PROJECT LIFE....KRAFT STYLE

Hello Project Life....KRAFT!!!  I am so behind on posting these pages, can't believe 3 weeks already since last time.  Michael's finally got their PL stock in and the very next day with my coupon in hand I went in and bought the KRAFT kit, LOOOOOVE IT!!! These cards are so perfect for me, the colors, designs, words, EVERYTHING about them. I also got the right design page protectors, so happy to have these back in my album again. Remember you can click on the images to see better.

 

This was our first week together after 2 weeks of kids camping events. At the last minute Summer went on a short camping event, missed her but not like the first one. I love that Sienna lost her first tooth in time for me to use that SMILE card on the bottom left corner, she is so dang cute. That week my nieces were over more then usual, only pictures of Ryan but Camryn was here too. Sienna and Colt love playing with the girls. I also started my T time on Tuesdays that week and wrote about it.

This next week proved that the KRAFT kit was again perfect for not only me but for dear daughter Summer. I dedicated the whole right side to her, why do you ask. Well, it started with a fall off her bike and seeing how that blue bummer card would be perfect for it. Then while reading thru the rest of the cards with words noticed that a lot of them are what she says. So that week I took random pictures of her and used my favorites on the bottom row. I haven't done any writing yet because I like the words and pictures to stand out. She loves this page too, yep, this is her FOR REAL, SERIOUSLY, I"M JUST SAYIN, LET ME EXPLAIN, I was laughing so hard when doing this. But it was a bummer about her poor knee, we stayed home for several days and let her heal.

The right side of this week is pretty awesome too. Sienna lost her second tooth days after the first one, love that toothless smile she has now. She also made her first mandala I shared a couple weeks ago. I also cut to fit one of my painted coffee mugs inspired for my T on Tuesday's. 

This last week was filled with summer goodness and birthday celebrations. Sorry that the left side is cut off, didn't notice that till now. Click on the image to read and see pictures better. I love our little birthday collage I made in the bottom right corner, had to squeeze it all in there.

 

Well, it feels good to be caught up here posting them, hope to not get so far behind again. This weeks pages will be all about back to school and using my new mini kits from Nancy, YIPPEEE!!

Happy early Birthday Nancy, can't wait till you come back to church!!

The kids and even Sienna have had a good week so far at school. Each day is getting better and more routine for them. I LOVE my quiet house again, I miss the kids bunches believe me but oh to have lunch in peace again is wonderful. I am working on a chore/errand/exercise/art schedule for myself to make good use of my time while they are at school. So far it's going ok, went to the track each day and ENJOYED it so much, eating yummy veggies from the garden at lunch is my favorite, just finding my way again just as they are. Thanks so much for all the sweet comments you left on my previous post. I still can't get over that one from 5 years ago, in 5 more years only Sam will be left in school, weird and sad. Thank goodness for Sienna and Colt to keep me busy and in the school spirit.

Well, the weather is getting hot for our end of August and the weekend is upon us. Take care and enjoy the long holiday for us in the states. Thanks again for being so awesome! HUGS!

T TIME ON TUESDAY AND BACK TO SCHOOL

Hello and welcome to T Time on Tuesday!! I want to thank everyone first for all the Happy Birthday wishes last week, your visits made my YEAR!! It seems a lot of celebrating was going on thru the blogs last week, YAY !! I loved sharing mine and hubby's special days with you!!

 

I hope today's picture above is ok as my beverage picture, had to share this cute shot!! We have the tradition of getting ice cream the day before school starts along with meeting our new teachers and getting their schedules. It was extra awesome this year because some of the kids are starting the year in BRAND NEW SCHOOLS....YIPPEE!! I even want to go now, love all the new pretty and CLEAN desks, floors, bathrooms and more. What a lucky break they got to start at this time, my older girls missed out on it sadly and are stuck in the same old boring high school.

 

I had to babysit the little ones yesterday so they got to tag along for the tours and ice cream treat at the end. Love this picture, didn't realize Sienna was sticking out her tongue, too cute. Little Colt there in the back did GREAT with his, didn't drop it or waste time eating it up. He was the first done along with Sam and Sienna talked and played so much she was the last one done which she kept saying "how am I the last one done" and "wait a minute how did you all finish so fast"  it was so funny!!

I asked them what their favorite parts of summer was...

