A Road Trip to Navasota!

Today was such a gorgeous day!  My friends Lily and Genice and I went to Bloomer's in Navasota to enjoy their tea room for lunch and to do a little shopping.  We were hoping to see lots of bluebonnets along the way, but didn't see any.  We did get to see some Indian Paintbrushes, though.  I love Texas in the spring!  The green rolling hills and farmland were so beautiful and peaceful.  It's a very nice drive to Navasota.  We had a lovely lunch and purchased a few things.  I had to have this huge bird cage, and I'm so glad I got it.  It has a beautiful vintage feel to it, and of course I love the bird perched on top!  Lily suggested I put it by my fireplace, which I did, and it looks pretty good there.  I mean, really, this thing is pretty big.  It stands about three feet tall!  What should I put in it?  Greenery, perhaps?  I'm not sure.  Of course I'll fill it with red Christmas ornaments for Christmas, with pumpkins for Thanksgiving, and pastel eggs for Easter, but what do I put in it during just "regular" times?  Give me your suggestions.  I'm all ears.  Now, I'm awaiting my husband's response to it when he comes home from work!  Hee hee hee.  I'll let you know!

The funny thing is I drove all the way to Navasota and ran in to one of my good friends out there!  I haven't seen Susie in almost a year, so it was great to see her!  She's a hoot!  I have to laugh at myself because if I stand under a light to have my picture taken, with my gray hair, it makes me look like I have no hair!  Ha, ha, ha, ha!  I am getting a big kick out of this picture!  I had a lovely day!  Thanks to my friends for all the fun!

An Adorable Birthday Card!

Hello!  My mother has a dear friend who is turning 85 years old this month!  They have known each other since first grade.  Isn't that amazing?  How can you know someone for 80 years!  We are taking her friend, Margie, out to lunch to celebrate her birthday, and we have a couple of gifts for her, too.  I think it will be a nice outing and I made this adorable card for her.  The embossing folder at the bottom of the card is from Anna Griffin's collection.  It adds such an elegance to the card.  I'm also using the stamp set "Your Perfect Day" from Stampin' Up!  It's actually a wedding stamp set, but I just had to use the lovely wreath from that stamp set for Margie's birthday card.  The greeting is from Papertrey's stamp set "Signature Greetings II," which is quickly becoming one of my favorite stamp sets from Papertrey!  On the inside it says, "Age is just a number" from that same stamp set.  I'll try to remember to take pictures of our lunch so I can share them with you.  Margie is adorable and I have fallen in love with her.  She is sweet, funny, and witty - and still drives!  I hope I can be just like her when I turn 85!

 

Sympathy Cards are Tough!

Hello to my stamping friends!  I've been doing a little stamping lately.  Unfortunately, I've needed a couple of sympathy cards, which I always find to be challenging.  You're never sure whether a handmade card holds enough weight to be appropriate for a sympathy card, but I feel if you keep it simple, you can never go wrong.  I love how this sympathy card turned out.  Both stamp sets are from Papertrey and I got the idea for this card from their website.  The flowers are from the set called "Botanical Silhouettes" and the greeting is from the cutest stamp set called "Signature Greetings II."  The ink is Certainly Celery, Black, and Daffodil Delight from Stampin' Up!  This is going to become a "go-to" card for me.  Simple, but elegant - my favorite kind!

Thanks for stopping by!  Tomorrow I'll be posting an adorable birthday card!  Have a great  day!

Easter Card 2015

I've enjoyed making my Easter cards this year.  I love how intricate this Peter Rabbit die is.  I sent the pink cards to my girlfriends and sent the craft-colored ones to the guys in my life!  This card is 4 X 4, so I had to make envelopes to accommodate the card.  LOVE THAT ENVELOPE PUNCH BOARD!  I learned that it costs 70 cents to send one 4 X 4 card!  I love this size so much, so I purchased LOTS of 70-cent stamps!  HAPPY EASTER!  May the Easter bunny bring you lots of chocolate to remind you that He is risen!

Just love that cute little rabbit!

Spring Art

I saw a beautiful picture on Pinterest that inspired me to make this spring art.  I had to adapt and use the supplies I had on hand, so mine is different from the picture I saw, but I still love it!  I always want things to be exactly the way the picture is, but I'm learning that sometimes changing it up a bit is pretty cool, too!  I am going to try other color variations of this when I get a chance, but I wanted to share it with you.  As I pass through the room and see it, it just makes me smile.  Art has a way of doing that for you, doesn't it?

Now that I've finished it, I'd like to try stamping the same black script that's on the butterfly onto the gray background piece, too.  It seems like that would be beautiful and would pull the colors out even more!  Changing the colors of buttons, the style of buttons, and the lace trim would be nice, too.  Lots of possibilities with this one!  I can't wait to try them out, but I've got to go do laundry.  One reaches a point where she has no more clean undies, so one must pull herself away from her crafting to take care of necessities!

I Told You There'd be More Bunnies!

I've gone bunny crazy this Easter!  Here are more bunny pictures that I made.  I hosted a coffee for some of my girlfriends and I made one for each of them.  We had so much fun and I plan to do it more often.  It is wonderful to have the time to get together with friends.  I had a lovely time that day!

I've tried so many variations of this bunny that it's gotten ridiculous, but I was hooked and I had fun making them!  I invited a bunch of my friends over for coffee.  Here are some of the things we enjoyed that day.

This little basket actually looked like a basket of carrots.  I saw this cute idea on Pinterest, but I wanted to add a tag to mine.  

I love Easter decorations.  The colors are so pretty and I love having my house decorated in pastel colors.  I found the cutest little bird's nest with blue eggs.  They looked perfect placed inside this bird cage.  Adding moss to the bottom made it look so real.

 We had quite a spread.  These are Cinnamon Cream Cheese Rollups.

Cucumber water has become one of my new favorite things.  It's so easy to make and tastes light and refreshing.  I'm eager to try some different variations I've seen. 

This is a Chex Mix spring mix.  It is incredibly addicting and I love the salty-sweet combo!

I tried my hand at making some brownie bite bird nests.  I'm not sure they looked like a bird's nest, but they tasted good!

This is a breakfast casserole that contains croutons, sausage, milk, cheese, Cream of Mushroom soup, onion, and seasonings.  It was good and I'll definitely repeat it!  Thanks to my sister-in-law for this great recipe!

Thanks to all of you who attended.  It was lovely to see you and I enjoyed having great conversations with you!  LET'S DO IT AGAIN!

Spring Break 2015

Well, Spring Break has come and gone.  We had such a nice time with the kids home from college.  During all of our plans and busy-ness, I didn't take any photos at all.  Here is one that Hunter took while we were enjoying dinner out on the deck.  It was such perfect weather, we couldn't resist eating outside.

 

Near the end of Spring Break, we went to River Ridge to play golf.  Haley and I had never been before, so we were excited about driving the carts.  Unfortunately, it started raining as soon as we arrived at the golf course and we got completely soaked - and it was FREEZING, too!  Although it was absolutely miserable, I never laughed so hard in my life.  We ended up having so much fun and I will never forget that day!  Here is my son, waiting for the rain to stop so he can play golf.  It never did stop!

He looks like a pro golfer, doesn't he?  He doesn't have a bad swing, either!  I can't wait until we can try a repeat of this day when the weather is nice.  I know it would be a wonderful way to spend the day!