Y

"Y? ... because!"

This 3 syllabol novelletta have been brought to you by the letter Y and Miss Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday ... in association with My Paper Playhouse Productions.  Photo of Miss Mona Lisa Mae courtesy of My Paper Playhouse film services in conjunction with Y Photo Post Production Services.  Lighting provided by My Paper Playhouse Lighting and Set Design.  Copyright 2011, all rights reserved.

"A quick summer read" ... Yosmopolitan

"Three syllabols have never been more dramatic" ... The New York Yimes

"Page turner from beginning to end" ... The Chicago Sun Yimes

"Rife with satyrical humour" ... Vanity Yair


All right ... clearly i have nothing for you this week ... but do stop by for Z ... I've got that one in the bag!  Click on Jenny's button below to read many much more interesting reads than this one!

Peace, love & paper
Jo

Saturday Centus ~ The Chicken

OMG ... my 200th post and I am celebrating it with the most horrid bit of poetry you have every read ... but before i get into that ... 200 posts and 101 followers!!!  that calls for some sort of celebration ... which i think i will postpone till the summer, near my birthday ... and then we will have a little bash!

okay, Saturday Centus ... why darn that Miss Jenny ... this weeks prompt ... I'm not a chicken ... and it all has to be in rhyme ... shidizzle!!!!

this is seriously bad ... so don't say you weren't warned ... oh and it was hastily scribbled between cleaning the bathroom and starting the laundry ... now your just dying to read this aren't  you???

Philomena James was a funny bird

I’m not a chicken, she yelled to the herd

I fancy flight, beyond the barn door

And through those blue skies I shall soar

Through those clouds you will see me burst

In the morning skies I will be the first

You can’t tie me down with rope or chain

I’ts in the skies where I will remain

You will hear me laugh … not a cluck

Because I am neither chicken or duck

I am just me, free spirit and all,

Screeching above you I will not fall

Damn, did I just lay that egg???

Well that changes everything ….

Okay you all have my permission to groan and comment big time on my lack of ... err... rhyme???

Peace love & paper

~jo

eXtreme circus ...

... now, before you go all politically correct on me ... let me explain ... this wasn't my idea ... seriously ... it wasn't ...

I think it was Honey's idea .... yea, she was watching the Magpie and me enjoying our little slices of cheese (a rare treat around here) and she decided she needed to do something eXtra special in order to liberate some of that cheese ....

 Ladies and Gentlemen .... WELCOME TO THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!!! .... (yeah, imagine circus music, spotlights, terrifying clowns and the smell of popcorn and candy floss) ... 

In the centre ring ...... Miss Honey and the "ball of doom" ....

you want me to do what??? for a piece of cheese ....

Honey and her assistant Magpie must perfectly centre the ball ....

Magpie gingerly helps Honey into position ... will she slip???  will she fall???? will she fail???  .... the audience stills ...

Ooooops!   this doesn't look right
 the audience simultaneously gasps!!!
The hushed audience is so still you can hear a popcorn kernel drop ... and get stepped on ... while other bits of popcorn are being consumed .... and more get dropped ... and an elephant steps on a kernal ... while a creepy clown sweeps more of stuff out of the ring

.....

.....


.....


.....

The crowd ROARS!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls .... She has done it!!!   give us a round of applause for the amazing Miss Honey and the "Balllll of Dooooom"

Get me outta here!!!  and get my cheese ... stat!!!

No puppies or humans were hurt during this eXtreme circus ... and they were all fed mounds of cheese and in Honeys case, a little biscuit with her cheese ...

This has been a Letter X and Miss Jenny Production ... click on the button below to visit other eXtreme X posts!!!

Peace love & paper!
Jo

Hearts & pink stuff!

Oh lucky day ... I had the happiest mail from across the pond today! 

