Mom's Valentine's Day Party...

Wasn't it beautiful?!?! Thank you Mom! I love you!!!

Hug Snug... My New Favorite Thing...

For years I heard Martha Stewart talking about using a wonderful and inexpensive seam binding in place of ribbon. However, all the seam binding I ever saw came in those small cellophane wrapped packages in the notions section. It was not really inexpensive purchased that way. Last week, I came across the Hug Snug product on Ebay and I ordered four rolls. Each roll is 100 yards. The colors are beautiful and the rolls sell for $6.95 each. This stuff must be what Martha is talking about. Seam binding is very thin and fine and so it ties a beautiful bow and the stuff is washable so that you can easily make a craft that requires some kind of vintage application. I had a great experience with Zipperstop, the Ebay vendor that I purchased from. This is one of my new favorite things.

Hats off to the Turnipseed Family... and a Pen Name Contest

A couple of days ago Emily had a fun contest on her blog to see who could come up with the most fun name. As she put it, the contest was completely subjective and the winner was simply her favorite. However, there were over 400 entries and I enjoyed reading through quite a few of them. My entry was Rhiannon Nullig, which is an Irish name.

I love Irish names. Rhiannon means little king and Nullig is the Irish word for Noel, so I meant it to be... The Little King of Christmas. Lovely.

Some people want to give their children really unusual and interesting names,like the one above. However, I always think that you should consider the fact that your child may grow up and want to be a Supreme Court Justice and so they should be named appropriately.

However, having anything that is really fun about your name is pretty great. I have a some friends named White and they live in a white house. That is kind of fun. I have some friends named Valentine and some friends named Hartley, now that would be super handy about now. If that were me, I would leave my Valentine decorations up all year! My dad once had a secretary named Holly and when she married, she married a guy named Jolley. If I were her, I would have Holly bushes all around my house and I would use Christmas dishes with holly on them and serve egg nog at every party I hosted.

I love fun names. I always think of what kind of books people should write when they have a great name. I know a great guy named Sam Winchester. He should definitely grow up to write Westerns. I knew a guy in college named Austin Gray and I thought he should write romantic novels about wind swept moors and distraught women who pine for Heathcliff, but that guy went into elder care or something noble like that instead, which is all fine and good, but couldn't he have written novels on the side?

Anyway, I cannot help myself. I have to copy Emily a little. My contest will go through Teusday and it will be completely subjective, just like Emily's. I will simply pick my favorite name. The winner will be the person who thinks up the most fun pen name and posts it in the comments below. I will buy the name from the winner for the price of a Valentines package from Hand Painted Love Boxes... I am expecting quite a few less than 400 entries, so family members are eligible. Have fun! :)

The Reception...

It was a beautiful day yesterday. My neice had a lovely wedding and a beautiful reception. It looked like a garden under the stars.

Pictures of Winter...

Notice the leaf buds... Soon... Spring...

Consider Love...

This book is so cute and remains one of my favorite Valentines. Now there is a small gift edition available. See here.

Emily's Jewelry Week...

I have been having so much fun following EmilyStyle's Jewelry Week on her blog. There are still a few days left I think....

Bunnies...

I made a sketch of the feel that I wanted for the pink Easter bunnies that I had in mind to paint. This is how it's going... I hope they produce like little bunnies... I need about 50.

Joan Walsh Anglund...

I love the art of Joan Walsh Anglund. I love how she puts beautiful words and beautiful art together. This little book, Love is Forever, is one of my favorites. It is currently kind of hard to come by. I wish that they would make another printing sometime soon.

Love is the center of every dream ... and the beginning of all our happiness. Joan Walsh Anglund

My LOVE collection...

The red love was made for me by Michelle and I liked it so much that I put it up for Valentine's Day that year and never took it down. The silvery one, I just bought at Target and I like it, but I have a lot of gold in my house and I wish very much that it was brass and not aluminum so I don't know if I will keep it. The pink one is one that I made myself and just finished yesterday. I have seen those cute block letter for years, but they never have had them in my colors so I painted some. And, I was pleased with the blocks they had available at the craft store because they were nice and solid and I thought blocks should have some weight to them. They would make a good craft party/ church project because the blocks were only around $1 each.

Cineraria...

