This Is So COOL !!!!!

Some where back in September my Bloglandian Sister Dawn of The Feathered Nest got to experimenting around with finding a way to use her printer to print on material :c) Now if you don't think that's one of the coolest things ever... well there is just no hope for you joining the "So what do you think would happen if Club" :c)

I have been wondering for a while about how to go about accomplishing this feat of Magic :c) But the thought of having to confess to LW that I managed to glue my apron to the copy paper and now both the apron and paper is stuck in the printer, has been holding me back ;c) Well this is one of those times where my ability to PUT THINGS OFF was a good thing!! Cuz Dawn forged a head and discovered this little known process. Then being the sweet caring friend she is posted the tutorial with pictures and step by step instructions on her blog!!

So I copied the tutorial to my little craft tutorial file waiting for a day when I could try this bit of magic:c) Yesterday was just that day. I fired up the printer found a nice piece of cotton material dug out the spray adhesive grabbed my lucky rubber chicken, my certified to be lucky four leaf clover and made sure the horse shoe was still pointed in the right direction ;c) I Looked up Dawn's tutorial (here) and set about making a bit of alchemy.

Oh my GOSH it is so WAY cool!!!!!!!! And the best part it's sooooooooo easy!!! I used one of the scans of sheet music with a bird nest imposed over it that Dawn (again thank you little sister!!) gifted us on her blog last week. Well just have a look for yourself....

Is that not the coolest thing??? It sure beats trying to mess with transfer papers and this process or that tool. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my little bird nest, but I'm sure to find something. But I now know what to make for a friend's Christmas present, that up until now I haven't been able to come up with one decent "divine vision" for:c)

The first chance you have with a bit of time on your hands give Dawn's tutorial a try. And you to can be impressed with the magic of modern science!! Have a wonderful day or evening dear Bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in.

Libro de los Invintados -- Guest Book

Saturday was our dear friends Luci and Tony's 2nd anniversary of the opening of their little restaurant. Te Amo Lucy ( I Love Lucy) I know that I have sung Luci praise often on my little blog. But there is just no getting around it Luci's renditions of traditional Mexican Dishes is incredible!:c). Like every country there are many regional recipes and flavors. Lucy learned to cook from her mum, so they cook with the states of Mexico-Puebla flavors. Yummm Here in Sinaloa food is very bland and very unimaginative :c). I think LW would actually go through withdrawals if he couldn't have her mole - mo (like mo of the 3 stooges) le (long a). It is a sauce recipe that has 37 ingredients, one being a very lite flavor of chocolate. ;c)

Yikes the way I go on about food here it's a wonder I'm not as wide as I'm tall!! So back to the anniversary. I wanted to make something a little special to take to them. I really like the journal idea because you can really personalize it to fit the person and the event. However besides the restaurant that's open 6 days a week there is also the little boutique hotel that is open 365 days a year. Are you catching on that a journal isn't the best use of the 2 minutes of free time they have in a day?? :c( BUT what about a guest book? Now that's an idea I could work with. Of course I came up with this brain storm on Thursday afternoon :c) Every time I do this I promise myself I'm going to get my idea put together early. And each time the next time comes up I'm running out the door with the last of the glue drying :c)

Here are a few pictures of Te Amo Lucy's Libro de los Invitados.

I search the internet for public domain pictures of the old I Love Lucy show, then I used both Lucy's logos and pictures.

This picture is Tony dressed up as Lucy for last years first anniversary party. Well everyone had so much fun that of course he had to do it again this year:c)

I divided the book up giving each month 3 pages. I used some cute ribbon as tabs for the months. For the title page for the months I made a tag and added pictures of the restaurant, the old I Love Lucy show, or the dishes. I started with Nov. of this year and went through Nov of 2009.

For the last pages I found a great picture of Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel singing together on a car trip. I put that with a picture of Luci, Tony, LW and me. Kind of a fun way to end a year.

