Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Crafters of Faith Blog April 2013 Blog Hop!


Hello, friends! Welcome to the Crafters of Faith Blog Hop! Our hostess for the month of April is...April! How appropriate is that?

April chose the theme of flowers. Because, as we know, April showers bring May flowers! Yep, that's one April heard her whole life. Kinda like "Mary Mary, quite contrary, who does your garden grow?" Yep, I heard that one my whole life, too, April, so I can relate! :)

When the sun begins to warm our days and the birds sing from sunrise to sundown, I get the itch to get in the garden. Unfortunately, I'll be moving in thirty days and will have to say goodbye to my English roses, my hydrangeas, and my herbs and perennials.

Time to start thinking about future gardens for my future home!

I just love sweet peas. I've grown them in the past, and their curling tendrils help them climb to the sun. Such a sweet smell, too!

{Today's Brew: PTI Garden Variety 2 stamp set, PTI Year of Flowers collection stamp set, baja breeze ink and card stock base, wild wasabi ink, poppy parade ink, blushing bride ink, versafine onyx ink, Crate Paper Pretty Party paper, doily, ribbon and crochet flower (SU)}


Thanks for visiting the cafe today! Make sure you visit the other Crafters of Faith bloggers (list on right)  and leave them some sweet words of encouragement!

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." 1 Peter 1:23

Monday, April 29, 2013

The Coolest Birdhouse IN THE WORLD!


Last month, my sister, Tina, gave me the most amazing birthday present. Do you know what it is? It's a bird house made out of felted wool! I LOVE it so much! The daffodil opening is just the cutest thing! What sweet little bird wouldn't want to make this their home?


It's made by a company called Wild Woolies...sustainable materials and fair trade, too!


It has the most ingenious button closure at the bottom, making it very easy to clean out after the tenants vacate the premises.


I'm saving this bird house for our new home. How perfect will that be? A new home for us, and a new home for our new feathered friends.

The sun is shining...blessings on your spring!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Disconnected

Sorry for the long blog absences. Life has been chaotic, to say the least.

We've sold our home, still haven't found a new home in Pittsburgh, and that means we'll be homeless in thirty-four days. But hey, who's counting?

I guess I'm just feeling emotionally drained and disconnected. This is normally the time of year when I get excited about the spring weather and upcoming gardening season. But I can't garden in a yard that I'll be leaving in just one month. Normally, I'd be excited about making plans for future gardens, but at this point, I do not even have a plot of land to call home.

Add to this the fact that my husband is living in Pittsburgh, I'm still here in Indiana, and we're constantly online viewing homes or traveling six hours away to see them in person, and you can imagine how tired I am.

Did I forget to mention that my oldest son graduates from college next Saturday?

The creative spark has been extinguished.


Today, I am taking the time to do something a little crafty because it's Friday, and because I can stitch while watching shows like House Hunters, where other people are finding their perfect houses without getting into ridiculous bidding wars with six interested parties.


This stitching kit comes with a wooden fob that's been perforated, perfect for a sweet little cross-stitched rose.

Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll even have a house key to add to this key chain.

A girl can dream.

Friday, April 19, 2013

WPlus9 Inspired


This week's Mood Board Monday for WPlus9 design is so cheery! I just love the red and green combo! My little guy, Sam, has been learning about complimentary colors in art class, and he pointed out to me that red and green are opposites on the color wheel, making them a perfect pairing. I agree!

Here's my interpretation:


{Today's Brew: Apple stamp/die/sentiment ( wplus9), tag die (wplus9), pinking squares die (wplus9), PTI cream cardstock, PTI button thread, SU riding hood red/wild wasabi ink, papers from Simple Stories}


This card is going to a dear friend from my church, who is also a teacher at Sam's school. She had us over to her home for dinner a while back, and I owe her a card of thanks for her sweet hospitality.

Blessings on your Friday!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Happy Pittsburgh Yellow


Hello, friends! Sorry for the long absence! I've been spending most of my days concentrating on all things real estate-related, splitting my time between selling my house here in Indiana and finding a house in Pittsburgh. (more on that subject at This End Up-------> )

With each trip to Pittsburgh, I find myself becoming a little more acclimated to the city. One of my favorite features of the town are all of the yellow bridges. Yellow just makes me happy. It's hard to feel depressed when you see a little bit of sunshine yellow on the city's horizon.


After a few weekends of exhaustive house hunting, we came across a house that just made me feel at home. It's an older home with lots of funky features (hello, pink toilet!). One of my favorite rooms of the house was the big laundry/mudroom with yellow gingham wallpaper. That room would surely be a happy place on wash day!

This card was inspired by that funky house...the striped wallpaper in the foyer, the floral wallpaper in the bathroom, and that happy yellow gingham paper in the laundry room.

{Today's Brew: Folk Art Florals stamp set (wplus9), My Mind's Eye papers, PTI Soft Stone and creamy naturals card stock, wplus9 tag die, SU seam binding, SU crushed curry and sage shadow inks}


Thanks for stopping by the cafe today!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

No Time To Play!

I have been so super busy this week...travel, house hunting, home improvement projects. It's left me no time to get down to my craft studio to play!


I received a package in the mail this week. Can you tell where it came from?


Does this awesome stamp give a clue?


I won a fabulous stamp set from Paper Smooches! How exciting! Now, if I can only find the time to play with it!

Our house is going on the market this week, and you know what that means. It's got to stay clean! clean! clean! I am not a clean crafter. This is going to be tough!

Hoping to have a little free time in the days ahead.

Blessings, cafe friends!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Tropical Spring Break


I'm on a tropical spring break this week. Isn't that obvious from the palm tree?

Actually, the palm tree is part of the "lovely" decor of my husband's temporary city apartment in Pittsburgh. This is what happens when good rooms must suffer from bad design!

We're house hunting in Pittsburgh this week. (more on this on my home relocation blog----->) Our first night in the city, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sleep with all of the noise. Trains rumble buy, semis use their jack brakes, cars honk, sirens wail, and the jack hammer starts its work at 8am. Sharp.

That's when my husband showed me his handy new device...a white noise machine. It lulls you to sleep with a number of wonderful settings, like 'rain forest', 'summer nights', 'heart beat', 'rain', 'waterfall', and my son's favorite, 'ocean'. 

Imagine sleeping under a palm tree (albeit a fake palm tree), with the soothing sounds of waves lapping on the shore and sea gulls cawing in the distance. Ah, bliss!


I'll be back to crafting soon. In the meantime, think happy thoughts...have a tropical drink with a little umbrella, soak up some sunshine, and enjoy the singing birds.

Blessings!