I got this wonderful photo from one of my stamp club friends, Kris. Kris told me that her daughter, Jen, used my Mardi Gras mask template to make the cupcake decorations for adorable Lillian’s party. Speaking of “Adorable Lillian”, take a look at the next photo:

Isn’t she beautiful? She looks like a Fairy Princess and I think I’m a little bit jealous. What fun it must have been to get all dressed up and painted for what looks like a magical party. My hat’s off to Jen for doing such a great job and creating something so special for her little girl. You’re a talented and loving mom.

To my little girl, I’m sorry… I thought kool-aid and hot dogs were special. I think 30 years ago it was. And while it may not have been magical, you have to admit the back yard obstical course was pretty fun.

I’m really happy that Kris and Jen shared these photos with me, and allowed me to share them with you. It isn’t often that I get to see what people are using my templates for. I always get a thrill when I see one of the projects and this time was no exception. Who knew my little template would be part of something so grand. I feel a bit like a proud momma.

Today I am sharing the cards that I received in our stamp club swap. Six of us created 4th of July cards to share with each other. I showed you mine on Saturday.

The girls did a great job and it was a fun swap. I’m glad that so many of them enjoy making these little pieces of art.

We don’t have anything special going on today, just a barbecued dinner with The Boy. It is so hot outside that we probably won’t even eat out of doors. Summers aren’t the treat that they were for us in our past homes. We use to look forward to spending time outside and now that we are in the Phoenix area, we do everything we can to avoid being outside in the summer months. That’s been a hard adjustment for me. I miss walking barefoot in the soft, cool grass and setting out a barbecued feast on the large picnic table.

I had a nasty thought… If I really want to compare this to Gilligan’s Island I could promise you that it would only last 3 days and then drag it out for the next few weeks. I do have 176 photos, after all.

I don’t have the heart to do that to you though. You are being such a good sport about sticking with me this long that I promise not to overstay my welcome on this topic. Well, not any more than I already have.

Besides that, I don’t know how much longer I can keep up this oh so witty commentary. Now what was that phrase again? Oh yeah, Happy, Happy, Happy!

You can’t see it in this photo but this collection was displayed in a wooden boat. The boat is so out of place in the desert and yet it looked like it belonged there. A little bit of whimsy in a harsh environment. It brought a smile to all of us.

What does this one remind you of? When I saw it I immediately thought of a balloon vendor walking around at a fair. The Boy’s first thought was of a cluster of grapes.

This one makes me think of Irises.

Okay folks, that concludes our nature walk. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Posting may be a bit spotty for the next two weeks while we are traveling. I’ll have my camera and my laptop with me so if anything interesting happens I’ll try to share it with you. If nothing interesting happens and I’m bored and lonely I try to share that with you too. Dang, I’m just such a generous person, aren’t I?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Lace up your walking shoes because here we go again.

It has taken a long time for me to really appreciate the beauty of the desert. I’m an East Coast gal and my heart longs for the hardwood forests and ocean views. I do have to admit that the desert is growing on me though. I never would have imagined that there would be such a variety of life here. Of course, if a scorpion had crawled into view this little arid love fest would have come to a screeching halt.

I’ll never learn to appreciate the scorpions.

Just give me the birds, flowers and cacti and I’ll stay happy.

Happy, Happy, Happy. (That’s what I write when I’m having trouble thinking of what to say next.)

When I look at this photo I notice all the sun shining on the flowers. You know what that makes me think of? It makes me think of next week when I’ll be freezing my buns off up in Illinois! My son-in-law started a new job this year and taking time off at Christmas just wasn’t in the picture. That means that it is Recliner Man and my turn to travel.

I really like these pieces. If anyone has a bank vault laying around someplace and wants to gift me with them I know the perfect place in my backyard to display them.

You really have to keep looking at the ground on this walk. You just never know who is coming out to say hello.

