Lots to post about today

Firstly I would like apologise for some of these photos - not sure why they have come out rather dark esp as they were taken in good day light.

Anyway I would like to thank my daughter for the lovely flowers I had for my birthday on 5th June - there were so many I had to use three vases and they are still lovely and fresh today!!

Thanks too to Carole for sending me this lovely ATC - it is so very pretty even the back is delightful!Next an ATC from Micki - using some of the washers I sent out together with a lovely pile of threads for me to use in my next project. Thanks. Next a lovely postcard from Doreen for my birthday. I can't work out if the leaf is real - it sure looks real. The verse is lovely too: 'Within your heart keep one, still, secret spot where dreams may go'. Thanks Doreen. Then there is a lovely ATC from Jean. Again with some lovely thread. The card these came in is truly inspirational as well - I'm guessing it is one of your photos?? Next there is some shopping. I was lucky enough to hit the Stampington Sale at a good time for back issues. These magazines are usually so expensive in the UK as suppliers add postage to them. Here I was able to buy several (see below) at a fraction of the price and with a very small amount of postage- more yummy reading material for ages.. I even bought an out of date calendar/diary as the pictures are brilliant... Then I decided to treat myself to this wonderful book,..by Janice Taylor - I really need this kind of inspiration - it so so funny yet definitely the best diet book I have ever read - the art work Janice produces makes this so inspirational!! Janice has a website here : http://www.ourladyofweightloss.com/index.asp
This is how Janice describes herself/the book from the website. I would definitely recommend it.

Our Lady of Weight Loss™
Weight loss artist*, Janice Taylor, most certainly did not wake one morning with a smile on her face and enthusiastically say, "Whoopee, I'm fatter than ever. I'll go on a diet. This will be fun!"No. She rolled out of bed, pulled up her size XXL elastic-band pants and said, "Oh my, even these are tight. I must stop the fat monster from further multiplying before HE takes me over entirely." She prayed for guidance. That's when Our Lady of Weight Loss entered the picture. "Who is Our Lady? Where did she come from?" you ask. Janice wonders as well, "Is Our Lady a higher-power, the higher-self, the 'good' Mother that lives within each of us, or is she just a fig newton of her wild imagination? Does it really matter?"What matters is that instead of eating crazy amounts of fried foods, heavily buttered bread and chocolate in any form, Janice was able to permanently remove over 50 pounds of excess weight 5 years ago. (Butter up your boss, not your roll!)"I exchanged fat for art," she explains. "Our Lady guides me and 'feeds' me messages, and I illustrate them. At first, I created the art just for myself, but soon friends and acquaintances wanted to know the secret to my oh-so-fabulous success."

Next in my long post today. I received a lovely Migratory book from Michelle Wilson - What is a Migratory book you ask??? well .....

Migratory Books is a project by Rocinante Press. It is a project designed to discover overlooked connections between people and places. Inspired by the journey of the Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa), a small sandpiper whose migration spans from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, to Arctic Canada, the Migratory Books are handmade zines that are traveling the globe. Books will be released in North and South America during the upcoming year. Like the endangered Red Knot, these books cannot be owned, only appreciated for a short span of time before they must travel again. Each recipient is asked, after they have determined their time is up, to give or mail the book to another person. As the books migrate, each recipient is asked to visit this blog, state their location, and answer the question: What connects us?

I am about to post this book off to New Zealand - it has been with me for over a week and has served it's purpose here. By the way it is a very clever book - double sided - one side English the other is I believe Spanish. The website: http://www.migratorybooks.blogspot.com/

You'll be pleased ... this is.... and finally......

If you are near or in London before10th August 2008 you must, absolutely must, go and see this exhibition..SKIN and BONES.. It is being held at the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House - more info http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/. It was held in USA some time ago and is just awesome. Description:
We all live in buildings and wear clothes. Traditionally, fashion and architecture have remained quite distinct. In recent years, however, the two disciplines have become closer than ever before.
Since the 1980s, these two worlds have increasingly shared intriguing connections. Sharing materials, design methods and fabrication has inspired radical developments.
Discover how over 50 internationally-renowned architects and designers including Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto, Future Systems, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid 'fashion' buildings and 'construct' garments.
Specially selected new exhibits for London include work by Boudicca, Eley Kishimoto, Martin Margiela and Hussein Chalayan.

What I liked was the fact that you can get really close to the dresses - my daughter and I even looked up under the mannequins to see what the insides were like!! Of course, once we got home I had to buy the book from Amazon......There I think that is enough for today!!