Monday, June 18, 2012

A Little Treat for the Book Group

I belong to a book group.
Most, but not all of the women are from our church.
We meet on the second Thursday of the month at each other's homes...
rotating every month. We discuss the book we've read for
that month and we have lunch provided by the hostess.
In August David & I host a cook-out for all of the Book Groupettes,
as my friend Anne refers to us, and our spouses.

Last week was the last get-together of our Book Group until September.

We are a fun-loving bunch of women (15 now!) 
I took my camera with me last week to snap some pictures and ended up having so much fun that the camera never came out of my bag. Oh my!
Over the summer, we don't have an assigned book to read, we just read for pleasure and then when we gather in September, we can each suggest a book for the coming year.
I love this group!
We have a good time, sure, but it's so much more than that.
We are like sisters, laughing together, praying for each other and sharing Christ-centered  fellowship.
I decided to make a book marker for each of the ladies. They can use it over the summer and then put the list of books we decide on for next year on the back.

I used all layered digital elements...playing with digital images is a lot of fun!

Our book for June was the one pictured, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B Ross.
It is the first of a series and we all enjoyed it very much.
I already ordered the next few in the series from my favorite source
found HERE.
Half.com is a great place to show for used and sometimes new books.

Getting together once a month gives us a chance to share information
that is useful or fun. This is what I learned last week from Lois.
When you buy fresh berries (I had cherries), rinse them off and then
fill a large bowl with cold water and a small amount of vinegar.
(I used 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar)
Pour the fruit into the bowl and let it soak for a while.
Drain the fruit in a colander but don't rinse.
Line another bowl with a paper towel and dump the drained fruit
in the bowl. Refrigerate.

Doing this will keep the fruit about 3 times fresher than
just washing the fruit. Try it. The fruit does not have any taste
of vinegar, either.
Now I have a question for you. Do you take your own picture for your blog profile and Facebook?
My daughter-in-law is an expert at that
 hold-the-camera-away-from-you-and-take-your-own-picture thing.
I spent waaaay more time than I should have working on that today. I finally got so tired of looking at my own double chin and crow's feet that I gave up.
Maybe that's the trick...that 20+ year difference in our ages!!


Now if you really want to see some cute pictures...how 'bout these 2?

Charlie is 4 1/2 and Miles is 19 months.
We miss them lots!
xoxo
Joyce


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Some Pre-Summer Randomness...

A few things showed up in my mail...or in my cart at Sam's Club this past week..
This gorgeous pillow cover from Dear Lillie...
(photo from the web-store here)
And here it is in our family room...

This is one of the 2 wing chairs we had reupholstered before Christmas. I bought them at a house sale 10? years ago and they and a matching ottoman were $75.
Here is a "before" picture...they were pretty tired

 I love them now...very neutral.
I also put the summer slipcover (a Pottery Barn steal on eBay a bunch of years ago) on the sofa, hung the summer quilt (this is not a handmade quilt but a manufactured Country Living throw. I just couldn't resist the colors!) and put out the garden pillows. The sweet little Home Sweet Home pillow was from my friend Marie, of Spun By Me.



  

I went to Sam's Club to buy a roasted chicken and these magazines jumped into my cart. When you
 are addicted to  enjoy magazines as much as I do, it's nice to get them at a big discount.
Are you enjoying all of the wonderful fruit that is showing up at the farm stores?
Our local farm, Soergels, had their wonderful strawberries when we stopped the other day..

OK-I guess that's enough yumminess for one week.

XOXO
joyce

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Collage Swap

Some friends and I recently completed a Bits & Pieces Collage Swap. There were 8 who participated, 4 pairs of partners. The challenge was to create an 8X8" art board or canvas collage for our partner incorporating their likes in terms of color and style. Everyone made wonderful works of art and if you follow the links at the bottom of this post, you can see them all.
 My partner was my blogging friend, Mary of Thyme To Spare.We have done some one-on-one swaps before and Mary has sent me lovely gifts over the years. She is a wonderful paper crafter and a good friend.
This is the beautiful canvas she created for me...






Mary knows that I like soft colors and the base of the canvas is painted and stamped.
Each little square is like a work of art...my favorite hydrangeas and peonies are featured in addition to pale pink seam binding, a nest and bird and bits of crocheted lace and buttons. Great care was taken in creating this piece and I will treasure it!
Mary also included some fun supplies...

Mary knows me pretty well don't you think?
Of course I had to chuckle when I saw the canvas at first because our tastes are very similar...
why we were good partners. I thought I would give you some step-by-step pictures
 showing how I created Mary's board...(feel free to run and get a snack and a cold drink)
First, the supplies are gathered...

the background of the board is vintage looking ledger paper.

The the scalloped squares are added....I don't measure, I just eyeball the placement
Then the fun of assembling begins...M is for Mary of course

Birds and nests


some vintage buttons and a vintage looking flower...


I used 3 images of garden fairies to represent Mary's 3 Granddaughters, printing them twice and making them dimensional...




So much fun to create...


Now on to the other swappers.
Please take time to visit the other ladies and feast your eyes on their collages.
Everyone did a wonderful job and I'm so happy to be friends with all of them!




Susie of South City Hues


Laurie at Laurie Star


Aren't they all wonderful?


xoxo
Joyce

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