Actually I'm just excited that I got and envelope with a big gold "royal mail" stamp on it!  I know, I get excited way too easy ... anyways, inside ... this gorgeous silver heart pendant from Angela of SofiNos Designs ...   and true to form, i had just enough time to take a picture of it, before my daughter (who shall from this day forward be renamed the magpie), swooped down the stairs, scooped it up proclaiming that it far better suited her than me and then disappeared into her room ... sigh ...

and before i forget ... i won this gorgeous piece of jewellery ... it was Angela's doorprize for the OWOH event ...

I made this shadowbox for my daughter, the magpie, yesterday while at a crop.  It took me most of the crop to make, not that it was difficult but because i was too busy having fun at the crop ... love my monthly scrapping group girls, they are sooooo much fun!    So yeah, if you are counting ... that is the second heart themed prezzie my daughter received today...  She loved it!  I'm wondering if I could pull off a fleur-de-lis  in this style for myself ... hmmmm ....

And here is a little layout I did recently of my magpie ... before she died her naturally blonde hair, dark dark brown .... grrrrr ...

oh, pardon the grrrrr .... what I really meant was how lovely that she has sooooo many hair options at her age ... sigh ....

The chandelier is Kaisercraft wood ... i painted it bright white, then inked it to tone it down and then used some glimmer glam on it ... and the scroll is Pink Paislee ... i don't know what it's made of ... kinda of a rubbery feel to it, i painted and inked for some subtle shading ... Both of these items were fun to play with ... you can find some at Tiny Seed 

So that's what I've been up to ... thanks so much for stopping by ... I love visitors!!!

Peace, love & paper
~Jo

Saturday Centus ~ The Window

You all know the drill ... Jenny gives us the prompt ... we write a story of 100 words or less ... This week I'm just slightly over the 100 ... but just by a 75 little words ... and that was after some serious editing ... oh, and the changed the "the" to an "a" ... This weeks prompt is "the curtain parted".  Here's my contribution ...

She was walking … as she always did after her ritual morning meal of toast and tea, walking on a route she had carefully chosen some twenty odd years ago.  As she approached the T intersection, she looked up at the row of houses that lied ahead… it was in that moment that her view changed.  It was as if a curtain parted.  She was in a vaguely familiar room … the window dirty, yet the light sharply shone through and illuminated dust particles dancing in the stale air … an overwintering geranium struggled for life on the windowsill.  Her feet compelled her to keep walking while other regions of her brain sent out waves of panic through the rest of her body.  She realized at once that she had no idea where she was … “just keep walking” she muttered.  In five terrifying steps it was over …she was at the intersection, shaking… wondering if this was how it started …  if the threat of a memory robbing disease was lying await within her.

Now, if you fancy some amazing little stories of 100 words or less (i promise i am the only one cheating) just click on Jenny's button below.

so many thank you's ...

... to so many friends ... both here and in blogsphere ...

I once had a nightmare that followed me for weeks .... i dreamt i had no friends ... and at my funeral there was nothing ... i was in fact the Eleanor Rigby of my time, and true to the song  ... nobody came ...

and in truth, it was a nightmare ... the concept of life without friendship must be a horrifying existance ...

So I thank all of you who stop by here to visit, to read my odd little ramblings ... comment on my long standing affair with paper & glue ... and read my centus contributions (i do love that challenge) ... I do appreciate and love you all ... you all contribute to my wellness, my happiness and my days.  And my irl friends, i do love you all dearly.

Today, a long overdue thank you to my irl friend Sue ... who gifted me with some beautiful papers ... again, i am sooooo lucky and totally thankful!  Sue, you just rock!

And to Baxter's Mom .... she sent me this gorgeous print of her original work as a OWOH door prize ...

and to Tammie  ... who sent me this pretty little hand beaded bracelet ... as an OWOH door prize ...

and you know i love dolls, right ???  thank you to Moriah.... I won one of her online folkart doll courses ... i cant wait to give this a try!

and i am pretty thankful for winning so many wonderful door prizes during the OWOH event... i certainly won more than my fair share.

and what have I been up to???  
I made some pretty little tags for a Spring themed swap at Vintage Dragonfly

and some ATC's for a swap at Sisterhood of Scrap

and now i get to give a little something ...
from my Cards to Reid post, pulling a name from the hat and the winner of a little RAK from me is ....

