Christmas Flamingo's

I love Christmas! I think I love Christmas more this year than any other year - only because I have my act much more together this year than in years past. I have already accomplished so much and I have enjoyed every minute of it.


My little white feather tree is a flamingo tree this year. I love flamingo's, probably because they are pink. Isn't this tree adorable?



Rachel talked me into a real tree this year after the lights died last year on the artificial one we had for the past seven years. We always used the multi-colored lights because the kids liked those best. This year we will be using white lights and I am so excited to see how it looks. That will be the mission for Tuesday night. We still have baking to do, cards to send out and gifts to wrap, but it's Christmastime and the events leading up to the special day are half the fun!



Aren't those little flamingo's divine?!

Sunday Morning

What a great weekend! I got my Thanksgiving dinner shopping done yesterday, went to my sister's for a wonderful lasagna dinner last night and made my Fall ATC's. This morning I am enjoying a leisurely morning before setting out on another full day. I love the peace and solitude when I'm up before everyone else.


I was greeted this morning with a beautiful pink rose in bloom. These are the first rose bushes I've had in many years, and the first ever here in Florida. I'm so happy that I am getting beautiful roses!




Off to pick up some Sweet Potato Pecan Bread that I ordered from the Publix bakery. Can't wait to try it. Sounds yummy! Hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday!!

Winter White Fat Book Swap

My pages are done and just about ready to get in the mail. I just cannot believe the incredible time I had making these pages. I almost don't want to give them away!!! Is that horrible??!!! This project has truly inspired me to branch out. Here's a picture of the stack. Won't these pages make such a delightful book?!

I had such fun with all the lacey trims. Next is a picture of two of the pages I made.

We each made a total of twelve pages which will be compiled into a book by Robin (Thrifty Miss Prissy). I'll show you the rest after the books get sent back to us. We do each wind up with one of our own pages. It will be interesting to see how Robin finishes up these fat books. Her plan was to get books from a thrift store and use the fronts and backs for our books. The only snippets of info she gave us was that she bought some beautiful white ribbon and plans on painting the covers white so we can then embellish our cover as we wish.

It's a bit of a letdown when a project is complete. I do have other creative projects on my "to do" list so I really need to move on and get going. So much to do this holiday season!! What fun!

Life Is Precious

A 15 year old classmate of Rachel's was killed in a senseless car accident this past Friday night. He took his dad's car keys after his parents went to bed and slipped out of the house to meet his friends. He didn't have his drivers license yet, only a learner's permit. He picked up a friend and they went cruising in his dad's fancy little sports car at a rapid rate of speed in a nice part of town where the houses are huge and the yards are bigger. He hit a speed bump and lost control of the car, flipped and was ejected to his death. His friend walked away without a scratch, thanks to his seatbelt.

I doubt the thought ever crossed his mind that he would be walking out of his home for the last time as he snuck out on Friday night. I'm sure he didn't think about the effect this action would have on his dear parents and two sisters. Or how his countless friends would grow up in a way they never imagined over this very fateful weekend. That empty seat next to Lindsay in Math class is a somber reminder of the devastation that occurred in our sleepy little town where kids drive cars as nice as their parents and where at 15 you don't think of the consequences of your actions, even if you think you do.

He will be remembered by many for numerous thoughts, deeds and actions. His family will always be shattered, and his co-pilot on that final ride will carry this forever. His classmates will talk about him for years to come because none of us ever forget our friends who died during high school. But life will go on, even though a special piece of sunshine was ripped away and we will never be quite the same.

As The World Turns

I really need to get my blogging life together. I have been horrible about posting. This is my favorite time of year and I should have lots to share, but I have been so darn busy. I'm trying to get some kind of routine in my life since I started going to the gym. I just can't seem to find time for everything. I must admit, and I never thought I'd say this, but I'm really enjoying working out. I haven't lost much weight, but my clothes fit differently and I feel better so I guess that's what it's all about, right?


It's 76 in West Palm Beach now. Finally a break from the heat. I recently spruced up my little patio area. Still need to powerwash so excuse the dirty concrete. Pavers are on my wishlist!



Had some flowers planted going up my walkway. There is nothing I like more than seeing flowers as I come and go.

Took my Halloween lights down last weekend (yep, I put orange and purple lights out for Halloween) and replaced them with a nice little spotlight on my palm tree. I love the way it looks at night.



Those that know me well, know that I'm always moving my furniture. I just love changing things around cause it kinda makes everything feel new and different. It's that homey, cozy time of year. I'm a Cancer, so home is definitely where my heart is. My little Bella is wherever I am.

