whimiscalmusings

Fathers Day Memories and what he taught me.

2012-06-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

Father's Day, Is my day of memories, things we as a family learned from my dad.

I learned you can be a hero.

I learned being part of a family meant doing for others, will benefit you too,

I learned don't lie, it doesn't pay,

I learned sitting up strait or standing up strait, will make you look confident.

I learned you can always share something and still have it as your own,

I learned hard work would not kill you.

I learned, watch your manners it helps you be a good person,

I learned look at how you dress, it means something, even if you don’t have much to wear.

I learned having fun can be in your own back yard.

I learned that love and protection can be a good thing.

I learned anger is harmful.

I learned he loved me just because.

I learned you can make beautiful music with a whistle.

I learned creativity out of necessity.

I learned you can make it with something if you look around and see what you have and use it.

I learned fun can be gotten with very little.

I learned look out for others, especially those that can’t help themselves.

I learned cruelty can be quick, but have lasting consequences.

I leaned the good and the bad in life, but it does not have to make you either. Just balance it.

These things are things I learned from My Dad. I am sure there are so many more. Some say he was not worthy to call father, some say he was mean, some say he did not love them, all that may be true in my family, but I loved him, I knew how he felt about a lot of things because I took time to find out. He wanted more for us than we wanted for ourselves, but he did not have the means to get us there. He wanted well behaved children because he knew the bible, and he knew that if you spared the rod you spoiled the child. He wanted love, but many times did not know how to give it because it was not given to him first, when he was young. You only can mimic what your taught from your parents. He required respect, but had a hard time teaching it, and because of that may have been hard and difficult. But he told me he loved us all. He was overwhelmed many a day and did his best, as he knew it.

I hope that you can look into Fathers day and find something, one thing you can say positive to balance a negative of your own Dad, and maybe in this dad.

Fathers have so much to do, so much to care for,

so much to concern themselves with, so much to answer for, so much to balance, and so much to bring into your lives during the time you live with them. You can not know that until you are one.

Fathers are your major influence in all you will be as an adult, and with out one you will be less of a person.

Today pick something and let others know a good thing or a and bad thing. But the one thing I really learned well from my Dad is “ If you can’t say something nice... be quiet”.

Gardens

2012-05-24T22:38:00.005-07:00

http://themagiconions.blogspot.com

The above link is what got me started on a whimiscal day in my Garden.......

Gardens, they fill up our yards, they make something old and ugly beautiful, they are subjects of paintings.

Gardens can be fun, whimsical, and alluring.

Join in the fun of the 2012 Fairy Garden Competition and create a spot for your fanciful delights.

Animals, Nomes, Fairies, Insects, all can delight your senses.

Come create a spot to enjoy, inside or out, a garden is your delight.

Gardens, bring lightness to darkened areas of life. Come and enjoy Gardens.

2012-05-14T00:17:00.000-07:00

Mothers day came and went and I did not get to mention my mothers gifts to me.

I was looking at a site on the internet and they had a competition for what did your mother give to you?

I thought about this all day. I thought I would begin by posting some of her attributes that I hope to say I have received from watching her raise her family.

My mother was a mom to 11 kids, and for 25 years a wife to a difficult husband. My dad was a good man but he had a hard job trying to keep up with what had become a large family in no time. He had many jobs and many of them did not carry insurance as that during that time of life was not a standard.

Our family ranged between the years of the late 40's then entered the 50's into the 60's and on into the 70's.
So as you can imagine there were many changes that came over time.

The war was just the beginning When she was married. A gorgeous bride, and her dashing sailor husband. Soon my oldest brother was born, he was premature, and sickly, he had heart problems and had one of the earliest heart surgery ever performed on a baby. She lost her next babies a set of twins, and then my oldest sister was born, a family was beginning all during a war overseas, and she had become a mother with an absent father. Her dedication to raising her babies was beautiful. She was graceful, and giving. She would have visits from her husband, and as a result another pregnancy, she was patient during the difficult days of restrictions and rationing. She had no idea this sacrifice would serve her later years when things got tougher.

Three soon became four, and then five.
During this time my father had changed ships so many times. She would endure the telegrams stating he had been torpedoed, and/ or his ship was sunk. Every time a ship change his pay was delayed. I never read where she complained in the letters she wrote to her sailor. I found in her letters a concern

and caring to what he was having to endure over seas. He was burned badly while saving other crew men on one sinking, and then he ended up with pneumonia as a result.She found the hardships he endured were more than she could add to. She never wrote and told him she was being foreclosed on. The house with 5 children was about to be taken by the bank.

