Beachy Toasting Glasses and Decor

Our toasting glasses  arrived as well as some more of the pieces I'm using for decorating. Everything is really coming along! I can't wait to have the after pictures to show you!

Sand Castle Cake

Tomorrow we meet with our cake lady to find out if she can make the sand castle cake we are hoping for.

Here is a sample photo I found on http://www.cakemag.com/summer-cake-decorating-ideas/

Would that not be perfect for our beach wedding theme? Don't forget the cake topper that we bought, that has already arrived.

Starting a vegetable garden

                Here is a picture of our backyard.

Okay really it's a painting, done by my 11 year old, but it is a great illustration of our backyard. In the middle of our yard is one lonesome young tree.

My son did however, leave out the fact that we do have some large trees on our property behind what we have fenced off. So it's not quite as bare at it might seem back there. (note our trees are not green yet, this photo was from last fall, and the small tree is off to the left and not in this photo)

And now on to why I am writing about our backyard. I am in the process of planning a vegetable garden. Step one, is to decide where to plant it. Fortunately, our entire backyard has full exposure to the sun so really I could plant anywhere. And I will have the obstacle of our sprinkler system regardless where I decide to plant. The problem is, I'm not sure if I want to plant in the back of our yard so it's far from the house or closer to the house so I don't have as far to run the hose, carry equipment etc. Any suggestions?

I'm planning to start with a 10'x10' garden. I'm probably crazy to even be doing it this year, you know with a  spring wedding, the finishing of the basement, and everything else going on in my life right now. But I've had one before and I really feel at peace with the world when I can wake up and put my hands in the dirt.

I've been flipping through my seed catalogs for inspiration. I think I'm already behind in the game because most gardeners are starting seedlings inside already. Guess it's catch up time! I also found a county vegetable garden class that helps you plan what to plant for your family so you don't have a lot of waste. I am very excited about my potential garden!

Barefoot Sandals

This past weekend I finally had an opportunity to start some barefoot sandals. They are turning out pretty cute. You'll have to wait to see them on my actual feet until I get my first spring pedicure!

Great gifts have arrived!

I have been receiving some wonderful gifts from around the globe, thanks to One World One Heart! If you want to know more, go to my original post, http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-won-i-won.html

Pinapple Trees

I ran across these adorable pinapple trees on another blog... A Love Affair- a passion for all things wedding. (http://justfineinflipflops.blogspot.com/). I am going to try to figure out how to make them for my reception! There are so many creative people out there!

Cute beach balls

I originally said, "no beach balls" at our beach themed wedding reception.. but having second thoughts after seeing these beach balls! Too cute!

Wedding Cake Topper Purchased

We ordered our cake topper for our reception. Now I just need a tan! ;)

We are hoping to have a cake made that resembles a sand castle.

"The times I've had an audience"

This is my List 5 of the 52 Lists of 2010- "The times I've had an audience"

If you have no idea what this is about, refer to my original post...

http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/have-you-heard-of-book-listography.html

"Professions I'd like to try"

This is my List 4 of the 52 Lists of 2010- "Professions I'd like to try"

If you have no idea what this is about, refer to my original post...

http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/have-you-heard-of-book-listography.html

Office/ Studio Clean out

I spent this weekend cleaning  my office/studio and moving it around. I had my desk in front of the window and enjoyed looking out but the light in the afternoon sometimes interferred with my blog browsing. :) So I decided to try my desk in the middle of the room, where I can still see out. Also, I decided to try to keep my desk as empty as possible so can can use it for whatever craft, sewing or painting I decided to do at any given time.

My next project... The inside of this closet! It's holding my craft stuff and needs a shelving unit badly!

Quilt and blanket Trunk

We are in the process of getting the basement finished, which means we have to get the final items out of there. One of those items was this nearly 8 foot long trunk that the prior home owners left behind. It is heavy and we didn't know what we were going to do with it. Well, today we gave it a new home. The soon to be hubby, my oldest son and I carried it up to our second floor landing.

It looks handmade and I have no idea what it was originally intended for. Today it became our quilt/ blanket storage. Something we have needed for a while!

It's in a central location for our bedrooms so we can now easily grab an extra blanket or pillow. When I was collecting quilts from multiple places around the house I ran across this quilt that I had sewed in the 80s with my great grandmother. What an amazing woman she was. It took us about a week and when I look at it I can still remember the many stories she told me.

I only wish we had used prettier and better coordinated material, but hey I was a kid and didn't care at the time. We used all kind of scraps that she had and the quilt is very dated looking. However, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything!

All done and ready to move on to another project!

My Thrifty Thursday Finds

This week, I'm participating for the first time in 'Thrifty Thursday', hosted by Leigh over at Tales from Bloggeritaville (http://lbratina.blogspot.com/2010/02/thrifty-thursday-53-plus-tablescape.html)

Basically, it's a way for bloggers to share their finds each week and see what some other thrifty shoppers have been finding.

Below are a few of my recent finds...

I have to say I know the 'soon to be hubby' isn't going to like this mirror. But I love it! It's handpainted and seems to have that old world charm, that I like so much. He on the other hand, likes modern and contemporary, so usually I have to carefully place items in the house that are my style and try not to draw much attention to it. Well, I hung this today in the downstairs bathroom, he will notice most likely by this evening. And if he hates it, I will find a new home for it. But what a steal at $1.99! Seriously, less than 2 dollars?!