I was pleased with the way the whole thing came out. Tony and sweet Luci really loved it :c) You know there just is no other feeling like the one you have when someone really loves and appreciates all the care and effort you put into a gift :c) It make all the burned finger tips, glitter in your hair, and red stained fingers well worth it!! Wouldn't you agree??

Well dear Bloglandian friends this little chickie is off to bed to read a few pages of the new Somerset Studio magazine actually it's more like a book!! Please have a good day or evening depending on what part of the world you are in.:c)

BUTTONS

In case you didn't know this is the First Annual International Button Week. as declared by the "Button Floozies" International. This is a big week for for both professed and closet buttonalics!! But don't you think Button Floozie sounds a little more... well maybe not. Any way it's big. If you don't believe me or can't quite figure out what all the hub bub about the lowly button is, head over to the Button Floozies blog and visit with Abbie.

So all the button adi er Floozies are pulling out their collections to share and oggle at. Here is a couple of pictures of my collection. But before you start to snicker or worse yet burst out in hysterical laughter, please remember that we had only the 5'/8' trailer to move all our worldly possessions down with. :c) All my wonderful old vintage, mother of pearl and just plain cute buttons I left in the care of my sister and her mother in law. I guess that means I started over.

Isn't that the most pathetic button collection you have laid eyes on?? :c( I mean really !! It's a good thing that three of anything is a collection cuz there aren't to many more then that in my jar!! :c) So anyone out there in Blogville looking to downsize their collections are more then welcome to send them my way!! :c) I'm very responsible and will provide a very loving and caring home ;c)

Have a good day or evening dear Bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in ;c)

The Old Gal Received A Face Lift :c)

No No not me, The house she was gussied up a bit ;c) There are a few things that work against a house's complexion, and young looking skin. First there is the salty air. We are 8 blocks from the beach so it's not as caustic as it is for those right across the street. Then there is the excessive humidity 8-9 months a year. Of course 4 months of a rainy season, with a few tropical storms. And lastly there tends to be to much sand (with a high sodium content) in the cement. All these conspire to wear down a girl's best makeup efforts.

After about 3 or so years all those elements tend to cause the concrete skin over the bricks to crumble and fall off. Most of the damage tends to be on the overhangs and 2-3 feet up on the walls. Stands to reason since those places have the most exposure to being wet for long stretches. Oh yeah LW just reminded me that houses here for the most part are not built with moisture barriers. One more nail so to speak.

We had Maurice (pronounced Morris) our Irish friend come over to give us an estimate. Truth be told any excuse to listen to his lovely Irish brog is fine with me ;c) Well "The Irishman" and his crew scrapped, power washed, patched and the painted. As he said this is the time to change the color of the house if you are going to. LW and I both like the yellow it goes with our Yellow Submarine (xterra). I thought it would be nice to paint it a more mellow, warmer yellow. And I thought a soft terracotta as a accent might be nice. Finally a lady needs to have her jewelry polished up to really feel good. So the guys gave all her bars a new coat of shiny black paint.

So what do you guys think? I think she is the cutest gal on the block :c) The Neighbors have given their stamp of approval :c)

Not to make this too long winded but I thought you might like to know the reason all our houses have bars on the window and doors. It actually is an old Spanish tradition brought over with the Cortez brothers (along with small pocks) Doors and windows tend to be left open ALL the time to catch any and every breeze. Bars are nice cuz they tend to keep unwanted animals and people from wondering in and out. :c) Of course they do provide a great burglar protection.

Now days we have bars because it's traditional. In fact houses tend to look a bit under dressed without them, don't you think?? And yes they do provide protection. Which means we can leave the house or go to bed with our windows wide open (which you can't I bet) . Actually besides looking cool they are a very effective low tech burglar alarm. Interestingly there are many different patterns. They can identify the region, city, state and time period that they were made. As well as reflecting the popular decorative styles of the eras. Just thought you might like to know :c)

If you have time my Bloglandian buddies let me know what you think of mi casa and her new do. I hope you all have a great day or evening depending on what part of the world you are in :c)

Gifts from Australia !!!!

