WORKSHOP WONDERS

Better late than never ... here are the projects

that we created in our last two Workshops.

Carolyn hosted with these two cards.  

She is the Queen of Intricacy as you can see in these cards.

Kristy hosted our Christmas Workshop, where we

created these beautiful ornaments.

Thank you girls, for these amazing projects and for your

creativity and passion for our shared

love of paper crafting.

Wishing everyone a New Year filled with

Love, Health and Happiness.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

A SMALL GESTURE OF CHEER

It's been several months since I've attempted to create anything in my

craft room.

I always take the summer off from crafting, to spend my time outdoors

and I totally enjoyed my summer this year.

Then in September, when I usually get back into crafting, my MIL fell and 

broke her hip.  After surgery to repair her hip with a metal plate

and screws, recovery and rehab, she was finally discharged after 6 weeks

in the hospital.

During those weeks of recovery and rehab, I witnessed many things in the
hospital environment.  I came to realize that

 the circle of life is relatively short. 

 You have to accept the things you can't change, 

cherish what you do have 

and look at each new day as a gift. 

Patience, forgiveness, understanding, compassion ... they all

matter and can make a big difference in what you see

when you look into a mirror.

After a stay with us, Mom decided that she really wanted to live

somewhere with people here own age and still have

 a bit of privacy and independence.  So, her house was listed and sold

and she now lives in an assisted living retirement home.

In the few short weeks that she has been living there, I have met

several of the residents and I am absolutely dumbfounded as to

how many of them rarely, if ever, see any of their family members.

Some of them have literally been put in there and forgotten about.

So, I decided that my first craft project was going to be a little goodie box, 

to be placed at each place setting on Christmas Eve at dinner.  

Even though it is a very small gesture, 

I wanted each resident to know that someone is thinking about them.

There are 66 residents so the preparation of 66+ boxes took a few days but

it was time well spent and it felt soooo good to create again.

Maybe this Christmas Season, you could consider remembering

those seniors who are not able to live independently

anymore and rely on the kindness and compassion of those

who care for them, many who are not their own family members.

And just remember, if we are fortunate enough, we will all 

be seniors one day.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

THINKING OF MY AMERICAN FRIENDS

(9-11-11 TRIBUTE)

I am sure that each of us can vividly recall

where we were and what we were doing

on September 11, eleven years ago this morning.

We all watched in horror as the events began to unfold

and the photos began to emerge.

This horrific attack, the lives that were lost and 

those who will never be the same, 

will never be forgotten.

My thoughts are with my American Friends.

♥ Bonnie ♥

TAKING A BREAK

With the arrival of a much anticipated Spring, I find myself rarely in the house

but instead, outside on my deck or puttering around in my garden.

I have a couple of big projects that I am working on outside and will consequently

not be crafting or blogging much for the next few months.

Wishing all of my friends a great Summer filled with safe journeys 

and wonderful memories.

See you in a few months.

~Bonnie~

BRAYERING 101

It was Cathy's Workshop Friday this past week and she

decided to have us work with our brayers (come to find out that

I need a new one, hence the results of my cards leave something

to be desired).  Anyway, we had fun, as usual and certainly

gained some knowledge about brayering ... thanks Cathy.

Using the new SU fabric, Cathy created a little tissue holder for

each of us ... isn't it cute??!!!

And finally, I found this adorable little Easter treat pouch 

http://michellelast.typepad.co.uk/my_weblog/2012/03/easter-treat-pouch-using-the-stampin-up-bird-punch-video-tutorial.html

and decided to make one for each of the girl's.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

FOR THE NEWLYWEDS

Classic black and white is often my choice for wedding cards.

In my stash of handmade flowers, I had this

white lace flower and decided it 

would be a nice

addition to this wedding card.

An EK Success border punch was used as the background frame

(http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/becca-bit-border-filled-frame/)

as well as the side borders.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

MY BFF's LOVE ME!

from CATHY

from CAROLYN

from KRISTY

(the pink pot is filled with

red velvet cupcakes)

Love my 'pink' cards girls ... thanks for remembering me and for

being in my life.

~Bonnie~

THE EPIC MINI BOOK

After 3 Workshop Friday's, our EPIC mini books are completed.

What began as simple card projects, our Workshop Friday's have 

become "how can I keep up with the last project?"

I've had these little photo albums for a long time and originally purchased

them with a special project in mind for each of my friends.  Deciding 

to make the album "All About Me", each girl will

insert personal photos on the various pages to complete

her book.

The covers were cut off from the albums and heavy chipboard was used

to make the inside pages.  Each page was painted white and

then covered with DP.

While I don't think that I will undertake a project of this

magnitude again, I am so happy that I did decide to create and share

this one with my closest friends.  My hope is that the little

books will serve as small legacies for each of us.

Our little group of girls has turned into a very tight-knit circle of BFF's

and whether it's the times we share together or just needing a

shoulder to lean on, we are always there for one another 

and that my friends

 is

PRICELESS.