For .89 I just couldn't pass up this 30 year old kaleidoscope. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.

I found these two white shelves for $1.99 each and had been looking for something like them for a while. Hopefully I will have them hung by the end of the week and will share some more photos of them.

And last, but not least I found this charming box in perfect condition for .89. I am sucker for anything I can use to organize stuff, boxes, baskets, containers, tins, etc. I especially like things with lids!

Thanks for visiting!

"Countries I have Visited"

This is my List 3 of the 52 Lists of 2010- "Countries I have visited"

Jamaica is soon to be added to that list! Which means I'll hit another continent!

If you have no idea what this is about, refer to my original post...

http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/have-you-heard-of-book-listography.html

"The things I'd save if my house was on fire."

Below is my mini journal page for list 2 of 52 Lists for 2010- "The things I'd save if my house was on fire."

Again, I'm playing catch up. If you don't understand please follow this link to my original post.

http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/have-you-heard-of-book-listography.html

"My Happy List"

Here is my week 1 mini journal for the 52 weeks of 2010. "My Happy List"

If you are not sure what this is follow this link to my original post explaining... http://creativeinkansas.blogspot.com/2010/02/have-you-heard-of-book-listography.html

Have you heard of the book, Listography?

I seem to, by nature, journal by lists. Does anyone else do that? My journals are full of random lists...things I want to accomplish this year.... life goals... places I'd like to visit... activities to do with the boys... books I'd like to read... songs I'd like to purchase... restaurants I'd like to eat at... items I'd like to save for... things and people I am thankful for... lists... lists... lists....

That's why I was excited to find this journal, Listography by Lisa Nola. Apparently she has an entire line of illustrated journals based on making lists. You can see them all at, http://listography.com/static/books/start.html

And I was even more delighted to find this blogger who has started a weekly inspiration for a journal list. http://sherripelletier.blogspot.com/  She encourages making a mini art journaling page and even has people post pictures on a flickr group called, '52 Lists for 2010 More mini art journalling' http://www.flickr.com/groups/1359120@n22/

I'm going to start following along and I'm going to start by catching up. Do you think I can get all of these lists done this week? *Your happy list 2010 *The things you'd save if your home was on fire *the countries you've visited *professions I would like to try *websites I visit most often (every day) * Top attractions in the city I live in (or close by).

Just what I needed, something I can do from my bed, as I am still feeling under the weather!

Feeling under the weather...

My seed catalogs are starting to arrive! And it's a good thing, because I am really not feeling good. I've been in bed all evening reading and they have been a pleasure flipping through.

Today I bought some fun new fabric. I am not sure what I'm going to make yet, but it's sure to come to me. Right? Right?!

I've also been looking through some of my beads, planning my barefoot sandals. I know I was planning to make them last weekend but I just wasn't feeling up to it, so the plan is to make them this coming weekend.

Oh, how I hope to be feeling better tomorrow!

I won! I won!

I am just so excited!

I didn’t think I would win anything when I entered a ton of the giveaways through One World One Heart, but I did! If you don't know what this was, you missed out. Lisa Swifka over at A Whimsical Bohemian (http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/) created this blogger event four years ago and the concept is magnificent. Over 1,000 blogs participated this year from a total of 40 different countries. How neat is that?! Each one of the blogs gave something away, which encouraged fellow bloggers to get out there and visit other blogs, that they may not have found otherwise. I went to many of these blogs and was inspired by all of the creative people around the world.

And here are the 3 prizes I was fortunate enough to win:

1.

Watercolour Collage with Mandarin Ducks by Annette Tait in Scotland

Follow this link to read all about it and what it symbolizes, it was meant for me!

http://dragonhouseofyuen.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-world-one-heart-my-giveaway.html

2.

"Mijn cadeau is een jaar lang elke maand een ansichtkaart van de plek waar ik op de 3e zaterdag van de maand ben. En dan vertel ik natuurlijk ook wat ik daar doe en hoe ik daar kwam. Juist die dingen die je in mijn blog niet zult lezen.
Bloggen is fantastisch natuurlijk, maar er gaat niets boven een gezellige groet via de snail-mail..."

If you couldn't read that it's because it's in dutch (I told you this is fun!) Translated in english it stays...

"My present is that I will sent the winner a picture-postvard every 3th saturday of the month for a whole year. On which I will tell what I'm doing and how I got there. Things you won't read on my blog. To blog is great, but in my opinion nothing beats a picture-postcard sent by snail-mail...."

SO... I will be receiving a postcard from Holland each month over the next year. Something to look forward to! Here is the blog address of the artist, Karin that is going to be sending them... http://beeldenvankarin.blogspot.com/

3.

4 handmade Thank You cards and envelopes from:

http://diamondgrove.blogspot.com/

Flowers arrived!

Just when I was starting to think maybe I won't be getting flowers this year for Valentine's Day... the doorbell rang and these arrived....

I am such a lucky woman. They are charming! Not to mention that I received the most beautiful wedding ring for my Valentine's Day gift... I'm just bummed I have 10 weeks before I'm supposed to really wear it!

(Thank you baby! I love you!)