Hello, dear folk.

Our computer is once again not feeling well…hopefully we will get it back tomorrow, returned to factory settings. For now, I am at the library.

I cannot express how wonderful the trip to PEI was. It was like God took a handful of heaven and placed it in the North Atlantic. Any place I turned my camera, a beautiful picture was in view. The people were just as lovely, and we found several “kindred spirits” who want to keep in touch with us! A lovely lady at the L. M. Montgomery birthhouse, a wonderfully warm and friendly Kitchen Witch…and the author of a book that has long been dear to my heart (I met her!).

I will have my pictures up as soon as I can, along with stories. For now, just know that I have kept a small rock from one of the many beaches we visited in my pocket since we returned…just to remind myself it wasn’t only a dream.

Hopefully pictures tomorrow!

It’s vacation time in the wild gooseberry patch! 
My sweet husband and I are soon to be off to visit Prince Edward Island, Canada. Ever since I read “Anne of Green Gables”, I have dreamed of going. Then the DVDs by Kevin Sullivan came out, and I wanted to go visit even more. I used to dream of traveling the red roads, picking the last of the Queen Anne’s lace, and walking the white sands by the sea.

Finally, after 23 years of dreaming, it’s finally coming true.  My parents are giving us a beautiful gift of this trip, and we have finished our reservations and accomodations. Soon, we will be flying away to the land of the maple leaf, and my first time ever outside the United States. Dear friends in Quebec are planning on visiting us on the island while we are there. What a lovely reunion of old friends it will be.

Wish us well on our journey, and I will have much to share when we return.

Until later, dear friends.

Here are my latest ATCs. I’ve been ATCing my head off and I think I need a little break. It’s been fun, but I didn’t realize how many I made recently…

These next ones were for a “canceled postage stamp” ATC swap…

For this one, I used my Celtic rubber stamps…

These are called Zentangles. They are often randomly drawn shapes, filled in with different designs. They’re a lot of fun to do. These are my very first set!

I have more ATCs to share, but for now, please enjoy these ones. More will be posted soon!

I can’t help myself.

I just can’t.

“It is me”, said the flea.

Hello, dear hearts! Our computer is feeling better, but I’ve been incredibly busy the last few weeks. Last week, it was driving, driving, driving to Savannah every.day. to take the eldest of my Nanny children to a choir summer camp. That being over, I was looking forward to an easier week. ha! Turned out, the family I nanny for have friends who had a family emergency. So, the mama of my Nanny family brought the older two of that family’s children home with her, so the family could focus on the situation they were dealing with. In essence, I had two sets of twins this week, two 3 year olds and two 5 year olds. We’ve done well this week, but I’m ready for the weekend. Actually, I might have Friday off! So, I will be able to return here and I have plans for an even better wild gooseberry garden.

Just wanted you to know what was going on. I will be back and soon!

Our wonderful computer really is not feeling well. It lasted about all it’s going to until we get it fixed. So…this really will be the last post from the wild gooseberry until our Magic Window (also known as Bessie, our Gateway computer) is out of the computer hospital.

For now, know that I am happy and well and I wish the same for you.
I’ll leave you with another image, or two, of beautiful Tybee Island…

Enjoy and see you soon.

I love skyscapes…

I’ve talked about a very special place to me before here, Tybee Island. If I could, I’d live on the island and go to the beach every day and never leave (well, except to visit my family and friends.) It’s about my favorite place here and I’m so happy every time we go out.

I found another reason to love Tybee Island even more this 4th of July. A new family tradition has been established, 4th of July at Tybee! Well, it was actually on the 3rd, but it was close enough for us.

First of all, we had a pretty ride out across the salt marsh…

Then we were treated to a rare event for me here…a sunset without trees in the way!

We walked along the beach, enjoying the end of the day. Night spread out across the sky and then it was time for the fireworks! I have a “Fireworks” setting on my camera. This was the first time I had an opportunity to try it out. I think they turned out good and it was fun to try to capture them…

A new family tradition has been established…and another reason to love Tybee Island.

If you are a scrapbooker or someone who loves cute, homey illustrations, then you must have come across Mary Engelbreit and her adorable drawings. They are on everything from stationery to aprons, stickers to fabric. Her cozy, welcoming world has been a place of solace during dark times for many people, including myself.

