Honeysuckle Breeze is rainy & cloudy

What a great day! I really do love cloudy rainy days it means I have "no guilt" about staying inside and doing stuff like laundry, creating, talking to my brother on the phone, just being! Since I missed "last weekend" because I was working, this Saturday has been double the fun.

First off, before showing you what I created today (yes, something pretty for Korie), my brother sent me an email yesterday about my nephew (and Godson) Aaron. Aaron is one of the featured stories in the January 9 issue of e-speaks, the electronic newsletter of Autism Speaks. My brother (and, of course, me) is so proud of Aaron, his accomplishments, his courage, and especially the release of his new book "Finding Kansas." You can purchase Aaron's book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, tatepublishing.com, or FindingKansas.com. In the article, Jim tells how Aaron, who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at the age of 20, became the flagman for one of the largest kart races in the world (this is what Aaron was doing before he came here for Thanksgiving) and penned a book. You can click here to read the story. *APPLAUSE* *APPLAUSE* for Aaron and Jim.

Back to my creating efforts today, I worked on another page in my fabric book about the Women Who Went Before...... The page I finished used two confirmation photos of my Aunt Mary and my Mother. I really love these photos and enjoyed working on this page. I played with several layouts and finally settled on one -- yes, eventually!



I ripped out two pages from my Mother's German song book. (I know of two lovely ladies whom are rolling in their graves because of this one action I did today.) Well, Mommy, I really needed to -- don't tell Grandma, OK? I grabbed some matching material used earlier in the book and glued the pages onto it. I then mounted the photos on top of that and added the words, "Aunt" and "Mother." Well, at least one thing Grandma would be proud of -- I sewed the pages to the canvas photos. Imagine me shyly grinning here.

The lace alone was not doing it for me so I decided to add some vining leaves which I really like. (Throughout this book I have been using my grandmother's and mother's lace I found after mother passed away.) I have a friend who liked this "leafy ribbon" so much she bought a whole roll for about $30. Yes, I am also considering ordering a roll from Angela at Angela's Happy Stamper.



Now, these leaves (for me at least) are a little tricky applying to lace since they "twist" on you. So the first thing you need to make sure is that you have it laid out correctly. And, at times, I have taken some straight pens to hold everything down while I use Tacky Glue on the green leaf area. I have never tried to sew this to ribbon and don't think it would really work. Tacky Glue is great for this.

I like the finished page a lot. The material I'm using was provided in Korie's class this past July. These are my colors and I find them enjoyable to work with. I have been having fun putting the patterns together -- I feel like a designer, oh no. But that might really be what art is all about! *wink*

I do have to admit that after I finished the "Aunt" and "Mother" page I was able to start the layout for the last page of the book. After I finish that, it will be time to work on the cover. WOW, almost there. Almost done. And most likely it will go to my niece when all is said and done. I feel good today. It is now getting time to go downstairs and cook dinner. It is still rainy outside - but you know, we don't have it as bad as some folks around the country. Take care!