Pink Saturday with my feet up…

Yep, I’m spending Pink Saturday in my recliner with my feet up…Yes, I finally joined the 21st century got a laptop and so I can check in on the blog world in my favorite pink slippers…first, my Goody Goody Bon Bons. They are the ugliest prettiest slippers ever. The fabrics and trims are just the best and they were soooo pretty when they were new.

They’re  only about four years old, but they’ve had a hard life…I don’t just wear them as indoor house slippers as they were designed…no, I putter around the patio with my breakfast coffee in hand and my pretty satin slippers on my feet…lovely, until I realize that the bird feeder is empty…and before you know it, those lovely slippers are traipsing around in the dew and I’ve found two or three more garden chores that need tending to…the limestone and gravel path is hard on bedroom wear…my sweet pink Karen Neuburger slides have met the same fate…

The fabric on the toes has worn thin and they are showing their mistreatment…I promise myself and my sweet shoes that as soon as we step out the door, I’ll slip into my rubber clogs  before I get sidetracked.  I mean well, but I’m more easily distracted these days, and, well, I just forget my footwear and pick up the shears for a little deadheading in the roses and then I see an ant trail that needs attention and it’s all over. But I don’t have my feet up just to confess my slipper sins…I have my feet up because I can now share Pink Saturday with a whole new latitude and attitude…I think I’ll check in on Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see who’s posting today. I could get used to this!!!

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog

Pink Saturday Berries for the Birds and Deer

Our lane has a long row of native Anaqua trees. They have a dark green leaf that is leathery and rough like a cat’s tongue. Every spring they are covered with clouds of white star-shaped flowers. By mid to late summer, they are covered with little berries about the size of small cranberries..

They start off being yellow, then they turn pinkish coral and then deep pinkish purple. As they ripen and fall, the birds and the deer enjoy the bounty.

Mama doe enjoys a quick snack of berries.

Papa buck joins her some mornings…He is still “in velvet” and his horns are round at the tips…looks like 8-points.

The baby twins usually hang around in the thicket, but once in a while, they venture out to join mama munching on the sweet berries…

They are pretty shy… she has taught the little ones to seek cover when we are in the yard. But she comes pretty close; in fact, if I’m offering bread, she comes very close…

Now, isn’t that just the sweetest little face? And just look at those big eyes…I used to fuss at her for munching on my pink roses…but I’ve had an attitude adjustment…more of a “ PINKatude” and as I have said before, the roses have never made me as happy as my little deer families with their new babies every spring…Now swing in to Beverly’s blog to pick up the list of today’s Pink participants. You know there’s sure to be lots of fun.

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Time to Stay Inside and Make Something Pink…

Summer has arrived bringing with her with a hot Texas sun!  Time to make a pitcher of lemonade…Pink, of course, and work on indoor projects. Today I’m showing one of my Pocketful of Memories books…. This one has four pockets and it’s  filled with lots of pretty Pinks.  The book has a Ticket Theme…The cover has a few buttons, some peachy-pink flowers and flowered tissue covering some vintage dictionary pages.

It started with a small children’s book, some pretty tissue, and four inspirational embellished tags. Inside there are four “pockets” that are perfect for holding the tags. They were punched with a sweet border punch…then they were inked and tied with vintage seam binding and other fibers.

Glittered scrapbook flowers add more Pink to the pockets and the tags. The tags encourage us to “Fly” and “Dream” while giving us  admission to La La Land and Wonderland…

It looks so cute when all the tags are in place…

Now, wasn’t that cooling and refreshing? Yep! I may stay indoors making cute little Pink books until September!!! Today is perfect for Pink Saturday visits, so head over to Beverly’s How Sweet The Sound  for the list of today’s participants.  She’s been busy getting the list together. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ 

Last Saturday I had a visit from Kathy at A Delightsome Life… She has lots of great Pinks to share and lots of comings and goings-on…Stop in and Say “Hi”. she might just have a cup of tea waiting for you. http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/

I’ll be celebrating the Grand Opening  of  The Gruene Flour Cupcakery in their new location…I hear they’ve added cookies to the menu! and new cupcake flavors! Oh, it’s going to be a great sugar-high Pink Saturday! Check them out if you’re in town for Gruene Market Days .   

Lilies are loving the rain

 

I have some lovely lilies to share today…they’re getting ready for Pink Saturday and they are turning out to show off…Ready to open…on Wednesday while it was misting.

Along with their darker pink cousin lilies…

I don’t know the names of any of them, just their provenance…these came from Uncle Arno and Aunt Hilda by way of my mother who gave me a blub several years ago…now I have at least six…and you can see how many buds are in each bloom…I count nine or ten for sure.

I try to keep them trimmed as the spent flowers begin to fade…they look prettier with just the fresh flowers…and I think they keep producing more buds…the white spider lilies are also just starting to bloom…they came from my sister by accident…she thought she was giving me elephant ear bulbs…she got them from her friend, Kathy, I think. They are probably my favorites.

When they first open, they are  really star shaped…

But as they spread out, they become more round in the center…kind of like me…spread out and round in the center.

They also have lots of buds in each bloom. Sometimes we have so many that I cut them and bring them into the house.  Now if my sister reads this, she’ll think twice about digging up mystery bulbs for me again….I think I’ll tag a few to dig up this fall…I should return the favor…it’s the Pink thing to do, don’t you think?