Word had gotten out at a local USO that this was to occur, and the airmen of Lowery Airfield collected their pay and saved my mom and dads house. This was posted in the local paper the Rocky Mt. News.
And that is when my father first learned of the problems back home. My mom was gracious with thanksgivings to those that helped her through this time. The war was ending but the Korean conflict was beginning, he was finishing his tours as a sailor and she now had been a single parent for many years.

The change of direction the family of now six kids had to make to accommodate a father figure was just the beginnings of difficulties. He had to get a job, and find a way to pay and house this ever growing family. The little house that was saved by the airmen, had become too small. A new location with a built in business seemed the perfect answer. They had found a house with a water system that provided water to 100 homes. Our family was at this time 6 kids strong, and not long after moving there was an additional member. That would be me. It was the mid 50s'. Jobs he had were many but included the care of 100 homes to provide water for. The family had become a business, and he in ways treated the older members like partners instead of sons and daughters.
He used the kids for chores of collecting and meter reading.

It was not all work though, He liked to travel, and would always find a way to be near water, or on a lake, He would provide family times of adventures like a road trip in a old school bus converted to a camper. During one of these adventures she was cook, laundry service, baby tender, shopper, and many more things. I don't remember her being out of sorts or feeling that she could not handle any crises This trip was to the west coast from Colorado. It always seemed that things could not go easy, and the bus broke down and My mom had to gather all our possessions and get us home in one piece. I remember a train trip that seemed fun to me but must have taxed her because of 8 little people relying on her. it was not long and another 3 babies came along. It was a taxing situation for a family to find work during this time. Family difficulties such as open heart surgery on my younger brother were just adding to the pile of hardships my mom and dad had building. His job situation, her family life demanded more than they could survive and after 25 years the cracks were too deep to repair.

My mom who had never worked began the job search her self. Scared, and now alone with 8 mouths to feed and bodies to put clothing on. She had a few jobs and finally landed one that she worked many years. The hours were hard, teen-agers were harder, and she never lost her gracious nature. Many times we had very little in ways of food and clothes, but she endured. She always prayed and took us to church, she provided with out complaint, and she survived the raising of the rest of the family. She gave to us first, She prayed for us first, She let us complain first, She held her head high, and I found that she was one of the strongest persons that could have ever influenced my life. I loved my mom and in dedication to her.
Happy Mothers day Dear dear mother. I miss your smiling face.

Changing the nature of our modern applances to a more beautiful view.

2012-04-13T01:19:00.000-07:00

We all have them,... MAGNETS... some from the schools, some from the advertisers on the phone book, some from Pizza houses, and some from real estate companies. We all have them, and they hold our up our pictures, our papers from our kids, and so much more.
They are predominantly placed on the refrigerator, and basically ugly.
I want to end the savaging of our refrigerator.

We strive for beauty in our houses, we polish the wood of our cabinets, and polish our floors, BUT we
   allow these ugly magnets to invade our largest,
          and our most used, message board
                                                                                         Our fridge.

I say no more.

Never should we allow our precious ones to be held up by real estate ads, or eye glass sellers, or out of date calendars again.

Take down the magnets with the ads of agents, or banks,

Pull the paper from the magnet backing,
add paper scraps or embellishments to the face of an old magnet,
Change the look of a magnet with ease,

I make cards, I have tools to re-purpose paper,

Cutting Dies are only one plan I have

for the magnets on my fridge. I use paper, fabric, magazine pictures, old wrapping paper, you name it. It can easily be added to the face of an old magnet.

The paper should be light weight.

The embellishments should be few, or the magnet will not hold up your work or the pictures you what to show off.

The ease of changing the look of a magnet can be made with simple scrapbook paper or cuttings from

magazines of your favorite recipe or photo of a place. But let your creative nature change the horrid look

from the old magnets we now let adorn our fridges.

Let the beauty of simple glue and paper begin to change the face of your favorite

memory keeper, it can be the the most beautiful place in your house, your refrigerator.

Credits: Graphic45, Cuttle Bug, Spellbinders, Cricut.

Creating Memeories

2011-11-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

One of my great indulgences has been paper crafting. I have loved it before it was fashionable. I have saved magazines for clip art projects for my Girls, I called it cut and glue. We have books created by them of items and sayings cut and placed together to create a page of whimsy and fun. Some were alphabetical, some were just for fun, some were content driven. But all were a placement of time and wonder into the minds of my children. I now can see the formation of who they are by these books done when they were small. I am sure they will some day treasure them like I do. I still get them out and work on mine from time to time.

