Memorial Day and Happiness!

Hey everyone!  Thanks for visiting me this beautifully HOT day!  First off, I would like to say Happy Memorial day and God bless all our military and all they do to keep us safe all over the world! 

Because of the holiday this will (hopefully) be a short post.  This week I started working on a new project.  I am not sure how it will end or what all will be part of it, but I am enjoying having the creative juices flowing and working out all the little details. 

I did take some time out of that to continue on the Every Inchie Monday world tour.  This week we land in South Asia in the Eastern Himalayas, to a small country named Bhutan.  For being a small isolated country they are one of the happiest in the world.  That is what they are best known for.  As a matter of fact the King measured the country not in "Gross National Product", but by "Gross National Happiness"!  How cool is that!  Wouldn't it be great to think about life in levels of happiness instead of finances? 

That made such an impression on me that I just had to smile.  Literally! 

That is it for me this week, (like I said a short post!)  I hope that you all have a blessed and creative week and that you all find your Gross National Happiness as well!  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great artwork over there.

Lithuania and a Lost Pattern.

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  Summer is here and I am enjoying the warmer weather but not the ticks!  They can go AWAY, thank you very much!

So, before it gets too hot lets get this blog on!  This week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme is Lithuania.  Lithuania is in Europe and is one of the three Baltic States.  One thing I thought was really sweet about Lithuania is that the white stork is one of the National symbols.  What is sweet about it is that children still believe that the stork brings babies; probably because there are over 13,000 pairs of storks there!  How adorable!

To that end I decided to make a stork as my inchie.  Maybe he is standing in line waiting to pick up the next baby to be delivered!

Also, this week I searched my laptop and found the original pattern from the United Kingdom that I could not figure out from last weeks post.  Not only did I find the original one I remembered what it was supposed to be!  YAY!!  Here is the pattern first.

The black and white is a soccer ball, of course.  But it really took me forever to remember what the brown thing was.  I think I remember designing it as a trophy!  Not sure which one but I do think that is what it is supposed to be. 

Kinda anti-climactic I feel; am I right? 

That is it for me this week.  I have been trying to do more beading but it has not worked out for me.  I have started and restarted one piece 4 times and it is driving me crazy!    But I am hoping that I will have time to work on it this week. 

Lastly, this week, I just want to mention that there was a few more school shootings this week.  One of which hit a bit too close to home.  I am not going to be all political here; that is not what my blog is about; but I have been blown away by the numbers, there have been an average one 1 school shooting a week this year and there have been more deaths from school shootings then there are soldiers who have been killed in combat this year.   

Soldiers sign up to protect and know that there is a chance they might not come home, (God bless them for their service!).  Our children sign up for classes and know that there is a chance that they might get asked out to the dance.  They should not have to worry about dying.  Things need to change.  The US is sadly in first place in this arena.  So, say a prayer, go vote, voice your opinion, do whatever you have to do to make a change.  God bless all who have been touched by these senseless acts.  God bless our children.

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the beautiful artwork over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends. 

Two Weeks of Busy Fun

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by the nest this week.  I missed all last week pretty much.  There was so much going on that I did not have time to even bead! 

I did get my inchies from last week and this week!  YAY!  Last week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stopped at the United Kingdom.  I was pretty excited for this inchie, then when I got out the pattern I was stumped!  You may remember that I design my inchies at the beginning of the year then I get the yearly list.  Well, for the UK inchie I designed something that, months later I could not figure out!  I had  no clue what it was supposed to be!  It looked kinda like a soccer ball in the front but I could not figure out what was in the background.  In the end I just could not figure out what I was trying to do so I had to start over.  That said, I am not really happy with the new pattern.  But it is what it is and here it is!

Can you tell what this is?  Yea, I know it looks pretty gaudy!  It is supposed to be an ornate tea pot.  Yea, a TEAPOT!  Oh well!  LOL  Now on to this week, quickly!

This week over at EIM the theme is Andorra.  I have heard of the place but not really heard of the place, if you know what I mean?!?  That said, I looked up many things about Andorra I found one really cool thing about Andorra, the last time they went into war was over 1,000 years ago!  How interesting!  Wouldn't that be nice to not know what war looks and feels like, am I right?  Check out my inchie.

I wanted to mention that I finished my first virtual race from Yes.fit.  I have to thank Cathy for introducing it to me; I am hooked.  I have already started my 2nd race!!  Here is my Medal from my first race.

 
I love the little card that came with it!  It makes me laugh so much.  The ribbon and medal are both so pretty.  I was also really surprised at how heavy it is.  I can't wait to get further into my next race.

That is it for me this week.  I hope that everyone (in the US) had a great Mother's day.  Mine was great.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the world tour, and have a blessed and creative week my friends.

Greece and a New Charm

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the nice weather.  Enjoy it while you can because it is going to be bad for the rest of the week!!!  ARG!  WHY! 

Ok, now that that is out of my system, I have 2 pieces to show you all.  First off, the world tour over at Every Inchie Monday has stopped at Greece.  Did you know that Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization.  So many things have started in Greece.  Democracy,Science, Math and the Olympics; just to name a few things. 

But, you all know me, I never go with the flow.  I don't go the obvious route.  My brain just never works that way, lol.  For me, when I thought about Greece, I thought about Michael Symon.  He is an Iron Chef and co-host of The Chew.  He is part Greek and he many times cooks with olive oil.  Olives are delicious and even though I am partial to black olives my inchie is made with a green olive and a pimento.  Check it out.

Also this week I redid my brothers family charm.  He was a river boat captain on the Mississippi River.  He worked on the river for decades and it was his passion.  My doing a small little sail boat really did not do justice or show my love and respect of him.  So I did this one.  I really love it and feel better about it. 

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great works over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.