Uh-Oh!

Remember my pretty garden chair that I told you about in this post? The one where my sweet little wren family lived? Well, on Saturday I looked out the front door and discovered the scene above! We're not sure if the wind knocked over the chair or if a "critter" saw the birdies and tried to snatch the babies. We haven't seen any of the wrens since. :(
Even my Peter Rabbit statue suffered injuries. It kind of all goes along with how the rest of the weekend went ~ I bent down to pick something up and threw my back out, so I am walking around very gingerly the past few days.
On a happier note, while I was outside I decided to snap a few photos of the nicer things going on around our house.

Here's hoping this new week will be better than the weekend was at our house!

A Look Back. . . .

Many of my blogging friends seem to be acquiring either chickens (here & here) or Yorkies (here & here) these days. I do not have chickens, but our neighbors do. We used to have a sweet Yorkie (pictured above). She was our first "baby" before our daughter was born. Our Candy has been gone for many years now, but she still holds a special place in our hearts. All the photos of everyone's Yorkshire Terrier pups have brought back so many found memories for me.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Journal Update

Not too long ago, I signed up to take a wonderful journaling e-course from Hope Wallace Karney called Nostalgic Musings. Since the class, I've been adding to my journal bit by bit and thought I would share a few pages with you that I recently completed.

The page above features a favorite quotation and a paper lace doily I tinted pink with Glimmer Mist. Then I added a pleated candy paper from one of my favorite chocolates - Frango Mints. The long tag on the right side of the page is a clothing tag from a Merona t-shirt I purchased from Target that I covered with pretty paper.
I found a rubber stamp with another favorite quote which I just stumbled upon, I think at Hobby Lobby - but I'm not 100% sure about that. The chipboard scalloped oval I cut from a cereal box using my Sizzix machine. It's that original red machine they made which I dug out to sell at a garage sale. I was playing around with it in between sales and I had so much fun I decided not to sell it afterall.
This page I just finished this morning. Hope likes to use a lot of cupcake liners in her journals and I like that look also. There are so many fun designs out there now. These two I picked up from Michael's, thanks to my sweet friend Elyse who told me about them.
I drew this little birdie free hand. He reminds me of the little wren that I told you about in this post. The "souvenir" card is from Olga's Designs, who sells the most beautiful digital art on Etsy. I attached a fabric tab to the bottom and hinged it with washi tape on the top so I can add "secret" journaling underneath.

Another cereal box scalloped oval with a graceful swan inside. The template for the swan came from the tag on a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans - the swan is the company logo.

{Did you know that Anderson Cooper is her son?}

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Happy Monday!

I thought I would show you a picture of the twig garden chair from yesterday's post in it's entirety. I've show pics of it before during different seasons, but this year it is looking especially good. {Must be those gorgeous purple petunias!} The chair is really on it's last legs and very wobbly. It's needs a little TLC, but the only things that sit on it are the plant and my little birdie friend, so it's certainly sturdy enough for them.

This & That

I did some baking yesterday. Not sure why I decided to heat up the kitchen on a 90+ degree day. But the end result was worth it. I made these carrot cake cookies for my DH on the suggestion of my daughter. She knows he likes carrot cake and forwarded this recipe to me.

Since I was s-o-o-o hot from having the oven on, I decided that the refrigerator was way over due for a cleaning. What better way to stay cool than to have your head inside the fridge? Here is the "after" shot of the all important drink shelf. I could use one of those icy cold drinks right now!

Do you see anything interesting in the photo above?

Ah, yes . . . this cute little guy is very interesting, don't you think? He lives in the little bird house attached to the top of my twig garden chair outside our front door.

He comes out of his house to chat with me every time I water the planter full of these beautiful petunias my daughter and son-in-law gave me on Mother's Day. He's a very friendly birdie. He comes back every year to "rent" out the little house on the chair.

Something New

Available right now in my Etsy Shop

Good Morning!

Country Home - It's Not a Dream

Look what's back!

Isn't it exciting? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it on a news stand.

It's back in it's full beautiful glory! Just look for yourself. . . .

It's only a special issue, but who cares? Something is better than nothing, right?

Creative Connection & Swap Reveal : Part Three

I am thrilled to be a guest blogger on The Creative Connection Blog today. Such a wonderful place to go for inspiration and to meet other creative bloggers. You can read my "In Your Own Words" post by clicking here. Take a peek and leave a comment on that post and tell me what you think.

Next up, I want to share with you the final installment of my Paris Edition Inspiration Box swap. The lovely box shown above is from sweet Becca. The entire box is covered with glitter, which really gives the box some sparkle and great texture. Take note of how she positioned the paper just right so that Ooh la la shows on the side of the box.

I just love the sweet little bird and pearls on top of the box.

As you can see Becca filled the box up completely to it's brim!

And look at how much was inside! With the exception of the roll of vintage sheet music, most everything else was inside the box.

Crepe paper, ball fringe, pink birdie, crepe paper, handmade stick pin, beads, creamy bouillon fringe. . . the list goes on and on!

Thank you SO much Becca - it was fun being your partner in Heather's swap

Cute Little Jars

This cute little jar was made by Elyse Major. I saw some of them in one of photos in this post and asked about how she covered the lids. She told me and then she said, "I'll send you one" and she did! Isn't she sweet?

And look at all the fun stuff that was inside the jar!

Thanks Elyse!!!

Post July 4th Ramblings

I hope all my U.S. friends had a wonderful holiday weekend. The weather cooperated in our neck of the woods (many times it doesn't) and lots of fun was had by all. My SIL was in town for the week so we had a nice visit with her. My DH got a new BBQ grill for father's day, but somehow I end up doing all the grilling. (That's okay though - he has a good excuse.) My next grilling attempt is to make individual veggie pizzas on the grill.

A co-worker sent us the most wonderful box of chocolate covered strawberries from Shari's Berries. This photo doesn't do them justice though. The strawberries were HUGE and completely covered in the most divine chocolate. Yum!

Crochet Tea Cup available in my Etsy shop here.

We've had it hot here lately and not very much rain, so I've been keeping busy running around the house everyday watering our flower pots and planters and beds.

These pale lavender petunias seemed to weather the heat the best.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Fourth of July!

This is one of my favorite holidays because it oozes with summertime fun and patriotism. This vintage image reminds me of my grandfather who came to America from Denmark in the early 1900's. He was so proud when he and my grandmother took the oath to become citizens of the United States. Every year my grandparents would take my mother and her two older sisters to watch the neighborhood 4th of July parade. He made sure that each of them was carrying a small America flag to wave. He loved the flag because it reminded him of how fortunate they were to be a part of this great country! Let's all take a moment sometime today to remind ourselves just how lucky we are too!

Swap Reveal : Part 2

Welcome to Part Two of my Petite Inspiration Box - French Edition Swap reveal. This box was sent to me by the lovely and talented Elyse who put together quite a beautiful ensemble.

This is what I found when I first opened the box and unwrapped the tissue paper.

Elyse designed a box with a "petite box" stacked on top of it. It opens like a drawer just like it's big sister box below it.

Lots of fun things were tucked inside both boxes - big and small!

Elyse and I did an additional private swap on the side. I'll reveal that next time!