"Deer" to my Heart

One of my fondest childhood memories were the times spent with my Dad looking for deer. I can remember many evenings the whole family would pile into my Dad's truck and head for the local apple orchard to "spot" for deer. He had this giant spotlight that when plugged into the cigarette lighter could light up the universe. He would drive ever so slowly while my sister and I would take turns sweeping the light across the apple orchard trying to catch the glowing eyes of unsuspecting deer. There is something to that phrase "like a deer caught in the headlights". Those poor deer were probably blinded by the light of that spotlight. As we drove on, my Dad would share with us all of his "deer wisdom".

1. Deer always travel in numbers.

2. When one deer crosses the road always wait a minute--more will follow.

3. When looking for deer, focus on the woods edge.

My Dad even took me deer hunting with him once. The key word here is ONCE. Don't worry I didn't carry a gun I just went along to spend time with him. After we made a slight adjustment to the outfit my Mom sent for me to wear in the woods, we were ready for our adventure. An adjustment you ask? Well she sent a nice warm BROWN coat and for my head-- a pretty WHITE crocheted hat with a giant WHITE pom pom. Could I have looked more like a deer? Thankfully my Dad replaced all of this with the brightest orange I ever saw. All was going well until a little field mouse popped right out of the grass and ran across my legs. I screamed so loud that I am sure deer from miles around knew of our presence. Like I said before, he only took me once. But what fond memories I have. To this day I always find myself on the look out for deer. Imagine my surprise when I looked out of my bedroom window and spotted a whole family of deer just hanging out in my neighbors yard. They didn't even mind me hanging out of my window, camera in hand, snapping pictures like a crazy woman. If I could have only read their thoughts. Here are some of the pictures I was able to capture.......

I was so excited to see these beauties so close I must have stood at my window for a half an hour just watching them. I wonder how I will feel when they return in the Spring to nibble on the tender sprouts in my flower garden....

Love Notes and a little Surprise

When I was a little girl my mom would sometimes surprise me with little notes tucked secretly in my lunch bag. What fun it was to be sitting at the lunch table to open my lunch and find this fun reminder that my mom loved me. When it was time for me to send Alex off to school with his lunch bag, I remembered how much I enjoyed finding secrete notes from my mom and I would occasionally surprise Alex with notes of his own. This was a fun tradition until one day he so sweetly reminded me he was a big boy now and that it was not so cool to find secrete notes from your mom while sitting with all of your friends. (oh did I mention that he was in the 6th grade--the poor kid) Since that time the little notes have stopped but I would like to think he will remember those little love notes fondly forever.

That memory has inspired me to create these little lunchbox love notes to add to my etsy shop.

The little brad at the top of each note allows the top scalloped circle to swing away to reveal your message.

Just for fun I made some silly aliens.

Now onto a little surprise for me. Barbara of Southern Lady's Vintage surprised me by awarding me this sweet blog award. I copied the explanation for this award from Barbara's blog.....

The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming. This blog invests in the PROXIMITY in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that even more friendships are propagated.

Thank you so much Barbara for thinking of me and awarding me this honor. I am truly touched. The authors of this award also ask that I pass this award on to 8 other bloggers-- which I find very hard to do. I am going to take an idea from another blog friend, Bev. She found it impossible as I do to choose only 8 bloggers as I have made so many friendships through so many lovely blogs. So as she wrote, consider this award passed on to you if you read my blog and pass it on to someone you feel deserves this as well. Thank you again Barbara for such a wonderful surprise.

Love You Forever

In keeping with the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday, I couldn't wait to create a little Valentine project using this sweet heart-shaped chipboard book. It's one from the group that I purchased from Michael's Craft Store a few days ago. If you haven't had a chance to check these little books out yet, hurry on over to Michael's. They are so easy to work with and so much fun to alter.
A perfect place to keep those special Valentine memories.

The Car Goes Beep

Have you ever been so inspired to create a project that you just can't stop working on it until it is done? That's how I was with this little chipboard car book. I was wandering around Michaels Craft Store the other day and stumbled upon a whole series of new chipboard books made by the companies ColorBok and Crayola. You will never guess what isle they were in----the dollar isle. I was so excited I could hardly believe it. There were several different styles to choose from--little cars, hearts, houses, stars, flowers, scalloped squares and circles. If you don't know me by now, yes I bought some of each design. I started with the car but I can hardly wait to create something fun with the other books as well.

This is the before picture..............

And here is the after...................

This was such a fun project to complete. I loved adding all the little details to this sweet book and I could hardly wait to share it with you. My next project will be the little heart--so look for another post soon.

Mimi's Bake Shoppe

Now don't get excited, I have not decided to open a bake shoppe.....but if I did I would want it to be just like this one. It even has the perfect name don't you think?? My friends and I spotted this new little bake shoppe on one of our many trips to the local craft stores but never took the time to stop in. We would say " One of these days we are going to make time to pop in to see what it's all about". This Wednesday seemed like the perfect day as Joyce celebrated her Birthday on Tuesday and what better way to say Happy Birthday then with a wonderful cupcake!!! With much anticipation and excitement, Michele, Joyce and I all loaded into the car and headed for "Mimi's". When we opened the door we definitely were not disappointed! Shelves full of the most beautiful cakes I had ever seen and a glass counter filled with every kind of baked sweet. I even spotted a delicious looking feta and spinach pie that seemed to be calling my name.

After admiring everything it was time to make some decisions. Well since it was almost time for lunch and there were exactly three spinach and feta pies we decided to sit for a while in the little cafe and enjoy some lunch and a cup of coffee.

Just look at the wonderful lighting and mirror wall!!!!

The spinach and feta pie was amazing as was the Chocolate Mounds cupcake I shared with Michele. There is no picture of this cupcake because well lets face it--- I inhaled it so fast---I just couldn't help myself. Joyce purchased a couple to take home so I took a quick picture of those. Don't they look YUMMY!!

We had such a nice time visiting with each other and enjoying the bakery it was hard to leave. I decided to purchase a treat for later and I just couldn't leave without that cranberry orange scone. Trust me that was delicious too!!! If you live in the Pittsburgh area and are looking for a bakery, you must give Mimi's a try. Here is a link to their website---just click on the picture below.....What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon and to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my special friend, Joyce. XOXOX

Valentine Sweets

Do you love Valentines Day as much as I do? What could be better than a day to remind those dear to us just how much they are loved. Whether they are reminded with a bouquet of flowers, a box of candy, a pretty handmade card or just a simple kiss it's the thoughtful reminder that means so much. There is something about Valentines Day that reminds me of a simpler, innocent time-- creating Valentine cards with paper doilies, glitter, glue and construction paper. I can still remember making my Valentine box to hold those special cards from classmates. Always hoping that cute boy would sign his card with "love". How special those boxes looked covered in aluminum foil and glitter.

This year I decided to start making my cards a little earlier than usual. It's much more enjoyable to take my time and create rather than rush to get them done. Here is a little peek at two that I have completed.

In the next couple of weeks leading up to Valentines Day, I will be posting more about this wonderful day. Before I close this first post I wanted to share two more of my favorite Valentine traditions.......

Pretty glittered hearts......

and these sweet little conversation hearts always make me SMILE