Whew! What a weekend! :))

This was taken from the Cottage of the Seasons blog site...

Dec 5th - 6th Atchison's Homes for the Holidays 7th annual tour. We are pleased to announce that we will be decorating and featuring our Christmas merchandise in the home of Cory & Christina Jackson – 520 N. 5th. We are so gracious to them for asking us to do this. For more information contact the Atchison Area Chamber of CommerceP.O. Box 126 • Atchison, KS 660021-800-234-1854 • tours@atchisonkansas.net

A BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! :)

SO MANY THANKS TO MELISSA AND KAREN!!!!!!

Participating in the Atchison Holiday Homes Tour was truly breathtaking... thanks to you both for the exquisite Christmas decor!! Our home looked extra special because of you and your efforts! We sure do appreciate you!

Another EXTREMELY special person that I would like to thank- and I couldn't have done this without, is my mother. Putting up with me was definately a chore and I'm sure, that I made mom just as nervous about the whole thing because of my insanity! I love you so very much!!! You were such a blessing to have around... helping out EVERYWHERE, doing a fantastic job volunteering, (noone knows our home quite like you do!), and just holding me up and supporting me during all those hectic moments, I truly thank you! ALL OF MY LOVE TO YOU, NANI!!!! XOXOXOX Thank you again for all of your time and everything you've done to make last weekend a success!!!

Also, to my family!!!!!! My husband and kids... oh, my poor family! They are very happy to be able to "live" in our home again. I was quite the mess to put up with, eating fast food and bologna for a week before the tour, cleaning like a crazy person and not letting them even use the bathroom downstairs!!! :)))) yikes! Paper plates rule! haha! THANK YOU TO MY FAMILY!!!! You all deserve a medal!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!!!!! XOXOXOXOX

Ladies and Gentleman,

Just a bit of my artwork below...

Two of my "pretties"...

I have alot of fun making these "doorknobbers", they always turn out to be a bit on the whimsical side. I don't think that they are too girlie, do you? :))))

"be a dreamer"

I delight in the smallest of things... miniature works of the heart.

Quirky, but these are some of the things that I love... I've got this bowl of goodies in my kitchen- along with the shelf pictured below. Beth & I walked to Nani & Papa's house for a bit and had a very nice visit... it's been a while since I've been out and about, we miss them so much! xoxox Love you both!!! :)

It's good to be back, hope all's well!

YUMMY!!!!!!!!

Well, well, well.... look who's back. I've been able to finally get the camera up and working, so I've got a lotta new fun to post! I'll start with one of my favorite collections. My alphabet letters. Imagine, thoughts spelled out on everything that will make these little cuties cling! :) I'll try to post daily as I've taken some more pictures of my favorite little vignettes around the house and also a few of my pieces of art. Enjoy!

Oh wow...

I really have to jump back onto the bandwagon, I've been out of the online mix for so long. Still no recent pic uploads- let me get busy. Be back soon! :)

Yep, I took the pledge...

Hopefully, I can stick to this one... I would love it if everyone could go "green" and handmade. I need to get serious and do my part in conservation and recycling efforts- still need to do some research and just get the ball rolling. This weekend is the Garden and Tea show and I'm really looking forward to it. Ooops, gotta run- be back later! xo

goodies...

I will be taking part in the 2nd annual Garden tour and Tea Party on Sat. June 14th. Here's to hoping that it will be a huge success for our West End businesses and the Wild Iris Garden Club- part of the proceeds will go to helping our local library (a place that's very dear to my heart) create beautiful gardens. Here's the info...

(GARDEN TOUR ONLY)
Friday June 13 from 1pm - 7pm
(GARDEN TOUR & TEA PARTY*)
Saturday June 14 from 10am - 4pm
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the weekend of the event. Buy your tickets at any of the following:
Marigold Bakery-Cafe 715 Commercial
Fresh 721 Commercial
Willow Brook - 117 North 8th Street
or
Snowball Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe 111 North 8th Street

The tours will have art by local artists on display at various houses. The art can be purchased at the booths set up in Atchison's Historic West End District along 8th Street between Commercial and Kansas Ave. While you are there, sample some tea as you will have stumbled right into the heart of our Garden Tea Party!
* At our Tea Party we request a $5.00 donation per person.
Tea will be served in a vintage teacup that is yours to keep.
(WHILE THEY LAST!)

Any questions? Email: atchisonwestend@yahoo.com

Hope the weather permits and of course, hope to see you there! :)

The awesome power of words.

Thank you, Marylin for such a heartfelt and inspiring message... you have captured many emotions and our thoughts and prayers go out to all. Anyone interested in warming the soul, please take some time out to read her latest blog entry titled "remembering". http://marylinsnouvelle.blogspot.com/ . Marylin has done such a fantastic job- putting the feeling into words... remember and realize how blessed we really are. Thank you , again for your thoughts. You are such a powerful spirit. Love, Christina

beautiful...

Oh my!

It's been a while... school's almost out and we can't wait!! It's going to be in the 80's this week- yippee!!! Great fishing weather for the guys. Are you ready for the bad news? No Riverbend this year. I know, I know, I've been looking forward to this for months now and just couldn't stop talking about it, but the timing just wasn't right for me this year. I'm actually pretty bummed out about it. This won't stop me from creating, it just slows me down. I'll have plenty of time to gear up for it next year. We'll catch up later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!!!!!!

