Not very exciting, but...

I traced my image on to interfacing (the mess you see above) and chose and washed my fabrics. Work should start later today--I'll keep my camera close by!

Siren of the Sea

Here is a sneak peek at an upcoming art quilt!

Thank you to everyone who commented on my tea party this weekend! I'm not finished visiting all the blogs that participated--there were so many!!

~~Mad Hatter Tea Party~~

Tea Party Time! Did you sign up?

The cake, pictured below, is calorie-free! (Pattern is in the side bar, if you'd like to "bake" one up for yourself!)

Miss Mouse likes tea, too!



A Mad Hatter Tea party, or a Mad Hatter Lunch?
On the menu: Tuna fish tea sandwiches and fresh fruit parfaits. (Fruit Parfait Recipe can be found here.)


Milk for the kiddies and tea for me!
Someone wants seconds! (I should have probably put up her hair today...)

Aaron and I made these paper flowers out of grocery bags, plastic beads, utility wire, and florist tape!
Mmmm...

The cup being used by Aaron (pictured above and below) was a gift from a good friend of mine a long time ago! Isn't it the coolest?
All done! Maybe I can get my guests to help clean up?

Paper flower tutorial can be found here.

One Lovely Blog Award

Thanks to FoxyGKnits for this award! You can find her at FoxyGKnit's Den of I-Knit-Quity, and at her shop, FoxyGKnits. Foxy G makes the most beautiful shawls and scarfs! She uses quality yarn, and put lots of time in to each of her creation! (And she is an extremely funny lady!)

My turn to pass on some love.

Here are the rules: Accept the award, and post it on your blog, along with the name of the person who bestowed it and a link to his or her blog. Pass the award on to 15 blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to notify the bloggers that they have been chosen for this award.

Here are my nominees:

Agapanthas and Goldsworthy

A Journey of 1000 Stitches Begins with Just One...

Domestic Chicky

This Vintage Chica

Little Miss Drama Pants

Domestic Extraordinaire

The Wonderful World of Hand-crafted

This Girl Beads

Mrs Kwitty's Cottage

Blue Yonder

Chasing Snails

Casey's Elegant Musings

Calamity Kim

Doll

Crazy Mom Quilts

Keepon

I love Spoon. And this video.

Upcoming Tea Party

I'm really stressing out about it! I only have one craft done!!! What will I do??

I'll pull it off. I'm just stress at the moment. I look around my house, at the things that need cleaning. I look at the kids, that need to get out of the house.

Things will be okay....I think...

Wassup, cupcake?

You see this? This is the cupcake I made for that special tea party happening in a few days. This is also the cupcake I wrote a tutorial/pattern for.

Pattern is over this way.---> Alice Cupcakes

The Tutorial IS Coming....

But for now, check out something new.

This blog was started a looooong time ago to brag about my family and my knitting--both of which are rarely blogged about here. So, I created a new blog--for the family and for the hobbies I have which do not bring in any revenue!

Find it here and bookmark or subscribe--I plan on putting a lot of fun stuff on it!

Fisheyes and Magpies

And, of course, I'll still be here!

(That tutorial is coming later today...hopefully!)

Free Tutorial/Pattern Coming....

Hang tight--I'm ironing out the details of a pattern I plan to giveaway--to everyone--for free...

Check out the Treasury I Made!

The theme is "dreams."

BEER cozy

BEER cozy
Originally uploaded by CMDonaghy

I made this beer cozy for my dad, for fathers day! It's adjustable, so it fits bottles AND cans! :) I'm pretty proud of it!

My little girl!

She's going to be two in October. She's growing up so fast! Today I looked at her and realized she's not a baby anymore. :(

Sparkler Pillow Done!

Finally finished the NorGA June Challenge. Here are some pictures! (And, it's for sale.)

Playdates

Aaron has a play date in a little bit. I wonder if I can convince them to take all of my kids for two hours....

Sun Moon and Stars Treasury

Street Team NorGa has a treasury. It features my listing. Check it out!

UPDATE:

I'm in TWO treasuries at the moment! This is the second. Click it. Lurve it.

A New Toy...

For awhile now I've been working with an old (very old) version of Paint Shop Pro for my photo edits, etc. I've felt limited by my aged software, and decided, after receiving a $30 off coupon at Costco for Adobe Photo Shop Elements 7, I'd make the change. So, I'm currently fooling around with it. As usual, this new technology has me a little befuddled, but I am slowly learning. I've already made a picture! Alright, so it's not a Michaelangian work or art, but I just playing! :)

New Painting

I've really been itching to paint, which is not so good when I should be working on the few other projects I already started. Still feels good to dip my brush into the water.

