Off The Beaten Path- Salado, Texas

Got your attention now, right? 

Haha! I spotted this hand towel at a

gift shop in a town so small you'd

 miss it if you blinked. 

This little town - Salado - was one of the most charming places I visited while on a road trip from the Fort Worth area to San Antonio. 

photo from trip advisor

My dear friend Patty, who is a fabulous paper crafter and an even more wonderful hostess/tour guide, suggested we pull off the freeway in order to visit Stamp Salado.

We enjoyed browsing through the fun selection of stamps, multi-media products, and scrapbook paper. After picking up Texas-themed items for the mini albums we planned to make after our road trip, we continued south toward San Antonio. 

In the short time we were in town we saw a deer wandering through someone's yard, two large roadrunners on the hunt, and a young cardinal chirping on the picket fence next to Stamp Salado! There are lots of interesting boutiques and shops lining the main street, and a shallow scenic river meandering through grassy banks at one end of town. 

photo from salado.tx.gov

I hope to visit again sometime and maybe I'll even get the chance to dip my toes in the river! 

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Anything Goes at Pink Saturday
Clever Chicks Blog Hop

What To Do Weekends
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Red, White and Blue

Of all the supervised conditions for life offered man, those under USA's

 constitution have proved the best.  Wherefore, be sure when you start modifying,

corrupting or abrogating it. 

Martin H. Fischer

Wishing you a safe and happy

4th of July! I can't wait to share photos of my recent trip to Texas with you. I even have tea pictures from my visit to the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. Until then, enjoy the holiday weekend!

America is another name for opportunity.  Our whole history appears like a

 last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Homeward Bound

The light is what guides you home, 

the warmth is what keeps you there. 

Ellie Rodriguez

A pleasant Spring day outdoors-

perfect for some gardening 

and a cup of tea. I just discovered

straw bale gardening on Pinterest, and stepped out onto our patio to look for a good spot to place a bale. 

Brambly Hedge by Royal Doulton


There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.
Jane Austen

For charm and whimsy you can't beat Royal Doulton's Brambly Hedge beakers and teacups! I sipped a bit of Assam while dead-heading Pansies and drawing up gardening plans.

Assam is located on both sides of the Bramaputra River in India.

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world. 

George Washington

Home, the spot of earth supremely blessed,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.
~Robert Montgomery

See the mouse in the basket?

Where thou art – that – is Home.
Emily Dickinson

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Crafts A La Mode
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Make It Pretty Monday
Idea Box

Bunny Trail

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection,

 not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time. 

Martin Luther

College Girl was the first to see an Oriole visit our backyard. Now we know it's Spring! Handyman quickly hung the Oriole feeder outdoors and I wrote oranges on the grocery list. Placing orange halves outside is a sure-fire way to attract these pretty yellow birds.

My friend Patty sent a charming bunny dish to me last week and I immediately displayed it in the kitchen when it wasn't being used to serve toast, fruit or muffins. 

Whole wheat pineapple and carrot muffins were on the tea table today...or should I say the patio table? It cooled off enough to sit outside in the late afternoon and have a cuppa while watching the hummingbirds perform aerial maneuvers. 

Bell bone china cup

See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices...
Charles Kingsley

If you haven't already colored eggs or want to try something really unique and fun with your kids or grand kids, check out this tutorial for egg geodes.

Wishing you a blessed Easter!

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Weekend-Retreat #113

It Was One Of Those March Days

It was one of those March days

when the sun shines hot 

and the wind blows cold:

when it is summer in the light,

and winter in the shade.

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens' verse aptly describes the weather we had today, and it was scrumptious! It was the kind of day when you throw open the windows and hear a choir of songbirds outside no matter where you are in the house. After several months of on-again
off-again hot dusty Santa Ana winds, it was delightful to turn off the AC and feel a spring breeze drift through the kitchen. 
I've been reading through some old issues of       Birds and Blooms magazines and came across   a tip to help keep a birdbath clean.

You need to begin with a clean birdbath, of course. Ours gets pretty icky with slimy rust-colored algae which is difficult to remove. Some people use cider vinegar or bleach to remove the majority of the gunk, and then give the bath a scrubbing and good rinse with clean water. I've found that using pebbles works like a charm! You can also use a handful or two of sand. 
I put on an old garden glove then scour the bottom and sides of the birdbath with a handful of pebbles. Rub the pebbles all over the dirty surfaces and you'll be surprised how well it removes the algae. 

Did you know that copper is a natural algaecide? Once the bowl is clean, drop half a dozen pennies onto the bottom. Take note, however, that the pennies must be pre-1982 for them to be effective. Newer pennies don't contain the copper needed to do the job.

I need to add more coins but didn't have enough pre-1982
pennies. You can also use a small piece of copper pipe. 

One swallow does not make a summer

but one skein of geese, cleaving

the murk of March thaw,

is the Spring.

Aldo Leopold 

I'm happily anticipating the return of a pair of Orioles that frequent our backyard. It's time to put out some oranges for them. Are you doing something to welcome migrating birds? Have any tips to share?

