Blossom…

This past Sunday, Hubby’s Mom and Dad had a little garden party…

…In fact, the garden WAS the party!

Azaleas

I mean, look at all that COLOR!

Winter Berry

The sky was a little gray that afternoon,
but that seemed to make the colors even more vibrant!

Lambs Ear

Mom and Dad have a knack for creating color contrasts in the garden!

Lilac

Everything was in bloom, and very fragrant!

White Flowers

Even the tiniest of blossoms…

Bleeding Heart

… seem to tug at your heartstrings.

Outside In

So I went home, and brought some Outside In.

Go not abroad for happiness,
for see,
it is a flower blooming at thy door.
~Minot Savage~

Branching Out…

In the midst of a long-distance Mother-Daughter phone conversation, somewhere mingled with Design Ideas, Mommy Advice, Airplane Tickets, Business Brainstorming, Children’s Drawings, and Plans-for-When-We-Next-Get-Together, my oldest daughter Jordan and I came up with a Brilliant Plan. While we were talking about the possibilities for developing a single design, the idea of a Grand Collaboration popped into both our heads at just about the same instance! And so did a quote that we both liked…

Home is Where You Are

It’s been nearly four years since Jo’s family has been back on the East Coast, and a good part of our conversation was about  Jo, her Hubby Luke, and her boys Jack and Derik traveling back home to Delaware for a couple of weeks in the late Spring. We’d both been searching online for airline tickets, and let me tell you, the price of airline tickets for four people to go across the country is nothing to sneeze at… As a matter of fact, it could make one swoon and fall over in shock.  But, where there’s a will, there’s a way!

We gals had an Idea…
…Take that single quote about “Home,”
create some Art around it,
and get those designs on the website, post haste!

Home is Where You Are

Jordan was feeling rather artsy that day, and jumped in feet first,
and got the ball rolling by coming up with
a beautiful sketch in her loose, happy style...

HomeIsWhereYouAre

Her Mama, on the other hand, was a tad bit slower, and took a couple days
to produce a matching papercutting in her somewhat-tight, in-the-box style…

WherYouAreCut

And then we set to work to produce a sweet line of prints and cuts that we’ll be
selling on our Etsy shops and websites to help play for those tickets!

WhereYouAreLine

Click Here to Purchase on our Website!

Or Click Here to Purchase on Etsy!

And don’t forget to stop by THIS POST and leave a comment to enter my current Giveaway!

Comings and Goings…

I’ve been trying to keep “home” in my thoughts as the new year unfolds,
but so far “in my thoughts” has been about the extent of it!

We “overed” Christmas and the New Year… That’s a pretty busy time of year for our family. We cleaned up the wrapping paper and cleaned out the fridge. And then we packed, and left home for 12 days. Almost two weeks… Almost half the month! But it was worth it to see these two sweet faces…

SweetBoys

And even though we were far away from home, we discovered that…

Home is where they love you.

Even if they are a little bit silly…

GoofyBoys

And My OTHER Girl!!!

Wow!

This has been a week of my girls doing amazing things!

Our oldest daughter, Jordan Boesch is the featured artist today on

Annapolis & Company
Creativity in the Everyday

Mary Beth is doing an awesome series about young creative ladies.

It is truly inspiring.

And so is my girl, who made her Mama cry as she read the interview.

…And also laugh when she saw pictures of her
sand-covered chock-full-of-life Grandboys!

Jordan, who mastered Spencerian Penmanship at the age of 15,
has a design business where she specializes in hand-drawn
logos and lettering for websites, branding, and marketing.

If you are in need of an artist that will work with you to
create a very special look for your business or blog…

Go visit my girl at…

Hey There. Design

And My Girl….

Exciting News Flash!!!

Our daughter, Katie Donovan is being featured for the next few days on

One King’s Lane!!!

They’re producing her beautiful hand-lettered art on canvas,
and framing them in pretty white frames!

Look for her wonderful quotes, like this one…

And yes, I borrowed that picture to share with you, because

1. I’m her Mom and am pretty sure it would be okay.

and

2. The original is hanging in my art room.

And it is awesome.

From Scratch…

What does “from scratch” mean?

Evidently, the original meaning has something to do with sporting events… being at the starting line, or having to start over. Later, after boxed baking mixes became available, “from scratch” took on the new meaning of using separate ingredients rather than a mix. However, “from scratch” had an even deeper meaning for my Nana Anne.

Nana was born in 1929, the year of “The Crash”… the official beginning of the Great Depression. She was one of the “older girls” in a farm family of 12 children, and after she finished her schooling at the age of 14, she helped raise her younger brothers and sisters. Life was defined by hard work as a teen, and even as a young wartime bride. “Making do” was a necessity for all of her life, but Nana turned it into a game of sorts. She LOVED to see what she could make out of nothing… from scratch. And she passed the game on to her grandkids. I can remember digging through baskets of scrap material, ribbons, and buttons with her to make something out of nothing. Or telling her I was hungry, and the two of us peeking in the cupboards to see what we could make “from scratch.” She was an expert at whipping up a feast from leftovers in the fridge or making bread or muffins from a little cornmeal or flour.