Renee....sleeping in when I didn't have to babysit

Summer....going to church camp 2x

Sam....going to church camp

Sienna...going to the fair

Colt....riding the cars and seeing old fashion cars on Tuesday's

Mine....having the kids home....SOC... Wildflower art class

 

I'm sad to see it come to and end already, it was our weirdest summer yet and so much we didn't do. My heart is nervous and excited for all of them right now, hoping today goes well for all of them. Loving my quiet house again and ready to start my to do list of chores today so I can play more the rest of the week. Hoping to post 3 weeks worth of Project Life tomorrow or Thursday.

 

Now for the back to school pictures this morning, they all got up and were ready plenty early, YAY!!

I'm sharing the pictures of the new schools too, was so fun to tour and check them out.

here's the new media room for the Middle school

Just realized the other pictures are on my cell phone which I haven't loaded yet, sorry will post them later for you. See the new chairs and carpet and computers everywhere.

here is my crew this morning, all sporting BLUE!!! They haven't been on the same time schedule in 4 years so it was nice to see them back together again.

here they were last time together, Renee was just starting middle school and Sam and Summer had one year of riding the bus together. Look how tiny they are, ok now I'm going to cry.

We went and got my niece who is also starting middle school with Sam. They walked half way together, so happy they have each other!!

 

Thanks for so much Elizabeth for this chance to share what's going on in our lives each Tuesday. To see or join in with us on Tuesday's visit Elizabeth blog. Have a great week everyone! HUGS!

MANDALA MONDAY

Hello Monday!! Hello Mandala Monday! I love starting the week off with a pretty post each week. This is my first of many "Birthday Mandala's", I'm loving these flowers so much. Each day they look different, a little less life in them but still so pretty and colorful on my table. I am using a tablecloth this time too, wishing I had more pretty dishes and things to use but happy with the white background with these bright colors. I've learned a few things about my mandala making...

To be patient and not force it together

That it looks different once I see it on the computer

I'm short so making them on the table means standing on a chair, not my favorite thing to do

I could stare at them forever and feel a calm and peace come over me each time

I like making them inside more then outside because I see it more during the day

I LOVE LOVE GREEN even more then before, I love the stems and leaves!

How soft the petals are, like really soft and curl so nicely and stay curled

Making these is making me want to draw them, not ready yet but it's there

 

I'm so thrilled to join Dawn again this week, she is the one who inspired me to start making mandalas. I've made new friends along the way now too which just makes Monday's even brighter. Visit Dawn's blog to see her mandala. Thanks so much Dawn for sharing and inspiring me.

I want to share this new flower in our ditch too, isn't it funny looking. I LOVE seeing these each day, new blooms and they make me laugh each time. If you look closely you will see the sharp needles on the stems too, OUCH. The purple part is so soft though, Rich and I are getting a kick out of watching these. Does anyone know what they are called? I could look at it up but haven't yet. Just curious if they have a funny name. Not sure these will show up in any mandalas but admiring them for now is making me happy.

 

I will see you Tuesday for T time... it's the kid first day, YIPPEE!! We are so ready for the routine and schedule of school again. My favorite season is coming up and I'm ready to play in the leaves and see our pumpkins grow. I will have a Project Life post maybe with T time or sometime this week, it's 3 weeks worth of catching up. Thanks for visiting today and have a great MONDAY!! HUGS!

 

p.s. I almost forgot, my picture of Rich and I with our cake got chosen over at Our Beautiful World!! I love that picture and it was just one week ago that it happened, WOW!! Time does fly.

Thanks Elizabeth for helping me with the link thingy, I kinda got it but needs tweaked!

BIRTHDAYS

This week at One Beautiful World it's all about BIRTHDAYS! Seems I'm not the only one with a  birthday this week, some of my friends have them too. What a great time to celebrate a special day at the near end of summer. Happy Birthday to everyone who has one this week, have a wonderful day!

 

The picture above is some of the cards I received, the only thing I asked for was homemade cards or just a card is great too. Well, ask and you should receive, so many cute ones from my kids, the little ones I watch and nieces. I love them all! The one below is extra special too....