Jacque!!!  Get in touch with me Jacque and i will send ya a little something!!!

Peace, Love & paper
~Jo

Saturday Centus ~ The Hare

Gee I had a hard time with this one ... i still seem to be channelling my "old man" ... he is in fact narrating the following Saturday Centus ... where he comes from I don't know but he's in there ...
okay, Jenny let us off relatively easy this week ...  her prompt is in bold ...   here's my take ...

He had never been accused of being intelligent … but he was hard working and honest as the day is long … and if you remember correctly, on the shortest day of the year, that ain’t sayin’ too much.  He did have one special skill though … he was able to track with the best of them. Be it man or beast, he had the gift … he could track them further and faster than hound after a hare.  But as of 14 minutes ago, his entire world had come crumbling down on him, hurt and heartache raining from the sky, the wind carrying the screams of the dead… Now he was the one running…

yeah ... weird right???  My mind is very unsettled  and it shows ... but I did give it a shot ... so ... if you want some more light reading, just click on Jenny's button below.

peace, love & paper

~jo

Now this sounds like fun ....

I found this over at my dear  friend Lynn's blog ... this sounds like such a fun thing to do and i hope you will play along ...  Pay it Forward 2011

photo from The Graphics Fairy

The first 5 visitors who leave a comment on this post will receive a gift handmade by me especially for you.

Here's the catch (but the best part):

FIRST you must create a post on your blog explaining Pay It Forward 2011.

Create and send a handmade gift to the first 5 visitors to comment on your post &

 who agree to do the same.

No pressure, you do not have to make and send your gifties today, or even tomorrow.

Remember it is a gift from the heart, which takes a little time.

the view today ...

Outside ... it is grey, and rainy and cold .... the kind of day that makes you want to cuddle up under a blanket, sip on a warm cup of tea and read a good book ...

At the mailbox ... a little parcel ... I open it and the view inside suddenly changes to something warm, and happy and fresh and springlike ... it is a beautiful signed and numbered print entitled "Tea Time"  by M. Estes Zywar of Limelightart ...  I was lucky enough to win this beautiful print on her OWOH giveaway ... I know exactly where it is going ...

so much prettier in real life!!!

and my view just keeps getting better ... I went for dinner with my Scrapaholic girls last night and my dear friend Izzy loaded me with presents ... just because ...

What a wonderful stack of surprises!!!

don'tcha just love these cigar boxes ... oh, i am thinking of making little gift card sets complete with stamps and a pen for Christmas prezzies ... or maybe an interactive art piece featuring spools ... or ... the view in my imagination is just spinning ...

Mona Lisa!!!   how on earth did you get in there?

and these wonderful vintage books ... they are just screaming to be made into something fun!  the view in my craft area is now filled with happy visions ...

finally the view from my reading spot ... oh yeah ... also from Izzy just because ... these two gorgeous 1945 editions of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights  ... and they are filled with gorgeous art ... these will be cherished forever ...

Now, if you want to change your view, simply click on Jenny's button below and visit all of her students to see what they came up with for V week

Peace, love & paper
~Jo

some happy mail, and some much needed happy mail ...

the happy mail

I was thrilled to find this beautiful beaded bracelet in my mail box this morning ... this is a wonderful door prize that I was lucky enough to win from Maureen of Mrs. Beadsley of Maine during OWOH!  I know, how lucky am I!!!

