Loveliness of Thursday

Yesterday was a lovely day. Things went smoothly, for the most part, all day and my mood was cheery and positive. Not sure what brought that on, but just the same, I was enjoying the day. The beauty of the day. It wasn't without its fights and a tantrum, but my attitude was focused on the lovely. So here I venture to share some of the miscellaneous lovely from our day.


Loveliness of Artwork

Early in the day after breakfast, I finally got around to making some lovely saint magnets with the printouts that had been waiting on my desk for days. For this bit of loveliness I have Melissa to thank. She does wonderful things with a printer and some self-laminating sheets from Wal-Mart. I had printed off some pics of some favorite saints, backed them with cardstock and laminated them! How lovely they turned out! The photo doesn't do them justice. Thanks Melissa!

And here is more lovely artwork that we completed and hung yesterday morning. We have been studying plants in our science lessons. This is what is called craft projects off the cuff. I knew what I wanted to make, but wasn't really prepared with the supplies. Time to do a little restocking. Anyway, we improvised. Pipe cleaners and beads for flowers. And for Andrew, lots and lots of glue (his are the orange flowers). We also made the flower and bee pictures using coiled wire to make the bee kind of dance around. The older kids really enjoyed the projects and Andrew really enjoyed the glue!



One thing these art projects reinforced for me is that science need not always be worksheets and diagrams. It was with ease and simplicity that we were able to discuss pollination and how some plants have flowers AS we made our crafts. I didn't need to sit them down before me with a chart of a flower and my pointer stick to make my point (no pun intended).


Loveliness of Fabric

Oh, what beauty fabric holds for me. I am mesmerized by its color and pattern and the way different pieces play together. While I have been quilting for several years now and have quite a stash of things to work on, there is always something new to catch my fancy. Of late I have been inspired in this area by Elizabeth Foss and her creativity. She is a truly lovely lady from all I have read from her and about her. She always makes me want to add more fancy, more delight, more flowers, more loveliness to my home and our lives. Lately she has blogged about some of their sewing projects and crafts. It is always a joy to see what they are up to - one big reason I love blogs.

The other day she posted a link to a fabric designing mom. What beauty Heather Bailey creates. After seeing her first line of fabrics here, I dialed up my local quilt shop (so lucky to have one local) to see if they carry it. They do. Wasn't sure which colorway they carry, but wanted to see the fabric in person. Elizabeth had also posted an entry about her BAG. And oh, what a bag it is! It was love at first sight. I have always loved purses. I have not always loved pink. But pink now ranks up there next to purple and blue in my book. In fact, I am becoming very attracted to all things pink. When I saw her Vera Bradley bag, I decided it was time I had one too. I have always admired them, but have passed them up for some reason or another every time I see them. And not because I don't LOVE them. Well, lucky for me, my local quilt shop has always carried Vera Bradley bags. AND, lucky for me, I still had lots gift certificates left and a $20 off coupon! So I made plans for our adventure.

I say "our adventure" because this urgent little trip was going to have to be made late in the afternoon with all four kids in tow. Don't gasp. I am not brave. I am crazy. I fed Mikey when he woke up, got Andrew up from nap and bribed, I mean, pep talked the oldest two. We also needed to run to Kroger for some more medicine. So I explained the rules to Jacob and Nicole and promised them that if they were PERFECT we could buy a bag of cherry sours when we got to Kroger. And they were PERFECT. I was so proud of them! We browsed the fabrics at Quakertown Quilts and located the Heather Bailey line. The fabric was lovely, but they were carrying my least favorite colorway, #1. I would have much preferred the color scheme of the others. Anyway, the fabric next to it caught my eye from the minute I saw it. It is by Moda Fabrics and here is what I bought.

Then, as I was standing at the table having my yardage cut for the backing, I became highly distracted by ANOTHER line of beautiful fabrics across the way. Luckily I had lots of gift certificate money because I bought this too!!!! Oh my goodness! The photo doesn't do it justice. Currently it is sitting on my sewing table all washed and dried and ready to be pressed and cut! I can't wait.

Then my angel children and I headed to the Vera Bradley section to snag me a beautiful and much "needed" bag. I am thrilled. It is not as big as Elizabeth's since I still plan to keep a small diaper bag too (a necessity with 2 in diapers). But there is still plenty of room to throw in a diaper, a container of wipes and other odds and ends if I so desire. I really don't carry terribly much in my purse - a minimalist of sorts in this area. I considered the small handbag, but it just didn't do the lovely fabric justice. The fabric makes me happy so I figured the more of it the better. And here is my happy bag, as Elizabeth so perfectly named it.

We went on to Kroger, all in cheeriest of moods, and chose our cherry sours. What a perfectly lovely fabric-filled afternoon!


Loveliness of Laughter

And, finally, the loveliest thing of all. My children and me laughing! Andrew insisted upon wearing his BIG brother's WAY TOO BIG Spiderman costume. So be it! We all laughed so hard as he so willingly performed for us all. Who is that masked man?

So that was my bit of loveliness for the week. We put the tempers, the thrush, the school and the challenges aside and had a perfectly lovely day.