A rescue mission ~

The other night while taking the pups out, Brent noticed a baby bird had fallen from it's nest right in the front yard. He wasn't quite ready to fly and be out of the nest either. Well, there were three cats stalking around just waiting to get their paws on the little guy. I had a vintage bird cage hanging in the studio so I added a few paper towels and some straw and we placed him inside for protection.

The next day Brent hung the cage on the porch next to the hanging ferns and we noticed that the mother bird was feeding her little baby through the cage!!!!! So he moved the cage out to the cluster of trees in our yard where the mom was living so her job would be much easier. The little bird is growing very quickly and we should be able to release him any day now....he's working out his wings and getting stronger every day!

Can you see the mom in the tree beside the cage? She's so diligent and nuturing ~

Our sweet graduate last night ~ we're so very proud of him!! The weather was perfect, a breeze blowing all the time and quite mild. The ceremony went wonderful and Chase is now a graduate!!

We used the wheelchair, for hopefully the last time, to take Noah to the graduation ceremony ~

Even little Clara attended and was a perfect angel the entire time!

Wishing you a wonderful, relaxing weekend sweet friends!
xxoo, Dawn

It's here!!!! Plus sweet art gifts ~

The premier issue of Art Quilting Studio has finally arrived at my door!!! Seems as though it took forever but it was certainly worth the wait! If you love fabric.....and you love collage.....and you love creating.....this issue is FOR YOU!!! There are so many amazing projects featured ~

My little wren submission ~ she will be offered for purchase through Somerset....I'll be sure to let you know the link when I do :) What an honor for them to do that!

A small sampling of the beautiful work featured:

Such sweet, wonderful gifts have arrived in the mail the last few days.....gifts that make me smile, because of the precious artist's hands that put these treasures together and thought enough of me to give me their wares, thank you so very much!!!!

First is sweet Lorraine of Creative Daily...her parcel arrived and after opening the envelope her gift was wrapped in the most beautiful cheesecloth ~ that had been hand dyed and also screen printed!!! Cheesecloth ~ how cool is that? Wonderful trinkets and treasures, a bookmark with case, a pocket filled with a tiny crocheted doily, ribbon and hand dyed fabric ~ so many wonderful things...thank you so much Lorraine, I love each and every thing!!

Next, Blanca of Magic Moonlight Studio sent me her beautiful handmade tags!!!! They are each such little works of art ~ she has an Ebay store where she sells them for a wonderful price....just take a look HERE. She's just opened a shoppe too!

The trinkets and treasures she included are so neat too! Rusty label holders, keys....Look at the large tags, even one personalized for me. I can so see these hanging from my new windows on the ceiling, can't you? Each one has it very own plastic sleeve to protect the image too. Fairies, birds, cottages, babies ~ she has so many different styles. Thank you so much dear Blanca, you are so very sweet to send me your artwork, I love them all!!!

I love the precious friends that I've made while blogging ~ no matter where we all live, we are a community and we truly care for one another.
I'm just always so happy to be here and to get to know you all ~

Tonight, our son Chase graduates from high school....I can't even believe it!!! We will be going to the ceremony this evening if it doesn't rain! He's been accepted at West Georgia Collage and will be heading there in the fall.....my sweeties are all growing up!

Noah's last day of school is today as well. He has been being tutored at home this last month but went today to a sock hop that his elementary school held as a farewell to the fifth graders. Of course he didn't dance but he did have a blast!!! He and his little walker! He is getting stronger by the day and using the leg more and more. We go his awards ceremony this morning .....then to come home and prepare for Chase's graduation.

I need to share some photos of little Clara soon too!!! She is growing so fast ~ two months old now and she weighs 11 lbs 11 oz!

Wishing you a wonderful Friday sweet friends,
Thank you always for stopping by to see me ~
xxoo, Dawn

Just a little more character ~

Don't you agree? These old window frames add a little more character to the room.....of course they're a blank canvas right now ~ just waiting for me to hang beautiful old ephemera, photos or handmade tags from the wire.

Seems as though I don't like to have beautiful things tucked away. I want to bring them out, place them in eyesight, maybe under glass or possibly hang them from the ceiling!!!

