52 Week Photo Project: Week 12

Sending out mail love.

Mail Love

Mail love from a good friend. Just what I needed a book and chocolate because those are the ideal gifts for me. Thank you Tammy! So sweet of you to send me this package.

Summer of {Mail} Love

My friend Kathie over at Two Frog Home is hosting the Summer of {Mail} Love. I think it is a great idea especially for someone like me who just enjoys sending mail love!

Book Review: The Art of Giving

The Art of Giving: Gift Ideas to Delight the Senses by Liezel Norval-Kruger


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is from description from publishers:

Gift giving is a universal custom, but in today's harried world many of us have moved away from the more considered and creative aspects of what should be a very personal act. It should be a gesture of love, friendship, celebration, acknowledgment, and thanks. The Art of Giving is filled with inspirational ideas and practical information for the discerning gift giver on how to achieve beautiful, artful, and thoughtful gifts.

Taste, smell, and touch are the pivotal chapters. They draw on our capacity to indulge ourselves and those we love through each particular sense. Each chapter is filled with ideas and tantalizing images, as well as practical information on how to create and present wonderful gifts. Another chapter, on wrapping, will show you how to achieve expert finishing touches and inspired solutions to the most awkward of gift shapes. From handcrafted soaps and homemade potpourri to beautifully wrapped candies and an entire picnic for two, the endless variety of ideas in this book offer something for everyone. Turn to the back of the book for recipes, templates, diagrams, labels, and other do-it-yourself essentials to tell you how to do it all. For anyone who wants to create and give gifts that are more expressive, meaningful, and heartfelt than something grabbed off the shelf or ordered over the phone, The Art of Giving offers a wealth of inspiration and practical advice.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the photos and the style of the gifts and ideas. The Art of Giving is filled with quite a lot of DIY gift ideas that are inexpensive, attractive and simple to make. Also this is a great book to find ideas for those on your gift list that are impossible to shop for people. The book I previously reviewed about green giving...was good but this book has better ideas that could be implemented with green options. Such as it has tubes covered with paper, photos or postcards. Or gifts wrapped in newspaper and then tied pretty ribbon that don't look cheap but look like it was wrapped professionally because the folds are so crisp and the ribbon perfect for it. Or gifts wrapped with felt and embroidery thread to do simple stitches to close it. All their examples were lovely and I can't wait to try some of them out this year for holiday giving.

The book includes recipes, craft and label templates and instructions in the back of the book also.

Some crafts and recipes I want to try and give....
Milk & Honey Bread
Infused Brandy
Fresh Feet Bath
Shoe Bags
Sewing Kits (that would be good for men or women)
Beaded Coasters
Hot Chocolate Cream

Plus MANY MANY more ideas. It is an inspirational book and one I would love to have on in my home to refer to often.

View all my reviews >>

Christmas Busy in Full Force

* We sent off a BUNCH of packages today. The clerk at the post office was amused that all our packages went to different places.... California, Idaho, North Carolina, Washington, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas.

* Our neighbor had Christmas carolers earlier. I think they were from her church. I was hearing fa la la la la la la and I couldn't figure out what I was hearing at first. But then muted everything and finally figured it out.

* I am utterly exhausted. Going to bed.

Camping Oh Joy!

My family sent me a package and there were 2 Ann Taintor button pins as well as a few others things. One pin says "born to be wild" and the other says, "I love not camping." I think my lovely family was trying to tell me they fit me. Okay so maybe they do fit me especially the camping trip. We had a family camping trip we took in 1982 that was quite a memory maker. It is a memory we recalled for my parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary video and I remember us all laughing quite a lot while filming the story.

Anyway Thank you guys! You are the best!

Friday Gratitude

A few good things in my life that I am very thankful for...

* I received 2 packages this week! Thank you Aydeen and Kaylee! They were so wonderful....just like YOU! Thank you!
* Studio looking really good -- organized enough for me to create. I can actually see the table!
* The snow we had this week was so beautiful....it had this very serene feeling
* Food & Wine magazine making me drool with wonderful recipes - a few that I can't wait to try out.
* The crockpot...I love using the crockpot
* Tea with cream
* A friend from high school contacted me and she lives in Colorado too!

