100+ miles to Harry Potter

What? Did somebody say Harry Potter? Why yes, I did! Monday afternoon I drove over a hundred miles to join my awesome friend, Staci, at the press-release of the next installment of Potter movies, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I had a fabulous time! We ate dinner before joining the other Potter-maniacs for this early screening event. Security was crazy tight. We had to check in our cell phones, cameras, iPods, and anything else that was electronic. We even got "wanded" as we went through the doors to make sure we didn't have any electronics on our person. Despite the craziness, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I think that although this movie marks the beginning of the darkness in the Potter books, it's actually quite funny. If you're brave enough to fight the crowds this week, let me know what you think of the movie!

Here's a picture of Staci and I at BJ's Restaurant just after we had a sinfully decadent chocolate ice cream brownie concoction. Yummm...

Besides wanting to see the new Harry Potter movie, I had ulterior motives for wanting to see my good friend, Staci. When her little one, Mij, passed away, she asked me to make a memorial for her a-la scrapbook style. She sent Mij's ashes to me along with some photos, and it was my job to figure out how to put it all together. I bought a 12x12 shadow box, but I was puzzled as to how I was going to get her ashes in the box and make it look good, and then BAM! The idea hit me like a ton of bricks: make a weasel and then put Mij's ashes inside much like I do with my own critters. Here's what I came up with.

I used a brown sheet of felt and traced a standing weasel on it and then sewed the two pieces together. I used a piece of ivory felt for the neck and ears. I stuffed it with some cotton balls, put Mij inside, then hand-sewed the rest. I used brads for her eyes and nose.

After all was said and done, I attached the little felt weasel to the page using some Velcro and then decorated the rest of the layout with her favorite yellow toy, a "Chew Weasel" and pictures of her. I'm happy with how it turned out and so was Staci.

The final product:

Staci also had one last-minute request for me. She wanted me to make a manly card with a cockroach on it for her friend, Terrence's, 33rd birthday. Visit his site HERE and you'll know why he needed the roach (I promise it's not scary or anything; I think it's rather clever!).

My Harry Potter adventure actually winded down a rather eventful weekend. Saturday night I went to a bachelorette party and thought I would only stay for about an hour since I didn't think I was in the party mood. However, I realized that nothing is better for the soul than an evening out with the girls, and we ended up closing down the bar! Here's the only acceptable picture I can post on my blog. LOL.

(Be happy I spared you the late-night photos!)

I'm working on some more crafty things, and I plan on sharing them with all of you this week. Thanks for stopping by!