Wreaths.....

Garden Wreath
An evergreen wreath lasts many weeks in cooler weather. Wire it with fall decorations for Thanksgiving, then switch colors to swing into December.

Natural Door Decor
Metal sap buckets and tin cones are great for displaying a bunch of dried grasses or wildflowers. Hang yours on a door, in an entry hall, or on the porch.

Forkful
A vintage garden fork gets a second life as a door decoration when outfitted with sturdy ears of dried corn. The corn can be wired onto each tine for easy removal later.

Fragrant Foliage
This wreath combines dried sweet Annie, dried lavender, purple statice, globe amaranth, and large green kale leaves for a decoration that smells as good as it looks. Experiment with different plants to find the looks and aromas you love most.

Twine a Vine
Whether you buy a vine wreath or make your own, the addition of decorations can really make it special. A wild array of berry branches bursts forth in autumn splendor, creating a wreath that is both easy to make and memorable.

Wine Whimsy
A plain Styrofoam wreath form gets a makeover from wine corks and dried flowers attached with hot glue. A frothy bow of champagne-colored sheer ribbon gets wired to the top.

As found in Country Living Magazine...

$2.00 Magnet Memo Board

This was the inspiration to make my own, a cookie sheet from the dollar store and turned into a memo board complete with magnets...

Here is mine, the cookie sheet cost $2.00, covered with vintage wall paper, altered mini clips and little clip-boards that I covered with the same wall paper.

These are the altered mini clips, with saying and portions of maps adhered to them...near a phone, this little magnet board is just the thing, don't you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The life so short, the craft so long to learn.

Hippocrates

No Calorie Cupcakes...

Yesterday, I made these Cupcakes from old sweaters, chenille, felt and other vintage fabrics. Added ric rac, ribbons, buttons, and some pearl bling just for the fun of it.They start their life off as a tube, cut in half, and the ribbing of a felted sweater as the outside, from there you can add anything you like.

I was thinking of Kate Sirazi, from Cakeadoodledo in the UK as I was making these without any calories...

Cindy gave me the idea for this from a photo in a magazine, so I knew that I had the supplies in my craft room to start. After I made one, I would take a photo of it and send it off to Cindy for her approval, she was always enthusiastic about them.

They are on the cake stand that Cindy

gave me for my birthday.

I am off to the Thrift Store to find some more little sweaters in pink and green.

These could be actually used as pin-cushions as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's no wonder that you are as cute as a cupcake"

unknown

Autumn....Sept 21, 2008

Doesn't this look like AUTUMN?

Today it is raining here in most of BC. It seems quite refreshing and needed after this long warm spell we were having.

A day to craft and nest!!

All these items can be found at http://www.napastyle.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life.

~P.D. James

Photos from Christa and Cindy....

This photo is of Christa's canning over the weekend.... Peaches and Antipasto!!! I hope that some of these will be coming our way next time she visits...

And here is the Red Box of magazines from Cindy that I was supposed to get next week. Jim was supposed to go and help our friend Harvey re-roof his Nelson guest house, but one of the guys can't come, so the visit to Nelson and picking up my magazines are now put on hold!!!! I just may have to hop in the car and go for a drive on my day off!!!

Mini Note Books.....

Have had a cold for the past couple of days so I decided to take a bit of a break and start crafting again...Love making mini note books, great place to keep a quote or write down some thoughts, plus, they look good.

Summer 's bounty....

From the Field

To the Farmer's Market

And Home ready for a great supper.

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It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.

~Lewis Grizzard

Last Birthday photos...

Jimmy and I

Cone Flower ceramic bowl that was made by Cindy for me. It is a great shape and will look great filled with Peaches.

Can you just taste how good these scones, jam and devonshire cream really were...well, let me tell you, they were some GOOD!!!

Tyler...

This is my nephew, Tyler, playing hockey in Summerland on the Kootenay Ice, Midget AAA team, and even though I didn't get to see him play today, it was great seeing him. Way to go Tyler, his team won 5/4.

Cindy is heading back to Nelson tomorrow, with all kinds of treasures...she will be missed, but looking forward to having her down in AZ for a winter holiday. Thanks Cindy for all the treats and gifts and lunches!!!!

Found Treasures.......

These are some of the treasures that we found in Peachland and in Kelowna. Then today we drove up to Enderby and found some more lovely things...keep posted for those.

Melamine cups and saucers at a rock bottom price, and this 1967 Centennial bon bon dish, and some depression glass to hold more buttons.

Flowers form the Kelowna Farmer's Market, along with lots of fresh fruit and veggies.

Cindy bought us lunch here at the Cliff Cafe in Enderby, with her wind blown top down convertible HAIR!!!!

My Birthday Morning...

Thank you Jim for the lovely Roses and the very special gifts.

Having coffee and presents in my PJ's.

Cindy got here yesterday, and she brought all kinds of wonderful homemade jams, a fabulous Birthday Cake, cookies, salsa, antipasto, and this morning she made scones and made devonshire cream...Yummy!!!

Cindy's homemade goodies.

The morning breakfast, on the beautiful cake plate she gave me as well.

So later on this morning, we are off to the Farmer's Market and up to Armstrong and Enderby to find some wonderful treasures....keep posted.

