AEDM 2009: DAY 10

Ten little fingers, ten little toes ... part of a rhyme that came to my mind when I saw it was our tenth day of AEDM .

Here they are my ten little fingers. :D

The original concept was longer. It should have been a green base, with bits of blues on top.

Background note: I used to wear blue, almost everything was blue. Some three years ago I turned green. My wardrobe changed dramatically, my accesories too. No blue in sight. At all. About a month ago blue came back into my life, and with it some things I used to do, ways I used to be. And it is all right. :)

Here´s the right hand side of the double layout for Tati´s pledge.

AEDM 2009: DAY 09

"¡Yes, I promise!". Pictures from the day Tati promised loyalty to our flag. Based on the sketch for this week´s challenge at UKScrappers.

Once I got the sewing machine out I kept going and made my daily pages with scraps and sewing.

So far I have been using one technique / concept per day. I still want to experiment some more with some of them like collage and sewing.

AEDM 2009: DAY 08 Inspiration

Ocho means eight. :)

Based on what Marina did with her cat picture. It is way cool and very neat. Got a minute? Have a look around her blog and see her fabulous work with cat figures. Funky and sweet.

What do you wish to dare?

Rachel, whose blog I follow because of her knitting, linked to a throat singing video. I had never heard of that and spent a good half hour perusing different examples. It´s an art form and also a cultural thing.

This was the first step on thinking about music.

Some days ago while waiting at the bank I hummed "The body electric". Yesterday at another bank queue I hummed "The nutcracker" and as I came home I searched for my CD.

As you tap your fingers on the desk and think "That´s enough, get to the wish already!" I hasten to say: what I wish to dare ... is to sing out loud.

To sing and feel the joy of singing. To share a song with my kids out in the streets of Buenos Aires. Or anywhere in the world, for that matter. :D

AEDM 2009: DAY 07

And on the 7th day she rested. :D

I couldn´t bare leaving the pages of my AEDM journal blank though, so I chose some clothes from my favourite designer at the moment (I don´t own any but I like them): Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

On other news: Tracey sent me an award. Thanks Sweetie!

I need to answer the following questions with ONE word and pass th

e award on. :)

1. Where is your cellphone? downstairs
2. Your hair? brunette
3. Your mother? funny
4. Your father? dead
5. Your favorite food? pizza
6. Your dream last night? curious
7. Your dream/goal? undefined
8. Your favorite drink? Levité
9. What room are you in? Tati´s bedroom
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? regret
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Earth
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren´t? energetic
15. Muffins? chocolate
16. Wishlist item? shoes
17. Where did you grow up? Buenos Aires
18. Last thing you did? party
19. What are you wearing? capris
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pets? weimaraner
22. Friends? cool
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? swinging

25. Missing someone? me
26. Vehicle? Gol

27. Something you´re not wearing? tennis
28. Your favorite store? Markova
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried?hidden
32. Your best friend? Vivi
33. One place you go to over and over? school
34. Facebook? no
35. Favorite place to eat? Veronesse

Bloggers who rocked my world this past week and whose blogs deserve an award:

Connie, the art teacher from Dirty Footprints studio

Rachel knits

Rennata

AEDM 2009: DAY 06

Soooooooooooooooo I had a little scrap from the previous pages and thought I´d use it up today by cutting it up.

Slowly I saw an allegory of my life emerge. You can consider these pages as still a work in progress.

This is the point when I think it is a very good thing my mom doesn´t have a computer so she can´t find this as it would freak her out. :D

It seems orderly, contained, with a straight beginning and end (the two lines at the top left and bottom right). Lots of pretty squares, a happy mouse from ds´s sweets, a house that might be Shakespeare´s mom´s (can´t remember, it´s been in my scraps box for ages) to represent our time in the UK, a picture with loads of people (I´m a Happysnappy and I have loads of people "in my picture" ), the crown? (uh ...) , my initial (I´m so NOT a pink girl but pink keeps popping up in my work), there I am, the little blue snail (word game, anyone?) and "See the world (meant in a cyber way, this is what I´ve been doing).

You have noticed it, haven´t you?

The squares are not connected! They don´t touch each other, there are not connecting lines, dots, whatever. Each part of me (of my life) doesn´t touch the other. That is where the disconnection is. Oh, my! It seems I will be discovering a lot this month through both projects.

