The Week in Review: February 12-18

It was an oodles nd bunches kind of week. I wrote a bunch and made oodles of everything. I baked, I sewed, I crafted & I counted. Phew! Mr. A-go-go & I were doubly busy together. We gardenned, we cleaned and we visited. We took a doggy pounced kitty to the vet. She's okay. Phew! We had some of the BESTEST ice cream ever! Seriously, if you are in L.A. you have already probably heard but the hype is true I promise you, go to SCOOPS! Thai, the owner is super nice and nifty and his ice cream is trully a delight. Forget pinkberry, SCOOPS is where it's at! I did all kinds of kooky things. I ate pineapple pepsi sorbet and I hollered out BINGO when my order was ready at In & Out. Note: People don't generally appreciate happy people when they have to wait 20 minutes for an order. But it did get me a thank you for my patience and a smile from the crew so there!

Today we visit granny, drop of junk at the thriftstore, clean, craft & maybe get a smog check on the car. This week I start school and I turn 36...yikes! Hopefully, I will be updating jek in the box. I am making new bunnies this year and these lepurs are even better than last year's. No gocco this time, we're talking embroidery people and they are BIG! I can't wait to show you! Have a happy week and don't forget tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday so make some pancakes!

Another belated Heart Day craft!

Years and years ago I ran a journaling/book group for middle school girls at the bookstore I worked at. We met once a month to discuss the book we were supposed to read and do an art/craft activity and some journaling. One Valentine's Day I came up with the idea to repurpose heart shaped chocolate boxes as stationery/craft kits. I had the darnedest time trying to find unused boxes, this was before my foray into the internet, so I begged and pleaded with all my coworkers to hunt them down, bring in old ones and even buy some candy so I could use the boxes. I needed 13 of them as I had 12 girls and me. We used the medium large size and we cut out construction and astro brite paper into hearts that would fit snugly in the box. These were the "paper" part of the stationery. We covered pencils with ribbon and added a bunch of collage elements to the inside of the box for that added flair. We used cupcake liners to house the stickers and pom-pons and overall the event was a fantabulous success. A success I completely forgot about until I saw what some wonderfully crafty blogger made for her shop. Please forgive me I cannot remember who you are! If someone can help me out give me a shout so I can add linky-links and such. So, this year, I made a collage box for a dear friend who is an atc addict and often participates in swaps hosted by ARTchix. I didn't have the time to hunt down a fresh new box so I HAD to purchase a small box of chocolates, darn, and then use that. The process was easy, the hard part was deciding on how to decorate and what to add. Space was really limited so I had to get creative. Here is what I ended up with:

If you pack the top with a heart shaped piece of bubblewrap or maybe a few other flat items, it should prevent your wee goodies from escaping the muffin cups. I added a paper lantern, mini chopsticks and a fortune from a fantastic little box set called Takeout for Two by Running Press Books. I also included a variety of stickers. These boxes are great for repurposing! You can add cookies, homemade truffles, cereal, sweets, faux food and more! Check out these links for some more heart shaped box fun:

inspie co. blog
memory boxes by p.c.e.
Martha Stewart

WINNER(S)!

But first, lookie my fabulous yellow shoes! Okee dokee with One Thousand Four Hundred and Nine pieces of candy in the jar...1409...that makes gypsy the winner! Whoo-hoo! gypsy, I could not get to your profile/main page so please email me your addie, okie doke? And I decided to add a lil somethin' somethin' for the two runners up and they are...mrsmonkeys and jane! I will also need your addies! You can flickr mail or gmail me...jek in the box...happy Saturday folks!

Photobooth Friday: vintage

This delightful young lady is my mom. I'm thinking this was taken when she was 16 or so but I could be mistaken. There is simply so much I could write about her but I don't know where to start. She was an amazing women who was dealt a very sad hand. I wouldn't wish the traumas that she went through on anyone but then again I am wouldn't be the person I am today if not for them. She was beautiful and full of hope, promise, crrativity and love and then life happened. She never got to realize her potential. She never beleived in herself. She based all of her self worth on my father and the fact that he walked out. Boy, did he walk out. I have probably mentioned this before but my mother did an amazing job at being my mom. She raised people's spirits when they were down. She was a listener and a good one and while she had every right to complain or vent herself, she never did. I tried to get her to, I tried. She spent 25 years of her life, my life, pining. Pining for a man who deserved nothing of the sort. Then, one day while I held a pity party for myself at the foot of her bed she came out of it. The look of wonder and amazement on her face for all those years wasted made my heart weep. Made my heart laugh. She came out of it. We laughed, we shopped, we made grand plans for the new mamos. We were partners in crime. We had a blast. She was 58 years old and she woke up. Less than six months later my mamos was gone. I miss her everyday. I miss her now. Take a cue from her and like the tacky plaque her cousin gave her when my brother died...when life gives you lemons, make lemonade...make lemonade with a little bit of spice.

More booth-o-rama (and hopefully happier):

hula seventy
JesC
acumamakiki
the anatomist

Contest Time!

Guess how many sweets are in the jar and win a Valentine Themed giftpack from jek in the box! Add your guesses to the comments section and whomever is closest without going over wins! You have until Friday to guess. Saturday I will announce the winner! Click on the picture to go to my flickr page to see larger shots. There's a whole lotta candy in that jar! Filled to the brim, the sweets include:

*1 pound of m&ms
*2 small bags of jelly bellys
*4 snack packs of HOT TAMALES
*1 bag of Brachs Conversation Hearts
*1 bag of kissables

and a few other odds and ends...the sweets will be for the Family A-Go-Go so don't worry, you won't have to eat it all!

Make a wee trinket box!

Come on! You know you want to! You can make them for friends or family or maybe make a few for yourself! Check out scrumdilly-do! for the tutorial! Methinks I need to make more!

Yesterday was an exhausting day. I never got to nap or clean but I did get to visit with granny and score a pair of sailor pants! Go me! I have been looking for denim sailor pants since I was 16! Seriuosly! I had a pair of authentic wool ones then but I really wanted denim. I adored the style of wide legged pants and secretly wanted to be Kathryn Hepburn. At least I wanted to be her when I didn't want to be Margaret O'Brien, Audrey Hepburn, Twyla Tharp, Edith Head or Shirley Maclaine. My mamos used to expound the virtues of old movies and musicals so much so that while all my other firends were at the pool swimming on a disgustingly hot day, I was home camped out on the sofa drinking a suicide soda (my favorite mix was coke, fruit punch and mountain dew) watching The Bluebird or An American In Paris. Once, at a Sweet 16 slumber party, I awoke early to discover that Lili was on The Family Film Festival and proceeded to wake the other girls so that we could all watch it. Sigh. I love Lili! But back to the pants! They are perfect with big buttons on the front and the fit my gifted thighs and aren't to shabby across the derriere. The best part was that they were on SALE! Whoo-hoo! So ladies, if you find yourself near a JC Penney and aren't a fashion snob check 'em out! They also have some adorable swingy style cap sleeve t-shirts in the Juniors department that I believe us not so teenagey ladies could pull off! Happy day before Valentine's Day! Today I get to laze in front of the television watching a weeks worth of cheesey shows. Tonight it is a Heart Day celebration with the Lucy Goose and Crooner boy..oh and I need to finish my jebots for the Robot Swap...yikes! BUSY!