Geranium Survival

They actually look worse in real life than in these photos. I've had these geraniums for a month - waiting in my garage for the weather to warm up and then for me to get that patch of dirt emptied of a thousand dandelions and fifty million strands of morning glory. I have to give Scott credit for the awesome shovel work. The geraniums were beautiful and full of blossoms when I used them for centerpieces in April. I know more flowers will come, but from the looks of them this afternoon, it'll be a miracle. I can't wait to look out my back window and see this flower patch blooming with red, pink and white.

Out front, I could hardly contain my excitement when I walked out and the first of my Japanese Iris had popped open. I honestly think that if I stood there long enough I could watch one of those flowers unfold. It's been twenty-four hours since this photo and there are now about fifteen flowers in bloom on this plant. You can't tell from the photo, but the Japanese Iris is a mini iris that is charming and delightful!

here's what I love about my job...

I work with the greatest people. Women who are talented, smart, creative, happy, enthusiastic, caring, and really fun to be around. Above photo is me with Tammy, a graphic designer. She is constantly amazing me with how she learns all the new graphic arts programs and technical things she has to be in charge of. She juggles designing, creating our packaging, and keeping track of all the digital files, plus more. The fact that she comes from a crafting, folk-art painting and art-teaching background makes her extra-valuable at Carolee's. She can design the product, then craft it into something wonderful. Plus she's just plain nice. Below is Rachael, a wonderful graphic designer. She's whizzy on her Apple...she has a degree from a graphic arts college in Phoenix. It's just amazing to watch her work on her computer in those mystery programs (to me) graphic design programs. She's also an artist, sculptor, and illustrator.

Speaking of great women, here are the McMullin girls...Carolee, the amazing owner of Carolee's Creations and her daughters. Above is Alison, a talented artist and graphic designer. She's a USU student majoring in art and also designs for her mom. Ali makes wonderful creations on her computer and also paints in oils, watercolors and all kinds of other things. She is always brimming with ideas--and she seems to know what's trendy and in. Below is Georgana Hall, Ali and Carolee. Georgana is also creative and artistic, but she also has the business mind and organizational skills to manage the company, which she does. She's my boss, and she is truly the nicest, most patient boss anyone could have. She's the fastest worker I have ever met. She can whip out scrapbook pages and wood projects like none other. And she remembers everything. Carolee is the one who started the company and keeps it going. She is an amazing artist, and it's too bad 'tole-painting' kind of went out of style because she is really really good at it--a nationally known teacher. But she paid attention to the next "sniff in the wind" as she puts it and switched her company to scrapbooking. She designs and hand-draws many of the papers and supervises the graphic artists while also running her company. She ships product all over the world. I went into work and there was a huge order going to Australia. It's truly phenomenal and I feel lucky to work for Carolee. There are about a dozen more great women who work there, and each is also outstanding. Wow, a woman-owned, woman-run company; now that's cool.

oh, yeah, I have a blog...

I keep forgetting I have a blog. I think about it often, but then when I actually have to remember to go to blogspot.com and post an entry, I forget...even when I'm stalking other blogs ('stalking blogs' - a fittingly descriptive term I learned from my friend Stephanie's daughter, Lacie). I keep asking myself, "How could you be so forgetful?" I know it's because my mind is going a hundred different directions. That's always the excuse of women my age :) The real reason is because, "Sometimes there is a storm in my brain."

Today I got a fun wonderful package in the mail - one I've been anticipating for about two months. There's a cool lady named Sally Jean (I'm not sure if that's her name or if that's just her website name; I think the latter) who makes amazing collaged jewelry pendants and charms - her website is sallyjean.com. I've looked at her stuff for a year and in March I decided to order something. The pieces can be used on a chain for a necklace or as a cool charm bracelet. I spent an hour agonizing over which pendants to get, but I couldn't resist the one that had the word JOY and also the one that said,

"Sometimes there was a storm in her brain."

