THE VILULA TEA GARDEN

...it was a little tea room in my memories...ladies wearing white gloves and pretty hats; soft and mended old linens on the tables; and heirloom roses in crystal vases....lovely.

February 29, 2012

from Ann Voskcamp




http://www.aholyexperience.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Blanket-of-Truth.pdf

A free gift from my heart to yours…


Four pocket cards to carry in your pocket —

To you longing to to live fullyfully in Him

So that when the lies hiss cold in your heart — you can wrap up in His love and a Quilt of Truth.

The gift of His unending grace…

So very grateful for you…
Ann


What a wonderful gift Ann is...go to her blog and print these out to keep in your pocket...I will, too....have a good day, friends

February 27, 2012

Check this out from Jen!

Go on over to see Jen at Life, Crafts, and Whatever to see this great tute...I just love it and can't wait to make one!!!

http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2011/05/ballard-inspired-spool-but-smaller-and.html


Ballard Inspired Spool. But smaller. And cuter. Maybe.








Am I the only one who signs up for catalogs from Ballard, knowing that I'll never be able to afford buy anything from them, but just want to see what I can copy be inspired by? Today I'm showing you how to make this.





The latest thing to catch my eye was this table. I mean, cute, right? But at $199, I don't think so. Plus, even though it's supposed to emulate a spool of thread, I get a nautical vibe from it. Doesn't work in my casa.





So I wanted to see if I could make one on a smaller (and way cheaper) scale. I hit up Hobby Lobby. The wood was $1.50 a piece, and the cylinder was $3.47 (but use those 40% off coupons). I already had the rope stuff. I took the lid off of the cylinder, poked a hole in the bottom along the edge, threaded the rope thru and tied a knot in the rope (I didn't want the cut edge of the rope to be visible)





And then started wrapping. I would put on some hot glue, wrap, hot glue, wrap, rinse and repeat.









Then I used my Silhouette and made the stencil for the top out of vinyl. I just tried to keep it as close to the original as I could.






Pretend I have a picture of the wood after it's been stained (I used a dark walnut color). Place your vinyl on top and spray paint it black. I used the transfer paper to cover the areas that I don't want painted. Just like I did with my UFC pillow, I made sure to not spray at an angle. Don't want it bleeding underneath.


When it's dry, peel away the vinyl, and bask in it's loveliness. Looks like it was stamped on there, huh? Booyah.

Then say a few curse words when you realize that you should have had your hubby drill a hole in the wood BEFORE you stain and paint.






Next, anxiously wait in the garage and remind your husband 4,763 times to please be careful while he drills out the holes.











Then carefully stain the inside of the hole. I did do a few LIGHT layers of cream colored spray paint on the rope since I really liked the contrast of the dark and light on the inspiration piece. I also cut out a hole on the bottom piece of cardboard so you can see through the spool. Then bust out your trusty E6000 and stick them all together.





I heart it. It's right outside of my bedroom door. Final size is just under 7 inches tall. But I did see larger sized discs there if you want a bigger spool. Instead of using the store bought cylinder, you could use an oatmeal tube, a concrete form, etc. Your options are even greater if you have a router and a way to cut a big circle out of wood.




  • Yeah, I know you'd think that if your stain is too dark, that you can just add water to it. Ummm, yeah, it didn't work. Take my word for it.
  • Make sure you check your wood before you buy it. I've bought one before that was warped. One of my pieces had a huge knot on the top, which wasn't a big deal since I just used it on the bottom. But just something to keep in mind.
  • Unless you really like cursing, don't use a baby wipe to brush off the sawdust after drilling. It was not fun having to try and pick off all the fibers that clung to the wood.

February 2, 2012

An American Cowgirl-one of the greatest!

Connie Douglas Reeves (September 26, 1901-August 16, 2003)

Connie Reeves rode her first horse when she was 5. Ninety uninterrupted years of riding later, she was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

That was 1997, and at the time Reeves was still the director of horseback riding at Camp Waldemar, an all-girls summer camp in the Texas Hill Country. She had held that position since 1936, when she gave up a brief career teaching high school English to teach young girls how to ride an English saddle.

Over 67 summers, it is estimated that she taught 30,000 girls. Though she yielded full-time responsibility for the program in 1998, she remained an almost daily presence at the camp. Recently she had begun to see the great-granddaughters of girls she once taught.

She rode her last ride at age 101...and enjoyed every last minute of it.

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Roxy

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The apron I made for theFlirty/Sassy Swap!