An Artful Adventure

Not Enough Time in a Day

Because I have had a few people ask I thought I would take a moment to write regarding this event.

As some of you have read about my recent challenges in learning and adjusting to our new situation with our darling son Dylan.

And the passing of my sweet Heidi yesterday.

I just feel like I've had the wind knocked out of me.

So I am sorting my priorities, and unfortunately will not be teaching next Spring at Beauty in Blue :(

Sign ups for this event have opened up today.

I was very much looking forward to visiting Texas.

I am sad to miss it.

It was an honor to design the logo and website for this event.

I was going to teach this pretty coffee filter and millinery rose garland.

I guess I will save it for another day.

I am however committed to teaching at Queens of Art next February.

These two event where just over a month apart.

There is just not enough time in a day right now for me.

That's if I want to keep my sanity.

And I think I do. . . in might come in handy someday.

I can not thank everyone enough for your thoughts, prayers, and kind words regarding my situation.

I PROMISE a happy post will come again soon.

Much love and appreciation!

 

Saying Goodbye

Heidi was named very appropriately.  She had such a timid sweet caring soul!

She would always wag her tail and hide from new friends.

I use to have a cat.  His name was Hemmy.

When I was in my last moments of being pregnant with Dylan he disappeared.

It was hard for me when he came up missing, but it was really hard on Heidi!

 

Hemmy was Heidi's special friend.  They loved each other so much!

After he left she was never the same.

A few short weeks later I had Dylan.

Heidi really loved Dylan.

She would go into his room and check on him when he was little.

Looking back I could not believe there where so many photos where she was right there with him.

We have one other dog Esther.

Esther and Heidi are like night and day.

I found one picture of Esther with Dylan.

Dylan liked Heidi because of her long fluffy ears.

He would tickle them and say "Heidi shake!"

She tolerated him well.

Unfortunately Heidi was always very clumsy, and always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Falling here, banging her head there.

And she spent most her time looking down because she LOVED food!

Unfortunately this resulted in one too many bad situations and about a year ago she suffered a bad injury.

At the moment she seemed ok.

Not a devastating injury, but needless to say an injury that we knew would worsen over time.

About six months ago Heidi started to drag her back paw.

She stopped playing with her sister Esther, and slowed down a lot.

Looking back now the only time she really seemed happy like what she use to over the last year was when it was time to eat lol.

When we noticed her dragging her paw we went to the vet.

They took an xray and said she had no reflex in her left side.

They're concerns where for a disc in the shoulder area of her spine.

This was in August.

They gave us meds and said to put her on cage rest.

It did not help.

 Tuesday evening I went to take her outside and it was bad.

I knew something was seriously wrong.

I took her to the vet yesterday and was told they suspect neurological issues.

They were concerned that the disc had ruptured and caused serious issues with her spinal cord.

They said based on her age and the difficulty in trying to treat something like that . . .

not hopeful.

We brought her home to spoil and say goodbye.

Last night was our last night together.

We explained to Dylan she was going to heaven.

I think he sorta gets it.

Maybe not heaven, but the idea she is no longer with us.

He keeps looking at me and saying in a tender voice "Heidi went bye bye to heaven in the sky.  Just esther and Octane."

It breaks my heart! 

It's like I saw it coming a few months ago, but despite that  . .

I did not see it coming.  You know?

She was only 9 years old.

Not that it is fair for anyone, but she was so tender hearted and fragile.

She was so sweet, but always our little worry wart.

It just sucks it happened to her this soon.

I just keep trying to tell my self she is running, and jumping,

and does not have a care in the world any more.

She will once again be reunited with her Hemmy.

Dear sweet Heidi Ann rest peacefully.

July 30th 2002 - September 29th 2011

 

New Pretty in Blue Collage Sheet

I finally finished a sheet I have been working on.  Hope you like it :)

 

A Tea Party and Recipes

 
I don't know how it happened, but I just can't get enough of having tea with friends!  Ever since my first afternoon tea, I can't stop thinking about it!  So I decided to try having a tea party of my own at my house.

I don't know why, but I am very drawn to mix matched things!  For me, I could not imagine trying to pick one China pattern to go with.  So a few months ago I started my fun journey of collecting mix matched China and Silverware.

Awhile back I stumbled upon these two adorable pink table cloths for $5 each!

The material and colors where so cute I was quick to pick them up.  I loved the one with the pom poms, and the other was just a sweet surprise. I had no clue there was a lovely pink trim on it!  So when I was thinking out the details for the party, I knew I wanted to go with pink.

It was not until the day before that I gave napkin rings any thought.  For a quick easy solution I cut pieces of some of my pink post cards and glued them into rings and embellished them with pink flowers.

