Check out these give aways...

Here are a couple of great blogs to check out... Sanctuary Arts and Cupid's Charm. They are both having wonderful give aways this month! And they're also fun to visit just because :) Since I STILL have not figured out how to put the link in my blog entry (even though my much more computer savvy sister told me how), you can find the links to SA and CC in my blog list on the right.

I'm off to Salt Lake for my nephew's baptism tomorrow. So exciting! Congratulations K! Dh wants to stop at Cabella's while we're down there. I'm hoping for Tai Pan Trading Company myself LOL I enjoy Cabella's, but the kids get REALLY BORED long before dh gets done looking at camping gear! We're getting ready to go backpacking in a couple of weeks though, so of course we have to check out the new gear!

paper birds

I was in charge of paper lanterns for our Blue and Gold cub scout banquet back in February (the theme was Chinese New Year). I needed something cool to hang the lanterns on so I covered an old formula can (I KNEW those would come in handy some day! LOL) with red paper, stuck a branch in it and hung red and yellow paper lanterns on the branch. It looked so cool that I decided to keep the branch in the can! It's been sitting on my desk since. I did paint the branch white a month or so ago, but that was the end of it. Until yesterday! I was browsing etsy and saw some REALLY CUTE paper birds. Totally fell in love with them. I feel guilty about it, but instead of purchasing the really cute birds, I sketched one and made my own. Teeny budget plus way too much scrapbook paper equals DO IT MYSELF. This way it matches better too LOL So I made 6 really cute birds yesterday, with plenty of glitter and rhinestones (which of course you can't see in the pics...). Today I got around to decoupaging the can with the same papers I used to make the birds. Added some lace, buttons and silk flowers. And, since the branch was still a little on the bare side, I made some round medallions too. I stamped images with StazOn and then used my water pen and Stampin' Up! ink pads to color the images. I also stamped stuff on the back of each medallion. I SERIOUSLY LOVE the way it turned out! Isn't it great when something works out the way you want it to? :)

Spring!

Guess who I found hiding in my grass today?


I first noticed him (or her LOL) when I saw an adult American Robin yanking on a REALLY BIG WORM. The robin would grab onto the worm and jump, trying to get this monster worm out of the ground. It took several jumps before he got the whole worm. Then he fed it to this little guy. So of course, I had to go out and investigate (after waiting a while...)!

He was so very patient to let me get pictures of him! He didn't even blink!

I decided while I was out roaming the yard, I might as well get a few pictures of the few flowers LOL

First, the plum trees, which are EVERYWHERE. We have at least 4 different types of plums growing in our yard (they were here when we bought the house, and they have SPREAD). Fortunately, the kids love to eat them. Well, not the little red ones, they're too bitter LOL

While photographing the plums, I noticed some more little birdie friends. These are Chipping Sparrows. I haven't seen them in my yard for years. So nice of them to come visit! You can tell when they're around, because they sound like a cheap cordless phone LOL

Then I noticed this little guy! I've never seen a House Wren in my yard! Isn't he cute? So tiny!

Next, on to the light purple lilacs...

How did you get there? He was much too close to the very FULL irrigation ditch, so I chased him into the bushes.

Is this a honeysuckle? I'm not sure. But apparently I have at least 2 of these bushes in my yard LOL

These are the sweetest little purple flowers. I have no idea what they are, but they grow in big swathes.

Most of the forsythia blossoms were blown off in the big windstorm we had the other night. But there are a few lingering...

The quince bush, my favorite flowers in our yard. I wish it could bloom all year! Last year I ended up with a LOT of quince fruit, but I never did figure out how to use them, so the kids have been using them as substitute balls this spring. Hummingbirds and orioles LOVE this bush. And I love watching them!

The neighbors have some beautiful tulips in the woody strip between our houses. Can't you smell the fresh rain on those mint flowers?

There is a grassy strip between the woody area and our driveway. In the early spring it is FULL of grape hyacinths. It's so beautiful that people who are driving by will stop to admire them. But by now, most of the hyacinths are done blooming.

