So much, so little time!!!

As I reflect upon my Welcome to my Craft Room/open house Day...I am proud of myself.  I tried; I made an attempt; I am going to make more attempts.  "Failure" may stunt me for a few hours, but I am not going to let it stop me in my tracks!!!

So here is ME - I want to share myself with you...my own personal "style" is still evolving.

On the table here I have displayed some greeting cards, jewelry, repurposed/upcycled gifts, coasters, etc. that I have made.

This is the first quilt square I have ever made.  Stitched by machine.  I used instructions provided by StampinUp, the Big Shot (to cut my Debbie Mumm fabric), SU Sweet Pea felt (leaves), and SU satin ribbon.  It turned out pretty cute and I had fun putting my own spin on it.  Now, it's decor for my bag  :-)

this is the SU Simply Adorned charm I created. I stamped a cute little leaf and used SU Watercolor Pencils...the other side has some SU Designer Series Paper (DSP) to decorate it.

I love the card I made for a customers' nephew!  I used SU "Under the Stars" and "Lovely As a Tree" stamp sets, plus my Watercolor Pencils again.  I'm liking the campin-out theme since I'm about to be campin-out for a whole month.  Yipee!!!

This project was a blast. I've been keeping a box of stuff to upcraft, repurpose, and/or upcyle (depending on your personal word preference)...I finally did it! I made it for my friend Terri. I took a salad dressing bottle, decorated it, then filled it with yummy chocolate! The new items I used to create this beauty are SU Silver Foil Smooch Spray over the Presto Patterns DSP in the Summer Mini Catalog and other SU retired items.

 

You can always order StampinUp items from me here to create your own crafts!

http://keli.stampinup.net/

Onto the REST OF THE STORY...

Last Thursday, Earth Day, I delivered a card order, had lunch with a friend and got dreadlocs.  Yep!  I took the hairdo plunge and went to the LocDoctor for the install.  Here is the process that I went through...

 Liz was initially going to only section my hair, but after some discussion - I decided to let her do the entire install & let my inexperienced (gracious & willing) friends off the hook. Glad I did and I think they are glad, too   :-)

Here I am...waiting to get started.

I'm happy the "sectioning" has been completed

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Here you see Liz and her husband, Casey are in deep concentration on the installation process.

 

  I'm pretty nervous at this point because my hair is SO much shorter than I thought it would be!  Yes, Liz warned me it would be shorter, but....YIKES!

Nicole was my entertainment & moral support! I am SUPER glad she was there for most of the process. LUV Her!

And......DRUM ROLL Please........the final Knotty Keli for you to see.

I'm happy with the 'end product' - although it's already taking a lot of hair-care that I'm not used to, I am learning the dreadlock technique.  I look forward to having them "mature" as they call it.  OH!  And I want them longer...a lot longer, too!!!  Liz & Casey are the BEST!!! I enjoyed the time I spent at the studio, too.

While I was sitting in that chair for 10 hours on Earth Day, I had time to think.  This is some of what I contemplated that day...
Are we all just caught up in our daily routine?  So stuck, that we are unable to make the smallest efforts to create a better environment...so lazy, that we can't take care of ourselves with exercise and nourishing foods...so selfish, we can't take the time to be there for someone in a time of need or celebration?
I am included in this stuckness at times - it feels yucky!  It takes continual effort to not get caught in so much routine, that I forget, or disregard, others.  I strive to be fully compassionate, and for me, that is not an arrival point...it has to be a way of life.
How about you?  How do you show compassion to others and to your environment?