The Joy diet: week 8

How did that happen? Friday? No way! Can´t be!

The process this week (pics later as I´m at the "wrong" computer):

Saturday. Can we still treat (last week´s chapter was Treats) ourselves? Yes? Good! Because I bought myself something: a dozen beaded bracelets and a necklace. All for the nifty amount of 22 pesos (that is a bit over 3 pounds or 5 dollars) Colourful and bright. I shared some with Tati. :D

Sunday, friends for lunch. You could consider that playful. I know, I´m grasping at straws to make the theme fit. ;)

Monday, another treat in the form of puffy stickers (yes, I shared them with Tati too). Truth was slightly bruised by omission (nothing serious, just an ordinary day thing). Desire is still buried. Creativity is on the mend thanks to Art Every Day Month I liked what I did for Day of the dead . It is my favourite so far and quite playful in the sense that I took a topic like death and used light hearted embellies.

Tuesday, no time for nothing. Even creativity was hustled and not effective. It didn´t feel like playing. Risk? None.

Wednesday, got my Truth out there, loud and clear by taking the risk of expressing a wish (desire) of mine. I notice that the ingredients from the diet might be blending but I still need lots of working on my own recipe. :)

Thursday, business as usual. Nothing has been neglected (I love how you can read this affirmation both ways, lol!), no wandering away from truth (no need ;) ), creativity is up on the artsy sense, Oh! I missed desire (Freudian slip there), what was next? Risk, only doing new things like using the electronic till for depositing a check or so. Play. This offered more resistance than risk! Lots of "shoulds" attached to this one. It was easier to play when the kids were young and I played with them a lot. Nowadays I´m present but not doing the same thing. As in, I´m watching the war strategy computer game ds is playing or watch dd with her skateboard.

Friday. Working on the blend. :)

AEDM 2009: DAY 05 + quote of the day

My quote of the day comes from Rennata Tropeano. I will print this and put it somewhere in my craft room.

Working on improving is very different than expecting perfection.

I had been reading "The power of intention" by Wayne Dyer at the bank. Yes, I was using my time in a positive way while waiting. ;) It said something about accepting the connection to the source or something in those lines. I began humming "I sing the body electric", going over and over the "and I burn with the fire of ten millions stars". And I hummed all the way home, daring to sing (softly) for half a block. *grin*

What to do with that? Lifted myself. I decided to re-make the sun I had drawn and painted with pencils, using acrylics this time. I know, not a good idea. But, hey, I tried. :D

I also finished the scrapbook pages I had started, with some bonus points for my team at UKScrappers.

AEDM 2009: day 04 Stolen moments

Any similarity with the "Art" video is NOT a coincidence. :D

I´ve been thinking about making art today. You see this drawing? It took me about EIGHT HOURS to complete. Because I put my pencils and markers together and decided I needed more light, that sent me to open windows and as I was already standing I washed the dishes that were still on the counter top from the previous post and cleaned the top too.

Kitchen is spotless. Start drawing. Shouldn´t I be doing Pilates? It´s supposed to be the first thing in the morning.

Thirty minutes later gym time is over and as I put the dvd away I got the diskettes to download the monthly tax form. Have I told you I need to turn Tati´s computer on as it is the only one with diskettes and Mati´s one as it is the one with the printer?

Ooops, while at the kids´bedrooms I notice that the beds are still not done. Time to make the beds while the computers turn on. I better get showered as well.

Drew a bit before mom comes for a visit. Made lunch, picked kids up from school, general chit chat and tea time. Mom left. Kids started homework and I started drawing again.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! What is this verb? Can you help me with the rhymes? Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! (I´m sitting at the table with them, not on the other side of the house *roll eyes* ) see the game Tomy lent me! Today´s lesson was cool because ...

Of course I payed attention to the days anecdotes and helped them out with homework. Drew in between questions. Hubbie arrivesd. Dinner time. Can I just colour in ONE leave while making ...? No, it´s not the best idea as the overcooked chicken nuggets for tomorrow´s lunch bags show.

Ans so it goes. Hour after hour of stolen moments.

What do you wish to experience?

Wish casting Wednesday.

I turned the laptop on early. The earliest in the week. And I click on Jamie´s bookmark to read the question of the week.

