What I Create

Join in the part of "What I Create" hosted by Andrea of Vintage Bella Studio today and visit all of the chicks who are showing their creations. I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed!
~*~

What do I create? What don't I create would be the better question. I love creating...anything. I see something and it will spark an idea in my head and I can't wait to get at it. But mainly, I create a beautiful home for me and my hubs, Love Bunny. I call him that because he's a retired Marine, and he is a love bunny. ;-)

Oh, and the reason these are all different sizes is that I took them at different times with different cameras through the years and since they have sold, I may not have the original article to photograph and do the wider width I'm doing now.

Birdhouses are absolutely my favorite thing to create. I've created several and sold or given them away as presents or giveaways. I use fabric mostly as that's the medium I love most—gorgeous romantic, shabby, chic, roses fabric.

This is a styrofoam form that I decorated with scads of tulle and it sits atop the urn on a plant shelf—see 3rd photo down. It is very froufrou, which is what I love creating most—froufrou.

This is a mosaic I made once with just a few of the pillows I've made and sold or have around my home.

This is just one of several lamps in my home I've redecorated. Some are garage sale finds. This one I bought a new lampshade and added embellishments to it.

This is the urn I made around the Christmas holidays last year with branches and all kinds of gifts I've received from my eBay group and bloggers.

This is my Christmas tree topper I made last year out of a wreath, roses, greenery, pearls and icy icicles stuck in there. When it's on the tree I stick roses on top of that on the tree. Beautiful effect!

I also love decoupaging plates with fabric. They are for show only. You cannot wash them once the fabric is on them, but you can wipe them clean.

Another birdhouse I sold. This was was covered with "icing" and mica flakes.

Birds adorn most of my birdhouses.

Aprons are another love I have. It relaxes me to create and sew them—most of the time, NOT when I receive special orders. ;-) I still have some for sale in my store. This one was a Kaffee Fassett fabric. They are stunningly gorgeous fabrics. Very vivid colors.

Another apron I made from a Cyrus Clark discontinued fabric. I still have a bit of this fabric left and I'm hoarding it! It's beautiful.

If you've read my blog for at least a year then you know how I feel about camping. I hate it! When hubs bought us a pop-up camper I made him promise me that I could froufrou it up...as much as a pop-up camper could be. This goes in it when we set out for the wilds of Idaho. I made it.

I think this little one is still for sale on my shop. It is darling with all that netting.

This one I painted while just learning how to paint roses. I then put German glass glitter on it.

This went to our granddaughter's house for our great granddaughter who is due May 26th. I can't wait. It hangs from the ceiling in her bedroom.

Little cones I've made to hang on trees.

I had to make this for my front door. I told you it's a girly house!!!

These I did for a giveaway and just love them. After I did them I was sorry I gave them away. I still have fabric to make more just like these though. As I said, fabric is my favorite medium.

I love making these cuffs also. They soothe me and are quick to whip up for gifts. This one is not for sale. I made it for ME and intend to keep it. When I wear it to church, ladies gawk at it and ask where I got it.

A hostess apron made for special occasions. It sold quickly.

Baby bibs and booties are also fun to make when expecting a great granddaughter. This one is already in Miss "A's" house. We don't know her name yet so we just call her Miss "A".

And this one is probably my favorite of all I've ever made.

I created this little painting as I was trying to learn how to paint roses. I'm terrible when it comes to rose painting but it's a passion so I struggle through it every few months to see how much better I can be.

I could sit and make these for hours...days actually. They are what calms me more than anything. Coffee filter roses.

Again, shoes for Miss "A".

Ribbon roses are also a mindless thing for me. Just sit and twist. Very calming.

I just started pinning fabric to this form and voilà, I had a Marie Antoinette type doll for my family room coffee table.

~*~

A Few Thoughts About My Blog and Blogging

Aren't these cards gorgeous? I have them in the short hallway into the laundry room and bedroom. I just love looking at them.

