Shower invitations

Not sure how it got to be Monday morning so quickly. Someone must have stolen part of my weekend! Alert the police! Many of them wear blue uniforms so they could be photographed for another Blue Monday entry!

I showed these sample invitations to Kim and she picked the one on the right with the hang tag. I hope I can still get the "it's a boy!" paper if I don't have enough. The baby bottle was cut with a die from Sizzix.

Inside information still needs to be finalized and printed. I will check with the post office this week to make sure that the bow won't necessitate hand canceling which would up the postage considerably. This wouldn't be bad for a few invitations, but it looks like I need to make fifty of them.

Hopefully I will get the basic cards cut this week. I don't want the invitations to be lost in holiday mail, so my goal is to have them go out the first week of January, requesting RSVPs by the end of the month for a February 7th shower.

I hope everyone is having a glorious Blue Monday. Check in at Smiling Sally's blog to join in. I will be out most of the morning, so it may take me a while to get around to visiting all the participants, but I will get there. I enjoy seeing what everyone finds to share.

Holiday Blues

It is Blue Monday again, time to visit Smiling Sally and see what everyone is posting on the subject of blue. Click on the image at the left to go directly to her blog. If you pass GO, collect $200 but you will have to share with me. I charge a finder's fee.


Does anyone (everyone?) get the blues at least once during the holiday season?

I feel guilty for feeling blue at a time that should be joyous. I know what the meaning of the season is, but for years now, I have a day of feeling blue and I know I need to let it be. Roll with it. Wallow in it for a limited time.

We all feel the pressure to decorate, cook, bake, entertain, shop for perfect gifts, wrap those perfect gifts, and so on, all in addition to our daily tasks at hand. I am hearing from more women that they don't decorate as they used to, some barely giving a nod to the season. I am not there and don't think I want to go to that extreme by choice.

Besides, it isn't just these stresses that brings on the blues.

This past weekend would have been my parent's 74th wedding anniversary and my mother-in-law's 99th birthday. You don't reach the age of 57 without losing people dear to you. I am not maudlin in missing them at this time of year, but I can't help but think of them with their recipes, their ornaments, and their favorite carols presenting themselves again after a year long absence.

It is time to sigh. To smile. To wipe away a tear. And then it is time to move on.

I am happy person by nature. I am already feeling more like one of the happy yellow rubber duckies (although the blue one is attractive in her chic shade, don't you agree?).

Another Baby Blue Monday

Another hectic couple of days ahead, both with the business closing and Thanksgiving dinner prep beginning. I feel like I've been a slacker getting around to visiting all the Blue Monday participants. There just haven't been enough hours in my days lately. Hopefully that will be settle down, if not soon, then by January. I really do enjoy Blue Monday, hosted by Smiling Sally, and love to see how varied the posts can be all who join in. The logo is a clickable link that will take you to Smiling Sally's blog.

When my sister-in-law and I went away for the weekend a few weeks ago, I found this adorable box in a gift shop. With a grandson on the way, I had to pick up the box for a closer look.
Look what was inside! Six pair of adorable baby socks, designed to look like sneakers for a baby boy! The colors are black, dark blue, red, green plus the lighter blue and orange pair shown outside of the box.
I'll have to take the socks off to kiss sweet little baby feet, but won't he be stylish when I'm not nibbling on his toes?

And for today's Thankful post, I am thankful that Kim is having a healthy pregnancy and that she and Chuck are mostly moved into their house now.

Life is good.

Thankful Blue Monday

Hooray! It is Blue Monday and I am ready for it this week!

Please visit Sally, the host of Blue Monday by clicking on the logo at the left. Check out what others are posting for Blue Monday and join in the fun!

Along with many other bloggers this month, I am attempting to post each day, naming something for which I am thankful.

Today I am thankful for Kim. Kim will become my daughter-in-law next year. Kim will become my grandchild's mother in March. I haven't thought to ask her if she would object to me posting her photo here so I won't show you her beautiful face yet, but I do have this photo which she shared on Facebook.
Doesn't my grandson look healthy and happy?

I was going to post pictures of some of my recent baby purchases, but since I've been so busy and not creative with Blue Monday posts lately, I am going to be stingy and save some for other weeks. Besides, this one photo best fits my thankful heart today.
The ornament is from Bronner's in Frankenmuth, Michigan. If you are ever in that area, it is a huge store and a fun and friendly environment. I ordered this online and received it the following week with a thank you note for my order with a candy cane attached. That was a sweet (pun intended) touch.

Whoa......It's Monday

No reason to feel hungover, but my day started in my own personal fog. Let's blame it on being the first Monday in November!

I am thankful for many people and things in my life, but I am going to need to pace myself if I am going to post one a day. While reading emails this morning, I was thankful I was between swallows of coffee when the house shook. Yes, the house shook! About 200 feet away from me, the street is being broken apart by a slightly smaller version of this:
Work is being done (eventually? hopefully?) on a storm drain. A small section of street was broken out at the curb a month ago, then a small section opposite that one a week later. Now a large section has been broken but the concrete hasn't been removed yet. It is still orange barrel time in Michigan. Actually, I think orange barrels have become a year round accessory.

Since I wasn't expecting this and am not seated where I saw the equipment coming off the flatbed, I was more than a bit startled when I heard the first BOOM! and my windows rattled. In addition to being thankful I didn't have a mouthful of coffee, I am thankful for sturdy windows and secure suction hooks that held my stained glass sun catchers in place. I've had those fall off before and break when less than ideal suction hooks were used.

