EEk!I think my camera broke!

So right about now you are asking how I am posting the picture above. I used my daughters camera. It is ok, but as you can see the pictures aren't as clear as the ones from my camera. I will have to find a place to fix it because I have grown VERY attached to it since I began blogging! Anyway, I finished the bookmarks for my bookmark swap and since I cant seem to get them in focus with Lauren's camera (I tried) you may have to wait until my swap partner gets them and I provide a link. Bookmarks were not as easy a swap as I thought they would be, they need to be flat to be useful and that is kind of limiting when you are putting something together that you want to be out of the ordinary. I am mailing them out today, so hopefully they will get to my swap partner in time. It was fun though, I hope she likes them. Oh, by the way, the picture above is a little patriotic shadow box I made for the fourth of July. I used a vintage print and some odds & ends of ribbon and stars.

More garden pictures today. It seems that every day I go out to my garden I see something else blooming that I want to share with you. In this case the geranium has been blooming since I bought it, but I really wanted to show you the pot and the cat figurine in the pot. I made both in my ceramics class last year. You can't see the pot very well but it is fairly typical with a grey-green glaze on it and a little bird stamped into the front. The cat was thrown on the wheel and then the little pots were put together to make the cat. They were part of an assignment to make tow things as different as possible. So I made a very simple pot and the more complicated and figural cat. You also can't see that the cat has little multicolor polka dots. I think the cat looks a little surprised, don't you?

I also wanted to tell everyone, I have bluebirds is my bluebird box! I posted earlier that wrens had taken over the box, oddly enough after that post they disappeared. I couldn't find any sign of the nest or any of the seven eggs they had already laid. Usually you can see the bits of torn up nest under the nest box, but they were gone without a trace. But now, four gorgeous bluebird eggs have taken their place. I hope nothing will get them before they hatch.

A new Womens Movement?

I was very interested in the post from a few days ago on Cherry Menlove's, Tales From Pixie Wood. Cherry was writing about the movement in England back to homemaking. Cherry thinks that in America we are ahead of England in that we have Martha Stewart and others who are our role models and who have made homemaking respectable again. While I understand her thoughts (and agree very much with her message that we should all be proud of our lifestyles as homemakers!) I wonder if we are really that much more ahead of her country than she thinks. I have been so inspired and gratified to find so many who embrace their roles as stay at home moms and entrepreneurs in these blogs. It has truly been wonderful to know that there are still women who find enjoyment and fulfillment in their roles as stay at home moms and the art and effort they put into making their house and home a beautiful place for their families and themselves. But I don't think attitudes have changed that much or that quickly about homemakers. I think it is still a very new movement and one that has gained notice through these online journals of the women making it happen.

Just a thought. I think the stay at home mom still has a long way to go to getting the respect she deserves. Lets face it, Martha Stewart isn't a homemaker, she's an executive of a multi-billion dollar enterprise! I enjoy her ideas, but Martha I am not. What do you think?

Just a little something to tide you over til Monday. I made these Saturday night for our church's Family Fun Day today. They had the pastors in a dunk tank and games and a cake walk, which these little beauties were headed to as prizes. It was all to raise money for a mission trip. The best part was I ate a couple and gave the rest away so I didnt overdo. Yay!

Natashas Shabby Chic Matchbox Swap

I had some fun yesterday putting together and decorating the boxes for the matchbox swap. It is pretty hard to find things small enough that are special to go into the teeny little things but I think I did ok. I won't tell you what is inside because my swap partner is all the way over in Australia. I am sending these out today and who knows how long it takes to actually get to another continent? But I will post what she sends me and hopefully she will post these when she gets them and I will provide a link. I think I was only supposed to do one, but they are so small and I had so much fun decorating the boxes I did five. They will still all fit in an envelope, I'm sure.

Ok, so just so you know what I mean when I said I need to weed my garden... I went out last night to get it done (I am only half done!) and I actually found a teeny little foxglove that I didn't know I had. This poor crowded plant is only about a foot tall instead of the stately 4-6 feet it should be. It is a fair punishment for me since I have been waiting a couple years for this little guy to actually bloom, and here it blooms in such a pitiful manner. So back out I go today to see if I can finish the job of weeding out this bed....then I can start on the next. I could make a comment about the weeds of neglect stunting the good things in our lives but you can make that connection yourself I suppose and I really don't want to get preachy. Suffice it to say the lesson occurred to me as I weeded and found flowers hidden and (eewwww!) snake holes because the cover was so good. Fortunately I am not afraid of snakes. So what will I be doing today? Pulling weeds and watching for snakes as I pull!