Are we having fun? Do you understand why it was so hard to limit the number of photos that I took and shared with you. I have been on beauty overload from this walk! There is one more day to go so come back tomorrow to see the rest of Chihuly and the Desert Botanical Garden.

Monday was a very special day.  It was the day that Recliner Man and I went to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens.The day was made even more special because we got to share it with two very good friends.

It was an absolutely beautiful day here in Phoenix. Our morning started a little nippy with the temps in the upper 50s but by the time we reached the garden the sun was climbing high enough to start chasing away the chill and adding dazzle to the glass sculptures.

Halfway through the walk we were able to shed our jackets and enjoy the warmth of the sun. Not to shabby for late November!

The Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to explore. The paths meander through an amazing assortment of desert plants.

There is something to catch your attention no matter where you cast your gaze.

 We arrived early, 8am, so the garden wasn’t very crowded yet. We were free to stroll at a leisurely pace and enjoy the sounds of the birds along with the many visual treats. The school groups didn’t start showing up until just before we were ready to leave.

It was a great day for taking pictures and I took full advantage of it. I came home with 176 images on my camera.

I’ve had the hardest time deciding which photos to share with you.

Editing has never been my strong suit but I did manage to get the list down to my favorite 26 photos.

Sorry folks, that means that we will be on this nature walk for 3 days. Just think of it as the Phoenix version of Gilligan’s Island.

Now that I know it really is winter and I have very little time left before the holidays I did the most logical thing I could think of – I spent time stumbling around the internet.

One of the pages I fell on was  this one. It has lots of photos of this stunning skirt and a little story from the girl who made it. She says that some of her loved ones made fun of her beautiful skirt. Shame on them!  I love this skirt and only wish I wasn’t so fat that one in my size would look more like a circus tent.

I was following links for a while last night and I ended up at the blog for bigcatheads.com. It is the online home of artist, Bruce Andrew Mckay. I am totally in love with his cat paintings! Above is a small snip from one of his paintings, be sure to go see the rest of it and all the other great pieces he has.

I just found a really cool site that I’d like to share with you.  It is called Ad*Access and it is “An image database of over 7,000 U.S. and Canadian advertisement”.It belongs to the Duke University Libraries and it is a treasure trove for anyone who enjoys seeing old advertising.

The first two were made by Billie Hall. Billie loves working with the vintage images of ladies as much as I do.

The next two were made by Jo Berneche and Marla Watson. They are just beautiful, aren’t they?

When my daughter was in the 7th grade her Home Ec  class did a section on sewing. Even though she had been raised in a house with a sewing machine and had worn many clothing items sewn by her mother she came home from school with all the enthusiasm and excitement of a child who had just discovered cookies for the first time. She was so excited that she told us she really, really, really wanted a sewing machine for her Christmas gift that year. Because we always tried to keep our princess happy we bought her one. She was thrilled. She put it in her closet. It sat there for 14 years.

In many ways my daughter is like her father. One of the traits they share is what I call “faucet cleaning.” Faucet cleaning became a family code word one day when we were expecting my out of town in-laws to arrive and I was way behind on the house preparations. I still needed to fold laundry, vacuum, pick up toys and  make the bed. I asked Recliner Man to help me and gave him the list to choose from. I was running around like crazy getting things done, all the while wondering where he was and which items I wouldn’t need to worry about. After completing the entire list by myself I went and found him. He was hard at work scrubbing the water deposits off the back side of the kitchen sink faucets. Oh yes, I was sooooo worried his folks would come in the kitchen, twist their heads around just so, and see the water deposits!  Since then he has perfected the ability to work very hard at anything but what is really needed to be done. The time came that my daughter had something that she needed to do but didn’t really want to do and being Daddy’s Little Girl she did her own version of faucet cleaning. She pulled out the sewing machine and taught herself to sew.

With that act of procrastination Anodyne Design was born. She now sells purses and card wallets on Etsy. I love her card wallets and was very happy when she made one just for me. They are the perfect size to hold business cards. I’m really impressed with her sewing skills and quite proud of her.