My First HP Birdhouse!

I finally did it - made a birdhouse with my HP roses on it! I've put it for sale on ebay and etsy. I was so scared to show my roses publicly but hey, I'm courageous and have absolutely no inhibition doing it IF I let people know it's my first attempt at painting roses publicly. I'm not famous YET!! But I would never be considered as "faint-of-heart." Wish me luck, chickadees!! If not, it'll be a present to my daughter. Sigh..................

Tasha & Tags

This is Miss Tash, my new scrapping buddy! Isn't she a doll? And look at her t-shirt- it even has roses on it. My kinda gal, for sure. She is in my ward at church. She has 10 brothers and sisters. Her mom says she likes to come over not only to make tags, ornaments and birdhouses, but because she isn't disturbed by her other brothers and sisters. What a sweetie! Yep, she is as sweet as that face. :-) But yesterday she made a tag for her sister who is having a baby in a couple of months and it's a boy. She is very considerate of her siblings. But we have a good time together and her mom trusts us to keep her! An oddity that a 9 year old would want to spend time with an almost 70 year old lady. Hah!! It's just my sparkling and brilliant personality. ;-) Today after school we'll finish her birdhouse that is going to be a surprise for her mom. Boy, is she gonna be surprised!! Woooohoooo!!

Seven Things About Me!

Isn't this little message board cute? I just listed it on my ebay and it comes with ephemera! A good deal for someone.
~*~

I've been tagged by Celeste to tell you some deep dark secrets!! Hah. No, I'm just to tell you 7 things that no one knows about me. Hmmmm..... there are a lot of things that I could tell you.

1. I have lived in many states: Texas, Virginia, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Arizona, Utah (for a short time while Jack was in the USMC and overseas), Idaho and California.

2. I can memorize phone numbers easily and license plates. I know most of my friends by their license plates when I see them on the freeway instead of looking for them in the cars.

3. My very favorite sandwich is chicken salad. I make a good one too!!

4. My grandmother was a babysitter for the old actress Joanne Dru.

5. I am not an especially sentimental person; I forget birthdays of hubby, kids and grandkids on a regular basis, forgot my anniversary a couple of times and my son is exactly the same way.

6. I almost died in childbirth and had a "near death experience" that was an eye opener for me.

7. I hate driving on mountain roads. I usually put my seat back down and not watch.

Now I'll think about who I'm going to tag and let ya know later. Gotta run for now.

My Heart is So Humbled Tonight!

My heart is so very full today from what I received in the mail - an unexpected "surprise" gift from someone. It's always astonishing to me the gifts I receive. I never ever expect any but I am so blessed to have been given so many things unexpectedly. This is from a lady who I've been helping with her computer. She is a delightful woman and we communicate via instant messaging frequently. But when I got my mail today and saw this I was thunderstruck! What an adorable little house!! She said it is from an aunt of hers and every time she looked at it she was reminded of ME. Can you imagine?! I am so overwhelmed tonight thinking of her. And it always so nice to know someone thinks of me.

Now, the card is another thing entirely different. She enclosed 2 cards and the one pictured here is from an Amish friend of hers. (I seem to have come across a few women lately who live near and associate with the Amish!) Anyway, this card was NOT computer generated. The lady made it with stamps and cut outs of roses she has glued on. My instructions from this lady are to send it to someone I love. I have many women I love dearly and it'll be a challenge to know who needs it most at the moment but I'll do as she requests. I'd absolutely love to keep it but I can't. I shall, however, scan it to keep a beautiful remembrance of this sweet lady. She isn't "into" blogs and will never read this but she'll definitely be remembered by me! And sweetly, of course. :-) Gosh, what a full heart I have tonight!!

Looks Like a New Chair!

I've had this chair for 25 years - actually it one of a pair of chairs that I've had recovered twice. They are high end chairs and stuffed with down. I have fought to keep the down stuffing in it when the upholstery people wanted to put in foam and fiberfil. NOT!! I love the cushiness of the feathers. First it was a pink/burgundy diamond print, then it was a gorgeous black with pink roses embroidery fabric (gorgeous!), now it is a kilim print with a sage background and shades of lavender and pink IF you look closely. The chairs originally cost $1,100 each and the first reupholstery cost pretty near that also for both chairs to be done. The second upholstery cost about $1,000 and that was about 4 or 5 years ago. Soooo I didn't think Jack would spring for another reupholstery so soon when it is great shape still. But I wanted a change after seeing a chair of Lynn's in Montana.

