE.

The one about yellow

Here's Slappy.

I really think the nickname fits her even now. lol

This is her outfit of choice. It drives me crazy that I can't control what she wears as much as I'd like. She has tons of cute clothes. I'll get her dressed how I want, then sooner or later I'll find that she's changed into this again. Sometimes she'll even take off her jammies after she's been put to bed, and wear this. She says she hates buttons, and most of her clothes she won't wear because "I don't want to be funny." I have no idea what that means.

She is into anything yellow lately, but she calls the color "SpongeBob". For example, she has to eat her cereal from the SpongeBob bowl (meaning the yellow bowl). This morning she insisted on wearing a yellow barrette and I told her she had pink on and it didn't match. She pointed to the yellow stripes on her funky pants and happily said, "Yes, it does Mommy. See? SpongeBob!"

The one about the parade

The candy parade in Mount Pleasant, Utah. I was thrilled with this picture, since the remainder of the photos of the parade were unfabulous!! Lots of red, white, and blue, balloons in the background....I have more from Independence Day, but can't see them or convert them from RAW format. (again with the husband messing with my computer. grrrr!)

Austin, Savannah, Amelia, and Payton.

The one about the other late swap

I am so lame.
But I am also finally caught up!
These two cards are for the Spirit Card swap. Both are collaged onto playing cards.

"Fly Free" (reminds me of an airline commercial) for Susan Tuttle.

"Fluttering" for Fiona Mortimore

The one about the red book

Never make a handmade book by winging it! It turned out okay-but next time I should consult a tutorial on bookbinding beforehand.

In my yahoo group, Club Creative, we did a handmade book swap. I got to make one for Maria who lives in Germany, likes the color red, loves nature, and knits very beautiful clothes for herself. I had so many ideas for her book. My first attempt flopped, and this is the second try. I was way past the deadline to send by the time I actually started the second version. I owed poor Maria big time, so I pulled out my best papers and used a cover from a very old book! Gee--after I finished it, I wanted it!

The ledger pages covering the inside of the book cover are from 1866. I made two signatures, each with watercolor paper, old lined paper, pretty scrapbook paper by K&Co. and an old paper bag.