My favorite things....

My grandson, David, is visiting me today and tomorrow.  This is the time of year he and I get together and bake Christmas cookies.  We started doing this last year and I hope to make it a tradition.  I bake the cookies and he helps decorate.  This year he is nine and wants to be more involved than he was last year.  He has decided that I can make the dough, he will cut out the shapes.  I will ice and he will decorate, a good division of labor and he stated we will be a team.  David, at age nine having a limited income, will give these cookies to his dad, his mom and her partner and to his Uncle Sean and Aunt Michelle as gifts.  The dough is in the frig cooling and then, as I do nothing in moderation (made a double batch), we will be making cookies until valentines day.  This Christmas our family is giving hand made items as gifts, the best kind as far as I am concerned.  I am sure Santa will be visiting David as he has been such a good boy.  More to follow as the day progresses.........

Mermaid Journal

In March or April of 2008, my friend Ann and I started working on our Mermaid Journals.  The journal was a kit purchased from Barbara Willis, a well known doll artist.  Never did we dream it would take so long to complete. 
Both Ann and I had tons of stuff in our stashes to work on this charmer but that didn't stop me from shopping.  Do any of us need an excuse for visiting fabric stores, craft store and assorted arts related shows?

Ann and I would meet about once a month to work on our journals.  The time was filled with a lot of show and tell, laughing and sharing of ideas, it was a lot of fun. 
 This mermaid is hiding in a seaweed garden pondering life just as we humans do as we drive to a destination, lie in bed just before falling asleep or just after waking up.  A myriad of problems were solved in those sleepy times.  I also learned to plan, plan, plan.  It was not just a matter of putting the nine pictures on pages and putting them together, there is a story line of the mermaids coming of age, so to speak, so one had to think about continuity.  Also, the thing that took the longest for me to remember was that each page had a specific top and bottom.  Oy, what a challenge.  Ann was great help, we seem to compliment each other in solving problems.

All I can say about this little missy is that she seems to be waiting for her cocktail to arrive.  A champagne cocktail, of course.









I have to give credit to my favorite stores - Craft Warehouse, Button Emporium and the bridal section at Fabric Depot, all located in, and around, Portland.  I really love those places.  I also favor Susan Clarke charms, they are fun to use.  Last year for my birthday, friend Judy K got in the spirit of the journal and gifted me embellishment laces and a charm of a frog on a lilypad.  Thanks Judy!!!  My children and friends are so nice to me, giving me gift cards to my favorite places for holidays or those special occasions.



This project gave me opportunity to use lots of beads as embellishments.  Beads are wonderful, they give out sparkle when needed and add accent in other areas.  And crystal beads...yum...my favorite sparkle.  Shopping for beads is wonderful, all the colors, the hanks looking like candy and if one deals in 11s, 12s, or 13s, the cost isn't that great and there are always leftovers for other projects.

The underwater pearl garden, a serene place to wish and wonder.

Hey girls, the fleet is in.....which one will be for you?  This is the exciting part of love, the passion of new love.  Hopefully, everyone I know has experienced the feeling, and if like me, maybe more than once.

The proposal.........what can you say???  Silk ribbons are another one of my loves, you can do so many things with the quarter inch width and so many colors, thanks Button Emporium!

Finally, the mermaids are human....their wishes having come true.

Do you ever feel like a squirrel in a vase?

Recently I started making Christmas items to give as gifts.  After seeing the first one finished, I thought the design was delightful.  Now after ten of them, all objectivity has been lost and they seem to look like a fifth grade art project.  I KNOW they are adorable but the huge withdrawal from the self esteem bank has been made.  The coffers will start to fill back up once the items are given; thank god there is a huge esteem spread sheet that will make both columns balance. 

Is there a twelve-step program in place to help everyone survive the holidays….one that deals with gift giving (OMG, did the present they gave me cost more than what I gave them?????), receiving cards/gifts from someone you did not have on your list, who to invite to those holiday get togethers (are Joe and Danny speaking to each other yet?) and so on.  If so, sign me up..."My name is Katara and I am a holiday misfit." 

We all know that the holiday will be survived just like it has been every other year.  In truth, as we get older we learn to not sweat the small stuff…like being a squirrel in a vase.