Blizzards and robins.....it doesn't seem right!

I love the relaxed feel of a snow day...no place to go, nothing pressing to do.


Strolling by the front door this morning, instead of rushing out of it, I noticed this robin helping herself--I know nature requires male robins as well, but I always seem to refer to them as 'she'--to some berries on our crabapple tree. I was happy she did--we're experiencing a blizzard here in the midwest and I can't imagine how that must feel to our outdoor creature friends.


I was tickled that she seemed to pose for me....."would you like me to turn left? right? or straight on?" Just stay warm little robin, that's what I'd like.

I hope those of you living with snow these days, which seems to be the major part of the country, are staying warm and safe too!!

Marilyn

Hoop Up! Stitching

The dreary days and cold nights we're experiencing have at least been good for stitching! Once it warms up (notice I didn't say IF), I won't find myself huddled under a blanket so much and my embroidery will probably slow down.


For now though, Hoop Up! Stitch & Send has been the perfect swap to work on!

I finished this one just today for
Aneela...her theme is Little Girls Playing.


Aneela has a tutorial for a fill-in backstitch that I tried and really liked!

For June's theme, Baby Girl Loves, she sent out white fabric to some members in our group and pink fabric to the others to embroider on. I was excited to receive a pink piece--it was really fun!


June is going to use the stitched pieces to make a quilt for her 3 year old daughter...won't that be cute?

I think I showed this one in it's beginning stages, but now it's finished too...it's for Marianne. Her theme is Found in an Oriental Garden.


She is also going to make a quilt, to use as a wallhanging, with her stitched blocks...this is a photo of her own embroidered block and the fabric she's using--lovely!

Thanks for letting me share my stitching with you. In my next post, I hope to share some photos of work-in-progress for Doll Quilt Swap 8. I have my fabric and I have a plan so it's time to start cutting and sewing!

Marilyn

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I hope you all are staying warm too!


Marilyn

Snow Scene

The season's first snow is always so pretty and, at night, so peaceful, especially from the warm, cozy side of our kitchen window. This is the view last night when the snow was just beginning...


Same view, different photo...I played around with this one to add the blue, kind of fun...


We didn't get near the amount of snow that others received just a few miles north of us...I have to admit I wasn't disappointed. I do hope for those of you that are dealing with this winter storm, that you're staying warm and safe!!

Marilyn

A Pretty Little Christmas...Blog Party

Heather (Pretty Petals) is hosting "A Pretty Little Christmas" Blog Party today. She has invited everyone, that wants to participate, to blog about your own Pretty Little Christmas...anything you like...whatever makes your heart sing. Sounds like fun!

So, here goes...WELCOME!

First, I want to show you the Holiday Book that I started making on craft day last week, and have now completed. It was a fun project!


Now, let me show you what makes my heart sing...the Christmas decorations and ornaments that hold extra special meaning...


From my very first Christmas, this angel bell--a gift from Santa Claus. I love her heart shaped lips and chubby little cheeks:)


When Rick was two years old, his father was away at Christmas, in Korea, serving in the army. In the gifts that his father sent back to the family that year, was this Santa and reindeer for Rick. It's great fun...each Christmas, at least once, we sit on the kitchen floor, wind it up and watch Santa travel in a big circle. There is a bell on the back that rings and sounds like an old bicycle bell:)


Giving Santa a little help, perhaps, are these elves...



My mother loved Christmas and always decorated BIG for the holidays! I think it was about 25 years ago that she was running out of room for all of her decorations and asked me to go through some of the older things and keep what I wanted. The elves came home with me and I love them as much today as I did years ago. They kind of remind me of Snow White's seven dwarfs, if only there was one more--maybe it's Dopey that's missing. (hmmm, it suddenly occurred to me how politically incorrect the Snow White story is.)

This angel also came from my mother--she gave it to me because she knew how much I loved it. I photographed her surrounded by the glass ball ornaments because Mom used those a lot in her decorating. She had glass ornaments tucked here...there...everywhere! It was beautiful.


The box that the angel came in is great too. Adler's was one of the big department stores in downtown Kansas City, and downtown was a hopping place when I was growing up. Department store windows were filled with magic--decorated trees, motorized dolls and woodland animals...there were holiday lights everywhere...and huge crowns hung across the streets.


Rick and I have inherited several ornaments, some from his parents and some from mine. I really love them all...


but this little church that came from Rick's family is one of my favorites.


The ballerina ornament was my mother's. I thinks she looks like she could be a dancer in the Nutcracker ballet.


I love the winter ivory clothing this young couple is wearing. Mom loved dolls so it was natural for her to be attracted to, and buy, porcelain doll ornaments.


A tiny bear that was Mom's when she was a little girl. So sweet.


And I just had to share these vintage greeting cards with you!




Lastly, a peace dove that I made two Christmases ago...


May your holidays be filled with peace and joy.

Thank you for taking the time during this busy season to come for a visit!

For more pretty little blog parties, click the button below...Heather has a wonderful list of participants for you to visit.




Marilyn

Irresistible Holiday Shopping

On Saturday, I went with Shawn and her daughter, Bethany, to Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante. The lovely display at the entrance told me that this was going to be good!


Indeed, it was! This is just some of what could be seen looking up towards the balcony. Enchanting!



Karla's and Beth's spaces were set up next to each other and filled with lots of beautiful things...irresistible actually, so purchases were a must! Karla painted this magnificent mural and used it to display her vintage ornaments--soooo pretty.


