Happy, Happy, Happy to You!!

Since my last post, I've enjoyed some fun sewing and crafting (and I have photos of those projects which I hope to show you very soon), but this is a glimpse of what's mostly been going on the past month...

...and more to come. Family and friends, that's what it's all about this time of year:) I hope you're enjoying your days and doing all of your favorite things too! Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!!

Marilyn

Merry Christmas to You;)

Sending Happy Holiday wishes with a photo of my recently completed (as in yesterday-recent) bitty blocks mini quilt---made using adorable 3.5" blocks I received in the Traditional Christmas Bitty Block swap!

May hope, peace, joy and love surround you this season and always.

Marilyn xo

Seussisized.....

Liam loves books...

Liam really loves Dr. Seuss books...

Liam turned ONE last weekend...and the theme for his party? Dr. Seuss, of course;)

Oooohhhh, I said to his mother, I've seen some new Dr. Seuss fabrics recently that are colorful and fun--surely we can think of something to do with them!!


We decided on a cover for the gift table, and that worked out beautifully, but after the party, it could transform into a quilt for the Seuss lovin' boy.

Liam and his book nook...

Seussisized!!

Marilyn

Happy Easter!

May all that God has planted within you
rise vibrant and growing this Springtime.

Wishing you a Happy Easter!

(Art, "Awakening Dawn," and greeting by Mary Southard, CSJ...courtesy of Ministry of the Arts)


Marilyn

Craft Day Tea Party Baby Shower...

...sounds fun, and it was!

On Tuesday, Shawn and Bethany and I drove out to Karla's for a craft day with Beth, and Mary (who brought all of us a pack of her French dictionary pages) and


Lauri (who also gave us lovely crafting goodies).

(And the doilies in both photos are from Shawn.)



So why the bunny ears and hats you ask?


Because it was also a Tea Party--an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party--in honor of Karla's Alice Tag Book Swap.


Complete with pretty little tea sandwiches that Shawn made :)


Karla had the table beautifully set...




...and placed a tiny little frozen charlotte doll wrapped in vintage flocked wallpaper at each seat!


The party also honored Shawn who is expecting a new addition to their family next month--she is holding a picture that Karla painted of Bethany holding her new baby brother:)


Even Karla's dog, Twinkle, dressed up for the party!

It was really a special day!!!

Marilyn

Happy Valentine's Day!

Smitten? Yep, that's exactly how I feel about this tag book! It's the collaboration of the "Be Smitten" Sweet Tag Swap hosted by Mary Ann McKeating! Twenty-plus pages of Valentine love.....and you can see them all too in a slideshow on Mary Ann's blog.

This is a picture of the tags I made for the swap right before I packaged them up and sent them out...

It was a fun swap---thanks, Mary Ann!!

Rick and I celebrated the day of love with a movie and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is delightful--all of the tables have painted tops, each of them different. This was ours...

...so cool!!

Wishing you much love in your life,

Marilyn

A Very Fine Day, Indeed!

Another fun craft day at Karla's yesterday with Beth, Shawn and Bethany and, of course, Karla.


I worked (maybe 'played' is a better description) on a page for Beth in our "casual" Book Round Robin. I added a pocket to the page for a paperdoll tag...


...and one of the dolly's outfits on the back of the page. It seems I don't put as much stuff on the backs---intentional? or too ready to be done? I'm going to call that one a rhetorical question:)


Beth was working on a pretty centerpiece project that involved a cone. Temporarily, however, the cone became a birthday hat while I was being serenaded...


...and blowing out my candle on this adorable little cupcake!

Thanks guys...it was really very sweet of you!!


I finished up the day working in my gluebook. It's been a long time and I always forget how fun it is.


That off white strip in the lower left corner--it's embossed with the letters N-O-P-Q-R-S-T. It didn't scan all that great and I wouldn't want you to think that I just stuck a random strip of blank paper there, hehee! Although, art being in the eye of the beholder--if 'blank' is more your style, alrighty then:)

Marilyn

Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you the very best of everything in the coming year!!

Marilyn

Christmas Joy!!!

Our beautiful new grandbaby!

A boy, Liam, born Friday, 18 December 2009 at 1:41am
7 lbs. 2 oz. ~ 20 inches

SWEET SWEET BABY !!!

Marilyn

Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Last year, I celebrated Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) by participating in Stephanie's (Rodrigvitz Style) Dia de Bloglandia 2008. This year, Stephanie is again hosting a blog celebration--Dia de Bloglandia 2009.

I didn't sign up to participate again his year because, well, how is it November already?! But I wanted to remember the day in our home and created a Day of the Dead runner for our table.




If you'd like to check out Dia de Bloglandia 2009, you can go here for a list of the participants. I can't wait to visit them!

