I’m Charmed and other happenings

Busy weekend. I came home from work on Friday to find a lovely package at my front door. So Excited, what could it be. A lovely box of Spring Time Charms from the lovely hostess FaerieDustDreams Michelle. Oh what a splendid display of Spring time enjoyment. I had my bracelet all ready for the charms to adorn. So dinner would have to wait while I took out each charm and admired the work of art each swapper had done. So here is the picture of my bracelet that I will enjoy wearing through out Spring.

Saturday was such a joy. I spent the day at the Bead Expo. Getting ideas as well as supplies. I went with a list of supplies I will need for some up coming classes I have along with other projects that I am working on. One of those would be trades for the Art and Soul retreat that I will be attending in October. The theme this year is By the Sea. Oh I have so many ideas running through my head. What will I make of all of them. Stay tuned. Here is a sneak peak at some of the supplies I picked up.

At this years Bead Expo Susan Lenart Kazmer taught several classes. She also had a booth on Saturday in the exhibit hall. She is such a great lady. Love the work that she does and her new book.

Sunday there was more creativity underway. I worked on finishing up my pages for the Purple 3x3 swap that I am in. Pictures to come later. Put together my book from the Green 3x3 swap that just finished up. This was the pages, well 22 to be exact, that I created for the green swap.

Finished up my Color wheel pages, or circles you may say. I had the color Blue Violet, can you tell. We had to use recycled materials that we had on hand.

I needed to finish up with these swaps since I have several charm swaps coming up that I will need to work on.
That is my new passion – wearable art.

Still rolling through my head are ideas for Tammie Moore’s Spring paper doll swap due in one month.
And last but not least.
What will become of these?

You will have to come back and sea.

Living a charmed Life.

M^3

Monday memory and swaps

Childhood Pets,
I had several over the years of my childhood but none are as close to me as my Dalmatian dog Pepper. It was late summer 1982, my sister and I went to a horse show with our grandparents to their friend Dick Walding’s place. Big horse arena and stables. Dick gave us a tour of the stables. We went and sat to watch the show and towards the end a voice came over the intercom and asked if the girl with the green ribbon in her hair would come to the stable doors. Well I sat there and looked at my grandpa and said is he talking about me. I had a green ribbon tied in my hair. So we headed down to the stables and met up with Dick. He took us around towards the back and what do you know, there was a litter of little Dalmatian puppies. Dick said, for wearing that green ribbon you get to pick out a puppy to take home. I looked at my grandma and grandpa with a look of ‘can I’. Go ahead, my grandma said. So I looked them all over, if was tough as a kid to just pick one. So finally after a bit I picked up my new puppy. On the ride home my sister said you need to think of a name for it. I looked down at my dog and the name Pepper came out.
When our parents came to pick us up and saw that I had a new puppy. I was franticly telling them the story of the day’s events. So my mom gave me the ‘you can keep the dog as long as you know that you need to take care of him speech’. Jumping up and down I headed to the car. For the next nine months I took care of my dog Pepper. Then in April 1983, the family up and had to move out to Oregon. So Pepper went to live on my grandparents’ farm. We would travel back to visit every other year or so. This picture is of me and my dog Pepper in 1985. He passed away in 1997. Pepper was 17 years old.

Swap information. I am able to share my doll swap creation, from Vivians "Beat the Winter blues" swap, that I made for my swap buddy Catie.

as well as share the lovely doll she made for me. My Spring Angel.
Anxiously waiting the return of the Spring Charms from Michelle's swap. These are the charms that I made for her swap. I have my bracelet already to adorn with all the lovely charms from the other swappers. So stay tuned for a picture of that.

Off to do more creating.

I've been Tagged from Michelle at Hold Dear

Seven weird things about myself. So here goes.

1 – I like playing in the snow, but not driving in it.

2 – Buttered Toast and a nice cup of hot chocolate go good together. Dipping the toast in the hot chocolate, Yum.

3 – Riding mass transit to and from work I have a favorite seat. Our buses have 5 seats that go across that back and my favorite is the one in the middle of those 5. Best spot to people watch when riding the bus.

4 – At times I tend to over think and analyze things at work and home but on my other hand I could turn around and go with what ever I see or think. That may be the Gemini in me, one brain two minds.

5 – Growing up in the mid west I would wear shorts and t-shirts in the winter then pants and sweaters in the summer. I was a backwards child. Though I catch myself doing that still to this day. I think (there I go again) it is just that I want to wear what I want to wear when I want to wear it.

6 – I love quotes as I’m sure a lot of you out there do. I have books and folders flowing with them. I thought why keep them hidden away in the books and folders. So I am in the process of incorporating/collaging many of them onto my walls/doors through out my house.

7 – I have two cats that both drool. Not from old age. They have been doing this since they were kittens.

So there you have it. Maybe weird maybe not so weird.

Who shall I tag? Let’s hand it off to Laurel.

Today is Memory Monday - Kecia at Lemoncholys. The topic this week is Childhood incident, injury, accident.

Stitches, Stitches, and more stitches.

I had just turned seven years old. It was a nice July day, 1980, in the town of Riverside, IA. Great day for the Rivercade parade. My older sister and I were with our grandparents getting ready to ride the horses in the parade. I was standing on the side of the horse trailer watching them unload the horses. We already had one horse out and tied to the trailer. The side I was standing on. Something must have spooked the horse and it reared its head back and raised its front hooves. The reins on the bridal came loose and snapped me in the side of my left knee. The men worked on calming the horse and my grandma came to my aid. Putting pressure on the wound. I hear her saying we need to get you to the hospital. I was crying “no I want to ride in the parade”. She compromised and my grandpa carried me to the parade route, while I held the bloody towel on my wound. It was my grandma and sister that got to ride in the parade that day. My grandpa stayed on the side lines with me making sure my leg stayed elevated. While we watched the bands, floats, shriners and horses ride by. After the parade my grandma and her friend took me to the hospital. I had to get a couple of stitches.

Lesson learned. Don’t stand too close to a person who is up to bat.
I was nine years old and my sister and I were out in the back yard playing baseball with our cousins who lived down the street. I was on deck to bat. Standing in what they told me was a good spot to stand and wait my turn. My cousin Paul was up to bat, he was 14 years old at the time. He let a few go by him. Swung on one and missed. Next one came across the plate and made contact. He swung through the ball and let go of the bat. Well I got hit in the forehead with the barrel of the bat. Fell to the ground. My sister, she is four years older than me, came over and picked me up and took me in the house. Yelling mom, mom Melissa’s bleeding. Off to the emergency room we went. The doctors laded me on a gurney. I remember the doctors saying we are going to have to take out her pig tails. Had to get nine stitches that time.

It is a Merrill thing. All my three siblings have had stitches during their childhood.

I'm still here.


So I finally sent off the doll for Vivians Doll swap to my buddy Catie last Tuesday, 02/26. Though I don’t want to give it away if she hasn’t opened it yet. So I will post pics on that later. I have also finished up the charms for Faerie Dust Dreams Spring Charm swap. Worked on my soldering skills.

Here is the necklace of the charms from the Valentine swap I was in that kecia hosted.

Check out what else I have been up to at my flickr site. I have my pictures from the Paper doll swap that tammie Moore hosted back in February out there. Along with other swaps and things I have been working on.

www.flickr.com/photos/livingandcreating

More to come.