New on the homefront

Haven't been blogging in some time. Sorry for the departure but we've had a lot of different things going on - some happy some not so much. On a great note - Taylor was honored to be selected for Individual All State Festival where he performed an Improvisation. He was funny (which of course I think he always is) and received encouraging and useful comments from the critic. Yay Taylor! Here are a couple of pics of his t-shirt from All-State. Cameras weren't allowed during the performances. 

Spent a little dough at my favorite shop in Kalona - Sister's where I bought this sweet handpainted Create Beauty sign and a little posy for inside the darling yellow chick. I love spring with the promise of life, pretty pastels, adorable baby animals, chocolate Easter bunnies. Ahhhh...spring.

Here is a picture of the fabric I'm using for my next rag quilt. The main colors are pink and brown. I absolutely LOVE the paisley print Moda fabric! Yummy! What is inspiring you these days? I'd love to hear!  xo - Em

What’s going on this weekend…

 
Reading through an old Hallmark magazine before it hits the recycle bin – I totally enjoyed that magazine – it’s not published anymore. It was chock full of ideas to Inspire, Renew, Nest, Connect, Nourish and had interesting features. I’m also enjoying Tara Frey’s Blogging for Bliss – great blogging tips, gorgeous pictures and I’m loving the “Meet the Blogger” pages – little glimpses into the worlds of our favorites bloggers. The book is inspiring – thank you Tara for keeping it fresh!
Getting ready to bake a cake for a Wilton cake decorating class I’m taking with a couple of friends. I have the decorating frosting all made up – three consistencies. Not sure I care for the taste – it has a lot of shortening. I think I’m more of a buttercream frosting kind of gal. :)  We have to bring an iced cake to class (which is Monday night) for our blank canvas. Honestly I thought we’d be practicing on parchment paper or cardboard. It seems kind of silly to bake a cake each week. I know how to bake – just want to learn decorating techniques to frost a cake! We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow night, I’ll take a few snaps to share.
I hope you are having a blessed weekend. xo - Em

Winter Wonderland

We woke to a magical winter wonderland Saturday morning. Friday night was extremely foggy and it froze into a thick frosty coating over everything. It was so pretty. So of course I grabbed my camera to capture the beauty. I know I didn’t do it justice but here are a few snaps. xo - Em