Slowly making progress

Gosh, I've been kind of boring with this blog lately... It's not like I haven't been doing anything, I just haven't felt like blogging. Sometimes I think I'll just stop blogging but then when I visit blogs that I really enjoy, it's always a disappointment when the blogger just suddenly disappears.  Plus, I really like looking back over my own blog and seeing what I've been up to.  ;)

I *finally* got the pictures hung back up in the dining room and in the kitchen. It feels a little more like home now.  We've got a few large pictures that need to be rehung but I need to buy some super heavy duty hangers before I'll feel secure in rehanging them.

 I mentioned that Arley Berryhill was in town back in April to teach his Mermaid class.  This is my mermaid in progress.  Her nose needs some better shading and I'm still working on getting her lace beaded and placed just right.  The beading is taking me a very long time...  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how she is turning out.

The weather has been not so great here in Tulsa this spring.  It's been cold and rainy and not good for my overall psyche.  I bought a bunch of flowers about a month ago and have been dragging them back and forth from the patio to the covered porch.  Hopefully, they will get planted in the next few days.  

On the back patio is a bag of potting mix that I opened and has been waiting for me.  A sweet pair of birds were building a nest in the bag of potting mix!  I hated to move all their hard work but since they weren't quite finished building, I relocated the nest to a nearby planter.  I'm imagining they are going to rebuild elsewhere.

Ann-Denise Paper Clay Necklace Class

Back at the beginning of April, Ann-Denise had another one of her fabulous classes over at the Paper Crown in Oklahoma City.  We each made a fun paper clay jointed doll to put on a necklace.  Each person's doll came out so different but so cute!  

This past weekend, Arley Berryhill came from Albuquerque to teach a class for the Tulsa Dolling Dames.  We made a mermaid doll from his pattern, The Siren. If you go over to the Dolling Dames Blog, you can get a glimpse of Arley's sample doll and the first day of class.  My mermaid is coming out just beautiful.  I'm working on the embellishments and hope to start beading her tonight.  I might actually get her finished!

I've done a few other crafty things this month and hope to get them posted soon.  ;)

Spring in Tulsa

Temperatures finally got up to around 70 degrees here in Tulsa today.  Of course, I had to make a trip to my favorite greenhouse and check out all the beautiful flowers.

 There was plenty to choose from and I walked around and around trying to make a decision. I literally could have easily spent hundreds of dollars in just minutes with all the beautiful baskets, garden decor, herbs, flats...

While I was trying not to go totally crazy buying up every pretty thing I saw, I also know that if you see a flower you like, you'd better grab it because things go fast!  

I totally showed restraint and ended up with these:

Tomorrow I'm off to the Paper Crown again for a class with Ann-Denise.  We are going to make an adorable paperclay dollie necklace.  Can't wait!

Spring Basket Swap

Late winter, I saw that Tabitha of Creative Wings  was hosting a Spring Basket Swap.  I thought it would be so much fun and I was ready for some creative expression, so I signed up.  That was just before the rug was pulled out from underneath us and our house was torn apart.  Despite our huge construction project, having difficulty finding time and energy to create, and never mind just trying to locate any of my supplies up in my craft room - I did enjoy creating these cute little baskets and their contents for this swap.  

I covered a little cup with crepe paper and wrapped a pink velvet bow.  I used a gold pipe cleaner as a handle.  Inside I included a sweet bunny embellishment and attached a little bling to the ear with a fun rhinestone crown button.  I also made a little glass bottle charm, a bird on an embellished spool, and a little decorated matchbox with some fun goodies inside. 

The basket below was made for me by Tabitha.  I just love the bright pink crepe paper, flowers, and the cute NEST banner on the spun cotton handle.  Of course, birds are always a favorite for me.  Tabitha covered her cup with vintage paper and then turned another cup upside down to create a base for a taller basket.  I never even thought to do something like that.  She scalloped the edge of the paper on the bottom for a decorative edge.  Inside were lots of adorable floral embellishments along with a spool containing beautiful floral ribbon.   The goodies even overflowed outside of the basket - ribbons, flowers, buttons, butterflies, lace. - everything was so beautifully packaged and I can't wait to use some of those beautiful new embellishments.

The second basket I received in this swap was from my sweet friend Terri from The Junque Seeker.  Terri and I exchanged our baskets last week while attending a class at The Paper Crown.  Terri *always* goes above and beyond in everything she does, and this was no exception!  I didn't take a picture of the box her basket was packaged in, but she even decorated the box with lovely wide ric rac and a cute spring embellishment that she made. The box was just a preview of the loveliness waiting inside.  When I opened the package, I was so excited to see the basket she made for me!  My picture just does not do this basket justice.

