new YMCA song moves?

last weekend was the family 4H skating party, and i was looking forward to it so that i could improve upon last year. which wasn't a huge goal if you consider that it involved staying upright. yes, i resolved not to fall down this year; last year i fell so hard my glasses went flying. not a pretty sight...

it turns out that the rec center has been almost completely redone. they have a new maple floor instead of cement, new glow-up-in-the-dark carpet with the special lights, a new sound system, and new skates! new skates that are all cushy inside are almost as wonderful on my feet as new socks.

anyway, the YMCA song came on, so i thought, hey, i know how to do this. um...no i don't. apparently between the time the song first came out (yes, i was around for that) and now,

the arm movements have changed!

imagine my surprise!

and the embarrassment of my teenage daughter!

turns out the new movements are all done over your head, which is great for staying off the floor, as shown in this photo of a skater much better than me:

my question for you is, "did everyone know about the new YMCA song moves but me?" or is this only a roller skating version?

**edited to add: i have searched you tube and apparently i am the only one who was doing the arms wrong all these years...so turn up your speakers so i can't hear you laughing at me!!

inspired by The Nester

i have been on the lookout for some kitchen curtains for a few months, with no luck. i have looked in stores and online. so i went to one of my favorite design blogs, the Nesting Place. i love her philosophy, especially "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". amen sister! seeing what she has done made me realize i should probably just make the dang curtains.

anyone who knows me knows that i am not a seamstress. in fact, i use my sewing machine mainly for scrapbooking and card making. i have had multiple opportunities for learning from expert seamstresses, such as my mom and grammas. i just avoid it for the most part. maybe i never needed to learn because  i had such wonderful ladies to sew for me.

if i need to, i can master the basics, which i did yesterday! what i really wanted was a turquoise and cinnamon toile...which was a no go unless i wanted to spend $$$$ a yard.  i did find some material i liked that has the blues and the ivory tones of my kitchen trim. (remembering it doesn't have to be perfect...)

and here's what i came up with:

check out the matching pattern all the way across! and a ruffle on top! just to show that i picked up a few tips, i pre-washed and ironed the fabric AND measured and used pins (a little!). they certainly won't pass an up-close inspection, but i am really happy with how they turned out!

"there is a crack in everything..."

i saw this quote recently, and it really captured my imagination. i have a soft spot for well-used, repaired, and worn things, and this is what came to mind when i read Leonard Cohen's quote. in its entirety: "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." isn't that a cool way to look at life? it inspired my Project Fifty-Two for this week.

here is a close up with the acrylic bluebird:

i stamped the back of it with staz-on and then glimmer misted and glittered the front. i was inspired by Shelley and how she rocks the acrylic!

i'd love to hear your favorite quote - what inspires you?

horses, a goat and creek stomping

now that i have your attention, here are some recent pages!

this is Slim and Pete in the spring, with their winter coats still on. i pop-dotted some of the tree, but it doesn't show up much in the photo.

this is Billy Valentine at one day old. we fed him with an eye dropper for the first few days. i played with dimensional paint on this, and it definitely takes a steady hand, which i don't have mastered yet!

this page is about where we went creek stomping at girl scout camp. the photo shows the old mill, it was all weathered and worn, very cool. the girls had a blast playing in the waterfall!

thanks for stopping by!

scrapping with Miss M

i got to scrap with my niece on sunday! we had a good time, and she made an album out of old book covers. she has a nice eye for color and design and she got her album put together within a couple of hours. we bound it with rings so she can add pages anytime she wants. i didn't get any photos of her cool new album, but i did get a pic of our hands. it seems that we are both messy scrappers:)

Chris' Crop @ Scrappin for Keeps

so Chris won a free crop and she scheduled it for last saturday in eldridge. i had a little trouble finding the store, but once i got there it was awesome! the first thing i did was wander around - i haven't been in a lss since Reminisce closed, and i missed it. just to see the rainbow of bazzill made me happy.

there were ten of us, and the crop area was nice and open. it was fun to catch up with everybody. the gals who work there seem almost like old friends, it's like we speak the same language. they had lots of snacks and drinks for us and really made us feel at home - thanks ladies! in between eating, browsing, and chatting, i did actually get some pages done!

i was glad to find Graphic 45 papers, since i have used all of mine. i even found two pieces of Cosmo Cricket wanted collection, which has to be my most favorite papers ever!!!

here's most of the pages (sorry about the flash):

this paper from WE-R did most of the layout for me:)

this one says "watch out!"

and this is sweet Maeve

scrapbooking rocks!