I love the red seed beads and the beautiful clasps and findings ... don'tcha just love the heart shaped lock!
Thank you so much Maureen ... now off to find a spot to hide it from my daughter ... who is just itching to get her fingers on it!

told ya, honey gets into almost every shot ... she just wants to be the centre of attention!

the much needed happy mail.
I met Betty of Daydream'n World through Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-thursday meme ... Betty is a wonderful woman ... her Reid has been battling Hodgkins Lymphoma  for a several years now ... he is finally scheduled to for a stem cell transplant on March 11 ... It would be so wonderful if he went into this procedure with his spirits as high as possible ... so lets make this happen ... I know that most of my blog buddies out there make wonderful cards ... so if you can spare the time, please send Reid a card in the next couple of days ... you all know the difference a card can make in someone's day ...

Reid Martin
c/o MD Anderson Cancer Center
Room 1076
1515 Holcombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030


happy mail for you
and if you do send a card, leave a comment here and i will draw for a little RAK on the 15th of March ... you might get some happy mail coming your way ...

Peace love & paper
~Jo

Saturday Centus ~ The Card

Yea!  Miss Jenny has finally posted a prompt that I can relate to ... and you know that whole, write about what you know about thing ... so that's what I am doing for this Centus ...
You know the drill, use her prompt, which is in bold below, and write a little story using one hundred words or less  excluding the prompt... here is my offering ...

He squinted as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead into his eye … he hastily mopped it up with the back of his sleeve and glanced up at the competition clock … less than 2 minutes to go before a new world champion papercrafter was crowned. Panicking he looked to the left, the lady representing Japan folded her paper so perfectly and was only a few points behind him … everything depended upon this single card.  He started to shake as he placed the last of the 33 Swarovski crystals on his paper lily … would it be enough he wondered …

Now grab a cuppa coffee, click on the button below ... and visit some other very short and very amusing stories ... light reading for a saturday afternoon!

Peace, love & paper

~jo

Thanks Jacque!

I got some happy mail the other week from my blog buddie Jacque.  She is a scrapbooker and papercrafter and she makes wonderful embellishments  that she sells in her artfire shop and they are perfect for both pages and cards ... the happy mail?  a whole lot of her goodies to play with!

 These wonderful felt and fabric orange lollipop flowers just screamed to be put on long ribbon stems and on a tall bright card ... these were great fun to play with ... they came with wonderful blue button centres but i changed the buttons up to evoke a spring feeling

 I loved working with this beautiful glittered chiffon flower ... i didn't have to do much to make a beautiful card with it!

 oh, i do love birds and Jacque send me several ... this little guy is so bright and whimsical ... i added a flower button eye to him and perched him on a cage ... so cute and so easy to do.

 This little bird was so soft and sweet ... i stuck a feather on the card just under him and gave him a pastel pink brad for an eye, too match the colour theme of the card.

Jacque's embellishments make it so easy to put a card together quickly and end up with a beautiful product ...

Thanks Jacque ... and for all my readers check out her pretty little artfire shop.

Peace, love & paper
Jo

Under my umbrella ...

ella, ella, ay, ay, ay ...  the first of a list of Rihanna songs that i really don't like at all ...
so okay, lets skip that little rant and save it for another day ... what i really wanted to do today was to shoot the view under my umbrella ... but it turned out to be a very very blustery day and i didn't want to have my umbrella blown inside out ...

so here is the view from my umbrella today ... or what it might have included ... outside one of my favourite haunts ... a little place called Coggs, that has some of the greatest antique bits around ... and the place is full of .... well coggs .... great big very old wooden coggs ... its sends me dreaming of living in a loft with a brick wall large enough to house some of the big old wooden cogs ... and there is a typesetters set of drawers that i am lusting over ... it's huge ... and dies ... i need them all because they look cool ... okay, back to the what would have been the view from my umbrella except that it was blustery ...

and here is the view from my umbrella on the day my lovely daughter bought it for me!

Now skedaddle over to Jenny's and read some other tales of U ... just click on the button below!

Peace, love & paper
~jo