for now ...

i have decided to take a little summer break ... i will see you again in the fall ...

pretty blooms

my flower beds are a hot mess ... i told you that ... right?

yes, i thought so ...

so, while i would sooner try to juggle live snakes than show you a panoramic view of
my "garden" ... i do have some blooms that looked extra pretty to me this morning:

it is a gloriously beautiful day here today ... i hope it is where you are too ...

ps: i have been SO busy the last week, that i had to skim over my google reader
... if i failed to leave a comment with you, i am sorry ... i did read most of the over
350 posts ... whew! ... but i didn't have time to comment to each one ...

cookie treats

today was the last day of school ... and i thought i would make a batch of cookies
as a treat for my boys ... i made my christmas anise cookies ... but i gave them a
more summer like twist ... instead of the anise extract, i used raspberry flavoring
that i bought at "bake it pretty" ... and for the sprinkles on top, i used the super
cool technique showed by Jessica here for turning white jimmies into beautiful
pastel colors ... i made mine a very pale shade of blue ... they look so cute ...

son #1 who doesn't really care for the anise version of these cookies ... pronounced
these "delicious" ... son #2 who loves the anise version pronounced these ... and i
quote ... "nasty" ... well, that is so sad ... i guess i will have to eat his share ... LOL ...

"Anise Cookies"

1/4 C butter, softened
1/4 C crisco
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
3 1/2 C flour
7 tsp baking powder ... yes seven!
1/4 tsp salt
1 TBS anise extract or 6 drops raspberry flavoring
2/3 C light cream

sift dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside ...
cream butter, crisco, and sugar ... add eggs one at a time
... mix well ... add cream and your flavoring of choice ...
mix well ... add your dry ingredients and mix well ... roll
the dough into 1 inch balls and place on your cookie sheet ...
with the palm of your hand, flatten the balls to a 2 inch circle ...

bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes
remove to rack to cool completely before applying glaze

"Cookie Glaze":

1 TBS butter melted
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 C warm milk
1 1/2 tsp anise or 6 drops raspberry flavor

mix all in a wide bowl ... dip the top of your cookies into the
glaze ... when the excess glaze is finished dripping off, plunge
your cookie top into a dish of jimmies ... enjoy!

it's all good ...

oh, hi ... i am not maimed or otherwise incapacitated ... thank you if you expressed
concern about how the bike ride had gone ... well, the truth is we never went ... our
memorial day plans were altered by two huge thunderstorms that rolled in ... and
ruined my peonies ... still mad about that ... i haven't been doing much of anything,
that is why i haven't had a new post up ... still doing nothing ... most of my time has
been spent trying to de~weed my flower beds ... the poor things have suffered from
neglect the last two years ... and i am trying like anything to summon the joy i once
felt while playing in my flower beds ... here are a few things blooming here now ...


"dianthus" ideal series ... love the ruffled petal edge ...

"geranium macrorrhizum" ... dirty petals ... how embarrassing ...

another "dianthus" ... the petals look like they are made of velvet ... so pretty ...

sunny, yellow "viola" ...

"dianthus doris" ... these girls smell heavenly ...

and "viola tricolor" ... so sweet ...

thank you for stopping over ... tell me what is blooming for you right now ...

wisps ~ gathering beauty

i wanted to share with you a beautiful etsy shop ... it is the shop of my friend Nancy,
called "wisps ~ gathering beauty" ... is that not the sweetest shop name? ... i love it!

Nancy has such a great eye for beauty ... paired with the most exquisite taste ... and
everything in her shop reflects these characteristics ... i have purchased several lovely
things from Nancy ... they are even prettier in person and were a joy to receive ...

the sweetest crocheted victorian bud vase filled with adorable millinery posies ...

isn't is darling? here is a little closer view ...

a set of dainty hand painted coffee cups ... there are three of them in real life ...

a stunning cluster of velvet strawberries ...

and a wee satin pillow sachet with the most darling ribbon flower trim ...

my most favorite beauty in Nancy's shop right now is a fabulous blue floral silk
pincushion ... oh, it is just gorgeous!!! take a look and see for yourself:

click here to visit Nancy's shop ... while you are there, be sure to bookmark her
site ... she has a shop update coming today, i believe ... her last update sold out
very quickly ... you don't want to miss out on her beautiful wisps ...

ps: please say a prayer for:
Amy
Ann
Chris
and
Shauna

it's a nice day for a ...

"white wednesday"

well, i took lots of pics for this post and only three turned out ... here you go ...

yummy white frosted cupcakes from Natasha ...

the sweetest baby shoes ever ... i said EVER ... from Lisa's new shop ...

and my favorite white pitcher ...

well guess what ... even though my pics didn't turn out ... i am feeling like superwoman
today ... oooops, careful there ... don't step on the cape ... it is only 10 am and already i
have supper in the crock pot {creole veggies and chicken }, dessert just came out of the
oven { fudge brownies with butter~cream frosting }, the dishwasher is run, two loads of
laundry are ready to be folded ... and ... best of all ... there is a shining yellow orb in the
sky that i do believe is called the sun ...woo hoo ... i haven't had this kind of energy in a
long while ... i am going to take advantage of that sun and head out to my flower beds to
pull some weeds ... i will get around to visit you tonight ... see you later :) ...

come on get happy

just a few things making me smile today ...

a spool of hemp and a simple tag with a vintage cutie ...

a little stack of vintage powder puffs ... the one on top is from french folly ...

a heart i made out of antique and vintage laces and a vintage german card from Lisa ...

and big sigh ... the most gorgeous old silk baby bonnets given to me by Beth ...

