A new day!

Don't you just love a fresh week???

And a brand new day is such a gift!!

Makes me so thankful ~

I had such a busy weekend but nothing that would be blog-worthy...

I painted the laundry room ~ whoo hoo!

It's looks so fresh and clean now and I just love it

but believe me, it's not worth taking pics and posting!

But I do love that I finally got it finished.

We've been here at the farmhouse for almost two years now

and it was one of the rooms I didn't get to before we moved in.

We recently had a new hot water heater installed and I had to

totally clean the laundry room out so it was the perfect

opportunity for me to get the paint job finished.

So today I would love to share a few random prints, photos and thoughts with you ~

A precious old photo of friends...sisters...no matter, it's wonderful!

Another beautiful fall pic I took a few years ago...

I love the sun peeking through the leaves.

A photo of one of my favorite old clocks and a few old faces...don't you love the graphics?

My gorgeous Limoges china my dear husband gave me one Christmas...

it is so incredibly delicate,

you truly can see straight through it when held up to the window ~

I've always loved this old photograph ~ isn't she beautiful?

I wanted to remind you about my free tutorials...

they are listed with links in my left side bar, up toward the top of my blog ~

Now's the time to get started on these wonderful but oh-so-easy projects!!!

My free mitten ornament tutorial...

And how about rag ball ornaments? You can use old calico fabrics...

Or even simple strips of cream muslin for a beautiful neutral look!

I hope you don't mind my crazy post sweet friends ~

Wishing you a wonderful, fresh and new Monday!!!

Much love and hugs,

Dawn

Don't forget about my free tutorials! Plus my little WIP...

If you visit my blog regularly, you know I have my little tutorial shop

Lessons from The Nest...

but you may not have noticed in my left side bar

I have a few free tutorials I've offered in the years past ~

They're easy and FUN!!

You can find my rag ball ornament tutorial HERE ~

And my mitten ornament tutorial HERE ~

OK. Seems I'm always trying to figure out

what Blogger is up to with our images....

I like clicking on images and saving them at their "real" size...

and sometimes it's much larger that what you see!

Here's what I've figured out now:

click on an image ~

you will be taken to a "slide show" type of window.

Then RIGHT click on the image and select "VIEW IMAGE" with a left click.

A new window will open.

You may even be able the left click the image again

and it will appear even larger!

THEN you can RIGHT click it and select SAVE IMAGE

and save it to your own computer.....

give it a try ~ I hope it works for you :)

I played with my bottle brush trees again!

I'm not quite finished with them...but I had to show you what

I've finished so far ~ this one is teeny tiny and will be

housed inside a vintage baby food jar!

The tree itself stands only about two inches tall ~

I don't even have the top screwed on all the way but you get

the idea of how it will look under glass. I still want to

add a few pieces of seam binding garland that has been split

and ringlet curled....

What do you think about these blue trees?

They are really beautiful in person!

My decorations?

Broken strands of vintage pearls...I just love them!

Thank you always for stopping by to see me!!

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

It'll be here before you know it!

It's like this...Fall has finally arrived and

we're all lovin' the leaves and the cooler weather....

Halloween will sneak up on us then

BOOM!!!!

Christmas will have come and gone in a flash!!!

And poor ol' Thankgiving was a little blur we passed along the way....

Now's the time to start making your Christmas pretties

and I wanted to remind you of my free tutorials ~

The links are always located in the upper left column of my blog....

Rag Ball Ornaments ~

Mitten Ornaments ~

More Rag Ball Ornaments ~

Make your own tags ~

This has nothing to do with this post but that I love this Christmas decorating book!!

And I love this one too!!

 Cover food or soap packaging to make custom gift boxes ~

A wee stocking ornament ~

Sweet paper cone ornament tutorial ~

It really will be here in the blink of an eye!!

Have a beautiful Thursday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

I just LOVE wonderful mail!

Do you do this? You get something great in the mail, say a package that you're not quite sure of the contents but you just KNOW it's going to be wonderful, so you set it on the dining table.

You look at it.

You walk by it.

You even finish folding that load of laundry and think of it....anticipating the wonderfulness (don't know if that's even a word!) ~

Well, I'm that nut, and finally I do indulge myself and Monday THIS was my gift, Somerset Life!! OK, I know that I have a few things featured but this magazine (it so shouldn't be called this) or beautiful publication, is AMAZING!!

The wealth of ideas are so beautiful, timeless, artistic, and creative.....it truly shows you how to make your life and your surroundings more beautiful ~

There are so many wonderful artists featured in this issue too!

On newstands October 1st . . .

Just a little peek:

My sweet friend Nancy of Fete et Fleur has an article! Plus, there are so many other bloggers and artists with their work inside ~

My little mittens and rag balls with instructions!

And a little surprise I put together a few months back ~

an advent calendar!

I've taken a few detailed photos of the actual calendar now that it's back home ~ one of the little glass ball ornaments didn't make it there (see if you can find it) and it's a miracle I packed it safely enough to travel all the way to California!! It's really big!!

Each little pocket contains an ornament created from a special momento to hang on the tree as that day passes ~

There is so much more in this issue of Somerset Life I didn't show you...

be sure you get an issue, you'll love it!!

I just want to stop, right here, right now, and thank each and everyone of you who takes the time to read my blog, to offer up a kind comment or an encouragement to create.

It truly is because of my sweet wonderful friends here in the Land of Blog that I've had any confidence at all to have something that I made in my crowded little art room published in a magazine at all.....thank you for encouraging me and for cheering me on ~ I hope I can do the same for you :)

(((((((((hugs to each and every one of you!)))))))))))

I hope you have a great Tuesday ~

xxoo, Dawn