What do you wish to experience?, she asked today. A few early birds had already worked with it.

A quick glance told me about joyful wishes of amazingness, happiness, freedom, hope.

I sit in my kitchen, the breakfast dishes still unwashed on the counter top.

I glance at the full moon boards folder and think.

I don´t feel particularly amazing, happy or free.

Not living in a "life is beautiful all the time" high, not living in a hole of dispair. That leaves me in middle ground. The flow continues: those bloggers in that type of paths are the ones that get the most attention. Visits, comments, links.

That takes me to what I want to experience.

I´d love to know what it is like to be popular. To be seen regularly and with gusto. To be left gazillions of comments. To connect every day with tons of people who really want to be here. To see my cyber tribe grow. To be called, to be e-mailed, to be asked for my work. To be liked. Big way.

AEDM 2009: DAY 03 + Full Moon board

Pages for AEDM 2009. Day 3 in my art journal.
"She risks, dares and reinvents herself." Great Sarkany summer boots and purse.
"A style with it´s own codes" Finally found some strong blues that I had been looking for.

From the beginning of the year I´ve been working on my full moon dreamboards with the current issue of Elle magazine.

This month the magazine was not speaking to me. It was full of pretty roses and such that were, well, ..., you know ... pretty but not what I wanted for the month. I wanted full blown energetic creativity, I got pastels. I wanted strong images, I got skinny models in swimsuits. I wanted positive thoughts, I got articles on lying, emotional overweight and Botox. *roll eyes*

This is the best I could come up with:

on side A - dresses, "with her own name" "made in Buenos Aires" and "irrisistible duet: orange and blue. The sky in your eyes and citrics in your mouth".

On side B: lipsticks, Agatha Ruiz de laPrada and of course handbags. ;)

AEDM 2009: DAY 02

Two more pages in my art journal.

As I told you yesterday I´m back to my linear, tidy, layered style. *grin* And just as I took the All Saints Day theme for the day, today I´m taking the Día de los Fieles Difuntos (Day of the faithful departed or aka day of the dead )

Those thick and cushioned stickers are all the rage here now. I remember those from my teen days, now they are in fashion again. Yes, I share them with my daughter, Lol!
First page: white background, black scrap. In case you don´t know me, I´m big on scraps. I´m a scraps scrapper. I start by using a whole sheet and then keep using it till there is virtually nothing left. I use part of the sheet on page 2 and the scrap here. A female and a male skull with a friendly skeleton waving. In the red envelope you will find a list of family members that have already left.
Hubbie loved this one! Black background and, yes, scraps plus the thick stickers and a Thicker # 2 in white. the clock refers to a quote I read today: "Hay más tiempo que vida" ( note of translator: there is more time than life). I found it at Dirty Footprints Studio and as I told Connie (and I quote myself from the comments section) it expresses what I´ve been thinking lately.
There have been a couple of deaths in our circle this past month and it is so strange to see life going on without those beautiful beloved persons.
On the other side of the spectrum there have been a couple of births. Looking forward to share those lives. :)

On to the Full Moon dreamboard. :)

AEDM note

I get to my craft room once all the day chores are done and dusted. That means that by the time I can post my art for the day everybody has left and turned the lights off. So, from today on, I will be linking at Leah´s place to the previous day work.
That is, work on the actual day, post the same day, link on the following one.

That way today´s work will be linked to tomorrow´s post. (ETA: Leah´s November 3rd post is here)

AEDM 2009: DAY 01

DAY 01 is HERE!!!

I got my Wreck this journal journal and turned into a "more me" journal. And what are you like?, you ask.

To begin with, I´m a tidy wrecker if I have to wreck at all. Lol! I´m quite orderly. (Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, she said "quite"! That is the understatement of the year!, you squeak) See that big number 1 up there? And the date, of course. No more random pages. One day after the other. ;)

I might get more adventurous with time.

Today, I drew lots of circles with a stencil. Most circles were drawn at the exact position they were at the stencil, without moving it within the same colour. That´s ok, you may giggle a bit at that. :D

As it is All Saints day, I included a religious image. Today was the last Children´s mass of the year and the kids were given Schoenstatt virgin images to take home. This particular one was given to us by a family friend.
As I was keen on getting back to scrapping during AEDM, I also chose papers to match pictures.

