Sisterhood of the Travelling Altered Books

My life is blessed with wonderful family, and friends. I hang out with the neatest group of women, here in Sarnia. There is so much talent amongst us. We all have different personalities, yet we are the best of friends. It is our love for the art world that has brought us together. We originally got together once a month, for two years, to do a night project, or watch video tutorials, and at the end of the night we would exchange our altered books. Creations were prepared by a new person each month, and then the following month we would have show and tell where lots of "ooohhs" and "aaahhhs" could be heard as each book was displayed. Hence, the name "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Altered Books", so named by Kim. Today, we get together as often as possible. Sometimes it is over dinner or drinks, a house party, or shopping. There is no end to the projects we come up with. This past summer Carol & Sharon made the cutest planters with chicken wire and the oldest chairs they could find.

Life has been hard for me over the past couple of years, and my girlfriends have been there to support me. They don't judge me for cancelling out at the last minute, or if I don't show up. They don't judge me when I'm down, or when I talk way too much. I love my girlfriends, and treasure them dearly.

This week we got together for a Christmas party. We missed one member, Kim, who was busy studying for exams. Our Christmas present to each other was a booklet of tags, held together with a ring and decorative ribbon. Each lady made a tag with a personal picture and advice to their younger self. The idea for hosting this swap came about by way of the the Stamp Shack, where I was in a swap like this, hosted by Ethel. It was so much fun, I decided to host this swap so I could have more tags.

Here I am at two years old, while I lived in Germany, where my father was stationed with the 1 RCR (Royal Canadian Regiment). My advice is to be who you are! Find an incredible group of ladies to share your hobbies with, and treasure that friendship. Don't think that moving from house to house, or province to province will solve your problems. Face them. Dance like no one is watching. Lighten up a little. (Deep, eh?)

Carol's unique style of tag offers up the statement, "it's not about the amount of challenges in Your life--it's about how YOU handle them--one day at a time.

Cathy, who is a self-taught Photoshop pro, depicts her older self in a tent talking to her young self. Cathy reports her life as "It's a Wonderful Life" then adds, "I wouldn't change one moment, good or bad, because it brought me to be the person I am today and I really like who I am. Our one dream did come true, only in miniature. Oh, and by the way, Prince Charming came on a motorcycle, not a horse."

Kathy's pretty-in-pink advice is: be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.

Sharon's angelic tag has wonderful, and whimsical, advice: When I grow up I'll eat snow and make snow angels. Jump in puddles and make mudpies. Go to the creek by myself. Catch tadpoles. Keep them till they're frogs. Walk barefoot on the grass and beach, wade in the water, get covered in sand. Have tea with my friends, and dinner too, and talk all night if we want. Collect moss and bark and stones and shells, and rusty metal things. I'll feed the birds and give them string. I'll lay on the grass on summer nights and watch for bats and learn the names of ALL the stars. I'll have every colour crayon. I'll draw on walls. An pink popsicles will always be in my fridge.