This woman, Lynn, lives in the wild and woolly west as I do and she still "breaks the mold" of having western decor or the ole beige overstuffed furniture so prevalent in most of the country but certainly in the "cowboy" states as we call them! LOL She is a girly girl!!!! Yeah. And her home is fantastic. She had a party recently and sent us pictures of it and a chair in it caught my eye. Well, let me tell ya, I was ready to go to Montana and do some "midnight" shopping - at Lynn's house. She gave me the name of the place where she got the slipcover for that chair, but, alas, they don't have any fabric like that anymore.

THEN I remembered that about 2 months ago I had a duvet cover that was kinda out of shape. So I took it apart and made 2 spreads out of it. Now, this is one of Rachel Ashwell's fabric and I love this particular print. So I went into the "closet of many covers" (my walk in closet) and grabbed it, went to the family room and threw it over the chair and knotted the ends and voilà, this is how it looks. A new chair for nothing!! Well, until I can get Jack to spring for another upholstery job, but that ain't looking any too promising in the near future. :-)

The Incredible Lightness of My Garbage Can........

If there was ever any doubt as to whether I'm funny, witty, humorous OR zany, this will disprove and dispel any doubt to those vicious rumors. Musings on a saturday afternoon...............while washing my garbage can.............and thinking back..................oh, well................

Years ago while Jack and I were taking private french language lessons we went to a french speaking movie in Berkeley, Ca., to get the "flavor" of the language. I probably didn't understand a bit of it and who DOES(?!) when you are so busy reading the sub-titles, anyway. But we were into our "hippy" stage or as "hippy" as we ever got, which wasn't really hippy for northern California in the 70s and 80s. Anyway, we also went to see a movie "The Incredible Lightness of Being" and now that I think back on it, it was rather a dud about a czech doctor during the soviet invasion of his country in the late 60s. But I just loved the title - whatever it means.

I've had this trash can for about 8 years now and I just love it. Can't find that kind any more. It's been with us during the move here 2 years ago, but it didn't really fit in the kitchen (this means I kept tripping over it or running into it and knocking it over!). So it was relegated to the garage just outside the door from laundry (famous or infamous to some of you depending on where you've started reading this blog and what your feelings are on laundry rooms in general). I see it everyday and just sigh and pat it when going in and out. Our garbage is now under the sink and it is kinda inconvenient to have it there but when you're scaling down ya adjust, know what I mean????

Today, I'm making little hang tags in my computer room/home office/craft room. I need another garbage can in there - or really in here since that's where I am at the moment. I start thinking, which Jack will tell you unequivocally is definitely a bad sign (for him anyway). :-) I want that garbage can under the sink in here! That means the green can comes back in and I risk the chance of tripping over it once again. I'll risk it!! I bring the can in and start washing it and that's where I'm thinking of that movie, the french lessons (Jack still can't speak a lick of french or even recognize the language; I'm thinking it's a mental thing about the french instructor, Holly, correcting his "je" so many times) and what in the heck I'm gonna post on my blog.

So this is it. My musings on a saturday afternoon while cleaning the garbage can for use in the house once again. (Can is very happy; I think I'll even give it a decal of roses!) Now, ya gotta click on the garbage can image to see what what it has to say about the whole affair!!

An Afternoon with Tasha

Today a young lady friend came over. She's in my church ward. The other day she and her mother came over to deliver some gorgeous roses from their garden to me since I had my foot operated on. How nice!! Always a pleasant experience. Anyway, when they were here Tasha, age 9 in October, ooohed and aaaahhed at my house, along with her mother. It's truly a girly girly home. So I told her she could come back and make tags with me whenever she wanted. She had never heard of tags but was excited to learn as it turns out. So this morning her mom called and asked if she could come over after school and I said, "Yes, of course." She and I spent a delightful hour and a half making tags - her first experience. Eight year old girls love that sort of thing generally and Tasha was no exception. We had a delightful time. I forget to get a picture of her tags or her but I do have photos of mine.

Time for Tea!

Good morning! I love "tea parties"; although, I don't drink regular "tea." I gave it up years ago, but I do drink herbal teas now. But I thought I'd share with you my "tea party" today. How fun!!

Tea parties aren't about just drinking tea; it's about rituals and traditions also. I have some Old Country Roses teacups and saucers my daughter gave me to decorate and put up for sale on ebay and I have. But I always, always drink out of a china cup. I'm a china collector - plates mostly, but we eat off of china every single meal. It isn't just for show in this house. No, sirreee. It is used every single meal.

In my tea party above I have a lot of pieces that foster memories for me. The little sugar bowl was bought for me by my hubby at an estate sale for a neighbor many years ago. He thought I'd like it as a remembrance of her. He bought another bowl too, but it isn't in this picture.

