Our New Addition

When we were in Springdale, just outside Zion National Park, we couldn’t help but be drawn to a gallery with amazing wind sculptures all around the building.

We’d seen them before, in South Lake Tahoe, but we couldn’t quite take the leap then.

This time we did.

There were so many to choose from we had a hard time deciding which one we wanted. After changing our minds several times, we placed an order to have it shipped home.

It took a few weeks, but it finally arrived.

It was packed really well, but still had a couple of little bent spots we were able to reshape.

I don’t think we realized when we bought it that there was quite an installation process, including sinking the pole into a 24″ hole filled with concrete. We have terrible soil – hard pan – which is not easy to dig through. It was a hard, dirty job, but we did it.

It was so exciting to get it in place!

We’ve taken to spending a little time almost every evening sipping a glass of wine…

and watching it spin. It can be a bit mesmerizing…

You can find a little video of the awesomeness here:

https://www.facebook.com/tatterednworn/

 

Checking In with Lori Mitchell

When we last talked about my infatuation with Lori Mitchell figurines, I had ordered a Nativity set and a couple of “non-girly” pieces Hannah wanted for “her” figurines.

They arrived awhile back, but it’s taken awhile to get unpacking them to the top of the priority list.

I vacillated back and forth about whether or not to show them to you now, or wait ’til the season, but I couldn’t wait. They’re sitting out on the counter totally out of place, so I thought I’d better photograph them, then tuck them away until their “season” comes up. So, as long as I’m taking photos, I thought I may as well share them with you!

Turns out Hannah wasn’t as impressed as she thought she’d be. The turkey is too fat…

and “Bat Boy’s” belly is sticking out. I could swear I showed them to her before I ordered them, but she must not have been paying attention.

I just LOVE the Nativity set.

I’ve spent years trying to find just the right one, but never found one that was grown up enough while still having a “look” I was nuts about and didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg for. Then I found this, and I’m happy with it!

 

 

 

 

 

I hope she adds some more critters as time goes by, but at least the basics are here.

I have a friend who grew up with a Nativity set that had Baby Jesus as a separate piece, and they didn’t put Him in until Christmas morning. I like the idea, but alas, in this set he’s attached. I’m trying to figure out if I could separate Him from Mary without damaging them…We’ll see.

 

One Obsession Leads To Another

So.

I’m obsessed with my giant journal. I just LOVE the format, and I’m doing a pretty good job of keeping up on it (by my horrendously low standards.)

I’m only missing a few days in July, and I’m making nearly daily progress getting caught up with the earlier part of the year where I’m having to go back and reconstruct what happened.

Vacation days and special occasions are pretty easy because there are photos to jog my memory,

 

but normal days aren’t as hard as I thought they would be because I have Facebook notes to fall back on, credit card statements to show where I’ve been, and notes on our regular calendar.

 

 

Did you happen to notice along the edges of the pages, the decorative stripes? This is washi tape, and it’s become a staple on this project. I use it on every single page. You could say I’ve developed a “style.”

That wasn’t my intention. I just did the first page using it, and I liked it so much I don’t want to do a page without it.

And thus was born another obsession. Well. It wasn’t BORN here. I already had noticed I seemed to be accumulating a lot of it. I purchased cute little boxes to store it in…first 3, then 8, then 10. I made myself stop there.

I was buying multiple little packages of tape at a time.

They are just so darn CUTE!

But it went from being something I bought every once in awhile, to what is becoming a full blown, “crack-addict” obsession. I can’t walk into a craft store without heading to the washi section, and now I’m buying multiple large tubes at a time instead a few little packages. What kind of an industry preys on people’s weaknesses like this???

I wish I could tell you this was the only time I did this, but it’s not. There are more.

And yeah, the 10 boxes? Truth be told, this last orgy of buying pretty much filled them and then some. I’m going to have to order more before I can’t find them. Queen and Co. (the people who came out with them) don’t have them on their website any more, so I have to go to Amazon and HOPE they’re still available. But how many more? 3? 5? Sweet Jesus, I can’t keep doing this. Seriously.

I have to have tape for every theme known to man, and if I can’t find anything, I become agitated. I’ve taken to doing google searches to locate obscure companies hoping to find what I’m looking for.

Every once in awhile, there is none to be found. Like volleyball tape. Can’t find it. So I had to improvise, using nondescript tape and adding stickers.

The lengths an addict will go to.

The good news is, I’m using it, not just collecting it, which is pretty much what I was doing before starting this project.

So, I’m off to buy more cases. But no more tape. Not tonight, any way.