~*Last Friday*~

Last Friday-

I needed a break from my "life" so we took a ride into town to Central Park.
Oh it was gorgeous!
So alive and full of people.

Baby ducks were swimming in the pond, all fuzzy and cute! Children were running after one another, lots and lots of puppies and dogs zig zagging to and fro.
And the carnival rides were full of excited families and friends.

We ate at a small diner, nothing worth raving about.
I had some fries, and a yogurt with bottled water... I was not too hungry.

Bought a Berry Stella to try from *$s (Amber Dawn's way of saying Starbucks)

It was FULL of fiber..... Would have been better as a breakfast treat rather than an after dinner delight.

We took lots and lots of pictures...

But too many for me to edit right now.



I edited a few dozen and from those, I present the following for your viewing pleasure.
We walked around mid town and viewed the windows at Bergdorf's (I just call the store Bergies, so if I use that term, you know what I mean.--- And for future ref. Bloomies is Bloomingdales)
I digress...
The windows were full of fun treats and although I did not take pictures of all of the windows, here are a few of the scenes for you to enjoy.

This store is FULL of rich and luxurious decadence!

Although the merchandise is off the charts expensive in some areas, they do have some affordable goods for those of us who are not yet worth 7 figures.
We also visited Astoria Park both Saturday & Sunday.

Being near water/rivers calms my nerves a lot!





























Altered the color on this one a bit...



This reminds me of the doorbell pull from
"Becoming Jane" the movie.










These are the closeups to the piece below.



So dark and vampy!




















Central Park




The fountain by Bergies and The Plaza Hotel...
The water fall looks like gold dust twinkling at night.

Very opulent!


This is Astoria Park. The East River.

We also bowled on Sunday... First time in several years.

I actually broke 90 in my 2nd game...

Not bad for a girl who's hand was sore from playing catch

with a softball for half an hour earlier in the day!

:oD

~*Blog Award!*~

I actually think that this one is adorable.

Thank you to Brenda W. for sharing it with me!

(Click on the award to see Brenda's blog)
I am awarding 7 bloggers who know how to lighten up my face and heart!
~*SUPER DUPER EYE CANDY GALORE! SO SO SO SWEET!*~
http://ohjoy.blogs.com/

http://karlascottage.typepad.com/

http://americanharvest.typepad.com/

http://foxglovesfabricandfolly.blogspot.com/

http://invitemedo.blogspot.com/

http://www.paper-stories.blogspot.com/

http://justmycupoftea.typepad.com/

~*I LOVE YOUR BLOG!*~
:oD
Amber Dawn

Cancer sucks, I hate it , I do not like it.

It scares me.

But the life altering process can be a good change I guess.

(I am not writing about myself... Just a post venting about circumstances I am dealing with)
Sorry if I alarmed anyone...
:oC

These are my ~*Black & White*~ charms from my last swap! Would you like to join my next one?

Hi everyone!

I forgot to add in my own charms that I had constructed and assembled for my last ~*Black & White*~ charms exchange.

I have another one open for sign ups.

Anyone can join, but your charms have to be approved.

(They have to be neat and sturdy)

Rita Jackman has already sent hers in and they are really nice!

The packaging is SO professional!

I will show you a picture of her work next week if I can get some good pictures taken by then.

Thank you to everyone who sent me good thoughts and prayers.
It helped to get me through the week!

~*Amber Dawn*~

OH PLEASE? Send me HAPPY thoughts... I will feel them!

If you can think something nice about me, hold that thought please.

There is a lot of negative energy swirling around me and I am so not interested in it.

So help me chase away that mess!

(Even if you do not believe it will do me any good if people think good thoughts about me, just do it for the sake of doing it.

I already KNOW that it works!- And you do not have to tell me about it- you do not have to leave me a comment.

I WILL feel it!