*SIGH*

tell me ... what is making you smile today ... i hope it's something good ...

details ...

just a few things that caught my eye while i was dusting my castle today ...


my powder puff from revolving store ...

a bundle of envelopes from Jamie ... and spools from Tina ...

layered laces on a heart that i made ...

the delicious top on one of my hats ... can i just tell you how very tempted i am
to pull this off and use it on the puff i will eventually make for myself ... yummy ...

clothespins in an old beaded bag ... china doll head from Elizabeth Parsons ...

clothespins and a stack of stamps from Tina ... love these ...

"it is in the treatment of trifles that a person shows what they are".
Arthur Schopenhauer.

my trifles are all dust free ... and picked clean of cat hair ... i am off to ponder what
exactly this shows about who i am ... i will tell you if i figure it out ... see you later ...

puffs ~ n ~ stuff

or should i say stuff about puffs ... this is a shop update notice for anyone who
is interested in having one of my puffs ... i will be updating my etsy on monday
with four puffs ... one blue, one pale pink {may already be spoken for}, one in
a pale dusky mauve, and one in a very pale gray ...

here are the puffs that i mailed out on wednesday ... the one in the middle is
done in the pale dusty mauve ... it is the first one i have done in this color, and
it is stunning in person ... the color is more of a taupe with a whisper of pink ...

the two pinkies in the next pic were mailed out today ... Kate, yours is the one
in the front ... the blue puff in the middle will be for sale on monday ...

now, i listed a puff in gray as a "make your own puff" on monday, and there
didn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in this color ... let me tell ya ... if you like
a more neutral color palette ... or decorate with a lot of silver, this color is perfect
for you ... it is so soft and pretty in person ... it's a beauty, trust me ...

thanks for stopping over ... you can add my etsy to your google reader if you
want first dibs on any of the new puffs ... and i am always available by email ...

the ocular wonkies

this is so strange ... i haven't had an ocular migraine in about a year i think, and
all of a sudden ... i have been besieged with one after the other ... thankfully, i do
not get a migraine headache ... but the visual changes make it nearly impossible
for me to read ... and so ... once again i am very far behind in my blog reads ... i
hope you will forgive me ... but, right now ... during my moments of visual clarity
i have work to do on puffs for three sweet ladies ...

i hope to have these all finished tomorrow ... then i will be all over my google
reader to see what i have missed ... believe me, i do miss my visits with you!

thank you for stopping over!

oh my ...

so sorry ... i have been mia ... i am literally up to my ears in ...

well ...

ears ...

and various other bunny parts ... if you asked to have a bunny cup held for you,
you should hear from me in the morning ... all others, i will see you when i am all
caught up over here ... don't have too much fun without me ...

ps: yes, i know there is a hair in my pic ... Gracie walked through my photo
shoot and dropped one off ... then, my camera battery promptly died ... sigh

hippity ...

hoppity ...

hippity ...

floppity ... i mean hoppity ...

Easter's on it's way ...

and these girls are on their way to my etsy shop ... have a wonderful weekend!

created at 6 am ...

so ... i woke up this morning with an idea for using one of the foofidoos that

Sandra used to decorate the packages she sent to me ... after i got the boys
out of bed ... i went to the table where i create ... and started putting together
that foofidoo with other bits from Sandra's packaging ... and made this:

the doll dress is from the craft store ... one of those muslin things with batten~
berg cutouts and crochet on the bottom ... i'm sure you have seen them there ...
i cut off the bottom ... i thought the dress was too long ... then i shortened the
sleeves ... leaving the edges raw for a tattered look ... i used the foofidoo to trim
the collar ... the cheesecloth is from Sandra's packaging also, i tea dyed it ... the
text is from one of my old, crumbling books ...

the picture is one from my collection ... i chose it because this little one's eyes
are kind of crazy looking ... i like that as a juxtaposition to the text referring to
a holy calm ... the string is also from Sandra's packaging ... it was previously
strung with square shaped mother of pearl buttons ... if you remember ...

something lovely that came in my mail this week ... my OWOH giveaway win
from Tina at Tiny Bear ... beautifully weathered clothes~pins wrapped in lace,
perfectly embellished ... the one in back lacking weathering was whipped up by
me, as i have a love of things displayed in threes ...

and a darling trio comprised of two vintage spools wrapped in lace ... and a
stack of stamps all tied up with a sweet velvet flower on top ... so cute ... i
have these on a stack of vintage white hankies ... the one on top is from Tina
and was used as a wrapping for my gifts ... thank~you Tina ... i love it all! ...

i have been having a lot of computer issues ... my internet signal keeps cutting
out ... so if i haven't been over to visit, that is why ... and i am sorry ... i will try
to catch up soon ... and stop over to see the new girls who have visited me ...

until then ...

white wednesday

a cream~puff ...

made to order ...

for my sweet friend ...

Amy ...

i am off to puff some more ... stay tuned ...