Trying Something New

Just discovered this blog today and thought it would be fun to give it a try.  So I am linking to:

Meet Me On Monday

Questions: 

1.  What are you wearing right now?


I'm actually in better attire than usual for this time of night.  I have on my exercise capris, a t-shirt, my socks & z-coils, a hooded zip-front sweatshirt jacket.  
But, shhhh.....no boob containers.  Sorry, but it's true!

2.  Do you have any freckles?


I could say yes, but that would be a complete denial of the fact that they are age spots.

3.  What is your favorite Lifesaver flavor?


I really like the pineapple ones, but it's been so long since I've had a lifesaver that I'm not sure they even still have that flavor.  Oh, good grief, now I'm gonna have to buy me some LIFESAVERS just to see if they still have pineapple!

4.  What is the last movie you saw in the theater?


True Grit and I loved it.  I love westerns, but they don't make too many good ones anymore.  True Grit was very well done.

5.  Would you rather live without tv or without music?


I think I could live without TV as long as I had my laptop so I could blog.  I put music on first thing in the morning, but the TV doesn't go on until hubby gets home from work.

I'm looking forward to seeing the results from this post.  This sounds like fun & I can't wait to see what others have to say.  Thanks to anyone who might stop for a look.

CAS

Someone Got a New Bed

Ya'll know how those of us with "furry" members in our families can get a little "nutty" about them.  Well, no exception here.  After our sweet little Buffy died, I really wasn't sure I wanted another kitty, but The Man was kind of insistent that we at least be open to the idea & made frequent trips to our local Humane Society.  When I finally relented to the idea, I told The Man that we needed to have things for the kitten nursery.  I didn't want to bring home a baby & not be prepared, right?  So, off to PetsMart we went.  Got the usual toys, litter box, etc., and then I saw this cute little hooded bed that was all lined with faux sheep skin.  It would be perfect for keeping our new baby nice and warm.  Abby has loved that bed since Day 1 & it even travels to the kennel where we board her when we are traveling.

Here she is all snuggled inside.  She likes having it partially covered to keep out some of the light & make it even warmer.  Well, I have to tell you that 5+ years of constant "kitty-ishness" in that bed had made it pretty gross.  The Man would take it & vacuum it with the shop vac, but I didn't see how she could be without it long enough to wash & let it air dry.  We considered replacing it, but the company no longer made this kind.  Big dilemma, right?

Well, while on a run to PetsMart for food, I discovered this.  All pink & fuzzy & soft, just perfect!  Ya'll also have to know that Abby does not do change very well.  Maybe all cats are extreme creatures of habit, I don't know;  but our Little Miss certainly is one.  So we weren't sure if she would even like the new bed.

We brought it in & put it right beside the old one.  Abby immediately came & proceeded to give it the old "sniff" test from back to front & top to bottom.......

and inside, too.  This was repeated several times, ya know, just incase some other kitty had set paws inside.

The final result was a big "paws up" & a look that queried the question "Why did it take you guys so long to get me a new bed?"

Yep, kitty-life around here is pretty darn sweet!  Oh, by-the-way, I did wash the old one & it is now air-drying.  It will be our backup & for sure the one that goes to the kennel.

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into kitty parenting around here.  Hope you come by again soon.

CAS

I am happily linking to:

DebbieDoos-Monday's Newbie Party

Metamorphosis Monday

Spring Is In The Air -- Part 2. What?

Didn't know there was going to be a Part 2, did ya?  Actually, I didn't know it either until I just couldn't shake that "tweaking" bug that I caught a couple of days ago.  It's still not completely out of my system, but maybe if I eat some chocolate & take a nap, I'll feel better.  Hmmm?

The first part of Part 2 took place in my kitchen.  Apparently, all of a sudden, I have a green thumb.  At least I haven't yet killed this lovely poinsettia, but was getting tired of it being in this window.  I've moved things around a bit, but basically the window has been the same since the first of the year.

Time to make a clean sweep.

Just shoppin' the house & the deco closet was really all I did.  I moved the poinsettia out to the sunroom (there are now 3 out there), brought in one of my orchids that's starting to get blooming stems,  added the little framed painted glass (bought years ago at Michael's on sale), snagged the lantern from the patio & added a candle & shells, added one of my Pier 1 bird plates, & the silver pedestal dish with faux moss.

Voila!!!

The only new items I purchased were the candle (Michael's w/40% off coupon), sea shells & the faux moss from the $Store.  This faux moss looks like a cross between chia pets & pet rocks.  Kind of weird little things, but they filled a need.