I have been eager to try to make cute sugar cubes.  I had a heart mold at the house so I gave it a try.  If you have any interest in giving this a try, you MUST!  It is easy and so sweet.  All you need to do is add a drop of food coloring to some sugar, a touch of clear vanilla (they smell so good!), and a little bit of water.  You want the sugar to feel like damp sand.  You do not want it too dry because it will not form, and you do not want it too wet because it will not come out of the mold.  It is very forgiving.  Just add a little water, or sugar as needed to adjust the texture.  Once in packs well for you, press the sugar in the mold.  Immediately, gently flip the mold over and let the sugar fall out on a piece of wax paper.  Let sit out to dry.

I also was happy to try drilling china for the first time.  This was pleasantly easier than I was expecting!  I made this three tier stand.

For lunch I made Chicken Curry salad YUM, egg salad, and cucumber sandwiches.  With this being my first time, I could not believe how much was involved.  I LOVED IT!  But, there is so much to think about!  I was lucky to have my dear friend Jeanne there to help me, but even with help I realized I forgot to use the mini crescents I made, and forgot to make the ham with cranberry mayonnaise sandwiches!  UGH

If anyone is interested in trying the Chicken Curry Salad, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• Juice 1/4 lemon
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 breasts from a rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded
• Celery, grapes, nuts or other ingredients as desired

In a large bowl mix all ingredient except the chicken and celery/fruit or nuts until well blended.  Then fold in your chicken and desired additions until well mixed. 

Easy huh?!

Sadly the only thing that did not turn out how I wanted was my scones :(

They where suppose to be pretty triangles, but instead they where scone. . . . PLOPS!  Well, at least they tasted good.  They where nice and moist.

And of course I HAD to make French Macarons!  I am getting more and more comfortable making these, and I am excited to say I took some photos of the process of this batch and will be doing a blog post in case anyone is interested.

I also had another of my favorites. . . CUPCAKES!

And what's a tea party without TEA!  I made three of my favorites!  Strawberry Pomegranate, Vanilla Caramel, and a fabulous tea I got at Camellia Rose tea room called Orange Sugar Cookie!  I also made a yummy pink sangria that was a hit.  ESPECIALLY with Molly, lol te he he.

For decorations I purchased some of my favorite light pink spray roses.

I put them in blue mason jars, vases, and some paper cones I had hanging on the walls. To put them in the paper cone, I just put a plastic cup with a little water in the cone, and then added the roses.

I also made some coffee filter paper rose garland that I hung on the chandelier and off of the bar.

After tea I brought out all sorts of supplies, and inspiring magazines, and we all just did our own little creations.  It was nice to just create with one another without any particular agenda.

(Molly, Carrie, Linda, Jeanne)

Thanks so much girls for coming over, I had so much fun!

This was so exciting and fun.  How neat it would be to have a tea room!

The OTHER Side of the Room

I know pretty sad!  This is one of our biggest walls, and it has SERIOUSLY been lacking! And our so called entertainment stand . . . well let's just say it's sad!  VERY sad. HOWEVER, be that as it may, this little entertainment stand has MANY . . .

MANY

MANY

Precious sweet stories!

Is that BLACK automobile carpet I see?  OH YES.  In deed it is.  We had to raise the TV up to keep it out of the way of little fingers, so my hubby said he was gonna build a little shelf.  I am thinking stained wood, but NO he comes in with this  . . stuff.  He also did not want to just mount it on the wall like other normal people do. So black carpet it was.  And if your wondering whatever happened to my sons secret cubby AKA the "drawer".  It had to be screwed close to keep from having any major accidents as he got bigger.

Along with everything else in the house, it was time for a change.  Instead of buying a new piece we decided to save money and refinish the one we have.  Buying an entertainment stand to fit the with of our TV would have been challenging and costly!

So my husband and I chipped in together and made this lovely light blue gray entertainment stand WITH CURTAINS!

Yup that's right my entertainment stand has curtains!  And I love it!  My husband did not like the idea of putting doors on it because he thought that was silly, and "they would always be open taking up to much room!" he said.

So I said "LET'S DO CURTAINS!"  I searched for inspiration photos, but could not find any.  Maybe this has not been done, or at least not something you see often, but in my head I thought it would be neat!

I was a little nervous just because I did not have the security of looking at photos from other examples, but I felt pretty confident.  I pictured it before hand to the very last detail.  I pictured the rod and I wanted to be sure there was spacing between the stand and the rod.  I also wanted the rod to go beyond the width of the stand.  I'm not sure why, that is just how I visioned it in my head.  I made the curtains.

To make the stand my husband added the molding to the bottom and top. We built a large piece for the top.  Then I painted the stand in a distressed gray blue finish. I started off with a gray blue color that I had mixed for me at Lowes Hardware, then dry brushed white.  I finished off by washing a brown water based color randomly with a wet rag.  I also purchased new glass knobs.

I simply LOVE how it turned out!  I am considering putting a bird cage or something else on top instead of the plant, but right now I am not sure yet.  ALSO one of these days I am working on convincing my husband to cover this wall with stone.  We have the stone, just need to win the hubby over.  CROSSING MY FINGERS!

So in the end  . . . . Fresh new entertainment stand = just under $100

Dylan pulling open "The Drawer" and saying "It works now!" = PRICELESS!

