Summer Sunset

A beautiful 4th of July Sunset on DeGray Lake in Arkansas....

And much needed rain today...

Washington DC

We are back from our trip to Washington DC, which was wonderful! The day we arrived it was snowing and we walked down to the White House and got the most beautiful shots of it in the snow. It truly was a winter wonderland!

We got to see the Tree Lighting, which was pretty cool. Timed that just right.

I'll have more pics a bit later, but now we've got to get ready for Christmas! Yikes....11 days away.

It's the Holiday Season

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly did. We have so much to be thankful for, it's a very long list!

And now....the Christmas season begins! As you can see, I could hardly wait to get my Christmas banner up! I love this time of year which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!

Let the festivities begin!

(the pictures are from last year...we don't have the tree up just yet!)

Decorating & Craft Ideas

I have several old issues of decorating & craft ideas from the 70's. I've always loved old magazines and books about decorating and crafting, even as a kid. I was always inspired by the images in them, including the ads. These are some from the early and mid 70's and I thought you might enjoy a peek in them. They have some really dated looking stuff, but they also have some stuff that's popular again these days. But they're always full of inspiration.

I remember using these roll-on paints in Home Ec!

I love how this model below is posing "so naturally." I know I always stand around with my purse on my arm like that!

This one is a great idea. I think I'm going to make the pear!



Wonder what happened to this magazine? Anyone know?

Handmade Holidays

I think this is going to be very good. I'm looking forward to a month of great ideas!

One More Time!

I've got granny square fever! These are the work (so far) of my own two hands...many more squares to go! In case you're desperate for more pictures of granny squares, go here. It's addicting.

More Granny Love

I've been enjoying the Grannysquares pool at Flickr. These are some of my favorites. Love all the happy color!

Hooked on Granny

I've been seeing lots of Granny squares around blogland and it's starting to give me the itch. To stitch, that is. I've been wanting to do a granny square afghan since last fall and just haven't gotten started.

But now, I'm seeing this, and this, and this...plus others here and there...that have me running for my crochet hook.

We're planning a trip in a little bit and I've been thinking about my travel projects to take with me. Crochet is great for a road trip. So, methinks I'll be purchasing a wee bit more yarn and head off to granny-land!

Internet Love

This little darling is my desktop background right now. It's a free download from http://www.howaboutorange.blogspot.com/. I love the internet! It's amazing to me how much you can discover, and..., how generous people out there can be!

It brightens my day just to look at this little chirper! Thanks for sharing, Jessica!

A Furry Haze

This beautiful creature, here, has lost what I know must be 100 pounds of fur. And it's all over my house. Why does he wait until almost fall to do this? Good thing he's cute.

So, until the fur flies (as in, away) I've been enjoying some blog surfing. And I've discovered (or re-discovered) some wonderful blogs:

http://fabulousfifi.typepad.com/chez_fifi/

http://happylovesrosie.blogspot.com/

http://www.sewsally.blogspot.com/

http://www.mellyandme.typepad.com/

http://oneredrobin.com/

Ah, fall. The crafting desire blooms again!

Enough Already

Okay, it's been about a month of 100 + temperatures and NO rain. I mean not a drop.

Enough. I'm thoroughly cooked, and so is our yard.

I am sooooo ready for fall to start showing signs of life. So, maybe a gentle nudge in that direction with my blog header will help things along. I hope!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to fall. It always gets my creative juices flowing, so hopefully (if I can get my act together) you'll be seeing some of my recent and upcoming projects appearing here. I'm still working on the charming bags. Naturally, I'm making a fall version. Plus lots of other stuff: I've gotten the knitting and the crocheting back out; finished a quilt; done some painting around the house, and various and sundry other things.

All shall be revealed forthwith. Now, where is that camera?

Charming

I've discovered a few new blogs (which I need to add to my blogroll one of these days!) which are delightful. A couple of them are people I'd heard of before, but didn't know they now had blogs. And a couple are new discoveries.

Barbara Brandeburg

Fresh Figs / Fig Tree Quilts

Bunny Tales

The Late Bloomer

That's the greatest thing about this blog-world. You can always find something new and fresh to get your own creativity flowing, and to suit whatever mood you're in...it's a good thing.

The charm packs above are my newest fabric purchases. I'm thinking of purses and totes right now, and I'm feeling patchwork-y and summer-y. So I thought the 5" squares would be a good fit. Hopefully I'll get to working on them before fall!