And I updated my profile photo. I've been feeling good and wanted to give you another view of me. Photo's make us more real, when we can look each other in the eye . . . the pathway to our soul.

Life Overflows

Oh my! Where on earth have I been? I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. Well, let's see. I've been busy making Halloween ATC's for my ATC Club.

Rachel had Homecoming.

We had fun shopping for the dress and shoes. I used to look like this . . . well, maybe not with the 5 inch heels, but the rest of it. Ah, youth!

And Rachel got hurt on a stupid ride at the Homecoming Carnival! It was a "slingshot-type" ride where she got flung and snapped her neck. It didn't hurt at first, but by this past Monday, we were at the doctor and then the hospital for a cervical spine x-ray.

All turned out fine, but Rachel was and still is sore and recovering. Unfortunately this caused her to miss the last cross country meet for the season. It will be time for Track before you know it.

I've been busy keeping up with my work-out regimen. I've lost about ten pounds so far and am feeling pretty good. I shared a pix of my hunky personal trainer on Facebook, so thought I'd include here as well. This is Matt on the left with my nephew, Kyle. Hey, if you gotta sweat your butt off, might as well have something decent to look at, right?

Since I spend a lot of time talking about Rachel and all the activities of her life and how it amazingly intermingles with mine, just wanted to share a picture of my other child, my firstborn, Logan. His calm, cool demeanor is always so refreshing in the chaos of Rachel's drama.

My kids. The lights of my life.

Hmmm. What else has been going on? Think that's about it! Now I must go see what all of you have been up to.

Show and Tell Friday

It is my pleasure to participate again in Show and Tell Friday. This event is graciously hosted by Cindy from My Romantic Home. My contribution this week is something very special to me.

I love dolls. I have always loved dolls. When I was a little girl, my grandmother gave me this doll. She didn't have much money to spend on fluffy things for little girls, but she had a talent for sewing, knitting and crocheting. This little doll is wearing an outfit totally handmade by my dear grandmother. She stitched every detail on this pretty blue dress and lovingly did her needlework magic to create the little sweater, bonnet and booties.

This little doll, named Irene, which is also my beloved grandmother's name, sits in a corner of my room watching over me. My grandmother passed away before I truly got to know her as I was only seven years old. Her legacy to me - a doll beautifully wardrobed in an outfit created by hand, always my treasure.

I can't wait to visit all of the other Show and Tell participants to see what treasure they selected to share this week. Thanks so much for coming by to visit with me!!

A New Apron

Look what I bought from Connie at Living Beautifully . . .

I love it! Connie did such a beautiful job crafting this apron and I was so very impressed when it arrived today. I thought it looked beautiful when I saw it on her blog about a week ago and I knew I had to have it. It is even more beautiful in person and the fabric is a very nice quality. I couldn't be happier. I have to find a pretty little hook to hang in my kitchen for this apron as I certainly will not wear it, lest I get one single evidence of cooking on it. Thanks Connie!!

Winter Whites

I stopped at Joann's on my way home from work tonight to pick up some embellishments for the Winter White Fat Book Swap I'm participating in. Look at these pretties . . .

Gorgeous fabric remnants from the designer vault . . .

Look at the detail . . .

And the trims . . .

It was hard to pick and choose when there were so many beautiful things. I cannot wait to start this new project.

Robin from Thrifty Miss Prissy is hosting this swap where we each have to make 14 pages that Robin will divide up and make into Fat Books for us. The theme is "Winter Whites" and I have so many ideas of pages I want to do. Let's just hope my hands can create the visions in my brain!

A Rose Is A Rose

I had a great weekend. Rachel and I had a baby shower to attend Saturday afternoon which was lots of fun. Then we went to City Place in downtown West Palm Beach. It has the aura of a city, yet a hometown feel. The night was comfortable with a warm breeze, a nice band to listen to and lots of people watching. We did a little shopping, a little relaxing and a lot of enjoying.

Today we went to Home Depot and I bought some yellow and purple mums, a pink hibiscus tree and two beautiful rose bushes. When I was a little girl, we lived out in the country and I planted hundreds of tulips under our plum tree. I started out with red tulips and as the chipmunks scavenged the bulbs each winter, I added yellow. The plum tree was beautiful with white blossoms and a sea of red and yellow tulips below. It was a truly beautiful thing to see whenever you walked out our back door.

