yet another Easter Swap i particpated in

this cute little tin contained some yummy chocolate eggs from Norway!

this chickie with the darling hat was inside this beautiful collaged egg. loved the glitter she used.

i usually don't get into holidays besides Christmas, so not sure why i was so into Easter this year. must be all the cute things that got made! This was another swap hosted by
Monica Saga of http://mandco.typepad.com/. We made two items and then swapped them with our 2 assigned partners. One of my partners was Monica, so that was cool. She lives in Norway, so it was fun to mail off one of my cute altered eggs to her. My other partner, who i shall not name, never contacted either of us after being assigned. i left a few messages for her on her blog and emailed her, but she's never responded. Both Monica and i sent her our items in good faith, but was sent nothing in return. at first i was really annoyed by this, thinking you know, that's really tacky.i didn't like the idea of my gift being received under dubious circumstances. (nice word, huh?) i wondered if she's done that with other swaps too. But then i decided that maybe something more serious has happened in her life and that i just don't need to worry about it. hopefully my altered egg went to a good home! i know it has a good home in Norway! thanks, Monica!

this will be my last post since i am leaving for Artfest tomorrow. as my mom says "there will be a Lemoncholy blackout" until i return since i am not taking my laptop. (unless i find someone willing to share their computer with me......)maybe once i am in Portland, at michelle's house, i'll have a minute to check in! see you soon,

kecia

Memory Monday

Today's topic was any highschool activites, sports that you participated in. I was a cheerleader in 8th grade at a very small school. there were only 5 of us, but it was really fun. I was also on the basketball team in 8th grade, but i totally sucked!
In highschool, cheerleading (now at a different, bigger highschool) was a major deal. you had to know gymnastics and be able to do all these different jumps, etc. so that was out! so i joined the drill team instead, which is what i really liked anyway. drill team was basically doing dances/routines during halftime. we had a huge drill team with something like 60 girls or more. it was really fun, although our captain was really strict and wasn't too well liked. during the summer one year, we got to go away to a drill camp held at Mary Washington College in Virginia (my highschool was in Virginia Beach). we slept in the dorms and learned various dance routines. it was so much fun. we won the "spirit award" while we were there. i also played basketball and softball for the recreation league (wasn't good enough for the highschool teams!). but playing for rec was much more laid back and fun. i had the same coach for the 4 years i played and he always had the team over for pool parties and BBQ's. and then i was a swimmer too. i spent many years swimming when i was younger and then started up again in a league during highschool. my best stroke was back stroke.

i'll be gone for the next two Monday's, so we'll start up again when i return.

Easter basket swap

Genevieve of Bella Enchanted, hosted an Easter basket swap. my partner was, Bristol Snider, www.cottagebytheriver.typepad.com. here are some pictures from the sweet basket that she sent me. i love the vintage chick and flamingo picks. my favorite is the teddy bear with his glittery cheeks and dapper little cap! thanks Bristol!

heading to artfest on tues.

thank you all for your nice supportive comments to me about the approaching date of Tucker's injury. I'm sure i will be so busy in Seattle on the 1st hanging with Andrew, http://www.urbanpaperarts.blogspot.com/ and my new BFF from Artnest, Jennifer that i won't have time be sad! unfortunately i do not think i will be taking my laptop with me on this trip as i just don't have the room. so you'll have to wait patiently for my return to hear all about Artfest!

Andrew is renting a car, so jenn and i are hitching a ride with him for day one and two in Seattle and then heading over to Port Townsend the next day. We have a great little schedule planned, thanks to the ever organized, Andrew. Upon arrival and finding our car, we are heading to a Target to buy a few necessities. This will be a quick in and out visit and there are more important things to see! Next we are heading to a store called "Impress rubber stamps" to do a little shopping. our next stop takes us over to Fremont Street so that Jen and I can grab a photo op with the Fremont Troll - a huge cement statue of a troll who lives under the bridge there. Then it's off to PPC (it's like a Whole Food Store) to pick up groceries. Then we will make our way over to the Archie McPhee store and maybe a few other stores if there's any time left. After that we head to our hotel to check in. we are staying at The Sixth Avenue Hotel, which is in walking distance of Pike's Place Market (my favorite place!). After checking in, we will rest, get cleaned up - whatever until we grabbed dinner at Pike's Chowder Place.

