Friday Smiles 200

Some of you may have noticed that I jumped the gun last week and waited patiently for Annie at A Stitch in Time to share her post and linky link.  I later learned she was on hiatus, so I'm going to share it again.  However, I have another smile I want to share first, so if you saw the post from last week, just skip the latter part of this post.


Many of you have seen this visual journal I created for a sick friend to take to chemotherapy.  For those of you who have not seen it, I sun dyed the fabric, both outside and inside, sewed it together, added two signatures of 96 pages, and glued on a key.

However, I realized the key as the sole piece to hold the journal in place was not going to work, so I removed the key and added a button underneath it.  It works so much better this way.

When I took it to her, she was not just pleased but stunned.  She said NO ONE had ever created anything that intense and time consuming before.  When I told her I picked each page so she could doodle and create her own images on it, and I wanted her to be able to use it during her chemo treatments, she said "It's my KEYMO journal."  I laughed so hard, I could barely stop.

For those of you who didn't see last week's 200th Friday Smiles, I've recreated it in its entirety:

To change the subject completely, as I was cleaning my office, I found this from 2008.

I thought it was so unique, and it put a smile on my face.  Since it's been awhile since I've joined Annie (aka Wipso) at A Stitch in Time, I thought it was time I joined in again.

I'm calling this "The Cost."


Since these are 2008 prices,




I can only imagine what that cost is today.


I had to smile about the caveat.  After having a drummer live in my basement for a few years, I can definitely appreciate the earplugs!

That's when I decided to go to PNC to see if I could find the latest CPI.



It seems to have gone up considerably since 2008.

If you want to see some incredible images of each gift (these are simply STUNNING) and incredibly clever, you should click on the link above.  I especially enjoyed the image of the six geese-a-laying.  And if you like those images and love coloring, you can download your own coloring book to, as PNC explains "produce your own beautiful interpretation" of these truly gorgeous images.

However, if you want to see the TRUE COST of all 364 gifts (due to repetition), this is how it plays out.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you enjoyed learning how I created the trees for my latest tip-ins using a masterboard background technique  reading what my friend said when she learned why I created her new KEYMO journal.  And please don't forget to visit Annie at A Stitch in Time, where a smile is always the best way to start the weekend.  You'll smile at every link you see there, too.

Welcome home, Annie!