The Girl~~

She's so alert.

Being sweet can be tiring.

Groovin~~

10) VW vans from a garage sale, 6) VW bugs, 1) hand stamped card purchased from Abby on Etsy for framing, material that has been back ordered since December from SewZanne's Fabrics and we have ourselves a simple theme for the boys room. He wants apple green and blue paint for the walls and I have denim for duvet covers. So what to make with the material? Curtains, throw pillows, pillow cases or a have Jesse upholster a cushion for a bench I've designed? Getting the supplies together is only the beginning.

Spring Has Sprung~~

4" x 4" collage for a "Spring Has Sprung" swap.

Wind in My Hair~~

One day on vacation we went up to my brother-in-laws property and spent the day hiking, bar-b-queuing, soaking up the sun and hanging out. I took a nap in the sun and sat on one of the huge boulders and just took in the beautiful view.

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at the property he's staying at so the kids could ride one of his horses. (More pics later) While there we all had the delight in seeing the Arabian horses, owned by the land owners, let loose to run free. No fences surrounding their property so I really didn't believe they would stay put so I was very interested in what was about to happen. I took pictures but my cheapy doesn't really do justice to the moment.

They pranced around a bit and ran back and forth waiting for 5 of 6 horses to be let loose then they all charged up this slop that plateaued at the top and ran around in a circle with the wind blowing in their manes. It was truly a site to see. They ran back down then back up again a few times showing off their beauty. We all were delighted and so amazed at the obvious time the two older gentlemen had spent with these horses so they were not threatened by their surroundings or by any of us. The old gentlemen took immense delight in seeing their horses so happy. We must have stood there for half an hour watching their silhouettes against the sky line.

Vacations make me feel like I have wind in my hair. I love the freedom to sleep late, spend as much time as you like with those that you love and not keep to any agenda, schedule or calendar. I love the time we have to soak up the sun, feel the wind on our faces, take in the views and enjoy the silence. Why don't we take the time to enjoy that at home? Note to self: slow down the pace and hold still long enough for the wind to blow through my hair and feel it on my face.

Sunny Skies~~

We're on the road to sun, sun, sun! Couldn't resist some last minute fun for the new girl in our lives. Appliqued on onsies and long sleeve t-shirts. I had so much fun. Definitely going to make more of these. Bye for now.

Just bowls~~

Just thought I'd show you my new bowls that are in my new favorite color. I also bought plates but didn't take a picture. Saw some really cool mustardy ones on another site and she said she bought them at Target. I was thinking that my Target never has cute stuff like that and when I walked in, there they were and in Aqua! Love at first site.

Tag Weekend~~

Went to Elaine's to craft and took my bird tags to work on. I joined a swap at one of the art groups I'm in and thought I'd work on those. I was feeling the birds. At Elaine's you can hear the quiet and get projects accomplished without interruption unless you want there to be. So rare for a mom to have that luxury. She's such the perfect hostess. Had fresh fruit for brunchish then fresh salsa and guacamole with chips for snacks. Had root beer. My favorite. She has an amazing amount of craft supplies that she rarely buys new and she is extremely generous with them. She is tactful about her input and respects any idea I have.

Even if she didn't have snacks or supplies, it's just nice to hang and share creative ideas and do something I enjoy with someone who enjoys the same. She's swell. She had a slow start to the creative process but when she got going, she really got going. She had talked about doing an altered book with different techniques that we'd try but while I was working on my tags she thought of the most creative idea!!! Do a tag book of all the different techniques we would try. Getting together once a month to craft and try something new. To a crafter, this is is our idea of fun!

Of course she had a bazillion wonderful old tags and rings to keep them all together. And of course once her creativeness got flowin then her mind was working way faster than mine was.
"Do I put a cover?...Do I have a back page(tag)?...Do we put our successful explanation on the back of the tag or do we put it on the tag before so you're reading how to do it while looking at the end result on the tag next to it?...Do I keep the same style through the whole booklet or do I change the style each time I try a new technique?" Well, I just loved looking at the blank tags. Aren't they great? So much character just on their own. Am I wierd? I don't care, I like them.

Well here are my finished tags front and back. I had a blast. Thanks Elaine for giving me uninterrupted time to have fun, relax and for bringing me back to my creativeness after ignoring it for so long.

Trying~~

I absolutely LUV the photos here, here and I like most of them here. They have totally motivated me to take better pictures and see everything in a different way. But I have to say that I'm not very patient with the whole composition process. I know what I want a photo to look like and I don't always know how to make it so. Of course I need a better camera but I've managed to take a couple of decent photos with my cheapy.

In high school I took one photo class for a semester and learned about shutter speed, light, how to develop photos in the black room and I even received an 'A' for a photo, of my nephew, that I did in black and white. (my favorite) My brother still has it and after 27 years I still enjoy looking at it and I have a small sense of pride knowing there's an 'A' marked on the back.

Motivated to take better pictures, I joined two photo swaps on this site. There's a list of 15 subjects and we have to do at least 10 to satisfy the swap requirements. I'm having a blast and my little camera is getting a work out like never before.

At moments my family is not quite sure what to think of me because inside and outside I'm gathering, looking for the best light and stopping the car on a whim if I see something that I need a picture of. Of course they do like it too, especially when it gives them the opportunity to ham it up.

I'm feelin it~~

So many posts lately about spring fever and I'm feelin it too. The sun comes out and you realize how much you've been missing it. When we were moving up here our family and friends said, "do you know how much it rains up in Oregon?" There are times that I tease them and ask them why didn't they warn us about how much it rains up here and that we may be coming home on a wave.

Being from the CA beach I do miss them so very much. The coast here is so rugged and beautiful in its own right but there's something about Southern California beaches that I long for. The smells, the feel of the air, the sounds and just the atmosphere. I never fail to bring up the memory of what it feels like to walk on the beach at sunset in the middle of summer. The feeling of salt water stuck to your skin after all day of being in the ocean and the feeling of the heat coming off the sand. I can go back there in a heart beat.

I can honestly say the rain hasn't affected us as most thought it would and we've appreciated the change in season's and the natural beauty that comes with so much rain. I go back to visit CA and I see how dry it is as if I'm seeing it for the first time. I don't remember it being so dry! Nothing grows unless you water it. Actually the weeds grow quite fine without the water. Ha.

Well, I'm still loving Oregon but really looking forward to Spring. Looking forward to planting flowers and some sunshine and it better be sunny when we're in CA in a week or so!!! I need to dry out some.

Tyler on the Brain~~

A fun letter "T" I made for the new love bug in our lives.

A blanket to keep the bug warm.

And a blanket and hat for my husband's co-worker who

just had a baby girl too.

Happiness~~

An ATC for a "happiness" lottery.

She's A Sweetpea~~

More pictures. One day old. We're in love....

It's a Girl~~

We're officially grandparents. Tyler Keomi was born yesterday at 3:30pm in Oceanside, CA. She weighed 8lbs, 1oz. Praise God she's healthy and so are mom & dad. No pictures yet so I looked around for a picture that was full of little girl sweetness.


We did not see ourselves being called Grandma or Grandpa so we threw around some ideas and we've decided on what we'll be called. Nina and Nino. That's what my husband called his grandparents and I like the sound of it.

Edited 9:14 pm. I received a pictures. Isn't she a sweet pea?


We leave in two weeks to go meet out little bundle of love and it's going to be hard to wait. I'll be sure to post any pictures that come my way before or after our trip. Of course now I NEED a new camera so I can get good pictures to bring back. You poor folks. Subjected to a bragging Nina. :)