It's homemade and from my MOM!!! I've been making cards for her this past year and I was so excited that she made me one. Isn't it pretty, love the blue in it as that is my favorite color. There is a homemade envelope to match, she is talented and so creative. She also made me something else that's pretty awesome and sooooo perfect for me.....

a red/white/blue wreath, isn't it awesome!! I love any and all things with these colors. They are all over my house from Memorial Day to Labor day but this awesome wreath will stay up for a long time. I actually cried a little when she gave it to me, was so surprised and touched, totally made my birthday even sweeter. I have to say this birthday was filled with surprises for me and I LOVE surprises more then anyone. My mom is pretty good at surprising me over the years. I won't forget my surprise Sweet 16th birthday, surprise baby showers, surprise gifts thru the years, she knows just what makes me HAPPY and what will WOW me. Thank you mom for the many Happy Birthday's over the years, especially since my "BIRTH" day didn't start on a happy note.

 

I love my present from my oldest daughter too, have never gotten them before.....

Look at these beauties!! Real roses, a mix of gorgeous colors!! I love them! Just having Kristin home for my birthday this year was special enough but these just made it sweeter. I tell you my whole day was just awesome and I felt loved from everyone. These babies are my sketch/painting inspiration this week and then will be my mandala when they are done. Thank you Kristin!!

Next up was a date for dinner with my hubby, we never do this on our birthday's, EVER. This year I told him we should start going out on dates more, like real ones not just Walmart.

We went to Scooter Dogs, it's the first time with NO KIDS with us. Pure heaven and YUMMY!! I can't wait to do this again with him. So nice just being out with just us. He turned the big 50 the day after my birthday and he isn't taking it too well. This year is getting to him but I told him to just count his blessings and celebrate that he is still here and healthy and is loved by many. He is such a sweetie! I'm a very lucky girl to have him by my side, love him more with each passing day.

Here we are back home and having cake with the kids. It was so fun doing this and all the kids had their ipods, cells and Renee had my camera too and each of them got tons of pictures thru the singing and blowing out of the candles. Renee even recorded it, I keep replaying it so I can hear them singing. They love that our birthday's are together and celebrating it with them makes them soooo happy. The cake is nothing special, we are known for easy cakes in this house. Together my hubby and mines ages add up to 94!!! Isn't that so cool and no way could we fit that many candles on the cake, haha. I just put enough to fill up most of the cake and plenty for both of us to blow out.

 

The photo above and the one below are my link ups for One Beautiful World, thanks so much if you've read all thru this. I did try to keep it short and sweet, like me, lol.

It's a surprise birthday banner from Renee!! Click on the image to see better. Rich always makes a bday banner for the kids, just one long banner with birthday wishes on it, that's it. But Renee took days and most of the ink in her Sharpies to create this amazing and  sweet piece of art banner for Rich and I. She wanted to do for us what we do for her, even the table was decorated and she blew up 50 balloons for Rich. I'm not sure I will take this down anytime soon, it's just awesome and I keep staring at it and I smile each time I go by it. She asked me to pick a favorite but so far I love them all.

 

This picture is what my birthday meant thru the eyes of my child, the one who has loved birthdays since very little. Not that the other kids don't but she is my birthday queen and I love that she wanted to make our day extra special and really enjoyed seeing our reaction and smiles about this. Each paper has our favorite things on it by the way, shapes, colors, foods and designs.

 

I'm happy to be linking this up with One Beautiful World this week, come by and visit and see what others shared for this birthday prompt. http://www.our--beautiful--world--365.blogspot.com 

I'm loving this beautiful blog and seeing what they share each week, thank you ladies for hosting such a great blog hop. So excited to share my birthday with you and the others. Thank you!

 

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU for the visits and sweet comments on my T time and Mandala posts, love reading them. I'm thinking everyone went out and bought a Frosty too.

 

With all this talk about celebrating, I think it might turn into my One Little Word for next year.

Have a great week and celebrate not just your birthday's but EVERYDAY!!!! HUGS!

T Time for FrosTy's and Thankfulness

Hello and Happy Tuesday!! I'm thrilled to be joining in the fun at T Stands for Tuesday with Elizabeth as the dear hostess. I am having so much fun with this blog hop, perfect way for me to spend my Tuesday mornings. I want to say a BIG THANK YOU for the comments on my painted mug Tuesday post last week, they made my day and are helping me to paint more mugs. Thank you for the birthday wishes for my hubby and I also, these last two days of celebrating have been great.

 

For my drink/cup this week it's a nice cold Frosty from Wendy's. I still have my cold and Thursday night my throat was pretty yucky so this was such a nice treat for it. While enjoying the tasty treat I started on my thankful list which is something I do for my birthday each year. My list is Thankful at 44, I do one for each year I am. Not sure I can do this past 60, already it takes me time to make one this long. I seem to get stuck at about #30 so I leave it out and work on it over a few days.

