Beach Cottage ABCs

Several years ago I cut out a Cottage ABCs article from a magazine.

I came across the article recently and thought about my own ABCs...

A if for Adirondacks

A neighbor's front door

B is for baskets filled with books

Little handmade books

C is for checks

 My buffalo check chair

D is for dishes in red and yellow

Favorite red & yellow pieces

E is for Expedit from Ikea

An ever changing display

F is for fresh flowers

Petit fleurs

G is for glass

Glass jar full of ceramic letters

H is for hearts and hands

Hands from my collection

I is for inspiring quotes

I'm still working on creating myself!

J is for jars 

Jars filled with supplies 

K is for kayaks

Kayaks are perfect beach house accessories

L is for living simply

Live well with less!

M is for mixing fabrics

My window seat 

N is for numbers

Numbered magnets

O is for an open door policy

Open door...please drop in!

P is for polka dots

F

Favorite utensils

Q is for quilts

Favorite quilts

R is for reading books on decorating

Actually more looking than reading

S is for seashells

 Little shells tucked into vignettes.

T is for treasured keepsakes

My father's tobacco canister

U is for using things in ways they weren't designed

Little red ladder holding books

V is for vintage

Favorite vintage table cloths.

W is for windows

lovely mullioned windows

XYZ are for letters of the alphabet

Letters all over the house

An Inspiring Swap

Last week I signed up to participate in the

Desire to Inspire (inspired) “Inspiration Deck” Swap

I spent last weekend and part of this weekend working on my cards.

Doing "artsy" activities is my therapy and with Steve's studio just one step down from my workspace, it gives us time together.

He finished a commission and began another commission while I made a huge mess creating little cards.

The goal was to create 53 cards using a deck of cards.  

Jessica at In Search of Dessert is collecting all the cards and will create new sets of 52 inspiration cards to send back to all the participants.  

The fifty-third card is to create a set to send off to Christine Mason Miller who inspired the swap after Jessica read Christine's book
 Desire to Inspire.

Here are my 53 cards - it looks like a quilt.

I am a big fan of quotes.

I have my students select a quote to follow each year and they adorn my classroom.

This was a challenge because I have my old standbys, but I needed 53 quotes and had to branch out.

I went to my Pinterest board Speakin' Your Mind for ideas.

 I found my last two quotes last night on a friend's facebook post.

Here are a few of my favorite cards.

 I'm not sure that I follow this, but I know that I need to challenge myself.

I am a planner and am constantly tweaking those plans.

I love to look back at my life and reflect on the wonderful people who have been of major importance and also those people who drifted into my life briefly, but made an impact.

I have a friend whose life is not going right at the moment.

Maybe she needs to just go left!

I truly believe that everyone has their special something, but many are too busy trying to fit into a mold created by others.

I like this quote to remind us that we need to appreciate ourselves and not assume that everyone else has it perfect.

I can totally identify with this quote.

I know I am at awesome at some things, but fault myself for so many other things.

My cards are done.

I will mail them tomorrow.

And then I will wait to see what the other participants created.

The cards aren't due until March 1 so it will be a couple of weeks, but it will be fun to see what arrives to replace my little cards.

Mother + Daughter = Shopping

It is a windy Saturday, perfect for being lazy after a long week of late nights.

We got lucky this weekend.

KC drove down to visit us for a short weekend.

A dear friend from school just became a father and she wanted to see the baby.

She arrived late last night, but we waited up and fit in a little catching up time.

This morning, after a leisurely breakfast we walked on the beach.

It felt like a winter day which was unexpected after a high of 79 on Thursday.

Next KC and I hit the stores which is what we do when we are together.

When she was heading off to college I wrote her a book based on different photos I had 

gathered to show her life.

I looked and looked and could not find a single photo of just the two of us.

It finally hit me that the only thing we did as mom and daughter, without anyone else, 

was shop.

And we never took a camera shopping.

We continue that tradition as adults.

This morning I forced her to accompany me to TJ Maxx.

She hates to shop there because it is always in disarray.

I love the "hunt" and love it when I find a unique basket or picture frame.

Today all I  found were some little craft supplies for my students to make cards as a Valentine

activity.

Next, we headed to Patagonia to find a gift for Steve.

He told Kendra before we left that he had sent away for something for me and she should
tell me to buy him something.

I already had that in the plans.

I found a plaid shirt for him and a "Live Simply" shirt for JP.

Next, it was downtown to B on Main

I bought red candles and some silly cowgirl coasters for KC.

While I was waiting for them to wrap my purchase I spotted these.

I couldn't resist.

I will set the table like this on Valentine's Day.

Tonight it is dinner at a lovely restaurant everyone says is a must.

The menu looks wonderful and the company will be great.

We don't get to see KC often, but it is such a pleasure to have her with us - even if it is just 36 hours.

And I will start saving for a real shopping spree when I fly to San Francisco for the day on
Mother's Day.

In our family,

Mother + Daughter = Shopping

A Few of My Favorite Things

Every year, I have my students make a book.

It is a favorite project because they are writing about themselves.

One entry is simply a list of things they like - sports, food, tangible items, colors, etc.

It is somewhat difficult for my students because they are second language learners and don't

always know the words to use.

I made my sample on wordle and created my page for them to visualize.

100 Things I like

So what do I like?

BASKETS

wicker baskets...wire baskets....metal baskets...canvas baskets

too many to count!

baskets, quilts & baskets filled with quilts

Baskets filled with books

RED...YELLOW...RED & YELLOW TOGETHER

I painted the red & yellow pitcher on vacation in Santa Fe

Our entryway 

HANDS

There are hands in every room in the house.

One of my students told me that she thought it was a weird thing to collect.

I told her I couldn't be the only person who collected hands because I find hands in so many shops.

I once met an artist who also collected hands and her collection did not contain a single hand that I own.

Baskets, books and hands all together

THE LETTER C

Having the initials CC drew me to collecting the letter C.

Actually, I love all the letters of the alphabet.


STRIPES...POLKA DOTS...CHECKS

I love red and white stripes.

I love checkerboards.

I love polka dots.

And of course always in red and yellow.

Our beloved Dorje was helping me take photos

Just a few of my favorite things.

Don't get me started on all the different art supplies I collect!