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Aneela's sweet children are back.
This time they're playing in the school yard with leaves swirling around falling apples.
Word has it that they play nicely with the Sherbet Pips.
If you're like me, you have a Pip stash just waiting for the perfect project.
Here's a free pattern from Aneela, Moda and me. (We play nicely too).
Encourage one another,
I never seem to tire of these paper craft kind of fabrics.
You know the ones.
They look like collages of vintage postcards, antique french labels and seals.
This is Curio from Basic Grey
You can imagine my delight when I discovered coordinating canvas labels and multi colored antiqued buttons.
For me, it's all about the embellishments...
...and the fabric.
Encourage one another,
One year ago today Bill and I lost our oldest son Jeff to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Last month scientists discovered the cause for ALS, certainly a major breakthrough in eventually discovering an effective treatment for this devastating disease.
To all of our many friends and customers who donated to our grandson Jake's fund raiser for ALS I want to say thank you. Your donations made a difference.
You made a difference in the way this family coped with a disease without a cure. You helped us see first hand how important it is to love, support and encourage one another. Your love and prayers carried us through our heartbreaking journey with Jeff. Your donations made a little boy feel important and now we know those donations helped researchers find the cause and hopefully very soon treatment for ALS.
We miss Jeff terribly, but this new discovery makes us feel that his death wasn't totally in vain. I know that by my sharing Jeff's journey it helped raised awareness for ALS.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of my boy but I'm comforted in the belief that he is in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father with a mind that is clear, body that is strong and pictures of his family in his shirt pocket.
Encourage one another,
To help get you in the mood for fall here are a few photos of my trip to Roger's Garden in Costa Mesa, CA.
The entry gives visitors a hint of the unbelievable sights that are ahead.
Just beyond the Gift Gallery
and around the corner from the gardens
signs point the way
to what I came here to see, Blackstone's Theater.
We enter through the stage door and to the left is the prop room with a huge Chinese dragon hanging from the ceiling.
To the right is the dressing room
complete with dressing tables for the cast to apply the finishing touches to their make up.
To get to the stage we must walk past this ginormous spider hanging from the rafters
while his skinny cousin stands guard over the skeleton room.
Back stage you'll find an antique organ playing eerie music
The house looks empty tonight. (I guess they must have read the reviews).
In the corner of stage right is this
Evidently The Blackstone Theater has a bit of a rodent problem!
Just beyond the theater is the floral design department
and outside in the covered patio you'll find topiaries with a Halloween theme.
The custom wreaths are beyond fabulous
and the hydrangeas are always incredible.
There are thousands of pumpkins scattered throughout the grounds
along with corn stalks and chrysanthemum in fall colors
No trip to Roger's Garden is ever complete without a stop to the Christopher Radko Starlight studio for an ornament or two.
If you're in the area, do yourselves a favor and spend a few hours at Roger's Garden.
I'm encouraging you!
...or in this case a hunt for inspiration.
Today I'm playing hooky and running off to Costa Mesa. Yea, I said I was going last weekend but changed my ill made plans when I called ahead at the last minute to be told Halloween decorations didn't go up until the second of September. (So glad I made that call before driving through all that traffic).
For me trips like these always produce favorable results. I never really know where I'm going or what I'm looking for. I just stop at favorite spots (and new ones) looking for nothing in particular. It's my retail therapy; soaking up colors, trends and display ideas and coming home with more ideas than I can ever possibly do. I think it's important to get out of your comfortable little world and see what's out there every once in a while.
I'm feeling way overdue.
So I'm going on a bear hunt down the infamous 405.
I'm not afraid...
Encourage one another,
I got a little choked up when the sign went up today.
Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me and loved this new store.
I was so worried you wouldn't.
But you do and so do I.
Encourage one another,