 

Each year I'm thankful for a lot of the typical things but I do try to find some of the small little everyday things too. This birthday someone special gave me an awesome present so I'd like to take this time to thank her. She is a dear friend from church and her name is Nancy.

 

Dear Nancy, thank you from the bottom of my heart for my Project Life gift that you gave me. I am beyond thrilled about it and can't wait to use them in my album. It meant so much to me that you knew how much I wanted these and care about me enough to buy them. It really shows how you listen to me, know me and that I would enjoy it. Thanks SO MUCH!! But there was another special and surprise gift you gave me too, one that touched my heart and filled it with JOY!!

 

You see Nancy reads my blog, she lives nearby and we've only just met at church a little over a year ago. Nancy is such a blessing to have as a friend, she will be there for you without a question and do anything you ask. She has a generous heart and is mother to everyone in our class. This is so much like ME. I like to take care of others, to worry over them and want the very best for everyone I know. Well, besides a few family members she is the only one here that reads my blog and can talk to me about it. She told me Sunday how much she looks forward to my posts, how they make her happy and leave her feeling good about the everything and just makes her smile. She said my posts always feel positive and happy and how I find the little things in life to be truly happy and thankful for.

This is what I do try and show on my blog, I know my readers enjoy them and the comments and emails I get show me that and makes my day each time. But oh how wonderful it is to sit down with someone and have them say that to you. It is still leaving my heart overfilled with thankfulness for all I have in this world and for Nancy who is like an Angel to me. She has shown me the way to having faith and that anything is possible and to never give up. Thank you Nancy for letting me know this. I will keep writing and sharing on my blog and hope it touches others like a lot of theirs do for me.

 

I'm thankful for new dear friends like Elizabeth who is letting us share a special day with her each week. I am learning so much about tea and mugs and knitting and more, each week is filled with new surprises and feels like Christmas to me each time. It's all those little things that make me happy and T for Tuesday is a perfect place to be for happiness and fun little things.

 

I have another part 2 of this post, this one is already a bit long. It's about more happy surprises on my birthday. I've joined another blog hop that has weekly prompts and this week's is BIRTHDAY, how perfectly timed this was. So I hope you will join me again tomorrow to read more about my birthday and the sweet homemade lovely gifts I received. Excited to share these with you!

To read Elizabeth's T  post and others joining in please visit her  at T Stands for Tuesday or click on the blue button at the top right of my blog. Thanks again for reading and Happy Tuesday!

p.s. Elizabeth I did the link like you showed me, but it stops once I start typing again. Not sure what to do about it, will keep trying though. Thanks for the help!

MANDALA MONDAY

Happy Mandala Monday!!  This special mandala was made with bits of everything around the yard. I am not the one who did it though, a cute little 5 year old created this and asked to it all by herself.

This is Sienna, my little cousin I babysit for. So glad I got her picture with her mandala. She helped me make my very first one and remembered an asked if we could "make that pretty flower thingy" again. I said of course and off she went picking what she wanted and saying it was going to be hers. That is her brother rolling on the floor on the right, he changed his mind about being in the picture. See my cat Romeo on the left side, he is just waiting for the chance to grab a piece of her mandala and run with it. I think Sienna did pretty good all on her own, took her no time at all to make this.

 

I'm joining Dawn at http://girlunwinding.wordpress.com where she shares and inspires others to make beautiful mandalas with beautiful things from nature or yummy foods, just about anything will fine. Be sure to visit her and see her mandala for the week. Feel free to join in anytime too!!

 

I will be joining Elizabeth for T time tomorrow with a special birthday post, hope to see you there!!

WONDER.... OUR BEAUTIFUL WORLD

I'm excited to be joining the fun at Our Beautiful World again this week. My dear friend Shahrul is the host for this week's prompt. The word she chose was WONDER and it was a tough one to narrow down for me, so many things I wonder about. I finally decided to go with the WONDER that Disney brings to people of all ages. I LOVE this place and will never grow tired of all the magic and wonder it brings. It's the only place I'd like to visit over and over again and seeing it with a new WONDER each time. It's been fun going with kids each time at different ages and seeing it thru their eyes and one day hopefully just my husband and I will go alone. This place is the happiest place on earth!!

It's only been 4 months but I'm ready to go back already!!

