A Birthday Gift for Drew

Sweet baby Drew has turned one year old. What a special day to celebrate!! Oh what to give this special boy on his special day. I decided to create an alphabet book with-- what else but-- my new cricut. I have to say I had such fun with this project. I asked Drew's mommy for pictures of all the special people in Drew's life and then I added a few photos of my own. I mixed the photos with cute die cuts from my circut. I thought I would share a few of my favorite pages with you.

Happy Birthday precious little boy. You truly are a blessing.

Estate Sale Treasures.....

As many of you know one of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is to go treasure hunting at local estate sales. Last weekend I came across an ad in the weekly paper that read...

Four generations of Antiques---More than 1000 items.

As I read on I learned that the sale was only about 10 minutes from my house!! I was not sure at all what to expect. Sometimes ads sound amazing only to arrive at the sale to be disappointed. Believe me this was NOT one of those disappointing times. The minute I walked up the driveway I knew that this place was for me. I am not sure if you all are familiar with the TV show American Pickers--two men travel across the country looking for hidden treasures in barns, outbuildings, and attics. Well that is exactly what I felt like. Piles and piles of treasures just waiting to be discovered. There was a room full of lines, a room full of furniture and everything else you can imagine, and a garage full of more undiscovered treasures. The lady running the sale quickly shared with me that she and her husband had lived in this house for 45 years and were preparing to sell the home and move to Florida. She also shared that these items belonged to her as well as her Mother and Grandmother. An age reference---her husband was celebrating his 80th birthday today. Like I said before major treasure hunting.

I was thrilled to have found this amazing quilt---the colors are so perfect. It is large enough to cover the top of my queen sized bed with a tiny overhang. As I continued searching for treasures I came across these sweet little beauties. All they need is a good washing and pressing. I should have done that before I photographed them but I was just to excited to show them to you. By this time I think I had been treasure hunting for about an hour but I just could not leave. There was so much more to see.....
I am not exactly sure what I am going to do with this fabric but the colors were so perfect---maybe some pillows for my bed??I couldn't leave the sale without adding just a bit of bling.

I was at this sale for so long I feel like I became friends with Nancy(the lady running the sale) We chatted as I looked and she shared that the whole upstairs of her home was filled with things she would like to sell. She asked me what I would be interested in seeing and I of course told her of my love for children's books. She just smiled and said "Oh honey, I have a lot of those. I just don't know where they are right now" She took my number and I will be looking forward to her call :) She will be holding this sale until the end of October every Friday and Saturday with new items added weekly. Soooo I am sure you can guess where I will be for the next several weekends. Let's just say this post is part one of many more to come..........Maybe I can be an American Picker afterall :)

Goodbye to the Dog Days of Summer

Happy Fall everyone!!! This is my most favorite season of the year.  I love the cool, crisp days, changing leaves, bright blue skies, and watching nature prepare for the long winter ahead.  The squirrels and chipmunks in my yard could not be busier. I too have been busy creating in my studio.  This new cricut I purchased has provided me with so much inspiration.  In keeping with the theme of "Dog Days"  I thought I would share with you today some of the projects I made using the sweetest dog images.  All of these images have been cut using the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge.  This is a wonderful cartridge and the one that I use the most. 

I have sewn pockets into these greeting cards and turned the adorable puppy die cuts into magnets.  The magnets slip right into the pockets and then can be removed to hang on your refrigerator.  I thought it might be fun to send these cards to that special little someone in your life ---after receiving the card they would be able to hang the magnet in their locker at school.  Just a little reminder of how much you love them. 

This next little card I created just for fun.  I found this flannel fabric and it just reminded me of this Poodle die cut. 

Eventhough the Dog Days of Summer are behind us, the Dog Days never end at my house.  Everyday is a Dog Day.  Yes I will admit that my dogs just may be a bit spoiled. 

We even had some friends over to play one evening last week......

Mabel, Hannah, and Bailey   

Hannah and Mabel

They are half sisters :)

I am so glad that these girls are members of our family.  There is just something about the love and friendship of a dog. 

It's Raining its Pouring......

Some would say that our weather today  is weather that only a duck would love.  There is a chill in the air and it has been raining for most of the day.  I think it is nice to have these kind of days on occasion.  We have had such a dry Summer here in Pittsburgh.  When you walk across my lawn it actually crunches.  Today I welcome this rain. I welcome the nourishment it will bring to my poor dry lawn and gardens.   I welcome the chance to stay indoors with a nice hot cup of tea and a good magazine.  I welcome the time I will have to stay in my studio and play with my new Cricut machine.  I have several projects that need completed with in the next week.  Today's weather will allow me to get a good head start.  But before I go I wanted to share with you all this little duck banner that I created to help Drew celebrate his first birthday.  (it kind of goes with the theme of the day)

I sure do love this new Cricut machine of mine.  Well I am off to "play Cricut"  Hope you all are having a perfect day.

****NOTE**** It is a little hard to capture the whole banner in one photo.  If you click on the photos they will enlarge so that you can get a better view :)