quickie update...

wow1 i was so good about updating until the past couple of months..hmmm i don't know where to start..ha ha~


i have had more pieces of art in stampington's newsletters...here and here and also a book for their artist papers they are giving away for subscriptions to Somerset..the book turned out so cute! fairy wishes here is the cover!

I just home a bit ago from CHA..silly me brought my camera and didn't take any pictures...I am going to paste the update i wrote to the altered art divas instead of rewriting the whole thing

well i just got home from a one and a half day trip to CHA. It was fun..very few people there compared to last summer..it was kind of weird to just visit and not work the show!...but it was fun and nice!~ I got to visit with the Dream Street gals..and talk for a bit..and wander the show to my heart's content. It was fun to see the new papers..it is weird i must just be oblivious..but it all starts looking the same and didn't see much new that caught my eye~ All of my favorite paper companies had some nice new releases..but honestly it just all seems more of the same...Prima has some of the coolest laser cut felt pieces...i saw them in the winter show but had forgotten about them. My Minds Eye has some new products to coordinate with their papers and die cut lines..they now have stamps and printed sticky back chip board shapes..i do love their products. oh and they have 4 sets of coordinating inks to go with the 4 new designs. Basic Greay had a few new lines..my favorite was one with fallish colors...very pretty!

I got to see Claudine Hellmuth, Tim Holtz, Wendy Vecchi(she was a member of the divas briefly...not sure if she pops in much or not!) Well she had a wonderful success this year. she started out doing samples for Maya Road...then Ranger found her to do all of Tim Holtz's show samples and then they asked her to create her own line of stamps! Tim better watch out..she had more people at her side of the booth at her demo stand than he did..he he~ Check out her blog here She is amazingly talented!!I also ran into Bernie Berlin..she is always so sweet..she gave Stephanie her card in case she ever needs help finding an apartment..I guess her brother is huge in real estate there. I also saw Ginger of the previous GinX paper line..she is always so fun. she now works for F&W books...i got a preview of the new Kelly Rae Roberts book..oooh it is a must have for me..great techniques in there and it all about my favorite subject! Angels!!!I cant wait til it hits the bookstores! She is actually one of my favorite artists and also inspired me to try my hand at painting angels that resulted in my new Angel Heart papers that i created for Dream Street Papers.. Claudine has a new book coming out...kind of an art formula book..it looks fun~
Most of the day was spent wandering around and visiting..it was a fun day~It always amazes me how even just 5 hours on a convention floor can wear you out! 9not to mention the blisters on the back of my heels...OUCH!) AFter the show we went back to the girls' hotel, had a wonderful dinner at the awesome Italian restaurant in their Hotel and chatted...then i spent the night at Steph's apartment and then came home after breakfast this morning~

of course i continue to play with my dolls...you can find more pics on my flickr..i hang out over there most of the time..so if you miss me you can find the flickr link in the side bar and see what is the latest~

oh and I created samples for the Dream Street Booth and totally forgot to snap pictures...dog gone it...they were cute too....Once i get them back after the show i will take some pictures~

now it is time for a bit of R&R for me..i have been battling a bit of stomach bug this week and it seems to have returned today..i feel some what dragged today~(and no i didn't drink a bunch or anything..i had to drive so i only drank two margarittas over a 4 hour period last night...ha ha)

til later~
angela

hello..life swallowed me whle again...

But with some good stuff!
On May 19th! Jonathon celebrated his 6th birthday!

On May 28th Art celebrated his 53rd birthday...we didn't take pictures...but i did make him a delicious potroast and apple crisp in celebration!