 

Thank you Shahrul for a WONDERful prompt this week. To see what Shahrul shared this week visit her at http://suchprettycanvas.blogspot.com and to see what others shared at http://www.our--beautiful--world--365.blogspot.com  feel free to join in too. Thanks so much ladies for this beautiful place to share things from all over the world. Have a WONDERful day!!

IT'S TIME FOR T ON TUESDAY

Hello and Happy T time to you!! I'm joining Elizabeth in this special Tuesday link up sharing what's in our cups and anything we want to talk about. I want to thank Elizabeth for giving us this place to chat and have T together, so warm and friendly these ladies are. To see what Elizabeth's been up too and the other link ups click on the button at to top right of my blog. This is my second week linking up and had so much fun last week, learned a lot about Tea and cups and more. Feel free to join us.

 

I still have my mind on drawing/painting mugs, these colors seem to still be my favorite this week. If you click on the image you can read the paint names. These lovely colors all have names that go with tea/coffee or flowers, so they were perfect to work with this week. Now to see what's in my tea cup...

yep it's just Lipton tea again, have been having an extra cup in the afternoons due to a cold that I just got. This is when I drink tea a little more then normal, although what I really like with this sore throat is a Wendy's Frosty, had one 2 nights ago but forgot to take a picture, darn it. The tea does help though and soothes my throat. Another warm drink that sounds good right now is hot cider, uumm.

 

So what did I do with these paint colors, I decided to paint in my art journal. Just playing and no stress or looking for perfect. These were fun to make, they need a little more work but I'm calling it done for now. Have a feeling there will be more of these coming again, guessing it will be in the same colors as they are keeping me happy right now. Here is a look at them...

I loved these colors as soon as they hit the paper, a messy background and pretty cups. I have a hard time journaling on my art pages, fear of messing up my writing and ruining the page. Hoping to be brave though and eventually getting a poem or something on them. One day there will be saucers with my mugs but for now focusing on one thing at a time. What if a teapot appears one day too!!

 

This week has been filled with some maybe bad news and real sad news. I found out a relative of mine is going thru a health issue right now, we are needing more tests and waiting to hear what will come of it. I am praying and praying hard for a good result to come back, my heart is breaking already and good news would make my whole year x10. So please if you pray, say one for that person and our family. We need all the prayers we can get.

The sad news is that a dear old family friend of my husband's passed away suddenly. My husband hasn't talked to this friend in years. It was one of those things you say tomorrow, next week or when I have more time. Well, time ran out and he didn't get to thank this man for being like a father to him growing up or to talk sports with again or just sit together. I am holding my hubby a little longer and trying to make his days a little easier, wishing I could turn back time and have a chance to talk to this wonderful man. We always want that one last time don't we.

So today remember if you have been putting off calling or visiting or sending a special gift, please do it today, not tomorrow or next week or when you have time. DO IT TODAY!! Please say a prayer for this family too, Rich got to spend the whole day with them yesterday and was so happy to reconnect with them even at this sad time. Now he gets it and we will be making visits to this family and not loosing touch again. My husband needed that and I'm so happy he has another chance with them.

 

Ok, enough of the sad news how about some kinda happy news....

My birthday is in 5 days

Rich's birthday is in 6 days and Lucky shares this birthday too

Rich will be turning 50 this year, time to CELEBRATE

School starts in two weeks from today, we are ready and not ready

The corn on the cob was finally ready, it is soooo yummy

I have a new Project Life kit and will share this week

We love our biggest sunflower at 9 feet tall

the Indians won a game but then lost yesterday, darn it

I've been eating grilled cheese with fresh tomatoes everyday

 

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU for all the comments and visits on my post last Tuesday. They really made my day, was so fun to visit your blogs too. Can't wait to go around and say hello again.

Thank you Elizabeth for letting us share our Tuesday's with you!!

You can read more about this link up T party by clicking on the button on the top right of blog.

Have a great week and I'll see you soon with a Project Life post.

MANDALA MONDAY!!!!

Hello and welcome to MANDALA MONDAY! I decided to share a little bit of my yard showing where I've been getting all the nature greenery and such for my mandalas. We have a long ditch that runs along the side and front and back yard. Our property is an acre and half so that's a long ditch. We've found many cool things in there and 14 years later the ditch is overfilled with weeds of all kinds and a few trees. Lucky for me it also has a few flowers/wildflowers or whatever you call them mixed in here too. I walked around the other night with Rich and we found some new things and I thought I'd share them with you before showing you my mandala for today.

here is what it looks like behind the garden, I rarely go back that far but Rich does and this time I did too. We are hoping to have apple trees to fill in this space one day.

