E = mc2 X = something completely different

So here we are ... week X ...and i was wondering what possible X word could i use to describe myself ... this Alphabe-Thursday adventure has been all about me me me!!! so i can write a giant compendium of myself at this point in time and, i figure one day ... maybe now, maybe next year or maybe even 20 years from now my dear daughter might be interested in what was going on with me at this time in my life ...


anyways, i digress, yet again ... since i cant possibly find an X word that works for me, and since some of you have been reading about me since the letter A and must by now know way too much about me, I am going to turn the tables this week .... yes .... I get to learn about you instead of you learning about me!!!! Well actually one more thing about me... If X is me then X= c+e+a+a+b-2w


Here it is happy readers ... a sneaky exam (i did warn ya last week) ... just put your answers in the comment section below! I can't wait to find out more about you all!

1) If you were a balloon you would be:

a) Tied to the wrist of a happy happy child …

b) Tied up in a great big group of helium balloons rawkin the party

c) Floating freely up in a clear blue sky

d) Soaring in the sky trying to reach the sun

e) Deflated …

2) If you were a crayon you would be:

a) Broken

b) Green

c) Melted in the sun

d) Pristine in an untouched box

e) Used down to a little stub

3) When you grow up you want to be:

a) I don’t have any plans to grow up quite yet

b) Someone noble

c) Asparagus

d) Queen of the world

e) Me …. Well not Jo me, but … you me … get it???

4) If you were a flower you would be:

a) A wild white daisy growing on the side of the road

b) A beautiful full-blown pink cabbage rose

c) A purple clematis sprawling over a run down fence

d) A bright sunny sunflower, reaching up to the sky

e) A trillium, hiding deep in the woods

5) If you were bubblegum you would be:

a) Soft pink

b) Turquoise

c) Vintage white

d) Butter yellow

e) Mint green

6) What would you rather be?

a) A balloon

b) A crayon

c) A grownup

d) A flower

e) Bubblegum

7) What is your favourite number?

8) What is your favourite letter in the alphabet?

As always this post has been brought to you by the letter X and Jenny Matlock’s incredibly fabulous Alphabe-Thursday meme … go visit her blog links to some interesting and amusing X posts!

Peace Love & Paper ~ Jo

A new sketch challenge !!!

A new sketch challenge has been posted over at The Inspired Scrapper! The sketch was super fun to play with and oh so easy to use. Check out my layouts (yes I did two) in response to the sketch, and check out the layouts done by Chrissann & Debbie ... both ladies are uber talented and did wonderful layouts! Here's a little sneak peak from me!

From Wicked to Wonderful and little bits in between …

Wicked

I don’t know why but I feel positively Wicked when ever I watch this video … I burst into laughter and that is just so Wrong … I dare ya to Watch it!

No kitties were hurt (well except for that slap) in the making of this video … this is actually an outtake from and ice-cream ad campaign by Lake Street Creamery. Check out their blog, they have the real commercial posted on the home page and it is uber cute!

Wellness

Back to me here people … afterall these Alphabe-Thursday posts are supposed to be and ABC of me in blog and book for …. Do I have your attention??? Okay, wellness … I am so sick of not being well … I have been off work now for 15 years due to ill health … and I have been working on my health its just that as soon as one issue is resolved another one pops up, and another one, and another one … so as of today … drastic measures …. I am swearing off of salt … I am a saltaholic so it’s going to be tough … but I was thinking … salt is used to cure/dry meat … I Wonder what it is doing to me and my inside bits …. So it’s gone … and so is sugar … gone gone gone gone gone.

West

I am a West … It’s my last name … I am totally proud of it despite the fact that there have been some evil West’s in the world, the Wicked Witch being the most notorious! (that's 2 wicked's in one post)

I almost never married my husband because he wanted me to take his name, no hypen, nothing … just toss West to the side … okay so that marriage lasted 13 years too long … (this might be the third wicked)

‘nuff said

Wonderful

Life really is wonderful … well except for the not so wonderful bits … the fact that we are granted life is really quite a miracle … celebrate it and recognize as such daily!

