spring swap: from the u.s.a. to the netherlands with love

Heleen and Corry hosted a spring surprise swap

and my swap partner and I recently received our items.

This is my small labor of love that I sent His.








My idea on what to send to His came from this book, a memory tile game, using photos from His' blog.  I tried to have a diverse group of photos from beautiful cakes His creates to important family creations or outings.  Her family enjoys going on vacations and so I thought the game could be taken along as entertainment while reaching their destination or it could be used by His and her small daughter--a great game for a young developing mind.



I really enjoyed making these small squares.

.................................................................
Below is what His sent to me.




A gift beautifully wrapped up in the most exquiste paper and ribbon!



Very pretty sationery paper with lovely words written on the back.



Once I unwrapped the gift there were other little gifts wrapped in beautiful tissue paper (kind of like nesting dolls). I received some tea bags and a genuine dutch stroopwafel



And look at the pretty fabrics!



I unwrapped some more and saw what His had made me. A beautiful dreamcatcher with flowers, butterfly and bird (these are some of my favorite things). :)





And finally to top everything off a little boat with my name and a special message inside.





Thank you dear His I love all my little gifts!

This was my first swap and it was a positive experience. I was a little apprehensive sending that first email to His.  What do I say?  The beginning of anything is always the hardest, but not too soon afterwards His and I found out we had much in common--like I think we have the same sense of humor, which is important. Anyway, I've made a friend a long distance one, but nevertheless just as important. :) 

marie-antoinette

Somethings I love are history, costumes, films, music, fashion, books, magazines and flowers;
hence, my fascination with Marie-Antoinette who seems to fill all my categories of things I love.

Fortunately, for me others seem to like her just as much and have written and made films about her.  Several years ago Sophia Coppla made a film about the young Marie-Antoinette and lucky for me a small craze began.




VOGUE issue September 2006

a fantastic little book



this must have inspired VOGUE's cover above







another great book

Music, films,flowers, costumes, fashion, history, books and magazines.........Love.

buttermilk is....

fresh, white, pristine, creamy, thick, tangy and helps in making 

perfect bread dough that will rise



and allow for the creating and baking of delicious homemade buttermilk bread



that can be eaten right out of the oven with butter and cherry jam



 the next day there is enough buttermilk to bake these up



buttermilk biscuits with more butter and cherry jam

Oh my! Buttermilk you are so grand

oh yeah--so are you butter and cherry jam

pop up books

Do you love pop up books?

Well, I do--how someone can come up with these amazing mechanical books is beyond me.

Several years ago Neiman Marcus created a pop up book for their 100th anniversary celebration and I was able to get one for about $7.00 and now the value has shot up. I love all my books very much--I couldn't bear to part with them no matter what the price.

the butterflies are amazing to me

close-up of the butterflies

I love the colors of this one

looking at this book recently again--I would have to say this one is my favorite scene

it has so much detail and a little secret compartment

when you open the little door on the top left this appears--a small book with art images

Definitely a marriage of art and fashion.

little tap dance

Between winter and spring when all the trees are bare of any foliage--these Japanese trees are a sight to see. They are the only trees with foliage and flowers blooming. I always love to see them--some of the trees have white flowers like these above while others have a light pink or a strong purplish color to them. I'm also doing a little tap dance because I mailed my swap partners package off. I can now wipe my forehead off--and continue sewing my camera bag. :)

one cross stitch at a time

Lately I've been going through boxes that I haven't gone through in years. You open the box not really expecting to find anything important, but then you start pulling things out of it and begin to feel like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.  It's kind of a magical feeling you get inside yourself because you become re-introduced to things and feelings that you've forgotten, but were important to you at one time.  A walk back into to time--if you will. 

I guess in a way I feel like sleeping beauty up above "re-awakened" by having found the unfinished cross-stitch project below.

Although, I have several completed cross-stitch samples that are framed and hanging on my walls--I don't "really" think about them or about cross-stitch anymore. But now having pulled out the unfinished sampler from the box--I remember working on cross stitch, the joy of getting all the supplies together and looking at the pattern, plotting out my destination on how I was going to begin and end and seeing all the colors come together before my eyes--one cross stitch at a time.

Now when I pass by my little samplers hanging on my wall I can re-appreciate them and the person I was way back when--all over again.

books, catalogs, rain, alice and oscars

The mail on Saturday was very good to me--I received a box full of books I had ordered awhile back and if that weren't perfect enough two of my favorite catalogs arrived as well.  I was in seventh heaven and still am.

anthropologie and j. crew catalogs

Beautiful Spring Covers

More books from Saturday. The one on the left is a children's book I've wanted for sometime. I'm still looking through everything I received while listening to the light rain outside.

Now I have to give my own little movie and oscar reviews--for anyone who cares out there. :)

We saw Tim Burton's latest film Alice and Wonderland  this past Monday and it was possibly my fault--with my high expectations--that I didn't completely love the film.  I don't believe the actress who plays Alice was very good--Johnny Depp changed his accent three times--first British accent, second Scottish accent and at other times he had his Jack Sparrow accent--a little annoying.  I thought the beginning and end of the story were weak.  Also, this was more of a Return to Alice and Wonderland and not Alice and Wonderland. Helena Bonham Cater and Anne Hathaway were wonderful . The film was visually beautiful--Tim Burton is master of this, but the film had problems--so, sad.

As for the Oscars last night--it was live, but there were so many flubs from the production of it and overall not very exciting.  The best part were Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin who weren't present enough--I thought.

And now I will say adieu for today.

a family pet portrait

Daisy and Mama are our pets.

We adopted Daisy about 2 years ago from the SPCA -- they told us she was a rescue and had been with them for a month.  They were so happy when we adopted her--After filling out the paperwork I kind of got the impression that Daisy (I don't know how else to put it) may not have lasted any longer if we hadn't adopted her.  She's a sweet loving dog who is a mix border terrier. 

As for Mama she has been with us for over 5 years and was found on the side of the road one late night--I'm more than certain she had been abandoned.  Mama has a difficult personality in that she wishes she were the only pet--and I'm afraid that is an impossible wish.

Most of the time they stay out of each others way, but can be caught cuddling up together once in awhile.

alice and her little gang

Well I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Tim Burton's film to be released!

This is my small collection of Alice and Wonderland items, which I've collected through the years.

The Mad Hatter in back I purchased last year.

rainy day

Last week was crazy and hectic.

Since, last Sunday I dealt with laptop problems, which consumed my entire week.

Who would have thought--not I--but it did.

However, now I know how to:

• run a bios test on my computer
• know where my battery and hard drive are located
• where to find and buy a new hard drive
• know what a caddy/mounting bracket is
• know how to replace a hard drive
• understand the importance of having created recovery discs
• and now know how long it takes to re-install all my programs

Today

I'm done with my errands and just enjoying the rainy day with music, making zucchini bread and sipping some nice hot tea.