amazing art!

How blessed am I to have such wonderful friends....? How blessed am I to have such wonderfully talented friends? (very!!)

I received YET another treasure from Corder, MO. I've actually been thinking of road tripping there to find out what kind of goodness they put in the water to make it's residents so talented? (hehehe) A few months back I posted a "gypsy book" I made for myself as a tribute the gypsy soul I have become via my crafting ..... and for my major love of 7 gypsies&tim holtz... One of my bloggy friends really liked it! She asked if we could do a swap..... I agreed whole heartily, because I find it so fun to exchange art with friends.... not to mentioned I was completely flattered that someone liked my work ..... (that's always reassuring). SO, I made one (gypsy book) for Miss Ashlynn and she happens to be pals with Nathalie.... a good online friend. They actually live in the same small town of Missouri. What are the chances of that? Told you they must be putting some artist super powers in the water there! another talented lady I know living in Missouri must get her water from Corder, too!

Well, somehow Nathalie saw the book, in person, and liked it..... we email regularly and somehow came up on the subject of it.... we agreed to a swap.... I KNEW instantly that I would be the luckier one of the receiving end. She sooooo talented and I am soooooooo inspired every time I go to her blog..... Well - she sent my swap art BEFORE I could put hers in the mail..... so I knew I was in trouble and had to figure out how to make the gypsy book even better than before? (ahhhhh! the pressure)
I sent my end of the bargain off this morning and now I feel I need to do justice to the art I received......

Nathalie made this treasure out of metal ephemera. How COOL is all this yumminess? I LOVE the keys, my fav is the key with wings (delish!) Then there that heart of wool! the bingo marker, the mini domino..... ALL of it just sends me over the moon every time I look at it! I showed it to my husband and he we was totally impressed... I thought the metal really rocked it! totally checking out the construction of the metal mesh.... and the frame.... (such a guy!)

NOW - the most important decision of ALL...... where do I hang this yumminess?
decisions .... decisions......

xo, anna

Someone's going to be SIX!!

My sweet sweet baby..... this post is for you :)

I asked you to sit still while I snapped some pics of you for my post.... and here's what I got.....
Some really great blurry shots of you cracking up....... I still love these photos.... You have a great laugh and a beautiful smile and these are some great shots to commemorate that! xoxo, mom

I wanna be a ROCK STAR!!!

So... a few weeks back I mentioned that my 1st grader's new favorite saying is ROCK STAR! Well can I tell you how stoked he was a real live rock band came to our house and stayed the night? My brother is in a band called North Swell (you may have noticed my link ???) Well they happened to be "passing through" bako and decided to crash for a night. In true rock star fashion they showed up some time in the middle of the night.... after a gig.... and so my boys had to wait until the morning to meet them all!!! The boys (my boys) had soooo much fun in. First they met Steve (Eric's dad visiting from michigan) and of course they decided he was their long lost uncle.... Then they met Seth.... crazy dude with lots o piercing to make things interesting - then they met Eric relatively quite fella but very nice. AND finally their real UNCLE woke up from a long nights slumber.

Seth taught them how the piano works.... I need to post about our newest addition.... the piano.

Then they all went for a swim because it only like in 90's by 10 am..... it was a hot day for sure.....

Later that morning, the rest of the band showed up... Jessie, Mike and Ben.... So again true rock star fashion... they have no map in the car.... so we let them borrow one but they forgot it... :)

Then they had to hit the road.....

Here's Jess sporting an SLR ....


Marcel saying please don't leave uncle lawrence...... i will miss you.....


It was swell having "the swell" in town. We look forward to some more great music and all the perks of rock star success when you hit it big!

xoxo,
ur sis

one last good day of summer.....

Yowzers! my witty bitty boy starts school (1st grade) come monday. He can't be more excited - he was ready to go like last month! Since it's the central valley - and it's august - we are still hitting the 100 degree marks daily. Therefore the few days that we have been back were spent poolside. Here's a random water shot.....


Here's enzo fired up for some splashes... While Q and Marz jump in to make big splashes... enzo tries to bit them..... that's why he's a border collie.......

We really did keep up the school activities all summer..... here's proof for recess.... blue hopscotch feet :)

Lastly, I'm sad to report that Marcel came down with a bad case of "the spots". Q (dr. Zerlin - our ear doctor) rushed him to the hospital for surgery (no joke). The only cure was a quick removal that caused his patient to squeal. He's had plenty of practice squealing ALL summer..... just ask our neighbors.

Nothing a quick kiss won't heal - ahhhhh - i love my boys!!

Even though, I am sooo excited to get Q back to school for a little "quiet" time (at the grocery store....) There's part of me that's truly wants to hold on and send him back to kindergarten...... I can't believe how tall he is and how much he's learning. I'm proud to be his mommy. And I'm even proud when he wants to pretend to be my mommy.....