I still liked my large apothecary jar filled with the faux fruit, so I just moved it to the island & added the little raffia carrots like a tassel.  Am I clever or what?  lol!!! 

 I was kind of tired of my tiered metal basket that I was using for the real fruit, so I grabbed this little Smith & Hawkins wooden crate.  My son gave it to me several years ago filled with tulips for my b-day. Yes, those are all real & came from trees in our yard.

You might think I would have been "tweaked out" by now, but I wasn't finished yet.  The buffet needed just a few quick changes -- like adding a pic of our new little "grand" Avery.

Found a perfect spot for another one of my hurricane creations filled with little green foam beads ($Store) & a remote controlled, battery-operated candle (love these things).  I've had this little bunny (originally from Big Lots) for years.  He opens & there are several more in graduated sizes.  It's really cute to have them lined up, but too much of a temptation for the furry feline who resides here.  The baby bunny was missing for years under the china cabinet until I rearranged the dining room furniture a couple of months ago!  So I just posed the large bunny on a clear candle stick, and Abby & I can both 

live with that.

I decided to trade out a lamp that was residing here with this floral arrangement.  I didn't buy anything new for this, it was all in my decor closet just waiting to be lovely again.

I've been having fun adding just little bits of spring here and there.  Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will come again soon.

CAS

I'm happy to be linking to:

 Transformation Thursdays-The Shabby Chic Cottage

Fridays Unfolded-Stuff and Nonsense

Inspiration Friday-At The Picket Fence

A Few of my Favorite Things-Bargain Hunting With Laurie
Sassy Sites-FFA Friday

Seasonal Sundays-The Tablescaper
Metamorphosis Monday-BNOTP
Dittle Dattle-Amaze Me Monday
Tabletop Tuesday-A Stroll Thru Life
Saavy Southern Style-Wow Us Wednesday
Whassup Wednesday-Elements Interiors

Catch a Glimpse Party

A Little Spring is in the Air

I've been trying not to do too much changing of the decor around here; ya know, house on the market -- yada yada yada.  But let's face facts here, I am a typical bloggy-land "tweaker" and have this obsessive need to make frequent changes somewhere around my home.  Oh, and let me tell ya, rearranging The Man's sock drawer or my lingerie does not fill the need!  Sooo..... I went shopping today.  The thing I knew I needed was something "spring-like" for the garden shed doors.

 Found these at Michael's for 40% off.  Score! 

Love the pop of sunshine yellow on the old wood doors.

You know I couldn't stop there.  These are the rest of my finds.  Everything was very reasonably priced.

Found this plate at Ross's for $3.99.  Love, love, love the colors.

Isn't this the cutest?  Got this at Pier 1.

Found the adorable creamer & sugar also at Ross's for $1.99 each.  

Love these little raffia carrots (Pier 1).  The eggs are from Michael's.  They had bags of pastel ones and these brown & tan ones.  I thought these would work for other decorations other than Easter.  I may go get another bag.

Okay, it's official.  I have "tweaked" some Spring around here.  Yep, my old Singer comes through again.  This was the first way I had it arranged.  Looks good, right?

Oh, I found the little nest at Pier 1 also.

I did a swapping of lamps.  This is the one from the dining room.  Also switched the lamp & the ivy topiary.  Now this looks better to me.  What do you think?

Well, you have to use your imagination about how this will look at night.  Way too bright in this room to show this vignette in lamp light.  I could wait till nightfall, but I'm in a hurry.

Love this little pop of yellow.  Found this at Ross's.  It's a flower pot, but makes a perfect

crock for my cooking utensils.

It has this embedded label on it.  I don't care where it's from, I love it & it was cheap!

I do have another couple of simple ideas up my sleeve for a few more touches of Spring, but this was enough for today.  I hope you enjoyed your visit and will come again soon.

CAS

I'm happily linking to:

WOW Us Wednesday

Tabletop Tuesday

Thrifty Thursday

Tablescape Thursday

Inspiration Friday

I Found a Cloche!

For those who have followed my blog for awhile, ya'll know I've kind of "whined" about not having any cloches & not ever finding any in the stores around here.  Well, make that not finding any affordable ones! I pretended by using jars that had lids & everyone said that was perfectly fine.  Still, I was 

"cloche-less," that is until today!  I found this little beauty at our Humane Society Thrift Store;  a place I had never gone before.  I know it's for holding & serving cheese, but IT'S A CLOCHE, plain & simple! Would you believe this little gem was only $5?  I snatched this little puppy up so fast, I almost lost my balance.  Truly!

The marble base doesn't have a single scratch, so the previous owner probably never used it for cutting & serving cheeses.  Lucky me!