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Cory...
Happy birthday to you!!!!!!

All of our love,
C, B+B!!!!!! xoxoxoxox

Hello everyone! I haven't done any posting in a while, In fact, I haven't done much of anything productive lately. Today, though, I worked all day long on a few new "creations" for the Riverbend. Memorial day weekend is really going to sneak up on me this year! On that note, I can't believe that the kids are almost out of school- what, three weeks or so? My gosh! Time has passed me by so quickly. I need to upload some more recent pictures for all to see. Most of my photos are from last year! (I just hate to admit that!) My camera's screen went out and finding the time to play photographer eludes me. Hmmm. I've joined a fantastic group of artists on creative souls and I really want to get some pics loaded, so I need to get moving, don't I? Until next time... tata for now! xo

cutie...

My two most precious possessions!

Brendan and Bethany! I love you both so much! This pic was taken last summer in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l park. What a setting! You guys are awesome! xoxoxoxox

icandy...

After the Riverbend... get ready, it'll be right around the corner!

Again, Mom & I... whaddaya think? We are pretty silly together and have so much fun!

Oh, wow. Mom & I being way too silly.

Beth took this picture of the two "simps". Bunny ears on Easter!! :) Love you, Mom!

Only 2 days 'til the big 38!!

I'm having a good week. Almost Friday, and really looking forward to it. No special reason- it's only MY BIRTHDAY. I'm one of those cheeseballs that really gets excited each and every year. Hey, my philosophy is: I'm blessed to be able to celebrate another year! I'm still young enough that I don't mind telling my age, but old enough to realize how fast time really does fly by! Oh, but don't worry-I'll let you know how I'm feeling after the big day. (We'll see if I still feel "young" enough.) Changing the subject... we just returned home after being walked by the dogs-ha! and I'm truly exhausted- so are they. It's always a workout. Our 2 german shepards like to pull and run around alot... you know how that goes. They're strictly indoor dogs and they only go outside to take care of business. So, in turn, when on a leash they like to drag me and wrap around every single pole, tree and hydrant while I'm busy trying to distract them from all of the squirrels and strays. Fun, fun, fun! We all got some overdue exercise. It was time to head back home, though. Not only were we all dog tired- (no pun intended, we walked about a mile) but I ran out of Wal-mart bags. Catch my drift? I'll write again soon. Time for some R&R. Bye! :)

Oh, so true!

FINALLY, HAPPY SPRING!!!!!!!

Yes, the first day of Spring has arrived... and not a moment too soon! Today I actually went to the first yard sale of the season (at least for me) and WOW- it was a good one! Lots and lots of treasures and at such a great price! It seemed as though the entire town was there... tons of traffic! I completely stumbled across this one. :) It was such a beautiful day today and it's so nice to be outdoors again! TaTa for now.

What a nice weekend!

Hello and welcome to the weekend! We are so excited... our daughter, Bethany is playing the character Nyra in a local production of the "Jungle Book". Opening night was a blast and she didn't miss a beat! Today is her second performance - ready, set, GO! What a great time it is! Papa also returns home this weekend... we can't wait to see him and give him big hugs! Don't forget to wear green tomorrow! You wouldn't want to get pinched, now would you? Fresh cinnamon buns are calling, chef Bethany really hooked us up this afternoon!

Take a peek!

Okay, you have to look really, really closely at this photo to see this backyard baby! (To the left of the brush pile, directly below the telephone pole.) Last Spring, just before we made the move to our new home, a tiny bunny would come out of the brush and have the time of his life racing and jumping around like lightning- and being very silly! It truly was one of the most adorable sights! We would all check up on "the baby" early in the mornings and later on, after dinner in the evenings. Inevitably, it would always come out and entertain us. Almost as though it knew that we were watching and waiting just to see if it was still safe from harm... and all the while, putting on quite a show. That bunny was so very sweet to see!
I'm still anxiously awaiting Springtime. Can you tell? :)

Here, birdie, birdie!

So pretty!

Good morning!

Another gorgeous day! I really have to take some new pictures and hopefully, with Spring right around the corner, my daughter will be bringing home fistfuls of flowers! I think that Spring fever is in full swing now... and I'm definitely feeling it! (Even though it's going to get cold again this week, they say... blah!) I can't wait to spend our days outside playing.

What a beautiful day it is... and what a mood I'm in. I want to make something...I really should scratch the creative itch, but I have so much on my mind and I need to get things done around the house first! I need to keep myself busy for a while. I had my first baby bird leave the nest this week. My son decided that it was time to get a place of his own... he'll be 19, so I guess it was an overdue decision. I miss him so much already. My daughter is 13 and growing up just as fast. Time for teenager-round two! :) I know she'll keep me plenty busy! :) It seems like only yesterday... Time really does go by so quickly. I need to focus on that great feeling of accomplishment and everything will be fine. Ta Ta for now!

One of last year's art fair projects... I have alot of fun with these boxed beauties!!

Hello there! I'm just getting started, so please be patient with me. I have so many wonderful ideas that I would like to include... just give me some time. Bye, for now. Thanks for visiting!