Where I create

I am totally blaming PJ for this bit … I believe that she once asked me if I have a dedicated space to create … Well I do … it’s on one of those Costco fold up tables with some uber inexpensive shelves and fixtures from Ikea …. And a whole lot of wicked (4) mess under the table … oh yeah, in the corner of my tiny basement along with bikes, books and a bunch of stuff that I stock up on …

such a messy messy desk

I clean my desk before i start each new project ... I really dont live in chaos unless i am in the moment ....

And if you want to see some amazingly gorgeous spaces/studios where bloggers create, take look at all of the blogs linked to this blog party hosted by My Desert Cottage … some people have truly inspiring studios!

Whew!

This post is much longer that I had intended … and not totally about me … but I hope you paid attention … Next week, there just might be an almost final eXam ….

As always this post has been brought to you by the letter W and Jenny Matlock’s incredibly fabulous Alphabe-Thursday meme … go visit her blog links to some interesting and amusing W posts!

Peace Love & Paper ~ Jo

The solstice is upon us ...

peace and happiness to all on this the longest day of the year ...
In this part of the world it is .... grey ... a little windy ... and there is a mist ... which is really just a bit of moisture in the air but not enough to call a rain ... maybe i am in low lying clouds on this little mountain...

I drove my daughter to work and noticed the clothing on people ... jackets ... long pants ... close toed shoes ... this isn't saying much for the first day of summer ... although i had on capris and flipflops i threw on my heavy winter sweater as protection against the cold & grey that is "summer"

and then the door bell rang!!! No the mailman didn't bring me summer in a box, but he did bring me these ....


can ya feel my heart beat? A beautiful little box of goodies from one of my favourite Etsy sellers Caramelos . If you haven't shopped Etsy for ribbons and lace and vintage seam binding ... i would totally recommend it ... and I have found that Caramelos has a great selection ... she ships really fast and her product is top notch ... she also carries dresden foils and glitters and all sorts of little goodies!

So i think i will use this longest day to create some of my own sunshine using maybe some of this gorgeous vintage seam binding or this lovely polkadot tulle or maybe even this pink burlap ribbon or maybe ....


Peace, love & paper ~ Jo

V is for ...

V is for very vacant mind at this point … so I am just writing to see what words come tumbling out of my mind and start to fill the page …. And cut! Scene! Print!

So it’s going to be one of those days … you know … one of those days when the teacher gives you an assignment that your vacuous mind can’t comprehend … and assignment that is due in about and an hour and has been stumping you for a week … impossible deadlines, impossible parameters … yes that kind of assignment.

This field looks pretty vacant ... well except for that little lost and abandoned red chair.

Okay … so Mrs. Matlock gave us eons of time and it’s not that difficult …. But didn’t I say right off the top that my little mind is totally vacant … I am just happy seeing words fill the page …

And then pictures … I have no suitable pictures for this post …. I mean it’s kinda hard to take a photo of a truly vacant space …. I mean what would you even see there besides air … oh …. So that’s where the term “air head” comes from … doh!

The vacant field smiles at the strangers ... hoping they will fill it with joy and memories ... the chair just hopes for an owner ... a new place to call home

Geez, I think I feel a C- coming on …

Sigining off this week feeling vacant …. Not victorious or valiant …

Sadly the stranger leaves without the chair ... the almost vacant field and the lost chair form and uneasy alliance ... broken dreams abound ...

This post has been brought to you by the letter V and Jenny Matlock’s incredibly fabulous Alphabe-Thursday meme … go visit her blog links to some interesting and amusing V posts!

Peace, Love & Paper ~ Jo

ps .... i found some pics ... i think i must take the weirdest pics ... these are from this february ... i mean who takes pictures of lost chairs ....

a little bit of news ....

so .... i applied for a Design Team position .... with The Inspired Scrapper .... and I got it!!! I posted my first layout to their site today ... it was a challenge based on a piece of jewelery ... Check out the challenge at The IS ... and here is the layout i did in response to the challenge.


There are other fabulous projects posted by other DT members ... you might want to check it out because the ladies on this team are uber talented and many of them have been published a lot ... I am actually quite surprised that I made the cut ...

I backed some Tim Holtz round fragments with some scrap fabric i got from Izzy, added some glitter, and these cute little flower centers were born ... tres easy!

So thanks for listening to my good news ...

Peace, Love & Paper ~ Jo

Undeniably me …. on Understanding ….

One of my favourite quotes is by Socrates … "I know that I don't know anything, but the others don't even know that".

