Gettin' my Cheri on...

I've plunged into the mass of fabric scraps to pull for

 the common threads quilt by Cheri!

I'm lucky enough to be able to take the class from Cheri herself

at my favorite quilt shop with some of my favorite people!

And have I mentioned lately, how much I LOVE my sewing box

from The Original ScrapBox! It just makes everything pretty!

The first real photos!!!

He's ONE!!!

This little guy turnes ONE today!!!

 I absolutely adore him. 

I've never had a little dog and although I love my giant and Wilson, 

I gotta say I may never go back to the the big guys...

Happy birthday Dexter Theodore (yes, all our dogs have been given middle names)

Cover it up!

Backyard receptions/shin-digs can be wonderful. Unfortunately, there always a few unsightly areas that need tending (or in our case, covering)...

One of our "problem areas" was the jacuzzi. Gigantic, full or water, and not going anywhere.

After some thought, I decided it should be turned into the dessert table. Gavin bought plywood and made a template to cut it out. 

 I bought the 120" wide muslin from Joanne's, made a square 120"x120", scalloped the edges with pinking shears and layered cloths over the "table".

It turned out perfect and I don't think anyone noticed what it was! They had their eyes on the beautiful cakes!!!

A great site!

Have you heard of Save on crafts? It's an online shop. It seriously has everything.

Boxwood wreaths galore and very reasonable!

(photo taken from karen rohner)

And I got this bistro easel there too.

If you are planning a party (or a wedding),

Head on over! You won't be sorry!

Happy Saturday!

The reception

I only have a few pictures to share now, but when I get more you will be the first to see!

They Said "I Do"!!!

the wedding day finally arrived! 

this past saturday, these two got married!!!

we are so happy to have mikaela as a daughter!

we are blessed!

i'm still waiting for some of the photos so that i can share them with you,

for now, here are a couple from the ceremony.

mikaela did an outstanding job.

it was absolutely gorgeous!!!

i got the chalkboard inspiration from pinterest, of course!

gavin built the arbor. and the table is our old sewing desk :)

the flowers were done by third bloom.

absolutely beautiful!!!

A Missionary Quilt

i'm excited to share this with you. 

a friend of mine made this for her daughter, who has recently returned home from her mission.

i finished the quilting today.

she made envelope blocks

(appropriate)

she embroidered all the countries that the people her daughter served with

or taught were from.

what a great quilt!

enjoy!!!

A Fabulous Find!

sooo...

this picture doesn't really show how awful the counter tops were.

the orange 70's counter top was acceptable when the cabinets

were natural, but now that i've painted them, 

it looks AWFUL!!!!

so i went in search of a way to paint a laminate counter top

an ORANGE laminate counter top!!!

i found this product!

it's fabulous!!!

it comes in many different colors, the paint people at your local lowes

will tint it for you.

i chose ivory.

so i used bead board wallpaper on the inset of the cabinet

SUPER easy!!!

it's paintable. the cabinet on the right has a coat of paint on it

so you can see.

it looks 100 x better!

i will share the completed project when it's done.

i'm off to paint the downstairs counter top now!

Flower Garden

i've always wanted a flower garden...

so with the help of pinterest, i took the plunge and just did it.

now if i can just keep everything alive until the wedding!!1