Lauren Ferguson | There are no mistakes in art, just opportunites to embellish. (tm)

Sometimes it is not all about me...

Yes, I know that it is hard to believe but there are some days when I do realize that the world in general does not revolve around me and my wants and wishes.

As disappointed as you may be imagine how upset I was to find this information out too.

Oh, but I digress...

Right before CHA-Summer, Ronda from Daily Window, invited me to make art for one of the company's bags.

At first, I looked and was completely lost. I can remember emailing her something along the lines of ...

I just want to let you know that I am not a card maker. So having said that, are you willing to let me have complete creative freedom. What I am saying is, Can I do anything that I want as long as I promise to maintain the integrity of the bag.

Basically, I knew that I wanted to cut the plastic window open and add a piece of copper to the bag. 

I picked a few bags and I have major plans to get my pieces worked into those bags.

 Then I saw the Bible cover. Oh my!! I knew I had to make it for my Aunt Jean. 

She is an ordained minister. I knew that it was something personal that I could make just for her and no one else.

So I asked her for her favorite bible verse. It is Romans 12:2.

Now that I am over the worst part of this cold, I went straight to my one and only true love.... copper.

I made a stamp of the verse just the way that I wanted it. Then I took the stamp and did my thing with a piece of copper and now it is the front cover of the Bible Tote.

I was going to put some more stuff on it and then I just stopped and looked... I just stopped and said that it was perfect in its simplicity. Just perfect.

I had made plans to have lunch with her for Monday. I brought it to PF Changs and gave it to her. I think that it took her a minute to realize what I had given her and then she looked and loved it.

I am glad. So I had her put her Bible in it so that I could take a picture.

Oh how I love my copper!!!

I have a few other things that I need to work on for the rest of the week. They are coming together and all is getting done.

Have I told you how much I love my copper?

until we meet again,

I have been neglectful, I apologize

Oh Please forgive me for being so neglectful.

I have really wanted to blog and then I realized that I had just one more thing to do and then it was too late.

Then I would wake up in the morning and think that I was going to blog and...

You guessed it, time passed me by like greased lightening and once again, I did not blog.

But let me give you the short version of the past 10 days...

• Mama, I want spinach salad with blue cheese crumbles and rotisserie chicken...
• Honest honey, I am coming home Monday night... And he did get home today!!!
• Mr. Du was mad that he could not play with the toys a free time, so he p'd in the toy box...
• My mother just figured out that I am not super woman and never want to be...
• I have had four exciting phone calls in the past three days but they are separate blog entries...
• I made my first stamp image at home this past week with my friend Debbie Kissall and I am now addicted...
• I have gotten back to my first love... etching copper...
• I have tried to take care of myself while I was sick but I am still coughing...
• I have to figure out how to tweet and blog and not have it be a time suck...
• I want to find a way to keep the Mojo fairy in my basement for more than 3 hours at a time...
• I am really working hard to get YouTube videos completed...
• I have been laughing and bonding with the girls... I am learning to be a better friend...
• Tomorrow is the boy's birthday and I gave in and got them a Wii...

OK, so now that you are pretty much all caught up, I will be blogging with all new stuff that is happening starting right now.

until we meet again,

Just a bitty bit of stuff...

A few weeks ago I was sitting around just looking for something quick to make. It did not have a purpose, it was not for anyone or anything in particular, it was just because...

I was sitting around and thinking what could I do really quick to get the Mojo flowing.

Well, I had some extra frosted slides that I had done for CHA-S and they were just calling me.

What were they saying you ask???  They were saying make me into a book. Make me a mini book.  So I get on the phone with my friend Cat Confer from Chicago and she says go for it and see if you can do it in under 30 minutes.

30 MINUTES!!!!

I don't even sit on the potty in under 30 minutes. I have never done anything in under 30 minutes. Thats right I mean NOTHING.  Get your head out of the gutter, this is suppose to be a family friendly blog...  NOT.

So I made these and I really liked them. I posted them to a Y! group I belong to and completely forgot to post them here. They are simple and fun. 

As soon as I can speak without coughing up a lung, I am going to do this as one of my three YouTube videos that I have promised.  

Well, I am off to try and get better. 

until we meet again,

Have you ever had just one...

Nope, not me.  I generally like to indulge in everything that I do.

But I have been blessed to have one project every year that is just the best of the things that I have done. You know that one project that makes you sit back and say Oh if they only knew the real story behind this thing, they would not believe me.

Well, I have had one and I love it.

I just got my copy of Altered Arts Magazine.  Let me just say that I have spent way too much money on FedEx overnight to get my projects there. For no other reason than the fact that the MOJO Fairy does not show up until 24 to 48 hours before something is due.

Did you see how I blame shifted to an imaginary being. It worked for me so lets just run with that for a minute...  Oh, but I digress...

So I did a checker board when I was on the Ranger Design Team and it was my best piece that year. I loved it and it worked for the product.

