A little bit of beauty in it all

This morning as my husband was leaving for work, he asked me if I decide to get dressed today, maybe I could go outside and take some pictures of the hoar frost! "Smart Ass" I thought as I looked out the living room window to see what he was talking about. It was still a bit too dark for me to see, I hadn't even had a sip of my coffee yet!

But a few moments later I looked outside, it was beautiful!

My friend Tavia posted a picture on facebook, and I was in a state of dreaming, wishing I had a beautiful country road to walk down.....

Thank you Tavia for the use of your beautiful picture!

I took one look at my buddy Duke, who is suffering (alongside my husband) from S.A.D. I decided I should go and take him for a walk and take my camera with me, all the while not sure why my husband wanted the pictures. He just thought it was beautiful out and he does love the outdoors! So I put on my beautiful Sorrel boots, all prepared to make one hell of a fashion statement!

Wishing I could walk down a beautiful country road, knowing it was not possible, I went to a street in my neighborhood that came as close as I would get to a country road......

And we had a great walk! Duke wiggled it all the way, stopped to pee about 20 times, and only tripped me once!

Then as I was lost in thought, we came across this tree with a wee bird chirping inside. I could hear him but he was hidden...

This made me think of how sometimes at this time of year, we feel bound. Like this tree covered in a blanket of snow. We want to shed those extra pounds, take the duvet off the bed, open the windows, wear lighter clothes, cute shoes and just breathe a little bit! Soon it will come right? We made our way home, Duke and I. Then I thought to myself, if I am having these thoughts, what is Duke thinking? I bet he was thinking about chasing squirrels, snapping his jaws and eating wasps, rolling around in the grass giving his back a nice scratch, chasing the ball in the lake, following us back and forth, back and forth and yet again as we putter around the yard. Oh the fun!



Oh isn't he so cute!

 Then we come upon our flower basket that once held the pretty purple Johnny Jump-up flowers and now just has a pile of snow upon it!

                                                          



My potted Rosemary, forgotten with the first snowfall.

It's a good time of year to dream about all the things we have to look forward to. All the long summer days, the warm summer nights, backyard BBQ's and sitting around the fire with friends. I dream of the days and nights I will sit in my Adirondack chair having a cold beer or a glass of wine.....

And I will listen to the beautiful song of my wind chime....

And I will wait.....patiently, I will wait for......

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Tannis

Scrappin' around.....

I have been doing a wee bit of scrap booking, among other things. I am getting ready for a card class I will be holding in my workshop this Friday evening. I am also working on some pages for an upcoming scrap booking class I will be holding soon.

In this scrap booking class, we will meet once a month, have some food, some laughs and work on some pages! The pages we will create will be using a specific group of papers for that month, and in the end, you will have a complete album to enjoy!

Here is a sample of some of the pages for January and February!

January, winter Cheer!

February Sweet Valentine!

If you think you may be interested in joining a once a month class like this, please let me know!

Today I find myself daydreaming of the sun shining on my face, the heat on my body and the beautiful fresh aroma that spring brings with it! I can't wait to get into the garden, dig my dirt, plant some veggies, even pull out those weeds! Every year at this time, I dream of a beautiful yard in bloom, fresh smelling grass, beautiful backyard lights, warm summer fires and fresh fruit! All I have right now is this picture to help me dream......

A beautiful red poppy from my front flower bed.

Spring will be here soon!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Tannis

Sweet Valentine

I have been keeping pretty busy getting ready for an upcoming sale. Valentine's Day goodies it is! Truth be known, I am not a fan of Valentine's Day. You see, my birthday is the next day. When I was in school, any boy who liked me would give me a Valentine's birthday card. I always thought that if they really liked me, I should get a Valentine's card on Valentine's Day and a birthday card the next day on my birthday. I didn't think that was unreasonable. It is in fact, two separate days!

As I got older, I always hated going for dinner on my birthday and having to fight to get into a restaurant. Seemed so many people didn't want to be bothered making  a reservation for Valentine's Day, so they would go the next day!

Now it is a subdued affair! I like to decorate my craft area, make goodies for my Haley and Dave, and bake for Haley's classroom. Easy. And as I get older, I don't care so much if it is my birthday!

So this is just some of what I have been up to making......

These hold a packet of hot chocolate, a lollipop and a Valentine pencil. Great for kids!

Maybe this for our lovers!

And this is what my Valentines craft table looks like! I am getting my display ready for my sale on Feb 5th and 6th!

I am working on some Valentine scrap booking pages, I will post those next!

What are you planning on creating for Valentines Day?

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Tannis

Did you do something creative today?

I think we can all be creative! I have friends who are creative, and they don't even know it! I have friends who craft, who are artistic, who write, who blog, who take some really beautiful photos! Some people are creative with their spoken word, some with their written word. As for me, I know what I love and I do what I love. In doing these things, I feel creative! And that is all that matters to me. I like to do something creative every day.

So I have started this blog to share all things creative. I would love it, if you are creative as well, to share some of that with me and I will post it here! If you have a blog you would like others to read, send me a message and I will post that here as well!

Today when I woke up, I thought I was going to be working in my craft room on some Valentine goodies for an upcoming sale of mine. Then a friend called, and we talked on the phone longer than I thought. So I gave up on the idea to go work downstairs. Instead, I decided to bake!

So I started with some banana loaf, one of our household favorites!

Oh how I hate when this kind of mess happens!

And yes I do take pictures of allot of things. After all  I am a scrapbooker, and strange things go on in my house all the time. I have three cats and a dog, so often, this is what I walk into when I walk into a room....

Angel sneaking in to my daughters drawer (which she left open again!)

Harvey taking a nap under my covers! How he gets like that, I do not know!

And sometimes I see the cats being not so nice to my dog Duke.....

Harvey giving Duke a swat!

I have to admit that I thought blogs were a funny sort of thing! I didn't quite get why people wrote them, nor why people followed them. Now I get it. I am sure it is different for everyone, but universally it is a great way to share. Now, I  am a regular reader of a few great blogs, I contribute to some blogs, and I have two of my own. I write both of my blogs for different reasons, and I get a different sort of satisfaction out of writing each of them! I only wish I took up reading blogs when I worked full time. I always found it so hard to get my books read, but reading a great blog would have been a fabulous escape! Now, subscribing to follow a blog, is like getting a card or nice letter in your mailbox (instead of the dreaded bills!). I love to check my e mail and get a notice that one of my favorite blogs has a new post!

I have started the second part of my afternoon with another great escape, and that is a wonderful latte! I love the sweetness of perfectly steamed milk, with the dark richness of a perfectly pulled shot of Starbucks espresso!

Actually I like mine with 2 shots, no sweetness except the milk!

All in a beautiful mug that fits perfectly in your hand. This one fits perfectly in mine! And it sure is a beauty! I bought it at a craft sale this winter!


I am going to sit on my chair with a cat in my lap, and count the minutes until my daughter bursts through the front door, home from school (and likely with a friend in tow) and starts asking me if we can do this, and do that and then can we do the other thing. Then I will hear her grumble when I burst her bubble and tell her we have some homework to do after her snack!

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you will choose to follow my blog, share your creativity here as well and choose to stay connected to someone today, in a world that keeps us disconnected so often!

Tannis