Spring Break

This is my spring break week and even though the weather is more winter than spring, I am enjoying my time off. I'm doing some cleaning, furniture painting, crafting and decorating, and even some grandson sitting. I also started a project that I think I am going to regret - organizing the attic. I am going through boxes and trying to make sense of all the stuff that I can't bear to part with. You know - greeting cards, pictures, all the keepsakes of our family life. Right now I've got piles all over the upstairs bedroom. Why did I start this???

Anyway, the two cabinets above are samples of my painting. And I'm not done yet. This is all part of my new lighter color palette and I'm loving it! And it's a surprisingly inexpensive change. I have gotten rid of a lot of my old darker country decor, but haven't bought much to replace it. I'm bringing some of my garden accents inside, such as the terrarium and nest in the first picture. It's fun to find different uses for things we already have.

Since I don't have to rush to get dinner on the table, I'm enjoying cooking this week. Today I made french onion soup and sandwiches, which we decided tasted every bit as good as going to a deli. Yesterday I made a sausage quiche. Yum! 

There is a little bit of green coming up in the garden and we have 70's in the forecast. (After school starts!) I can't wait to get out there and clean up the winter debris. And then the fun begins!

It's Spring!!!

Things are looking up!

My Birthday and a Family Announcement

Another birthday come and gone. But 59?! That's an old person. And I don't feel old most of the time - only when I've spent the day cleaning, or gardening, or walking, or... well, you get the idea!

But I had a wonderful birthday. First, I was surprised at work with a bouquet of flowers from my sweetie. And all day long the kindergarteners hugged me and said "Happy birthday, Mrs. Marquis".  Andrew, Tad, and Eric were here for dinner - my favorite, spaghetti and meatballs that Rick made and cheesecake for dessert. Andrew gave me a sweet almond bush for the garden, Eric gave me chocolates, and Justin called from DC and we had a good, long chat. (I'm really missing my oldest. We'll see him in May.)

I told Rick not to buy me anything for my birthday. I had just gone to a rubberstamp convention a week ago and bought many presents for myself:) So I wasn't expecting anything and then he brought out this:

A very cool vintage stamping set that he picked up at his favorite salvage place. I love it! The font is great and in a very good size. There is a label inside the cover of a local business that has been here forever. That makes it even more special. I'm not sure where I will display it yet, but I know I will get a lot of use out of it.

And now for the announcement. Alison didn't come for my birthday dinner because she was sick - with morning sickness! Yes, we are getting another grandbaby! We are so excited and happy for them. She is due the end of August. But Alison is having a hard time with this pregnancy. The baby is fine, but she is just not feeling well - headaches and very tired. Please send good thoughts their way!

Organizing Crafts

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger. I have no good excuse:) But I'm back, and hopefully with spring coming, I'll be more inspired to post.

I have been very busy though. I needed to be to get through this long, cold winter. I'm still working on my star quilt and will show photos soon. I've been scrapbooking, card making, knitting, and painting some furniture pieces. I've also been organizing my craft room and coming up with new ways to store my ever growing stash of goodies.

One thing that takes up so much space are these punches. I still use them, especially the MS and SU ones. I looked online and got this idea to use curtain rods on the back of a closet. They fit very well here and aren't taking up valuable drawer or shelf space.

Another thing I did this winter was gather up all my small crafting embellishments together and organize them in a vintage type drawer. I had these things stored all over in boxes, baskets, and baggies. And I just wasn't using them because they were out of sight.

 As you can see, I've got just about everything in here - game pieces, watch parts, tiny shells... on and on! I love to collect these little things and now I can see them, enjoy them, and maybe even use them in my crafting.

Something else that I collect is buttons. I have a ton already, so at this point I'm picky about how much I'm willing to spend on them. Rick and I went to an antique mall and I found a bag of buttons that I had to buy. $6.00 for this big bag of pretty vintage buttons!

Aren't they pretty? I love the old button cards with sweet graphics. I haven't had a chance to sort through them, but I'm sure I got a good deal.

So I just heard the weather report for tomorrow and we're actually going to see 50 degrees. A heat wave!