Thanks for stopping by :)

 

 

Just a Little Bit Spoiled!

 WOW, where do I even start! I recently got back from a wonderful visit from my good friend Bryanna.

I was so excited that our little ones would finally meet!

The first day together we all went to the pool at the resort.  The boys where so cute!  It was so much fun!  Then that night I watched the boys while Bryanna and John finally got a date night.  Wednesday we then went to Disney.  On Friday Bryanna and I had a girls day, but I will post more on that later.

 

Now to the spoiled part! lol 

It was not my Birthday, or anything special, BUT Bryanna came with the most AMAZING gifts!  Above is a photo of the most amazing ruffle shower curtain, THAT SHE MADE!

eeeeekkkkk!  I could not believe it!  If you have seen any of my below post, I have been slowly redecorating my house.  One of the rooms I was eager to redecorate was our guest bathroom.  I have tried a few times to work on it, but never followed through because I could not find a shower curtain I liked.  I could not believe it!  It was perfect!  So I gladly through out the yucky dark Burgundy and green decor and went with a pretty gray blue.

I just LOVE IT!  I begged my hubby to let me white wash the oak, but he refused. :(  It's ok though I bargained with him and he compromised on something else I have been wanting to do.

I found a super cute wire basket for magazines and some kind of vintage box marked with a dairy company that fits great for a trash can.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

She also made me this super AMAZING throw!!  It is made up of different vintage linen and hankies with embroidery.  It is truly STUNNING!

 . . . . . AND

She also made me this sweet cuff!  And she got me this adorable Juicy Couture charm!

  WELL, of course I did have a few things I put together for her.  We decided we would celebrate her birthday a little early, so I put together some things.

I promised her I would make some French Macarons.  I have had a lot of fun lately making these, so I was happy I would be able to share them with her.  They were pink, purple, and a light mocha color.  I filled them with Cinnamon buttercream, Lemon cream cheese frosting, peanut butter chocolate, and espresso frosting.  They where so good!

I also made her a blue rose garland like the one I will be teaching at Karen's Beauty in Blue event (more on that later too).

She also left subtle hits te he he of wanting some Little Red Ridding Hood jewelry.

I loved how this bracelet turned out!  I think of all the pieces of jewelry I have done so far, this is my favorite!

I just thought it was such a unique piece.  I love this vintage clasp!

It has lots of texture and included soldered, and resin charms.

I also made her this necklace.  I really like the gnomes!  I am sure Little Red Ridding Hood must have past a few mushrooms and a gnome or two in her wanderings through the woods!

And speaking of Gnomes, she also had this adorable little Juicy Couture gnome on her Birthday wish list.  Isn't he darling?!

Lastly I made her this handbag.

The lining is a unique linen fabric I found at a antique shop.

I had such a wonderful time, and I can't wait to share with you photos of our day out together and all the neat places we went.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

New Collage Sheets!

I am still sorting through my vacation pics, BUT until I can share them, I thought I would show you a little something I was able to put together.

Since everyone seems to like to have a little option of large and small sized images, I have now added a few of my Tea Time and Coffee images in a larger size.  AND they are also now available in PINK!

 

I have also created a new set of Shabby Rose papers that are available as one collage sheet with 9 different backgrounds, or . . .

A collection of 12 LARGE  papers on a 8 1/2 x 11inch sheet.

These are all available in my Etsy Shop.

Happy Creating!

 

 

Tea with Friends

This past Saturday I was so excited to have the opportunity to return to Camellia Rose Tea Room!  I have now visited some other tea rooms, and this one has THE BEST food by far!

And as for tea!  OH DEAR!  They have TONS!  This last visit to the tea room I discovered my absolute favorite tea thus far.  It's called Sandy's French Cream Brulee.  The aroma on this tea is what drew me to it.  It is heavenly!  And the taste does not disappoint!  All of their beautiful teas are packaged in adorable white tins with their beautiful label on the front.  They are so pretty to display at home!  I have collected 3 so far and foresee my collection growing for sure!

There are two tea rooms.  One has more of a sweet Victorian feel with lovely furniture and shinny silver every where you turn!  The other room has a sugary sweet cottage chic feel.  We ate in the Victorian style room.

I went with a few members of our Pretty and Vintage Things local meetup group.  Above is me and my long time friend Jeanne.

 

Lunch was AMAZING of course!  I had a yummy carrot and chive soup that was so good!  Chicken curry salad with pistachios, heart shaped cucumber sandwiches, and lots of other goodies!

Dessert was fabulous too!  My favorite was the banana cupcakes, and the swan cream puffs.  Of course the scones and devinshire cream where a wonderful treat too.  The BEST scones!  Not dry at all.  We where all VERY full. lol  After lunch I got a few photos of some of the other pretty things in the other tea room.

I would love to have one of these painted windows in my house!

How sweet and playful is this??!!

I love this rug!

I had so much fun girls!  Thanks so much for coming, and thank you Ellen for your sweet hospitality and fabulous tea room!