Day two gets us up early to head over for breakfast at Pike's Place Market at Le Panier bakery. we want to get there early to watch the vendors start setting up - putting out their flowers, the fish. maybe will get to see some fish tossing! After breakfast we head over to catch our ferry to Bainbridge Island. it will take us about35 minutes to get there. we will be making a stop after arriving to visit Poulobus - a rubber soul stamp store and art gallery that Andrew knows of. Next we head over to the town of Port Townsend to walk around and check it out. there is an art supply store, more galleries, a thrift store to go see and lunch to be eaten! Then we will drop off Andrew's luggage at his B&B before heading over to Fort Worden (as seen in the movie "An officier and a gentleman") to register. Jen and i will head to our house (5) and unpack. We will see Andrew later in the evening, i'm sure. We go to dinner between 5:30-7 and then the big trading frenzy starts! there is a kickoff meeting in the pavilion between 7-8. Sometime in there, i will be looking to meet my roommate, Sara, who will be driving in from Seattle.

Day 3 for me has me eating breakfast at my house (i didn't buy the breakfast plan) before heading off to my first workshop with Nina Bagley, called "gatherings". the workshop runs from 9-4 with an hour for lunch. dinner is at 5:30 and then from 7-10 there is a beach bonfire with hots dogs and s'mores. everyone brings their journal down to the beach. i'm bringing some warm clothes for that, as i heard last year it got quite cold! somewhere in there, maybe from 6:00-7:00, i will be doing chair massage in the Art Asylum room.

Day 4 i have another workship with Nina Bagley, called, "A wee book". it follows the same schedule as the other classes, so will be done at 4:00. Again, at some point, maybe at vendor night, i will be doing some chair massage.

Day 5, last day at Artfest, i take "Wallpaper people" with Anahata Katkin. i 've seen the work from this class and it is incredible. and i love Anahata since meeting her and taking her icons workship at Artnest. she's such a sweet person and a great teacher. we will be working on 6ft panels of wallpaper, so it should be really cool. i know a lot of people who are in this class, so i think it is going to be really fun. after dinner there is a worshop show and tell for everyone to see each other's work.

Day 6 - sunday, we leave the fort - :( . i will be hitching a ride with fellow charmsters, Michelle and Maya. We are dropping Maya off in Seattle and then Michelle and i are heading to Portland, where i will stay with Michelle. We hope to meet up with our friend, another charmster, Allegra before i leave early on wednesday morning.

Can i be honest?

tucker at age 12months - 4months before his injury

I just wanted to share that this time of the year is very hard on me. i know i put up a good front and act brave, but i'm not all that tough when it comes down to it. On April 1, 1991, my son, Tucker, at the age of 16 months old suffered a severe brain injury - due to medical malpractice. it left him in a wheelchair, unable to talk, walk, or do anything on his own. he's 100 % dependent upon us for his every need. he wears diapers and is fed through a g- tube. it's been 17 years since it happened and every year it seems, gets harder. as we age, we think of all the missed opportunities for him, proms, athletics, driver's license, college preparation, marriage, kids, etc. all those hopes and dreams for your child; especially your first born. they are all gone in an instant. i struggle everyday with showing a brave face and inwardly continuing to grieve; all the while, taking care of Tucker, who is still with us. i tell you all this because sometimes, in truth, it is hard to believe that this really happened to us. this is my life - which sometimes seems like a dream. i share this with you as i have sadness in my heart and tears in my eyes. why do i feel the need to hide this from people? i'm not sure - but i'm kind of to the point where i need others to know the reality of what has happened to me. i leave for Artfest on April 1st - so it will be good to be away, but bittersweet at the same time. i know tomorrow i will feel embarrassed for sharing such intimate feelings from my soul and will struggle with deleting this entry. but as i "put it out there" - it will be harder to deny later.

Day #11, last day, hippity hop swap

Boo hoo, this is the last thing i get to open! spoiled, aren't i? anyway, this precious little paper mache party chick was made by Vivian Neroni at http://vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com/. it's just darling! i keep thinking it is a scrumptious cupcake that needs my immediate attention. i just adore the frilly little green and white checked ribbon that he is wearing around his neck - great touch! the shredded white paper reminds me of coconut shavings. it's just too sweet. thanks, Vivian! and thanks to everyone who participated. it sure was alot of fun! and many thanks to Heather for organizing the whole thing! i think sometime this summer i will be hosting a swap, but need sometime to think about what it will be!

