Tea for Two

 When I was a  little girl I can remember going to visit my grandparents at my Father's childhood home.  I loved that house with it's big brick front porch. A cozy metal glider that squeaked with each movement sat against the side wall awaiting my visit.  I can still remember the dainty yellow roses that grew up the trellis reaching the top of the porch ledge sometimes even spilling over to rest on the glider.  It was always a fun trip to Grandma's house. Only about an hour away.   A yummy dinner awaited us and for dessert---Cool Whip with cherry juice and a little red cherry on top (We were allowed to have whatever we wanted for dessert when at Grandma's) When my grandparents moved to Florida I was a young girl in grade school.  I missed those frequent visits with my grandparents and found myself writing letters to keep in touch.  With each sent letter a return letter from Grandma would come.  One of my most treasured possessions is this little tea set that was sent along with one of those returned letters. 

I even kept the little box it was mailed in--our home address written in my Grandma's handwritting.  I must have added the "tea set" label just incase I would forget what was inside :)

Without knowing my fondness for this miniature tea set, my neighbor called the other day to say that they were doing some reorganizing and cleaning of their attic.  They had found a few little things that they no longer wanted but didn't want to just take them to the local thrift shop.  They asked if I could come over and take a peek to see if I would be interested in any of them.  Imagine my surprise when I began to open  tiny boxes to find these amazing treasures.

I should warn you--- I love them so much I have LOTS of pictures to share with you.........

When I was taking these pictures to share with you, I was trying to decide which new little  tea set was my very favorite.  I just couldn't decide----I would love to know which was your's..........
PS... Thank you Claudia for thinking of me and sharing these precious treasures with me!!!

Spring Flowers

Although there is still a chill in the air, the blue skies and sunshine outside my window give me the hope of Spring.  Always at this time of year I find myself longing for the new season's arrival.  I am filled with  anticipation to be able to be outside again, gardening, birds singing, and flowers blooming.  Until I am able to tend to my outside garden, I thought I would just plant one inside for me to enjoy.  The only difference is that I created this one out of fabric.......

I think it is safe to say that I am hooked on making these little quilted wall hangings.  When I found this fabric with it's sweet flowers and ladybugs I knew that I just had to create something fun with it. 

I found this ruffled trim in the perfect shade of green---turned upside down, sewn with the ruffles pointing up, it is the ideal  "grass" to plant my garden. 

A few sweet buttons, some blanket stitching, some fun ribbon and rick rack for the stems and my garden is complete. 

Speaking of beautiful Spring flowers--this is the perfect post to share with you some beauties that I just purchased at Michael's.  I just had to have them--they look so real.  and they are two of my most favorite flowers.......

Peonies

and Roses

 It will not be long now----Spring is just around the corner.

Saying Goodbye to February

February is one of my favorite months---how could you not like a month filled with hearts and love.  Oh and it also just happens to be my birthday month.  I turned 45 on February 8.  (Yikes) 
From the time I was a little girl, my mom would prepare us a birthday dinner of our choice.  I was really looking forward to my choice this year---Halusky, Kielbasa, and Pirohies--A  real Slovak dinner.  I woke feeling just a little achy but it was my birthday and I refused to be sick.  As the day went on I began to realize that I was indeed sick--Rats!!! the flu for my birthday.  My mom promised to keep my dinner until I was feeling better and I snuggled in my bed waiting for my fever to break.  I had to be better before Saturday.  My mom and I planned to spend the whole day together and then meet my best friend Heidi and her daughter, Jenna for dinner.  I also planned on spending the night at my parents--my Mom was going to teach me to quilt.  Thankfully by the time Saturday arrived I was feeling like myself again.  Mom and I got an early start and headed to the most amazing quilt shop.  I chose the fabric for my quilt lesson and then it was on to the local farm market--which just happens to have the most amazing gift shop.......

After a wonderful afternoon, it was time to meet Heidi and Jenna.  We did a little shopping....

had a little dinner, and then went back to my Moms for muffins and chi tea.