Now, this year I did a chess board.  I think I have a game theme going on.  Could it be that inner child in me that likes playing with the MOJO Fairy?

Notice, how I am keeping the imaginary friend thing going and now giving her credit for the creative process, just keep running with me for a bit longer....

Well, I was at CHA-W and saw these crazy paper dolls from Create and Treasure. I committed to working with them in the prototype.

I had to cut each one of these pieces out by hand. Did I tell you that I hated cutting anything with scissors!

Trust me I did the whole wishblade thing and it was not worth the scanning and all that crazy when it was said and done.

Well, once again, my late behind got the back of the magazine. Let's put it this way it was so late, I did nto even have time to take pictures of it for my own gallery. Really Really late.

But can I say that as far as I am concerned that was the best piece of hanging with the MOJO Fairy that I have ever done. She took over. She got rid of the rules and BAM! Out comes this board.

When I get out of the way and jet let it happen, she shows up on time and with reinforcements to get the job done. Oh how she is faithful!!

until we meet again,

To Germ or not to Germ

I have to tell you...

I have been so sick, but I just could not let another day go by and not share some of my great news through my germs.

I have been just on cloud nine since the MEHC article came out. 

Then I was in NJ at the AC Moore and I was sitting at the counter with a friend and she picked up the Scrap and Stamp Arts and as she was flipping through the pages and saw this. 

This was the book that was inspired by my dear friend Valonda Leichty.

She posted back a while ago a book that she had done with the word BEAUTY. 

That book became my muse for this one.

Prang had just sent me some air dry clay and it just all fell into place.  I have to admit that it just blew my mind. I really expected that the clay would fall apart and would not hold up to the stamping or the paint and let alone the eyelets and the wire.

OK, let me say this. DO NOT USE YOUR CROP-A-DILE TO CUT PENNIES!!!

I have broken two of them trying to punch holes in things that you should not put holes in the first place.

I just wanted to let the world know that even if you serve as someone's muse or visa versa, good karma says: "Always give credit where credit is due and remember to pay it forward."

Oh, so here is the rest of the gallery of photos. Go check it out.

until we meet again,

My first love note

Oh, you did not tell me how good it feels when you go to school and get all refrigerator art from your kids at school.

OK, so can I be perfectly honest... I did not save all the other stuff. You know that stuff that gets on the fridge for encouragement, but when the cleaning lady comes it miraculously finds its way into the circle file.

I kept some things but those were always given to my parents so that they can keep it because they are good like that.

Well, I got my first love note from Chi-Chi today. She wrote it all by herself. She even made sure that she spelled "mommy" correct.

Oh and can I say that it is my first true only for mama and not for anyone else who could have picked her up from school on the list kinda art.

until we meet again,

22 days and counting...

Well, my darling husband is in Nigeria for the next 22 days. 

I am going to practice this single mother head of household thing again!!

Last time he was gone for over 4 months. This time, I put my foot down. I made him wait until his ducks were in a row before he could leave.

Because once he is there it is a sit and wait kinda game.

Plus, he gets homesick so quick that it is even worse than if he is here and driving me crazy.

I have to admit that the first few days are great. My house runs like clockwork.

I run a tight ship. I am in charge it is a benevolent dictatorship. They don't have to like it, they just have to do it.

I have a rule in my house, I learned it from my parents, you can be mad, just pick up your toys because it is such a waste of energy to be mad and put it to go use.

You can disagree with me, but I don't want to hear it. Just clean up your room.

You can cry until you have no more tears, just get in the bathtub and take a bath, because dirt bumps are bad and we don't want any dirt bumps in this house.

You can beg until you are blue in the face, but after they are done, they must put their dishes in the sink.

Now, I have gotten the kids trained. Training my husband would make my life so much easier.

Since he is gone for the month, I will have these little buggers ship shape so that when he gets back, he will undoubtedly mess up our two step and be the Daddy that the kids love and just throw a monkey wrench into my mix.

So now to put them down for a nap because we have to go plant blueberry trees at my Aunt Jean's house this afternoon.

My theory is this...

(mess made by kids)³ * (amount of time it takes to make the mess in seconds) =

GOOD TIME HAD BY ALL!!!

until we meet again,

And they said that it could not be done

Yep, that is what they told me. They told me that I could not do it.

Now for me, and anyone who knows me, this was nothing more a gauntlet challenge.

Here it is less than 2 years later and I am doing this. Everyone thought that it was the dumbest thing for me to do.

And when I mean dumb, y'all I mean I had to have a sit down and let them know that it was not a sacrifice but a choice.

I have made some good choices in my life. But the truth is that this was the best choice that I could have ever made.

Not only am I doing what I love, but I am doing it with abandon and on my terms.

I was just thinking about all the things that I thought I had given up in order to be the Mama that my Mom was for me.

