Independence Day.

Happy 4th of July to my American friends!

I'm avoiding all the downtown hoopla today and staying home. I have a cousin that just moved to Bainbridge Island so he will come over later with his family for a barbecue and bonfire, and we'll enjoy the fireworks from here. 

Wherever you are, I wish you clear skies and a safe celebration! xo

Focus.

I was trying to capture a photo of a bee, but every time I got focused it flew off. I have over a dozen photos that look just like this one, nice photos of the lavender, but not of the bee! Oh well, I love digital cameras just for this reason…lots of room for mistakes and once in a while, a surprise.
Now I'm off to get myself focused….

In the garden...

This time of year, it's all about the garden, bugs and all...

Quiltscapes.

Loving these quiltscape paintings by Rebecca Barker!

I picked up these cards at the La Conner Quilt Museum last year. I did send a few of them out, but I have not been able to part with these last three. It's why I have such a huge card stash. Gotta start letting go! Or go buy more : )

Happy Monday!

I won!

Michele Maule had a giveaway over on her blog last week and I

won this delightful little watercolor. So happy!

I'm hoping my luck holds because I'd really like to win the

raffle at the Rotary Auction today. I went to the preview

last night before the movie and although there is nothing

I feel I have to be at the starting line and run for, I am going shopping!

"Chef"

I saw this movie last night and really enjoyed it. It's a little predictable, but it held my attention and I really laughed. It was just what I needed after a busy day!

Walk in the rain.

Roger Miller said, "Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." Taking it literally, I just did my five-mile walk in the rain this morning and feel great. I am a little wet and by the end my sneakers were very squishy, but it was almost cleansing. Ready to take on anything! Happy Friday to all!

By the sea.

Tuesday was a gorgeous evening so I went out to sit on the rocks to just unwind. I took plenty of pics of the sky and sunset, but the colors on the beach caught my eye. So as the water ebbed and flowed ever so slightly I snapped away. I love the blues of the mussel shells the most!

Wednesday words.

P. S.  There are six months until Christmas!

Birthday love.

My son, my first-born, is 24 years old today. We had a lovely dinner together last night in Seattle to celebrate. He has grown up to be an amazing human being, making his mama very proud.
I love the song "I Lived" by One Republic, but never really listened to the lyrics until recently. I read that the songwriter, Ryan Tedder, wrote them for his son. I shared them with my son today on Facebook. Here they are...

Hope when you take that jump, you don’t fear the fall.
Hope when the water rises, you build a wall.
Hope when the crowd screams out, they’re screaming your name.
Hope if everybody runs, you choose to stay.
Hope that you fall in love and it hurts so bad,
The only way you can know is give it all you have.
Hope that you spend your days, but they all add up.
When that sun goes down, hope you raise your cup.
And I hope you don’t suffer, but take the pain.
Hope when the moment comes, you’ll say…
I did it all.
I owned every second that this world could give.
I saw so many places.
Yeah, with every broken bone I swear I lived.

Last day of spring!

We've had a wonderful spring here in the Pacific Northwest, but it feels like it could go on a bit longer…not quite summer here yet. Today's forecast is for rain and cool temps. The days are almost at their longest though. These pics were taken last night just before 9:00 p.m. Happy Friday all!

Wednesday words.

Detour.

I found myself driving through Bremerton yesterday and remembered TKW's post about The Weekender in Manette so I decided to take a detour and check it out. Unfortunately the store is only open Thursday thru Sunday, but I walked around this very cute town and now I'm having visions of owning a little shop there myself. Maybe a tea shop! 

"Lucky Them"

Lucky us! What a great film set in Seattle with lots of local music! If you get the opportunity to see it, GO. I saw it this weekend at the Northwest Film Forum with director Megan Griffiths in attendance for an intro and Q+A afterward. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman were involved from the beginning, over 10 years ago, hence the all-star cast. Read a bit more here.
Oh, and there's some nice eye candy...

Ryan Eggold

Father's Day card.

Love it when I find the perfect card!

This one I sent to my dad, the man who instilled my love of baseball,
 is hand silkscreened by Great Arrow. 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Happy Friday!

Mercury is retrograde, the moon is full and solar showers are in the forecast!

Happy Friday the 13th everybody! I'm thinking it'll be lucky. 

Makin' and bakin'

Cookies are in the mail to my dad for Father's Day. Now I'm busy filling a Joan of Cards order. And heading off to work later. Busy, busy….better than the alternative! Hope all is well wherever you are!

Motivation!

THIS gets me going in the morning…



Great ad!
Happy Tuesday all! I'm heading out on my walk.

Blog love.

I'm enjoying getting back into the rhythm of blogging. I spent some time this weekend cleaning up my site a bit, especially the blog list to the left. I was surprised to find how many of the old blogs I followed had ceased to post, or had moved to a new address. So I've updated the list and added quite a few new ones, including...

Oh Happy Day!

The Jealous Curator

Parti* Notes

SF Girl by Bay

Confessions of a Design Geek

Simply Grove

The Stationery Place

Enjoy, and thanks for visiting!

WIP.

A client asked me for some cards with "time" being the theme.

I had done some invitations with the same theme and used clocks,

but I wanted to do something different. The Art Buchwald quote

in my previous post came to mind right away so I worked from there.

I'm liking the font and the colors!