Ruffles and Dots

 You can tell I'm on a bit of a "ruffle roll" with my sewing.
I think it's such a pretty trend and, so far, I haven't seen anyone who can't look cute wearing them.
So I went through my fabric stash, gritted my teeth and pulled out some of the fabrics that I love so much that I wouldn't cut into them before.  If you sew you know what I mean.  You're waiting for something really special to make with those fabrics and they make you happy every time you look at them.  You might be surprised that neither of these beauties are predominantly red. I'm a little surprised myself. I do love lots of colors you know, I just love red more.
So I grabbed the daughters, tied one on each of them and the photo session began.

One of them is a little more of a ham in front of the camera:>) Love them both to the moon and back.

So which is your favorite? (The aprons, not the daughters, we don't play favorites around here!)

You can find them now in the shop.

Donna, over at Funky Junk Interiors, has started a series on losing the "junk" we don't want. No, it isn't about cleaning the basement out. She's talking about the junk we carry with us everywhere we go.  It's a battle that I have fought, sometimes half heartedly, for years.  There comes a time when you have to admit it's time to get serious, and that time has come. Hours in front of the computer and sitting in class, have given me more than increased knowledge, if you know what I mean:>(

So it's time to get real, get off my hiney more, eat healthier and get some results.

I've been trying to get on the bike more this summer, early morning is cool and quiet and I am blessed to have miles of beautiful bike path to wander.  I'm not pushing myself yet and I'm thinking of getting a softer seat because, darn, those bike seats are not for the faint hearted, or the fitness challenged.

It occurred to me last week as I was riding, when I was a teen I rode my bike for fun. I didn't go as fast as I could to raise my heart rate, or go as far as my legs would go before they started protesting.  I took my time, I looked around, I felt the wind in my hair and I quit when I was good and ready.

When riding my bike became a means to burn calories, the joy went out of it. It became a chore, one more hurdle to jump and something to "get done".  No wonder I quit!

 So I'm putting the fun back in.  If there is one thing I've learned, it's that when I make something that used to be fun just one more thing to check off my list, I lose all interest in doing it.

In other news, I just had to show off my really high tech photography skills with these photos I took last time I was visiting my mom in the country.  For those of you who live where there are no lightning bugs, I send my deepest sympathy. They are one of the most magical and beautiful things on summer nights, and they gather in greater numbers where the grass grows tallest and there are lots of fields to hide in and feast on pollen.  This night, as I looked out my mothers back door I saw hundreds of these little guys lighting up the yard and field.  Do you see them? Those little squiggles of light?

 Do you have any idea how hard these little stinkers are to photograph? In the dark no less. I'm a little amazed I got any image at all, but I'm thinking these squiggles of light they made as I took the picture are pretty cool.

I really wish I could capture the fields blinking with the light of these little bugs.

So beautiful:>)

Summer is slipping past, take time to stop and look for it's little wonders.

Happy July!

I'm sorry to see June go, with the cool spring days and first of the flowers blooming, but July does have its sweetness.  Hot and sunny, days at the beach, the lavender and roses are blooming, and fireflies and dragonflies have come out to play.

And of course, July begins with a bang! Red, white and blue celebrations, and cookouts and fireworks.

Who couldn't love that?

I spent a little time making over our tiny back porch this week. Sorry no before photos. Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet and the next thing you know I'm checking the spray paint stash in the basement and dragging my latest victim to the yard for a fresh coat of color:>)

 This is the view from the kitchen door way, down the stairs and through our little back entry. We have a humble little cottage, built in the 40's, with a humble little back porch.  Earl built a pergola for me for our 25th anniversary. I love it so much! It defines the area and shelters this little wicker settee I picked up a couple years ago at a garage sale for $6.

I think I have spent more on spray painting it than it cost to begin with!
A faded but still beautiful yard sale oriental rug catches dirt and provides a little softness for my bare feet. At $5, it's disposable if it doesn't survive the summer.

 This week, I decided the chipped and faded white settee needed to be black, and the faded cushion that came with it needed a fresh cover of red and white ticking.  I found the ticking at JoAnne Fabrics in the sale aisle.  Marked down from $25 a yard to $9 a yard, it was 50% off the sale price for a grand total of $4.50.  I love a good sale.

 Love it. And it's comfy to boot. A beautiful place for morning coffee.

I foofed the whole area up for the 4th of July weekend with one of my ruffled flag pillows and a couple quick bunting projects.  The flag bunting was made from a single package of dollar store flags and some leftover skinny bias tape.  We're having some cookouts and parties this month so I plan to leave them up all month.

Plans for projects this weekend and going to a friends house for a cookout on the 4th.

I hope you all have a spectacular weekend.

Happy 4th of July!
Linking with

And the winner is.....

#36, Patti from Pandora's Box! Congratulations Patti, I'll get it out to you as soon as I get your address. I wish I could send you all a pillow, but I have some in the works for the shop if you must have one, and I'm working on the pattern so you can sew it yourself if you would rather:>)
Many thanks for all the kind comments. If you didn't win this time I have some more fun giveaways up my sleeve for this summer. Stay tuned!

A Blessing Of Berries

Earl's favorite Uncle showed up a couple days ago with a load of fresh picked berries. This is the Uncle that sometimes drops off a big bag of wild Morel mushrooms or a fresh pheasant he got during hunting season. Once I asked him if he could save me some pheasant feathers and he brought me the whole pheasant.

 Alive.

Don't ask me how he got a live one....but I digress.

This time he showed up with a big bag of berries. A blessing for sure. Enough for fresh strawberry shortcake and a batch of freezer jam. Yum!

 This will taste like summer when the cold winds blow!

 That is, it will if we don't eat it all before winter;>)  

And just for a little extra fun, if you're making freezer jam of your own, you might want to print out these cute labels I made.  I printed them on card stock, but if you have label paper, even better! Then just use some fancy scrapbook scissors to cut a scalloped edge.

You can find them on my new Graphics page, just click on the picture and  print.

 Have you gone berry picking yet?

Don't forget, this is the last weekend before the pillow giveaway ends. I'll be picking a name Tuesday morning so go leave a comment now!