Annie’s Pumpkin Pie Adventure has grown out of that love of doing things “from scratch.” She wants to know where the ingredients in her pie come from, and how they work together to make a finished product. I think a lot of kids are curious about such things. So much that we eat today comes from the freezer section, a box mix, or a fast-food drive-in window. I’m glad I had a Nana that insisted on making things from scratch, and that passed on her “who-needs-the-store-let’s-see-what-we-have-already” attitude!

What sort of things do YOU like to make ”from scratch?”

Don’t forget your Pumpkins!!!

Like to bake things “from scratch?”
A young friend of mine is doing 31 Days of Decadent Desserts!
Pay her a visit and find some great recipes!

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

Still Prepping…

Okay, I did work on this project ALL DAY,
but have yet to crack open a tube of paint!

Yikes.

Early this morning, I took a good long look at the
“Pouring” sketch, and thought it needed a little pizazz.

So I re-did it, adding a pumpkin vine…

And then I reworked the “Recipe Card” illustration…

And then got lost in a pumpkin patch…

I know the pencil sketches are hard to see, but
I PROMISE I will not go to bed until I add just a little color!

Drawing all these pumpkins makes me think of Thanksgiving… and the many things I’m thankful for. Today, I’m thankful for the “Reduce/Enlarge” feature on my All-In-One printer. Oh, and for the 11″ x 17″ scanning area. And for the fact the Hubby is feeling slightly better. (Enough to tackle the dishes I ignored today.) And the fact that Kate & Alex just called and are coming down with Chicken & Dumplings to make Dad feel even better. (Which means a Very Late Dinner, but no cooking for me!) And most of all, I’m thankful that today is the 25th Anniversary of us being parents!

Happy 25th Birthday, Jordan!

Our October Pumpkin!

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

Writing a Story…

Quick post today… Feeling a bit lazy on this Day of Rest. Hubby is under the weather. And speaking of weather, it’s been dreary and rainy all day. So, today we’ve stayed home, rested a lot, and caught up on the laundry. I hadn’t thought much about the Pie from Scratch story until just now, when I read today’s Our Daily Bread. This quote sort of sums up today’s devotion…

All of us are writing a story with our lives
—one that affects others now and in the future.
~Dave Branon~

“Story” is a word that I’ve been hearing a lot lately. It seems to have suddenly taken on new meaning. I hear about “story” on blogs and in meaningful conversations, and they’re talking about more than a fairy tale. A person’s “story” is what they are, where they came from, where they are going, and who they touch along the way. Our personal stories are woven into the stories of the people around us. Annie’s story actually is inspired by grandparents that poured their lives into their grandkids. Thinking about how their influence affected my life makes me want to evaluate the “story” I’m writing today… and Everyday.

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

The Everyday…

We got to go to Disneyland last May with these two Cuties…

It was the first time I ever visited Disneyland, and what an incredible day! Awesome food, fun rides, and lots of time with the Grandboys! I know we all treasure the fun events we share with our families. We’ve got photo albums filled with those special events… birthdays, vacations, weddings, celebrations of all sorts. We always remember to bring the camera along to capture the memories.

But the Everyday… I wish I had taken more pictures of that over the years. The days that weren’t all that exciting, but that also held the most living. The Real Life days. The ones that included PB & J, nap time, chores, and bedtime stories. Because they were just as awesome.

Back in the 90′s, there was a lot of talk about “Quality Time vs. Quantity Time” in the parenting circles. There were convincing arguments for both sides, as if we needed to choose one over the other.

I think families need both.

We need special memories of fabulous celebrations.

And we need special memories of Everydays.

See all the blog posts about making
Pie from Scratch!
by clicking below!

Do Great Things…

We all want to do great things.

To have some great accomplishment, some “I did it”
worthy of being engraved on our tombstone.

But maybe somewhere along the line, the price tags got switched,
and what is now considered “great” is really not so great,
and what is considered mundane is really pretty awesome.

I ran into this blog post this morning.

I often complain blog about my “To Do List.”

About how long it is, and how in the world
I got myself into all the things I get myself into,
and how to get it all done  on time and
before somebody calls to see if it’s done yet.

But then… maybe I didn’t get myself into those things,
but instead was placed there for a reason
by Someone who had something to teach me.

It may have been to teach me that the last “To Do List,”
the one before that was filled with really mundane things
like snotty noses and dust bunnies and piles of dirty dishes
were actually the real Great Things.

Soooo…

I guess whatever our hand is finding to do,
is exactly what we should be doing at this very moment.

And it is a Gift.

The Gift of “Now.”