The Joy diet: week 7

The process this week:

1) TGIF!!! I was so eager to leave the risk week behind that I started the "Chapter # 6: Treats" a day early. I started reading it on the train on the way to my mom´s. I got through half a chapter but got the gist of the treats idea right away. ;) By the time we arrived at the destination and with 30ºC I treated the kids and MYSELF to the first icecream of the season. (Background note: I treat the kids to icecream from time to time in the hot months but me? Almost never!) Oh, this is going to be good! *grin*

Fast forward five hours. The temperature has dropped from 30ºC to 10ºC and it is pouring.

Hubbie suggested my buying myself something with long sleeves to wear on top of my T shirt. While breathing in to say "No, thanks, I´ll endure the cold" I changed my mind and said "Yes, please". Oh, my! This is big. Two treats in a day.

Now, the jury is still out on the third treat. Is it a treat or a trick? A treat or a torture? Why? Because I found an exercises dvd. (Background note 2: it seems we are a gym going folks so this type of dvds is almost impossible to find). It is one of my "should"s as in I should exercise but I don´t like it.

2) Finished the chapter on Saturday and realized I had got it slightly wrong: I was supposed to do something scary BEFORE the treat. *shrug* Oh, well, that candy I had while reading was a real treat. ;)

3) Scan the vecinity for treats on Sunday, find none available.

4) Another big step on Monday. For the first time in a very long time (so long I can´t really remember doing this before) ... I cooked for myself. (Background note 3: I cook for my family three times a day every day but grab whatever is at hand when I´m alone)

5) Tuesday I go on my merry way. :) I take the risk of going to that unknown place I mentioned

to buy that strange oven accesory. A personal success story. ;) I go window shopping as a treat but I feel the anxiety beginning to build up. "Hurry!", I think, "you still need to do this, that and the other".

6) Wednesday is melt down day

Fast forward to the evening. Feel thanksful for all the caring messages. Thanks to Toni´s heads up message I discovered that the new UKScrappers cyber crop is about The

Wizard of Oz so I enroled. Before doing so I asked for the best possibility for me to be my team. I got the Tin Man.

No HEART? I could understand no courage, but no ... HEART?

I grumble and pout for a while.

7) On Thursday I see thing differently. May be the lack of heart means that lack of desires I have been struggling with since item # 3. If that is correct it means that by the end of the crop I WILL HAVE a heart!

Week 7 check in: not much of Nothing, keeping an eye on Truth, still without a clear vision on desires, irritated by the creativity exercises, taking a calculated risk here and there, aware of the treats or lack of them.

Wish casting Wednesday

I´ve been thinking a lot about treats this week, thanks to The Joy diet project.

I will post the full week´s process on Friday.

Where am I at this point?

After days of gleefully getting treats, my Inner Critic kicked in.

"That´s enough", she said. "You´ve been spoiling yourself way over what you deserve. Stop right now"

And I did.

I will probably not taking any more treats this week so I can´t wish for treats today.

Fest der Jungen

Tati running.
Tati & Mati throwing balls.

18 bilingual with German schools, almost 3000 students from 9 to 17 years old, six hours of outdoors games & exhibitions, many complete families hanging out, taking pics and generally enjoying themselves.

A good day on Sunday.

Run, hubbie, run!

Dan participated in the Nike 10K race on Saturday.

The Joy diet: week 6

A new meeting for "The Joy diet"´s tribe at Jamie´s.

The process this week:

1) Read Chapter #5: RISK on Saturday. Not pay much attention to it. If I haven´t even figured out my desires yet, how can I plan risky actions to get there?

2) Totally ignore the book on Sunday.

3) Decide to do something scary on Monday. Not dream/desire related as I haven´t got a clue what that is but scary anyway.

Now, on Wednesday you asked yourself "How can asking for a sandwich be difficult?". Today you will ask "How was THAT scary?" after reading the next paragraph.

The scary thing was to go to the tyre shop and have my tyres (yes, I use the British spelling :D ) rotated and balanced.

Go on, you can say it now: How could THAT be scary?!?!?!?!