I LOVE LOVE this pop of purple

I love these thicker strips, they don't wilt as fast and nice to see

not sure what they are but pretty pop of orange, this was way in the back yard

look how cute!! don't know what they are but so cute

click on this one to see better, might turn into something or just look cool as it is

just something about these that I like

another favorite, SOOOO CUTE!!

Here is my mandala for today!!  This was inspired by a new dear blog friend Elizabeth, who just started making mandalas too. Her first one was made on a charger plate which made it look so pretty. Well while making dinner this night I looked down at the plate of muffins left and an this mandala idea came to me. I used the spinach and carrots from the dinner I was making and love the results. I didn't realize till uploading that a carrot is missing at the top, it rolled and is hiding beside the muffin but you can't see it, haha!  Thanks so much Elizabeth for the inspiration and I think one day these yummy Morning Glory Muffins will be part of your Tuesday blog hop.

Thanks Dawn for inspiring me to start making mandalas with you, it adds a new joy in my days now. To see Dawn's mandala and others please visit http://girlunwinding.wordpress.com

 

Thanks so much for your comments on my last post, sharing my Project Life is my most favorite thing. I'm enjoying reading what my new readers think of it. I just purchased some new goodies for it and can't wait to share them with you. Join me tomorrow/Tuesday for another T time post.

Here is one last picture of something pretty awesome in our garden right now....

Our tallest sunflower at 9 feet tall, YIPPEEE!!

Thanks everyone and have a great day!

PROJECT LIFE AND INDEX CARDS

Hello Project Life!! This week's pages show our first week with all the kids back home after 2 weeks of having one kid at camp each week. It was sooooo nice to have them all back home and in their beds. They both did love it and actually Summer did go back for a few days this week already to help with the special need kids and enjoyed that too. We are counting down the last couple weeks of summer vacation too, sooooo not ready for school to start or summer to end. Now for close-ups

here is the left side, my first mandala, Rich's new Cleveland Indians Jersey, Sienna's 5th BIRTHDAY!! Lots of love and fun on this page. I went with the red/pink/blue colors

here is the right side, I LOVE the picture of them on their bikes together, LOVE. Look at our cute little shadow picture and Renee playing Life with Sam, awesome clouds and LOVE LOVE THIS PICTURE OF MY MOM AND ME, SO CUTE! You can click on the images to see better.

 

Still waiting for my local Michaels store to get Project Life in, they are getting tired of my calling them every other day asking if it's in. How can they not have a date by now?? Can't wait to go buy my page protectors and new kits thru the next few months, so many fun ones to choose from.

 

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU for all the sweet comments on my first T for Tuesday post and my mandala post. I enjoyed sharing them so much and am ready to share again next week.

 

I participated in Tammy's Index Card A Day challenge at Daisy Yellow over the summer. This was my first year and I have to say most of my energy and time went to Summer Of Colors but I did get a lot of cards done. Kinda did them as I wanted instead of one a day, some days I even did a few. In the end it's a mix group of everything. My plan was to make it stress free and no rules so that's what I did. Here are just some of the ones for June, will share the rest of them later along with July's too.

I did do some with the Summer Of Colors for that week and some were made for my dear IG friends to cheer them up or to just because and some were because of what that day was or just what inspired me. Next year I just might pick one theme and stick with it thru all 61 days.

 

Hope everyone is having a great week, HUGS!

T STANDS FOR TUESDAY.... NEW AND FUN!!

Hello and welcome to my blog, would you like to come in and have some tea and a lovely chat. I am excited to be joining in at Elizabeth's for T stands for Tuesday, what a fun way to visit and meet some new people. To join in and read more about this click on the T for Tuesday button in the upper right corner of my blog. This is my first time linking up with Elizabeth so I thought I'd share a little about myself. First, tea has been a part of my life for over 20 years, it's how I start my day. Waking up early while the house is still quiet and the kids are sleeping it's just me, my hot tea and clicking away on the computer. I drink one cup of hot Lipton tea each morning, it's the only way I know to start my day. I use to heat up a kettle for my water but when time was an issue, the microwave came in handy. Now after several tries I know my hot water is just right when microwaved for 1 minute and 26 seconds, a few dunks with the tea bag and a little sugar with a splash of milk, uuummm just right.

