Ornaments

Family friends of our son's fiance hosted a beautiful couples wedding shower. I actually didn't take all the photos of it, as I had planned...but hope to get some photos from others later.

We had bought some things that each of our kids had on their own wedding gift registry when they were each given showers. But one of the things that we have given each of our girls for one of their showers was a decorative box filled with their Christmas ornaments from each of the years, as they were growing up.

It was fun to go through the ornaments and find them. There were a few years that I did not have specific ornaments with their names and year written on them, but for those years, in place of those, I was able to give them an ornament hand-crafted by their Lola (my mom), their Granny (my hubby's mom) or me.

So, for Heartthrob and Sweetie's shower, along with a couple of other gifts, we gave them his ornaments for the past 22 years...

I sewed little muslin pocket pouches for each with the year....

And then drew a little sketch on the front, so they could remember which one was for which year, especially when there was not an obvious year associated with the ornament.

Thank you for stopping in! Next week, I hope to share how I made these little pocket pouches.

***

Here  is artwork of two ornaments that were drawn for a family that has so many, many, many beautiful Christmas trees that they set up in their beautiful home every year.

I am joining in with Jenny's Alphabe-thursday's "O".!

And joining in with Kim @ Made in a Day's Blog Hop Social Linky #83!!

And joining in with Amy's Work It Wednesday Linky party! :o) 

And joining in with Jann's Share Your Cup Thursday! :o)

New Look

As I've mentioned earlier, our son's wedding is coming up in the first week of September!

I kept looking and looking and was not finding a dress for the wedding. About a month ago, I found a beautiful knee length dress! The bride's mom is wearing a knee length dress, so I was looking for one too.

Have you heard of the saying, custom, or tradition of only the bride wears white?  I had thought of that and showed our sweet daughter-in-law to be, this dress I found. She liked it and said it didn't matter to her. And I thought that since I would wear my khaki lace cardigan over my dress the whole time, it would "cover" the majority of the white.

~BEFORE~

But....I still kept thinking about that "not to wear white, except the bride".

Well, have you ever tea-dyed a quilt?

...so...I thought...hm...that is what I want to do!  I told our daughters about it and they thought it would be great too. And then I told three of my dear friends, two who are avid, experienced quilters... (I guess I wanted to hear if any one else was as enthusiastic with the idea as I was, so that I would feel "braver" about tea-dying a perfectly beautiful white linen dress! :o)

Well... And I did it yesterday and I love it!!! This wasn't a major project, but it was a "jump-in & can't-go-back" project for me! :o)

(The lighting in my photo isn't the greatest, but the color truly turned out well.

 ~AFTER~

I was careful to dunk it in my large basin and lift it out and dunk it in and lift it out, so that the color from the warm tea would not be uneven. And it worked very well.

I then rinsed it in cold, clear water and then washed it in a delicate cycle with Baby detergent.

 (I should have at least been smiling! :o) But I was trying to figure out and be sure I could take these photos with my new cell phone!)

...oh! And my shoes! So excited to find those when my awesome hubby drove me from place to place to place hunting for shoes after work yesterday! They were the last of this style and in my size! And regularly $55, but an additional sale off of a sale...for only $10!

 The khaki color from dying it in tea, goes perfectly with my lacy cardigan and is very near a perfect match to the color!  As I mentioned earlier, the photos I took with my cell phone do not show the true color.  I am considering dunking it in more tea to get it even a little darker.

***

As always, I like to post some past artwork. If you are new to my posts... every one of these Personalized Sketches are drawn entirely with a person's name.

Here is a little tea cup artwork to share with you!

 Thank you for stopping in! I am joining in with Jenny's Alphabe-thursday's "N".!

And joining in with Kim @ Made in a Day's Made U Look #81! 

And How fun to join in with Jann's Share Your Cup Thursday #70! (What perfect timing to share my cup today!)