Mom gave me my quilt lesson--Heidi and Jenna headed home--and I got into my pj's and headed off to bed in my childhood room.  I know they say you can't go home again but I must say it was really nice for at least one night.  I slept so well--until 10:00am--that never happens.  Dad and I had muffins and coffee for breakfast.  Then later that afternoon finally my birthday dinner--YUMMY!!!

So goodbye to February and welcome to March--looking forward  to all this next month will bring.

Learning to Quilt

I have been blessed with a very talented mom who is an amazing quilter.  From the time I was a little girl I can remember my mom creating things with her sewing machine.  She would sew Barbie cloths for my family of dolls as well as dresses for my sister and I. We always had the best Halloween costumes made with the loving hands of my mom.  When I was about 12 years old my mom sent me to sewing class with the hopes that I would catch on and also develop her love for sewing.  Needless to say that love never came about.  I can remember the day that my mom purchased her first quilt magazine.  We looked through the pages together admiring those beautiful works of art.  Before I knew it she was creating her own beautiful works of art.  She would encourage me to give it a try but I loved to scrapbook and work with paper.  Recently I have been creating my paper quilts so the time seemed right to give fabric quilting a try.  This year for my birthday I asked my mom to teach me to quilt.   

We took a trip to the local quilt shop to choose the fabric.  I just love this fabric by Moda--Lily and Will.  By the end of the evening we had most of the quilt top completed.  My assignment--to finish the quilt top on my own so that I could return to have my lesson on completing the quilt.

Adding the batting

Making the binding

There you have it-----my first fabric quilt.  It is not a large quilt--just a little wall hanging but I was really excited with the end result.  Feeling pretty confident, I thought I would try one all on my own.  This time I used my cricut to cut the image for the middle of the wall hanging. 

A little help with attatching the binding.....

And Ta da.........

I think I may be hooked.  Creating these little wall hangings was really very fun.  I hope I have enough space in my craft room for all my new quilting supplies (lol)  Thanks Mom for sharing your talents with me. xoxox

Pretty in Pink

******The pictures will return soon****** This item is out for publication :)

I just love all things girly---the color pink, dainty flowers, sparkling gems, pretty pearls, oh and did I say the color PINK.  Of all the paper quilts that I have created so far I think this might be my very favorite.  I was looking through my stash of frames the other day and I came across this shadow box frame from Martha Stewart.  I had purchased  this frame probably over a year ago and put it away until I found just the right project to use it for.  I just loved the sweet scalloped edges and thought it would be the perfect place to frame my newest paper quilt. 

Because this frame is actually a shadow box,  it allowed me extra space to add some paper flowers....

tiny vintage mother of pearl buttons......

and to "pop" up the image created with my Cricut....

I just loved creating this shadow box.  That sweet little girl image just made me smile :)  Walking barefooted in the grass among the flowers.....

Ahhhh hurry Spring----we are looking forward to your arrival.

Snail Mail

Have you ever really looked at at snail??  I mean really looked at one??? Take it from me they are not that attractive.  In fact they are really rather ugly.  Well leave it to Cricut to turn something so unsightly into something simply adorable. 

This image came from the last of my new cartridges, Nate's ABC's.  It is the "brother" to Kate's ABC's and is filled with just as many adorable images.  I wanted to carry through with my paper quilting idea but found that the pattern I wanted to use didn't fit well on a square card.  When I found this package of 3 7/8" x 9 1/4" cards by Hero Arts I knew they would be the perfect size. 

In looking through my supply of patterned papers, I came across this sweet paper from Anna Griffin.  Oh how I wish I would have purchased more of this adorable paper.  I purchased it so long ago I am sure it is no longer available.  The tiny little snails matched the Cricut image so perfectly.  I created the pieced squares and then added stitching as if they were really part of a quilt. 

The end borders were created using a Martha Stewart border punch.  I added a few tiny pearls to the butterfly and two pretty little blue crystals to the snail's antennae.

The "little sweet pea" stamp is from the Paper Trey Ink --Baby Button Bits set. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.  I appreciate each and everyone of you and the fact that you spent a part of  your day with me.  I have one more paper quilt that I have almost finished.  A few more little details to add and then I will be posting pictures.  I think this one is my favorite so far.  I hope you will visit again so I will be able to share it with you.   xoxoxo