The teapot is just one of several I have collected over the years. They all have roses or flowers on them in one way or another.

The plate in the background has real thick gold all around it. It is so shiny that is very hard to capture on photos, but it is absolutely gorgeous and stunning in person. I have 4 of them and love them. They cost a small fortune but I won them.

The teacup is, of course, OCR and has a teabag in it called "orange spice" and it is wonderful hot or cold. I always add lots of lemon to my teas because I like them weak and not strong with lots of sweetener. The teaspoon is a set of silver my hubby bought over in Japan about 40 years ago for us.

The little "honey pot" is one I found years ago and has a sentimental meaning for me. It has the requisite roses! :-)

The little pink plate is also gorgeous. I've put on it some faux pastries that I've made. I don't sell them but have given some away. Some of them were made by Natasha in Australia - a very talented lady who is very sweet herself! But I have lots of "eye candy" around my home. It's the only way I could live!! Love it.

The little pitcher is one of several I've collected also. I love pitchers. This one I've used as a vase and put some roses in and have it on my living room coffee table.

The vase of roses actually contains some paper roses I made and painted with watercolors. They are very time consuming so I don't make them a lot, but they are lovely when I do make them. It took me a while to "perfect" that rose.

I've used a vintage tablecloth and a napkin with a ribbon rose I made as a napkin ring........yep, I collect napkin rings also. Have dozens of them. I just put them in a bowl and sit them around usually, but since the move I've put them away somewhere and can't find them.

The little tags are some I printed out especially for hang tags which is my latest endeavor. I always have to be making something or I figure I'm "not doing anything."

So that's my tea party for you today. Enjoy and let me hear from you. I love the ritual of taking tea and chatting with friends about my favorite subject: decorating and creating beautiful things for the home.

My First Tags - Renewed!

These are my very first tags to make! I'm so excited. I just sat down today and spread all my supplies out over 3 continents and went for it. I have to say I actually loved making them. It took me hours to do it all. I'd have to scan and then print and then cut out and then go back and scan, print, cut again. How do you women ever do it all the time?!?!

I love love LOVE message boards because it is instant art in the home. Grab a frame and just start putting things you've got laying around the house for years and didn't know what to do with. I put in cute envelopes I've received, wedding invitations, my old birth announcements, packages of old french soap that I've taken the soap out of but the packets are too beautiful to throw away. I'm not a pack rat by any means but if I think something can serve a purpose down the road I'm saving it for just such an occasion. :-)

Below I've put in a slideshow of the ones I have in my home.......so far. There may well be more, ya know!

My Foot Has Been Tagged!

Vickie tagged me today and I'm only a couple of hours out of surgery! LOL Anyway, I've got to use my middle name initials and only 1 word to describe me from that. I then tag people. I'm tagging Rhea, Katie and Sharon. Oh, yes, that's my very numb foot today in that new chic footwear called "shabby surgery" but I've added a pretty rose flower to kinda "jazz" it up a bit. I'm thinking when the anasthetic wears off I'm gonna be in a loooot of pain. Yoooowww!!!

W - witty!!
R - radical
A - aesthete
Y - young

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

A Bar of Soap & Grandma Juanita

A bar of soap, you say??? Hmmmm, now why would this chick write about a bar of soap?! Well, it is a most unusual bar of soap.

My son-in-law has a grandmother, Juanita, who is in her 90th year and still travels the world. They have been to every single country in the world. They have a travel agent in the family and she gets them the most fantastic deals. I remember when Juanita was 75, she and her husband, Bill, went down the Amazon on a canoe trip. When they got back she said, "I had a marvelous time; although, I wouldn't recommend it for most 75 year old people." !! Yes, those are her exact words. What a pistol this woman is - tiny, always dresses to the "nines" and wears high heels at all the holiday celebrations and is the first one up from the table to wash dishes and put away food!! I hope I'm like that at 90. Heck, I'm hoping I just GET to 90!!! She runs circles around all of us! And that's the truth. I've never seen anyone with her energy.

Anyway, she always remembers us on holidays that we spend down in California with the kids. She gave me that bar of soap. It has a little snowman painted on it and I'm sure it is dipped in wax. Now, what is so unusual about that bar of soap??? Well, she gave it to me about 8 years ago! Yep, that is an old bar of soap. It has not just set around; it has been used! Yep, it is used. Oh, not every time I wash my hands, but it has lasted longer than any bar of soap I've ever had. It has been in a guest bathroom for use, in a hall bathroom for use and is now in my master bathroom and is used. I don't know why it has lasted so long. I sure would like the formula for that bar of soap, but I assure it is at least 8 yrs old!!