Spring has sprung around here...along with that comes opening the pool...this is afteward..it resembled a very murky duck pond when the cover came off!and another chore...fortunately i was able to enlist Ashton to help...is mucking out the ponds...we basically had to redo the entire area the little boys made a mess of them trying to catch frogs...so many rocks were at the bottom of both...it looks so pretty now...and it seems there are no leaks!~ yay! I will turn on the system sometime this weekend to see if it all worksWe have been enjoying rounds and rounds of blooms everywhere! This is such a pretty Rhododendron on the back of the housei was fortunate enough to capture a beautiful picture of the white bleeding hearts..among many many other pictures of the various flowers...need to go out and get some more of the lilacs and the irisesThen i had a get together this past sunday with a group of online dolly friends~ WE had a total of 40 Blythe dolls(seen below) 2 petit blythes and 9 other dolls(not pictured here)lots of dollies in my studio..This is Chris....she is holding up one of gina's darling hats...it is a cupcake hat!~Here are the dresses my girls ended up with...lots of trading going on that day~
we traded dresses for a new house....and we also got a suprise in the mail from Auntie Kari...she had gone to an antique store and a lady there insisted this girl was a Blythe...well after sending photos to me..we realized she wasn't after all...i thought she looked south American..so we named her Evita...she is our foriegn exchange cousin from Brazil..she is getting along nicely with al of the others...here she is meeting Anni and Arturo Bridgett is enjoying her new bed in her bedroom of the new house...dress is a trade from Morgan~Koneko was exploring the new bathroom and found a suprise in the shower...the Sonny Angel boys seem to be able to get to the new stuff first...here they were trying out the shower..Scarlett isn't sure what to think of these similar sized fellow...Anni and Arturo finally got to go on their horseback riding date...they were so patient with me...we had so many things going on..there is love in the air...i think they are planning another date soon..i heard something about fishing maybe..i am so suprised since Anni is always such a girlie girl..must be that she wants to please Arturo

the family welcomes a new sister....I think her name is going to be Rickie~ I misunderstood a comment on my flickr stream...he said he could see her calling "ricky"(as in Lucille ball)...but i thought he meant to call her Rickie!...so i think it is going to stick...she looks like a Rickie to me~

Anni is always so sweet and makes her new sisters feel welcome~
yesterday i looked down at my mini collextion right here by my computer...thought it was so cute..and funny that there is actually a doll smaller than Scarlett...a tiny mini barbie baby...Scarlett has decided it is her babydoll even though she thinks she is a bit weird looking...rofl! and she has threatened to turn them all into mice if they don't behave!

Mixed in with all of these events at home we have been enjoying some...well 4 field trips in the past 3 weeks...i have to resize pictures from the other three...but here was last weeks trip to our local bird sanctuary with Jonathon's kindergarten class. The other trips were the ford museum/Greenfield Village with the 5th graders 3 weeks ago, this week Tuesday was the Kindergarten train trip and the 2nd grade trip to Charleton park..an historical village

i'll post pictures of those later...some very beautiful places to visit~

Here is a swan family at the Bird Sanctuary

and my favorite, ruffle feathered Black Swans
and my little bird Jon!..he is always so sweet~

well a brief recap of what life has been....i also created another project for Stampington.com the day before yesterday...will post as soon as the newsletter goes out~

have a most wonderful day...and i hope i didn't bore you to tears

oh one more thing..the whole fire thing with the neighbors blew over. Matt and Michelle had gone to the township office to inquire about a building permit..and talked about the incidents. they found out that we did nothing wrong other than the first time not attending the pile at all times. We didn't even need a burn permit for the kind of fire we had...so we are not in any trouble. I had taken some photos of the 'pita' neighbor's fire that had 7 foot high flames a couple of days after the incident..they want us to bring them down at some point..They also said that these particular neighbors have caused problems in the past. so i feel so much better that we aren't going to get fined or be in trouble and that we weren't imagining things about these neighbors..i hate stuff like that hanging over our head. We plan on installing security cameras just in case the neighbors try anything again.

so life is back to it's happy self! today i have to clean and fold laundry and birthday shop for Tyrus' 11th Birthday tomorrow...he is having a party..no sleep over though..phew! and Sunday i am going to the ZNE castle event with Gina over by Detroit! that will be fun...and Gina is such a doll!

xoxox's

back to some fun stuff~

okay now that that business of misinterpretations is cleared..i would love to share with you some of my latest creations! On to the Happy stuff!

