Here I am with my best friend in the whole world, Renee'. It took me thirty-two years to find her! I used to hear the expression soul-mate and I really couldn't get it, then I met Renee`. I believe men and women are just too different to be soul-mates. So, ladies, if you have one out there, it will be a girlfriend.

About Me

My photo
I am fifty-eight years old and a happy empty-nester of three grown children: nearly 26, 33 and 37. My 33 year old daughter is married and gave us our first grandchild, a baby girl named Astrid. I have been married one time for 41 years so far. I am the sixth of eight sisters. I have done some traveling. My restless oldest daughter took me to New York, Paris and London. I love to scrapbook, do needle art, beading, quilt, sew, decorative paint, home decorating and anything else that I can imagine or inspires me after looking at a magazine, HGTV, or the web! I enjoy having internet friends and think of them as modern day pen-pals.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Around the World in a Lot of Days

This is Anna and me after the performance of Wicked in LA. This little sweetie between us was in a starring role because the original star had fallen ill. Boy, was she excited. As an understudy I don’t think she imagined her day would come. Sort of like being runner-up to Miss America. “And if anything should happen that she is unable to perform………..like we find out she’s a porn star and not a virgin” LOL
Back to my regularly scheduled program….

Anna Marie is my world traveler and my oldest daughter. Her restless feet have seen five continents in her 26 short years, four in the last two years alone. But growing up in a tiny farming town that is nearly 80 % Hispanic the first country she hit was Mexico. She does a lot of scrap-booking, however I love to scrapbook too so, at times, I have taken it upon myself to preserve her memories. Her work is not as refined as mine but she is amazing when she journals which, definitely, trumps meticulous.
I wanted to show(off) the first two pages of her Mexico trip. I first drew an outline of Mexico. That was a trick for me as I always say Geography wasn’t my major and my husband adds, “Honey, Geography wasn’t even your minor.” LOL (bunny trail) My sister works for Alaska Air and when I asked her if they flew to St.Louis she, with all sincerity asked, “Is that a state?” She’s been with AA for three years! But I fly at a discount so who cares if she doesn’t know her states. Back to the page…I cut my pics into one inch squares for a mosaic and on the second page used a background of floral velum. As you can see, I inserted a star with a photo of Anna into the area that she lived. I used full photos to fill the country and random partial photos to fill in areas around the border. I used floral letters to pinpoint and spell the name of the city where she lived which I had to re-spell three times because, quite apparently, I’m an idiot. I won’t even try to spell it here. it was in Southern Mexico. She also went to Guatemala. Did I mention that my Anna travels alone? This is the only time I live through my child. A few years ago my husband, a friend and I decided we would run the Portland Marathon. We paid our dues (actually I think my friend paid our dues), we bought our shirts (actually I think my friend bought our shirts), we bought our pins (actually I think my friend bought our pins) and we all started training. Then one of us got injured (actually it was my friend that got injured). My husband and I went back to doing nothing, my friend kept swimming and none of us even watched the marathon on TV. But the next year my daughter ran the Portland Marathon. Good enough for me. Same DNA.
What more can I say, Anna travels and runs and I scrapbook, but I’m dang good at it!
Thanks for visiting, hope to see you again. Bridget
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My Best Girl & Her Necklace

This is “my best girl”. My baby. Victoria. Today she and her big sister are going to look for her first apartment! Her sister has traveled the world and had many apartments. Actually Victoria lived part time with my niece last year traveling back and forth the 50 miles to college and back. This year she will be close to school while her sister, Anna, travels 45 miles to teach school. Anna normally teaches calculus but this year is challenged to bring middle school kids who have no basic math skills–even simple addition– up to WA State standards. Go Anna!

Victoria's next step: College!
Victoria wanted me to re-create a necklace that she saw in a dress shop. I made her the one on the left. She was really pleased–she’s my gracious one–and the only one of my children who calls me mama. See why she’s my “best girl”? Anyway, she hung it on her rear view mirror and her friend, Miki,
was crazy about it. So Miki sent some beads home with her and the only ribbon I had available was sheer silver. You guessed it. My daughter may be gracious, but she’s still eighteen and she wants one in the same colors as Miki. Miki had said to keep the left over beads and I have plenty left over along with more ribbon sooooo…….I suppose, since she’s my baby, and my best girl, while I’m sitting on the sofa, doing nothing anyway, I could make her another one. Maybe she’ll give me her first one. Isn’t that what mom’s always get, their children’s castoffs. We give the best to them and take what’s left. That’s why were Mom’s and hopefully we’re are teaching them to be selfless as well.
I actually believe that is why I am not a grandma yet. I say that my children are, “Me, me, me, me, me. Oh, and what do I want.” LOL Actually, they are very generous with their Dad and I and each other, but a family of their own, not so much.
Tomorrow, another day, another craft. Or another crisis, it’s always hard to tell.
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altered books…and more

I’m just getting warmed up to blogging and I’m still learning but I know my friends, both old and new , will be forgiving.

First I want to say Happy Birthday to my First Born, my only son, Lyn. He will be turning 30 in two short days. July 17, 5:30 am. In celebration he is flying to Minnesota and from there he is taking a two week road trip through the mid-west: nine states, eleven baseball games, a few museums tossed in there and a flight home. I love my son more than anything but this is one road trip I’ll pass on. Take me to San Francisco.
Today I want to share one of my favorite things, altered books.
They are rather hard to photograph (maybe I’ll get better). For now I’m thrilled if I can get them from my camera to my blog. Forget about getting them in the right order or any semblance of order, for that matter. But you get it, right?……Wrong? Let me know.

Altered books can be big or small, thick or thin. They’re magical, if you can dream it, they can take you there,


These treasures require a hard-bound book from a thrift store, a lotta glue, a little paint, vintage & hardware & a sprinkling of wishes & day dreams. It is the wishes and day dreams that truly make altered books a little magical.
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