Love this . . .

I adore this Subaru commercial. 

There's nothing like the love of an over-protective father!

Friday Fill-Ins

And here we go...

1. Paisley reminds be of the 70's.

2. I like other people in hats, but personally I don't look good in them.

3. Where is the best place to get a good cup of coffee?

4. I thought Punksotony Phil said winter was going to end?

5. They say, sometimes less is more, but I prefer to say "MORE is more!"

6. Do you have any Grey Poupon?

7. And as for the weekend, I have nothing special planned.

Linking up with Friday Fill-Ins here.

Mini Studio Tour

Since the beginning of the year I've been working on cleaning, sorting, purging and reorganizing my craft room/studio. (Note to self - I need to do this more often so that it isn't such a lengthy process.) I'm beginning to think that I will never be done with this project! I get easily side-tracked by things I find while digging through the contents of the room. I have made quite a mess in a couple other rooms in the meantime. I think artists/crafters have a built in hoarding problem because if you are like me, everything you see has the possibility of turning into an art project. For instance, I just donated a huge amount of supplies last week and in that donation were several "Fleur de Lis" shapes exactly like the ones used in this project on Rosemary's Blog. I can't tell you how many times this happens to me. Things I have had for years and haven't used - then as soon as I give them away I come across an project to use them in. This is the reason that getting rid of things is so difficult for me. Anyway, this is a on-going project for me, nowhere near completion yet, but getting there....slowly. 

I thought I'd share a few pics of my progress with you all. It's funny because these photos were taken a few weeks ago and I noticed I've already moved some things around since then. The photo above is my sewing table. I took my old one up to the cottage so I dragged this table out of my potting shed. It is a bit wider and it allowed me to remove the base of my dress form and place it right on the table.

 This is the wall next to the sewing table with just a few special doo-dads on display.

Here is my fabric cubby storage. The cubbies on top were originally storage for CD's in an earlier life. Now I use them to display artwork I have made as well as from other artists.

The blue drawer cabinet (from The Container Store) holds all my jewelry making supplies. The dried flowers is the bridesmaid bouquet from my daughter's wedding. Glass apothecary jars hold various trims.

The little green drawers, which originally stored nuts and bolts, now holds my "industrial look" jewelry bits and bobs.

This shelf holds all my vintage strands of mercury glass beads I use in some of my projects. Most of the containers are pink depression glass, with the exception of the tidbit container which was one of my favorite vintage finds.

More pretty storage. I am constantly on the lookout for pretty containers (new and vintage) to store my supplies in.

This cupcake display sits on the one side of my desk. Instead of cupcakes, I used 1/2 pint jelly jars to hold little supplies I regularly use in my collages. I placed the stand on a lazy-susan so it spins which makes it really convenient for me.

Well, that's the end of this part of the tour. More pics to come in the future as soon as I get more accomplished. This is truly a work in progress!

Sunday Morning

I was planning on going to Starbuck's or Panera for breakfast this morning, but opted to stay home and cozy up in my pj's with a bowl of creamy oatmeal, a cup of hot coffee and a stack of brand new magazines. I love Sunday mornings, don't you?

Friday Fill-ins

1. New experiences and possibilities excite me, but also make me nervous..

2. When I fell on the ice it was an unexpected turn on a daily walk last Friday.

3. I'm looking forward to becoming a grandma in August.

4. I never imagined my husband would pass away before me.

5. Try to find happiness each and every day.

6. The lessons you can learn is what's extraordinary about bad things that happen in your life.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to making some popcorn and watching TV, tomorrow my plans include continuing to work on reorganizing my craft room and Sunday, I want to go out for coffee and read the new magazines I bought today!

Love Is In The Air Today...

Hearts of Friendship Swap

Last month my blog friend Tammy invited me to participate in a small Valentine's Day swap called Hearts of Friendship Swap. We were asked to create a heart ornament in a medium of our choice and the only requirement was to include a quotation about friendship. The box of ornies arrived at my door earlier this week and I could hardly wait to tear open the box to see what everyone had made.

Tammy - "Friends meet you in a tender place where it's safe to risk your heart."

Sandy - "Right next door or miles apart, friends are always close at heart."

Vivian - "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold."

Vivian also sent us this sweet bonus heart ornament!

Lee - "Each friend represents a world in us."

Ruth - "Friends live in your heart."

Carla - "Friends are the stitches that hold our hearts together."

Natalea - "A friend is someone who sees through you and still enjoys the view."

Grace - "A friend is one of the best things you can be and the greatest thing you can have."

Me - "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

I decided to hang my ornaments from the chandelier in my craft room, so the lighting isn't the best in the photos above. Tammy has posted some more detailed pics of all the swap ornaments here. I really enjoy these small exchanges because they are totally manageable to complete. It's so much fun to receive these small works of art from people whose work you admire. And the idea of including quotes about friendship was a fun addition. Wasn't it amazing that all the quotations were unique with no duplicates!

Exciting News!

So excited to share the wonderful news that my daughter and her husband are expecting their first child in August! 

I'm looking forward to being a grandma!