Marilyn

Number Twelve

Rick and I celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday--our twelfth--and were we ever lucky to have the perfect-weather-day to enjoy it!

We took a day trip to St. Joe (St. Joseph, MO), Rick's growing-up town. I really believe the trees were at their peak just an hour north of us. We saw the most brilliant yellows and oranges! Isn't this one funny? Looks like a hairdo parted down the middle:)


We stopped at a nature park next to the Missouri River where the sun was glistening on the river and the leaves were rustling in the breeze, aahhh:)


There was a nice tree lined path for walking. This bridge crosses a babbling creek.


We ate a really wonderful Cajun meal and drove the beautiful boulevards to ogle lovely historic homes, including Lovers Lane...


How perfect!

Marilyn

The Pink Artists Drawing ~ Part 2

Read about Part 2 then be prepared to be awed!

Do you recall a special drawing held last year for the Pink Artists Doll? Do you remember how beautiful she is?!

The Block Art Quilt is every bit as beautiful! And again, the funds raised by the drawing will benefit breast cancer research. This is where you go to view the quilt and to be awed!

This is where to go to view other wonderful prizes you could win in the drawing!

And that Pink Artists button at the top right of my blog...that's where you click to learn where to enter and how to donate to Breast Cancer Research.
Last year, $3028.34. This year, ?????

Marilyn

Babies, Babies, Babies! (*Smiles*)

How cute is this little guy?!


To ease any worries, I stayed plenty far away from the nest to take the photos (and I think the telephoto function on my camera did an OK job). These photos are from just last week and already this week, he and his nest-mate have flown the coop! (I'm using "he" and "his" for no particular reason, but really, look at the hairdo...male--no?) I do remember seeing one of them sitting on the edge of the nest Monday morning and had I known that they were leaving for good, I would have wished them "Godspeed!"


Actually the timing was perfect. The nest is in a tree right under our bedroom window and their little "peeps" were getting louder each day and their song was monotonous--just one note. Do birds need time to learn the prettier songs and/or does it come with practice? Hmmm....

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Speaking of Cute Little Guys!


Grandbaby Cole:)
Two months old already!

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AND...Remember about a month ago when I gave you a sneak peek of this quilt top:


Well, I can now share with you that it is a baby quilt for our second grandchild! First daughter and son-in-law are expecting a holiday-time baby, due December 20th! Yippee!

Marilyn

He's Here!

Our first grandchild!
A boy, Cole, born Tuesday, 5 May 2009 at 9:45pm
8 lbs. 4 oz. ~ 20.5 inches long
SWEET and ADORABLE!!!

Marilyn

May Day Smiles

At craft day last week, Shawn and Bethany worked on May Day Baskets for Bethany's teachers. This is where I wish I had taken some pictures--the baskets were adorable, all bright and cheery.


However, I can share with you this picture of some of the flowers. Bethany is quite the little crafter and is very generous with her creations on craft days and I was delighted to receive a bouquet of her sweet flowers! They're such a lovely addition to my craft room and they make me S*M*I*L*E!!!

Do you remember May Day baskets when you were growing up? What a fun tradition. My favorite memories of May Day baskets are from the days when my daughters were little and would hang a basket on our doorknob, ring the doorbell and then quickly hide so I wouldn't know it was from them! Aawwhhh, I'm *s*m*i*l*i*n*g* again :-)

Wishing you a Happy May Day!

Earth Day

This beautiful image, "How Flowers Changed the World" by Mary Southard, CSJ, is courtesy of Ministry of the Arts.

Marilyn

Happy Easter!

During this Season of
New Beginnings may
God's Easter Promise
fill you with these
Blessings of Renewed Life

Joy-filled hope. . .

Unexpected blossomings. . .

Profound possibilities. . .



Happy Easter!


"Easter Allium" photo and design by Kattalina M. Kazunas.
Card is courtesy of Ministry of the Arts

Marilyn

Leprechauns and Pots of Gold

My Heart Is Filled With Gratitude

I have been completely giddy over the response to my One World~One Heart giveaway in the previous post! Your generous and encouraging comments have been a heart-warming and humble encounter and my gratitude is immense! It is yet another wonderful thing to come out of the One World~One Heart blogging event.

Because of the positive response to my QUILTY removable comp-book cover, and because it was so fun to make, I sewed up a similar cover and listed it in my Etsy shop. The fabrics in this one are also colorful and vibrant with lots of purple.

Front:

Back:

Inside front:


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That's what I had today thanks to my thoughtful, creative and amazing hubby! And next weekend, we'll celebrate both of our birthdays (his was 12/26) with our incredible kids...don't you just love to stretch out the partying:)

Marilyn