Nancy Wethington

Real talent . . .

Tuesday night sometimes finds us at a local Webster Groves hang out, Highway 61 Roadhouse. We like Tuesday evenings for a couple of reasons: $.61 specials; amazing talent.

The house band starts at 6:30-ish with great music that includes jazz and classic rock. Then open mic night starts and it's always a blast to see who shows up. They jump on the stage and start playing whatever instrument is their specialty. It may be drums, guitar, harmonica . . . you just never know. But the talent is always good.

Last Tuesday we were enjoying dinner with friends, listening to the music when the house band left the stage and some very young kids started getting their guitars out of the cases. One of our friends, said *looks like we're in for a boy band*.

Enter:

Matt *The Rattlesnake* Lesch

and

The Meyer Brothers

and

Aaron Griffin on drums

AND OH MY GOSH

these kids wailed!

Honestly, I wanted to give them a standing ovation.

They ranged in age from 13 to 18

and you would have thought they had been playing music together

for a hundred years.

They had the place rockin'! 

CLICK HERE

for a little taste.

Here's more from 15 year old Matt's resume:

 http://www.reverbnation.com/matttherattlesnakelesch

 

You may remember . . .

reading this post about my ABC gal pals and our friend Kathy:

http://art-from-the-heart.typepad.com/art_from_the_heart/2011/06/my-abcers-.html

 Kathy just lost her very long battle with cancer. Please keep her and Jerry in your prayers.

Copycat (sort of) . . .

I am a saver who has not yet taken the 12 step program. Between things I've saved on my computer and pinterest, there is no way to count the crafts, tags, scrapbook pages and mini books I thought I would get to one day.

How many pinterest pins can one person have!

Today is the day. I've decided to start on the list. If I live to be 267, the list will probably never be done. But one has to start somewhere right?

Enter Keisha Campbell. I have a huge craft crush on her.  She is an amazing artist who uses mostly monochromatic shades of white, gray, cream, gold and silver. Her style is simple yet stunning.  And her home decor - OMG!

You can find her blog here:

A Bit East

Baby steps right? Starting with a tag, I used this for my inspiration:

Neutral Colors

It's so pretty.  Because I started this at 5 am, I'm using supplies I already have at home. Unfortunately I didn't have that beautiful geometric background stamp but I did have a music stamp that I thought would work. Here's my version:

Of course I like Keisha's much better than mine. However, to use Keisha's design as a starting point really helps get the mojo going. 

Thank you Keisha for your continued inspiration!

July classes up!

Many of you have asked what constitutes BASIC SUPPLIES for classes. You can find a list at this post along with my July workshops:

July Workshops

In addition to bringing basic supplies with you to each class, there will probably be other supplies added based on the workshop you're in. Your instructor will supply a list or you may check each instructor's blog for more details.

A reason to write . . .

Recently someone told me that some of the schools are not teaching cursive any more. Since I don't have little ones in school, I'm not sure if this is true or not. If it is true, it's sad. 

It's a shame that there are less and less letters being written, actual cards signed and sent via snail mail and more and more done on the computer (as I sit here and write this on the 'puter!).

You might remember this Graphic 45 Design Team project I did a couple of years ago:

You can read the original post here:

http://art-from-the-heart.typepad.com/art_from_the_heart/2011/04/i-have-the-go-ahead-.html

If you remember the post, it was part true and part made-up - a story about my grandparents who migrated from Spain (that part was true), how he came over to find work and left his bride behind (that part was made-up).

Warp to today and you'll find me cleaning out my Mom's house, finding all sorts of things I didn't know she had. I opened a box and found this:

First of all, a yellowed envelope with  U.S. Department of Labor, immigration and naturalization service. I think my heart skipped a beat. I opened the envelope and did find their citizenship papers inside. My Grandpa was born in 1903 and became a U.S. citizen in 1938. My Grandma's citizenship papers were dated 1939. 

In this same envelope was a letter my Grandpa wrote to my Grandma. It was a love letter dated April 6, 1926.  So cute as I never knew my Grandpa to be a romantic, never saw him kiss or hug my Grandma, yet he talks about how he wants to hold her tight and misses her sweet kisses. 

And all this in his own handwriting, kept as my Grandmother's treasure for their daughter and granddaughter and great-grandson to value as a piece of family heritage written long ago.

Tuesday, June 18 . . .

The For Keeps Sake Stamp Club class begins at 6 pm with 3 cards using Graphic 45 Place In Time papers. 

Please BYO supplies to include:

• cutter
• scissors
• adhesive (wet or dry)
• pop-up dots or pop-up adhesive 

Please make sure to sign up for this class

even though it's free to the Stamp Club Members.

All others may join for a small fee.

Call For Keeps Sake (314) 487-8131 for more information.

Amazing talent . . .

My friend Sonja sent this to me and wow!

Zev Hoover is only 14 years old. These photos that he took and manipulated are amazing!

http://slideshow.today.com/slideshow/today/teen-photographer-creates-tiny-portraits-52083634

Enjoy!

Still not normal . . .

whatever that is.

Things are getting a bit better and have slowed down slightly.

Beau & Lindsey's wedding was beautiful and so much fun! They are so cute together and very, very happy. Their two pups are doing great and are very spoiled - just as it should be. 

I've been working on mini books (my true scrap love) and enjoying every minute of Missy's altered journal classes. If you'd like to join in, contact For Keeps Sake (St. Louis MO) @ 314-487-8131. It's not a continuing class so you can jump in at any time. 

Just worked on a new binding that I've never taught before so will put this on the For Keeps Sake July calendar asap and will let you know the date. I'll have room for 12 people so sign up quickly.

Upcoming classes/meet-ups/workshops for June:

• CYI: This is a free meet-up the 2nd Tuesday of each month @ 6pm. This month we'll be making embellishments using air dry paper clay. Jenny is our *guest instructor*.  Please bring any show-and-tell you'd like to share and come with ideas for next month's meet-up.
• Stamp Club complimentary class: Are you a member of For Keeps Sake's Stamp Club? You can join any time to get a daily discount on stamps + punches on your keytag + a free card class each month of this year. Jump in anytime and start saving! We meet the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6 pm. BYO basic supplies and watch my blog for any additional supplies you may need. I usually post a supply list 2 days prior to class.

I think that's all for now.

Hope to see you soon at one of the two above meet-ups!