I am always thankful for my friends, both online and off. A very good friend sent me an email titled Advice for Life. I will share parts of it over the next few days. Here is the first bit of advice from that message. It is titled Dance!
Since the little sweetie in the photo is wearing a blue sweater, I am tying this into Blue Monday, hosted by Smiling Sally. Click on the blue jay up above to link to her site and see who else is participating.

Wherever you go today, and whatever you do, find something to be thankful for. It will make you smile and that, as Martha would say, is a good thing.

Blue Monday: Some food shouldn't be blue!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. First we eat with our eyes. With those two sayings in mind, I am going to show you images I found on the internet of blue food.

There are some that would cause me to raise my eyebrows, but I would give them a try:



I wonder what blue steak would look like? Would it be served with blue cauliflower?


Some foods just don't look palatable to me in my otherwise favorite color:
Blue mashed potatoes are one example. Blue egg and blue bacon is another.


Is it the shade of blue that makes a difference? Is one blue more or less palatable in these strawberries?


Some blues aren't expected, but wouldn't cause me to hesitate:


And some blues have been tried, enjoyed and would be welcome again any old time!



What foods would you shun if served in blue? Which would you eat without hesitation?

For more fun, beautiful and interesting blue posts, please visit our host, Smiling Sally by clicking on this logo.

Tomorrow I will resume talking about craft tools. I will eventually run out of them and move onto other things!

Blue Monday with a small celebration

Greetings on this last Monday of September. That happened all too quickly, didn't it?

My entry for today is an odd picture, but a triumphant one for me.

It isn't about the bracelet. I made that a while ago and may even have shown it before. It is the blue fabric that my hand is resting upon. The fabric is a pair of slacks. The triumphant part is that I haven't worn these in about a year! They are still more snug than I would like them to be, but I can zip them and wear them without turning blue. As much as I like blue, a blue complexion isn't good unless you are a Smurf!

Click on the Blue Monday above to visit our host, Smiling Sally, and see who else is participating.

As for me, I hope to see all of you around next week, and I hope all of you will see less of me as the slacks get looser.

Blue Monday with Big News!

It is Blue Monday again, hosted by Smiling Sally. Visit her by clicking on her logo -------->




Today's Blue Monday post only has a 50% chance of being blue. It may turn out pink. We won't know until around March 12th of 2010. That is when Bill and I will become GRANDPARENTS!!!

Since we are quite fond of both pink and blue, we really don't care what color footprints we get!

Happy Blue Monday everyone!

Healthy Blue M&Ms!

Today's Blue Monday post is taken from the Chicago Tribune, July 29, 2009:

Scientists can’t yet explain why green M&Ms seem to hold seductive powers or why the brown-hued chocolates appear to bring bad luck.

But new research shows that an artificial dye that is chemically similar to the one used in blue M&Ms may hold promise in treating spinal cord injuries, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The compound, called Brilliant Blue G, was injected into the veins of rats within 15 minutes of their receiving a paralyzing injury. The rats given the BBG solution temporarily turned blue and regained their ability to walk, albeit with a limp. The rats that didn’t receive the dye also recovered, but to a lesser extent than rats that received BBG.

The new findings build on earlier research by the same scientists that showed adenosine triphosphate, a chemical that keeps the body’s cells alive, floods into an area surrounding a spinal cord injury, killing the cells that normally allow us to move.

When BBG was injected, it blocked ATP’s harmful effects at the injury site, according to the researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

While Americans ingest more than 1 million pounds of the chemically similar FD&C blue dye No. 1 annually, according to the study, upping your M&M intake isn’t likely to do anything but make you fat. But study co-author Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at URMC, says she’s now a big fan of blue M&Ms.

“They are actually doing something that the other colors do not,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Still, human trials are needed before emergency responders start deploying intravenous blue-dye drips.

For more Blue Monday posts, please visit Smiling Sally by clicking on her logo:

And during these hot days of August, remember Blue's motto:

"Never let them see you melt"

Blue Monday Birdhouses

'Tis Blue Monday again, with thanks to Smiling Sally for hosting this event ---->



I was at the cottage yesterday, wondering what I could come up with for today's Blue Monday entry. "The water" said my husband. "The sky" said my son. Been there, done both of them. It was time to get the camera and take a walk. I didn't go further than my next door neighbor's yard when I saw this birdhouse.
Hmmmm, an interesting possibility. I kept walking and found this one on top of a piling. Not truly blue, but bits of it are blue. It was too cute to pass up and include in today's post. I think it proves lady birds like to look their best and will visit salons for the full treatment.
This birdhouse condo is above a sign advertising a rental cottage. The cool temps and rain we've had in Michigan have kept things growing like mad, especially weeds. Perhaps the foliage being so close to the condos keeps bugs at hand for the birds, making this a bed and breakfast type of place.
I hope you are having a wonderful Blue Monday. In my last few posts, I've ended with a question to ponder from Chat Pack. Today I have a question of my own. Name something that you don't like to see in a particular shade of blue, or maybe not in any shade of the color we normally love. For me it would be royal blue roses on a cake from commercial bakeries. No matter how nicely made the rose is, the color usually looks garish against a white or pastel cake top.