Imagine my delight when I saw this flyer at my usual bookstore in Savannah!

Usually, people this famous go straight to Atlanta and don’t take the time to come down to Savannah too often. We are not a big metro city, which is fine, but there is a lot of stuff that only Atlanta gets which I do miss out on. So, I decided to go and meet her and ask her to sign the books I planned on buying.  She was mostly there to promote her newest book…

When I arrived at the bookstore, I was surprised to find that I was only one of three in line to meet her! They didn’t advertise her being there, I found out later, because it was rather a spur-of-the-moment decision for her to visit. I was able to talk with her a bit, and she was very friendly, which I was expecting…yet was still relieved to find it to be true.

She signed my books, I shook her hand and was able to even talk with her for a little while. When I was leaving the store, there was a large line, so it was one of those rare moments when I was at the right place, at the right time.

What a lovely day.
Thank you, Mary Engelbreit!

For more information about Mary Engelbreit, visit her website at http://www.maryengelbreit.com/

Hello, dear family and friends.  Well, I have the computer for the weekend and then it goes to the computer doctor. So, I thought I’d share my latest ATC creations before it goes in for its checkup.

These were made for a Tree ATC swap, two partners to send to. As usual, the background and envelopes were made using old magazine pages. I’ve really been enjoying using the aluminum duct tape, too.

These next ones were for a Brown/Blue and Brown/Pink swap. The Brown/Pink is called “Strawberry Summer” and the Brown/Blue is “Night in Iraq”, from Joshua’s descriptions.

Here are some birdies (again, I’ve been having fun with the silvery duct tape!)

A quick little Wild Gooseberry Goose (or duck…not quite sure.)

I really enjoyed making this one of the moon over the ocean. It was from two full moons ago, when we went for a walk on Tybee Island at night. *happy sigh*
(for some reason, when I use acrylic paint, it sometimes tends to wash out when I post here. I tried to adjust the color back, but the moon was losing its silvery look (yes, that is the duct tape again!) I wanted to post a close-up as I had for the others, but please know that the picture with the envelope is closer to how dark the blue is in this ATC.)

This one is very different for me. I have a difficult time drawing people, so I tend not to. However, I signed up for a “Non-cutesy mermaid” ATC swap. (as in non-Disney or cartoon-y mermaids, because I have a hard time not being cute, hee hee!) I was very proud of how this ATC turned out, particularly given that I just don’t draw people, or people-esque characters. I do think she’s cute, but in a non-Disney kind of way (I am a fan of Disney, though.) The background is a “mistake” watercolor that I did a few months ago, which was perfect for now. The foil on the end of her tail and the green foil by the words are Hershey’s chocolate Kiss wrappers. The lovely shell on the rock she’s sitting on is a Paua shell from a dear, dear friend in New Zealand. Thank you, Lynn!

And finally, my most recent ATC. It was for a “Grandparent’s sayings” swap. My maternal grandmother (born and raised in Arkansas) had many sayings, some I can repeat and some I just remember her saying (ha!). This is one of my favorites. It was used as an answer to a complaint about a run in a stocking or a bad hair day or something like that. My mama used it for me, her mama used it for her, and I bet her mama used it for her. I called my mother to make sure it was “dark” and not “midnight” for the saying. She told me “dark”, because she wasn’t allowed out after midnight.

“No one’ll ever notice on a gallopin’ horse after dark anyway”. A quote by Sula McGrew, my mama’s mama.

It made me laugh to use a carrousel horse stamp for the gallopin’ horse. I used the page of a magazine article about vintage fabrics for the envelope. The prints made me think about Grandma’s quilts and aprons. I won’t even mention the duct tape…you know what you’re looking at.

Goodness! I hadn’t realized how busy I’ve been working on ATCs lately! Hope you’ve enjoyed looking at them as much as I’ve enjoyed making them.

Hello, dear friends.

I know I’ve not updated you on my adventures as I’ve wanted to. I have been busy working and adventuring (ha!) but I have had trouble even telling you that, due to computer difficulties. Well, finally, our poor little computer is getting a check up. Hopefully nothing to severe (or expensive!) is wrong with it, but wild gooseberry will be out wandering the patch until the computer returns. I have ideas for a fresh look to my dear little site. Hope you can come back and visit soon! The computer should return to us sometime next week or so…

Until then, be kind, be creative, just be happy.