Tea!

I got mail love today! A pretty good sized puffy envelope stuffed full of different teas! I had commented to my friend Carolynn that a tea she described sounded very good. So she sent me that and many other kinds to try. I am so excited and today is actually a good tea drinking day as it is cloudy and stormy here.

Listy

• I just finished Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coehlo last week and it was very interesting and I as always with his books...want to read it again. I wish I would remember with his books to do what I do with others....use little sticky flags to mark things I want to come back too but I just get so engrossed in his books that I forget to stop and mark.
• I started He, She and It by Marge Percy. It is set in a futuristic earth and so far it is very interesting. It has lots of Jewish history in it and I really would like to know how accurate. The snippet of what Amazon says about it: "In the middle of the twenty-first century, life as we know it has changed for all time. Shira Shipman's marriage has broken up, and her young son has been taken from her by the corporation that runs her zone, so she has returned to Tikva, the Jewish free town where she grew up. There, she is welcomed by Malkah, the brilliant grandmother who raised her, and meets an extraordinary man who is not a man at all, but a unique cyborg implanted with intelligence, emotions--and the ability to kill"
• I started to make a list of spring cleaning...I try to list everything out that needs to be done. Home Comforts will be referenced tomorrow to make sure I am not forgetting anything. I also want to bake this week. I hope to make some scones this week and some whole wheat bread sticks.
• I got 2 adorable postcards recently! Thank you ladies they really did help me smile.
• We have been watching Frontier House. It is so different from Colonial House...I need to look up which came up first. I love Nate and his wife. Nate has GREAT attitude. In the midst of some hard times he always seems to smile and look at the bright side. I was surprised by some things going on but it still has been interesting to watch. (okay after I wrote that I got kind of obsessed reading PBS website on Frontier House and googling names from the show.)
• Today was better. I am still grieving and sad but I am not overwhelmed by it. I am just letting it come, cry, recall my memories and just let myself go through the process.

Beautiful Handmade Socks...FOR ME!

My wonderful friend K knitted me some beautiful socks for my birthday. The yarn is even hand dyed by her. Thank you so much!

Some Good Things...

~ I have lots of good friends that are very good to me
~ lots of great postcards from around the world via postcrossing.com
~ lots of mail going out to friends across the USA
~ art...been a productive art weekend

Mail!

I have been sending out more snail mail lately and getting quite a bit also from my friends across the country. It is has been nice to have an unexpected card, note and package show up in the mail.

I have quite a few bits of mail that needs to go out and I got 2 pieces this week...a package and a card. The card was so pretty I am going to hang it up as inspiration for art but eventually it might be cut and used in a piece as it has some beautiful butterflies on it and if anyone has seen my art before -- I have a thing for butterflies. Flight, reborn, color, delicate and strong...and so on...there are just so many wonderful qualities.

And the package I was just blown away by as it was so generous and thoughtful. My friend sent a package to spoil a girl....bath beads, soap, make up, chocolate and more...

Quick update

Just a quickie to say we are home...but Michael is leaving again. So I do have lots on my list to do while he is out of town.

Here are just a few random notes....

Our weekend kind of got messed up because of the rain but it still was a good weekend with some positives.

Michael bought the new Coldplay CD....I really like it already...and not even all the way through it the first time yet

Michael took me to the Dollar Tree while we were out of town. He bought me quite a few fun art things! Thank you Michael!

Needing some girl time....talked to Aydeen today on the phone, hopefully going to chat with another friend tomorrow and also going to call Moni this week too! Plus I have done some emails to several friends too.

I am going to do some art this week...so doing a happy dance!

I have been getting lots of wonderful, beautiful, artful maillove!

I am drinking diet coke out with splenda and really like it...or as Aydeen would call it...Splab (since it taste kind of like tab mixed with splenda).

I am going to miss Michael while he is out of town

We both took lots of pictures this weekend. MIchel has me using his old camera so maybe now I am catching the camera bug as I had a lot of fun taking pictures with him this weekend

Very thankful I live in Colorado! It is so beautiful

I am reminded many times over....each day that I am very lucky to be in such a great relationship with a wonderful man. Thank you for for finding me and capturing my heart...I love you Michael!