Here are a couple of pictures i took of the projects I created for Stampington.com's Creative Impulse newsletter...it is posted on their site in the gallery of projects and if you go to the shop and find the paper dolls they are both there with directions on how to create your own
My first project is the movie star mobileand a boudoire~here are a few projects i created for the Creative Therapy blog
this catalyst was "what do you like best about yourself" My answer was my smile..it reflects who i am inside..happy and full of sunshine..loland something i remembered from my childhoodand the last catalyst was "someone you miss" I created amini shadow box with a photo of my grandmother. She taught me many crafts and a lot about sewing~ My little sewing fairy~and the other thing i have been playing with is my Blythe dolls..and have been making lots of clothes for mine and for trades with other Blythe mommy's! Phew I forgot how much work it is to sew tiny...wow~ but boy it has been fun~
I had a near disaster..Oscar almost killed my sewing machine. He got tangled up in the cord and pulled it off the counter..it split open at the seams...however..i was able to rescue it and snap it back together...PHEW!
Petra is modeling this turtle dress, it is for a trade

this is another trade...i love this one..will be hard to part with, Anni looks so pretty in it!
another trade...but i made a pink one for me to keep in the same style. It was made with a vintage skipper pattern, My angel Kaelaray looks pretty in this one...
Madison loves this one..we are keeping it for her

made 3 of this style..one to keep 2 to sell...i love this kitty fabric, Ember's hair matches the cat color in it..LOL!

well enough for now..i am sure i can dig up tons more i have made....but will save it for later!

have a wonderful day...and i promise i will behave and leave the neighbors alone....although salt and vinegar crop circles in their lawn, sounds kind of fun...ha ha...totally kidding~

xo's

it was brought to my attention

That readers of my blog that don't know me, may take the previous post in the wrong way. I am not going to take it out or edit it in any way....however, i would like to clarify my intention with the post. It was a rant..a way to vent my frustrations. In no way was it to be obnoxious toward any one or offensive. I do occasionally say bad words during frustations and come up with all sorts of wild scenarios in my head, which, being the normally rational and loving person, would never carry out.

These neighbors are very frustrating and i really don't think they are the kind you can come to terms with, with rational means..therefore as a means to help ease our frustrations we came up with "fantasy scenarios" none of which did we, or will we carry out...besides my husband has a really nice physique, so him parading around in a speedo type bathing suit probably would not be offensive....now me on the other hand...i think i could clear the neighborhood..LOL~ nor did we send any mailings or any other type of vengeful thing. We simply are really not that kind of family. Occasional swear word in a rant..yes, Vengeful...NO~

So if you thought i was a crazy, vengeful person..i do apologize...I am not..I promise. I am however a bit eccentric at times..and can slip into potty mouth mode under dire situations...I apologize if that offended any one...

so back to the neighbors..since that previous post..they have had 3 fires behind their fence, they think that it hides everything they do...that or they are antagonizing us, two of which we could see flames above the 6 foot high fence...and they had called and lied and told the firemen that ours had 2 foot high flames and they came out....to a smoldering pile(no visible flames)...any way..we did not call the fire department because we are worried that rather than responding to a safety issue, they are going to punish us even more. they, the fire man, did make a statement to the police that they were using us as an example of the "neighborhood feud" issue...i thought it took more than one person calling the authorities to make a feud...no one else ever gets into any one else's affairs around here...*Sigh* i just want to be left alone to live my life..in my happy little world...

needless to say...we won't be burning any more fires...not even a camp fire in a pit..we really do do our best to abide by the law....

life just flies by

i have realized that i have slacked off on my blog posting..i love my blog..but it seems time warps are prevalant lately...

