I am so excited to finally have a blog and I know it would never have happened if my dear artist friend Pam Wagner hadn't offered to help me set it up. She also took all the pictures of my first entry which is the birthday gift I made for my daughter's 50th birthday. She is a dear friend and I love her for doing this for me. What a beautiful gift! Thank you again so much Pam.

Gift for my daughter Lynn's 50th birthday

I made these pages in honor of my beloved daughter Lynn's 50th birthday which is this fall. I had originally decided to make these pages into a book, but when I finished they didn't lend themselves to a book, so I decided to tie them up together with a pretty ribbon and present them to her that way. A roll of masking tape had to be included so I put it on the cover page. Every day of her life before she goes to bed, she uses masking tape to wipe off the living room couch of her beloved cat Sophie's hairs. It's a nightly ritual that needed to honored! She grows beautiful rose bushes so I put a silk rose in the center.

My precious daughter. I had such a good time making "tin dolls". I hadn't anything using tin before and had so much fun finding tin boxes on Ebay and getting the right tool to cut them apart.

Another tin doll and a view of the steps leading up to the front door of their house.

My daughter and her husband have beautiful organic gardens. She has a wonderful herb garden and they have a lot of flowers on their property. When I was there this summer I picked a few petals from a marigold and a rose, her favorites, and put them in the glass vials. One summer they grew corn....there's a picture of the corn at the top of the page, and in honor of that I included a corn husk. Also, couldn't leave Sophie out because she loves to hang out with them when they are working in their garden.

More tin dolls.

This is on the front side of the last page with a pocket for photos on the back. There are three pins on this page that can be removed and worn.

This is a pocket that will hold photos.

It's hard to see, but there is a pocket that will hold photos. The heart pin can be removed and worn. The striped fabric is from a dress that my former husband and I bought her many years ago and she wore it to our wedding in 1976. She wore it for many years, it was long kind of hippie dress, and when she got tired of it, she gave it to me and I wore it until it fell apart. The upper fabric is a scrap from a curtain I helped her make this past summer for her massage room. The fabric on the side may be from some curtains she had awhile ago but I can't remember.

This collage features Sophie!

I really like this collage because it really focuses on her hand as well as her face. She's a massage therapist, neuro muscular therapist, and Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner.

The other side of the chocolate wrapper page.

She's a chocolate lover like her mom! I collaged some chocolate wrappers and made a pocket out of copper mesh that will include one of her favorite chocolate bars when I give her this gift.

Some of her favorite quotes that I secretly gathered off of her bulletin board while I was visiting her and her husband this past summer. I included pictures of her husband and beloved cat Sophie.

More quotes. In the bottom right hand corner is my daughter and her brother. Born two years apart but they look enough alike to be identical twins.

My daughter has a large bag of paint samples that she's collected for a few years. When she gets ready to paint a room, there are hours of deliberation and experimentation to get the color selection just right. It's definitely worth the time and effort because each room is a work of art.

This is the back of the paint sample page..........more paint samples!