I have introduced this form of fun to my granddaughter and will to my other grandchildren when they are old enough to cut an glue.

This form of creative paper clip art was started years ago by my grandmother, she had a book we would race to when we visited her house, and spend hours in it to see what was in it. It was similar to the newly created I SPY books. She made it from clip art from magazines. Sadly that book did not survive, but I found one that is older and made from paper sacks and sewn with twine, It has great paper art from magazines clipped and pasted in a book. Very old, and one of my favorite treasures. ( Some pictures from it below) I followed the tradition with my own design and idea and newer art but fun none the less. The art of magazine art is being lost at a great rate, and this is one way to preserve it.

My passion of paper art was renewed the other day by a friend passing on her former passion of paper, she supplied me fun glitter, glue, and paper from her collection, She was changing her passion from paper to beading. I love that form of art too, but have never indulged there. My daughter wanted to make Christmas Cards this year and so for a while I was going to my favorite store Archivers to take in their workshops, and creative fun and free ideas.
I loved this class so much, well, I went a bit wild and bought lots of fun things from all my favorite stores, Hobby lobby, Michaels, and where ever there was crafting sales. These cards were just the first of many that we made, my daughter and I a sampling of the ones we made are here.

Specilty papers and embelshiments from my favorite makers KC and Company, are added fun, the stamps my friend had in her collection and some I bought on line,
from www.scrapbuck.com helped with the stamping and made it reasonable, and Papers and More online stores provided the perfect card foundation to build on. Papers from Archivers from Graphics 45, added the vintage look that is so creative and unique. I love this so much that it has inspired me to make stacks for the other holidays and see if they would be sale-able to the area gift stores. This love of paper, that has taken my life into a new realm is fun and creative. I will continue as sales provide format for my obsession. But with a bit of creative gifting for others

Happy Holidays and let the fun begin for this is the season of beauty, family, and fun.

Autumn

2011-10-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Colors Changing Snow is coming
I wonder where the time went.
Gardens are finished and being covered over
with fresh snow of late fall wonder.
Cool nights and warm fires,
Exchanged our warmth of summer.
I am ready for some quite nights,
with the dainty flakes of winters frost.
A good book and blankets tucked,
We find ourselves in winter.

The winners are announced. While I was so busy,

2011-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

The winners of the fairy garden were announced while I was so busy. There were birthdays to share and plan for, cakes to make and so much on the days of autumn business to attend to, and it all just slipped away and there were some wondrous gardens to chose from and I am happy for them all. Check it out. I plan a fun garden next year, and with that I must go find fun things to place there. Thanks for checking in. K

Fun things I found,

2011-09-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.sculpey.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/clay_set/11-AP M71-SC-DollmakerMold_woman.jpg

Molds

Sculpey® Molds – Discriminating artists and everyday clay users will enjoy an exact replica time and time again; Sculpey Molds allow you to do just that. Adults and kids will enjoy the freedom of creating molds in the perfect colors and the savings compared to store bought embellishments. Sculpey Molds are a fantastic and easy way to personalize any craft project.
How to Use a Push Mold:
1. Condition clay and roll clay ball the size of the impression you are going to make.
2. Press the clay completely into the mold.
3. Remove excess clay that does not fit in the mold cavity. Clay should be flush with the top of the mold.
4. To release, gently nudge the clay away from the edge of the mold toward the center of the molded piece.
5. DO NOT PLACE FLEXIBLE PUSH MOLD IN OVEN. Bake molded piece according to clay manufacturers’ suggestion, allow to cool and start embellishing.
Hints:
• A little clay goes a long way. Practice to determine how much clay will fill your selection – it takes less than you think!
• Lightly mist the mold with water before pressing in the clay. This will make releasing the clay from the mold even easier. A light dusting of corn starch also works as a release.
• You can press a variety of colors into the mold simply by adding colors into the section of the mold you want colored. Build from the bottom upwards.
• Place mold, with clay in it, inside your refrigerator freezer for about 90 seconds. Remove and “pop” your creation out of the mold like an ice cube.

APM 71

Use to make professionally sculpted, highly detailed dolls in just minutes. Each mold makes a head, torso, limbs and ears

Woman Push Mold Instructions.pdf

http://www.sculpey.com

Check out the new products for 2011 what fun the fairies of the world will have with this one. ( or should I say the fairy makers of the world.)

That is all the fun for today come back soon.

Where do the fairies go

2011-09-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Today I was wondering where do the fairies go during winter?

