June's Theme and a Winner!

June is almost here...

Three people correctly guessed that June's theme for my offerings will be "Bees / Beehives"

So my youngest son randomly selected:

Barbara L. from southern Illinois. 

Barbara selected:

Antique Flag Windowsill Mat

Enjoy Barbara! Your prize will soon be on its way...

I will be back tomorrow to unveil my June offerings.

"If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey,and will give it to us."

~Numbers 14:8

Blessings, Patti

Remembrance, A Sale and A Giveaway

"A Patriot's Sampler"

free design by Plum Street Samplers

that you can find here.

I spent the day at the Memorial Day parade. 

A chance to applaud and recognize our veterans young and old.

A chance to hear my favorite tuba player (on the far right).

And to witness the laying of a poppy filled wreath at the veterans memorial.

I updated my Etsy shop and lowered the prices on several items. I thought I would also offer a little sale in my Etsy shop of 20% off all purchases. Just use the coupon code of MEMDAY2014 or send me an email if you don't have an Etsy account. You can see my Etsy shop here.

I also had a little time to work on my June 1st offerings as well. Every year my June offerings have been strawberry themed, but this year another theme really inspired me. I thought it would be fun to host a giveaway of one item of your choice from my Etsy Shop. All you need to do is guess my June offerings theme. Either leave a comment on this post or send me an email to pgagliardi9@hotmail.com with a subject line of "June Theme". 

If more than one person guesses the correct theme, I will have a drawing for the winner.

 If no one guesses correctly, then everyone will be entered into the drawing.

I will be back on Saturday with the winner.

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country."

~Deuteronomy 28:1-3

Blessings, Patti

Where does the time go???

Time just seems to slip by faster and faster...

Before it is too far past, I need to tell you about the wonderful Mother's Day that I had.

My niece, Angela, was a competitive figure skater when she was younger. Over the years she sustained some injuries and worked with physical therapists. When she was a junior in high school, she decided that she wanted to be a physical therapist and wanted to be direct admittted into a doctorate program. I thought that was lovely, but having switched universities once and switched majors three times myself, I knew that chances were that she might change her mind along the way...

Fast forward six years and I spent a lovely Mother's Day here: 

My niece's graduation with her doctorate in physical therapy!

She's worked long and hard and her determination and drive remained intact.

Her proud parents and brother.

The cousins (my two sons are the scruffy ones on the ends lol)

We are all so proud and it was such a lovely weekend - my family and my sister's family together out of town. Such wonderful new memories!

Then it was on the the Midwest Dachshund Rescue's Crosstown Barkaround - the biggest fundraiser of the year. The four of us went with our dear Orion. Over 1,000 people and 400 dachshunds in attendance. So fun - but of course, we had so much fun that I don't take pictures. Who knew that dachshunds came in so many styles, colors and sizes...

After that is was on to the Norwegian Independence Day parade.

Small town parades are so fun.

My favorite was the marching band and my favorite tuba player (my youngest son).

I loved all the Norwegian handicrafts.

These mittens look oh so warm!

The band played the Norwegian National Anthem and the US National Anthem in front of city hall.

The best part is that I get to watch them march again at this weekend's Memorial Day parade :)

I think that it is about time for another giveaway, so stay tuned and I'll be back soon!

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."

~Romans 12:3-8

Blessings, Patti

May Mantle and More...

I think that this is my favorite mantle so far...

To me, May is the month of nesting birds and so that is my theme.

This is the big picture.

My May mantle features my antique punched tin lantern collection (which usually doesn't stray very far), Maggie Bonanomi topiaries, found nests (some with eggs) and Schneeman folk art birds. 

They all certainly bring a smile to my face.

Although this part on the hearth doesn't fit my theme, they are all well loved items.

Here are the rest of my Schneeman birds that didn't quite fit on the mantle along with a Ginny Henson robin made of linsey woolsey.

A Rabbit Hill Primitives creation along with more bird eggs.

Isn't this robin family the best?!

Created by Audrey Baker of Bay Ray's Child ~ so very lifelike!

Cross Stitch pillow by me of a Primitive Stitchin By Shelly Auen design.

More Rabbit Hill Primitives creations in an old trencher with make do repair.

More robins by Audrey of  Bay Ray's Child.

A few of my Rowe Pottery Historical pieces.

"The trees of the Lord are well watered,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

There the birds make their nests;

the stork has its home in the junipers.

The high mountains belong to the wild goats;

the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

He made the moon to mark the seasons,

and the sun knows when to go down."

~Psalm 104:16-19

Blessings, Patti

A Florida Finish

While in Florida, I worked on this Buttermilk Basin design.

As usual, the bird turned into a robin :)

Here is my finish:

Robins always help it to feel like spring.

(As I type, it is 41 degrees in Chicago - not very spring-like!)

On our last day in Florida we had a bit of time before our flight and decided to make a quick trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

The fuel tank and rocket boosters for the space shuttle Atlantis were mammoth.

I didn't realize that the Atlantis was covered in fabric - lightweight and protective.

It reminded me of a quilt.

Each square is labeled and numbered.

The Atlantis:

26 Years

33 Missions

207 Astronauts

307 Days in Space

126 Million Miles Flown

It was a quick stop, but time well spent.

Very inspiring!

I will be back soon with my May Mantle. I can't believe that the month is half over :)

"The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

~Zephaniah 3:17

Blessings, Patti

Fun in Florida

Greetings! 

I have about a dozen blog posts in my head and just haven't had the time to post them. So I guess I'll just start at the beginning :) I had a business trip to Florida last week and loved how green everything was.

The flora and fauna is so very different from Chicago.

I was really intrigued with how resurrection ferns and air ferns grow on the trunks of the trees.

We started out in a small town outside Orlando and the landscape was lovely.

The Live Oaks and Spanish Moss take my breath away.

I was so thrilled to see the threatened Gopher Tortoise in person!

They are a keystone species that dig very large burrows that it shares with more than 350 other species.

Then it was time to head into Orlando proper.

I really enjoyed the view from my room and did find a few minutes to try out the quarter mile lazy river one morning. I actually walked it against the current and found it an exhausting exercise :)

On a walk along Grande Lake, I stopped at a little pier to admire the view and out walked this fella.

I stopped for a bit to watch him fish.

My room was on the third floor from the top - such a pretty hotel.

This sign amused me, although I was quite careful and a bit glad not to find either :)

Here's another heron enjoying some shade.

This pair caught my eye as well. I think it might be a nesting platform and I love how they were sitting in the exact same pose with their beaks open :)

I will be back very soon to share my project that I finished on the plane ride home.

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.Are you not much more valuable than they?"

~Matthew 6:26

Blessings, Patti

Progress...

As I attend my conference, I try to squeeze in a stitch here and a stitch there...

Enjoying the view here in Orlando as I do.

As I was looking through my photo album, I realized that this piece accompanied me on my last conference trip in Ft. Lauderdale. 

I'm hoping to complete it soon and have a finish to share.

Hope you are enjoying a bright, sunny breezy day in your corner of the world.

Blessings, Patti