~*Beau Ideal Arts issue 3 & 3 quarters!*~ :oD

Yeah, well after the computer loses your work several times in a row, you have to
think of something different!
Issue #4- "Into The Garden With Wings" is now just a bunch of fragments on some CDs and my sketchbook.
I am not going to tackle that zine again until I get a new computer.
So I decided to take parts of what I had done for that issue, and use the inserts from Elsie Sampson, Christi Miller, Kathy Robb, Grace Brunelle and make a small zine in the mean time.
Making a full size zine is no simple task!

OH! I am also making issue #2 of Oodles of Doodles for Alma Stoller's I Heart Zines swap this fall. Are you in it?

Maybe I will combine the two to make 3 & 3 quarters longer?
Zines are fun.
I find that hosting swaps and making zines keeps me feeling happy.
:oD

I *still* have a house guest so I am SO behind on my "real" life.
It feels good to escape via the Internet right now!
:o) House Guest might be here until the first week of Sept...
:oP

Whatever happened to calgon?
lol
I never even tried it, but it was fun to say "Calgon, take me away!"
I was more of a Mr. Bubbles fan actually.

Amber

Happiness for a moment... A Charming Exchange...

Well, we snuck a picture in Barnes and Noble this week.
They send security after you if they see flashing bulbs go off... So this was the best we could do with a cheap camera and no flash!

Yep, that is me grinning while enjoying a delicious cookie from the cafe.
I am giving the thumbs up to the GREAT new book, A Charming Exchange.
I LOVE the book!
PLEASE go and check it out!





I have just finished reading "The Shack"
It is a pretty good read.
I love how the story is told and without giving away any details, I will say that this book has a LOT of fact in it.

It really does capture the path/journey that I took when crossing the bridge of faith and surrender.

It's about- Letting go of deep pain and hatred.
Letting go of despair and worry. Letting go of masks and lies.

A calm during a storm- The sun peeked through--

~*More Charms made for the Charms 2007 swaps by, Christi Miller*~

~*READ ME*~


~*Christi Miller's Etsy Shop*~

My Little Sister wanted one of Christi's zines for her b-day.

(She has wanted her own after seeing the one which I had gotten from a Gleaner Zine swap that I was in with Christi a while back.

So we picked the one she wanted off of Christi's Etsy site.

She is THRILLED with her copy! Although the price is $35.00, it is packed with adorable stationary, stickers and FUN!

Each copy comes with hand made Kawaii goodies too!

This is a fun zine for any Kawaii fan!

Thank you Christi!

Charms for upcoming Charms2007swap themes... ALL of these are by Brenda S. Wampler of Texas USA.

I will add more info this coming week.

~*Fantazya*~

Designer, Crafter & Artist ~*Lucy*~ in Canada, is who I have been making all of the diary pages for.
I just checked out her Etsy shop, she makes some really nice recycled scrapbook paper, and other stuff for the body and home.
She will be selling the diary/address book starting in September.
If you are interested in knowing when they go on sale, email me or leave me a comment.
Here are a few samples of her work-

~*Pretty Bird Dress*~



~*Below are some of her couture lipbalms-*~


"Very soft natural lipbalm.
Ingredients: Organic unrefined virgin coconut oil,
extra virgin olive oil, pure bees wax, lavender essential oil.


Decorated with magazines."



Here is her Etsy address is- "Trashion Fashion" FANTAZYA
http://www.fantazya.etsy.com/

And lastly... A shout out to Art-E-Zine!

The returns that I kept from the Ornate Vintage Pin/Brooch Swap.

Connie Williams just asked me what I got (kept) from the exchange.
There are some pictures below with multiple pieces, so I will tell you where to look...



First off, this was my hostess gift from Ro Bruhn-


This is the pin that Ro made.



Gillian Allen made these, mine is the lower right one with the red hat.
The top left green hat one reminds me of my friend Artsy Fran...



This pin was created by Lilla LeVine.



These were made by Jenny Crossley.
Mine is the top left one. He is cute!
Reminds me of Alfalfa!



These were made by Nancy Hunt-Bartek
Mine is the lower right one.