Once upon a mattress

here's a picture of Dillon and his girlfriend, Abby taken last night at the play/musical they are in; "Once upon a mattress".

Day #10, hippity hop swap

today i got to open this sweet little heart shaped box made by Ann Marie Skrabo. she painted it a "robins egg blue" and added sweet little pink polka dots (love polka dots!) then she glittered some eggs and a flower and along with this so cute bunny glued them all to the top of the box. she layered a piece of ribbon underneath it all. and to top it off, the bunny is wearing the cutest little foil crown. inside the box was some pink Easter grass and darling little yellow chickie. Thanks Ann Marie!

day #9, hippity hop swap

Day 9 i got to open this adorable Easter frame made by Sandy Camarda,http://sandy-sandyscreations.blogspot.com/ . she collaged some vintage images, some eggs and a darling plastic bunny onto the front of the frame. she used some really cool papers under neath for her background - love the polka dots and checks! Thanks, Sandy!

Day #8, hippity hop swap

day 8 found me opening one of my most favoritest things - a bird house! it is darling. very shabby chic. it was made by Lonnie Jenck. not sure if she has a blog or not. i love how she used some music paper to create a scalloped roof line on the house. and then she stuffed some silver tinsely stuff in the hole of the house for nesting material. Love it! thanks, Lonnie!

day #7, hippity hop swap

tucker is home for spring break, so i've been a little busy with him! but everyone is in bed right now and i have a few minutes to myself -

day #7 was from my good friend, Kim B., in Ohio - she's been mentioned so many times here on my blog that i think i will add her name as a "label"! anyway, find her blog here - http://www.artdogslife.blogspot.com/. she took a sweet little vintage postcard and embellished it with glitter all over. she then tied an altered chandlier drop around the card. it says " believe in yourself everyday". i really like that saying. i decided to tie the drop around my new paper mache "Queen" that i blogged a few posts back. love the darling polka dot paper she wrapped our goodie in. Thanks, Kim and see you soon!

Memory Monday

today's topic was college/sorority stories. I went to Elon University in Elon, North Carolina and received my bachelor's in pyschology. I was a sister in Sigma Sigma Sigma, pledging in my junior year. I lived in the "unofficial" sorority house my last two years in school. it was a great house located right next to the train tracks. i used to love it when the train would go by, shaking the house. In the winter we were always too poor to fill up the oil tank very much, so most of the time, the house was absolutely freezing. i lived under my electric blanket which i charged on my JCPenney credit card. there was only 1 bathroom, which really sucked with 5 girls; especially the time when we all had the flu/stomach virus. yuck! my kitty, Pebbles, lived with us for a little while; although, he was an illegal tenant. i constantly had to make sure no one was letting him outside. our neighbors on either side hated us. especially the lady. she was always so unpleasant and had this horrible frown on her face at all times. i don't think we were that loud and we never had parties there, but did host a lot of events involving lots of sorority sisters. guess that was it! when i was pledging our "big sisters" made us a signature book. you had to make an appointment and "visit" with every sister. after the visit you'd received her signature and a "chore". you were to try and get every signature before hell week, which like a good pledge, i did. the chores were really annoying though; especially since i was also working, so my time was very limited. Some of the chores were like "wash my car", or "wake so and so up every thursday morning" or "make so and so a poster", crap like that! one of the chores i received from a sister requested that i give each sister (and there were probably about 60 sisters or more!) a bouquet of flowers. now we are talking early spring, no flowers are blooming yet and i had no money to go and buy flowers- so i wasn't quite sure how to do this. this is before paper crafts or i could have made some paper flowers! so one day on my way to work, i passed a cementary and noticed all the fake flowers there - so i got an idea. i recruited another pledge and we hit the cementary later in the evening and grabbed a bunch of the fake flowers. alot had blown around, so we considered it "cleaning up". they were all dirty, dusty and faded. but they would do!

so i made all these little bouquets with them and passed them out at a meeting or something. i don't even think i cleaned them! i didn't admit to it, but someone had questioned "where did you get these, did these come from a cementary?" lol. hey, i got the chore done!