lets see....not a whole lot exciting lately..other than asshole neighbors on mothers day eve..came home to find out that the idiots called the fire dept again for our smoldering pile of leaves(our friend neighbors were watching it for us)...no biggie really, except these idiots don't like us and have a personal vendetta against us...it started a few years ago when their son hit Tyrus with a clump of dirt that had a rock in it..and Tyrus had to have stitches...yes you read that right...OUR son was the one needing stitches...we never made any big deal out of it because all of the neighborhood kids were playing in a dirt pile throwing dirt clumps at each other...this one just happeend to have a rock in it and hit Ty in the ear against his glasses....he even went to shake the kids hand to let him know no hard feelings...two weeks later they call CPS on us(child protective services) They obviously watch us closely...When i usded to smoke, i smoked outside on the front porch and would let Jonathon come out with me to run around in the front yard..ALWAYS in my sight..but my front porch sits back and the neighbors couldn'tsee me..assuming i was not outside..what idiots...and ever since then they try to find anything to harrass us..so it was rather annoying...and you just can't feel relaxed. We also suspect them of signing up several neighbors(the mail carrier varifies this) that they don't like, to all kinds of pornographic mailings and "gay"suscriptions and such...Matt and i were talking today, we should sign them up for any and all church/religous mailings we could think of...since they obviously need some intervention, ha ha!...oh and Art even thought maybe he could wear a banana hammock to do yard work and i could wear a thong bathing suit....now when they come hme they will have some interesting things to watch on their survellaince camera, mounted on the back of their house conveniently directed at our house..so we might just go ahead and give them a show....oh and i told Matt next saturday we should get all of our tiki torches(no burning permit needed) and sit in the field with those....we can have our fire..and they can eat it...making fun of people like that is the best ammuntion..totally takes away their power...it has been interesting the past couple of days...there is a ton more to the story but i won't bore you with any more details

On Saturday(before all the above crap)I had the pleasure of photographing our neighbors(the same ones that i metion above..the friend ones) for their mom...all of them! Matt and Michelle and his two sisters and all the kids..so fun~
Dominik

TimothySherrithe Family~ Matt and Michelle and all three wee onesAbigail..one of the cousins..she was not happy..but i did manage a couple individual ones of her smilingElizabeth....she has the prettiest eyes~the whole crew...what a pile...i need to practice group sitting arrangements...but hey it was for free..and so fun~! i spent a lot of mothers day working on one of my blythe dolls rescues. This is Tori..she had some bad things done to her...i sand matted her and then repainted her make up..and gave her eyelashes...she looks so sweet now..i did put her pink wig back on until i have the time to redo her hair..she will have green fairy hair..she is my forest fairy...

she had bad scratches and over carved eyes..to see more of my doll pictures visit my flickr site


she got new eye chips...Blythe dolls have 4 sets of eyes...you pull a string on the back of her head and they change to a new set....they are called eye chips...two are front facing and two are left and right facing...so each set can be different...these are her left facing ones..irridescent with sparkles
here are her eyelids when her eyes are closed..i painted those too...
so there a nutshell version of the latest happenings...much more has happened..but please for simplicity go visit the above link to my flickr to see the pics...

xoxox

until next time!~

The most amazing afternoon ever..

Welcome to the world little one!! This is Dominik Brady...less than 2 minutes old~I was so honored when our good friends and neighbors asked me to be at their son's birth..of course they only really wanted me for my cool camera..ha ha~ Matt and Michelle have become very close friends to both Art and I over the past year..and i really cherish their friendship! I was so honored to be there..it was one of the most amazing experiences i have ever had....
Here is Matt trying to calm Dominik....he was not happy at the experience of being born...
here is a close up of this sweetie. The nurse had put medicine in his eyes I think she said she wasn'table to get them to open right away and this was to assist in that process.Dominik weighs 8 lbs 6 oz and is 19 inches long, born at 3:55 on May 1st 2008~ a May Day baby~look at the beautiful mamma....she was amazing!~ She hardly wimpered and when it was time, just pushed him right out...one push~Matt and Michelle with their gorgeous new little boy! I can't wait to take pictures with Dominik's older brother Tim and Sherri his big sister...What a beautiful family~amazing head of hair..it is a dark brownDominik is telling his gramma Debbie his woes of being bornGramma Debbie has a knack..she got him calmed down by telling him how he was going get to go fishing with his grampa and cousins...he was Grampa's newest little bud...how sweet~here he is with his Grandpa Tim and his Auntie Christy had just a moment to pop in and say hi before she had to go!
Auntie lovin!~

As soon as i can, i will share more pictures of Dominik and his siblings!

wow~ what a day...an amazing day!