082612 Comic Relief

Alex posted these pictures on FB just as you see them, and I commented. 

Then I remembered my SuperHero page & decided to make them a comic strip!

Loved having my CKC Rebel Summer kit at hand to make this quick & slick.

082512 Date Day

Our travels today took us south of Lansing to the town of Williamston.

First a visit to the really terrific Williamston Antiques just south of town.

  This is just one of the many aisles - what are you imagining you will find down there?

Just a few of the gorgeous booths

The first time we came here this booth had antique mousetraps! 

They looked like mini-lobster traps - couldn't have figured it out without the tags.

Although I can appreciate the appeal of some mid-century furnishings, 

this booth leaves me somewhat cool.The chairs were nice but the upholstery was awful.

 

And this lamp! (although I kind of like the phone)

Many wonderful displays

I Spy with my little eye a retro cooler which reminds me of Lynnette's CKC kit!

And this fellow, who followed me home :~)

Anyone care to suggest a name? I think he's French...

(He isn't mounted to the board - he's a papier-mâché masque)

Even the restroom was exciting!

Felt a wee bit like Alice Through the Looking Glass...

On to lunch at a favorite, the Red Cedar Grill.

Look how gorgeous this appetizer is!

(You know you're going to pay too much for your meal when the food has mood lighting)

And I couldn't resist a quick snap of this ice cream shop just outside of Perry on the way home.

Even the "OPEN" sign in the window is shaped like an ice cream cone!

All in all a very fun day with my knight in shining armor, 

who came home & helped me finish my chalkboard. 

(Okay - I confess - it only had one coat of paint in the first post.)

I'm taking Giulliame (Francois? Jean-Claude?) up to the studio to find him a perch...

082112 Well Bust My Buttons!

What a lovely surprise in my inbox today!

I've been awarded (blushing) a Liebster Blog Award.

Humble thanks to Sassy Breese at Muddle Puddle.

All I can say is, "Shucks!"

I hope it's okay that I swiped part of her post, as follows:

The purpose of this award is to give to novice bloggers the chance to make themselves known. It's hard to excel in the plethora of blogs and to become established. A regular readership is important to be perceived in the depths of the www. The award is to be given to bloggers who inspire you and have recorded fewer than 200 regular readers in their followers list. (*LOL - I have one!)

Anyone who has received the award should have the pleasure to give the "Liebster Blog Award" to five other bloggers, who meet the above requirements. If you have received this award, you should do the following:

Post the award on your blog;

Link to your Nominator, as a little thank you!

Give the award to five bloggers that have less than 200 regular followers and inform them about the award.

 

I knew RIGHT AWAY who would get the first one:  Lynnette at Sassyscrapper! With a total gift at blogging since day one I am inspired by her scrappy skills & enlightened by her tutorials. Congratulations, dear virtual friend!

Second is Magda at m loves paper who takes beautiful photographs & makes wonderful scrapbook pages.

Third is Ashli at Purple Mailbox.com - The Artsy Craftsy Pursuits of Soaphouse Mama who is enticing me into future messy forays into the wild side of scrapping/crafting. (I hope she qualifies - 150+ subscribers)

Fourth is Julie at His Glory Girl "giving her life story to God one page at a time."

Last but not least? Susanne at Snaps and Snippets. She has a marvelous blog voice & wonderful projects & pages.

Ooooh! This is fun - like being given a magic wand & the power to spread a little joy & love. Can't wait to see where this leads from here - enjoy the ride!

081812 The Gilded Inspiration Wall

Remember this teaser?

Let's begin and see where I am going with this!

This was my big $10.00 score at a local antiques mall.

Pretty good for a Renoir, huh?

Of course it's printed on cardboard, lol!

But it's the frame I'm after.

My knight in shining armor cuts an insert for me :~) 

And this will become a wonderful chalkboard!

Now to decide on an arrangement for my inspiration wall.

I measured off the size of the space on the floor.

This one seems off-balance...

This arrangement looks better.

 

Now to transfer it to the wall.

This is now the view from my scrapdesk!

The portrait is of Aunie.

The empty frame at the top will be strung with a banner - so fun!

The 2 empties at the bottom remain without inspiration as yet.

Any suggestions?

The leopard print fabric top left covers foam core to make a bulletin board.

The bottom left frame is backed with chicken wire 

& I've used mini clothespegs to hold bits & bobs.

The mirror is minus it's County Fair ribbon (seen 

on the desk) & glitter "E" but they will return.

It looks exactly as I pictured it! So happy

Here's the long view...

 Kitty likes it!

Some of my favorite pretties :~)

Coming soon: the rest of the story,

or how I finished off the rest of the space,

including the dreaded closet...

081612 My Super Hero

Well my favorite challenge site is celebrating it's one year anniversary this week! Congratulations to Pam & Lisa at Whimsical Musings! This week we get to choose from all of the challenges for the entire year. I am trying to play catch-up a bit so I have chosen to use my CKC August kit for my challenge #41 layout based on a superhero - how fun!

As soon as I heard this challenge I knew what photo I would be scrapping.

This snap just begs for a cape!

Not sure where I found this image (I think a digi kit) 

but I knew I would need the cape idea 

& as I'm not always too bright on my own 

about adding the artsy details I saved this.

So let's see what I can do with my really super-girly kit... yikes

Ah, but how soon I forget that there is a B-side to my papers...

(3 is the backside of my hexagon paper) 

...plus I have that fun cartoony wood grain paper - perfect.

I choose some possible elements from my stamp sets.

And super heroes have super powers.

(How am I doin' so far?)

I think I will stitch those zingers down - love the energy!

After playing with a title & a little journaling & detailing I've got a page.

(Now we just have to remember when/where this was taken...)

081112 Today...

Been way too long since we've had our Saturday date day. Hubby dearest got a hankering to make pasta so set out into cyberspace to find an Italian market. Off to Livonia! Being the geographically-challenged woman that I am I had not a clue where it is/how long it would take to get there. More later on that...

(They had me at the "Fresh Baked Bread" sign on the awning, lol :~)

OH, yeah!

This is part of a row of cases of frozen homemade stuffed pastas. Shown here: 

Homemade Gnocchi, Italian Chicken Ravioli, Florentine Pesto Ravioli, 

Italian Sausage & Broccolini Ravioli, Italian Sausage Baci, 

Veal & Porcini Mushroom Baci, Ham & Porcini Blend Ravioli, 

Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli, Portobello Mushroom Giant Ravioli... oh, my!

Olive?

Pasta??? 

Can you believe that this aisle runs from front to back of the entire building? 

And I couldn't find alphabet pasta for Lincoln...

We managed to find a FEW things to take home, ahem!

And within our window of opportunity, an unplanned stop on the way home.

 As I said, I didn't know where we were headed until after we were en route. When I realized that we were going past Novi I immediately thought, Do we have time to stop at Archivers? I never did get there in May when I was down there for the MegaMeet or when my kindred spirit came for a visit this summer - she got sick & we couldn't go. Time allowed! My knight in shining armor does it again without even trying - love ya, honey! xo

Oooooooooooo!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

 

BAD blogger - I forgot to take pictures when we ATE once we got home!
Oh, man - we got 3 kinds of ravioli to die for plus 2 quarts of sauce, some kind of
unpronouncable bread (they had samples :~) that you soak in olive oil & top with
some stuff we bought, asiago artichoke spread (groan), olives, fresh mozzarella
(probably my favorite cheese), italian sausages both hot & mild, etc.