And since it was yesterday (Wednesday) that  I "worked" this color transformation on my dress for the wedding, I thought I would join in with Amy's Work It Wednesday Linky party! :o) 

And linking up with 5 fun gals and their Moonlight & Mason Jars Linky party! 

And linking up with Lindsay's Artsy Corner Link party!

Matrimony...

matrimony [ˈmætrɪmənɪ] n pl -nies 1. the state or condition of being married 2. the ceremony or sacrament of marriage [1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin]

 Just a few memories...in pictures...

 1982...My hubby and me...

Our ring bearer (my little brother) and flower girl (my little cousin)...
(at the reception)

 Girly~Twirly and her honey...

Their flower girl and ring bearer, who are both little cousins.

 Girly~Whirly and her honey...

...their flower girl baby, our oldest daughter (Girly~Twirly's) baby, aka our grandbaby Bunny at 2 months old...

And next month, our son, Heart~Throb and his honey, will be tying the knot!
And  little gandbaby Bunny will be their flower girl at 17 months :o)

 

(some engagement photos)

***

This artwork was an order for a First anniversary gift, taken from this couple's beautiful wedding photo.

The bride was drawn with her first name: LAURA
The groom was drawn with his name: TJ
Calligraphy, centered beneath was written in Edwardian Script of their names and wedding date.



This was ordered for a wedding gift to be given right after this couple's wedding, taken from this couple's gorgeous photo.

The groom was drawn with his first name: BRIAN
The bride was drawn with her first name: CHELSEA
Calligraphy, centered beneath was written in Edwardian Script of their names and wedding date.


This tree was for the guests to leave their fingerprint on and sign at a reception given for this couple, after coming back from their wonderful destination wedding. The guests used three color ink pads for the leaves...burgundy, green and brown. and then each guest wrote their names by their fingerprint. The groom put his fingerprint in the little groom bird and the bride put her fingerprint in the little bride bird.

The tree was drawn with their last name: HUFFMAN
Written in calligraphy, centered beneath the tree, was their first names and their wedding date. It was written in a lettering called: Bodoni Swash


 Thank you for stopping in! I am joining in with Jenny's Alphabe-thursday's "M".!

L is for Lolli

Lolli is what I picked to be called for a "grandma" name.

Our children had different "names" that they called their grandparents and great-grandparents.
(I have lots of photos of all the grandparents and great grandparents, but with our move, the albums are still in boxes. ...so these following photos I happen to have on our computer).

My hubby's parents were called "Papa" and "Granny". (Since my husband's mom's mom was "Granny" to my husband and his siblings...so my hubby's mom chose to be called" Granny" when her mom passed away.)

In Haupuna, Hawaii with Papa and Granny holding our oldest. My hubby sister and I are in the background.

***

"Granny's" dad was called "Voovoo" (Grandpa in Portuguese is pronounced "Voh-voh", but Dave's family - 4th generation born in Hawaii of Portuguese descent pronounced it like "Voo-voo").

 ***

My parents were called  "Grandpa" and "Lola" (Grandma in Tagalog (Philippine language).

 1995

***

My mom's dad was called "Lolo" (Grandpa in Tagalog).

My Lolo and me, when I was 2 and 1/2 years old at Clark AFB, Philippines, before my family got assigned to Hanscom Airfield, Massachusetts.

***

My dad's parents was called "Grandma" and "Grandpa" (My "Grandpa" was able to be at our wedding, but passed away before our children were born).

My Grandma, our oldest and only child at the time, my dad, and me.

My Grandpa and me when I was almost 4 years old.

***

Although we dearly miss my husband's parents, his grandparents, my mom and my grandparents, we are very blessed to still have my dad and that he was able to be at both our girls' weddings.

top row: our son, my hubby, me (I blinked so my eyes are closed), older daughter, her hubby

bottom row: my dad aka "Grandpa", his sister aka my Auntie A, our younger daughter

Also another from last year at our younger daughter's rehearsal dinner, holding his great-granddaughter.