Today Is a Red Letter Day!!! Today I received my first ever package of treasures from a Bloglandian Sister sent to my Mexican mail box address!!!! :c) I had a wonderful package from Laurie (Laurie's Charming Designs) with her sweet birdie pin cushions and wonderful treasures. I also had a package from Pat Winter (Gatherings), with her beautiful hand dyed silk ribbons and little treasures. Both of these were waiting for me in Idaho. But today is the first ever package to Mexico. Can you tell I'm excited?? Well I surely am. Mail service here in Mexico is nearly non existent. Oh there is a national mail service, with post offices and even mail delivery personnel. In fact there is a national mail carrier day in November. BUT you know you have big problems when the Mexican Government doesn't even depend on the mail service. :c(

Now we have had friends even after we warn them not to, that have sent parcels to both our home address and our mail box address. We are sure hoping that somewhere someone is really enjoying our gifts cuz we sure aren't :c(. Besides the logistics of mailing to Mexico, there is the cost to consider. There is duty, international shipping, and weight charges. Once you get pass that, there is the problem of many parcels seem to grow legs and wonder off. Of course this couldn't possibly be happening in the US and of course this couldn't possibly be happening in Mexico. SO I guess this must not be happening :c) We have nothing sent to our home address. We use our courier service to ferry mail and magazine subscriptions from a mail box address in Laredo Texas to a box at their office here. That way there is no international shipping cost, we don't have to pay duty on books and magazines. But we do have to pay weight. And we also have a greater then 80/20 chance of reciving it.

So are you beginning to get the idea that receiving parcels here can be a real nightmare??? Oh and us sending parcels out is just as big a nightmare. Boy we haven't even gotten into the nightmare of having packages opened up and search each time it passes through a countries customs!!!

Okay now to my parcel. My sweet friend Christine of Rustic Tarts who lives on the other side of the world (Australia) sent me a wonderful envelope with the current issue of the Australian Homespun magazine. Her Penny Heart Makedo is featured in it. Did you know that makedo is an Aussie expression from the forties referring to the war time slogan "make do and mend" I love it, and here all this time I have been creating makedo's and haven't realized it!!:c)

Christine asked me if she could send me a package a number of weeks ago. I said sure, and suggested to follow the instructions for sending letters and magazines. Oh but she is such a wonderful enterprising friend. She also sent the Quilters Companion mag, this darling daisy chain lace, adorable tag and post card of her beach. :c) Well just have a look for yourself

I have to tell you dear Bloglandian friends that I had no idea how wonderful this little community is. I am so blessed and thankful to be a part of this family, and will never be able to thank you enough for accepting me as a sister!! :c)

Do have a wonderful day or evening my Bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in :c)

It Takes A Village To Build A Box From A Book

I'm just popping in quickly to ask for a bit of advice and help. I received Stampington's November news letter "Post Scripts" today. They have a great tutorial on making Gratitude Book Boxes. It really looks like fun and easy peasy to make. For me the one catch is that it is built from one of their paper mache books (Box) I know that this is one of those things I'm never going to fine here in town. So I thought I'd try to make a box from a book I have here at home. I'm sure there must be someone in the Bloglandian neighborhood that has done this.. Yes?? Would any of you like to share with this novice how you went about doing it?? :c) Even if you haven't what are your thoughts on how to proceed??

