A canvas making day with the girls

Hi everyone! I hope you had a nice weekend.  It was a beautiful Fall weekend here.  
Last week Jan, Karen and I got together at Jan's house, to work on some canvases.  I had previously made   the "Be Happy" canvas I have a photo of a little further down in this blog post. ( Like the one Jan is holding that she made).  It was one of the canvases that I sold at the last flea market.  It ended up that Julie bought it.. so obviously she didn't need to make another one lol. That's why it's just Jan and Karen and I working on these on this day. Juls was working :(  We missed her.
Jan made the "Be Happy" canvas and Karen worked on a canvas for her grandson... using the colors of his room.

The letters used on the canvases were Hazel and Ruby  
 The arrows we just created ourselves using masking tape.
 

This is the canvas Jan was making , she just didn't have the gems hot glued on yet.   It's hard to see here, but that is metallic silver paint.

My sis spoiled with with my favorite coconut cake for an early birthday.   I can not describe how how amazing this cake is.   They are from Sams. We always get them from our bridal and baby showers also. It is delish!!
It was a great day.  I always enjoy the time I spend with these girls.  Karen and I laughed at how quickly the hour and 15 minute drive from my house to Jan went..... when her and I were chatting all the way. lol

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What our weekend consisted of ....

Yes, that IS the back of our house.   While we are doing the deck expansion, the plan was to replace the sliding door with french doors.  Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this to be done.
Anyway.. this is what it looked like Friday.  Nothing but a huge tarp over it  Friday night.

 

The trim isn't up... but by last night... we had a working door!

Yesterday while Dan was working on the outside door trim and other things, I took the pooches for a walk. It was such a beautiful day.

They are getting more and more used to each other every day.

We still miss our Molly dog so much some days. When I saw this..... I thought... THAT is just how I feel

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I have something I want to share with you , because it's SO beautiful!!  This is my friend Lidy Barrs.  She is the owner of The French Garden House.  You can read more about her on her blog
Right now she has a post up with a Fall Home Tour, that is simply amazing.  You wont want to miss it.
You can see it here.    Fall Home Tour

It's Monday...... it's a beginning of a great week!   Jump in head first and make it the best!

Thank you for stopping by!

Vicki

Mini Canvases using Fancy Pants Designs and Sharing Autumn Decor

I think I have found a new love.  Well, I already love creating on canvases, but I have had a stash of these little flat 5x7 canvases in my supplies for some time that needed some love.  I used Fancy Pants Burlap and Bouquets Collection, Brag Cards as my focal point for these canvases.

These canvases are inexpensive, and you can find them almost anywhere... even the Dollar Store.  Sometimes do you think about how much  time ,effort and love you put into making a card? And if your lucky the person  saves it.  Why not make it into a little piece of art they can set out and enjoy for a bit?

You could also add a little hanger to the back so they could be hung on the wall.

This Brag cards  are just adorable.  Once you add the card, you can embellish all you want or keep it  simple like I did with the one below.

The Fancy Pants Blog is always full of inspiring projects if you have time ... check it out :)
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Those of you who have been readers of my blog for a while now, know I have been on a mission to simplify.  Simplify in many different aspects of my life.  Purge.  Have less.  Keeps whats really important,... get rid of the rest.  This is a HUGE step for me, because I have always been a  keeper and a saver of all things!  I've always liked organization, but I like STUFF!     I have really been working on this.  It feels good to get rid of things now. That's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is convincing myself I don't need  every other cool thing I find at a fleamarket. lol     I do love decorating. And I love decorating by being thrifty or repurposing something.  That's the fun of it all!  Nothing like a good deal!
I could tell when my decorating taste really started to change.  I defiantly started liking things more "simple" than before.   I enjoy decorating for Holidays but I don't begin to put out decor anything like what I used too.
I thought I'd share some photos of my simple "Autumn" decor.

That arrow IS from the flea market last weekend. ( hanging head in shame)  ...but I just couldn't resist!!

Luckily the colors in my living room and dinning room are "Fallish".  I just change out the Spring/Summer Flowers and photos to Fall.

It's not feeling like Fall in the house without a  Mulled Cider candle or two burning, and some bittersweet.

I made this simple circle garland last year.  I'm so glad I decided to save it, I still love it.

I always leave my fiesta dishes out on the counter.  Once because that's what we use.. and two, because they are too pretty to put in the cupboard lol   I just put the red and  aqua ones away and left these more Fall colors out.

My sis, turned me on to these fun pillow covers you can find at Hobby Lobby.  I just change them out for the Season. They are inexpensive and are often 40% off.    When you use the same pillow form and just change out the covers, it saves you so much space.  You only have to pack away the covers.