 

I am a mom to 4 wonderful kids, married to a sweetie, a scrapbooker, a Project Lifer and for 3 years now a lover to paints and sharpies. I love telling mine and my family's stories any way I can, that's how my blog got started. I love to write from the heart and to help remember everything because it's getting harder to keep all the facts straight. The color blue was my favorite till 3 years ago when I started painting, it opened my eyes to the beauty of loving all the colors and some nights I dream in colors. Taking online classes when I can also keeps me busy and inspired to learn new things. My last class was Wildflowers, so much fun this one was. Drawing new flowers, beaches, boats, sunhats and more this class made my heart very happy. I took a little of what I learned and went a little crazy doing a little something for Elizabeth's T for Tuesday. I will share pictures in just a moment.

 

My first thought when reading this at Elizabeth's was that we had to talk about tea and share our cups each week. Now after rereading I see it's about anything we want to talk about as long as there is a picture of a cup in the post. So after thinking and writing down lists here is my plan for Tuesday's...

 

To share old and new thoughts and pictures about our cups and drinks we enjoy

To share a little bit of art, still working out the kinks to this one

To sharing stories about my day or week, my OLW this year is STORY and I love to share mine

To visit thru the links at T for Tuesday, always love this part

To trying new things just for Tuesday's and sharing them with you

 

I want to thank Elizabeth for giving us this special place we can meet and visit each other. We have only recently met thru SOC and just started making our first mandalas together (see the post below to see mine second mandala) so I'm happy to continue our new friendship and interests with each other. So during this week I kept thinking about tea cups and wanting to draw some and those drawings became so much more. I started painting and coloring them and share them with you. Still not sure what else I want to do with them but am hoping to do something art/tea related each Tuesday.

here are the drawings/sketches of them. I would do a few each day thru out the day. All different sizes and trying not to make them too perfect or it will stress me out. Click on the image to see better

here are the ones done in acrylic, just simple cups with white backgrounds for now. I will share the others with you next week. Thinking the crayon ones might end up being my favorite but time will tell. I love when something new inspires me and gets me creating, thank you Elizabeth for that, all week it was teacups and mandalas for me. What a fun week for me it was.

Thanks so much for your visit and I'm looking forward to seeing what your sharing today also. Remember to click on the T for Tuesday button above  and see the post below for my mandala.

Happy Tuesday everyone, enjoy the rest of your week.

MANDALA MONDAY

Hello to Mandala Monday, this is my second one and I'm so excited to finally share it with you. I have Dawn at http://girlunwinding.wordpress.com to thank for this new slightly obsessive hobby of mine now. I spent all week making these and admiring them and for the first couple nights couldn't sleep because my brain wouldn't turn off. I love when this happens, inspiration can hit you at anytime and you should just go for it. The extra chores didn't get done, my sketching didn't get done as often but these mandalas are making me soooo happy and that's all that matters right now.

I had a hard time picking which one to share with you today, show them in order as I made them or just pick randomly each week. So really this one was my 4th and first of several made with squash/veggies from our garden. I told Rich to let me use them when he picks them and then we can cook with them or pass along to friends. I am naming her Squash Surprise because it still surprised me that my brain is seeing mandalas everywhere. Sorry for the little glimpse of Lucky there in the corner, totally wants in the picture can you tell. Now something not so fun happened during this and almost stopped me from making more of these beauties. Can you guess what it is?

To my daughter's surprise when she opened the front door and saw a gardener snake laying right there in our path. I freaked and screamed just like she did. It was small and harmless but I DON'T LIKE SNAKES, EEEEEKKKK NO MATTER WHO SMALL. So all that day I couldn't go out to play and make more of these mandalas. The little guy finally went behind the tree next to our door but was still right there and very close to the door. Finally hours and hours later when we checked it was gone, thank goodness. But wait, if he wasn't there then WHERE WAS HE???? This freaked me out even more, I didn't want to reach into my weeds and clippings or anywhere and pull out this snake. Thankfully when hubby came home he combed thru everything all around the house with a rake and didn't find him. This made him a little sad to have missed seeing him but I was very happy to know he must have moved on. Still a little freaky that this could happen again but I started pulling weeds and creating again. I found out from another mandala maker that this happened to her too, only hers was 4feet long, now that is a SNAKE and she can keep those kind in her yard, haha.

So there is the story of my second mandala, I already can't wait till next Monday to share again. Here is a few things I learned this week....