Thanks for stopping.

~Bonnie~

A SURPRISE FROM THE U.K.

A parcel arrived for me the other day and it was post-marked 

from my friend LEE (http://leescraftycorner-lee.blogspot.ca/)
in the United Kingdom. 

 I was not expecting anything so I was 

anxious to see exactly what it was.

Well, this is what it was....

First of all, 

Lee made me one of her famous

House Mouse cards.  It is like a

breath of Spring air.

These adorable PINK fabric 

baskets were flat and just needed

to be tied at the corners

with the ribbons to assemble them.

And finally, this incredible little

hand-painted canvas.  It's uncanny just

how much it looks like

my LILY.

The details are incredible.

This artist is very, very talented.

It's hard to express in words, especially from so far away, just how touched

I am to have received these gifts from you, Lee.  It is my dream

to one day be able to meet you and thank you in person.

But until then,

BIG BIG HUGS to you, my sweet friend, LEE.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

And thank you to everyone for stopping by,

~Bonnie~

PINK MELTON FLOWER

One of my craft passions is definitely creating flowers

and as we all know, wool felt is one of the best materials 

to use for many of the flower patterns.

However, wool felt can be a little pricey and a little more difficult

to find in local fabric shops.  While shopping in

a local fabric mill outlet the other day, I came across this pink

'melton' fabric and while it seemed quite thick compared to normal

wool felt, I thought I would try a small swatch of it.

My Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix die is my go-to die

when I am using fabrics for flowers. It cut through the melton

like butter and I am very pleased how the flower turned out.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

THE REAL "ET" ????

Not everyone will be old enough to remember 

"ET - The Extra Terrestrial"

but for those who are,

I think that he may have reappeared in my grooming spa

in the form of a ShihTzu named "Cassanova".

After his bath, while he was wrapped in a towel, I did a 

double take when I looked at him and all I could

see was ET.

Anyway, this little guy is an absolute little dude and he loves 

to be pampered.  And now, he's ready

to go home and probably sleep for the

rest of the afternoon.

Thanks for stopping.

~Bonnie~

MADISON WINDOW

After working on my next Workshop Friday Project for the past several weeks,

I decided to deviate from the project for a much needed rest. 

Using my Grand Madison Window die and trying my hand at 

making some flowers, I managed to create this card.

Soft Sky is one of my favourite SU colours so I decided

to use that as my starting point.

I added a couple of flourishes, some MS sprigs, 

a few pearls 

and 

there you have it.

It felt sooo good to make a card again.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

PINK SHIRT DAY - WEDNESDAY FEB 29/2012 (ANTI-BULLYING DAY)

http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

Pink Shirt Day began five years ago when two teenage boys from Nova Scotia organized a synchronized pink day to support a boy who had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt.

Bullying is a major problem in our schools, workplaces, homes, and over the Internet.

Some of the signs a child is being bullied include loss of appetite, bed-wetting, loss of self esteem, sudden aggression or attitude change, and unexplained broken belongings and bruises. If left unaddressed, a bullying victim can be subject to failure in school, depression and thoughts of suicide.

Statistics from Bullying Canada state that one out of every five kids is a bully, and one out of four kids are being bullied.

Approximately 282,000 high school students are attacked each month nationally, the statistics say.

According to a new survey by Harris-Decima, 50 per cent of adults polled said they were bullied as a child or teen. Furthermore, a third of those said they believed the abuse they suffered caused lasting harm.

Part of the solution lies in empowering students to be proactive bystanders, Stuart said.

“Often, a bystander won’t say or do anything because it’s the cool kids that are doing the bullying, and often the person being bullied is not strong enough or too scared to,” she said. “Prevention starts first with education, and awareness, but in the bigger picture, it is us as adults that have to follow through with consequences for children.”

PLEASE WEAR PINK

AND

SPREAD THE WORD.

~Bonnie~

WORKSHOP FRIDAY FEB 10/2012

Carolyn managed to WOW us again with another creative project

for her turn at hosting our Workshop Friday.

A desk calendar was on the agenda and it can be turned into a scrapbook

once the year ends.

Each individual month is printed on an acetate overlay and the

corresponding month is done with various DP's, under the acetate.

My photography leaves a lot to be desired so these photos 

definitely do not do justice to the project.

Thanks Carolyn for a great project and as always, 

for your friendship.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

"STEP AWAY FROM THE FOOD BAG!"

... and no one gets hurt!

Our old girl Ditto, who is 14 now and has developed some form of dementia (or so

we thought), used to always get excited when a new food bag was opened and 

the contents were poured into the dog bin.  She would gradually work her way 

inside the bag to get the few kibbles that I had stretegically left 

for her in the bag.  

You would never have known yesterday that there was anything failing

in her mind, when she practically dove into the food bag to see if

there was anything worthwhile left inside (and of course, there was).

And make no mistake about it ... Lily and Abbey were NOT welcome

to share the bag's contents!

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~