In my spare time...

Last Christmas season I gave my darling daughter a banner I had made for a design team project...you remember the one. I designed it using the
Cavallini & Co. vintage postcard wrap.

She liked it so much she still has it up. In June I decided it was time to make her a new banner she could keep up all year. My plan was to do this in my spare time...which I don't have.

DD has black and white accents in her home, I started collecting black and white patterned paper, embellishments and a bit of bling.
Sweet Wendy over at Leaky Shed Studio had given me some of their chip board die cut banner letters to spell out: H O M E. The letters have holes at the top to run a ribbon through to created the banner. I covered the letters with the black and white patterned paper, leaving the holes covered. I placed them on chip board die cut pennant shapes that I had my DD cover in the back and white patterned paper ( The only was to get this done was to make it a team effort). I had great plans to layer each pennant and letter  with tons of embellishments... in my spare time.

In the end I kept the embellishments simple...doilies, silk flowers, ribbon, gems and Stickles. 

I don't plan on going in to the banner making business, but it was fun to  work on a different kind of project with and for my DD.

Sprinkles, Facebook and Salty Sweet

I have been hearing about Sprinkles cupcakes for a few years. Our local Sprinkles is about 30 minutes away in the posh part of Scottsdale...not my usual stomping grounds.

But last week I had my first...and my second! 

My daughter, my grand kids and I were driving on the 101 north.  I was driving, the g-kids were in the back and my daughter was on her phone checking Facebook. She made the announcement that if we went  to Sprinkles and said the secret word..."Salty Sweet" we could get a free cupcake. I was curious why the word was Salty Sweet...because that was the kind of free cupcake they were giving way. Okay how close were we to Sprinkles? The next exit...it was meant to be...today would be the day for my very first Sprinkles cupcake...but Salty Sweet just didn't sound too great, I was going to have a Red Velvet even if I had to pay for it.  We got off the freeway exit, a few turns later we were in front of Sprinkles. We walked in and waited our turn... eying the display case for the kind of cupcake we were going to order...along with our free ones. When it was our turn we all whispered "Salty Sweet", he smiled and thanked us for whispering...they had just finished  frosting the cupcakes. He boxed up the ones we ordered and in a separate box placed our free "Salty Sweet".  We thanked him, and got back out on the road. 

When we got home we did a taste test...the Red Velvet was great, but the Salty Sweet was wonderful...the Salty Sweet was CARMEL!

It's nice to know I can still be pleasantly surprised

Say something nice...

My mom recently turned 80...she would be okay with me telling you her age. For her birthday she sent  out a letter reminding all of her kids, grand kids and great grand kids that she was turning 80. She told us we didn't need to throw her a party, but she did ask all of us to make her a homemade birthday card...the kind we use to make in kindergarten...folded piece of paper, crayons, stick figures, she wanted us to write something nice about her, something we would tell someone about her or something we had done with her...we were not to obsess about the card.

Of course we all obsessed about making the card, some of us got done early, some of us are still working on the cards. That's okay, mom likes to celebrate her birthday all month long. 

She has been enjoying all the cards made by her kids, grand kids and great grand kids. Some extend family and friends had heard about the letter and wanted to get in on the fun too.

Why am I telling you all this? One of my siblings asked me if I was going to blog the card I made for mom...I hadn't plan on it...but then again "things" to blog are few and far between. I usually make her a red, white and blue patriotic looking card for her birthday  ( see the 4th of July post), but this year I designed a card "that says something nice...something I would tell someone about her."

 The front of the card reads: "I color outside the lines...with my left hand". The inside reads "Thank you Mom for teaching me everything I know about being creative" ( And yes...that's me sitting in the chair" ) 

 Happy 80th Birthday!

Happy 4th of July

Ever get the feeling you are be ignored?

You would think if  a cat sat down...posed herself to create a perfect photo opportunity, she would at least work with the photographer.  The back ground was great...lighting okay and the subject was gorgeous...I ran to get my camera, got it on the right settings...I sat down to be at her level, you know all the amateur photo tricks...and she moves.

We loose the poise...has boredom or apathy set in?

She got up and walked to the other end of the table...is this a "I could care less" poise?

No this is  Cat-atude...as in "go away, I was just yanking your chain, I have no intention of poising for your camera...don't you know when you are being ignored?"

HOT PINK with ZEBRA STRIPES

Did you know that HOT PINK with a ZEBRA print is the "in" thing right now?

I had no clue!

I needed to make a card for my neighbor's daughter...I asked  her mom what kind of things she liked..."HOT PINK with ZEBRA print."  So I went off looking for something  HOT PINK with ZEBRA  print. The first few places I looked I had zero luck. Then I found the mother load. I found HOT PINK with ZEBRA, patterned paper, 1 1/2 inch ribbon and  some flower embellishments...so many choices! I decided using all three would be overkill. I selected one and headed off to play.

I printed off a cool vintage image, added some polka dot ribbon  (I didn't want to over do the HOT PINK with ZEBRA print), some fairy wings...If you are going to be using HOT PINK with ZEBRA stripes you have to do a over the top card...and that always calls for Fairy Wings!

I added a bit of Stickle and of course Hot Pink Zebra stripe flower embellishments...

With a large hot pink rhinestone in the center of the flower. (trust me, in real life the flower is HOT PINK)

I was having so much fun playing, I made a few extra. My Tucson Sister took one to give to her youngest daughter that just passed her cosmetology boards...Way to go Maddie!!!

house plants and blogs

I have 2 house plants in my house. They are both Pothos...very hardy plants. One is 31 years old...I remember this because I bought it as a 2inch plant when we moved into our house 31 years ago. Over the years I have had to transplant it a few times because it has become root bound...in fact on more than one occasion all that there was in the pot were roots...no soil. The other Pothos in newer...my Tucson sister gave it to me last year. It is in a vintage Haeger ceramic pot that we found in a thrift store. Both plants sit next to my kitchen sink so I will remember to water them...I don't.

So what do house plants and blogs have in common...both need to have an owner that will remember to nurture and tend to them...I don't.

It doesn't help that I updated Windows a few weeks ago and now I can't get Blogspot to work the way it's suppose too...I 'm not sure who to be more annoyed with...Microsoft or Blogspot...maybe both. Anybody else having a problem or is just me?

I'm going to go water my plants...