this week's players: debra, http://warehouseartchix.typepad.com/warehouseartchix/

next weeks topic: high school activities that you participated in

Day #6, Hippity hop swap

Today i got to open my goodie! i took peat pots and paintedthem yellow and then added glitter over the paint. then i took a small wood spool and glued it inside the peat pot for a base. next i took wine corks and painted them pink and glittered on top. i added 2 tiny pieces of lace on each side of the body where the arms would go. the arms are stick pins with pearls on the end. the pins were just pushed into the cork. i stuffed easter grass inside the peat pot around the base and then glued the cork body to the spool. the head is a vintage image of a bunny that i glued to a "T-pin" (used in quiliting) then i pushed the t-pin into the cork as well. a bow and some tiny bells were added around the neck for bling. i had punched 2 holes on each side of the peat pot and then wrapped some pipe cleaners around each end and then joined them together to make a handle. i also wrapped fibers around the pipe cleaner handle for more texture. around the peat pot i wrapped some more fibers and glued a vintage flower and a button in the center. i added some tiny wood eggs and a little chenille chick to the edge of the pot. the last thing i did was add a tiny tag that is hanging from the hangle that says "hoppin down the bunny trail".

Happy Easter to all!

my favorite vintage Easter bunny wishes you a warm and happy one.

don't forget, Memory Monday tomorrow. this weeks topic - college/sorority stories

and a happy birthday to my friend, Kim!

Happy Birthday, Dillon!

Today, my little baby, Dillon, turns 15 years old! i just can't believe it. where has the time gone? i took this picture of Dillon the other night as he was leaving for the movies. the bottom picture was taken on Dillon's 1st birthday, in Las Vegas, Nevada, 1994. his turtle sandbox was his gift. remember those darling little footie pajamas! so cute!

day #5 Hippity hop swap

today's gift is from Brenda Bliss. it's a darling fabric bird; although i'm not sure of the fabric - muslin quite possibly. the bird is cream colored with with some handpainted brown/gold tones thrown in. it was sewn and stuffed with poly fil. In a black cord wrapped around his tail is a lovely wire nest with some purple egg beads inside. i got an email from Brenda who wanted to make sure that i knew that the nest was also a necklace! how cool is that? i think i shall put him in one of my fiber nests that i've been making. thanks, Brenda!

day #4, hippity hop swap

today i got to open up this cute tag made by my friend, Sandra, http://www.7thststudio.blogspot.com/. Sandra's mother has been quite ill, so poor Sandra has been extremely busy getting her mom better, out of the hospital and now moved into Sandra's house. I'm happy to report that her mom is doing much better and things are beginning to slow down enough for poor Sandra to take a breath. i know she handpainted that gorgeous rose on the bag holding our tags. i will be cutting it out and collaging it onto something! i hung her darling tag on my easter egg tree.

day #3 Hippity hop swap

today i opened this pretty embellished paper doll pin made by Stacy Harris, http://www.creativemuse.etsy.com/. hers was fun to opened, because she really thought out each step. the pin was inside a paper bag that she had soaked in vanilla or something like that - because it smells good! she had the pin wrapped up in some tissue paper nestled inside some thin strips of sheet music and some cream colored buttons. i've got to appreciate any woman who would share from her button stash! a cute card on the outside with darling chickies, a feather, velvet ribbon, buttons and a round tag with the #3 completed the packaging. very nice! thanks, Stacy!

Day #2 Hippity Hop Swap

this darling little "faux" chocolate bunny was made by Amy Bauer (i'm not sure if she has a blog or not). it's pretty dang cute (and not camera shy either!) Thanks Amy!

day one, hippity hoppity swap

i opened this up today from Cheryl Connell,http://fromthepines.blogspot.com/. on the back she wrote "may you always continue to grow" - and on the front is a lovely silver frame in which she added the word "grow". it is already hanging up in my bedroom! Thanks, Cheryl!

i picked up this adorable paper mache decoration today. it is so cool. i wish i could say that i made it. but it does look like something my buddy, Vivian Neroni, would make! see some of her goodies on her blog, http://vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com/.I love her banner that says "Queen" and the fact that she is holding a little baby. the picture on the bottom is something i received today from another bud, Maija in Phoenix, http://www.maigirlz.typepad.com/. I had admire this little nest on her blog and next thing i knew, we were swapping! i'm sending her goodie out tomorrow. My box from the Hippity Hoppity Easter Swap arrived, so i will start opening one gift a day for 11 days starting tomorrow and then blogging them.