NO SATURDAY SERENITY TODAY..... JUST PRAY.... 8-29-2015

I'm not feeling so serene today with all of the wildfires and forest fires that are raging across the Pacific Northwest, most specifically Washington, Oregon and Idaho. These are the largest, most widespread and worst in the history of keeping records of wildfires and forest fires, at least in Washington. 

Photo by Kari Greer - Chelan Complex Fire, Chelan, WA - posted by KGW.com.

I do SO PRAY that the rains will come soon.. and alot of them... to burn out and help drench the fires. Our beautiful and precious forests and grasslands are turning to charred ashes and blackened wood... and I can imagine that thousands of wildlife have been killed. Many homes have been lost, all over both states of Oregon and Washington. 

I'm not following the fires in Idaho, but from the fire maps (see below at end) that I've been looking at, Idaho also has too many to count. Here is their main website for more information on the Idaho fires.

I'm so sad, and I can't be serene or calm when all of this is happening.

I wish it was like this everywhere the fires are... right now, cold, and very very wet.

There is a huge fire up by Asotin, Washington, where friends of mine live. They are on Evacuation 2 status (the town), which means be ready to go at a moment's notice. Their most precious items are packed into their cars and truck. They are ready to go if they have to, with the scary thought that they could lose their home that they've lived in for 25 years. Many of the small towns in that area have already been evacuated and some homes burned.

Another fire is raging north of where my son lives, north of Washougal, Washington. It is far enough away (I pray) that he is not in danger. It is by the swimming hole where he has spent many summers enjoying the forest and river there.

Cougar Creek Complex Fire - north of Glenwood, Washington.

Another of my very best friends is only 6 miles south of another fire that is north of Glenwood, Washington, and it's only about 20% contained, if even that.

Please pray for our beautiful land and that some of it is saved.. and for the people and homes in the fires' paths, and for the brave and unselfish firefighters who are risking their lives to save the land, people and homes.  I know that three firefighters were killed in northeastern Washington and more have been injured.

Photo by Kari Greer, USFS - Chelan and First Creek Fires in Okanogan and Wenatchee, WA

The National Guard have been called in to help in Washington State (and I think Oregon too). They have been training for the last 4 days and will begin helping on Sunday, August 30th.

Here is a quote from KGW News in Portland, OR:

KGW is partnering with the American Red Cross to help people affected by  the wildfires in Oregon and across the Northwest. Your donation enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from these disasters.

You can donate here at the Red Cross and KGW website set up for this purpose.

Montana and Wyoming are being burned too, beyond the scope of "normal".

Some of these wildfires and forest fires in Oregon and Washington are the worst in history and the biggest.

Please pray, will you?

 

Something pretty this way comes....

Here's a sweet little shabby "pretty" that I made the other day. I just wanted to share it with you.  If you're a seamstress, you may have made the radiant star design before. This is much like the radiant star design, and NO SEWING!

Voila! ........ my "shabby chic" ornament..... to festoon my Christmas tree, or any little knob or hook waiting to be presented with something pretty (and pink!).

And how did I make this you say? Well..... no sewing required! That's the first good thing about this project. The other thing is that it's FUN... and you get to use fabrics from your huge fabric stash. Here's the video tutorial by Shabby Fabrics that I watched on YouTube, to learn how to make one of these cute ornamental decorations. 

You just use little 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 squares of fabric (40 squares), either from a jelly roll or from your overflowing scrap stash.... lots of little straight pins (very small head, called satin pins) and a 3" styrofoam ball. Note: use a regular styrofoam ball, not a Smoothfoam ball, as the Smoothfoam is very hard to push the pins into. That's it! Easy peasey. 

You can see the points of the fabric around the top. In each point, there is a little pin stuck in. I glued on the lace and glued on some little pink "fork bows". If you haven't tried a fork bow, go to YouTube and search and you'll find many tutorials. They are so much easier than trying to make a tiny bow! 

My ribbon hanger is a sheer ribbon, with another pink bow. I also added some little pink strands of beads.

This shows the size compared to my hand. Also, I put some lace around the middle instead of ribbon, and put the bow and hanger on top rather than along the side (my mistake... and I just noticed! oh well.. this was my "practice" piece. If you watch the tutorial, you'll see that the "star" design is supposed to be on the side, not the top.)

The above photo is the full design of the little folded squares, which form the star. Normally (if you don't make a mistake like I did!), this design will show on the SIDE of the ornament as it hangs..... not on the top and bottom where it is kind of hidden. 

It's a little time consuming to make this, but sit and watch one of  your favorite movies on TV, and pin away! No iron needed... just your finger and alot of pins. I finally dug out my old thimble, as my finger got a little sore punching those pins in the styrofoam. 

I'm off to start another one, this time using Christmas fabrics... or hum.m.m.m. maybe another shabby one. I love it!

Hope you give this a try. Let me know if you do and send me an email with a photo. They would make great gifts.... and besides...........they're addictive!

SATURDAY SERENITY 8-22-2015

Oh laughter.... it is SUCH good medicine! We sure feel good when we laugh........ our mouth opens......

Our eyes crinkle up.......

Our tummy rumbles........

We feel free!......

We feel silly......

We can even dance!

Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. 

It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. 

It is a business asset. 

It attracts and keeps friends. 

It lightens human burdens. 

It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.
 ~Grenville Kleiser~

So feel serene today... and laugh! It'll do ya good.

 

Masculine card share and free printables sites.

Just a quick post today to share a neat masculine card I made for my friend's son who just turned 18.