I also started a small rose garden, which my dad and grandfather added on to. We had every color rose bush imagineable and they were all so pretty. I've always loved flowers. I love to walk outside and be greeted with flowers. That is one of the main reasons I love living in Florida - I can have flowers outside my door year round. It's a beautiful thing.

Show and Tell Friday

I am joining Cindy from My Romantic Home for her first Show and Tell Friday. I always loved show and tell as a child, so I'm sure I'll be loving it again now. I'm so excited to share with you my cameo's. I love cameo's. This first one was my grandmother's. It can be worn as either a brooch or as a necklace. I really don't know how old this beautiful piece is, but my "nana" died in 1984 at the age of 84 and I know she had it for years. I would imagine it's at least 60 years old, if not more.



This second cameo is a ring that I bought for myself when I was working at a jewelry store shortly after high school so this ring is pretty darn old also!! I bought it to wear on my index finger as I always loved the look of a large ring on that finger. It's interesting how this ring and my grandmothers brooch are very similar.



This last cameo I bought through a catalog just a couple of years ago. I usually wear it with a white lace top and it always looks so pretty.

Be sure to visit other participants in Show and Tell Friday and let us all recapture our show and tell youth as we gaze upon everyone's pretties. Thanks for stopping by!! Leave me a comment so I can visit you too!

The Good Life

Guess what I got today? This . . .

and this . . .

So tonight I am going to sit and read a beautiful magazine, drool over the photo's and listen to sweet music. Contentment.

Artists Trading Cards

My ATC Club meeting last Sunday was great! I'm really enjoying spending time with the new lady friends I've met and it is such fun to see the creative ATC's they come up with. Our theme for the month of September was "Ladies". Here is mine . . .

Below are some of the ATC's I received. One is more beautiful than the next. Isn't it a group of talented ladies that put together these little wonders?

After we trade cards, our leader, Michelle, has a "Make and Take" for us to do. She always presents a different technique for us to try. One month we used embossed metal and another month we used gold foil. This month we embossed our ATC's and used acrylic paints and Stickles glitter glue. It was fun and done in a flash.

I love this ATC Club! Our theme for October is "Halloween", of course. I'm sure we will get quite an interesting array of ideas. Each meeting gets better and better. I so look forward to these meetings each month. I almost feel like a kid getting ready to go to a birthday party. How goofy is that . . . but what a great feeling!!

A Beautiful Rainbow

I was lucky to catch a beautiful rainbow from my office window this morning.




There's a double rainbow on the right in this next shot, but it's a little difficult to see.



I'm having fun learning all the little tricks with my new laptop. Rachel was having fun with the webcam this evening. There are lots of fun effects you can add to photo's you take with the webcam. I love all these gadgets . . . after Rachel shows me how to use them!!


Our "virtual" photo of us in the City. Pretty neat!

Back In The Game

I have been out of "blog-commission" lately as I have not had a computer to use. My son started college and now must use my laptop, as his computer no longer works. The desktop in my room also needs to go to its final resting place. I could blog at work, (though I really should not do that) but I've been so busy that I haven't had time. So, I decided that I deserve a new laptop, don't you agree? It arrived today!!



So now I hope to be able to blog more regularly and follow-up on my friendly blogging buddies more regularly also. I've been missing reading about what everyone is doing and can't wait to catch up! I've been busy myself and anxious to share. My most recent activity was for my ATC club. Our theme was "Ladies" and my group made some really awesome ATC's. I'll share tomorrow.

It's so nice to have my own laptop again! And I just love the red!!

What's On My Shelf?

Peggy, from Musings of Meggie, tagged me in a meme.

This meme is a simple one. Collect the book that you have most handy, turn to page 161, find the 5th complete sentence, and cite the sentence on your blog. Next you're supposed to pass it on to 5 others, but I'm not going to pass it on. If you want to leave me a comment and share this info in that format, I would love it! It's always fun to see what people are reading and whether or not they recommend the book.

My book of choice is . . . "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer. Yep, I'm reading the Twilight series and I'm loving it! It was a good beach read on my recent vacation. I'm now onto the third book in the series, "Eclipse", and enjoying that too.

So . . . . to set the scene . . . Bella is frantically trying to find Edwards former home. She thinks that if she can only get back to the place she was last with him, his current absence from her life won't be as devastating. Surely some trace of him would remain and bring comfort to her empty soul. Why did Edward feel he had to remove himself from her life? Could his presence bring such danger to her? She's driving along the wooded road, certain that the long driveway to his house was hidden somewhere amongst the thick brush. She sees an opening and pulls in. Pleased with herself that she found the right path on the journey to Edwards home, she catches a glimpse of the massive home surrounded with windows. And now the 5th complete sentence on page 161 . . . "I shivered".