Terri didn't follow the "rules" of the swap by using a candy nut cup.  She used a larger peat pot which she covered in a beautiful spring paper and embellished with that fun, multicolored crepe paper fringe. The basket is absolutely beautiful and much more sturdy than the one I made.  
 I didn't know what to look at first - the basket itself or those sweet chickies sitting on the edge.  But then, my eyes were immediately drawn to the left side of the handle and the collection of gorgeous silk and velvet flowers that Terri attached to the handle.  Inside the basket, she included a precious vintage hankie with little puppies (she knows my love of dogs!), some chocolates (yum!), vintage lace, crochet flowers, and a little envelope filled with little cards that spelled out "Spring", along with sweet little embossed vintage chickie embellishments.  I've been completely spoiled.  You'll want to check out her blog for much better pictures.

I just want to create a bunch of these little baskets now.  Aren't they so fun!?!

Moving back in

The reconstruction of our downstairs is almost complete!  The painters are here today putting the finishing touches on the trim work and repairing a few "dings" that took place during this humongous project.

We went for a darker finish on our floors than we had before and we are in love with how they turned out.  The picture below shows the true color of the floors.

 Here is a picture looking in from the front door.  Here the floors look much more orange than they really are, but I took these pictures with my phone since I have not yet located my good camera in all the boxes.

 Here is what things really look like around here.  I'm up to my eyeballs in boxes and packing paper, but hopefully, I'll get this all cleaned up soon.

In the midst of unpacking, I'm locating treasures that I forgot all about!  Look at this cute bunny tea pot I found - and just in time for Spring and Easter.  :)

I've been up to some fun stuff too - another class with Jackie, a Spring swap, and a few other things.  Hopefully now, I can catch up on some blogging that I've missed, so if you'd like to see what else I've been up to, be sure check back in a day or so.

Easter Wagon

I took a break from all the mess around here and went to Oklahoma City for another great class with Jackie at the Paper Crown.  Jackie always makes the sweetest name tags!  I have quite a collection of them.  

 We made this cute paper doll Easter wagon.

 Here's a picture of the inside:

It was a nice break from all the chaos around here, but things are starting to be put back together, so that is a plus.  It will be nice when we can be back to normal.  :)

Roughing it

 Things are still very much a mess around here.  This morning, the guys showed up to demolish our fireplace.  Ugly ~ isn't it? But the good news is that now that the fireplace is removed, the guys are here putting in the subfloor and starting to put things together again. This week floors, next week put our kitchen back in and *hopefully* finish the floors the weekend after this one.

As of this weekend, we moved out of the master bedroom and into the guest room.  Awesome...

We are pretending we are visiting friends who are hoarders.  Take the pile of pillows off the bed and put them on the floor. In the morning, take them off the floor and put them on the bed. I can't find a darn thing since everything is either in storage,  or stacked in piles in the closet, guest bedroom or the garage. UGH.

I sleep on the right side of the bed, smooshed up against the fridge, and at night, the dogs in the stacked cages.  - Stack 'em deep and sell em' cheap!  (Just kidding)  ;)

Poor babies, they are tired of all this commotion and mess! Us too.

We are guessing another two weeks or so.  Pray that we make it...

Not such a peaceful place...

After the moving company packed up most of our stuff, this is what the living room looked like with the floors still in place

The plumber came and took out the sink,   the electrician removed the stove, the microwave, and the oven, and the granite guy came and took off our counter tops.  I didn't realize what a habit it was to come home, put my handbag on the island, and how often I actually go to the kitchen sink to wash my hands, fill up the dog's water dish, etc.   What a pain. 

 This was yesterday, in the kitchen with all my lower cabinetry gone, the fridge gone and the flooring, gone.

This is our view as we exit the hallway from the master bedroom (for now).  See that huge machine?  That is the dehumidifier and it is loud and annoying.  As much as I dislike it, it is no where near as annoying as the drying fans we had last week, and may get again this week, depending on how wet the slab is.  Dear Lord, please help me...