I have never seen a fairy in a winter coat, have you?

I have never seen a flower in the winter garden, they tend to them, so I was wondering where do they go?

I do not believe they burrow in the ground and live with the critters of under earth, but who knows?

I see falling stars and wonder if we just saw a fairy passing by, it could be, have you seen one lately?

Today I was wondering where do fairies go?

I was just wondering....

KIM

Follow up on mazes from the air

2011-08-31T02:43:00.000-07:00

Corm Mazes are a farm phenomenon, they provide added income in the hard times of farming and near a large metropolitan area they can help provide the difference in making another year profitable and shutting down the family farm.

In Colorado they have become quite popular, whether made by a computer,

or just a farmer making his own.

( click on pictures to see it clearer)

The beauty in them can only be seen by air, they make a great pictures in the sky's as we fly over them.

We love to take new visitors to see this art in the sky's, on a beautiful morning while we travel to breakfast at a local airport restaurant

, .

2011-08-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think we get to visit with God sometimes a bit more than other times. Playing with my Gran-daughter I was taking photos of her, and looked up to see the sunset beginning.

I have been blessed by my husband in the fact he asked before we got married, "What have you always wished for? "

I said, it was a simple thing, a place to play good music and something to play it on, I wanted to travel, and a place to watch the sunsets.

When he asked me to marry him, He said would fulfill my dreams.

I have had my three wishes fulfilled in my life. I have a great house in the country with a great front room to play my music in. He has given me all the fun ways to make it happen and even a piano to try and learn on.

I have traveled, from coast to coast, North to South, we did this in a big rig for 2 1/2 years when we first got married. I have seen all but a few states. I have also seen many states by air, mostly by small plane,But not by air carrier, I have difficulty in jets. I have experienced happiness and fear because of all forms of travel.

I have loved this part of my life.

But by far the best filled wish is the room with a view,
I have two great windows that face the mountain range, I see the sky filled with so much to see. I am witness to the skys work of art cloudy to clear.

I love the days when the mist of the day shadows over the mountains,

The clouds and light play around them, and storms break over them. I see the sky in a special way. I Love my view to watch sunsets.

I wake early to enjoy the pink sunrises, And the clouds are always delightful. And on special days the moon is a special touch.

Fulfilled indeed, I would say he filled my dreams.
And I love him for that. Dreams are one thing we all have.
Have yours been fulfilled?
With My full view of the mountains they provide an array of sunsets that fills my life with happiness.

BUT... This days sun set is from My front door.

Every once in a while I see God peeking through. Today was one of those.

Sharing the fun

2011-08-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

I shared my delight of creating a living space for fairies with my great nieces the other day. Oh what joy it brought to a boring summer day. The girls have been a bit bored, as it is just before school to start, and the fun of summer is coming to an end.
But a fairy garden made the girls light up with excitement. New thoughts on what and how, to design a garden, and what were we going to do, was so fun to see in their eyes.

I made the fences, and left them unpainted, I also made a gazing balls from a marble and golf tee, decorated with glitter of different colors, each fairy has her own color.

I found bird houses at Michaels, in the clearance, unpainted. and all the other supplies I got either there or at Hobby Lobby.
Love both the stores for making creative things more creative.

My fairies were purchased at Enchanted Gardens web page.

And Bits and pieces of fun I had around made the garden more fun.
A shallow pot and a few plants were just the ticket to make a garden neighborhood. I found some tools and pots of flowers for each fairy.

After a plan developed of where to put each item, and how the paths should be we worked toghether as thier mom brought fun things from her collections to add to the fun. I used the tops of jars as a pond and the girls wondered why you needed a pond in a fairy garden.

I said to attract the butterfly and flying friends that visit. And it is a good place to cool your toes for a fairy.

Creating a special place in a busy world of back yard fun for fairies is just the thing to break a hot boring summer day up and enlighten the imaginations.

I explaned this could be a fun place to bring the decorations for halloween and make the fairies a spooky place this fall, and when the winter comes they could have a fun time decorating for christmas.

The conversations of how and what they were going to do filled the afternoon as busy hands finished the garden.

I was so proud of my sweet girls as they put hard work and their imaginations to work to create a delightful spot for fairy's to stop and visit.

I hope to have created a wonder of wee people, and love of creating new living spaces for visitors in the future, and hope my girls will carry it on.
.

To My loves,
My Nieces Isabelle and Lexie and mom Crystal.

Art Mazes of Colorado,

2011-08-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

FLYING AND ART

I fly with my husband in his small aircraft, I find so much to see during our flights. But the funnest of all the sights is the annual Art.