I'm not too fond of the painted I posted yesterday. It's cute, maybe, but it is definitely lacking something. I like this one better.Although, I might change the background a few times. I have other stuff in mind!

And, by the way, I do NOT like the cotton watercolor canvas. If you don't stretch it, it still warps. (I was under the impression it didn't.) Learning this, I taped down my second canvas, like I do with watercolor paper. Unlike the paper, which provides a good surface for the tape to stick to, the canvas slipped out from the tape as soon as I started painting. :( I think I'll stick with paper for now on! (Plus, it's too textured.)

The Tennessee Waltz

Just finished painting this lovely little dancer! I painted using watercolor on cotton canvas. I'm not quite sure if I like the watercolor canvas. I think paper creates more interesting results.

Seller Bio and Chance to Win!

My bio is up at the North Georgia Street Team this week! In addition to sharing a little about myself, I'm sharing a goody from my shop! Details are provided on their blog.

What is the prize I am giving away? This:

Check it out, and good luck!
~Christina

Should be walking this morning...

...but it looks like it's going to rain, I have about a million things I need to do, and my ankle is swollen from getting bit by mosquitoes on Saturday. (I, apparently, had an allergic reaction to them.)

I had a great weekend, though. My parents stopped in Saturday afternoon and spent the night. We grilled and enjoyed margaritas. Sunday we checked out the North Georgia Premium Outlets, but having dragged John and my dad with us, my mom and I didn't get to do the browsing we wanted. I did get a pair of nifty looking Crocs to wear around the house.

I made some sales over the weekend, which I'm sending out this morning. (One of those millions of things I have to do.)

Hope everyone's weekend went as well!

Happy Monday!
Christina

A favor for Calamity Kim

I LOVE Calamity Kim's blog. She is incredibly talented, so when she asked a little favor, I had to oblige.

She want's you to check out the new Sarasota Surface Design Guild. Just click!

And check out Calamity's blog!

Two Sketches

Ideas for North Georgia Street Teams July challenge...mice.

The theme is fireworks, and, of course, I'm going to run with a patriotic theme. I'm thinking a pillow made to look like this:


Or a watercolor painting that looks like this:


I'm know I'm doing the pillow. I just don't know if I'm going to do the painting, in addition. We'll see. This is a busy month, with the challenge coming up, and the Mad Hatter Tea Party! I still have stuff to work on for that!

Well, off to get a shower (just got back from the park) while Maggie is napping and the boys are quiet.

Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Christina

Morning Rituals

The last few days I've been trying to start up a morning ritual with the kids--30 minute walk followed by playground time. I get exercise and my kids get to burn off that energy they can't in my yard. (My yard, which is not fenced, therefore, not safe for my oldest, who has special needs, and my youngest, who is not even two yet.)

We have been going to a park surrounded by a jogging trail, but I've found the park closer to me has a more scenic path!

We found this really impressive mushroom on an old stump:


We found another, not so cool mushroom, but I thought it deserved a pictures, as it look just like a stack of pancakes are sticking out the side of the tree. (Mmm...butter and syrup....)


There was a nice little creek running along the trail. At one pool we had seen some large frogs, but the frogs didn't like my noisy kids, so the disappeared before I could say, "cheese."


I thought this leaf was interesting. Do you suppose there are Italian caterpillars in Georgia?


Almost to the playground, the kids were excited to walk threw a little tunnel.


I was fascinated by the vines growing on the ceiling...

I also found some beautiful flowers to photograph around the tunnel:

And some pretty purple ones:

Finally, we made it to the park.

Maggie was with us the whole time, but out of site in a stroller. I can't leave without a photo of my beautiful girl, so here are two! :)

That's all for now. We're about to go out for another walk. Later, I'll post some pics of an upcoming project!

Have a great a day!

A Lighter Shade of Pale

Yay! Won another treasury! Please take some time to check it out and leave a comment! The theme is "Pale"

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=63989

Feeling Good

Haven't blogged in a few days because I've been out and about--and busy inside!

To shake my blues, I've taken up morning walks with the kids. It gets them out and burning off some of their energy, and it--hopefully--it's lightening my, ah, caboose.

This is going to be a short post because I'm waiting for the treasuries to open, BUT I just wanted to tell one and all to follow me on Twitter! Just click the addy: http://twitter.com/cmdonaghy

Have a great Thursday (what's left of it) and I'll see you tomorrow!!