I was making things for the new princess to be born in just a couple of weeks. I had this idea for a bib for our soon-to-be-born Miss "A" and got busy on it today while hubs was away.


I made this little bib, booties and shoes for a lady in our ward who is expecting her first girl after having 2 boys. She probably doesn't have a thing froufrou-y with 2 very boyish boys so I had to do something, right? The reverse side is a beautiful pink paisley.

~*~

I travel around the blogs and some things I see just don't make sense. Bloggers who have multiple ads on their blog and don't blog so much as advertise. I guess it depends on what blogging means.

I don't have the energy or the dishes to do a table setting once a week! Where do they find the settings to do it every week? I just bought some plastic dishes from Target and Wal Mart and am loving them but I doubt seriously anyone would want to see them in a table setting.

I see vignettes and tablescapes but don't join in very much because, let's face it, once you've seen my home, you've seen it!

Then I came across a blogger who has some similar sentiments as I do.

My blog centers around home decorating, some crafting (a lot lately!), a few random thoughts about my funny, witty and humorous life and my outlook on life. As with her, my home is the center of my world. As with her, I relish getting my mail in the morning. I want to go out to the mailbox and retrieve it myself. Since being retired, Love Bunny is trying to usurp that from me and I'm rebelling! I told him the mail is my "responsibility." Also if he sees an ad, he'll fall for it and buy something we don't need. I'm the "keeper of the home" in this house. Don't try and take that away from me. I relish my job.

As with her, I have a modest following and have giveaways. I love having them. I also want the people that follow me to have the bigger possibility of receiving the prize. Believe it or not, I had a giveaway once, emailed the woman, announced it on here and she never responded. So I gave it to a friend who I knew would have loved to have it. I'm not going to beg you to take my giveaway.

As with her, promoting myself has always been hard to do but I've sucked it up a bit and asked for help. AND I've received it from some gracious bloggers. I'd promote your blog if you asked me to do it, and I'd do it for nothing! I do relatively few ads and I get a request from several but I don't want it to be about ads. I want it to be easy to read, delightful, helpful, funny, beautiful—because I DO live beautifully.

I love blogging. It's a creative outlet for me as much as crafting and making beautiful things for my home. I love doing the photography because it helps me expand my horizons. I love the writing of the blog itself. It helps me hone my skills, and it keeps my brain active. I also enjoy sharing beautiful things with the readers. I want it to make someone happy and be a visual feast for them.
~*~

Why I Go Back to California

Settle back because this is a long post.

But first, an update on the eyelash extensions. I got a shorter haircut yesterday and had to show it. I think I like it shorter. I know, I'm shameless! Hah.

Okay, one of my left eyelash extensions is starting to lift up from the eyelash. I don't dare pull it off. I just tucked it back up after coming home from church and seeing it. I'm betting that some of the chicks wondered what was happening to my eyelash this morning!!! LOL I just don't care what they thought actually. It's just so funny with them looking at my eyes so much. Plusssssss, I was putting on my lip liner this morning and went the wrong way on my lips and I now have splinters in my lips!! I kid you not. I got one out but my tongue can feel 2 more in there but neither hubs nor I can see them. I can see it now: going to the doctor and telling her I have splinters in my lips. *Sigh*... Good grief, I think I need to pluck my brows! On my right eye I can see hairs that shouldn't be there.

First of all, the end of April hubs went to Reno to a model RR train convention. He was going to take our pop-up camper but a friend in Reno called a couple of nights before and told us of high winds on I-80, which is mostly desert from here in Idaho to Reno. So he decided to not take it and just stay with our friends.