An unknown place. An unknown task. I was out of my depth. For someone whose reputation is based on knowledge, doing something I didn´t know about in a place I didn´t know was shaking hands scary. (Side note: I realized this on Thursday, the knowing part)

On Monday morning I faced my list of "What if"s. What if there was a queue? What if they were too slow? What if they broke something and the car couldn´t move? Fear won, I postponed the task till after school, so I was sure I could pick the kids up.

On Monday afternoon I took my car in. The mechanic boy (mechanics, just like policemen are getting younger every day ;) ) asked something about the wheels. I laughed it off, saying that even if I sounded like I knew what I was talking about when I asked my tyres to be rotated and balanced, I was only repeting what my hubbie said and I had no further idea.

There. I´ve said it. I have no idea what this is about. I fitted the stereotype. The helpless, ignorant, damisel in distress. Darn!

Hubbie had also told me it was a 5 pesos job for each wheel. The quote was $120. (Side note 2: my car is a small two doors Volkswagen Gol, not a monster truck or an 18 wheel trailer) I asked for (EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK! I HAD TO ASK FOR!!!!!!) a detailed bill.

Car was ready in an hour and a half, I went home and waited for hubbie.

He was happy about the whole event. Over the moon I had remembered to ask the wheels to be balanced and aligned. Happy as, in the price was right happy.

Uh?

4) I wasted Tuesday being sick. WARNING: Marja you can stop reading now. Anybody else who is upset by barfing stories too because when I say feeling sick I mean sick as "in all fours, head in a bucket" sick. As in keep walking like a zombie around the house not to pass out sick. As in doing said walking with the bucket in my hand because I was not quick enough to reach the wc sick. As in I totally blanked out Tuesday sick. As in forget the drink plenty of fluids advise ´cause I can´t even hold water sick. Darn! Again.

5) Use Wednesday to get back to normal. Decide not to do anything scary in the near future.

6) On Thursday morning decide to go to another unknown place to buy an unknown piece of oven accesory. This time I´m taking the thingie and placing it on the shop´s desk ask for (eeekkk) an identical one.

With the excuse of "no parking space" I didn´t stop at said unknown shop.

7) Friday ... time will tell. ;)

Saying Yes to ...

Wednesday. A day for wishing. Today Jamie asked us "What do you wish to say Yes to?"Asking for what I want. It took me hours to finally ask dh for a sandwich on Saturday. At this point you frown and ask yourself "What is there SO difficult in that?" Wellllllllllllll. I´ve been "trained" not to ask for anything, not to "bother" others. I do everything for myself and as much as I can for others. In that case, asking for something is hard. Asking for stopping at the delicatessen shop and actually buy something for me was big. Asking dh for a sandwich was big. I could do it in the frame of Mother´s day on Sunday (in Argentina Mother´s day is the 3rd Sunday in October every year). I wonder if I could start asking for things for me now.
Motherhood. This is a picture of my mom and my daughter on mom´s day. I´m the ultimate chicken mom. Lol.
My kids growing up. Some moms wish their kids to stay little (e.g: my mil says she cried buckets each time one of her kids finished Kindergarten). I thrive with my kids. I enjoyed each stage:babyhood, toddlerhood, Kindergarten, first years of primary school, now I´m on to late years of primary and first years of secondary. Cuddles, singing, playing, and teaching are commom elements in all of these. This is a picture of my son (13, doesn´t he look older?) learning golf from his uncle. His first time with a golf club in his hands.
Being kind with those around me. Cute bugs are easier than ugly ones, aren´t they? ;)

The Joy diet: week 5

New week of "The joy diet" tribe, coordinated by Jamie.

The process this week:

1) Read "Menu item # 4 Creativity"

2) Phone my mom and whine about being stuck with the book.

3) Listen to my mom telling me that "The joy diet" is supposed to lead me to a happier life (she has been reading it too) and not to become obssesed with following it to the letter as it had been leading me to be UNhappy. In other words "to loosen up". By the way: I just noticed it would have been a perfect topic for Jamie´s question "What do you wish to let go?" Letting go of the "perfect or nothing"of the "everybody else it doing it well and I can´t" even of the "WHEN is my epiphany coming?!?!?!".

4) Read chapter again.

5) Feel stuck with it again.

6) Reading this post by Serena. The sentence "The key to recovery is to take action" sent the alarm bells ringing. By the time I read "Even the simplest of actions is taking a step in the right direction" I was ready to create.