I can remember her being at everything that mattered in my life at that time. And if she was not there she made damn sure that whoever was there was screaming, cheering and doing it louder, better and faster than any other parent there.

I sit back now and say WOW!!! How did she do it all? How did she do it and still keep dinner on the table and still let us know that we were the most important things in her life? How did she do it and never let me know how scared and tired she was on any given day?

I had the same front door key, the same address, the same phone number for over 35 years. I actually asked them to move closer to me when I had the boys. Not realizing that they had to close a chapter of their lives and transition into this new geographic place and create new memories.

How could I ever be anything other than grateful for their compliance with my wishes once again???

You know it makes my heart sing to know that at 43, my mother still wants to mother me. She still wants to keep my interests, desires, aspirations, hopes and dreams a priority in her life. My Dad still wants me to make sure that all my I's are dotted and all my T's are crossed.

While I was in NJ these past few days, my parents were at every single book store, grocery store and kiosk buying any and all copies of MEHC. Then I sent them on a mission to find Scrap and Stamp, October because I had a two page spread in there.

My parents find joy in my success no matter where it comes from. I am truly grateful that I have the best gene pool on the planet.

The love they have for me at times is so overwhelming that it makes me want to be a better parent. They have set the bar so high that falling short is always my fear.

Now don't start crying and think that I lived the life of Ozzie and Harriett.

My Mom is crazy and my Dad has driven her there in the HOV lane.

But they are mine and I am forever grateful.

until we meet again,

Don’t be sad that it is over be glad that it happened

As Shannon and I were driving to her work this morning, we were talking about death and dying and regrets and no regrets and all of that stuff that you talk about when someone you love is experiencing the loss of a loved one.

And of course, we decided to remind each other of our wishes… Now remember that this is my blog that you are reading, so make sure that you keep the drinks far away from the keyboard.

Ok, Shannon and I both agree that we want to be cremated. Philosophically, it is because we do not want our families to feel obligate to have to take care of a small piece of grass. Plus if I cannot get anything other than dirt to grow in my house then what makes you think that I am going to be able to do it in death. No matter how much fertilizer you put on that plot, I will still be able to kill it in death. So no guilt for not making grass grow over my plot.

Plus, I want to have my ashes scattered. There are two things that I have always wanted to do.

First, I want to bungee jump off the side of the George Washington Bridge. 9/11 made that impossible. So I figure if they just throw my urn over the edge, I will get my wish. Now if they do not want to deal with the morning commuter traffic, they have a second option.

Second, I want to go over the Falls at Niagara. Now please do not think that I am that crazy to even believe that it is possible to do in life. I have been there and I have to admit that the fools who go over the Falls alive are plain crazy. I am not crazy. So I figure if I want to go over the Falls, I need to do it when I am dead.

So that is me.

Now, my friend Shannon has only one wish. She wants to be spread in the Garden at Disney World. She figures if she has to spend eternity anywhere she wants to spend it at the happiest place on Earth.

Yep, that is about as deep as it got in the car on the way to work this morning.

I think that we all process death differently. I have realized that if I can't do anything else, I want to make sure that I am able to leave just a bit of laughter and a whole lot of love.

So for the record, there will only be 30 minutes of crying at my transition. If you are 5 minutes late then you only get 25 minutes.

After that, you must bring your sense of humor and a list of all the crazy things that I have ever said or done. The first person who makes me sit up in the casket wins!

I am grateful of all of heartfelt lessons of life and death that I have learned in these past few days.

So now to get on with the business of living.

until we meet again,

What a great day!!

Can I tell you that nothing went the way that I planned but it was still a very very good day.

OK, so NO, I did not find the MEHC magazine today.

But that is OK.  I got to be excited all over again.  And toward my second visit to the Publix, I was ready for the excitement of having to wait until tomorrow.

One of my best friends, who does not scrapbook.  Do y'all have any more of those friends. You know the non-crafty kind and no matter what you do they will not come over to the crafty side.

I am not giving up on them, I am just working them over slowly.

Well, her Dad passed away and we have been friends for the past 25 years. You know those kinda friends.

Well, tickets were just way too expensive to fly direct. So I tried all the things that you do to get a cheap ticket.

I was left with no options I had to go via PriceLine.  Oh how I hate PriceLine. 

Now they will get you there in your price range, but the flights are just so awful.

I mean they are bad.

My Atlanta to Newark ticket is:

Atlanta to Dulles... Dulles to Newark and the flight leaves at 6.00am and lands at 9.35am.

My Newark to Atlanta ticket is:

Newark to Chicago ... Chicago to Atlanta and the flight leaves at 6.35 pm and lands at 12.05 Saturday morning.

So here is what I am thinking. 

The planets and the universe are aligned so that I walk through the airports to find my MEHC

OR

I just love my friends so much that I am willing to travel to the ends of Eternia because they are my friends.

Either one works for me!

until we meet again,