It makes me smile. I ordered them and paid by Paypal, then kind of forgot about the order because the website said to allow four to six weeks. Today it came, yippee. It was beautifully wrapped and a pleasure to open and see the real things I had ordered. And nice Sally Jean even added another charm for me because the order had taken so long. Here's my loot:

I got this charm because my little grandson Carter was just about to be born. I love anything with the word JOY, and it perfectly described my feelings as baby Carter arrived to Aaron and Aimee, healthy and beautiful. My new JOY pendant is even baby boy blue.

The phrase on this pendant just makes me laugh.

I love the bird and nest theme of this house charm.

This one, called Shopping Fairy, needs to be my next purchase. It's just so me!	No. 44 Shopping Fair

This is how a charm bracelet would look if I keep collecting these little gems. Which I won't because I'm already on to the next "shiny bright object" (as my nephew Derek would say). My next post will be about a great 'self-improvement' book I've been reading...well sometime soon.

Mother's Day mini-album I made

From Georgana's blog click here...is the Mother's Day album I made for the Mother's & Father's Day mini-catalog that we sent out in March. When there's a tight deadline and lots to get done, Georgana (my boss) sometimes asks me to do a project. I'm a pretty simple scapper, not elaborate or fussy. I probably can't call myself a beginner anymore, but my stuff looks like a beginner. Anyway I enjoyed making this album. The pages are made of chipboard - heavy cardboard - that I covered with Adorn It patterned paper. I love the group of papers I used - the Whoopsy Daisy link collection. It was fun for me to pick out just the pink, green and white papers to use. What made the album quick and easy was the already-made flower stickers that I embellished the album with. They're dimensional and cute as can be. Some have little rhinestones in the centers. The ribbon also adds a fun touch. Everything you see was designed right where I work, at the graphic designers' desks next to mine. Carolee, Tammy, Rachael - they're great. My job is to check their spelling when they put words on papers or quotes on stickers. Pretty fun, huh! The album is about 4" high by 8" long. The word "Mother" on the front is a seperate piece; it's laser cut chipboard that I covered with green sticker paper. The best thing is the photos....love every one.

Here's a fun project...

Following is a post from the blog of scrapper-extraordinaire Emilie Ahern click here She is not only a great scrapper, but a fabulous and talented writer, cute mama, and all-around wonderful person. I discovered all this just by reading her blog. (She always has fun music on her blog too.)

Since I love quotes, words, sentences, stories, proverbs, commas, parentheses and all things written, I love her simple project for making and embellishing a frame with a favorite quote. I am so going to make myself one of these - I've got enough supplies in my scrapping stash to make 100 and start a shop on Etsy. But I can't get distracted...

Now my only problem, and this is always my problem, is what quote to use. It's going to take me awhile to decide, but when I do I'll let you know. If you want to add to my frustration, or joy, really, tell me your favorite quote.

I might use a quote from a Kobi Yamada book. Thanks Emilie! (I just can't help this scraplifting habit.) Here's Emilie's post:

Happy NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY & a PRIZE

Woo Hoo!

In honor of this fabulous day I am going to give you an idea for a fun little project that can be finished in no time. And there's a PRIZE!

The project: Making a desktop "Happy Place". A small inexpensive acrylic frame embellished in some way so that when you look at it you feel happy. This can include a mantra, your favorite quote or pictures of your loved ones. Here's mine with my goal for this year...EAT healthy PRAY more LOVE completely.

Here's all you need:
- Acrylic frame, available at all Dollar Stores.
- Scraps of scrapbooking supplies.
- Pictures (if desired)

Instructions: Simply take the white paper from the frame. Most of these state the dimensions of the frame right on them. You can use any size you want. This one is a 4x6", but mine above is a bit more small than that, measuring just 3x5".




Cut paper to those dimensions and start building a mini scrapbook page.

To add dimension, you can also adhere rub-ons, cut paper or stickers to the outside fromt of the frame. I did this by cutting some extra petals from the flower I used and using gluedots to adhere them to the front, lining them up perfectly with the existing flower.






