I go home tomorrow!

YEAH!!! I can't wait to get back to my husband, and to be able to say "I finished." This has been the longest ongoing project I've ever been involved in besides my family. These last two volumes of the book have almost 650 pages each. Add to that the 700 from the first volume, and you have a whopping 2000 pages!!! It will be really nice to see it all in print.

Now I have to go home and get a real job. One that earns money. That filthy lucre that is so necessary in our society. It's been 6 months now since Chuck worked, and we are no longer holding our heads above water. Both of us will be pounding the pavement. I'm not looking forward to it at all. The arthritis and carpal tunnel are so bad in my hands that I'm not even sure what type of job I can do, but I guess I will find out.

I won't be posting any cute projects for a little while, because job hunting takes a lot of time, but I will keep you "posted" on how things are going. So here's the last one for now. It's a really cute paper pocket, and you can even make your own pattern!

You will need four ovals of cardstock, two the same color for the inside and two different prints for the outside. Your ovals can be any size you want them to be, but mine were about 5x7. The two for the inside need to be 1/4 inch bigger all the way around, and cut the edges with some cute scallop scissors or another edger design. Now fold your ovals in half, putting one end toward the other end and gently creasing the middle. Fold the inside ovals with the design tot he inside and the other two with the design to the outside. Put the two inside ovals together, overlapping to form a right angle at the bottom and a heart shape at the top. Glue them together where they overlap. Now put the two outside ovals on the outside (he he) of them and pull the bottom corner all the way down. This closes off the whole at the bottom and allows the scallops to show at the top.

Now, you need a handle. You can use a strip of matching paper, or some ribbon. Glue it to each side where the ovals overlap, and glue a button on top. Embellishments are totally up to you. A little tag with a sentiment is nice, or just decorate the tag and put a card inside. A big flower glued to the side would be cute...just about anything you can imagine is OK. Easy, huh?

Put a little tissue or paper shredd inside and snuggle a really decadent chocolate or some small gift, and its ready to go. These would make cute Valentines, or May Day baskets, gifts for Mother's Day or teachers or birthdays. They will also make cute little door hangers for visiting teachers. Especially if you have a sister you can never catch! Have fun trying out all the different combinations of paper and embellishments, and make yourself a stash to have on hand. You never know when you might need something to hold a small gift or some candy! The one shown at right is made from Birthday cardstock.

Okay. Time to go for now. Keep smiling. Smiles will light the world. May you have enough flour in your cupboard and may your socks all match. Gramma G.