7) Go upstairs to my craft room and create these four scrapbbok layouts:

Second communion

This Sunday Tati and her friends had their second communion.

It was waaaaay more relaxed than the first as there was not all that lighting and blowing of candles nor so many things to say for each kid.

They all received a souvenir diploma and we had enough time for pictures with friends and even one of the moms.

I found the moms picture funny. Not only our closest "mom friends" were the same as the kids closest friends but all the mom/kid teams looked the same. Silvina always leans in the pics as Fede does, Sabine and Lara smile the same, as Eli & Sofi look down the same way.

The Joy diet: week 4

First I want to officially thank my brother in law who brought me the book from the USA. Thank you M! It makes me feel "legitimate" to be able to read the actual book and not work from research and reviews.

On to this week´s post: Jamie posted a lovely video about Desire. I´ve already told her that I LOVE her voice and her body language. She is a wonderful guide. :)

As many have experienced this week, I had a certain resistance to Desire. No problems with the "Nothing" week, as I´ve been exploring that for some time. Great work with "Truth" week, I incorporated that to my daily life in very powerful ways. And then came Desire.

*Blink*

Aha. Empty. *blink again* Of course my wish came to light first. {BTW, my hubbie who didn´t know about that post asked for a quote on that trip the next day.} I put it down, poor dream. Then other thoughts came up. Down they went in an instant. I even tried to explore them with my late full moon board. And still I haven´t got a clue!

Off to read all the links to this week´s work.

And try again.

Late full moon board

I was VERY tempted to whistle and look the other way, like I did in August and just miss this month´s full moon board BUT I showed up and finished it today.

Why?

First to honour Jamie´s efforts to put the full moon board posts together for us each month.

Second because I truly felt the lack of focus in August and September had been so fruitful that I didn´t want to fall back into my bad habits of "perfection or nothing". Ok, it is later than the 4th. I could sing like the white rabbit sang "I´m late. I´m late. For a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye. I´m late. I´m late. I´m late"

Here it is my October full moon board. :)

*"The big jump" Where to? That´s what I´ll discover. :)

*It will be mother´s day here on the 18th. I wonder why we have a day so different from the Europeans in March or Americans in May. Maybe something to do with the nurturing quality of Mother Nature in spring. Anyway, magazines are full of Mother´s day ads like this one. I looooooove matching shoes and handbags. You alraedy knew that, they are always featured in my boards.

*Impecable style (I wish!)

*Two Agatha Ruiz de la Prada lipsticks. I never had any of the make up / clothes / objects that she designs but I love the colours and whimsical air they have. Red and green. Ermmmm ... should I stop or should I go?

*The usual flag and month from this months Elle magazine.

Side B. Something important about this side is that this month these were the stronger images. I put them on side B instead of side A because, as much as I was attracted to them, I didn´t want them to be my focus.

For example: the Prüne ad, I loved the sleek image of a girl with shorts and cool shoes and handbag. On second thought, I felt it was too grey. Non descript.

Same with the panther. mmmmmmmmmmmm, was my first thought. Too agressive and definitely too blue. I´m dettaching myself from the "blue everything" that used to be my style. I go for colour now. Lots of. :D

Still I go back to that side in an intuitive way. As a safe anchor.

First communion

Click on image to see it bigger. :)

It´s hard to believe all the first communion things are over! My wish of "What do you wish to complete?" has already been granted. *grin* Unless of course I take into account the scrapbook pages about the first communion. *wonder*

We spent the morning decorating the hall, which took a bit longer than expected because we kept fiddling with things and adding stuff like spot lights and jugs.

The ceremony itself was very nice as there were two priests that the kids know. One that is very laid back and smiles at everything and another one that has a very fun approach to the lectures for the kids. They all behaved beautifully and did what they were supposed to at the right times.

The party ... is a blurr. Full of people (a bit over a hundred, counting the four families that shared the party) and food.

I never had the chance to try the sandwiches or the calzonnes (pizza with fillings inside) that were served when the people arrived. Too busy taking pics. They told me the pizza was tasty, with many varieties. I managed to get a couple of those, although I didn´t manage to actually sit for dinner). After the magic show (provided by one of the girls´ granduncle) and the craft table (provided by the same girl´s godmother) we had a brownie and cream dessert followed by the communion cakes.