Primroses were not in the greenhouse in time for my party. So I chose several colors of these cineraria which were not exactly the conversation heart pastels that I was going for, but they have the added benefit of a lovely scent. They are two weeks old in the house and they are starting to fade, but all together they cost less than the price of one small bouqet and I was able to have lots of flower power at my party.
I love the little white wicker baskets, these were available at the greenhouse for $2 and $3. They are lined with plastic, so great for watering and now I have a full collection so I will be ready next time I need a lot of flowers.

Fancy Nancy... by Jane O'Connor & Robin Preiss Glasser

My mom got this book somewhere. I love it. It reminds me a certain girl whose name begins with S.....

See it here.

His Girl Friday...

Over on Shelese's blog, there has been some talk about Cary Grant movies. My favorite! I have collected quite a few. This is one that did not get a mention and I really love. Whoever wrote this movie wrote 5 hours of dialogue that is delivered in 2. Don't watch this drowsy, you'll miss it. I really think this movie has some of the best dialogue (funny) written. I love sharp female leads like the ones that Rosalind Russell plays here. Then WW11 happened and after the boys came home, the movie people thought Rosie the Riveter should act like the dumb girl poor Doris Day had to play in so many of her films.
I need to watch this movie again sometime this week. Last time I watched it, I thought that if they simply added new wardrobe, Rosalind's hat are really over the top, they could release this movie in theaters as is and it would be a hit. I'll have to watch it again and see.

Hand Painted Love Boxes...Lily of the Valley...

Thanks Parkland! This will be sent out this afternoon.

Pink Elephants...

I did a lot of painting Saturday. I finished these elephants which say inside, "Thank heaven for little girls." & "Sugar n' Spice n' everything nice." & "A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend..."

For these simple baby gifts, I think I will stick with the top design. What do you think?

Another thing, this weekend was fun because I got to give away one of the blue boy elephants to a friend who had a cute baby boy with a head full of red hair. He is adorable! Congratulations!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie...

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie...

(I like this recipe much better than the one I gave out in the Christmas card several years ago.)

2 9" unbaked pie shells

4 eggs

1 tsp. good Mexican Vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup butter

2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips either way, I like the Guittard

Beat eggs until foamy. Beat in flour, sugars and vanilla until well-blended. Add butter and blend. Stir in chips and nuts. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake 45 min. at 325 degrees. The recipe says to serve warm with ice cream, but I really love it best cool and the next day.

2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts

My Favorite Chocolate Chips...Guittard...

These are the best! And, they are even lovely just plain. And, they are recommended by Cook's Illustrated too.

Boho Bedding...

I adore this tangerine color. Several Saturdays ago, I went to Park City and I saw this beautiful blonde woman wearing a coat in this tangerine. She had a tangerine purse and a tangerine wallet with her. No one would have a tangerine wallet, unless this was their favorite color, right? It just made her look like the most fun and happy person. I think tangerine must be one of the most cheerful colors ever. Hmmm what to paint tangerine???

If anyone sees this throw anywhere, please tell me... I keep thinking about it.

See this bedding here.

Victoria & Albert...

Produced by the BBC and A&E, as well as the same group who put together the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice, this program is a gem. Don't miss it, it is simply inspiring.

Turtles...

We had a turtle day yesterday. We saw some pictures of someone we know and love dressed as a turtle. We watched a National Geographic Explorer program about saving the nearly extinct Leatherback Turtles that can grow from this size to be six feet in length and 900 pds. Wow.

And, my dad sent us this poem to perfectly cap the turtle theme we had going for our day.

“I am Home,” Said the Turtleby John Ciardi,
(The Little that is All [Boston, 1974], p. 294)
“I am home,” said the turtle, as it pulled in its head
And its feet, and its tail. “I am home, and in bed.
“No matter what inches and inches I roam,
When the long day is done, I am always at home.
“I may go whole feet . . . even yards . . . in a day,
But I never get lost, for I’m never away—
“From my snug little house and my snug little bed.
I can dream lots of dreams, but remain here instead . . .
“You can go on forever, no matter how far,
And whatever you need is wherever you are!”
(“Is there one thing I miss when I’m snuggled in tight?
Yes: there’s no room for someone to kiss me good night.”)