The Pea Pod Fairy

I think the pea pod fairy must have come last night.

I swear over night these pods appeared!

So cool.  

I will have to get my little granddaughter over to pick them soon 

as she just loves picking things in the garden!

I am just doing a little container gardening this year.

I don't need much and am not up to doing too much work in the yard.

The carrots are doing well and the lettuce is needing to be thinned.

This tomato plant is already blooming,

while the other one is not as large.

The smaller one just came up on it's own

so I am not sure how well it will do.

And then there is the Bay tree that I repotted.

I got it from a cutting at a class several years ago.

Obviously it is quite hardy

because it has been neglected when I had to be out of town.

I am sure enjoying my yard this year.  

And so glad the Pea Pod Fairy came!

National Quilting Day

I celebrated National Quilting Day not by quilting

but at least I was sewing, or more accurately,

serging.

I have had the pansy fabric waiting to be made into cloth napkins for several months.

The gingerbread was leftover from an apron. 

I like to make my napkins double thickness so I lined two of them with red,

and the other two with blue.

The gold ones are for my daughter and are a single layer.

This is a quick project and a great way to use up scraps

 but more importantly so much fun to use!

I have several quilts I want to work on

and hope to finish up a number of these other projects

so that I can get started on some of those.

Remembering Vanessa on St. Patrick's Day

I have lost a number of friends over the years.

Vanessa was a very special one who left us too early.

She was a fiery Irish redhead

who could cut you to the quick

in that way only a true southern lady can do

if you needed it.

She was also as beautiful as a model on the outside

and perfect as an angel on the inside.

You couldn't even be jealous.

Vanessa was an artist

and I have every decorated envelope 

from every letter she sent.

She made even those simple things special.

She was my self appointed cheerleader

and my friend.

She loved dogs and kids and flowers and words and the beach,

and St. Patrick's Day was her favorite holiday.

So I remembered my friend, Vanessa, as I made these cards.

I have been picking and pressing four leaf clovers for several weeks

 now as my mother used to do.

I lightly glued them to cardstock which I then laminated 

so they can be used as bookmarks

and slid them into the front of these cards.

And I will keep one to remember how lucky I am.

There are angels who walk among us.

Treasure them while you can.

Mine

I finally found some time to make the cape for myself.

I am so excited!

I just loved this fabric when I saw it and immediately knew I wanted to do this with it.

But it is not a real common shade of blue-green.  

My first thought was what could I wear it with of course.

So I continued through the fabric isles and found the perfect gaberdine!

Now to make the pants!

Gate Guard

I need a name for this fellow.

I first ran into him Saturday as I was transplanting some flowers I bought.

He was on the flat and did not want to leave.

But I finally coaxed him off onto another pot on the bench.  

Since then I have found him hanging out in the sun by the gate catching bugs.

He does not seem to be the least bit afraid of me.

And is gaining a bit of weight so it must be a good spot.

Obviously something had a go at him as you can see by the holes in his back.

He was quite thin on Saturday and I did not think he would live.

But the spots no longer look oozy so maybe he will.

They do seem to be tough little critters.

Since I am not fond of bugs he is quite welcome to stay!

Sheer poncho

Here is my lovely daughter modeling the 'poncho' I made for her.

I am not sure if poncho is the right term.

It is a sheer black fabric with the white letters.

It just seems so appropriate for a kindergarten teacher.

The fun thing is it can be worn in a variety of ways.

Here it is turned 90˚.

This was another quick and easy project.

I used the serger to do the finishing and for the first time a water soluble stabilizer.

That was a big help and I will be using more of this.

Dove cards

These cards were fast and easy.

I die cut the doves using a Sizzix

and some bank envelopes I had saved.

I intentionally cut them in different directions but the overall effect remained the same.

Have you ever noticed the variety of patterns

inside security envelopes?

Ones that catch my eye get saved to use as backgrounds.

But when I saw these I immediately thought they would be interesting with this die cut.

I know the current fashion is to use numerous inks and stamps and embellishments.

But I tend to favor simple.

The only glitz besides the glittery background paper is the jewel eyes.

And these are adhesive backed.  

Peel and stick.  It doesn't get any easier than that!

So next time you open your bills or statements 

take a peek at the inside of those envelopes.

You might find something interesting to spark your imagination.