Bee Charming

In the past I have posted photos of the birds in the bird bath in our back yard. They hang out in the mornings waiting for breakfast, but now they have competition for the water. It's BEE time at the bird bath. They show up at first light and continue all day long.
It is comical to watch them line up for a drink (I didn't know bees drank...did you know bees drank?) They will fight over the same spot, and some end up in the water doing the backstroke.

The longer I took pictures the braver and closer I got...

We have a symbiotic relationship going on here...

the bees pollinate the "Hope Garden" and we provide a watering hole...

Kids don't try this at home!

A Touch of Class...

If you weren't in the class room at Mystic Paper yesterday afternoon you missed a great class. I had some wonderful students at my Heritage Scrapbook class.
One of Mystic's favorite people, Lisa from "House of Hullabaloo" was there. She is so much fun and such a talented artist. Ann, who already has a head start on genealogy and family history and Leah, who came all the way from Wyoming to take the class! Okay...not really, she is visiting the Valley, and is interested in Heritage Scrapbooking, so that was good timing.
My Tucson Sister also attended and is still working on the photos and poetry of her mother-in-law's.
They all recieved a notebook full of information on Heritage Scrapbooking and made notes on all the added info I talked about in the class. I completly forgot about getting "class pictures" until the end when Kim came down to check up on us, so she got in the pictures.
If you missed the class, not to worry, I will be offering it again on July 15th.

Remember, your family may be waiting on you to tell their story!

Cape Cod...without me!

Where have I been for the last five days you ask...gathering up all the toys I will need for my Heritage Scrapbook class at Mystic Paper this Wednesday. I have a new found respect for teachers...there is a lot of prep work to get ready to teach a class!

While I have been at the bench in my "Wizards Room", my mom and aunt Mary took a trip to Cape Cod...without me! The weather was rainy and windy, which made it hard to walk on the beach and pick up shells. They were forced to find other activities, like antique shopping.
Which worked out well for me... Mom found me some wonderful old books...they even smell old

The "Book House" books have a publishing date of 1937...

The weather cleared up the last day they were there and

they were finally able to walk on the beach. Sadly for mom and Aunt Mary...

there were no shells or rocks on the beach for them to pick-up.

Here comes the Bride

Have you been wondering what I created for my Mystic Paper Design Team project...?
All that luscious Cosmo Cricket "Everafter" patterned paper and stickers became a bride mini book...

Using a handmade book, I added the paper...

remember it's double sided so the possibilities are just about endless.

I used vintage bride and wedding party images...

and made about a half dozen different kinds of flowers to embellish the pages...
along with the stickers I added a tag, buttons, ribbon, lace, jewelry, rhinestones, Stickles glitter, beads, distress ink and a dove...

After all June is the traditional month for weddings!

Yasu is traveling, but have you taken a look at what Lindsey and Sheri created?

How to get Grandma out of the box

It is no secret that I have a fondness for old photos, family history, and genealogy. It is a wonderful journey to take vintage family photos, ephemera , stories and design an album that can be passed on to your children and grand children. Heritage albums can take on many different themes. Albums using faded family recipes, or long ago written poetry and pictures of the loved ones who wrote them. An album from a recent trip to where your family came from along with old photos of the ancestors that lived there. These are albums to be cherished for generations. If you have wondered what to do with all those old family photos and other bits and pieces that are still sitting in a box since the day you got them,
now is the time to get started. I am teaching a Heritage Scrapbook class at Mystic Paper.
We will start with a class on how to get organized, copying photos, what to do with ephemera and many more questions you may have. In the first class we will cover all your question. You will receive a note book full of information to get you started. This first class will be June 24th 3:30 to 5:30. You can sign up by calling Mystic Paper, or if you are in the neighborhood...drop by.
There will be follow-up workshops with coaching and advice to help you to move your Heritage album along. We will focus on building upon your ideas to draw out your creative genius. The first follow up class will be July 8th 3:30 to 5:30. Your can sign up for this class by contacting Mystic Paper. Get those photos out of the box and into an album you can show off to your family. Your album can be big or small, a whole family or just one person...haven't they lived in the box long enough?

Unique

Awhile back I posted some ATC's I had made over Memorial Day Weekend. Becky from Whymsicalmusings had shared a collage on her post with a invitation to just create...and that's what I did. As a thank you for the wonderful collage, I sent Becky the "Happiness Faerie" ATC. Of course Backy being the lovely person that she is posted the ATC on her blog.

Now I told you that story to tell you this story...

I recieved a surprise envelope in the mail from Becky. With a sweet card and a marvelous ATC entitled "Unique". How cool is that! Thank you so much Becky...what a talented lady!

A Day at the Museum

School is out for the summer and that means I get to spend time with the grand kids.

Yesterday was my darling grandsons 9th birthday.

The special day call for a trip to the Arizona Museum of Natural History

(aka the "Dinosaur Museum") in downtown Mesa.

The kids explored every exhibit, and talked about how fun it would be if everything came to life like in the movie "Night at the Museum".

We went out to the History Courtyard so the kids could try their hand at panning for a bit of gold.

On the way home I asked DGS what he liked best...he said "all of it!"