He is dressed in my clothes - he even put on burt's bees lip sloob
- I promise y'all that I button up my shirt (unlike Q) when I go out in public :)

the piles that define me.......

Here's the layout from one of my postings earlier this month.........

P.s. I'm dusting off my boots!!!

P.s.s this is post number 95...... get ready to leave a comment for post number one hundred - here's a teaser at what could be yours..... BUT you have to comment..... it's for the ladies........ think clutch.......

Happy Nester's Day to me!

Happy Mother's day ! I'm a mom of two BEAUTIFUL boys and I am happy to be a nester! It's my thing and I embrace it with all my heart!



My day has been so sweet so far :) My boys (all 3) each gave me a mom's day card first thing this morning. I was able to enjoy a cup of coffee while looking at a mama bird on our back porch!


Here's a picture of the sweet mama bird and her nest she made in our hanging pansy planter basket :)
It's soooooo COOL! She started to make her nest early this last week. I believe she has laid some eggs (she hasn't moved from her nest in a few days). Daddy bird is never far away... he's either on the fence about 20 feet away or on the chimney of our neighbor's house with a perfect view of his wife and future tweeties... that's what the 2nd pic (of the birds) is.... he's on the chimney and she's in the nest. I can honestly say this is my first experience with a bird's nest this up close and personal the added bonus is I get to see it full circle!!! From beginning to end! I'm sooo excited and I really can't think of a better way to spend my mother's day (or mom's season).

Oh yah - we named the mama bird "horton" - we just saw the movie and my youngest son's fav book (for the moment) is "horton hatches an egg" We are a cheesy family like that :)

Have a beautiful Nester's Day!
all my love,
a

All because of the love of paper...

Ever since my fabric obsession recently turned to paper (still mostly love the patterns) I have met some cool people (in person and on the net). My dearest prayer MOM and friend, Linda , showed me a whole other world existed out on the internet. She the reason I am blogging and rekindled my creative spirit, and I thank her as much I can for that! :) Anyhow, she's in a christian paper artist group - (ok she practically runs it...) and she kept posting these really cool treasures that she made for swaps and RAKs and others that she received from friends all over the US. Well, to make a short story long, I joined the group and have met some really great and talented women. Like Chris and Nathalie and Katie. I have joined two swaps (joyfully yet reluctantly) as I am trying to expand my paper crafting horizons. I made some inchies and a few ATC houses - I'll post them soon.....

Like I said ...... my short story made long..... A few weeks back - I was challenging my blog visitors to leave a comment and in return I'd make them a card. BTW - I made 7 cards - Faye was the only one who I never got an address for. WELL.... KATIE sent me a treasure back. It's a wall hanging with the letter A, a cute little girl with a crown and rhinestone (oh la la!) OHHHH and WINGS (one of my obsessions) and lastly a great bible verse I would have never thought to have such valuable meaning! "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not by ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts. " 2 Corinthians 5:3 . Y'all - I love it sooo much - it's just precious. I can't believe someone I just met took the time to create this little treasure. Well - It's hanging on my INSPIRATION board (right next to my post-it note.... "I am creative , I am an Artist"... A plug for ALI.... ) and it's going to stay on my board for a very LONG time - Thank You Katie for making my week and thank you Linda for opening my creative spirit to all these wonderful women. You are a rock star!
xoxo
anna

It's appreciate your teacher week....

so - here's a link if you wanna appreciate someone who teaches (in any way shape or form). It has a digital download of "your teaching inspires... you make a big difference...thank you...etc) anyhow we printed off a bunch and made the candy bar wrappers (shown in example number 2) for all the teachers/therapist in our lives. SO far we are at 15!! OHHHH ali has a giveaway today.... check it out!
IHS,
Anna

Go forth and be a blessing!

Guys and Dolls -

My offer to make you a card (for leaving a comment - on the blog) will expire on Monday - April 14. Come on you know you wanna comment :) Credit on the picture - My husband took this picture outside of San Luis Obispo, CA - it's call Montana de Oro....(mountain of gold - hence the gold poppies - our state flower )

BTW - I have made 6 cards to date (4-12-08)

Go forth and be a blessing!

what a cool saying!! This was at the "skirball" museum in Los Angeles. It's a jewish center therefore the words above the saying are in hebrew. Check out my link to their museum - go to the image gallery - it's worth it - completely amazing exhibit - and if you are ever in la - it's worth a visit - very inspiring to all. Artist, parents, kids, teachers, christians..... you name it..

Anyhow I am TOTALLY feeling it.... "go forth and be a blessing" .... I need that as a tatoo on my hand .... to remind me to be good at all times....

PLEASE leave a comment ANYTIME this week (on my blog) I WILL SEND you a handmade/homemade card...... If i don't have your address leave that for me too.....
xoxoxo