Sharing a little birthday love!

Little might just be the wrong word to use though!!!

And yes, my birthday is the day after Christmas but

my precious friend Lisa and I are known for not being

on time for our birthday gifts to one another.

I just have to share with you

all the amazingly, wonderful goodies

she gave me!!!

Some of the photos are a little repetitive but

I know you like pics and I tried to get close ups ~

She packaged everything so sweet!!!

Each parcel had a number and on the back of each tag

Lisa wrote a little note to me...

Here is a shot before I opened the packages:

And here's after....WOW!!!!

Look at all of the precious treasures!!!!

She SO knows what I love.

All types of sweet baby shoes, a few baby dresses too.

Gorgeous antique lace and a porcelain half doll!

Antique children's photographs and old photo album pages.

Vintage rhinestone pins and postcards.

See the teeny doll shoe?? LOVE!

And yes, at the bottom of the photo below are a few very small animal skulls.

I hope that doesn't creep you out but I love the beauty of nature

(and Lisa knows it)

and will create a shadow box just to showcase them all!!!

Several pieces of the new Tim Holtz fabric, isn't it beautiful???

Wonderful feathers to use in artwork.

An amazing book about old dolls ~ I just love it!!!

And lastly, a few back issues of a magazine from the UK that I love, Daphne's Diary!!!!

Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Dear sweet Lisa,

Thank you soooo very much for my gifts...

and for your precious friendship...
you continually inspire me to be creative ~

I love you girl!!!!

Happy Monday sweet friends and

Happy March too!!!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Five. 0.

It's finally here.

I've been thinking about it a lot this year.

Thinking of how my body has changed so over the years....

and that even my face has changed.

Under my jaws are these saggy things that have appeared

that weren't there before!!!

I had to have dental work this past year and not just your

typical stuff either! We're talking replacements!!!

But I'm so thankful, that as expensive as it is,

I was able to have it done ~

It's funny though...

that as I reach this numerical milestone,

in my mind,

I still think of myself as that nineteen year old...

soon to be married,

and so excited about the time ahead of me!!!

Time passes so quickly,

my babies have arrived and grown into men,

and here I am.

One thankful girl!!!!

No matter what age I am,

I am thankful for each and every minute

I have been given on this earth ~

to enjoy my childhood, with my mama, daddy and brothers ~

then with my precious husband and our thirty plus year marriage and

the gift of our five sweet sons.

And now to have the gift of a granddaughter?

That's the icing!!!!!!

Whatever's left from here on out is the icing......

don't you think?!!!!!

Thank you always for stopping by here,

for reading my thoughts and for leaving yours!!!

love you all so much,

Dawn

The day after.....

Ugh....yeah....here I am at eighteen years old,
what in the world happened to the time??!!

Sounds quite ominous, doesn't it???

But the day after Christmas isn't for me!!!!

Today is, well....

my forty-ninth birthday!!!!!!

YIKES!

Doesn't it seem that these years

are slipping by faster and faster?????

Well sweet friends, my word for today.....

for THIS day is ~

RELISH.

Relish each moment you have!!!!

Relish the time you have with those you love.....

Don't look at the negative but

always, ALWAYS concentrate

on the goodness around you.....

Simply relish each and every moment that is given to you ~

Wishing you a beautiful "day after Christmas" my sweet friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Another year older....I don't know about wiser :)

Yep. It's true....today's the day!!
Thank you so much Marcie for your sweet birthday wish!!
I can't EVEN believe it, but I'm 48 years old today ~
and so very blessed!!!

Blessed with my precious family, five sons and a husband that are so wonderful to me, a daughter in law that I love and precious granddaughter that I love more than breath. And on top of it all, I'm blessed with so many amazing friends that fill my heart to overflowing!!!

So instead of thinking of how my body is changing or that my face is wrinkling by the day or how my turkey neck has a life of it's own....I would rather think of my blessings today and how thankful I am for each and every one!!!

Now I'm off to go shopping and spend my Christmas money!!!
Hugs and love to you all,
Dawn

Another wonderful celebration!!

Today we had Noah's birthday party....it turned out just wonderful! Dennis' family came and his two little cousins helped him celebrate!

Just look at this sweet cowboy....our niece's youngest son!

Thelma the cat showed up too ~

Our other niece's little boy joined in the fun too ~

He had a great day!! We have such a wonderful family, always so sweet to come to our boy's birthday parties....and believe me, we had a TON of them with five sons!

I forgot to share something I found Friday at Barnes & Noble!! I love this cookbook ~ they come out quarterly and are just wonderful!! The recipes are simple, healthy and delicious ~ I've seen them at my Publix as well. Seems like they sell fast though! It costs 10.99 but it's so WORTH it ~

Today I'm going to work on something new!!!! I can't wait...I'll show you a few peeks soon ~ I wanted to share something else with you too. Have you ever noticed how many food items are boxed in your pantry?? Well, this cardboard, say on cereal boxes and such, is a valuable resource for your artwork!! You can open them up at the seam and using a paper cutter or a simple ruler and art knife you can cut yourself: bookmarks, tags, ATC cards and other things that you would normally buy cardstock for at the craft store.

Take spray adhesive or spray glue and mist the cut cardboard (inside an old box) and lay sticky side down on your choice of papers, then trim around the cardboard cleanly.THEN flip and spray the other side of the cardboard and lay sticky side down onto pretty paper and trim. Now you have a beautiful foundation to create your ATC, tag or bookmark!!!

Remember, you don't have to have scrapbook paper on hand to make something beautiful ~ use old book pages, sheet music, newspaper, wrapping paper, wall paper, etc.

Thank you all again so very much for the sweetest birthday wishes ever!!!! They all mean so very much to me.....hugs to each and every one of you!

Wishing you a wonderful Monday dear friends ~
xxoo, Dawn

Musings ~

Wednesday was one of those days. You know the kind. Too exhausted to create then I get mad at myself for not creating, but am exhausted because I worked on artwork too late the night before! Ughhh! Do you do this to yourself? If you don't accomplish a certain amount in the day, you get angry with yourself? I think women are especially guilty of this. Or maybe it's because I'm the oldest of three children, a capricorn, and like to drive myself nuts!!

I'm hopelessly a night owl. I enjoy getting started on a project late in the evening and working into the night 'til it's finished. But that doesn't work too well now that school has started for the guys! I'm going to work on my schedule....I love to post after midnight, so it will be fresh with your morning coffee or lunch....maybe I'll post earlier in the day and schedule it after 12:00 am....I'm just thinking out loud now. Well, enough of that ~

I did get the best mail though! I had purchased four little baby dresses from Cathy at Hazelruthe's and just love them. I'll be sure to have a photo for you soon. They just came out of the dryer and are absolutely precious!

Another wonderful tidbit of news: Today Sarah at The World and it's Roses is having a birthday today!!!!! She's turning THIRTEEN!

Please stop by and give her a big birthday hug ~

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

Wishing you all terrific and productive Thursday ~

xxoo, Dawn