Voila! Isn't it cute? I just love mine and it really brightens up my drudgery old computer space. I hope you are inspired to create your own HAPPY PLACE for your desktop.

BecKy & Pitt in New York City

Becky and Pitt are in New York City and got tickets to David Letterman. We watched the show hoping to see them...they were lucky that they got seats on the 4th row. Sure enough, halfway through, just after Jimmy Kimmel and before Jimmy Eat World (and Lance Burton's magic act, which Scott and Mike are still discussing how he did it) there they were, right in the middle of the screen. Scott paused the TV and took some photos of the screen. Beck & Pitt are three rows up, center, behind the man with the gray jacket and red shirt. Pitt is wearing purple, Becky is wearing a jacket with light blue sleeves, and they are both clapping. They are having a blast, and it's especially fun because they're staying with cousins Kurt and Katie who are there doing an internship in New Jersey.

precious little grandson

Here are some favorite photos of our new little grandson, Carter. He was only five hours old when Scott and Mike arrived to meet him. I was already there tending Brookelyn and Bailee, so I had already had my precious first hugs and cuddles. Nothing is sweeter than the joy of seeing a new little baby for the first time. Scott had to give Carter a good going over, checking his reflexes and grip, although Becky had already checked him out from her nursing perspective. See her photos on her blog - click here. Aimee looked beautiful and so happy to have a safe and happy delivery. Aaron, dressed in the same shirt he had worn for both Brookie's and Bailee's births (for good luck), was all smiles.

Just Having Fun

I love this photo of Mike and his little nieces, Brookelyn and Bailee, out for an afternoon walk, or I should say, run. You can probably see that Bailee is holding a leash - yes they were walking the dog. I cropped the dog out of the picture, because I just don't enjoy having dogs in my photos. Sorry Max. A bit of happy news is that these two little girls are looking forward to a new baby brother this week. Of course, no one is happier about that than their mom, Aimee (except maybe Aaron). We're all in 'anticipation' mode right now.

Is it burnt or burned - Scott wants to know

This photo really has nothing to do with the question...Scott just pointed it out to me as a really great photo that he took in Orlando. I guess it has some elements of burning.

-------

So Scott keeps worrying that my blog name should be Burned Cookies, not Burnt Cookies. So we googled it and came up with the answer that it could go either way. But burnt sounds cuter. Is cuter a word?

BURNT Adj. -use interchangably with burned- 1. burnt - ruined by overcooking; "she served us underdone bacon and burnt biscuits" burned cooked - having been prepared for eating by the application of heat 2. burnt - treated by heating to a high temperature but below the melting or fusing point; "burnt sienna" 3. burnt - destroyed or badly damaged by fire; "a row of burned houses"; "a charred bit of burnt wood"; "a burned-over site in the forest"; "barricaded the street with burnt-out cars" burned-over, burned, burned-out, burnt-out

Fabulous Bonnie

"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels."

"To tell a woman everything she may not do is to tell her what she can do." ~Proverb

I was sitting by my good friend Bonnie in church today and suddenly her shoes caught my eye. I had to lean forward and stare. Bonnie was wearing gorgeous red heels, almost exactly like the shoes in this photo. Those shoes are a tribute to Bonnie...a symbol of her strength, courage and, yes, stubbornness. Bonnie should probably be wearing practical shoes, but by dang she's not going to give in. If you know her, you know what I mean. Fabulous red heels, fabulous Bonnie. You go, girl.

a chocolate cookie day

Like all good stormy days should, this one put me in the mood to stay inside and, what else? bake cookies. I haven't made this yummy recipe in a long time, so decided to go for some serious double chocolate goodness. The recipe came from Martha Stewart's magazine; it was the "cookie of the year" a few years ago. You might think I named the recipe Grammy's Chocolate Cookies, because my Grandma name is Grammy, but no, that's exactly what it was called in the magazine. The cookies are quick to make and the cookie dough is extra good. The best news about yesterday's baking is that I got through four whole cookie sheets of cookies and didn't burn a single one! So here's the recipe:

Grammy's Chocolate Cookies
2 cubes unsalted butter
1/2 cup Crisco
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour
3/4 (scant) cup good cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. soda
3/4 tsp. salt
Cream the butter, Crisco and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. (I always beat the mixture really well at this stage, but once I put in the flour then I try to mix it as gently and as little as possible.) Put dry ingredients in sifter and sift, then add to bowl. Stir gently. Optional to add 6 ounces chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 9 1/2 minutes or until done. Don't overbake.