Here's what I have done so far. I sorted through the hard back novels we have with this criteria. It has to be a book we don't mind sacrificing, and at least an inch and a half thick. With that in mind I settled on Clive Cussler's "Treasure of Khan" Cussler is always an entertaining read but he's certainly not someone you go back and reread:c)

I mixed up a bit of decoupage. Yep I mixed up, there is no Mgg podge (sp?) here and the decoupage medium they do have is very expensive. White glue on the other hand is much cheaper. So I just make my own decoupage medium with the glue and water like we use to do back in the Oldin Days :c) Okay then, once I had it the consistency I wanted I Held the front and back covers open and away from the pages. The first coat of medium I brushed in thickly letting it run down in between the pages. Then I put the book on the floor and stood on it until the glue had set up a bit. Now I'm putting layers of decoupage on all 3 sides of the edges of the pages. So far this seems to be holding the pages together in one mass.

Now can someone take it from there?? How or what tool should I use to cut the center of the pages out of the book out?? This will leave me a space to use as the box.

Okay tag you are it, what do I do next or do I need to find another book and start over?? If you aren't sure how to do it please could you do me a favor and ask on your blog for a helpful instructor. I'm sure I can't be the only one in Bloglandia that has ever entertained this idea. Maybe we can put a little neighborhood tutorial together and have someone publish it on their tutorial blog??

Alrighty Bloglandian friends I'm looking forward to reading all your suggestions :c) Please have a good day or evening depending on what part of the world you are in :c)

Confessions of a Victoria Magazine Junkie

Oh that I am. I have been since I discovered the magazine shortly after it's premiere issue. Back then the kids were small, and the magazine was always such a wonderful escape. Where the kids were all cute, clean, healthy and didn't argue about wearing adorable although somewhat impractical outfits. :c) It was a beautiful place you could escape to with a cup of tea and no one made any demands of your time. Where your imagination could run free creating wonderful things for your family and home. It use to challenge you to harness your own talents, gifts and abilities to interpret their quiet beauty into everyday life.

Will all the moves over all the years my stash of Victorias went AWOL. This spring a friend explained to me that all the old Victorias could be bought on ebay :c) Loardy May I was one excited girl!! Of course I had to have a crash course in the nuances of buying off of eBay, but boy once I had that there was no holding me back ;c) I'm sure you don't know and I'm even more sure you don't care but 12 magazines (one year) weighs in at 8lbs. So if I were to have the magazines sent to our mailbox in Laredo and then brought down with the courier service we pay customs, no duty cuz books and magazines are duty free, and we pay weight charges. That means for every year I bought and had delivered it would cost the price of the winning bid and the shipping to Laredo the the customs and weight charges to our box here in Mazatlan. By the time that is added up I'm into it for $40-$50 or so x 12 years.... YIKES!!!

But being the ever resourceful person I sweetly asked friends if I could have orders sent to their house. Oh and would they mind terribly bringing down with them when they came?? :c) Of course there was the 5 years I had sent to Anders' house (son #3) those I brought down when I went up to meet my grandson:c). That was part of the 99.5 lbs I had in my suit cases :c)

So now I have all these wonderful vintage Victorias that I can escape into. And the lovely part is I have all the time I want to do it in (yippee) :c) Like this afternoon. I had the best of intentions to cut out a couple of patterns and get busy on the mounting pile of sewing projects. Well I don't know about you but I need a tall glass of ice tea to sip on when I start a project. The kitchen is downstairs, you have to walk by the patio doors on your way...ow is that new blossoms on the bougainvillea??? Oh my gosh it's so wonderful out here, a nice breeze I can hear the little fountain bubbling, oh look new leaves on the ginger plant, AHH Heck what would it matter if I just grab a few of the Victoria Magazines and sit out here, enjoying the day, the sounds, the smells, and .... besides there is always tomorrow to cut out patterns. :c)

I'm sure you would agree that I did the only right thing, possibly being a professed Victorian Magazine Junkie yourself ;c)

Oh Yeah I'm still waiting for the new Victoria Magazine to mature. So far they just haven't been able to tap into that magical nuance of it's older sister!!

Have a good day or evening dear Bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in. Hmmm Isn't that the 1989 VMs sitting over there...... :c)