The weeds/leaves dry up very quickly so I need to use them first and fast before that happens.

 

It's hard to know what angle to work with still when taking the pictures, I only had 3 of this one above and Lucky peeking into each one. So Lucky might just have to stay inside during the creating part of my mandalas. Once I stand up and look down it's so cool to see how it has come together. I am trying to get more angle shots for each one if I can now.

 

That my mandalas aren't quite as full as the first one, a few came close but it seems the less I use and the simple they are the more I like them. We will see how this goes on thru the weeks.

 

A big thank you to Dawn for inspiring me with her beautiful mandalas, so happy that I found your blog and inspiration. Please stop by her blog and see what she and others have made this week. You can find it at http://girlunwinding.wordpress.com

Thank you for the comments on my Hello August post below, these are always so fun to write. Tomorrow I will be back with a new post about something new for me, T stands for Tuesday, you click on the button at the top right to find out more. So happy to have these new interests to keep me busy now that SOC is over. Have a great Monday everyone. HUGS!

HELLO AUGUST

HELLO AUGUST, WHY DID YOU GET HERE TOO FAST

 

HELLO TO ONLY 27 MORE DAYS TILL SCHOOL, BOOO

HELLO TO ONLY 27 MORE DAYS TILL SCHOOL, YIPPEE

HELLO TO FEELING LIKE NESTING AND CLEANING, ????

HELLO TO NO INTEREST IN READING, ???? not happy about this one

HELLO TO MAKING MORE MANDALAS, I'M TOTALY OBSESSED

HELLO TO A NEW CHALLENGE, T FOR TUESDAY, YIPPEE!!

HELLO TO MY MICHAELS STORE HAVING PROJECT LIFE, WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS HOW HAPPY AND JOYFUL THIS MAKES ME!!!

HELLO TO GETTING READY FOR WEEK IN THE LIFE IN SEPTEMEBER

HELLO TO MY BIRTHDAY, FEELING OK ABOUT IT SO FAR

HELLO TO RICH'S BIRTHDAY AND TURNING 50, HE'S NOT SO HAPPY

HELLO TO MORE WALKS OUT TO THE GARDEN WITH MY HONEY, LIKE THE ONE IN THE PHOTO ABOVE, LOVE THIS TIME WITH HIM AND OF COURSE LUCKY

HELLO TO CORN ON THE COB, SOON SOON SOON I HOPE

HELLO TO MORE VEGGIES AND SUNFLOWERS GROWING

HELLO TO NEW CUTE BABY PUMPKINS STARTING TO GROW

HELLO TO MORE DRAWING,SKETCHING OF WILFLOWERS

HELLO TO SCHOOL SHOPPING, YUCK AND DOUBLE YUCK

HELLO TO MISS. SIENNA STARTING KINDERGARTEN, WOW

HELLO TO SAM STARTING MIDDLE SCHOOL, WOW AND YUCK

HELLO TO SQEEZING IN THE LAST POOL/BEACH DAYS

HELLO TO MORE BONFIRES AND SUNSETS

HELLO TO MORE POSTS WITH A BEAUTIFUL WORLD

HELLO TO SADLY NO MORE OLD FASHION DAYS

HELLO TO MORE TENNIS, BASEBALL, WALKS AT TRACK

HELLO TO PURGING AND CLEANING UP MY SCRAP/ART SPACE

HELLO TO MORE DRIVING WITH RENEE

HELLO TO WHATEVER ADVENTURES KRISTIN HAS

HELLO AUGUST, MAY YOU PLEASE GO SLOW AND CAREFREE AND MILD TEMPS ALL THRU THE MONTH. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU EACH DAY AND THE BEAUTY AND CRAZINESS THIS MONTH WILL BRING. I PROMISE TO CHERISH EACH DAY AND TAKE TONS AND TONS OF PICTURES AND KEEP TELLING OUR STORY HERE AND THRU MY PROJECT LIFE AND NEW HELLO STORY CLASS.

WHO ELSE IS READY FOR AUGUST, LET'S ENJOY IT TOGETHER!!

Thanks again for the wonderful wonderful comments on my last post, I am a lucky girl!!

Have a great first day of August and see you Monday for my next Mandala!!HUGS!

I'm linking this up to http://www.our--beautiful--world--365.blogspot.com who is sharing their thoughts about August. These pictures were taken with my Sony camera with no editing. Thanks Beautiful World for another chance to share with you. Happy August everyone!