Sunday, August 18, 2013

The Adventures of Spiderman

Recently our son received a fabulous job opportunity. This is great for our boy and his family. However this great opportunity is in Massachusetts. That is 1770 miles from our home in Friendswood, Texas. I had the privilege of helping with this transition by flying with the 2 boys and my daughter-in-law's sister after their parents made the 3 day drive. This all happened around the first of July. I stayed until July 14 to help with the kids, but our oldest grandson was turning four on July 23. His parents decided to have his birthday party on July 4 while his aunt and I were both there.

"Ba-Daugust" in into super heroes this month. At my house I painted his face.

The plan was for a superhero party. I bought a Spiderman and Frogman superhero action figure and way too many Avenger t-shirts. Then I started looking at gift bags. They were so cute, but sooooooo expensive.
My crazy brain started to work and the imagination went wild. I would make a "Spiderman City" out of all of the packing cardboard they had used for the move. Then I would put the presents inside the buildings.

This had to be done in my bedroom, after the kids were asleep and hidden before they woke up in the morning. I took boxes and pieces of cardboard and began cutting and taping them into skyscrapers. My co-conspirator was my daughter-in-law's sister. Let's call her "Cohort". She brought me a Greek yogurt case that had holes in it that made great windows.

I had so much fun, I ended up making 10 buildings. I bought some string and crocheted spiderwebs.

We had the party on the deck. The building were okay, but Papa gave him light sabers and the building had to wait.

The new house has a great basement. We don't have that in Texas. The basement is finished except for one little alcove. It is about 5'x7'. Ba-Daugust claimed it immediately. Papa hung colored lights and it was great.
Later I found white lights and they became the stars inside Spiderman City.

The 2 largest buildings are big enough for a 4-year-old to get inside. He decided to use one to make a robot. I cut holes for the arms and for his face. When the robot became a building again, the holes were windows.

I had mixed emotions about leaving Massachusetts. I was tired and needed to go home, but they were so far away. They are all adjusting, meeting new friends and getting very busy. I have time to work on other projects here. (More on that later). We will have to master the art of FaceTime.

Don't forget to check out my new and improved website. Imagine with Melanie

I am really going to make an effort to write this blog. I have so much to tell you!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A New Name...A New Look

I have not blogged this year. It is time to get back in the groove. I think I have finally figured out what to call my business, my brand:

Imagine with Melanie

Most of my work and time has gone toward my website: www.imaginewithmelanie, but I miss just being able to express myself.

I'm back!

This post is just to introduce myself again. I will write a real blog post soon.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Check out all my new ideas at:

http://www.artanddesignbymelanie.com/

And remember:

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Think on these things

I can’t seem to get all of this Chick-fil-a stuff out of my head. What gives me the right to choose which sins are the worst, the ones that will send someone straight to hell? God is not this discerning.

Galatians 5 (Easy-to-Read Version)

¹⁹The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, ²⁰worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, ²¹being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this. I warn you now as I warned you before: The people who do these things will not have a part in God’s kingdom. ²²But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.

Right there in the list with “committing sexual sin” is “causing people to argue and divide in separate groups”. My daughter-in-law posted a beautiful article by Michael Paul Turner, “5 Reason Why the Church Failed Yesterday” on Facebook. This really hit home for me when he said, “By rallying behind CFA, Christians put an issue above people. And it’s impossible to follow Jesus when issues trump people.” By supporting a CFA Appreciation Day, Christians sent the wrong message. Some said it was supporting freedom of speech. Some said it was supporting traditional marriage. It certainly appears to me that it was “causing people to argue and divide in separate groups”.

My sins fall into the category of lacking self-control; eating too much, exercising too little, speaking before thinking. Do I get a pass because I have a traditional marriage?

^"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8 NIV

Thursday, July 19, 2012

So Excited...Shoe Bows

I just love my friends. They are always suggesting new things for me to make. Recently Julie said that she wanted to be able to add adornment to her flip flops. That got my brain to working. How was I going to temporarily attach something to her shoe? Then I saw "How to fix slipping bra strap" on Absolutely Small. I decided that I could make a little strap to go around the "Y" of a flip flop.

So the Foundation Pair shoe bow with Snap Strap was born.

Look for more designs on my website. artanddesignbymelanie.com

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

New Jewelry

I have been working on my website. Check out all the new jewelry Creative Design Jewelry System

I also have a new Facebook page Creative Design Jewelry System
Signature

Monday, April 23, 2012

Sewing for my Granddaughter

A little over a week ago while we were Skyping with daughter, we decided she needed a break. Well, actually, we really needed to see granddaughter. They are stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and we live near Houston. It is just too far away. We had not seen them in 2 months. Brad had a $150 credit with American Airlines so He flew to Lawton on Saturday morning, ate lunch with them and flew back with the baby. He had a great time even with a 3 hour layover in Dallas.

When we found out she was coming, I began sewing. I made the sweetheart 3 outfits. The one she wore to church on Sunday included dress, panties, hair bow, pacifier clip and baby sandals.

Here is the cutie in her outfit:

She is such a cutie. We had a great time.

By Wednesday, Momma and grandparents were ready to have the baby return home. We left Houston at 5 am and drove to Oklahoma. We visited with daughter and son in law. Brad took a nap. We ate dinner and then we, I mean Brad, drove back home. It was a very long day but rewarding.

The old saying is true.

God knew what he was doing when he gave children to young parents.

Our son and daughter in law will be giving us another grandchild in the next month. The particulars will be a surprise, but we are all excited.

Remember you can buy my creations at Art and Design by Melanie or if you are in the Houston area at The Funky Monkey in Friendswood.

Parties:
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Jewelry Fun

This week we hosted a demonstration and sale for the Creative Design Jewelry System at The Funky Monkey in Friendswood, TX. I had a great time telling about this unique and versatile way of wearing jewelry.

Everyone who attended received a free piece of jewelry. Here are some of the pieces we had to give away: