Playing Catch-up

Just a quick post to catch you up (sort of) on what I've been doing. Marley's post will be next, I promise. His birthday is November 21, so I'm guessing he'll have lots to tell you about his first year.

First I'll show you the little note book we did for one of our cousins who couldn't attend the reunion. All my cousins are special, but we especially missed Lisa because she has been in bed in a nursing home for years. She has a devoted mom and brothers who visit her everyday, but I know she would have liked to be with us for our Goodman Cousin Reunion. I took a notebook to the reunion and had them sign it and write messages to her, then brought it home and tore out the messages, along with about half the blank pages. When you add a lot of elements to an album like this, you'll need to remove an equal amount of blank pages in order not to have a puffy, fat book.




Then I glued the remaining pages together, 5 or 6 per section, making a dozen or so stiff, thick pages for decorating and embellishing. Okay, now for the fun part. I went through all my handmade papers, hand painted papers and cloth, mulberry paper, etc., and covered the pages, then began choosing embellishments.



I love putting envelopes in these albums, little secret places for notes, and I have tons of junk jewelry that I take apart for unique beading. I like buttons; somehow they lend a nostalgic note to albums. Well, you get the idea, everything but the kitchen sink, and your labor of love becomes a keepsake. It's wrapped and ready for mailing if the rain ever stops. Yes, I do tend to melt when rained on.




A while back, I made this quickie little dream pillow, which is about 15 inches long and 5 inches wide, and tucked inside is a pad made of batting where I can put drops of essential oils. I like having it beside me in bed, and I try various relaxing scents. It's amazing how breathing in those soft, sensual aromas can put you in a calmer state of mind and switch off the cares and demands of the day.

Part of my time is spent in dreaming up things for Jim to make. I mean, he can make or repair anything, and he's only happy when he's busy, so I try to help him with that. He said I can't talk about him in my blog, but I'm about as obedient as Marley, so here are a couple of the latest things he has made. I have lots of wide ribbon that I use for decorating, and the plastic bin I had them in was running over, so I sketched a ribbon holder, and he built it that day.

Then we needed a little step for Marley to get onto our bed. Done. With an "M" carved in the sides.

Next, Dave's wife, Deb said she would like to have a bat house. We didn't know what that was, but he looked them up on the internet and built one.

The latest necessity of life is one of my favorites. I recently got a little netbook and told him I would like some kind of stand for it to keep next to my recliner in the bedroom. He made it out of cedar and pine, didn't have a pattern, except for the one he drew, and it's a piece of art.

Occasionally, when I ask for something, he'll say, "Now, how am I gonna make that work?" I tell him my job is to think of stuff. His is to figure out how to do it. We make a great team.