Daddy robin is checking up on baby...

The neighbor's tree. Isn't it pretty? It's a favorite perching spot for the robins.

Now for my dark purple lilac. I cut a bunch of these for my house today, and I'll be taking them for Memorial Day on Monday. Spring is the scent of lilacs.

I'm going to admit a deep, dark secret now. Dandelions are one of my most favorite flowers ever! Who couldn't love a flower that blooms no matter what, no matter where, and that you can pick as many as you want and never run out? And they're such a happy color!

This is the other reason I love dandelions... Wish flowers! Limitless numbers of wishes! This is what wish flowers look like when it rains, kind of spikey LOL

Well, that's a little of my yard! See you next time!

a little shopping

I saw a really cute votive candle holder idea on the junk drawer blog (see the link in my blog list on the right, since I have no idea how to put the link in this paragraph LOL) . She mentioned that she purchased the votive holders at Micheal's for 60% off. Well, I couldn't pass up "cute idea" and "good sale" LOL So yesterday E and C and I dropped in at Micheal's. I obviously found a few more things than just votive holders! I didn't find the same votives that Maria found (I like hers better, but that's the way it goes sometimes), but these were pretty, and they were 60% off. You can't tell from the pic, but they are frosted glass with a clear fancy design on them. There were 4 different designs, so I had to double up on a couple of the designs. Now I just need to find a cool muffin tin. Go check out Maria's votive holder on her blog! It's so adorable!

Everything in the pic was on sale except the glass bottle (which I'm going to fill with sand and shells when we visit Bear Lake next month) and the shell package (which was only 59 cents, which is as cheap as on sale LOL). I actually got the little pink/peach box for my sister (don't read that line Jeanette!). I love the shape of those boxes, so fancy! Oh, and the big "A" that you can barely see is something I plan to decorate for A's room, eventually LOL I also picked up 3 large foam stamps and 4 sets of their acrylic $1 stamp sets. And 9 little American flags, for the kids to wave and to put on the graves of both my grandfather's on Monday (they both served in WWII).

I ended up with quite a bit of stuff for $30! Yippee!

odds and ends

I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I'd put some random thoughts up LOL

My house has been WAY too messy to do much crafting, but I did get a couple of pages scrapbooked tonight. My dh planned a "crop" for us. He's playing with his new photoshop program, and I am attempting to scrapbook for the first time in MONTHS. I did 2 boring layouts and gave up LOL I feel guilty, because I have SOOO many pictures that aren't in a book, and my kids really love looking at them, but I just haven't been in the mood to mess with them. Ahhh well...

The spring migrants are here in force, with lots of fun birdies this year. Friday I had a Red Crossbill in my backyard (weird because they normally hang out up the canyon, in coniferous forests). So nice to not have to track one down up the canyon LOL I'm currently up to 117 birds! Yippee! The pic at the top is a beautiful male Bullock's Oriole in our quince bush. I love that bush, it gets the prettiest blossoms every spring. Usually it's just full of bees, but this year the orioles have been in it every day for a week. It's been popular with the Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds too. When I took the pic last week, most of the blossoms weren't out yet. Now the bush looks like a bright pink puff ball LOL Isn't that bright orange bird amazing?

Dh and I went to Tai Pan Trading Company last Sat. What a fun store! I got some cute stuff; a hanging votive holder that I filled with moss and blue eggs, a green with white daisies watering can and matching tin basket, and a tin green "garden" sign. I got a small trellis with a bell on the top for my mom, and for dh we got a carved wooden pelican and a dish to set it in, along with rocks and fake greenery to go with it. I just have to do something with the dish LOL Trying to decide if it's going to get decoupaged with appropriate scrap paper or painted. Dh loves pelicans and is really excited to have this on his desk. We also got a small carved wooden duck for E. He loves ducks. But he's not getting it until his birthday LOL

I hope you are all enjoying your spring as much as I am!