And he will be able to be at our son's wedding in a few weeks!

***

I wanted to be called a similar name" as my mom, but also wanted to keep her special "grandma name" to be associated with her, so I thought of "Lolli" :o)  We had thought how cute it would be to have the grandchildren call him "Pop"...so we could say... Do you want your "Lolli-Pop"? :o)

 Early morning wake up at Papa and Lolli's house, when they all were here for a weekend visit.

He decided on "Papa", which our little Bunny is very good at saying! And we have a little clip our daughter sent of her, after her bath.

(Hm...I should have thought of being called "Papa"! haha) So, we will see if "Lolli" will stick!
What are some Grandparent names in your family?

***

Here are some "L" artwork.

 Art order for a Law graduate's graduation gift, of the University of Memphis' School of Law building.

Drawn with her first name: LIBBA

This sweet Labrador was drawn with his name: LUKE

This little Lion was drawn with the first name: NOAH.

Thank you for stopping in! I am still behind with Jenny's Alphabe-thursday's "L"!
And here you can read some of the things that L stands for when talking about what Love is... to me.

 

My Old Kentucky Home...

I had previously posted about our new home in Kentucky...

Here is a little bit about the historical "My Old Kentucky Home..."
(Info and photos taken from My Old Kentucky Home's historical information at the Kentucky Parks Website).

The house that came to symbolize Kentucky’s gracious hospitality and according to legend inspired Stephen Collins Foster to write his immortal song, “My Old Kentucky Home” is one of the most cherished historical sites in the commonwealth.

Federal Hill is a Georgian style mansion that originally had 13 rooms.
The number 13 is repeated throughout the house, supposedly to honor the 13 colonies at the time of America’s independence from Great Britain.

The front of the home has 13 windows, and there are 13 steps to each floor of the house. Completed in 1796, the rear wing of the house contains a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a smokehouse. The first floor has a dining room, parlor, and library. The second floor has bedrooms, and the third floor contained the nursery. The house is built of brick and has six large rooms that are 22 feet square. Ceilings are 13-1/2 feet high. The floors are made of yellow poplar and the walls are 13 inches thick.

 John Rowan (1773-1843), who built Federal Hill, was born in York, Pa. and in 1790, he moved to Bardstown.

 

He studied law in Lexington under the tutelage of George Nicholas, Kentucky’s first attorney general. He soon became one of Kentucky’s foremost defense lawyers. Rowan is also remembered for killing Dr. James Chambers in an 1801 duel fought over a disagreement as to who was the expert in classical languages. Rowan served as secretary of state in 1804, and was elected to Congress (1807-1809). He served in the Kentucky General Assembly, the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and as United States Senator (1825-1831). He married Anne Lytle in 1794.

The Rowan home hosted many famous individuals. Aaron Burr, Henry Clay, and other important political and social figures enjoyed the hospitality of the Rowan mansion. Stephen Collins Foster of Pennsylvania, a Rowan family relative, is credited with immortalizing Federal Hill in his hauntingly beautiful song “My Old Kentucky Home Good Night." 

 

Written in 1852, the words and music have touched the hearts of generations of Kentuckians. The song did not become associated with Federal Hill until the Civil War. Soldiers who saw the house and knew the song began to refer to Federal Hill as “My Old Kentucky Home.” Soon other people began referring to the mansion as the house that inspired one of Foster’s most beloved melodies.

(Side note, info from Wikipedia):
Some of Stephen Collins Foster Notable work(s) "Angelina Baker", "Beautiful Dreamer", "Camptown Races", "Gentle Annie", "The Glendy Burk", "Hard Times Come Again No More", "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair", "My Old Kentucky Home", "Oh! Susanna", "Old Black Joe", "Old Folks at Home"

***

Here is artwork of Kentucky drawn for Kentucky Senator McConnell.

 

And another of it matted and framed:

 

Thank you for stopping in! I am still behind with Jenny's Alphabe-thursday's "K"!