I used black cardstock for the card base. I wanted a sort of grunge look... you know how 18 year old young men are right? I wanted to have a card with the theme of dream, take a journey, and encourage him to "live an inspired life". 

I just love the hot air balloon I found on The Graphics Fairy.... isn't the image vintage and old looking? Look at that little man down there? The Graphics Fairy has over 4500 free images! I just love her mostly vintage images and her blog and gallery of ideas.

I used black ink to swipe all the edges for that vintage look... and used some free tickets that I printed off the internet from The 80's Me blog.  She has many other tickets for free printing. I have a stamp with the words Dream, Journey, etc. so I stamped on the tickets with black ink. 

I popped up the hot air balloon with some foam tape so it would stand out. My background paper was a piece I had leftover from some project, and for the life of me now, I can't remember what paper pack I got it from! Sorry............

I don't really have alot of "masculine" doo dads and blingy stuff (but what guy wants or needs blingly stuff anyway!), so for the inside of the card, I used a tag (another free one!) that I printed out from Sweetly Scrapped that says "Fly". I thought this was very appropriate for an 18 year old just graduating from high school.

I used another ticket with some stamping on it, and wrote the number "18" on a circle punch out. Of course, everything got a good swipe of black ink!

I hope this might give you an idea for a more masculine card.

Enjoy......

SATURDAY SERENITY 8-15-2015

I have a very thought-provoking quote for you on this lovely Saturday. It's made me put my thinking cap on, that's for sure.

There are two ways to get enough.....

One is to continue to accumulate more and more.....

The other is to desire less.

~G. K. Chesterton~

 Can I be serene WITHOUT all of my favorite things around me?

 I don't think so!

I need my "sentimental stuff" to grace my walls and shelves.

I feel serene and grounded when I see my mom's cookie jar perched there on the shelf.

I have fond memories of the china tea cups that my two sweet Godmothers gave me each year as I was growing up.

My son gave me these darling little Indian pieces when he was 10 years old. I cherish them and feel serene when I look at them............ as he is no longer with us on Earth..... and I must have these nearby.

As I attain more years, and get closer to my 7th decade on this Earth, I am trying to calm my life down by seeking less and less.....by trying not to accumulate more and more... and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it. At any age, it seems there is always something else we need or want.... I think that must be human nature.

I'm trying to want less and accumulate less. Really, I am.

But............ to remain serene and calm and content, I do need my cherished "sentimental" things around me..... and I feel I do  have enough.  Do I desire less? probably not...... but the words of this quote DO make me think about it.

Do you have enough?  Do you desire less? What do you think of this quote?

SATURDAY SERENITY 8-8-2015

Quiet moments.............. 

When was the last time you spent a quiet moment....

Just doing nothing...........

Just sitting and looking at the sea.......

or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs.....

or waves rippling on a pond......

a flickering candle....

or children playing in the park?

~Ralph Marston~

Waldport, Oregon

Waldport, Oregon

Flowers in Waldport, Oregon

Cascadia, Oregon

Just looking at these photos makes me feel calm and serene. I was there. I hope you take a few moments this Saturday to "do nothing".

 

Snazzy Napkin card...... neat technique tutorial!

I've wanted to use this napkin technique for ages, since I first saw it on YouTube. The results are amazingly gorgeous! Yup, this is a napkin.... come see how I did it.

This is "kind of" a tutorial, but very quick.. I didn't go into alot of detail.. and didn't take pictures as I was making it (darn... I should know by now that when I do a new technique, I should take pictures).

And YES... I used a napkin!

You can get a HUGE variety of napkins at Tuesday Morning, and online at different Etsy stores.

Here is the card in it's full glory and of course, the photo doesn't do it justice and doesn't show all of the glittery highlights.

Here's what I did:

1.  I used a 4x6 piece of watercolor paper.
2.  Made a 5x7 card base out of the green.
3.  Cut a 4-1/4" x 6-1/4" purple mat.
4.  Use a large napkin with the picture you like. Gently pull off the thin white paper that is on the back of the napkin. Sometimes there are two layers of the thin white paper so tear both off.

5.  Next, cut off the quarter section so you have one picture, and trim the picture to fit the 4x6 watercolor paper.
6.  Spread glossy Mod Podge on the piece of watercolor paper... and then spread some also on the back of the napkin.
7.  Lay the napkin onto the watercolor paper and smooth it out carefully to get out the wrinkles.. or you can leave them in for texture.  Trim off any edges that protrude off the edge of the watercolor paper.
8.  Put some more Mod Podge on top of the napkin, and sprinkle clear embossing powder on top, shake it off and then heat it with your heat tool to melt it and dry it.
9.  Once dry, put another light coat of Mod Podge over the picture and while wet, sprinkle some clear glitter on top.. then shake it off. I press it down as best as I can so that it will adhere well. Let it dry well or use your heat tool to dry it.

Here is a close up (above)... I think next time I'll try putting the glitter on as the first layer and not use the emboss powder... as alot of the glitter tends to come off when it's applied over the embossing... but the shimmery emboss powder does looks awesome.  

I wish I could have captured the full effect on camera.

Once the glitter was dry, I added a lavender ribbon on top and wrapped it around the back of the watercolor paper and glued it down on the back of the watercolor paper, before adhering it to the purple mat.

I used a little "sweet" tag that I had printed out on my printer on cream cardstock, a row of lace trim on the bottom, a black glitter butterfly and some tiny roses.



And voila! it's done! Was really quite fast and easy.. and alot of fun.  Next I'm going to use that darling chicken napkin to see what it looks like with just glitter and no emboss powder.



Try it, you'll love the results.