My little crow sits happily in the wreath by the front door.

And , how lucky am I? my friend Karen grew gourds this year.... and shared her bounty!!  Arent  they beautiful?

 

 

The little scarecrow couple stands out at the edge of the yard.   ( They don't scare my enough to keep me out of there, but that poison ivy  does!! )

I love Fall.  There is one thing I always miss when this time of the years comes.  That is the drive  mom and I would take each Fall to the Apple Barn.  We would get apples for mom to make pies.  Have cider, and enjoy the beautiful ride there and back.
I can remember taking the photo below, just like it was yesterday.  I asked her to stand there so I could take her picture.  As crazy as I'm sure she thought I was with my photos, she humored me.  I'm so thankful now for these photos and these memories.

Take photos my friends.  Don't just take them... print them off.  It's important

Thanks for letting me share

Vic

Florals Finds and Glorified Junk Flea market weekend

Hey!!  Before I do my next "crafty" post, I thought I'd just share some photos from the flea market weekend at Florals Finds and Glorified Junk (hwy 30 just East of North Bend NE).     It was such a beautiful Fall weekend for a Flea market.

 Absolutely perfect weather!

Tom and Lynda have such a  great place and in a perfect location, right off the North side of the hwy.  Lynda always has everything done up so cute.

Her little boys were selling the pumpkins, gourds, zucchini and other produce they had grown.

 

I didn't get around to take photos like I had hoped. I kind of just took photos from where we were.  This guy had some amazing pieces!  I promised myself to try to be good and not come home with more than I sold. lol   I bought a couple of wooden arrows( I'll share a photo in my next post) , but other than that, I did pretty well. ( patting myself on the back).

I have been selling some of my Longaberger Baskets.  I still have plenty, so if there is something your looking for email me.  Selling reasonable.

 

There was all kinds of fun things to look at and tempt me.  My sis was selling also.  She sold her wicker pieces  right away.

I sold a number of Fall and Halloween banners.     I also sold a lot of canvases.  Those I actually had sold before a ever got to the flea market so, that was  awesome.

Like I said, it was just an enjoyable day.

This is Lynda's darling little potting shed!!!

This is where Jan and I were set up.   Just past the awesome truck, right at the entrance.

Jan and I were both happy to have cleared out some closet and garage space and made a few $ .   This flea market was just Sat, so Sunday was just spent putting a few things a way and chilling out.  Dan had to work this weekend so I was on my own for dinner.  So you can imagine I was  thrilled when Wes showed up and offered to grill.  YAY!!!   No cooking for me! And he's always good about cleanup also.

It was just all around a nice weekend , spend with Jan and Keith, ... and Wes.    And running into all kinds of nice people at the flea market.  You cant beat that!


I'll be back with a crafty post to share, but I'd love it if you'd pop over and see my project up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog today HERE.

THANKS!!!!!

Vicki

Little gift bags using Fancy Pants Designs "True Friend" Collection and crafting with the girls

I've been looking forward to getting together with the girls for a little crafting and a lot of chatting! It seems like  we have all been busy with weddings, showers, ect, and haven't found the time for a little visiting/craft day for a while.    We made plans to meet for lunch and then come over here for a little  crafting.
We usually give each other little gifty things. It's just some added fun :)
I used the "True Friend" Collection from Fancy Pants Designs to embellish these little bags.  I used my AccuCut Bow die for the paper bows VC106

I filled them with this Trail Mix.   It's yummy!   I settled for just the craisins instead of raisins and cranberries. And I think next time I make it, I'll double the mixture of brown sugar, butter and cinn, mixture, that you pour over it, because I found that some of the pieces didn't get covered.   I figure... if your going to blow the calories... go all the way. lol
 

Breakfast Trail Mix

These are the cards we made using the "Creating with Vintage Halloween" CD from Crafty Secrets.  You can see the post about these and other projects using this CD HERE.

Here are all the cute little gifts the girls brought :)

In case I haven't subjected you to enough calories today. Be aware of these , if you haven't tried them. eeeekkk!  Karen had   that cute little jar filled with these Russell Stovers Caramel Apple Chews. Oh my!
Yum!  You have been warned!

Today was the first time my sis met Lily. 

By the  look on Lilys face I think she loves Aunt Jan. lol

Crafting was  fun, but it was so nice just to sit and chat. We had so much catching up to do.

Stories to tell. lol
I am so lucky to have these friends that I feel so comfortable with.

 sayingsquote.com




Thanks for stopping by!  I hope your week is off to a great start!


Vicki