Okay, what to do with my new treasure?  Well, I needed an excuse to tweak a little bit.  I pulled my cute little rooster lamp & the rooster plate from other places in the kitchen & grouped them with my new cloche.

I'm sure I will be changing this often, but for now, I really like the lemons & limes.  I'm so happy to no longer be "cloche-less."

I love all the reflections from the lamp.  Wow, my counter top looks really good!

I did one other little tweak.  Well, it's truly so minor I doubt it even counts as a tweak, but a tweak we shall call it.  I jumped on the band-wagon during the holidays & made several of these "vase + candle stick = hurricane candle holder" creations & decided it was time to reintroduce a couple of them into my decor.  I just added them on either side of my big wooden dough bowl filled with potpourri.

Added some green gravel in the bottom and tied on some jute string.  I'm using some battery-operated candles that turn on & off with a small remote.  They came in a multi-size pack from Costco during the holidays.  You will never guess who spotted these in the store & insisted we get them.  Yes, The Man!  Did I mention they are operated with a remote?  Aah, now you understand.

That about does it for now.  I'm trying to only make small changes in my home decor since it's pretty much "show-ready" as it is.  I could just see getting into the middle of one of my room re-dos, and that would be when the realtor would call and want to show it.  For those who have asked, we have had several lookers & have had one Open House, so keep good thoughts for us.  We really want to get closer to those grandkids sooner rather than later!  Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will come again soon.

Oh, I just discovered I was featured on  Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense  for the little goodie bags I made for my kiddoes for Valentine's Day.  They were a big hit, by-the-way!  Thank you, Alison, for the "feature."  Your blog is awesome.

       

I'm happy to be linking to:
Wow Us Wednesday

Thrifty Thursday

Transformation Thursday

Fridays Unfolded

At the Picket Fence
Some of My Favorite Things Saturday
Tabletop Tuesday

I Can Never Keep Up with Cards, But I Try!

I've always loved giving cards to people and not just for special occasions.  It was a "natural" for me when the handmade card-making craze started.  In the beginning, it was a "cost-saving" & sweet gesture to make cards for people.  Then it really caught on and the cards became extremely elaborate & heavily embellished, so store-bought cards were less expensive.  Now we've made another swing.  Have you noticed how expensive even a very simple Hallmark card is?  Well, none of this has anything to do with why I make cards.  I do it because I simply enjoy the process.  Mine are seldom very elaborate or fancy, but they come from the heart.  I love composing the wording to fit the personality of the person I am making the card for.  The following are just an assortment of cards that I worked on last week.

I had several Valentine cards that I made for some special people.  All I did to personalize each one was to use different colors of paper, several different stamps & the wording inside, of course.

I like to use both rubber stamps & acrylics.  My ink of choice is by Stampin' Up.

I also use a lot of Stickles for outlining & embellishing just to give some extra sparkle!

I love adding ribbon to give the card dimension.

While I was playing around with Valentine cards, I decided to go ahead and make some birthday cards for upcoming B-Days.

When I design a card that turns out super-cute, I usually duplicate it, but with some slight variations.

I love adding buttons, & try to keep a good (meaning large) stash.

I'm also keeping my eyes peeled for flower frogs.  That's what I used to hold the above cards for the photo-shoot.  They are great for holding small photos where you might want to change out the photo frequently and don't necessarily want a frame.  Love how they look.

And now what kind of grandmother (aka: Nanna) would I be if I didn't include a couple of pics of our new little Avery at 2 weeks?  

   Her daddy has mastered this "Anne Geddes" pose, & Avery loves it and falls asleep almost immediately.

Avery is doing her interpretation of the Gerber Baby!  It's okay, ya'll can say "Awwww, she's so sweet."

You won't get any argument out of me!

Today I'm going to work on some scrapbooking, so maybe you'll get to see some of those pages in the near future.  Thanks for stopping by, and for allowing me to be a doting "Nanna".  Hope you come back soon.

CAS

I'm happy to link to:

Handmade Tuesday

WOW Us Wednesday

Whatever Goes Wednesday

http:Whassup Wednesday

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"The Man" has my heart for so many reasons.  He builds wonderful things, and makes me smile with the wonder of a child over his creations.

"The Man" is such a hard worker, and always tries to make my life easier.  He has my heart.

"The Man" enjoys spending time with me just having fun, like going to a movie.  He has my heart.

"The Man" knows when I need charm and romance.  He has my heart.

"The Man" has had my heart for almost 42 years.  He will have my heart forever.

  I hope everyone had a really great Valentine's Day.  

I'm happy to be linking to:

Love is in the Air Newbie Party