In my continuing quest to mix up my crafty ventures, I share with you a photo of this glorious pillow case that I made. It came as a kit, but I could not have picked better fabrics to go together. Wouldn't they make a great page. I made this pillow just prior to my Florida trip, and I bragged during the 20+ hour journey up and back. I bet everyone wished they had such a fabulous pillow to rest their head against the side of the car as we plummeted down the highway to Florida.

The not-so-precious moment was when I opened my diet Dr. Pepper bottle at 2:00 a.m. and it exploded all over my shirt and my precious pillow. I spent the rest of the journey slightly damp and stained, but thankfully washed my pillow case when we arrived in Florida. Only my memories can recall the trauma. The stains on my pillow case are gone thanks to Tide!

And now for a paper venture. There were these wonderful apple dies that I picked up last Fall. I new that eventually I would find a use for them, and as many people know I teach a Monthly Memories Class at New England Scrapbook. I knew I had to use the die cuts, but just wasn't quite sure how I would incorporate them. I stressed about it for some time, but in the end was happy with the combination of stamped words, dew drops and the die cuts. It all just came together.

What's up next? Well, on the fabric front it will hopefully be some of my unfinished projects. On the paper front, I've got some classes coming up: Sampler Day (where participants will try their hand at several different paper craft projects, Fall Memories (2 two-page layouts) and another Monthly Memories class (where we'll focus on November and December pages). Time to pull some more dies out of my stash! Wait for it . . . it's coming.

Call Me Crazy . . . all for Electricity?

One has to be crazy to take a vacation to Florida in August.

One has to be crazy to drive to Florida in August.

One has to be crazy to drive in a car with six people to Florida in August.

Just call me crazy!

It started as a chance to visit my family down in Florida. With a forced vacation during shut-down for Rick, the dates were not an option. It was the first week of August, or nothing at all. And so it was going to be just Rick and I. But a Disney headline . . . caught by Kelly . . . suddenly turned it into a trip to Disney. Why? Well, because Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade was making a return in the summer months. Nostalgia took over . . . I remember when Tracy was 20 months old and watched that parade from her stroller in Frontierland. And so a simple trip for two turned into a trip for six . . . Rick, me, Tracy, Kelly, Ezra and his sister Anna. Sardines in a car. Luggage on the top . . . luggage hanging off the hitch. Driving straight through . . . we are talking FUN TIMES!


The heat and humidity made me crazy. I realized juat how sweaty I was when I was in a bathroom outside of Splash Mountain and I glanced at myself in the mirror. I looked like I had already ridden the ride . . . not like a person holding a Fast Pass and awaiting my plunge. I didn't take as many pictures as usual, because it was just annoying. My hands were sweaty. The people in my photos . . . sweaty! I kept switching from sunglasses to my eyeglasses . . . up until the time that I lost the eyeglasses completely! GREAT MEMORIES!

While the brave younger adults managed six days at the parks . . . the older folk settled on three. EPCOT, Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios. Was it hot . . . well, just check out the hidden Mickey in the form of sweat on the back of Tracy's shirt. It is truly in the shape of a Mickey Hat. Now that's what I call DISNEY MAGIC!

When I'm at the the parks, I always find I don't want to miss anything. I want to do it all. This trip gave me an entire new view of Disney. I didn't remind relaxing. I didn't mind waiting nearly an hour for a seat at full service restaurant. And after viewing the Main Street Electrical Parade shoulder to shoulder, several rows deep with other strangers and their sweat . . . I didn't mind watching fireworks from a tucked away location where no one was touching me and breathing my air.

This trip was definitely "different." It was fun . . . it had interesting memories. That said, I will never go to Florida in the summer again.

With it behind me, I have shifted my gears to getting back into a creative mode. I see a few Disney layouts in my future!