Beautiful things just make me smile ~

Wishing you an amazing Thursday dear friends,
hugs and love, Dawn

I'm so loving this.....

OK. I love magazines.....(among other things) but lately I have had a really hard time finding magazines that I just HAVE to take home with me.

I go to the newsstand, look and look and end up empty handed more times that not. Of course I'm not talking about any of the Somerset publications....they do not even qualify as magazines to me, they are more like keepsake books!

After seeing a few glimpses of this wonderful magazine Jeanne d' Arc Living, I decided to take the plunge and buy an issue from Carol of Raised in Cotton. You can also be inspired by THIS wonderful blog too, I believe she's a stylist for the magazine ~ oh and the magazine is not in English, it's Danish (thank you Dorthe!), but no matter....
just peeking at this beautiful photograph ~ who needs words?

Min Lilla Veranda

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday sweet friends ~
xxoo, Dawn

A wonderful new blog AND a wonderful GIVEAWAY!

First....here is the amazing giveaway!!! But don't forget to come back and visit my new blogging friend, OK?? KC Willis is having a wonderful 300.00 giveaway on her blog!!!!! She offers online classes, gorgeous artwork, she's been published in several books.....

JUST CLICK HERE TO COMMENT TO WIN!!!

Here is the sweet new blogger I want to introduce you to.....Karen at My Desert Cottage has the most WONDERFUL style....just take a look and see what you think, tell her I sent you!

Good stuff, huh??? xxoo, Dawn

A sweet discovery ~

We have had a very rainy spring this year in Georgia and my ferns are just loving it!! I have two big ferns that are hanging on our front porch. When it starts raining I love to take them down and let them get a good soaking. Well, look what I discovered in one of them the other day.... a house wren nest with tiny little eggs inside! I gently hung the ferns back in place and will have to strategically water them now ~

Saturday evening I took a trip to Hobby Lobby. It has been quite a while since I've visited because it's 30 miles from my house but love to see if there's anything on clearance or new that I need for the studio ~
This was the last day of the sale but
they had a ton of bridal stuff on sale....
I love to look on this aisle because sometimes
I can use these things in my artwork....

I love that they had these cake plates in various sizes so you could stack them....I needed them a few months ago!!

Favor boxes or tins are perfect to alter ~

Their drieds were half off and I LOVED these sticks....their color and shape were perfect for my artwork ~

Another cool wire basket thingee that will be perfect to hold supplies ~ half off!

I can't remember if I showed you these, but I found these wonderful window frames when I was at Tammy's for the Girl's Weekend.....only 10.00 each! Well, since my studio is really a two car garage, there are two lovely fluorescent lights on the ceiling. I want to hang these horizontally underneath the lights to camouflage them a little bit.

All I needed was a small roll of chicken wire or poultry netting to staple to one side so I would have something to clip things to ~ a few hooks for the ceiling, eye screws and white chain to hang them!

This is how far I got with them....now to get Brent to place the four hooks around each light.....and then I'll hang them.....they should hang about a foot lower than the ceiling ~ sort of like pot racks hang.
I'll be sure to show you how they look when they get put up.

A tiny offering that I've added to The Feathered Nest Shoppe!!! A french tart pincushion that I made this weekend!!! I used some wonderful fabric that Marcie gave me (thank you Marcie!!!) and an individual tart tin.....You can see it HERE in the shoppe ~ simple but so pretty.

Wishing you a wonderful Tuesday sweet friends!!
xxoo, Dawn

So very thankful ~

Thank you so very much to the men and women who have served our country....and to those who are currently serving our country as well ~
it is because of you we can enjoy the freedom that we do!!!

And let us remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.....
their lives ~
We honor them today~

OK. so you know I love giveaways.....BUT JUST LOOK AT THIS ONE!

My dear friend Lesley at Flatwoods Folk Art is hosting the most AMAZING giveaway EVER!!! It's called the "Unleash Your Creativity Blog Giveaway" ~ doesn't that sound wonderful????

Just click to visit her giveaway post HERE

and you can see the treasures that she's offering... what a sweetheart ~

Just spreadin' the giveaway love ~
xxoo, Dawn