Kinda Sad Today

Don't laugh, but I'm sad because of a movie. I watched "The Curious Case of Benjamen Button" last night. It's not so much the movie, but the thought the movie led to. Aging. You never think of aging when you are young. The aging think about aging. I guess the reason the movie made me sad, though, is not just because it made me think about my own entropy, but because I've been feeling old for as long as I've been an adult. I'm only thirty-one, but I get out of the bed each morning carefully, testing the waters as put one foot on the ground. Years (and years) of Rheumatoid Arthritis and, now, Osteoarthritis, have crippled some of my joints--damage that can not be reversed.

A few years back I started doing yoga. For a few months straight, I stretched my body out every Saturday morning for an hour and a half. As good as I felt (and I did feel amazing), I could never complete the simplest of poses because of a frozen knee. I couldn't do "Child's Pose" or "Hero." I always felt so angry at my body because of it's limitations. Back then I really was young, and I should've been able to do cartwheels! Of course, there is only one direction to go, and I would give anything for that slightly broken body today.

I'm not interested in a pity party, though. It's not fair, yes. It's not fair I have to depend on a biological medicine to keep my body from attacking itself. It's not fair that four surgeries on one knee have left limited range of motion on it. It's not fair that most attempts at exercise result in swollen joints. It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair.

But.

My life is a good one. I have a great family, three kids, and a supportive, hard-working husband. I live in a nice house, and never have to worry where my next meal is coming from. I have many opportunities that others wish they had. I know my life is blessed.

But.

I feel old. And I'm getting old. While you learn so much about yourself as you get older, there is one simple truth you can't avoid. Everyone ages. You will never, ever, look like you did at 20. No amount of Botox or plastic surgery can turn back the clock. It can make you look smoother, tighter, but not your old self. Eating right. Exercising. These make you look less old, too, but they do not give you back the softness of your cheeks, or the rosiness of your lips. Your skin, duller. Your hair, thinner. You eyes, smaller, hidden by the gentle sloping of your lids. Each morning, someone new starts you in the face. Familar, but different.

Darkness and gloom--I'm sorry for that. Like I said, I'm a little sad today. Feeling my own mortality. Yes, I have (hopefully) many, many more years left in me, but life has already forced me to live a little of the future.

That's why the movie made me sad. It made me reflect on those things I've lost, and the things I've never had.

(sorry)

~Christina

Sweet Chair-ty is finished!

You can find it for sale here.

Happy Monday!
~Christina

Woohoo! Mail!

As I mentioned yesterday, I received two packages in the mail on Saturday.

The first was from Worthy Soy Candles.
The smell great! I haven't melted any of the tarts yet--had to take a photo of them--but I'm melting one of these suckers later! :)

The second package came from 1Dream. I ordered some very lovely bead caps!
They are huge! Love them, though!

Please visit the shops mentioned and check out their goods!

~Christina

P.S. I'll be back later with my a new item going into the shop!

North Georgia Street Team TREASURY!

Snagged a treasury! Giving it to my peeps! Please give some comment love here.

I got some mail yesterday!

I had two packages come in the mail today--one from Turkey and one from a fellow street team member here in Georgia. I want to do some proper advertising for both, so I'll post pics and links to each store tomorrow. Let me just say, though, I am impressed!!

Finished my little "Sweet Chair-ity" pillow. It turned out great! Tomorrow will be pictures of that, as well.

Also, John and I took our kids to see UP! yesterday. What a sweet, sad, happy movie! Loved it.

And, in other news, my six year old found his Nintendo DS. (Yay, Aaron!)

Today? Well, I NEED to go to the recycling center. It looks like I started my own center in my garage! (Note to self: try to go at least every other week!!) I'd also like to swing by the library. Alone. I'd prefer the bookstore, but money's a little tight until payday. None the less, I'm determined to spend an hour or so in a QUIET building, surrounded by sweet smelling books!

I hope everyone's Sunday is as peaceful as I intend to make mine!

~Christina

....Chair....

Current project---->

It will be a small pillow....

What's on the Agenda?

What's on your agenda for today? Me? Still working on making Tea Party magic on the 26th. I recruited Aaron to help me, which is good because he's been bored. (We are only two weeks into the summer!!)

I also have a small decorative pillow I might finish up today or tomorrow. It's simple, yet very cool, in my humblest of opinions! Watch for it!

And, I wanted to mention a friend's contest. Elephunk's Trunks has taken on a challenge, and she want's everyone to participate. (And, there are prizes involved.) Check it out.........here.

Until later!
Christina

Land of the Rising Sun

I finished a small collage, available in my SHOP. Here are some picks to enjoy!

Land of the Rising Sun