Charmed, I'm Sure. Or not.

I have never been a tattoo sort of person, although I often admire them on other people. I just don't, at this point in my life, have find any part of my body attractive enough that I want to call attention to it. But I am beginning to think that a tattoo might sometimes serve as a useful reminder of something one never wants to forget...a permanent post-it note, if you will. Thus, I have designed myself a tattoo to serve that purpose. What do you think?



Mary Beth and I leave Saturday for the Ultimate Scrapbooking Cruise, and not surprisingly, we are beside ourselves with excitement. The only thing clouding our joy about the whole experience has been the 33 charms we each have to make for the charm swap we signed up for. Several years ago, when paper piecing was all the rage, I got deeply involved in swapping. It always sounded like great fun when I signed up, but being the procrastinator that I am, I always ended up burning the midnight oil to get my projects done and mailed on time. Often I was disappointed in the quality of the materials that I received in return, and there were invariably people who didn't complete theirs at all, and I would swear after every swap was completed that I would never participate in another one. I made that promise after paper piecing swaps, after circle journal swaps, after page kit swaps, after card swaps, and after altered puzzle piece swaps.

My scrapping friends would roll their eyes every time I got involved in another swap and remind me how I had sworn them off. Given that Mary Beth was one of those friends reminding me of my past mistakes, it is surprising in hindsight that she was willing to join me in signing up for the charm swap on the cruise. Nonetheless we did sign up, and surprise surprise, it has turned out to be much more of an ordeal than either of us expected. We had originally signed up to make 25 charms each, and a new swap hostess who took over at the last minute allowed more people to sign up after the cutoff date. I will spare you the details of the multiple trips to multiple stores that those additional eight charms have necessitated, but suffice it to say that they have been a pain in my hiney. They are done though and packaged up three whole days early, which is a record for me. This isn't a very good photo of my charm...I assure you it's cuter in person, but it does convey the general idea. The starfish charm hangs down the back of the disc when it's hooked on.



I have to admit that I am looking forward to seeing the completed bracelet now that I am finished. The ones I have seen from Creative Escape are darling and I hope our cruise themed bracelets turn out as well. I'll let you know, and I will be sure to post a picture of my new tattoo.