Tatiana says it was a perfect day.

Truth

Today is Tatiana´s first communion.

To be able to share the ceremony with her I went to confession

(or reconciliation as it is called nowadays) for the first time in ... 16 years. *shock*

It took a bit of courage and a lot of rehearsal of my "speech" to face the truth of what I had done wrong (on purpose or accidentaly) for 16 years.

It took some time remembering, re-considering, jotting down events.

Talk about working with Truth this week! :D

Did she ... really...?

Jamie asks us "What do you wish to share"? I want to share a tribute to a lovely lady: Valeria.

Dh´s grandma passed on Monday evening.

She was 93 years old, a wise, fun and absolutely in touch with the real world woman. She will be missed by family and friends (and she had a ton of both ).

It was a gorgeous day yesterday for her funeral and there were so many relatives and friends that it was a wonderful tribute to her.

Going to her home was like an all year round Christmas for the kids. Just go for a quick how-are-you-doing-these-days visit and leave with (this is a true story): six chocolates, a can of peaches, a plushie and a pair of socks. Just because.

After reading Suzie´s story on her answering machine message and how Robyn was guided to the heart shaped rocks, I thought if it would be possible for her to send me a message. Of course my first thought was the traditional white feather, but where would she find a white feather in my neighbourhood?. And why for me? If a white feather was too much, something smaller would be nice, thank you very much. After a few hours of scoring everywhere for it, I got caught up with the vertigo of the day.

And then I found it, a white button at my door. A practical, isn´t this useful? object. Right there.

This is what I want :)

It´s Wishcasting Wednesday! Jamie asks us today: What luxury do you wish for?

This is what I want:

No, not the two giant dressed up mouses, not even the castle (I like my home, thank you very much ;) ).

What I want is to go to Disneyland. *big cheesy grin*

Happy Spring!

Wishing YOU a Happy Spring!!! :D

The room is ready!

From this to this.

Come on and shine

Another cool project! Danette just launched her Self Expression Springboard (name which, with us feeling springier by the day, is particularly fitting)

This is what she had to say today:

Imagine you at your most powerful. You rock. You are a freaking champion, and everyone knows it. We are filling a stadium to the brim, voices cheering and hearts splashing in anticipation of you making your entrance. We all know what song is going to blast through the speakers as you walk into the ring. It suits this moment perfectly. It makes you feel so good, to step into the light with this song playing...

What is the song? Oh I'm dying to know! What is it about this song? How does it make you feel? Who are you being when you walk out to this song?

You can explore this catalyst any way you choose to. Craft, video, photography, dance, writing, performance, or even by simply answering the question in one sentence. Any way you choose is expressive. Use Self-Expression Springboards and see where they take you!

This is my song: Shine. I loved it back in 1993 while living in Chester, England and used it as background music for a video of our daffodils there. I was hyper glowing at that time. *grin at the memories*

What is your song?

Flower crown

Jamie asked us: How do you wish to stretch?

I want to try new crafts. Sounds kind of lame, doesn´t it? Not wwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwww, you are doing something so new, fresh and brave. But it is something I haven´t done. Take this for example:

This is the flower crown Tati is going to wear for her first communion. My mil has the magazine because she is making her the dress, so I made a copy of the crown to make it myself. I have all the elements ready.

Will I be able to make it? Will it look nice enough? *shudder*

That is the biggest thing I need to overcome, the "what will other think of my product?" and also the "this is so new and scary because I will fail miserably at my first attempt" I know you are rolling your eyes by now. I would too. ;)

Marinating

These are a few cards that are about to happen. They are just waiting for that extra flavour to make them complete. Except maybe the apple one. That could be ready if I stop shuffling it around. ;)

Here are the two pages I told you about yesterday.

Layouts!!!

Yups, after all the cards for teacher´s day I kept going.

My friend Ching posted about meeting her friend Eva. I met both on line at Cropper´s Cottage message board and then in real life in California back in 2004, so I went over to say Hi. From Eva´s blog I found Melissa France´s site and used this layout from there as a sketch for a picture of Mati when he played Julius Caesar at school.

I added a second page to have other pictures from the same History play, making it a double layout.

And today ... two more! Will be posting them tomorrow. :)