Thank you so much Jim, for making sure that my day is free of any responsibilities!!!!

Birthday wishes coming in....

For September 13, 2008

Happy Birthday Dagmar,

We hope you have a very special day tomorrow.

I will give you a call and we can catch up on all the news.

Talk to you soon.

Love your favorite sista and brother in law

Larry and Caroline

**************

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.

~ Father Larry Lorenzoni

1957 School Bus Ride...

My sister-in-law, Marlene sent me this great photo today, and it is a good thing that it is faded, but therewe are in the front row, looking ever so cool!!! Some things just never change!!!! Thanks so much Marlene, for sending this on to us!

Marlene's dad was our bus driver, and there she is beside my brother Heinz, whom she married in 1970...

This is the note attacthed to it from Marlene.

"Mom was given this picture of Dad with all of his students who rode the bus with him in 1957. To the right of Dad is Lynn Stokes, Gail and Gary Hansen --- to the left of him is Iris Atcheson, Bonnie and Joyce Miller and then in the front is Dagmar, Myself and Heinz. How cool is that"

BATS..." Babes At The Shuswap"

These are the B.A.T.S.

Here is the note from my Ya Ya friend Shannon telling me about their weekend.

All censored parts removed. ( ha. ha!!!)

My gal pal Cindy designed & fired their plates (4 each) for them as a gift from Shannon.

So cool, and on these plates Cindy designed a wine charm in shape of a bat!!!

***************
Good morning ladies. Well we have just finished another successful BATS weekend and the plates were such a hit – I can’t even begin to describe the excitement. Am sending a pic of my girls – from left its Susie, Annie, Shannon & Shannon. The weekend was filled with much wine and laughter. We played cranium – what grand fun. Looking forward to next year already. Thanks again.
Shannon

Happy Birthday Kari...

Happy Birthday

Kari,

to my outdoor niece!!!!!

Just a small amount of candles on this cake!!!!

Love,

Auntie Dagmar, Uncle Jim and "the girlies"

Summer Time....

Last days of summer just around the corner...hard to believe it is almost over....

I sure hope we have some great warm days left in September, enough to remember what it was like to be warm and sit at the beach!!!

From Pottery Barn, but of course....

Easy and Cheerful...

Oilcloth Bulletin Board

Both easy to make and easy to clean, this clever board makes an ideal receptacle for outgoing mail and important notes. You can simply tack it onto an ordinary bulletin board, attach it to the fridge, or casually lay it out on the kitchen counter.
Tools and Materials Homosote Utility knife Oilcloth Staple gun Ruler Binder clips
Oilcloth Pocket Board How-To1. Using a utility knife, cut a 14-by-18-inch piece of homosote. Cut the oilcloth at least 2 inches wider than the board (the length of the oilcloth should be at least 1 foot longer than the board's width, depending on how many pocket folds you want to make).
2. Starting about 8 inches from the bottom, pull the oilcloth upward until you make a 3-inch fold; it should resemble an upside-down Roman shade. (It's a good idea to do this with a ruler nearby, so you can make sure the folds are perfectly even.) After each fold, secure a binder clip on each side to hold the fold in place. When you've made all the pocket folds you want, make sure you have at least 2 inches on the top and bottom to fold in back.
3. To attach it, lay the oilcloth on your work surface with the pocket folds facing down. Place the homosote board, centered, on top. Starting with the sides, remove the binder clips, and pull the oilcloth taught. Using a staple gun, staple the oilcloth onto the board; repeat on other side. Staple the top or the bottom in the same manner, pulling the oilcloth tightly; fold the corners as if you were wrapping a present. For the back, cut one more piece of oilcloth just slightly smaller than the board. Using the staple gun, secure the piece onto the back to cover the exposed homosote for a neat, finished look.
From: Martha Stewart Crafts!!!

Our Arizona Home...

We just got these photos from our next door neighbours,
Jeff and Kathy in Queen Creek, AZ.
(thank you for this)
They were kind enough to take some photos for us to show how our plants are doing and how the garden is growing.
I tried to plant things that will bloom while we are down there in the winter. It will be interesting to see how it looks like when we go down in less than 6 weeks.
I am getting ready.

Travel Scrapbook....

A travel scrapbook can showcase photographs from your trip as well as printed ephemera gathered along the way, such as business cards, wine labels, cafe napkins, and sightseeing scraps. For these two albums, out-of-date travel books from the visited cities are taken apart, then reassembled into accordion books using the original covers, a few of the pages, and maps. To play up the travel theme, stamps are cut and glued to photo corners to create decorative holders for snapshots.
A guidebook's pages make natural backdrops for photographs of the locales you've visited. You can also insert a miniature album of favorite sights using your own snapshots and airmail envelopes. A pocket added to the back page gives the book another interactive element, allowing readers to remove the items tucked inside. To record the year of the trip, a numeral is stamped on each of four French stamps (stamps from the world over can be bought at stamp-collecting shops)
From Martha Stewart Crafts;

I think I will try this craft out this week, great way to keep track of where, what, when and how....keep posted as we plan to leave Oct. 15/08.

Thanks to my friend Suzie who faithfully reads my blog, and sends me such sweet comments. You are a treasure!!!