Arbor Day

Our theme for the week, at Blog Challenge Garden, has been Arbor Day...   Around my neck of the woods, it is celebrated on the last Friday of the month of April.  However, my mind was a little preoccupied with William and Kate, so-ooooo...

We were asked to put together a tag with a tree as the main focal point.  I'm running a little late on mine, but finally the weekend is here, all the royal wedding festivities have quieted down now, and I was ready to surround myself in papers, inks, stamps, ribbons and laces!

I have seen many a beautiful tag, and ATC card done by those who used multiple stamps, and overlapped them, coming up with the most beautiful masterpieces!  So this week, I decided to go all out...  go wild...  get messy, experiment, create!!...  Muahahahahahaha!!!

BUT...   I still wanted to keep a feel for what Arbor Day means to me, like beauty, shade, homes for the birds, and oh yeah...  OXYGEN!...  I think it's very important that we stop tearing trees down.  I don't think we need one more empty strip mall taking up space that God gave to these trees in the first place!...

But, o.k..  Breathe. Focus.
What can I come up with here?....

Yup, there you have it...  the front of my tag.  And it would definitely appear that I prefer doing things in baby steps, don't you think?!  I really only overlapped two stamps, but if you look closely, I actually overlapped three!  Ha! Ha!

Here's the back of the tag, where I can journal about what I love about the trees, and the favorite trees that I remember throughout my life.  What favorite trees might I have, you might ask?  Well, here's a quick story about one of them....

...I had a favorite pear tree.  It was small, but produced the most beautiful pears.  I lived in an apartment at the time, and this pear tree sat on an empty lot next-door to me.  My kids played in that yard all the time, but I had never met the owner.  The first year I lived there, I watched every beautiful pear on that tree just rot away, as it appeared that nobody cared a thing about it.  What else could I do though?  I didn't want to steal them...

Well, a year's time came and went, and more beautiful pears grew back on this sweet little tree!  This time, I wasn't going to let them go to waste!  I picked them, and made a wonderfully big batch of pear sauce...  even canned some!  It was delicious!  Time came around again the next year, and a neighbor friend of mine came running to me to warn me somebody was stealing my pears!  WHAT?!!..   I ran right out, and there this man was, with his own little step ladder no less!!  The NERVE of this man!...   So I marched right over to him, and with all the Irish temper that was boiling over in me, I hollered...

"Excuse me!  WHAT are you doing?!!"

"Well," (he said rather calmly)...  "I OWN this tree."....   (Gasp!)

"Oh...   Well...    O.K. then...   Just checking."

...And on that note, I slowly backed away, went back into the house, and proceeded to mind my own business from that point on.  Needless to say, I BUY my pears now!

Thanks for stopping by...
Thanks to Rebecca for hosting Tag Tuesdays...

and hope everyone's enjoying their weekend!

Goin' To The Chapel

...and they're gonna get ma-a-arried!  

It's William's and Kate's big day, and if I can't make it to the other side of the pond, then I'm just going to pull an all-nighter here, and catch the wedding on t.v...  They're supposedly televising it here, starting around 4:30, maybe 5:00ish, and I'm determined not to miss a minute of it!!  In the meantime, I thought I'd make myself a little something to remember the occasion by, so I scrapped myself a royal tag!

I can't wait to see Kate's wedding gown!..  And, oh, I can still remember Princess Di in her beautiful gown too.  How very sad she is not here, this day; but I just know she's right with William in spirit, somehow, and I can only imagine how proud she is of her son, and how happy she is for him and his bride...

Actually, if my grandmother were still here, I imagine she might have liked my tag, and all the royal festivities taking place right now.  She loved keeping up with all the latest news from the royal family, saving articles and photos from newspapers or magazines!

I'm afraid, as I'll only be attending the televised event, I, myself, will not be dressing up for this momentous occasion.  No fancy hats..  No pearls..  I guess I'll just be hanging out today in my jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers...  But I'll be happy to raise my glass for the happy couple, when they are officially announced "husband and wife"!  God's blessings, and best wishes to them both!...

Update:   Well, did you see the wedding?!!  I did, and what a gorgeous event!  Wasn't it beautiful?!  I cried!  I couldn't help it...  Did you?..   I think my favorite part of it all was when William first saw Kate in her gown, and he told her she was beautiful!  That just turned me to mush right then and there.  Awwwwwwwwww...

Well, here's the back of my tag.  It's completed now, and I have a sweet little homemade souvenir to remember it all. 

In the meantime, I just want to say, my heart and prayers go out to any friends and families who may have been affected by the recent barrage of tornadoes.  I only hear bits and pieces right now of how, out of six states that were "ravaged", Mother Nature seems to have come down hardest on the state of Alabama.  May God comfort and provide in all and whatever ways He is needed there.  

Ready or Not

Here it is..  and boy I was nervous!  I've never done this before, and I've NEVER liked public speaking of ANY kind!...   BUT, I want to share how my scrapbook came out, and this was the best and easiest way to do it.   Sometimes ya just gotta be brave..  Muster up a little COURAGE!  Right?!

It really is funny, because at the end I'm not sure why I am laughing, or giggling the way I am, except for that I'm just so happy I'm DONE with it!  No more talking..  I'm o.k...  I survived the challenge! I can quietly go back to blogging now, and I'm feeling a little better already...   back in my comfort zone again!

Just to give credit where credit is due though, here are some links that were either mentioned, or should be!

For where I learned to make the fabric flower on the cover:  Drew Michaels Design Blog.

For the creator of Abbie:  "Thanks again Elsa!", at Just a Few Designs.

For where I got the Wizard of Oz papers:  Scrapbook.com.

For where I got the Wizard of Oz paper dolls:  go THIS Squidoo.com page.

For a very helpful hand in figuring out how to post a YouTube video, along with the continuous, tremendous amount of creative inspiration she shares, "Thanks Fiona!"

The kids are off from school this week!  Hooray!  Everybody's enjoying the break, and I'm busy with new projects already!  

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Chair

The best seat in the house!...   This week's theme for Tag Tuesday is "the chair".  My first thought was "Well, I don't have any chair stamps, and I don't have any chair papers.  What in the world can I pull out of my hat about a CHAIR?!..   Well, I puttered around cleaning my house, I washed some dishes, and somewhere in that time it dawned on me what was my favorite chair in the world.  I got out my camera, I took a picture, then went on to my work space and craft supplies to create my tag!

My babies' high chair...  Yes, I still have it.  I could NEVER part with it, and there's no amount of money I would ever take for it!  That chair reminds me of the greatest blessings God ever gave to me; and I am hopeful for "grand-blessings" somewhere down the road, someday, where many more meals and goodies can be had in that most cherished chair that I'll ever own.

Thanks to Rebecca, at Blog Challenge Garden, for hosting Tag Tuesday.  I hope my visitors will stop over to see the creativity and beautiful artwork of all the participants in this weekly event!...   Thanks to all for stopping by!