A BRIGHT IDEA ...

Isn't it amazing how visiting a blog can spark a "bright idea". I've had a little Marjolein Bastin lamp (which I love) for years now. My children gave it to me one Mother's Day . It has a sweet Sparrow sitting on the base of the lamp and a little nest with 3 eggs sitting nestled on an outreaching branch. Love it! It's lampshade was plain brown paper and I always thought it looked like it was meant to be transformed. Earlier this week I was "blog surfing" ... you know how you are visiting one blog and then end up following links and comments leading you to new blogs :-) Well that's how I came to find dragonfly's and stars and the Rosette idea. Brenda posted the most fabulous drop cloth ideas including a chaise she recovered (gorgeous) and instructions to make little rosettes. Light bulb went off ... I could recover my little plain brown paper lamp shade in rosettes :-) Which is exactly what I did. I've been on a big "start using it up" binge lately trying to clean up lots of the scraps left over from this year's crafting projects. I picked up two 10 yard spools of Wired Tulle at Michael's a while ago. I stood there looking at them on the reduced table wondering what I could use them for :-) but since they were 48 cents each reduced from $8.49 I took them both! They've been sitting in my craft armour ever since, although I did use a little tulle here and there in other projects nothing to make a real dent in the spool. Now was the time to bring them out and put them to good use. I started by covering the entire lamp shade top to bottom with strips of tulle keeping the sparkly wired edges together on the outside of the shade. Then I covered the bottom with a strip of rope trim (another scrap leftover). I made 15 rosettes following Brenda's instructions, glued them all around the top of the lampshade to cover, and then scattered the remaining around the shade. In the middle of each rosette I added a small blue pearl. Just the little pick me up my lamp needed ♥

MY FAVOURITE THINGS PARTY...

There's a "My favourite things" party happening today at 320 Sycamore.

We're asked to share a few of our "favourite things" and with the Christmas Holidays approaching, here are a few of mine ...

On my makeup table
Reds for the Holidays

Moisture Extreme Lipcolor by Maybelline #210 Toasted Almond

&

L'oreal Nail Polish #470 Caught Redhanded

In the C.D. player

Two of my favourite singers ~ K.d. lang & Josh Groban. Listen to both these C.D.'s year round but they are lovely and peaceful playing during the Holidays.
In the Kitchen

My Kitchen Aid MixMaster ... Love it!! Makes cooking everything so much easier.
100% Unbleached coffee filters ~ sturdy & environmentally friendly :-) I use these every morning to make our coffee
On my bedside table

This is one of my favourite books! Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Love it ... read it all year long and have for many years now.
And it just wouldn't be Christmas without watching ...
The original black and white version of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim!

These are a few of my Favourite Things for the Holidays ... what are some of yours?
***
Thank you all so much for your kind comments yesterday ... I should have waited until he was officially here to say anything ... but like a child at Christmas, I was too excited to wait :-)

LAB LOVE ...

My sweet Ben's bed, coat, feeding dish, leash and toys have been brought down from the storage cupboard and given another wash in anticipation ...

After 14 months without Benny we are getting ready for some Lab Love ♥ again and adopting a 10 year old Lab who is looking for a new home! He will (hopefully) arrive this weekend :-)

Received another one of those must pass on e-mails from a dear friend ... It came with lots of pics of adorable dogs, so I've abbreviated it a bit ~ but here is the gist ... and considering the events unfolding at our home ~ VERY fitting :-)

***

After loosing their beloved dog, a family was surprised at their young sons ability to accept his dogs transition seemingly without confusion or difficulty. Sitting together, they spoke of how animals lives are shorter than humans, and we don't know why.

"I know why" said the young boy. "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life ~ like loving everyone all the time and being nice, right?"

The child continued. "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long"

Dogs teach us...

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride

Take naps

Stretch before rising

Play daily

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree

Be loyal

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it

Enjoy every moment of every day!

MOSAIC MONDAY...

How beautiful is the rain!

After the dust and the heat

In the broad and fiery street

In the narrow lane

How beautiful is the rain

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~
***

Having been born in England, maybe I come upon my love of rain naturally ...for today's Mosaic Monday, I looked through some archives and found some of my favourites taken in my garden after rainfalls.

Mary hosts Mosaic Monday on her blog dear little red house ♥

PINK SATURDAY...

My sewing basket seems to be filled with lots of odds and ends at this time of the year. Little remnants of fabric, small bits of embroidery floss, half finished items, "samples" of things I've tried when an idea popped into my head :-)
One such item was a flour sack dishtowel that I had once thought of turning into a pillow for my Studio.
I had the Vintage Sparrow stamped on it ... but then it some how ended up at the bottom of the sewing basket!

And then there was the little Sparrow embroidery I did ... sitting one evening and just embroidering away with no real idea of what I would do with a Sparrow sitting on a flower pot :-)

Or why I was keeping teeny little bits of fabric not big enough to make anything out of ...

and all those buttons ...

and pieces of lace...

and then, while at the Dollar store, I spotted (for a dollar) this black lap top sleeve and was so happy I had kept all these things!

***

Beverly hosts Pink Saturday on her blog where today there are 153 participants.

JUST JAX ...

Joaquin {or Just Jax for short} Phoenix
our sweet little budgie ...

such wonderful company...
who begins each day with song ...

who loves Norah Jones ...

and bath time ...

and makes me laugh & smile all day long :-)

and you can't ask for more than that!
Hope you are having a wonderful Friday!

THANKFUL {things I love} THURSDAY...

Magazines definitely fall into the "things I love" category! They can be found throughout my home in bookshelves, baskets, coffee & bedside tables. There are some magazines that I will keep forever, and would never dream of tearing out pages from to create collages (I save those for the garage sale mags I pick up for 25 cents) :-)

One of those special magazine publications is Where Women Create. It's more like a soft cover book than a magazine ~ one of those reads where you feel you've gotten your money's worth & then some! It all started with this gorgeous book! I was sold on the cover :-) but inside are 144 pages filled with the most inspirational creative spaces ♥
I was thrilled when I found out that Where Women Create was moving into a magazine publication...it's one that I will call ahead to my nearby Indigo to see if it's in and put a Hold on as they don't last long! Which is what I did this morning.
Now you know what I will be doing this afternoon :-)

I even have a "special" rack to hold my Where Women Create and other Stampington/Somerset Studio publications. It's one of my favourite garage sale finds ~ an old variety store magazine rack that still has the metal "World News" "Star" and "National Enquirer" signs under my paper garlands :-) It sits in my little "Sparrow Studio" next to my desk so I am always within reach of inspiration!

Where Women Create has their own blog & are celebrating their One Year Anniversary with a fabulous give away which I will definitely be entering!

What are you Thankful for today?