HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Memories of My Beautiful Mother~~~~

My dear sweet mother passed away 25 years ago this November. Not a day has gone by that I don’t think of her and miss her.
She had a heart of gold! Such a sweet and gentle soul. She filled my life with happiness each and every day. I learned so many wonderful things from her! Please feel free to click on the pics to see a larger version!

Above is Mom’s pretty peach cameo she gave to me when I got my first job in Philadelphia.

Below is Mom in 1978. She always looked so pretty!

Mom and Dad's wedding picture. Her and my father got married in 1941 just before he left for WW 2. I wanted to share with you some of her pictures, she had such a beautiful sense of style as you can see from these pics. She always wore a hat gloves and beautiful shoes. I guess that is where I get my love of clothes!

She used to send my father these beautiful pics while he was away at war.

Mom decorated store front windows in Philadelphia during the war and again in Florida after the war. She always decorated our home beautifully. No matter where we lived, my father being in the Air Force we moved a lot, she always made our house a cozy little home. I guess that’s where I get my decorating from!

A few things she always told my sister and I~~~~

1.Live by the golden rule.
2.If you don’t have something nice to say then don’t say anything
3.Never judge anyone because you don’t know what made them that way.

Mom with her two nephews.

She and my fathers sister were the best of friends and they were always together while their husbands were at war. They were just beautiful, weren’t they? Aunt Jeans (on left) husband did not make it home from the war, he was in the Navy and was buried at sea. My Aunt raised her three children by herself. She was a wonderful person to, I loved her dearly.

Here' my Mom and my Aunt Jean years later in1972 with my daughter Jennifer.

After the war my father was stationed in Florida, Mom always said it was like a paradise for them, they had a little one room apartment close to the beach and were as happy as can be. Just the two of them.

Mom and Dad were married 43 years when she passed away. Dad passed away five years after her. He was a lost soul without her.

These are some books that I enjoy looking through every Mother's Day. I set them out on the table in my upstairs sitting room.

Well I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me! I wish you all a wonderful Mothers Day.

Blessings! Shirl

May Day Swap

Hello, so glad you stopped by! I took part in a May Day Swap with a group that I belong to called “Pretty Romantic Homes.” My partner this time was Connie from Living Beautifully. The idea was to give a container of some sort, decorated or not, filled with craft stash and also give a tea or coffee and a sweet treat. We opened and put up pics and had a sweet little treat all at the same time in our little chat room. What Fun!!!! Please feel free the click on the pictures to see a larger version of all the pretties!

On the receiving end ~~~

You sure did spoil me Connie! She sent me ribbons, roses, clip art, cards, a whole page of postal stamp clip art {which I had none so that is a real treat}, wonderful scented strawberry pin cushion, gorgeous tote bag with big ribbon rose, note pads, lace, rose china, dove chocolate, peach ice tea, and gingerbread spice tea. All packed in a pretty flower box!

A few close ups

I had to get a close up of this tote. This is a real treasure for me, totes are one of my favorite things. I use a different one everyday. When I pick out my outfit for a day out and about town I pick out a tote to go with it. Thank you so much Connie! So much thought and time went into this beautiful gift! I can't wait to start crafting will all this pretty stash!

On the giving end ~~~

I made for Connie a pretty box covered in a pink and white toile. Connie loves pink and I know she loves toile so I thought this was a perfect choice for her.

This is what Connie says she is going to do with the box ~~~“I'm thinking I'm going to put the box on a cake server platter and put my faux cake on top of that. Now, wouldn't that be a real "eye stunner"?!?!?! “ What a beautiful and creative idea!!!

Close up of some of the stash!

Cards, tags and millinery flowers, Australian teadrop crystals.

Ribbons, trims, tags, buttons crepe paper, fresh lavender. I embroidered in silk pink roses on yellow because Connie loves pink and yellow together.

Sweet treats of Lindt White Chocolate coconut, white chocolate chip cookies and herbal tea.

Connie loves aprons and makes them to sell on her web site so I could not resist making her this tag and giving her some scraps of aprons!

And finally a card wishing Connie a Happy May Day!

This was so much fun and I’m glad you stopped in to see! Please come back again, I have a lovely post planned next. You won’t want to miss it!
Blessings to you! Shirl

Happy May Day!!!

Hello and Happy May Day! It's a beautiful day here in WV on the first day of May!

