my Tuesday timeout...

My girlfriend's church hosts a Ladies' Tea each Spring and this year the theme will be around strawberries. I remembered a fantastic tutorial for strawberry pincushions I'd tried a few years ago and we thought they'd be a fun project... we'd make one to set at each place setting, and they'd make a sweet take-home for all the guests. All 100+ guests. (we must be crazy!)

So we started cutting...

...and sewing...

...and cutting some more...

Then we gathered, stuffed, and tied... then hot glued the stems in place...

Super sweet, don't you think? We have about a third of what we'll need finished... guess what I'll be working on next Tuesday?

17 years...

...and still going strong!

Happy Anniversary to us!

delicious little dumpling...

I seem to be in a real bag making mood these days and am really having fun with it! Today's finish was this sweet little dumpling... here she is front, back, and inside...

I made it scrappy and love the stability it gave. The tutorial can be found here... and yep, it's another winner of a pattern by Michelle Patterns... my favorite.

my Tuesday timeout...

An iced mocha for the road... a quick shop hop across the line... gorgeous Denyse Schmidt fabric on sale... and sunshine, lots and lots of sunshine.

I love my Tuesday timeouts!

field trip...

After a quick stop for coffee this morning, my best girlfriend and I headed to the nursery for her to do a little shopping. I "oohed", "aawed", and generally kept myself busy with camera in hand. Enjoy the pics... I sure enjoyed the field trip!

sweet six {16} teen...

...Cinco de Mayo style!

It was a surprise party that went off without a hitch.

16 high school amigos and amigas in total.

10 assorted family members and hombres, including 1 set of grandparents who traveled 12 hours to be here.

14 borrowed Mexican blankets.

1 borrowed back yard, complete with 1 pond to avoid falling in.

5 regular sized sombreros, 1 mini sized sombrero and about 30 sombrero cookies.

Homemade Fiesta soup, tacos... lots of tacos, and 20 individual cups of layered dip.

Rainbow jello shooters.

"Feliz Camplianos" cupcakes and drink straws.

1 Pinata... of course.

(he didn't stand a chance once she got into the swing of things!)

Colorful bunting, balloons and streamers... and 30 degrees in the shade (thank you Lord for sharing your sunshine!)

Make a maraca.

Do the Macarena.

Choose a mustache, lips, or cactus...

Take a picture in the photo booth...

And then share it with the world.

We love you, Emily, and we hope you has a blast last night! Happy sweet 16 to the sweetest 16 year old we know!

a time to rest...

It was a heartbreaking injury at a pivotal time in her grade 8 volleyball career... she landed badly during long jump in PE a week ago, just days before Provincials. Thankfully she's a strong girl, who was a strong support to her team...

...and thankfully she's also a strong student...

But even the strong could use prayers.