CORN MAZES ACROSS COLORADO

We love to see what design the farmers are going to place in the corn fields during the year, and as the crop emerges the details become more visible.

One of the largest in Colorado is the Anderson Farms Corn maze, the family has built a whole harvest festival around the yearly mazes.

Children come from all around to enjoy the different rides food and fun the farmers have created.

From the ground it is large stocks of corn and wide isles, but from the air it is astounding the beauty of the art created from grids and plows.

Some Farmers only have the ability to drive around and create a circle maze, like the one above, but from the air it has its own beauty. Look as I add more mazes from this year. Thanks for checking in.

My Fairy Garden

2011-08-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

A Fairy Garden Story For

An Ugly Yard Problem.

There it was, every time I would want to take a picture it would creep into my pictures. This Ugly Yard Fixture, waiting, quietly working to make my yard an unsightly mess right in the middle of our front yard.
I had had enough. I was going to fix this. With a little recycling of some neighbor’s yard rejects, I began a project that has now captured our hearts.

Rocks that were rejected from a neighbor’s yard, were placed in a pile to be taken away by anyone that wanted them. It was this pile of rocks that began my vision for resetting this Ugly yard fixture in my front yard.

I moved the rocks into place, and carefully added the dimensions of a small garden, hiding this hideous cement
septic tank lids from view.

Large ones held down the underlying fabric to keep the weeds from ruining this vision. 3 bags of good soil, and one of peat moss mixture added the base of the garden.

I found young plants in a local greenhouse that consisted of Moss, bluebells, pansies, columbines and other assorted fun and colorful mounding plants. I had to wait many months for the earth to warm to temperatures that would not freeze the tender pots of greenery, We had a long cold spring and snow, and frost delayed my garden up to almost June.

I covered these dainty spring greeneries with the fabric and had protected them, and waited many months to plant. In the mean time I gathered stones, and fun path way pieces along my drive during daily walks. I decided to add a drink for the birds and got a planter tray for a corner of this garden and filled it with water for the early robins that came to visit.

I had a pedestal for a water tray, in my pile of rejected yard items I had picked up, I placed that on the top of septic lid, and decided to add a gazing ball to this area as a yard highlight. Sadly the first one made of glass blew off before I could secure it in the spring winds, and broke into many pieces. I found a steel one from Plow and Hearth magazine, and it became my secure replacement.

My granddaughter loved the orange glowing lights and added one at the opposite end I found fun cracked glass lights to add to the opposite corners. Carefully trails were placed to add enchanting walk way s to invite passing fairies to come and check out the adventures in this new garden. Again Plow and Hearth had a sale on fantasy garden homes and I found the best Chelae home just right for fairy visits. With carefully manicured hedges and gazing balls added to either side of the door way it creates an inviting entry sure to please.
I placed a sitting area for the smallest of fairies to visit along with glass stone pond to the back of the house complete with a river of blue falling water coming from under the read large foundation stones. Soon a pink poppy fairy and a small frog were deep in conversation at the edge of the glass stone pond. How delighted I was to find that this sitting area was perfect place to have a conversation.

Soon I found that two little fairies from a favorite store were visiting my garden, seeing the small snails that were crawling about, they were sharing the most magical of moments in the path way discussing their friend the little snail.

During a walk one day I found a great and magical treasure, a stone of fools gold and it was placed in side a safe spot of the garden hoping a gnome would not try to steal it I placed a bit of fencing I made around it to create a safe spot to keep it. Alas a little fairy was caught looking longingly through the fence.

A little purchase from a delightful store in Georgetown CO, provided a bitty sitting area for a visiting fairy, a pink chair complimented a small garden outside the hedge.

some visitors to the garden are a lady bug a gold jewel bug, making a visit to the big gold stone, and a dragon fly checking on the flowers. My garden has given the fairies of Erie, a place in the sun and me a hidden Ugly feature in my now beautiful yard.

story by Kim Hughes Erie CO

Hello from a first time bloger

2011-08-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Hello, I have never had the time to do this before, and find it a bit overwhelming, but exciting to share my bits of world with you. The seasons ahead will allow me a way to share the things I love. I hope you will want to share your loves and incites and wonders with me as I learn to do this and I hope to make it a place to come and share our fun ideas together. I plan to have connections to my favorite shopping sites, my favorite vacations sites, Things we find that may help you through the tough days, Photos of beautiful places, and my favorite things to do.

Come along and we shall see the magic of the wondrous worlds of our minds.