Fanciful Felines Tote

Anyone who knows me is aware I love bright colors. No pastels or quiet earth tones for me. When I saw Laurel Burch's Fanciful Felines line, I knew I had to make a tote bag using it. Well, I bought the fabric about a year ago and finally made the bag.







I like a lot of compartments in a tote and I feel some of them should have zippers so I don't loose items if the bag were to fall over. I made two outer pockets, one with a zipper and the other with Velcro. I decorated the zipper pull with some beads.





This is the zippered outer compartment.




This is the Velcro side.




I used a magnetic snap to close the inner section of the bag. On one side of the inside, I made a pocket for my cell phone. (I finally joined the rest of the world and got a cell phone.) This side also has a pocket for my planner and coupons, etc. and a small section for a nail file.

The other side of the bag has a zipper pocket for my wallet and checkbook and a pocket for pens.

I made the bag below preblog and have been using it for about a year. The new bag is a little smaller. I still have enough room be able to carry a book or camera.

Memorial Peony

memorial Something designed to preserve the memory of a person or event.

My mom passed away three years ago. She had a wonderful green thumb and the most beautiful flower beds, especially when she was younger. Four years ago she gave me a peony plant from her garden. It survived that winter but did not bloom the following summer. The next year it had one bloom. Last year it had four or five. This year the peony is gorgeous.




The flowers are stunning.



One difference I've noticed is when my mom would pick her peonies they would have a lot of ants on them. I've been lucky, haven't notice any ants yet.




When I look at the beautiful peonies, I think fondly of my mom.

Graduations

This past weekend we had to graduation parties to attend. Steven, our neighbor graduated from Vassar High School. His mom asked if I would make layered finger jello for his party. I made one batch to match the school colors, orange and black. I used black cherry jello for the black layer, not quite black. If I do this again I will have to find a way to make black jello.



Because Steven is leaving for the army in August, I also made a batch of red, white and blue finger jello. That one turned out looking better. I personally don't care for finger jello but it always seems to go over at a party and the layer version is pretty to look at.



My nephew, Nathan also had a graduation party this weekend. For his party, I decorated the small Hershey and Kit Kat bars. In the past, the candy bars had paper wrappers over an inner foil wrap and I would make new personalized outer wrappers on the computer. Now the candy bars only have an one piece wrapper. So I just made labels for the front and back. On the front I put a picture of Nathan in his Swan Valley football jersey.



On the back of the bars, I put a label wishing him good luck at Michigan Tech which he plans to attend in the fall. Unfortunately I didn't take photos before the party and only have pictures of the wrapper from the candy I ate.

Internet Problems

I haven't posted in about a month, I have lots of excuses.....went to South Carolina for my brother-in-law's retirement party, been busy with a lot of yard work and the garden, but the main reason is our poor Internet quality. We have even changed providers and are still having problems. Maybe we live in a "dead zone". I hope I can get better at catching the Internet working so that I can post to my blog more often.

My flower beds are looking good, if you ignore the weeds. I have some coral bells outside out family room window.



I caught this guy munching on them one morning. He was not at all intimidated when I knocked on the window. I also noticed he has been enjoying the garden, especially the sunflowers, beans and tomatoes. We have replaced one tomato plant twice. Hopefully the Liquid Fence will deter him in the future.



Watching the wildlife from the house has been fun lately. In front of one of the bedroom windows I have a birdhouse my dad made for me years ago. This year some sparrows had a family in it. You can see the little ones waiting to be fed in the following photo.



I was able to catch a picture of the one of the parents looking out of the house. The greens on the side of the house are a clematis that is climbing up the birdhouse pole.



The house is now vacant. The little ones have flown the coop. Here is one of them sitting on a tree branch not far from the house.