Homemade Christmas gifts

Now that Christmas is over and people have received gifts and been surprised so I wanted to post this now.
Each year I like to create something homemade for friends that I can give to them. I didn't get as much done this year because I didn't start early enough but I did get a few things made. I'm still working on some other projects for my family and I'll post about them later.
Pictured is the Angel and Snowman earrings I made and the tote bags I made that my brother-in-law, Nathan, taught me how to make as well. I really appreciated learning about totes - Thanks so much, Nathan! I couldn't believe it when I found these fabrics because they were actually perfect for the people that I had in mind to make these totes for. I was amazed and I think the fabrics are so great, so pretty and really fun!

Piano Solo by Scott D. Davis

My daughter, Hopie, introduced me to Scott D. Davis and his music on the piano. It is so beautiful and just blew me away so I had to share it!

This is his rendition of a popular rock song by Evanescence called "My Immortal." This song is beautiful as it is and has always spoken to my heart.

Here's the beautiful piece by Scott D. Davis.

Here's the version by Evanescence with her singing the words.

I like it both ways - I love the words and getting lost in my thoughts as I listen to the music.

Yet Another Computer Issue

Yes, again my computer was down for about a month. Ever since I bought my first computer in high school with my hard-earned money, I've had one computer issue after another and have been through quite a few computers. I suppose it might be time again for a new one now. But if I can hang, maybe I can get a laptop or one of those cool touch screens. Like the virtual one on Iron Man, okay so I'm really dreaming here. I'll most likely be fixing up this cardboard box while waiting for prices to go down on the next cool computer when everyone has one already.
My brother Sam described my computer trouble best on the phone the other day, "Since it seems like your computer is always down, I thought I'd give you a call." Thanks, Sam and I did appreciate your call.
The crazy thing is that I love computers and would probably consider myself addicted. Hi, my name is jewels, jewelie, or whatever nickname you know me as and I love to e-mail and blog endlessly. I love to look all kinds of things up - "Google"! I love to watch TV shows I've missed over and over as well as cool movie trailers. I've been introduced to Facebook now and I have fun with Multiply and Sparkpages as well. I'm still considering if I really need a MySpace or LDSJournal account yet. I love the photo blogs, ideas and forums about scrapbooking or papercrafting topics. I love to pay all my bills in about 30 seconds. I love to window shop online because when it comes to online shopping I have to be careful. I could go on and on.
Funny thing is in high school, if you would have told me what computers would become and what the internet would be, I probably would have considered it science fiction. Well, here we are and I'm ready to share again through blogging. Just remember if you don't hear from me in cyberspace for about 2 weeks or more than yes, my computer's down again. Otherwise, I'm just busy with real life whatever that means now.

The Quilts of Grandma Rae

It's hard to believe that it has been about 10-11 years since I finished this quilt with my sweet Grandma Rae. She had a dream to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren. Since it is so time consuming and her grandchildren kept growing and coming so fast, I'm not sure how many she was actually able to make.
I feel lucky and happy that she invited me over at a time when I lived close enough to walk over and help her finish my quilt. She let me choose my colors, fabric and pattern. I chose the star quilt pattern because I had an orange star quilt as a young girl growing up that I just loved so much that it tattered away to pieces eventually. I missed it and its comfort so much.
I really needed this experience in my life back then. She helped me in many ways and through each step in the quilting process. Some parts are more fun than others in quilting. It was a challenge and a lot of work. What I enjoyed most was the warm relationship that I gained with my Grandma Rae and the insight I saw into my own mother's past also. I will always treasure this moment and think of my loving Grandma fondly.
One part that I will always remember was my first little girl, Hopie, was playing around us as we were working on this quilt. It's another reason why it means so much to me. I was a new and very nervous mother. I wasn't used to the unexpected things that little ones do at Hopie's young, around 12-18 months, age.
Once, little Hopie, tried to stand up using a TV tray and since it wasn't very stable at all, it collapsed on her and she hurt her head. Immediately, my Grandma helped Hopie and me, then we ended up in the ER for her to have stitches. It was so scary then but with quick action Hopie recovered nicely and she is fine, of course, at 12 yrs. old now.
Another incident, was when Hopie tried to drink some of my Grandmother's fabric dye. We hastily called Poison Control and followed their directions to help Hopie. It all worked out without another trip to the ER, but Hopie had a nice dark brown ring around her lips and a brown tongue for a few days. I remember that she would still smile so cute and with that brown circle around her mouth, if you can just picture that, well then, I couldn't help but smile back.
These are what I recall of the cherished memories I have of making a quilt with my Grandma Rae. I'm grateful to her love, gratitude, knowledge, outlook on life, quilting experience and her inspiration. She was literally a life-saver to me through all of this!

Horse Bookmark

Today, I came across a blog about stamping from Dan in U.K. He had done a tutorial about how to use distress inks that are alcohol based. I had bought a Tim Holtz ink pad that was like this and hadn't tried it yet. So, when I saw this tutorial, I was very inspired. I tried it out and I made this horse bookmark. This is only my first attempt, so I'm sure I'll get better at it as I practice. I'd also like some more of those inks and crazy stamps like the one he used but for now I'll just enjoy the ones I have.

As for my supplies I used, they are:
light brown card stock - unknown
tea dye Distress Ink - Tim Holtz
Dark Moss fluid chalk ink - ColorBox
Gold Violet Two-Tone ink - Pearl Ex
White Craft Stamp pad - Stampin' Up
Mare and colt horse stamp - Stampabilites
Bluebonnet stamp - Hero Arts
Garden Collage stamp - Stampin' Up
Watercolor pencils and blender pens - Stampin' Up
Oh, and a spritz of water

Overall, I loved this technique and I will try it again. I'd recommend watching Dan's tutorial before trying it yourself. He has some great tips. One that I was excited about was one that I have used and that is using post-it notes for masking, it works so well!
I had fun and I can't wait to try it again. I'll be sure to post the results.


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Now playing: Roxette - Listen To Your Heart
via FoxyTunes

J.S. Bach on a Sunday Morning

I love classical music on Sunday mornings and I'd like to tell you about different music I'll listen to each Sunday. I'm not worried if you care or not. I'd just like to express my feelings about it.
Bach's music helps me retreat into a more meditative state. I love his use of strong chords and how they reach into the depths of my soul. I'm not usually one to like Opera but I love the far-reaching mysterious voices that come when people are singing his music. It's very dream-like and beautiful to me.

Here's a couple of quotes that might shed some more light on meditation:

“We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don't do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”
~Chad Alan Watts

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
~Bruce Lee

Meditate - be music, be water.



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Now playing: Johann Sebastian Bach - Aria aus den Goldberg-Variationen (Glenn Gould)
via FoxyTunes

cards I made just to post here

I can't resist blogging and I couldn't think of what I wanted to post next so I made some cards just for the occasion. I'm amazed at how great I think these turned out. I really had my creative juices flowing for sure today.
I'm not sure what brands the cardstock is, some could be Stampin' Up, but the stamps are for sure Stampin' Up. Believe it or not, I only used one tiny piece of patterned paper ~ the rest of the paper is cardstock and inks that I created. My inks are a combination of Stampin' Up, VersaColor, ColorBox fluid chalk inks.
If you drop by, feel free to comment and let me know what your thoughts are on these cards. Perhaps, these might work for the card class I'll be teaching in October better.

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Now playing: Edvard Grieg - Notturno
via FoxyTunes