What happens when nine bloggers gather in Philly for four days?

Magic happens.Incredible food is served in incredible ways. (Thank you Constance!)Art happens. (Thank you e.b.)Kitchen dancing happens. (Thank you Karen, for the beautiful kitchen to dance in, the beautiful home to make art and conversation in, and the beautiful mind and heart for making it all happen!)Lots and lots . . . . . . of photos happen.Even more laughter happens.Real stuff . . . Real magic stuff happens. I saw it.

Read more about it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.And of course, it is Thursday.This is the view I saw most of today.

Hatchling . . .

I'm having a great time with this altered book/journal for K. This is my second spread. I will journal somewhere on these pages. I think he looks like a hatchling with his wings tucked up in this photo. Actually, he was brand new -- laying on the scale. He didn't even have his hospital bracelet on yet.

Turquoise and Rust

Some folks I know are partial to pink, and others to red.But, apparently the only two crayons in my palette are turquoise and rust, and I see them everywhere.I spent a delightful day with the beautiful and talented Constance yesterday. (She looks great set against turquoise and rust in Asbury Park, doesn't she?) (See the T and R in this one? Way back there on the horizon.) It was taken inside of the old casino on the boardwalk in Asbury Park. You can't really make out their sign, but on the left (on the boardwalk) is the wonderful shop Bodega.

Judi's santos

Ever since I was fortunate enough to be a guest at Judi Riesch's home, I have been lusting after santos. I've searched high and low . . . on eBay and every other place I thought might produce one of these charming saints. Today, the first thing I saw when I walked into Bodega was . . .Of course, this lovely santos came home with me, but I bought a crown too. Because sometimes you just need one.This might look like a turquoise crown, but actually, Constance is wearing a halo. I saw it yesterday. I think that she might be a saint.
In addition to several bags full of books (St. C and her husband are unloading their extensive and wonderful library before moving in October -- pause for crying here), I left New Jersey with these two gems from Constance's workshop.

It's too bad she didn't have anything in my COLORS.When I can't find naturally-occurring rust and turquoise, I put them together myself.

The first spread in Kiran's new journal.

Hope you're still with me, because you simply must go here . . . but bring a thermos of tea and perhaps a blue tent. I am delighted to be included in Seth's current issue of The Pulse.

Beginnings

Last summer I began blogging. I believe that this started because I wanted to leave a comment somewhere, and I couldn't leave it anonymously.

Oh, how the world opened for me on that day!

I began my journey as a scrapbooker, and I found so many sites to feed my archiving appetite. I discovered some wonderful local stores and attended several CK events. My oldest son's scrapbook is the satisfying result of many scrapbooking magazine subscriptions, some 'crops,' and hours of blog surfing. It's pretty cool.

My second son's book is started but not even close to completed.

You see, I was distracted.

Scrapbooking is an awesome way to document a life, an event, a birthday party. It's a great way to showcase all those photos. (And I did rediscover my camera -- and buy a new one -- when I started scrapbooking.) It has been my jumping-off place . . .

But, when I thought about how I wanted to document Kiran's babyhood, I wanted to go beyond a 12x12 page -- incorporate some vintage books and some collage. A little paint maybe. Some fabric and metal. And I remembered the books that Linda Harre created for her twin grandsons. They were featured in Somerset Studios Memories in the spring and summer of 2007. (You can find the posts that relate to these books on Linda's blog beginning in June 2006.)

So, here is my beginning. I started with a trip to Baldwin's Book Barn this afternoon, where I bought a series of eight books called "My Book of History - A Picturesque Tale of Progress." Could the titles be any more appropriate? (I wonder how long it will take me to get through all eight volumes.)

X 60

Art & Soul Portland fatbook page (front and back). Why do I wait until the very last minute?

I spared you last week . . .

One of the things I love about keeping K one day a week is that I can see him evolve and mature over just seven days. Today I noticed his developing sense of humor. He has starting biting down and popping the nipple of his bottle out of his mouth, and he thinks it's hysterical. His mother has told him over and over that he's NOT to do this, but he'll look at me with this face full of mischief, bite down on the thing, pop it out of his mouth and then laugh and laugh as he is squirted in the face with milk. The funniest thing is his laughter. Gosh, he tickles me.

Hail to the Chairs . . .

And to the coneflowers, and the geraniums, and the dogwoods, and the marigolds . . . Yikes, what a wild weather day we had here! It started with this wonderfully noisy hail storm before noon and was followed by several other thunderstorms.A perfect opportunity for staying inside and working on my fatbook pages for Art & Soul Portland. I've only had FIVE MONTHS to work on these 60 pages. They're due August 23. Today was as good a day as any to start.I am so glad that my grandmother (on the right) had the foresight to pose for this bathing beauty shot when she was young! It's the perfect element for my pages.