May Day Around the World~~~

Some countries still celebrate May Day. In France, May Day is a flower festival. Delicate white flowers called lilies of the valley are believed to bring good luck. In Denmark, sweethearts give each other bouquets of lilies of the valley. Holland celebrates May 1 with a tulip festival. On May 1 in Greece, the schools are closed. The students trek into the woods to gather flowers. In some other countries, May is a day of parades.

I could not resist sharing this cute little pic from a new CD that I just purchased on ebay! Isn't she sweet?

Below is a pic of the first banner I've made, I used silk for the background. Do you like?

A fewcloseups.

Notice Holly Hobbie peeking around the corner?

You can't see too much of it but I just painted this garden trellis in cottage green to hang tags and banners on.

Below is a card and tag I recently made for a sweet friend of mine.

Thank you for stopping by! Tomorrow I will post some pics of my May Day Swap, be sure to stop back and look when you have time!

Blessings to you! Shirl

Vintage Post Card and a Sweet Sentiment

My hubby and I had a nice day out and about yesterday, hitting some antique and craft stores and then we had a nice dinner at Outback before heading home. While hubby was looking at a civil war cannon I found this sweet postcard. Being a hopeless romantic I just had to share this bit of the past with you! What sweet words written from a gentler time! Feel free to click on the pics for a larger closeup of the pics! Written in March of 1917~~~In his words~~~

“Dear Grand Momma, how are you and Grand Papa & Aunt Flora? I am a little cranky you ought to see me go upstairs. Papa is a little better. Momma is all Ok only a cold. I wish you a Happy Birthday
From your loving Grandson Hamilton”

I wonder why he was cranky? I wonder why the problem going upstairs? What a gentle soul! A beautiful letter like this is such a treasure. Notice their is no street address, just name and city and state.

Here are three other postcards that I could not resist! The one has a beautiful dark blue velvet opening that looks like it might have had some type of ribbon work that is peaking out from behind the card. I thought I would do some ribbon work or maybe put a piece of antique jewelry on it.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this little piece of the past as much as I did! Blessings! Shirl

Crafting Day With Friends & Lunch

Hello, thank you for stopping by! I get together once a month with some friends to do a craft and have lunch. This month we decided to do a quilted wall hanging with an appliqué spring bird house with roses. It was a such a nice day, it was warm enough to open the windows and listen to the birds sing. The birdfeeders are right outside my sewing room window so we were close enough to hear their songs! Below is a pic of my sewing supplies all ready and waiting for my friends to arrive. Please feel free to click on the pics to get a larger and closer look. We were able to get the tops of our little wall hanging quilt done. So now we just have to do the machine appliqué, and quilt it. I did mine in very soft pastels. My friends did theirs in lavender. The size of this little wall hanging is about 20 x 30. Lunch was simple but oh so good! I made old fashioned macaroni and cheese, fresh broccoli and French bread, with chocolate trifle for desert.

Here’s the recipe for the macaroni and cheese.

Old Fashioned Macaroni & Cheese
¾ Lb. of Elbows (Not quite a whole 1 LB Box)
Half Stick Butter
2 TBLS Flour
4 Cups Milk
1 LB White American Cheese
Make a Rue Sauce:
Melt a Half Stick Butter over
Medium heat
Stir in 2 TBLS Flour
Gradually stir in 4 cups of milk
Wisk, do not leave or milk will curdle
When sauce begins to thicken add
1 LB. White American Cheese (I love Land O Lakes)
Continue to stir
After melted and creamy divide among two
Baking dishes with cooked elbow.
Sprinkle with Paprika, Salt & Pepper to Taste
Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 Min. Till Bubbly
And a Little brown around edges
By not using the full pound of elbows this recipe is
Very creamy, Just the way I like it. It will seem like
a lot of sauce but the noodles absorb some of the sauce.
It will bake fine.

Here’s the recipe for trifle~~~

Dark Chocolate Cake mix baked and cut into cubes

(I put milk in place of the water in mix for a more moist cake)

One Pint Heavy Cream Whipped with Sugar to Taste

Cherry Pie Filling

Layer in a Trifle bowl alternating.

Top with some sprinkles or fruit if desired.

This can be made with any type of cake and fillings, use your imagination!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed peeking into my crafting day. Be sure to stop back again, for our next craft day we are going to make another quilted wallhanging of a teapot and strawberry shortcake. It's so sweet, I can't wait to get started! I'm already picking out fabrics.

Blessings to You! Shirl