Did I tell you about my birthday?

Of course, I didn't! (sorry) The day we celebrated my birthday (since I'm a leap year baby and didn't get a birthday this year) - I started having a tooth problem that has taken me OUT for 2 weeks now.
I am like the turtle just peeking out now and feeling SO happy that last night was my first night of sleeping without medication helping me... which made this morning MUCH better... no dragon mommy in sight.

So I just have to tell you about how fun my birthday was... For Christmas, I gave J some tix to a re-enactment period play at the Doheny Mansion - Greystone Manor, in Beverly Hills. We've loved Greystone Manor for a long time - the grounds are unbelievable, and we've wanted to see the inside of the mansion as long as we've been able to visit the place... but you can't just go in. So this play is set in the mansion and you follow the actors from room to room. (so fun)
My mom and dad also got tickets and that made for a fun activity to look forward to...but I am getting a little ahead of myself. Since the kids weren't a part of the day's big events, we needed a way for them to celebrate. So we had a breakfast birthday party with 3 friends over, balloons, decorations by the Design Director (of course), and quiche and muffins.
Then J and I headed off to the manor, for a great afternoon - and then we met up with the rest of the SoCal family (suffice it to say, my sister married a best friend of J's and the family tree is quite tidy - all the inlaws and "outlaws" are lifelong friends and the kids are easy cousins.) It's family tradition for all 12 of us adults to get together to celebrate birthdays - and that is a major highlight of living in LA for me.We went to Cha Cha Cha, in Silverlake - a new favorite for me. Which meant that we were in the neighborhood of Intellegentsia. Oh yeah. The brothers and sisters joined us for after dinner coffee and I have to say, it was a great birthday!
(other than the tooth pain)

More Lenten Collages...

just sharing...
spent today home from church - sick (still), with a sick and grouchy boy.
I seem to have misplaced my journal for now- which caused much angst for me today, so I decided to work out some of my thoughts by collage....

images, (obviously) copyrighted 2009 liberty worth

Belated Valentine's Gift

J and I decided to forego random little gifts this year for Valentine's Day and instead to buy something we'd both enjoy for the living room. We decided to look for a chair, but haven't yet found the perfect one - so en route to the perfect chair, I found these! here (bought only 1 - these are pictured in the store, not my living room)
They were marked down, over 75% off - which put them into our price range... and way below what it would cost to make something so lovely.
Doesn't this just scream "libby would love this!"????
A friend walked into the living room and said, "did you have that made for this room?"
I feel the same.
happy, happy, joy, joy!

Tea Cozy Happiness

I'd been waiting to post this because I wasn't wanting to give away the secrets... but I had so much fun making these (and a few others) Tea Cozies recently for some special birthday gifts for special friends. They've all been shipped off now and I know that most of them have been opened already, so I am happy to show you what I was working on for a little while.

And yes, there have been a few references to papal headgear... which I find funny. Which makes me think my tea drinking dad might need one, since his grandpa name is PopE. (now you see why it's a capital "E")

Cafe de Leche

I'm a sucker for a cute latte!
Yum.
The barista was sweet and told me she made the heart just for me.

Scrap-book-mania

I am loving making these. And I've come up with a name, too..."the rough around the edges SCRAPbook"

These are the best. They are refillable, super duper "green" and apparently (as I get feedback from friends) quite enviable. They make the perfect sketchbook or work notebook....
Oh, I'm just so happy about them I can hardly stand it.... Etsy shop, soon...

Designing Moms

The internet is a scary, addicting and wonderful place.
I can so easily find myself sucked into the world of blog-reading - it's amazing, often to learn that there are people out there with really similar interests and passions... There's a new blog on my list that I am checking out daily - as well as being a contributor to very soon, called Designing Moms. It's a great place to be inspired in so many ways.
Check it out and meet some other really inspiring women...

Stamp collection

Oh! These are so fun to make!!!!
Now I just need some outlets for them...

First "impressions" (trying my hand at stamp carving!)

A peek inside my new binder/scrap-book... Look at what I made while the kids ate dinner tonight... Here's the link to the tutorial!!!!
You can see my first hand carved eraser stamp... It was so easy and fun to do that J saw me and said, "I want to do that!" (something akin to whittling, my "old man at heart" felt it calling to him...) If I can get HIM wanting to do it, you know it's got to be fun...

Lenten collages

Though I am not actually Catholic in faith, each year as this season rolls around, the discussion pops up at church (Christian)... "are you giving up anything for lent?" And I have given up coffee, shopping, meat, sugars, and other things different years... But as I thought and prayed about what to "give up" this year, I decided to do something different...
Instead of taking something away, I've added something...**instead of heading straight into my sewing room to work on projects that are on my mind, I've committed to spend at least 10 minutes (or more) of my creative time focused on art that has a spiritual nature or basis...
Kind of a way to refocus myself, both creatively and spiritually.

It hasn't been an every day thing so far (my creativity has been cut short by a root canal crisis that's got me laying kind of low down) , but the new resolution has been really fun for me... I've been sketching a lot... I'm no great illustrator, but i've enjoyed the freedom of making art for the sake of simply making art.  Tonight I focused on collage... And played with the idea of "home"...  (something I've wanted to do a series on for a while) ...in my new binder.