Head on over to Beverly’s house at  How Sweet the Sound to get the list of today’s list of Pink Saturday participants http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

and then stop in to say “Hi” to Yoli at Apron Senorita http://apronsenorita.blogspot.com/ We visited last Saturday and found out that we both grew up in  the Rio Grande Valley in deep South Texas! Not only that , but we both live in the same central Texas town now!!!  It’s a small world in blogland for sure!!! She has the most amazing list of daily and weekly blog parties…you love something? there’s a weekly blog celebrating it…you collect something? it’s on the list somewhere. her list is worth the visit! Happy Pink Saturday to one and all.

Happy Birthday, Kara Elizabeth

Well, my baby sister has an 18 year old “baby” as of Monday…and it sure has slipped up on the older adults in her life! Look at us as she celebrated her first Christmas…

She was such a little pixie elf…and look at her picking bluebonnets…she loves flowers and she would head straight for them always picking blooms for Mom…

When she was older, she spent weekends with us…of course, her favorite place to be was down on the river. Here we are with the twins one July 4th …

and Michael-Mike helped her catch her first perch! I don’t know who was more proud or excited…

And she was always so bold…she would catch minnows with her bare hands and pounce to grab little frogs! No fearful shrinking violet this one! She has always been brave about things she really wants to do… Look at this tricycle Uncle Mike bought for her…

It’s British and has hand brakes for goodness sakes! She would race up and down the drive and I had to play traffic cop with stop and go hand gestures. It was really fast and she went over on it a time or two…did that deter her? Well, what do you think? She and Michael-Mike decorated it for Kindermasken Parade in New Braunfels.

Can you see the stick horse she has tied to the handlebar? She was already a horse lover at heart. She put on her little straw sombrero and rode the whole parade looking over her shoulder…

because her favorite part of the parade was behind her…

That’s her “I can’t contain myself…I’m so excited!” gesture…She was giddy over the horses! That was then. Look at her now… Fast forward a few years and my baby sister’s “baby” turned sixteen!

She celebrated that one with Willie Nelson at his big bash…

We had a hard time accepting the idea that she was sixteen…but EIGHTEEN!!! It is going to take some getting used to… Here she is last Christmas getting into her letter jacket…diving team at Incarnate Word High School…She will start her senior year this fall and in the blink of an eye she’ll be graduating…we are so proud of her and the most excellent young woman she is becoming.

Even though it seems rushed to us, she has really taken her time growing up and she has filled her life with good choices. And she has given us all eighteen years of joy. Happy Birthday, Baby!

Pink Saturday Wax Painting…thank goodness for good teachers…

Last year Tina Wright taught a wonderful solder class where I made this sweet glass and silver wall ornament. I had never soldered until I met Tina at “Paper Cowgirl”, but that didn’t slow us down. No, sir, in true Cowgirl fashion she had me jump right in! And without slowing down or looking back, we used glass and vintage dictionary entries, a sweet phrase, “Home is Where You Roost” and solder to create a special little house

It hangs in my bedroom and it reminds me of her dedication to Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat. Her vision of women coming together to share their talents and to learn from one another was shared by Cindy Mayfield who has carried on that dream. We just celebrated the third annual Paper Cowgirl Retreat in Waxahachie, Texas. We remembered Tina and toasted to her and thought of her and missed her. But we didn’t let her vision dim or her dream go by the way side…

And in true Cowgirl spirit I took another class that had me in over my head and swimming in uncharted waters. Sandra Feazel taught a class using hot wax. She had us create background details in Pink and cream and coffee-chocolate.Then we added creamy old sheet music scraps; incorporated color and pattern with bits of paper…We were chatting and visiting… Smooth sailing…until she lowered the boom and explained that we would be painting the next elements…a TREE…a NEST…and a BIRD!  That’s right! PAINTING!…not cutting and pasting, but PAINTING!  And so we did (except for Judy J. who cut the sample nest and the bird from the instructions sheet). Here’s mine…

The Pink flowers and the Pink swirls reminded me of Pink Saturday while I painted and the nest and little bluebird made me think of my project from the year before. And like our class with Tina, Sandra was patient and encouraging, and she put us so at ease that we painted those canvases just like we knew what we were doing. And then she taught us how to cover them with a beautiful blanket of beeswax.   

Now that sweet little bluebird sings to her nest and her two eggs.

And I smile when I look at both those pieces…not because either is great art, but because I am still alive enough to take a plunge and because I have been fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful Pink women who do such wonderful things for the hearts and arts of each other. Pink Blessings to you all week. Now head over to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog She has a big ol’ list of Pink Saturday ladies just waiting to share their Pink  spirit with you today.

2010 Paper Cowgirl withdrawal... I Can't Believe It's Over

Paper Cowgirl Altered Art Retreat 2010 was an amazing three day event! It was so good seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I took three super classes that ranged from book making with Deb Taylor to learning new tag embellishing techniques from Chantal Johnson and even painting with hot wax in Sandra Feazel's class. We had such fun. Of course, I think I had the most fun in my Pocketful of Memories Altered Book class. When we alter a book in Waxahachie, we go all the way...we cut out pages, folded, pasted, taped, stamped, decopagued, and layered like you wouldn't believe.

2010 Paper Cowgirl My class
Originally uploaded by lbjonriver

Here we are...the Pocketful of Memories Altered Book class. You would not believe how great their books turned out...well, yes, you would believe it when you look at the talents they brought to class with them...and each book was totally different from the others!
After all the preparation and excitement, it's hard to believe that we won't see each other until next year...thank goodness for our blogs.