"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly. "One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."



-Hans Christian Andersen

Thursday, March 29, 2012

More Spring Bunnies

What can I say, I am enjoying decorating with these sweet little bunnies!  Makes me smile and warms my heart.


I also am a big fan of birdhouses and this one has quickly become a favorite.  I purchased it last week while on a trip to New York (Yea, I know, even in such a fashion mecca, I come away with a birdhouse) it looks like Mr. bunny has taken a few blossoms from that birdhouse to share with you :-)

Here's another favorite, standing amongst the yellow roses in all her glittery goodness.


Next week I'll share my Easter table, hope you can stop by for a visit.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sharing this post with Inspiration Friday

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Bunnies, roses, and birds

With the onset of spring I've been shopping my house, gathering up a few of my older spring things to display.  Bunnies and roses are springtime favorites.


I do a fair bit of cross stitching and most of my pieces are framed.  Every now and then I get in the mood to stitch a small accessory.  This one is a sweet strawberries and bunnies design finished as a decorative cube with ribbon, tatting, and fabric.  Nice to display with a centerpiece or an arrangement on the cupboard.


    White ironstone, stitchery, hand embroidered flour sack towels...Tis Spring!

    In celebration, I put together this garden scene centerpiece for my living room table



I used my die cutting machine to make the hang tag.  I had no particular plans for the tag but as I worked on this centerpiece, it made the perfect accent for my arrangement.  I love it when things just naturally come together.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today...How are you feathering your nest for Spring?

Sharing with:
Show off your Cottage Monday

Feathered Nest Friday

Your Cozy Home

Home Sweet Home

Monday, March 19, 2012

A Spring Tea

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden.  On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers into the soft earth.  I can feel its energy, and my spirit soars. -- Helen Hayes

Welcome Spring!



    The table is set, the kettle is on, the pastries are fresh -- Tis spring...Time for an afternoon tea!

              A tea for two...Me and you.  How delightful it will be, good conversation, sipping tea.

    Soon the flowers will be in full bloom and the bees will be busy, but for now, we'll enjoy them adorning  our silverware.


    Thanks for taking tea with me today.  Sandi is hosting a wonderful Spring Tea Party where the celebration continues.

    Happy Spring!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Add a Little Sunshine

Today was a beautiful day; there was sunshine, warm temperatures, and open doors and windows that welcomed the songs of the birds into the house.  Spring is in the air!

Time for me to brighten things up around here.  Think I'll start with  the breakfast area.


So cheerful to come downstairs in morning to a sunny kitchen and see a polkadot teapot waiting to be warmed for a favorite loose tea.

Now to brighten up the cupboard.



      I chose Nikko's Blue Peony.  Such a sweet pattern with it's blue and yellow flowers and pale blue dots.

Now that I've taken care of those two areas, I think I'll set a table just for me and my tea.  I'm not being selfish, it will be my treat after getting everyone out of the door in the morning.  My time to sit for a minute before my day starts in earnest.  Remember, you don't have to wait for company to enjoy your dishes.



Ahhh, I can't wait till morning :-)

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope your day was a good one and I wish for you a great day tomorrow filled with many blessings.

I'm sharing this with Tea Time Tuesday, Your Cozy Home Party, Home Sweet Home, White Wednesday
and A Return to Loveliness.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Paper Crafting -Long post

I have quite a list of hobbies that I enjoy and most of them require me to follow a chart, if I'm stitching or knitting, a draft, if I'm weaving, or a pattern if I'm sewing.  I could certainly create my own designs for either of those but there's so many talented designers out there who've already invested their time in making wonderful charts and patterns available to us, I prefer (and enjoy) supporting them.  There is one exception though that does allow me to be fully engaged from design to finish...Paper crafting.

I have to admit I have not done a lot of paper crafting compared to my other interests but I love visiting the blogs of paper crafters and being amazed at their creativity.  There are a few things I've come to realize as I learn more and more about this hobby.  It requires you to be a "gatherer", it requires you to be (somewhat) organized, it is very addictive. 

At the start of each year, I always like to either learn something new or dedicate more time to perfecting a skill.  This year I decided to spend more time creating with paper.  I've been having so much fun getting to know this hobby that I've not updated this blog in a while.  But, no excuses, I'll just show a few pics of what I'm doing.

My daughter's birthday was February 24, she turned 22.  She is very much the "girly girl" and still loves a bit of whimsy.  She asked for cupcakes for her birthday so I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to create something whimsical and fun with the cupcake theme.


I cut these with my cricut expression, memory box inc., and spellbinders dies. I am so happy with how they turned out.  I was a little bit uncertain of how the cupcake box would hold up...Why?  Because of this...


Yeppers, that's a real cupcake in there; put a little strain on the box corners (note to self -- use tacky tape next time).  Krista was tickled with her treats.  With our celebration at home and dinner with her friends that evening, she said it was the best birthday ever.  And just in case you were wondering, she did not eat the icing :-)

Ok, so up next is my attempt at making gift tags...I love tags; so much creativity can be crammed into such a small space.  I've joined my first paper crafting network (told you I'm serious about this) they have a tag swap open so I thought it would be good for me to join in and get some practice creating tags.  I've completed three so far but I'm showing only one of them because this is the tag that I'm sharing with The Shabby Tea Room Colorful Confections Challenge.  What a wonderful blog, please stop by and visit them.

I was going for a watercolour affect.  I used fabric and ribbon from my stash, some doodlebug brads, and K and Company embellies.  The tag and tag pocket were cut on the cricut expression.  ( By the way, I have a new cutter on the way...More about that later).  I so enjoyed creating this tag.  I like the option that I can either place a little journaling tag in the pocket or a tea packet.  Perfect for gift giving.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest creations.  I've been so busy crafting that I have not spent a lot of time decorating and hunting for those wonderful finds to add to my deco collections.  I shared my blue and white room with you in my last post.  I like it so much that I'm going to leave it through the spring.  This will give me more time to work on changing out my kitchen for the spring.  On that note, I will leave you with a few more pics of the blue and white that I did not share last time.




Thanks for taking the time to visit with me, I really appreciate your visits and comments.  Have a great week.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...