Snow on my ivy

I know this subject of the long winter here is very tiresome, and like everyone else I'm longing for sunshine and color in my yard. Desperate for photos 'for my blog,' I wandered outside yesterday with Scott's camera. The prettiest sight among all the gray and brown was the hearty ivy that grows on the north side of the house. It had a skiff of snow dusting its green leaves. I also thought the photo of our stair rail with big droplets of slush showed what kind of a day/week/month we're having.

I'm scrapbooking's biggest fan...

There is this cute scrapbooker named Jana Eubank. She is on the design team for Adornit, and I love love love what she does with Adornit product. Here's one of my favorite layouts that she posted on her blog recently. I'm definitely going to scraplift this one - I have a box of pages that I've torn out of scrapbook magazines with layouts I love - it's my "scraplift this" box. I'm putting a copy of Jana's layout in my box along with the 150 other samples I have in there that I love. Sometimes I just get the box out and look through it for the smiles. I love scrapbookers. I might be the industry's biggest fan!

Here's what Jana wrote- "I don't know what it is lately, but every time I sit down to work with my Adornit products I get in a doodly-mood! LOL!"

Also from Jana: "I did this layout last night using some of the new papers from the Whoopsy Daisy collection by Adornit. CUTE STUFF! (This is a HUGE collection and every single sheet is to die for!) I also used Adornit's green daisy ribbon, Baby Girl Dimensional stickers, and a few of the Girly Girl cardstock stickers. And check out their new letter stickers (black letters). It's a great versatile font and a perfect size for a lot of applications."

from Oprah

Instructions on Gratitude

by David Steindl-Rast, OSB

Whatever is given is a gift—even the most difficult experiences can be seen as wake-up calls and therefore gifts. And the appropriate response to any gift is gratitude. Here are four small gestures that can help you show gratitude and stay awake and aware.

1. All gratitude expresses trust. Mobilize the courage of your heart, as the truly awake ones are doing. Say one word today that gives a fearful person courage.
   
   
2. Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Join the truly compassionate ones who are calm and strong. From the stillness of your heart's core reach out. Calmly hold someone's hand today and spread calm.
   
   
3. When you are grateful, your heart is open—open towards others, open for surprise. During big wake-up calls in your life, or in our collective lives, we often see remarkable examples of openness: strangers helping strangers often in heroic ways. Make contact with people whom you normally ignore—eye-contact at least—with the agent at the toll booth, the parking lot attendant, someone on the elevator. Look a stranger in the eyes today and realize that there are no strangers.
   
   
4. You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never both at the same time. Gratefulness drives out alienation; there is not room for both in the same heart. When you are grateful you know that you belong to a network of give-and-take and you say "yes" to that belonging. This "yes" is the essence of love. You need no words to express it; a smile will do to put your "yes" into action. Don't let it matter to you whether or not the other one smiles back. Give someone an unexpected smile today and so contribute your share to peace on earth.
   
   

Brother David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who has spent the last 35 years building bridges between religious traditions. He is the author of Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer and other books.

Winter Persists

This photo tells the story of the last month here in Cache Valley. We've had a few, very few, nice days, but mostly the month of March has been snowy, windy and cold. Everyone talks about it; what a hard winter it's been. Of course, we all agree that we need the snowpack for our water supply and that the lakes and reservoirs will be full for a change - but still, the snow is getting old. Just ask this little mini-iris that was blooming in my front yard.