I also got to meet Carol, Raised in Cotton when we were there. Her displays and items were gorgeous...another fine purchasing opportunity:)


Karla, Beth and Carol have beautiful photos and descriptions of Miss Frenchie's Holiday Market on their blogs. I highly recommend a visit to each one!

Gwen (French by Design at Mission Road Antique Mall) had a booth with antique and flea market finds from France. Gwen and her sister, Teri, travel to France twice a year on buying trips--just look at these treasures!





(Yes, more purchases.)

I am thrilled that this group of incredible women got together and created such an event. I'm especially thrilled that it was held in my very own city--what a FUN day!


It's beginning to feel a little more like December to me, too.


Thanks to all of the talented Miss Frenchie vendors!

Marilyn

Thoughts of Winter and Spring on a Fall Day

This past weekend, the better part of my Saturday was spent in our yard getting ready for winter(!)--raking leaves, bundling up fallen or pruned tree branches and cutting back perennial plants.

BUT, there were plenty of thoughts towards Spring, too, because I planted fifty of these...

so I could have more of this:

Since this photo from Spring-2002, this bed of tulips had gradually thinned out to be a pretty pitiful sight by Spring-2008 (sorry, no photos of that in my files). So, Saturday, I set out to remedy that, with achy lower back and thighs as proof, and am looking forward to a pretty, tulip-blooming, Spring-2009.

Marilyn

Strawberry Shortcake

Funny, what images grab us. This little hat has been on our deck post, like this, for several months.

It started the day after Halloween. This sweet little Strawberry Shortcake (I think) hat was laying on the post that holds our mailbox and our next door neighbor's mailbox. I'm guessing that our neighbor must have laid it there after finding it someplace near their house. I remember thinking, "aww, some little trick or treater lost their hat last night" and I hoped that it would be found by its owner.

The hat continued to lay on the mailbox post for a couple of days, but, as will happen in early November, brisk north winds moved in and swooped it up and the little hat came to lay in our front yard. I was still hopeful that the lost would be found, so I took it back to the mailbox post and, instead of just laying it there, I placed it atop the post so that it looked like it was wearing le petit chapeau.

For weeks it stayed there and hope lessened that it would ever make it back home. But it was fun having it out there and we often talked about driving up to the house and there it would be, that welcoming beacon. It made us smile or giggle when we saw it. We even thought it would be a great addition to our directions when we invited people over for the holidays--just look for the mailbox post wearing a Strawberry Shortcake hat! And the red and green colors were perfectly festive!

However, with the holiday season, also came packages...and one day the postal carrier placed one between the mailbox and the post and off came the hat. OK, I thought, maybe this has played itself out and I brought the day's mail and the hat inside and, well, now what? I can't explain it, but I took that little hat out the back door and dressed the deck post.

Same hat, but new location and suddenly it brought new joy when we looked outside to the back yard. Sunny days, rainy days, windy, gloomy days--all gave it a different look. The best, though, were the snowy days. All of that white with just a dot of bright red and green--wish I'd thought to photograph it then. Sleet and hail, too, it's been through a lot. Except the blazing hot temperatures of summer. Will it still be on our post then? Hard to say.

Are we silly---crazy? Maybe. But, whatever form it takes, fun is...fun!

Marilyn

Mother Nature's Showy Snow

So, Thursday afternoon, I looked outside and the falling snow was incredibly beautiful!

The snowflakes were HUGE and looked like pieces of cotton candy. They FLOATED to the ground, kinda the way feathers do in the old cartoons when the cat eats a bird and one of the bird's feathers pops out of the cat's mouth and floats in a zigzag motion to the floor, thus alerting sweet kitty's owner that something is amiss. Geez, guess I could have just said that the snowflakes floated in a zigzag motion to the ground, but apparently I have a need for you to get a truly accurate "mind's eye" picture of my snow-watching experience.

Actually, I don't remember seeing snow like it before and for me to say that it was incredibly beautiful in late February when I've really had enough of it weeks ago (all right, already!) is really saying something.

So let's hear it for Mother Nature! She's pulling new tricks out of her bag even when we thought we'd seen every possible cold weather combination--this winter in particular.

Applause, applause!

Marilyn

Need to warm up your January? Attend a wedding!

We went to my nephew's wedding Saturday night. He married a really sweet woman--no surprise, he's my nephew. The wedding was in St. Louis and the temperatures were what one would expect in January, and that is freezing!

However, there's nothing like a wedding to warm a soul. Love is everywhere! The young couple, of course, is just bursting with love for each other. Everyone is celebrating the couple's love and new union. Maybe, too, some are remembering and celebrating their own gifts of love. New families are created and friendships made. It really does warm the cockles of a heart. And so, (yes, before Saturday night I'm not sure I would have said this) a cold January day is a wonderful time for a wedding! Who'd a-thought?!

Marilyn

Happy New Year!

What a better time to start a new blog than at the beginning of a New Year!

And what a better time to start a new blog than at a time when I am feeling full of inspiration! My wonderful husband planned a surprise Christmas getaway for us to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, which was on October the 19th. He chose one of our favorite places--Santa Fe, New Mexico.

It was awesome! The rich light and magnificent skies warmly greeted us, just as they do in the summer months, but snow on the high desert landscape was new and exciting and beautiful!
The landscape and the spirit of the city...its art and architecture, its culture and food...are reasons we love Santa Fe. What an excellent place for rest and renewal.














And, oh, what it did for my creative urges!!! Oh, yes! I hope to be sharing pictures of the resulting art work very soon.

Until then, I am wishing you and your's a happy and healthy 2008!

May you find peace, comfort and joy in all of your creative endeavors.

Marilyn