FOUR INCHES OF SNOW????? IN ARIZONA?????

I woke up this past Tuesday (which I feel is always a good sign of the day to come) and, as I habitually do, I casually glanced out the window to see what the morning weather was like.  Imagine my surprise!!!!  My son Brice was like, "Mom, it snowed," to which I lovingly replied, "Duh!"  He was so excited that he started to dash toward the back door.  I halted him in his tracks only to suggest that he consider putting on a heavy coat and some shoes as pajamas are not generally too warm in the snow.  A reaction to be expected from boy raised in the desert.  He laughed, put on his heavy coat and shoes, and ran out the door.  I took my time of course as I am never too eager to run out into the cold without first preparing for frost bite. LOL.  This was probably the most snow we've seen in a few years, inch-wise.  It measured 4 inches in our backyard.  

Brice made a snowball and then opted to see

 how big he could get it.  

Then, as all son's do, he held it up as if he were going to throw it at me. 

 I of course ran into the house because now that he is older 

and taller than me, I was sure his aim had improved.

The scariest element of a snow day in Arizona?  People freak out to drive in it, and for those of you who have lived in this part of the country before, you know that people around here tend not to be the best drivers in the first place.  Thank God the snow melted of by noon or the air would have been constantly permeated by the shrill sound of sirens for the rest of the day.  

All in all, it was great to have a snow day and enjoy a little bit of winter.  We also got to see why people from cold states move to places like this, or at least winter here.  Brrrrr.

FUN WITH MATTES & BOOKS

I have been having the most fun lately in creating more mattes and books. This is a portfolio that I created with a forget-me-not cover. I've always wanted hand made portfolio, so I sat down for days and invented the dimensions for this one. I was really happy with the way it turned out.








This picture of my mother and father's wedding was really fun to create. I mounted the entire piece on a matte board with a matte frame. I also mounted some small pieces of matte onto the board reflecting words like Timeless, Remember and Treasure. I then mounted the pictures on doors that open to reveal their names and wedding date on a map of the city they were married in, circling the town they settled in and where I was born. I'm gonna give this one to mom. She said she wanted it to hang in her house.

I've also been very busy creating books, which as you know, is a huge passion of mine. Long tall Sally here sports two bells on the spine and is as tall as legal sized envelopes, which are sewn into the signatures every three pages and sealed with Velcro for ease in opening and closing.








This book has hemp-lined chopsticks as clasps. Once you pull them back you can open the flap on the right to reveal the paper inside right next to the pencil box. The pencil box holds pencils which I also wrapped in the same paper as the book cover. You could also use the box to carry pens and/or various office supplies.

It has been hard few weeks, what with all this job searching and all, but all of this crafting has literally saved my sanity (what there was left of it anyway).