Come on, pull out your book and share in a comment. Page 161, 5th complete sentence!!

Pay It Forward

Having been the fortunate recipient of "Pay It Forward" from Deb, Garage Sale Gal, it is now my turn to Pay It Forward for someone else. I'm going to put together a nice little package of goodies for the first three people that comment to this post that would like to participate. Leave me a comment saying you are interested and then I will send you a sweet package just for being you. What you then need to do is Pay It Forward to someone else. Let's keep lots of niceness going and make someone else's day. I was thrilled to get this package of goodies from Deb! She knew just what I would like as we've been blogging together for well over a year. Check out this sweet towel handmade by Deb! I love it!

Deb also made this pretty starfish.

And this cute card.


Just look at all of this vintage ephemera!! I will have such fun creating with these goodies!

Bringing a smile to someone's day is so rewarding and it's such fun to receive a little package in the mail, lovingly put together by someone that cares! So come on, leave me a comment and say you want to play along. I can't wait to see who I can bring joy to!

If I remember right, you should try to send the Pay It Forward goody within 30 days. It can be aything you would like to receive, something handmade, a craft, anything that will bring a smile to someone's face and let them know that you were thinking about them. You also need to put the above button on your Pay It Forward post. Anyone interested?

I'm A Poser

As my daughter, Rachel, would say, I'm a poser. My mother always used to say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I like my mom's analogy better!!

I saw this beautiful headboard lamp over at Mo's Cottage and just had to have it. It's from Victorian Trading Co. Have you ever seen their catalog or website? Oh my! Beautiful things - you must go see!! I snagged this picture from Mo's Cottage, which she got from the catalog. Mo's dear friend, Sharon, bought it for Mo's birthday. What a sweet friend!!

I just ordered this cute little lamp yesterday and I can't wait for it to arrive. It will look so pretty on my bed. So, yep, I'm a poser and I love it!! Thank you, Mo, for your inspiration!!

Show and Tell

Wanted to share a couple things with you that I recently received. Remember the flip flops I made for the Flip Flop Swap? Here are the ones I received. I have them hanging on a ribbon over a mirror in my dining room. Just a week left to enjoy their beauty, before all traces of summer are removed and Fall takes its place.

Last weekend I attended my ATC (artist trading card) club meeting. It was such fun! They always teach us a new technique. Most recently we learned about using gold foil, something I've never used before. We used the foil on the moon in this ATC that we made during the meeting.

There are 16 club members that each contributed a card for the month of August. Our theme was "Under the Sea". It's so interesting to see all the different perceptions. Aren't they beautiful?

I was the lucky recipient of "Pay It Forward", hosted by Deb, our Garage Sale Gal. She spoiled me with massive vintage goodies and two beautiful handmade cards. I have been having such a good time creating things this summer and these items are going to be such fun to put to use!!

Check back tomorrow for my "Pay It Forward" so I can bestow upon you some luscious treats just because!!

When in Sanibel recently, I found this print that I framed yesterday. I am going to hang it in my bedroom in the little spot I carved out for myself to create fun things. I just love the colors and the feeling it evokes.

We all have creative thoughts popping into our head daily. We just need to grasp those thoughts and run with them. There's no finish line so enjoy the journey!

Ducks

I have different ring tones on my cell phone so I can easily distinguish the caller when my phone rings. Of course my ring tones bear some significance to the caller and it's fun to pair the person to the appropriate ring tone. Rachel's ring is a quacking duck. I remember not too long ago reading about when our President was speaking and someone's quacking phone went off. The President found it quite amusing and wondered what would be next. I thought it was quite funny that it was the same ring tone as Rachel's.

My dear daughter befriends every critter in our neighborhood, with her favorite being the ducks. They are interesting creatures, the ducks. Each one has a name, lovingly bestowed upon them by Rachel. Do you realize how often ducks reproduce? I've always heard that rabbits take the lead in that area, but these ducks are either sitting on eggs or they are surrounded by ducklings.

I can't help but be drawn to them, to some extent. Imagine my dismay this morning as I was leaving for work, when by my car were nine two week old ducklings quacking their little heads off because their Mama was nowhere to be found. I mean, just where do these ducks get their mothering instincts from?

I figured this would be a good Kodak moment, so I try to snap a quick one. Guess I should've gotten a photo release or something because in a flash, Mama was back, herding up her babies away from the mean old lady with the camera.

Hmpf! Now she acts like the doting mother!!