Back to Normal?

I am thinking that things are getting back to some resemblance of "normal" in my life....and "normal" is in constant flux. At least I am at home! It's been a really off kilter last couple of months, jeez! reminds me a bit of last year at this time, except that I was in Oklahoma by myself, in the country, very little rain, and getting cooked by the 100+ degree heat and worrying about wild fires!! Now I'm back in Illinois, very little rain, and getting cooked with 90-100+ degree heat!! At least my neighbors aren't setting off fireworks in the dry grass like last summer! OMG!! That was scary! Especially when I had my youngest son and his friend in Oklahoma helping fix things and moving the good furniture into a U-Haul truck to bring back to Illinois. I could deal with the wild fire thing to a certain point, but having my son and his friend there, I was in mama bear mode and wanting to protect the cubs from whatever may happen. I was ready to bail at a moments notice, but having them there was a different story, especially with 3 vehicles that all needed to roll and with the possibly having to drive out of there in the dark with smoke and fire in the area. Escape routes were going through my head all night, just as they did about 3 weeks later when my cat Rufus and I bailed. I was definitely in survivalist mode!! I was not going to go out that way, and to tell the truth, my late in-law's house could have burned to the ground and I would not have cared one iota.....I was NOT going to be in it when it did! But, it didn't burn to the ground, and it was sold earlier this year. One less thing to worry about and whole deal is over with. I'm a very happy camper!

I've been in a sort of weird mood lately. It's like I can't sit still for very long, and I'm actually purging a LOT of stuff! Clothes that I don't wear anymore, books that I've already read (but don't want to read again), and other piddly stuff that I don't have a use for. Too hot for garage sales, and I'm quite sure that other people could use the clothes and household stuff I'm getting rid of, and the books are going to go to the library.....if they'll take them. I guess the mood is coming from the tons of ideas that are rolling around in my way too full mental file cabinet wanting to become something pretty for someone to wear or use. (Picture a file cabinet filled to the brim and papers peaking out of the tops of the drawers type full!) I've got to have the space to work, and some things are just taking up space and not being used anymore. I can't even figure out how to re purpose most it into something else! So whatever is taking up the space that I don't need.....it's going to go.

I've been thinking about putting the one-of-a-kind pretties I make on Etsy and trying to sell at local stores...maybe on consignment since the economy is in a pit. If it doesn't sell, I bring it back home and try it on Etsy. But either way, I'm going to have more than one place to sell my pretties. Ebay is another possibility, too. I'll get it figured out. Got to figure out all of the how-to's for Etsy, and get a business license for tax purposes. But, I'll have all of my duckies in a row before I start doing any selling. Better to be prepared than to get into some major trouble with the IRS!

Today I'm sharing some masks I created from some pictures I took in May of last year when I was at a friend's house for the weekend. That was about two weeks before my mother-in-law passed away. Here is a sample of one of the masks:

I took a screen shot of the masks that are in the file. I hope you will find many creative uses for them!

I uploaded them to Media Fire.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yz7le5uikvy1p8t

Have a GREAT week! Try to stay cool, too!

Enjoy!