It's Amazing the Things I Can Get Done When I Don't Have A Computer!

No internet, no DVR, NO distractions.  I'm getting quite a bit done and actually enjoying it.  I must admit I do miss the computer, but the time I spend on it is ridiculas and so it has been nice to take a break.  Gotta go so I can get home and clean some more, make dinner and babysit Anthony and Owen.  Have a great couple of days!

The 4th Annual Brown Paper Bag Swap



The Fourth Annual Brown Paper Bag Swap is a little late in starting this year, but it is that time again for some fun and creativity using Brown Paper Bags.  Sign ups are only until Friday so sign up quick.  I may not be able to get back to you for a couple of days to confirm, but I will get back to you.



Swap Rules:

1. You must use a brown paper bag in your handmade swap item. You can purchase things to add to or embellish though.

2. You MUST contact your swap partner by email. You need to say "Hi", introduce yourself and then tell them a little about yourself. I am making this a rule because I have participated in a couple of swaps and have never heard from the person I am exchanging with. I think this takes away from the whole point of the swap and kind of leaves everything up in the air. Make a new friend, it doesn't mean you have to email them constantly, but be friendly.

3. Please thank your partner for the package they send to you. I hate when I swap with someone and they don't just say "thank you". I may be late on most of my swaps, but I do put a lot of work into them and I do appreciate the work that my partner puts into theirs. Everyone likes to here "thank you!"

4. There is $15.00 (+ or - a little) price limit. All Homemade is fine!!! Please don't worry about going out and purchasing things. I'm sure between tags, cards, scrapbooks, etc..... everyone can come up with enough stuff to feel satisfied. Please just be comfortable with yourself and what you send.

5.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THE SWAP IF YOU SIGN UP.  IF YOU CAN'T FOR SOME REASON LET ME KNOW ASAP AND I WILL ANGEL THE PACKAGE.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FOLLOW THROUGH THOUGH IF YOU SIGN UP!!

Please email me at sherryreneew@hotmail.com or leave me a comment on my blog if you would like to join the swap. I need your:

Name:
Mailing Address:
Email address:
Blog address if you have one:



I will take sign ups until May 20, 2011. The mail out date for your brown paper bag item will be June 20, 2011.

If your interested, here is a little history on the Brown Paper Bag as we know it now. There were other paper bags before this and other people involved in the invention of the bags. I just decided to post about the type of bags that are familiar to us now days. Square-Bottom Paper Bag w/ pleated sides On June 12, 1883 the U.S. Patent office issued #279,505 to Chas Stilwell a patent for a paper bag machine. After fighting for the Union in the Civil War, Charles Stilwell began to tinker with the idea of making a better paper bag. Paper bags already existed at this time, but they had many flaws. They had to be pasted together by hand; their V-shaped bottoms prevented them from standing on their own; and they were not easily collapsible or conveniently stackable. In the summer of 1883, Stilwell put into operation the first machine to produce paper bags. The bags had flat bottoms for standing up straight by themselves and pleated sides that made them easy to fold and stack. Dubbed the S.O.S., or Self-Opening Sack, it remains in widespread use today. With the birth of the American supermarket in the early 1930s, demand for Stilwell’s paper bags skyrocketed. Their versatility, strength, and low cost made them first a nationwide then a worldwide phenomenon.



Hedgies and My Stump

I was so late in mailing out my Hedgie package to Missy from the YOE2 swap that Val hosts with my trips back to Kansas and all, but I finally got it finished and mailed out.  I made a couple of hedgehogs, 2 tawashi's, a set of coasters and 4 cloth napkins.  I also made a matchbox and found a cute duster that reminded me of a hedgehog.

Here's an updated picture of my stump.  I worked on it over the weekend and Earl carved a little door in a piece of wood so I can make a little fairy house.  I still have a lot of work to do on the stump, but I'm waiting on some $$ to come so I can buy some rock and other things to decorate it with.

A Piece of Art or Just an Old Stump??? That is the Question....

Much to my dissappointment our new house has no flowers or flowerbeds already here and waiting for me to play in.  So.....I am having to start from scratch and make my own.  I had Earl till in front of the house and around this tree stump for my big flower bed.  I figured I could decorate the stump somehow and it would be fine there.  It is fine, but as I started digging to plant some flowers, I found lots of really big roots that were attached to the stump.

Here's what the stump looked like before I started.

and here's what it looks like after hours of digging around the roots.  The picture doesn't look as cool as it looks in person, but I think this stump and roots are going to look so cool when I get done.  I still have a lot more digging to do!  I am going to clean off the roots and hopefully find some beautiful rocks down at the creek to put in and around the stump.  Earl looked at me really strange and I think that the people that are driving by probably think I'm some nut case that thinks she's actually going to get that stump dug out of the ground with her little hand shovel.  I think I am going to have a unique and beautiful piece of yard art though.  I'll keep you updated with pictures as I progress this week.  I'm so excited to see how it turns out!



What do you think?