The only hardwood flooring that survived on the first level is in my office.  Even the flooring in the dining room had to go.
We are squished like sardines with the four dogs in the master bedroom and it's about to get even more squished as we move out of the master into the guest room. As long as we are knee deep in dust and debris, we've decided to have the carpet removed in the master and the hardwoods extended in there.
I think this spring with all the allergies we usually suffer from, not having carpet in our master might make a difference.
I'm trying to be patient, I'm trying to keep a smile on my face as I know many people have it much, much worse.  This is also the kick in the butt we've needed to really start getting rid of all the excess "junk" we have around here and don't need.
I'm hoping this process goes quickly.

What A Mess!

We moved into our home about 4 1/2 years ago.  The day we closed, this is pretty much how the house looked as we walked in the front door.  Lovely faux paint, gorgeous hardwood floors, nice open space. It's been a very nice place to live until just recently.

 See these gorgeous floors and that beautiful stone fireplace?  Well, they are about to be ripped out.

 My island, my stove top, all my countertops have to all be pulled out.  Torn up. Gone. No stove, no refrigerator, NO KEURIG!

 Really??? Yep. We had what we thought was a minor water leak with our hot water heater.  Turns out, water travels much further and faster than you ever imagine and our entire living space downstairs is being packed up today so the demolition can begin.

Oh, and I work from home.  And all of my office has to be packed up and moved to storage...I can keep what I need in a few small boxes - What!!!??? It's my office! And it's time for business taxes, and I need my client files, and, and, and....Ugh. How do I decide what is absolutely important and what I can live without for possibly up to 6 or 8 weeks?  

I know me, and I'll keep out all this stuff I think I need (never to touch the entire time!) and pack up the rest and that is exactly the file, or whatever that I'll really need. Can anybody else relate?

Doug and I will be moving into our tiny little guest room that also has to house our four dogs, along with all the items the restoration people don't think should go into storage (art, TV's, etc)  Oh yeah.

Really, just what a mess.  So if I'm a little cranky and a little preoccupied - please just say a prayer for me.  I know in the grand scheme of things, this is really just an annoyance.  We really are blessed beyond measure and nobody got hurt, nobody died, we didn't lose any of our possessions (although we could stand to rid ourselves of so much stuff!).  It could be so much worse....

Valentine Crown Class

I am just *in love* with my Valentine Crown!  You must check out Jackie's blog to see all the variety on each person's crown.  Each one came out so beautiful, but aside from my own, my second favorite is Lisa's crown with the sweet pig on it.  (I'm not meaning to BRAG, but I'm so happy about how my crown turned out)
      
A special surprise was that one of my friends that I haven't seen in a long while was there to take the class too.  Hope to see you again soon Terri!
Oh! and I won another one of Jackie's paper dolls. :)

As I've said before, there are so many fabulous classes coming up!  I wish I could take them all, and I'm signing up for as many as I can.  Wait until you see...

Valentine Swap

This year seemed to be a slow one for Valentine Swaps.  I didn't see very many being hosted and I knew that I just didn't have the time or the energy this time around to host or participate.  

Chris from  Perfectly Printed decided to have a one to one Valentine swap and I signed up. This is the Valentine I received from her, along with a couple other vintage valentines:

This was the Valentine I created for her.  I'm not sure where the image of the little girl came from, I just thought she was absolutely adorable.

What have you been creating for Valentine's Day?

Valentine spool

Another fabulous class with Jackie at the Paper Crown last night!  We made these fun Valentine spools.

 I was the lucky winner of the door prize ~ one of Jackie's fabulous  paper dolls made from the Character Construction stamps. Yay me!

I wish I could take every single class that is offered at the Paper Crown.  The talent of the teachers, as I've said before, is just amazing.  In the next two months, there are so many beautiful classes coming up and I plan to take as many as possible.
Happy February!

Spun Cotton Doll

Ann-Denise was at the Paper Crown this weekend and taught this adorable spun cotton Valentine doll.

Ann-Denise will be back at the Paper Crown in March on the 2nd and the 30th.  We got to sneak a peek at what she will be teaching on those dates, and trust me, if you are ANYWHERE within driving distance, you are not going to want to miss!

Valentine Cone Class

Jackie had another one of her fun classes over at the Paper Crown in OKC on Thursday night.  Click on the link to see Jackie's post and more fun pictures.  Jackie always brings delicious sweet treats for us and this week she made marshmallows.  They were out of this world, melt in your mouth, unbelievably Mmmmm!

I've signed up for several fun classes coming up and I'm so excited!  The Paper Crown has *the best* teachers and classes.  It's totally worth the hour and a half drive each way just to take a class there.  Plus, the store itself is so beautiful. Cindy, the owner, just launched The Paper Crown online store, so if you can't make it there in person, you can check out some of what she carries in the store.

