Finally Feels Like Fall!

So happy that it's FINALLY feeling like Fall here in Houston! 57 degrees, crisp air, blue skies...ahhh. Such a blessing after the long, hot Summer...

The weather has put me in an Autumn mood, so I thought I would re-post my "Fall Favorites" list...I re-post this about every other year since 2007, but this year I added a lot of Fall images for you to enjoy...

Feel free to add your Fall Favorites to the list...  Hope it's snuggle weather wherever you are...

A Acorns, apples, apple cider, antique-hunting, 

azure-blue skies

B Bales of hay, beauty berries, baking goodies, Bible reading on the back porch

C Candy corn, caramel apples, corduroy, chili and cornbread, crisp cool air, cozy nights

D Daylight savings time ends, deer, ducks, dogs, dunking for apples, drawing outdoors, dancing in the moonlight

E Extraordinary sunrises and sunsets, easy-going Sundays, espresso, extra covers on the bed

F Fall leaves, fires in the fireplace, football, flannel shirts, funnel cakes, flea markets, furry critters

G Grapevines, gourds, garage sales, good hair days

H Hay rides, horseback riding, hot chocolate, harvest moons

I  Iris bulbs, Irish coffee, Indian corn

J Jellies and jams, jackets, jerseys, jeans, junk stores

K Kids laughing, kittens scampering, Kettle corn

L  Logs on the fire, leaf piles, layering, lounging at a lake house

M Movie nights, mocha-chinos, marshmallows roasting on an open fire, making memories

N Nibbling on nuts, nests, naps on nippy afternoons

O Owls, oatmeal for breakfast, oldies on the radio, open windows at night

P Piles of pumpkins, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pretty flannel PJs, painting from nature

Q Quilts, quiet walks

R Riding a bike, raccoons, raking red leaves

S Sunflowers, scarecrows, s'mores, savory soups, school supplies, sweaters, star-gazing, state fairs, singing for no reason, snuggling on the sofa with my sweetie

T Tailgate parties, turtlenecks, tea for two, Thanksgiving, turkey and dressing

U long Underwear, undertaking new projects

V Vanilla extract, votive candles, voting

W Wheat, wagons, warm cinnamon rolls

X  foXes, eXtra e-Bay boXes from Fed-eX

Y Yellow mums, yummy yams

Z  fuZZy bunny slippers

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Thanks for indulging me for my Fall overload - just love the changing seasons so much. I hope your Fall is filled with all your favorite Fall things!

Big HUGS!

Peace, Love, and Cupcakes Birthday Party!

This past weekend, we attended my great-niece's 1st birthday party - SO FUN!  The theme was "Peace, Love, and Cupcakes" and the yummy food, colorful decorations, and groovy clothes were wonderful! My brother and sister-in-law (the grandfather and grandmother of my great-niece) and my niece, as well as my nephew and his wife (parents of the birthday girl) teamed up to pull off this adorable party. I played photographer and captured as many of the sweet details as I could...

My sister-in-law and niece came up with this cute, inexpensive craft for a decoration on the fence in the back yard. Just paper plates, hand cut letter stencils, and several bright colors of spray paint...

This fun, groovy VW Van photo booth was a big hit at the party! My sister-in-law and niece had made this for a neighbor's 60th birthday, and it worked perfectly for this party too!  Here's sweet hubby and I posing for our photo...

Meanwhile back inside, the dessert table was so pretty...

...and the cupcakes (by GiGi's Cupcakes in Beaumont, TX) were to die for...SO pretty and SO yummy!

And here are the adorable matching mini-cupcakes...

We also had an array of colorful candies...

And of course, what 1st Birthday Party would be complete without the fun, messy "eating-of-the-cake"...?  Here's the perfectly beautiful (for now) little cake...

Here it is on the high chair. My nephew's wife made this adorable boho-style torn fabric "skirt" for the high chair tray - so cute!!

And here she is making a beautiful mess of it...love these kind of pictures. Oh, and that cake headband...mercy me it was cute...

She had a blast unwrapping presents...such a happy baby!

Speaking of gifts, here's the little mixed-media owl wall hanging I made for her birthday...

  

I used an 8 x 8 canvas board for the back, painted it hot pink with white polka dots, then painted an owl onto fun foam and cut it out and glued it on the board. I used little crochet circles that I cut out of a larger vintage crochet doily for the eyes, then glued on large black buttons in the centers. I glued gingham fabric onto fun foam and used pinking shears to cut it out for the wings and beak. I even used a bit of hot pink vintage 70's chunky yarn for her bow and wide yellow rick rack for accent...

I topped it off with a beaded wire hanger (my favorite part...I love choosing the coordinating beads) and put white ball fringe at the bottom. Love the way it turned out...

Kudos to my nephew and niece-in-law for hosing such a wonderful party...they are an adorable family! I'm so proud of them...

Peace, Love, and Cupcakes dear friends...HUGS!

The Inspired Still Life Series: "Vintage Strawberry Blessings"

Well, there's been a lot of creative activity in the studio lately, so I wanted to take a moment and share what's been going on...

As I mentioned before, I have been doing a lot more art photography these past few weeks, and I have finally completed my first collection in what I am calling the Inspired Still Life Series - "Vintage Strawberry Blessings"! Basically, I have created a series of still life vignettes using my cherished vintage pieces (like vintage linens and china) along with fresh flowers and other sweet touches and some digital embellishement, and I am making products with the images that I will be making available in my Just Bee 'n Me Boutique in Zazzle and Etsy.  The first set of products is complete in the Zazzle shop - it's a series of four greeting cards (notecards too) that feature some of the "Vintage Strawberry Blessings" images along with inspirational and encouraging Scriptures and sentiments. These cards are perfect for sharing with your treasured friends. (that's who I had in mind when I created them!) Here's a little preview of what they're like (the cover photo and interior graphic):

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There are many, many more collections to come in the Inspired Still Life Series...can't wait to share more...

Mom and I have also been crafting and we have a bunch of brand new Vintage Fabric Flowers that we will be listing soon - here's a little preview...

We are combining cute vintage fabrics, doilies, buttons, laces, and vintage costume jewelry bits, and adding pins to the backs so they can be worn as a brooch or pinned on a purse or tote bag. They are SO fun to make...we're having a great time creating them! I'll let you know just as soon as they are listed in our Etsy shop!

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Meanwhile, sweet hubby and I are off to a little 24 hour getaway to Austin to shop at the AWESOME, HUGE City Wide Garage Sale at the Palmer Center - oh my, such garage sale/flea market goodness as far as the eye can see!! It's been years since I have been, but it's only grown since then so I am ready to be amazed...and to shop!  Hopefully more vintage fabrics and jewelry for more fabric flowers...oh and props for more still life photos...and whatever else we may see!! Fun, fun!

Have a great weekend friends!!  Hug to all!!