Instagram-y Goodness

I'm crushing pretty hard on my newly found love, Instagram.  Look me up, I'm cwiltex.  It seems like the perfect way to recognize a little (or big) happening in my day that makes me smile.  And it even gives me a way to capture it for sharing and reflecting! 

So, for those of you who don't partake, or even if you do, I thought it might be fun to see all the little happy snips together.

::  Illustration Friday doodle and reminder to myself to remain strong and present.
::  Proof that I finally picked the Sammy painting project back up.
::  Two adorable noses looking back at me and I get all gushy when they love on each other like that.
::  A huge pile of green beans, green and purple, freshly picked from the veggie garden.

::  Katie, upside down, smiling, with her leg up to get a belly scratch.  Can life get any better?  I think not.
::  Working through a multimedia paradise island for Creative Tuesdays.
::  Trying (and liking) a new flavor of hard cider.  Sour cherry is good!
::  A snap from the dogs playing in the baby pool.  Sammy is doing her best 'you don't see me' here.

::  Paradise island is born of fabric, paper, and string!  It's got some great textures.
::  The dogs help with the house work by pre-rinsing the dishing in the dishwasher.
::  Ate the last of the party cake ice cream straight from the container.  Great cool-me-down on a hot day.
::  The first tetris block all pieced and pressed and looking scrumptious!

So much fun!  What do you instagram?

Prism Progress

I'm getting closer to having all the pieces cut out and in place for Patchwork Prisms.  Only six days left to finish... dun dun dun...

Here's hoping I can muster enough energy to reach the finish line.  And that sewing triangles is 'easy.'  What are you hoping to finish soon?

Dog Day's of Summer

What do you do when it's all hot and summery out?

How about... go for a swim?  Katie will demonstrate.

First you dip your paws in to test out the temperature like so.

Then you run back out and exclaim about how chilly the water is.

Stand back and admire the lake scenery while you get up the nerve to go back in.

Carefully tippy-toe back in.

Drink some of the water to help naturalize with the temperature.

Pretend it's not so bad by nonchalantly sniffing the local greenery.

Then take the plunge and dunk a good portion of your body into the lake...

...while blowing a few bubbles in the water.

Ah, yes.  These are the dog days of summer!

Taking in every moment!

A little bit of snorkeling and paddling around.

Back to eating some grass.

Sniffing water is always a lot of fun.

"Hey Mom, bet you can't see me now."

And, that's how it's done!

Hope you are enjoying your summer days as much as we are!

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

I'm Back! And ready to dig in!

Vacations, time off, long weekends, holidays, sunshine, puppies... yes...all distractions from coming here and writing a few lines.  But, I'm back and ready to share all the cool things I've been up to.

Speaking of cool things, here is one way to beat the heat... puppy style!

Looking forward to getting back in the groove!!

日本のための多くの愛
Much love for Japan

Lookie what I found!!

Look!  Do you see it? 

There really is dirt under all that snow we have been staring at for weeks and weeks!  And I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see the bulbs starting to do their thing!! 

Whoop whoopie!!

I'm just drinking it all in!

Melt, snow, melt!!

Come Walk in the Woods

Even with fall setting in and the weather cooling off I still can't resist a walk in the woods. 

Come for a quick walk, won't you?
There are seed pods releasing seeds and old rock structures looking camouflaged in the orange and red leaves.

The lake is looking gorgeous with it's surrounding pop of color.

There are bushes brightly changing and giving off one last show before the snow.

The fluffy tails are blowing in the wind.

It's blustery... leaves blowing this way and that, dancing down the sky and landing softly on the water.

Yup.  It's fall alright.  Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week too. 

Hope you enjoyed the slower pace today.  More projects and creative goodness coming tomorrow!

Falling for Fall

What a fun week... I enjoyed all the excitement over doggy halloween costumes, Creative Tuesday's curtain theme, showing you my renewed footstool, and all the apple cupcake madness and here!!

The weather has turned chilly again in NY and most of the leaves are now on the ground; so, I thought it would be fun to reflect on a few true fall snaps!

And Katie, the Mr. and I want to wish you a ghostly and creepy Happy Halloween!!

Next week, there is so much more to share! 

We are carving pumpkins today, I want to tell you about the Declaration of You, I am styling a photo for  STYL.PLAY.WORK.SHOP hosted by Compai, I want to share the Spiced Carmel Buttercream frosting I made, I am crocheting the last few socks for Operation Caregiver, and I am also picking up an unfinished quilting project... phew!

Have a restful and amazing weekend!  See you on the flipside!

Aquarium, you make my heart sing!

I could spend 6 of the 7 days of the week at an aquarium! 

I have a deep need to connect with water creatures -- the habit is supported by two fish tanks at home.  Not sure where the need came from, (and boats make me sea sick) but I don't argue... I just go with it! 

We went to The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT... and had a blast! 

Not your typical aquarium exhibit.. but they had Meercats!!  We quickly found out that early morning and mid-week.... all the animals were still so sleepy. 

Imagine if you sleep like this.  Bet you would need a good stretch after!

They had a whole room full of frogs.  Big ones, little ones.  The poisonous kind.  The loud ones.  Some that were brightly colored. 

This guy stole the show for me!!

They have some gigantic tanks! 

This one towered over my head and went all the way to the ground.  As the sharks swam around it felt a bit like they would come right over and shake my hand.  Errr... um... ask me what's for lunch!

I can never get enough jellyfish either.  They had a dark room with a cylinder tank all light up which really made the jellyfish look like they were dancing! 

I can't get over how delicate and detailed they are. 

One of my other favorite are the clown fish.  It was probably the movie "Finding Nemo" that ignited that love affair. 

Bright and beautiful... I could watch these clowns all day too.  Wonder how often they hear that!?!

I think all the bubbling water relaxes me!  Tomorrow I will show you those silly harbor seals!!