You know how there is the “Man-Cave” concept, a place where the guy gets to be himself: electronics galore, readily available snacks & beverages, the coffee table that doesn’t need coasters & where shoes are welcome to reside, and decorated with all of the collected man souvenirs that said “guy” has collected over the years. I think every guy should have a place: surround sound speakers, ginormous tv, and the 9 remotes it takes to operate all of it.
 Photo from: 2.bp.blogspot.com/.../s400/man_caves Most of us girls have or would like to have a place we treasure, a place we go to retreat and rejuvenate. For some it may be a craft room, a deluxe bath, or a reading nook. If you are exceptionally blessed you may have all three. I hope you do.
Anyway…my friend Barbara has created for herself an awesome space. She calls it her craft room, but it is so much more than that. I truly have room envy over this one. It is indeed a craft room. In addition, it’s a great reading room, napping room, & watching girl movies room without being harassed by the ‘dudes’ in your life room. It is a “Chick Nest”. I love, love, love it!
She started out with a media room. It was a spare bonus room where she had a tv with video games, and a big sectional, etc. When the room was the media room it was painted khaki and she had dark wood tones and reds for accent. So for the “Chick Nest” Barbara started with an olive green micro-fiber sectional that she wanted to re-use in her craft space. She also wanted to ‘girlie’ it up a bit, since it was going to be her room. She found some fabulous floral fabric that had pinks, yellows, and greens in it – and coordinated everything else from there. I think she did an OUTSTANDING job.
Enjoy a peek; I know you’ll love it as much as I do.
 Continue reading The Chick Nest »
 I really 'splurged' on this wreath at Pier 1 this year, but it was too perfect to pass up. I have always really enjoyed seasonal decorations. It was especially fun when the kids were younger and we’d spend time together making home-made decorations. One time I attempted to skip the whole seasonal extravaganza: the hauling up of the Rubbermaid bins filled with ‘Ho-Dec’, the dusting off, & deciding where each little goodie would go. You would have thought I had sold the house on the ‘down low’ without telling anyone and moved to France to live with a marauding band of gypsies…there were protestations heard throughout the land. So, needless to say, when the St. Paddy’s décor went away – out came the Easter trinkets.
 I like to try to always have some kind of fresh flowers around. These are from WalMart and only cost about $4.
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 The Country Bunny was one of my very favorite stories as a little girl. I then passed it on to my two little bunnies, and they loved it as much as I did.
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Continue reading Easter Decorations »
Saturday evening we attended a fundraiser for the high school band program. The fundraiser was a performance by a local, professional, ‘Big Band’, called Still Swinging. We initially went out of a sense of obligation (that sounds awful doesn’t it); but before the first tune was over our toes were tapping and were thoroughly engaged. The performance was great! Our teen-aged son, home for spring break, even enjoyed it.
 Still Swinging -The Les Still Big Band (photo from their website) Continue reading Still Swinging »
I really enjoy reading. Unfortunately, with that comes a confession of a really bad habit I have. Once I start a book, if it’s a good one, I can’t put it down. I read to the exclusion of everything else, everything! My sweetie is always telling me “You know you can put it down and come back to it later”. But I can’t, especially once I get really into the book and things start happening in the story. (I’ve been known to read until the wee hours of the morning…until 3 or 4, and then have to drag myself up in the morning at 6 to get going.) I just HAVE to find out what’s going to happen next. Obsessive, I know.
These are a few of my favorite books from the past year.
The Shack: by William Paul Young (Photo and Summary from Google)
Mackenzie Allen Phillips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, “The Shack” wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?” The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him.
Even though this book addresses unimaginable pain, losing a child in an especially violent manner, the story itself is a good one. It is well told, thought provoking, and doesn’t “beat around the bush”. I enjoyed the imagery of heaven, different from my point of view, but beautiful none-the-less.
Continue reading Good Reads »
I love to sew! What I like most about sewing is the creativity you get to use. I love to plan, do, and especially complete projects. The completing part is my favorite! I’m a bit of a perfectionist so the “do-ing” part can sometimes frustrate the heck out of me. Unfortunately, I don’t get a lot of time to sew or be too creative these days…what with that “day job” hogging up all of my free time. A few years back I made custom order fabric purses. I hope to be adding some bags and other crafty goodies to my shop soon. As soon as I get some free time, I’m on it!
Below are some pictures of a few handbags and totes that I’ve made. Please keep checking back for my shop. {Also, kindly accept my apologies. I am not entirely territorial. I was working with a photo editing program (definitely not my friend) that got the better of me. I only wanted to put my little photo label in the corner. When I saved the pics back to my folder another label popped up on there. I have no idea where it came from or HOW TO MAKE IT GO AWAY!!! Aarghh! Sorry. Any suggestions on photo editing would be GREATLY appreciated. I am a true novice at this whole thing.} Okay back to the point, purse pictures below.
 Little Bumble Bee Bag
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 Wake up, it’s a bright one!
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 Classic Toile in pink
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 I love polka dots!
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Continue reading Sewing – Bags »
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