Royal Wedding

I set my alarm and got up to watch.

Did you?

I turned the tv on just as she started down the aisle.

Breathtaking.

I watched Diana and Charles when they married as well...

This one was so much better!

Pictures copied from MSNBC.

The Easter Bunny has left the mantle....

Don't you hate putting the bunnies and chicks away this week?

And..that great egg wreath I have on the front door.... I just love it....

Well, I'm leaving it at least til Friday!

...and the tulips... well, they are hanging on longer than I thought they would...

How's your table looking?

Happy Easter!

I hosted an Easter ATC swap

on

Christian Paper Artists Yahoo Group

recently.

You've seen this collage before.

I've done it on canvases and atcs many times.

I like the image of building one's house on the Word of the Lord!

Have a blessed Easter!

Margaret's Men!

Are you tiring of my QB5 swap?

Well...... bear with me a bit longer...

Margaret received the piece I made for her

and is showing it on her blog!!!

So, in case you haven't been there....

here it is!

It was sooo much fun! This whole swap was more fun than I thought it would be!

Margaret sent us all a different male cabinet card.... my guy is a priest... and since we all got bingo cards, I just thought it made sense to go with that theme...

So he had a rowdy crowd for Bingo Night

and ended up in a funny hat...

He also has some people looking out the bingo windows!

She sent buttons...which I thought would work as bingo markers...

in lieu of today's "markers"!!!

So I strung buttons on wire at the bottom!

...and the gold fish was just FUN!

(and Margaret is obsessed with those fish anyway....

If you have any you should send them to her.)

...yes, I kept that piece of lace!!!!!

Ruling the Roost

There he is!!!

He thinks this is his yard!

He fusses when we sit outside.... as if we have EVER bothered him!

I love how he can pitch such a fit with a worm in his beak!

I think the squirrel even plans his drinking around this guy!

I would like to show him this little fella.... and explain to him how much worse he could have it!

Yes..... this is one of those shots where you yell out... "stop the car" and jump out to take the picture. I couldn't believe he didn't fly away before I could focus! Bless his little heart. And I really don't think he was hiding his leg to con me either. Have a good bird watching weekend!

A House with a Bunny

The house Carol made for me arrived!!!

She did use the bunny!

So she gets extra credit!

It's adorable.... love the little stitching she attached at the bottom!

And...her handwritten HOME sign!

I'll show them all together as soon as I make one.... soon!

and below...some pictures of what I made for Nathalie....

just in case you haven't been to her blog to see it....

Her theme was Asian...

not my favorite theme for art...

but I tried...

She asked us to decorate coasters and not

leave anything hanging off the edges as they

have to fit in a box she has...

So I made a little accordion book and attached it to one side...

Here is what she sent to work with...

more pictures soon!

...and remember I got those house shapes at Michael's craft supply store...

5 shapes for a dollar.... on a ring. I think they were in the children's $1 bins in the back.

You should get some friends to decorate a shape for you!

Henry and Louise

There is another Henry in our family...... you hear about the granddog, Henry, quite abit...

But I'm not sure I've shown you the couple known as Henry and Louise.

They are the Cardinals that hang out in our backyard.

We named them that when the children were small.

It was much easier to just say Louise is in the birdbath,

than to say "there's a female cardinal in the birdbath"!

So...thus the names.

Henry is very attentive.... but I'm sure you know that.

Here is Louise exiting her bath.

Lots of late afternoons they sit on the back fence and fuss at me if I'm outside.

I know they either want me to turn the sprinklers on for them to play in, or they

would really like it if I would go inside while they bathe.

There is just nothing better than a nice bath on a hot April day in Texas!

I just thought you should see them....

I have some other bird pictures to share soon...

there is a certain like black and white guy that thinks he owns the place lately!

Henry and Louise are much more tolerant of me being in the yard than some of the others...

See Henry? He's never far away. He had fussed that day because he wanted me to go inside so she could get in the bird bath!!!

Yes, I have a long lens..... they aren't that tolerant of me! Do Henry and Louise come to your house, too?

Texas A&M Women Win!!

Congratulations to Texas A&M University!

Gig 'em, Aggies!

(they don't get the women athletics images up online as fast as they do the men....

this is the best I can do right now...)

Neighborhood Developments

When I got back from San Antonio.... last week... I had two more houses waiting for me... This first one is Nathalie's interpretation of "What Do You See?". Isn't it sweet!???

She brushed gesso over all of it once it was assembled.... very, very nice texture!

and...much braver than I would've been....

I would have been afraid to try that on something that I only had one of and had to mail.

What a brave girl, huh?

...and then we got "Greetings from Switzerland"!

Margaret made me a swiss chalet.... love that bell at the top... yes, it rings!

I think that handsome man is yodelling...at least that's what I'm hearing....

One more house to arrive! (plus mine)

I am sooooo loving this swap!

It was hard... and different from anything we've done before...

but what a challenge!

And what a joy to get to ask some of my favorite artists to make what I wanted them to make.

You should get some house shapes and make a village!

.....and must say

Gig 'em, Aggies!!

as the Aggie Women's Basketball Team plays Notre Dame tonight

on ESPN for the National Championship!

Houses Come Home!

The QB5's "What Do You See?" swap is starting to arrive!

You may remember that I sent out chipboard house shapes with a few trims.

This is what Patty saw and sent back!

Doncha love it?

I adore it.....

We could add a few pieces of our own stuff...and she did.

I sent a rusty rabbit to all of them...and I've gotten 3 back... and so far NO ONE has

used the rabbit!!!

But Patty had a rusty bird and that's what is on the rooftop!

I love birds!!!

...and she made one of her sweet wire bird's nests for it, too!

And there is a sweet hankie that is from her mother's house.... suspended from the bottom!

Below is a photo of what I sent....I don't see the rabbit in that shot...but I'm sure he's just hiding ... you know how they are.

I sent them all in Texas Tamale bags.....cause everyone needs a Texas Tamale bag to keep.

Here is what I made for Patty.... and you can visit her to see some better pictures.... I have two more houses to show you in the next few days....

and one more to arrive from New Zealand still.

Plus I have to do a house.

They are going to look so great all hanging together!