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You're Going To Love It
What To Do Weekends- Crafts a la mode
Freedom Fridays #73

All Abuzz

I've been playing with the Vintage Bee 

Calm collage sheet from My Artistic Adventures all week. I made a simple card by layering a tea colored doily over kraft card stock, then added two images from the Collage sheet along with some black paper. I added Liquid Pearl drops around the edge of the tag shape and called it done! Not every card has to have half a dozen techniques or layers. 

I was buzzing along having so much fun in my scrap room that I also made a tag...

See the cute bumblebee button? I've been saving this bee ribbon I found at Michael's and it was perfect for these collage sheet projects!

...and then I decorated an envelope to go with the card I made a few days ago. I didn't have enough of the yellow striped paper to line the inside of the envelope, so I wasn't quite sure how I was going to make it coordinate with the card. Then it came to me - what if I ran the envelope flap through the Cuttlebug and embossed it with the honeycomb design? 

I used my oval scallop punch on what little bit of yellow striped paper I had remaining, used a small round punch on a bee image, and voila! Now the envelope flap has the same honeycomb texture as the card.

I usually don't decorate the envelope other than 
to stamp a coordinating image onto the front upper or lower corner. This adds a bit of panache and also helps me to remember what the card's theme/design is when I have them stored and waiting to be mailed out for the right occasion. 

I had so much fun decorating the flap for this
 Bee Happy card that I think I'm going to 
emboss others!

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Monday Funday
Freedom Fridays
What To Do Weekends

The Promise of Daffodils

The Daffodils in our backyard are poking their little green noses out

of the soil.

From this viewpoint the little sprouts look like green mouths with tiny green tongues!

Winter doesn't last long in southern California. Sure, we still have some rainy days ahead and ten weeks or so of chilly nights. But those of you buried under snow wouldn't quite equate that to what passes for winter in your neck of the woods!

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

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Make It Pretty Monday

A Squatchy Christmas Morning

The Twelve Days of Christmas are winding

down. It's almost January 6th, which is Epiphany!

The Day of Twelve Drummers Drumming is also my birthday, which is another reason I like to celebrate all the days between Christmas and Twelfth Night.

In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the Christmas celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas (or what the English called Christmastide). On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself.

I've been enjoying time with my family and haven't had a chance to share some of the projects I completed lately. College Girl is a fan of Finding Bigfoot. She says it's the funniest television show she's ever seen. I think she's seen every episode. She saw a Sasquatch stocking online and asked if we could make one for her. So I purchased some nice felt, then she helped cut out the pieces. We layered all the cut pieces over a blue stocking base, which would show at the top and look like the night sky.

the layered pieces are ready to be stitched down

We used a pattern we found here

for the Sasquatch silhouette. I cut out trees from green felt and snow from off-white felt. I decided the stocking wouldn't need a lining since I was using such a thick, sturdy blue felt as the base. The scene I built from the trees and snow added stability, too. Since felt doesn't fray, I just top stitched all the scenery pieces down to the snow or mountain. I changed our stocking up from those we had seen online by adding a fur cuff and moon. To add the fur cuff I placed a circular/tube shaped strip of fur on the inside of the stocking (right side fur to wrong side of stocking), stitched a 1/4 inch seam around the top edge and folded the fur out over the top of the stocking.  Ta da...here it is!

I have to show you one more thing that

I ... oops, I mean Santa... stitched up for 

College Girl. This little guy has been on her wish list for a few years but somehow never got made. While I had the sewing machine warmed up and plenty of felt at the ready, I made a quick pattern from paper and crafted up an Ice Bat!

Here is Ice Bat waiting patiently for College Girl on Christmas morning. I think he felt right at home in the snowy Bigfoot stocking!

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Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Bee Happy New Year

Lenox Sleighride teacup

Write it on your heart that every

day is the best day in the year.

Ralph W. Emerson

Happy New Year! We slept late, then popped an egg dish and cinnamon rolls into the oven while Handyman made tea. (He spoils me!) The temperatures dipped into the 30's overnight, which is a rarity for southern California and we enjoyed it - perfect sleeping weather, as we like to say. 

I like to craft on New Years Day. It's sort of my way to usher in the coming year, and hopefully will result in many crafty days to follow.

A happy New Year!
Grant that I may bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end

Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,

And made of it a happy year.

Edgar Guest 

I used My Artistic Adventures

Vintage Bumble Bee Calm Collage

to make a greeting card.
 Here is the collage I started with

I also used a honeycomb 
design embossing folder - 
perfect for the bee motif!

I used black embossing powder with gold sparkles in it on the center bee piece.

Here are some close-up photos. I layered two of the tag shapes, inked the edges and placed foam adhesive between them for dimension.

I used golden yarn instead of bakery string for more texture.

If you're itching to make a project and 
would like to play along, a new
Challenge starts on January 2nd. 
Create any NEW tangible item, Card, tag, ATC, Layout, altered art piece, Banner, pretty much anything you can come up with that is tangible using My Artistic Adventures digital images (or others).

Visit ~

My Artistic Adventures Challenge Blog

I don't make New Year's resolutions,

do you? My philosophy is summed up with the following quote -

I think in terms of the day's resolutions, 
not the year's.

Henry Moore

I'm a take one day at a time 

kind of person!

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