Have a great Sunday!

Good News!

After going back and forth all weekend as to whether or not to do the surgery, we opted for it. Over the weekend,  I spoke with our current vets, our much loved vet that took care of us in Oklahoma City and our Pet Communicator, Pam Case.  With confidence, we were told to go this morning with positivity and certainty and do the surgery.  So, that's what we did!

 Phoebe had her surgery this morning and the surgeon called to let me know that it was just a fatty tumor and he didn't see evidence of any disease!  The only thing he saw was that one lobe of her liver was enlarged, so he took a biopsy of that and sent it off to pathology.  He expects the enlargement to be due to the steroids she takes.

 She may get to come home this afternoon!  Depending on how she does coming off the anesthesia will determine whether she spends the night there or comes home.  Seeing that she's overweight (you think!) ;)  it sometimes takes longer to metabolize the anesthetic.

 We are absolutely thrilled with this news.  Thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers,  and positive energy you sent our way!

 We'll be in recovery mode for a little while but we are looking forward to getting our hot little ham feeling better.

Miss Bossy Boots likes to direct the action around here!  She doesn't miss a trick.
Thank you again for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!  We appreciate it so much!

Prayers for Phoebe

We've been kind of preoccupied around here this week with an unexpected bump in the road for our precious Phoebe.  I wrote earlier last year about her trials and tribulations with going from being a Cushing's patient to being an addison's patient, and the numerous trips to the Vet with everything from skin issues, an eye abrasion and addison's crisis. 

 We've gone down and back up again with her weight, and her skin issues which were doing better for a while seem to be returning.  We go once every 25 days for a shot that keeps her "up", and every other day or so, she gets some steroids.  Whatever it takes to keep our girl going!  Very recently, there have been a few changes that just haven't been right.

 Wednesday, during her exam, our vet felt a mass in Phoebe's abdomen.  He took x-rays, ultrasound, and attempted a fine needle biopsy.  She had a very difficult time coming off the sedative and ended up back at the vet yesterday to get rehydrated with fluids.  Last night when she came home, she was looking and acting much better, but she's not quite herself.

 This morning, we went and met with the surgeon. A Board Certified Veterinary General Surgeon - If it sounds expensive, yep, you got that right...  Right now, he's thinking it's an adrenal tumor. Could be cancer, could be benign.  It may be able to be removed, but we really don't know. There's really no way to tell until he goes in and sees what's really happening.

 As you can imagine, we are beside ourselves with worry and anxiety.  Do we do the surgery, do we not?  If it's the worst case scenario, I don't want to put her through a surgery and cause unnecessary suffering, I'd rather enjoy our time with her while she's here.  If it's just a benign mass, and we leave it, I feel like we are giving up hope on our precious girl.  It's been agonizing trying to make decisions on what is best for her.

We've been praying about it, crying over it for the last three days and asking God to guide us on what to do.

 Phoebe is almost nine.  She is the bossy boots in this family.  She tells us what to do and when to do it - she rules this roost.  Of course, the selfish side of me wants her to be with us for many years to come! I love this girl - so much - I almost can't stand it.  The shih-tzu on the right - yeah - he's okay too... ;)

 So, we're going ahead with the surgery to see what is happening and try to get our girl feeling better.  I hope and pray this is the right decision.

If you are so inclined, any prayers, positive thoughts, energy, *anything* positive for our girl would be greatly appreciated. We decided to do the surgery on Monday so she wouldn't have to stay at the vet all weekend recovering alone.  She'll have her surgery and spend hopefully only one night surrounded by vet tech's and a vet at the 24 hour emergency clinic, then hopefully come home to us where we can baby her.

Fiber Art & Art Quilt Show

While checking out Facebook yesterday, I happened to come across a post from our local plant nursery that there would be a quilt show there this weekend.  What a great idea!

It's a small show of art quilts and fiber arts, but oh, the potential! What a great use of the space while it's empty from Christmas and awaiting all the beautiful spring flowers. 

I loved being able to see clearly all the colors, stitches and creativity that went into these amazing pieces of art.

My heart is always at the beach and this sweet gull quilt made me reminisce about being back near the ocean, the sand and the sun...

Of course, while at the nursery, I had to check out the gorgeous plants.  The color on this primrose really caught my eye.

 Next week is the big quilt show over in Oklahoma City - can't wait!