Well, as luck would have it, he got into the middle of a sandstorm. It just about totaled his Toyota Tacoma—actually almost $6,000.00 worth of damage. It looked like it had been sandblasted. If he had taken the camper it would have blown him off the road into a dry lake bed. So, off to the auto repair shop, where we are on a first name basis with the owner now after having 2 accidents in the last few years. I think they're going to throw us a party for giving them so much business. Sigh... Our insurance company allowed him 22 days for a rental since the front hood, windshield, driver's window, bumper, lights, etc. had to be replaced. The only 2 cars available were a Chevy HHR or a Chrysler PT. I HATE those cars. When he drove into the garage and came in the house he was almost afraid to tell me! (Now, if you own one of those cars or like them, I don't want to hear it. You have your likes and dislikes and I have mine and I'm free to carry on about not liking the looks. Anyone who grew up with those old cars that looked like those wouldn't consider having one again!) ;-)

Anyway, our trip to California was planned and hubs suggested taking the rental car and save the mileage on our Toyota Camry. Good idea, but I ain't gonna be seen in a PT cruiser. So, I called the rental car company and requested another car. They didn't have one available but said to call back on Wednesday. We were going to leave on Thursday. So I called and they had a Hyundai Sonata. I said, "We'll take it." Nice little car and it got 44 miles to the gallon at one point when we filled up. BUT the nice part was that it had Sirius XM radio! I tell you that was great. We could listen to our favorite programs all the way through Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and California and the stations came in nice and clear. They did have commercials though, just as many as most radio stations.
~*~

We go back to California on average of at least once a year. Why you ask? You might think it's this:
Son

The girl he married (youth photo) but she's still as gorgeous as ever and I didn't get a photo of her this time because she was so busy running around:
Grandson Bill, who is in desperate need of a shave. Since he's 1/2 Asian he can't grow a full beard which I'm thrilled about since I'm not fond of beards on my men!

Grandson Josh who is in dire need of a haircut:

But you'd be wrong if you guessed those 4 in Southern California are my reason for going to California each year.

THIS is why I make trips to California! World's Fare Donuts in northern California, where our daughter lives. As Love Bunny was in there for the 2nd time in 4 days getting us these for the trip back up to Idaho, he met a man doing the same thing. He was going to visit his son in Petaluma, just northeast of San Francisco, and the son told him to grab some of these before he started up to visit him. That's how good these are. This is a cinnamon roll and it's as big as a plate for only $1.25. The Asian couple that own it have owned it for about 30 years at least and the woman doesn't look a day older than when I first went in there about 25 years ago. She's very pretty. I cannot say the same thing about ME!

I absolutely love the drive along I-5 from the north to the south. This is inland of northern Calif.

Pistachio trees. These are a marvel to see when laden with the nuts on them just before harvest. They are so heavy with the nuts that the branches drag on the ground. Heaven forbid that Love Bunny should stop so I could get a decent photo for you gals. *Sigh*...

These are almond trees. We went though a long stretch of I-5 where hundreds and hundreds of acres of these trees were dead. Why? Because the state cut off the water from the Delta to them because of a 2" fish—the delta smelt—was endangered! I can't believe they put a fish above humans. But it was truly sad to see so many citrus and nut trees dead and blackened. I feel so sorry for those farmers. What is our world coming to when this happens?

Here we are in Southern California heading from Moreno Valley to San Diego, which is about a two hour drive. That's son in front of us with his truck. This is very light traffic in the middle of the day.

Okay, here we are at the University of California at San Diego. Spent a few hours there looking over the campus for grandson. He's been accepted as a transfer student from Riverside to SD in the health sciences department. He's studying to become a pharmacist. That's the family below: my son in red hat, 13 yr old grandson in red shirt, daughter-in-law in jeans, "adopted grandson" in green shirt (also in dire need of a haircut!).

And the famous Love Bunny below:

The 14 story building is his dormitory. New ones are being constructed as you can see. One side of the dorm is a beach where you can watch students surf during lunch or breaks, and the other side is a view of the fantastic gym for students. We lived in San Diego in the early 60s and just loved it. Warm all the time and so many beaches to visit. Grandson will love it!

Another shot of the family:

~*~