AYM/1

The St. Louis girls arrived on Thursday night. I planned AYM for Friday morning so that they could participate while they were in town. Prior to this, they have to send their layouts and really can't be part of the meeting. I was happy for them to see how it usually goes at our meetings---everyone sharing their layouts, stories and the techniques they used. I was also happy for the Nashville girls to get a chance to meet them in person.

The layouts did not disappoint. This month, the topic was: "The Never List: 10 Things you will Never Do or Never Do Again." As usual they all took it and ran. Great ideas.

 This is Janet's layout and journaling:

I DID SAY I NEVER WILL…

1.       Own another pure bred dog. They all just seem to be high maintenance and have attitudes that are hard to deal with. Give me a Humane Society Mutt any day.

2.       Wear a pair of “Short” shorts, age has a negative effect for that style of clothing (as do 2 piece bikinis, see #10).

3.       Fry chicken, a long time ago I did try to do it and it was an awful experience. First I found out how hard it was to cut up a chicken, which is just gross! When I cooked it the outside was burnt and the inside was raw, after 2 more attempts I decided the best fried chicken is the kind you buy and that is what my family still eats.

4.       Oysters are something I will never eat. I can barely stand to look at them much less have it slide into my mouth.

5.       Go Scuba Diving. Ron & I took classes once and Ron did get certified. The weekend of the test I had a head cold and could not dive, but it turn out that was also Ron’s last dive, it was just too cold of a sport for him.

6.       I have never been good at Spelling and it seems that I’m never going to master it.  Spell Check makes my life so much easier

7.       “Name that Tune” is a game that I just don’t play. It seems impossible for me to hear a song and be able to know the title or the artist. I always walk away when that game comes up.

8.       Walk to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, again. Since I did it once I know what it’s like and seen the sites on the trip, so there is no need for a repeat.

9.       Sky Diving is not on my bucket list. I have no desire to jump out of a plane, free fall and then swing in the air for hundreds of feet – as Jackie did.

10.   The days of going primitive camping are in my past, as are my twenties and the idea of going on a float trip and having to drag a canoe in low water is just another thing that can stay in the past. I just NEVER want to do either again.

 Karolyn's page.

 Pam's page.

 Erin's page.

 My page and journaling:

There are so many things I could put on my never list. But when I really thought about it, these were just 10 thoughts that have been important to me with a couple unsolved mysteries thrown in for fun. This list is really all about me. There’s the part of me that is confident, inquisitive, sentimental, honest, vain, organized and loving. My “Never List” is just another interpretation of that which is ME!!!

I’ll never have any more babies.

I have never doubted my decorating abilities.

I’ll never forget how it felt moving from

St. Louis on January 1^st, 1977.

I have never cheated at games.

I will never know what happened to the

only dog I ever loved.

I have never been without a book.

I will never be as thin as I would like.

I will never know how this turtle got in our pond.

I will never be as organized as I’d like.

I never dreamed that Sandy would

never get back to Nashville.

Carla's page.

Jeanne's page and journaling:

Karolyn brought this layout to share with the girls. This was from our mystery trip in March.

While the St. Louis girls were here, we had a few lessons. Here are the layouts we did:

 They asked for some ideas using tools and techniques. I taught them a simple sunburst design that's all the rage right now incorporated in a title page. Also, we embellished punched scallops and added mother-of-pearl heart buttons.

In this layout, we focused on layering embellishments. We also added stitching to the page.

Girls, if you email your journaling to me, I would be happy to post it with your layouts!

I can't wait to see what "8 Things you Learned from your Mother" next month!!

I have received quite a few layouts for the "photo scavenger hunt." I'll post them on Friday along with the items for August. See you then!