A Few Suprises and My Mini Art Journal

Hi Party People!  Thanks so much for celebrating my 100th Post with me!  Officially now this is my 101st post.  Gosh, I feel like an old pro at this now!  No, not really, I'm still learning (and getting frustrated) Blogger everyday.  I'd love for you to stay with me through the next 100 (now 99) posts and beyond!  For those who haven't signed up for my giveaway, DO IT!  you have time.  Remember, you don't have to be a follower.  Just leave me a comment and I'd love to hear something about yourself that might suprise your readers.  I will be announcing the winner tomorrow (Friday) evening.  In the meantime, I will share a few things about myself that might suprise you.

1. I've jumped out of an airplane...yes, I had a parachute.  Oh, and I was strapped to a super hunky English instructor.  This made it less scary.  Do I need to say more?

2.  I have two tattoos.  Well, one is a cover-up.  Does this mean I have 3 tattoos?  The first (and the one covered) I got when I was really young.  The most recent, I got within this last year.  Tattoos seem to be a common "suprising" theme for my readers.  My most recent tattoo is on my back and depicts two bluebirds.  These are special birds and this tattoo is a piece of art which, along with the birds, represents my mom and my love for her....and how much I miss her. 

3.  I sing loudly and, according to my husband, like a show tune singer, in my car.  I am an awful singer, I admit.  But nothing beats your favorite song coming on and belting it out as you tootle down the road.  What makes it even better is not caring if anyone can see or hear you!  You know "you've made it" when you don't care!  Wait, does that mean you are just old?

4.  I swear a lot.  Usually I am the only person that hears this though.  Does that make it okay?  Probably not.  I really have no excuses for this...although a lot of it might come with my job...and I really struggle with patience. 

5.  I really don't look anything like my avatar.  This picture was taken two or three days ago.

Other than a few pictures of myself when I was a kid, this is the first current picture of ME I've posted.  Can you see the wrinkles?  I'm hiding them with my cool shades.

So why am I revealing these things about myself?  I blame Bonnie.  I've been happy without self-reflection or discovery for 40 years.  I don't need to find myself.  I am not lost.  However, like I told Sherry, getting lost sometimes is okay..it makes you appreciate home more.  Yes, Sherry, I think I will copyright that.  It is very profound if I say so myself...which I did!  Seriously, I actually do self-reflect frequently and, I guess, discover myself...sometimes I just don't like what I've discovered about myself.  Hence, Bonnie's class.  In all seriousness, this class has been nice.  While I haven't received my kit yet, it is circling somewhere overhead from South Africa, I've been following along online and using some papers I had from doing a recipe card project a few years ago.  I've added some fabric to a few of the pages of my mini journal and have printed out Bonnie's tickets she digitally made.  All the pages are 7 X 12 (cm).  Here is my cover and the first two pages.

The first is my cover.  I've covered cardboard with a page of my favorite Yeats poem.  I've added a retro lady (again looks nothing like me) and some fabric and a paper/chipboard (?) flower.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  The bottom picture shows the first two pages.  The first ticket says:  I am happiest when...and the second says:  The best day of the week is...(Friday).  I like the pages, but I think they look kind of plain.  I did stamp (my first stamp job) on the second page, which is pretty cool, but I think I'm going to do some stitching to jazz them up a bit.  What do you think?  I really value your opinions!

Remember, please come back tomorrow to see if you've won!  There may be some more suprises as well!

Toodles for now!