And when i think of that quote ... my mind races full speed ahead to visions of Alistair Sim in Scrooge singing "I don’t know anything, I never did know anything, but now I know that I don’t know … all on a Christmas morning"


Here is what I understand …

That each life has a start and middle and an end … and it is up to each individual to spend that time that we are given in the best way possible … (didn’t they just say this on Glee? … you mean I am not the only one who has this one figured out)

That as of today, I have been blessed at least 19,329 times …

that there is always time for play

That as much as the squeak in the rusty gate hinge annoys me … it also tells me that someone I love is about to step through it and into my home and my heart for a while … hopefully for a long while …

That little things do matter … it’s the little, the common, the everyday where the heart resides, the spirit flies and we find ourselves

that the colour red in food is a good thing ...

Buffy was right … the hardest thing in this world is to live in it

and Gandolf was also right “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door”

I also understand that it can be just as dangerous not going out of your door …

That either this wall art is incomplete or i just don't get it at all...

I understand how nothing in life is more precious than your child … no matter what age they are … or what time at night they are calling for a ride home …

That these lyrics will always be important to me ... "Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes That call me on and on across the universe"

flowers are beautiful

I understand that my life today has been the result of my choices up to this point in time … yeah that’s another way of say there are consequences both good and bad to every decision ... to every action …

I understand contentment … and peace … but only in bits and pieces as they just do not exist 100% of the time … if they did … how would I recognize them ... would I recognize them?

that what goes up ...

Things I don’t understand

cheating and lying in any situation … although we are all guilty of blurring the lines with little white lies

hate, animosity, the need to be a queen bee

war, conflict, intolerance, destruction

forgiveness … I am so hard when it comes to forgiving …

the universe … it’s too expansive to ever understand

technology, the internet, the www … I feel like I am growing up with technology I don’t have the slightest hope of ever understanding …. I don’t get how I can type my words here and then the world can see them … Seriously, what happens after I hit "publish post" ... i'm sending bits of me into the universe and i don't understand ...


I want to thank you all for stopping by and leaving comments ... I have totally sucked at returning them while i have been down with this cold thing ... i made a great rally last week, i taught a small mini album class at Pick of the Patch then i went home and slept for 3 hours ... guess i just wasn't quite better ... but now i am, so i thank you all, your comments were wonderful and filled my heart with warm and fuzzy happy bits ... and omg ... i love those puffs tissues with the ointment in them ... so soft on the nose ...


This post has been brought to you by the letter T and Jenny Matlock’s incredibly fabulous Alphabe-Thursday meme … go visit her blog links to some interesting and amusing U posts!


Peace, Love & Paper ... Jo

S is for ...Sick

Ever wonder why it is so hard to win Solitaire?

What ... S was last week? ... okay seriously, we are all sick here ... well that kind too, but really sick with like a nasty virus ... sore joints ... completely stuffed up ... exhausted ... sore throats ... you know that kind of sick.

So I just don't have the energy to do my Alphabe-Thurdsay post ... but because i am aiming for a perfect attendance award here goes ...

Sometimes the game glitches ....

T is for talk ... which i love to do ... but more than talk, i love to listen ... and listen actively ... you know, the kind of listening that requires one to focus on only the speaker ... not the surrounding buildings, shoes in the window, blossoms on the tree (tree is a t word)

T is also for tea ... which i love ... but i am a total snob when it comes to tea ... My tea of choice is a blend that an the old tea company Murchie's Tea & Coffee used to blend. This tea was never made for sale in their fine establishments ... it was a house tea ... and named for the Kentish-Rankin household (several generations ago.) When we would go to order it, Murchies would pull out a very old and worn recipe card and they would then blend the tea by the pound for us. When my parents left town, they were able to get a copy of the recipe... So we all still have it blended for us today ...

and when it does glitch, it refuses to let you win ... thank gawd for freecell ... (sick humour)

T is also for tired ... which I am ... and I think that's all i can manage for today. I apologize for not responding to comments ... and I might not get to leaving many comments this round ... my Temperature is a little high and I'm just not up to it.

This post has been brought to you by the letter T and Jenny Matlock’s incredibly fabulous Alphabe-Thursday meme … go visit her blog links to some interesting and amusing T posts!

Peace, Love & Paper ~ Jo