Bucket List

Do people make bucket lists anymore??? I do... sometimes.... and since my life has been going through so many changes in the last six months, I thought I'd update mine from 2013.

I've actually done a few things that were on my 2013 list, but not that many. I DID ride a horse.... and I want to again!

I remember when I dyed my hair pink in 2017. Has that already been five years? I should add that to my list. I want to do it again, while I still have hair.

I haven't even BEEN to the coast for 2 years, let alone stay in a little beach cottage. And I haven't stayed in a mountain cabin either, for a very long time. I should do these things while I'm still able.

 

Reminiscing (below)..........camping in 2018 (well almost).

The closest thing I've come to staying at a cabin in the mountains, was in June of 2018 up by Mt. Adams in Washington State, when Mac and I went "camping" with my son and his fiance.. and it was a "bust" as the mesquitoes drove us out! We had to smoke ourselves to keep them away! And we ended up not even spending the night!

Takhlakh Lake up by Mt. Adams, in Washington. No cabins there... just places to camp, and you don't DARE go during mesquito season, which is most of the summer!

And I MUST go to the Olympic National Forest in Washington. I've lived my entire life in Oregon and Washington (just about) and still have never gone there..... why????

I live about an hour and a half away from a wonderful resort who gives sleigh rides in the winter. Why haven't I done that? I've lived in this area now for almost 10 years and there's ALWAYS snow in the winter!

I was just thinking today about things I would like to do this summer, God willing.  Do any of you have bucket lists? What's on them???

~Marilyn~

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Fun with Valentines

My sister came for a weekend visit a couple of weeks ago (end of January) and we decided to spend some time paper crafting together. It was so much fun! We rarely seem to find the time to get together, and this one-on-one time was very precious.

I had seen a youtube video by Septeria 18, for a little flipbook/card that I suggested we make, as it looked like fun and would be cute to mail out. So out came the papers, glue, scissors, trimmers, tags, stickers, glitter hearts and bows and boxes of tea, and we were off and running!

Paper crafting sure makes a mess...........

We spent all day at it (with a little snacking in between of course)...... and my sister made two darling flipbooks for her friend, and one for her son and his wife.  I manged to get about 10 cut out and ready to glue, as I was making some for the little shop here in town (Hummingbird Junction) where I sell some of my creations.

I spent more too much time gathering up and making little bits of ephermera to put on/in the flipbooks! There's cutting out, punching out, finding the right glitter paper and gathering up other bits and pieces to use. So I was the gatherer and puncher and "finder" of things to use!

Since we used vellum in the middle of the book, and I only had a little bit that was printed with some gold on it, I made an "overlay" of hearts to print on my plain vellum. It really turned out pretty!

I hope to have more of these types of "overlays" in my Etsy shop soon. I'm just trying to decide whether to use my existing shop (MyPinkPaperCottage) for all of my (new) digitals that I am making, or open a new shop. Decisions.... decisions.  I'm not good at decisions.

We were so engrossed in the projects, that I didn't take time to photograph what my sister made. Her little booklets were so cute. Here are a few I actually finished....

Inside on the left is a little pocket holding a small "photo book"......in the middle is the vellum page with a tag on top for a place to write..........

There's a pocket in the back to hold a teabag.........

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I've actually only finished 5......... and have about 6 more to finish. Each booklet has a matching envelope.

This one had an "oops"........... when I pulled it out of the envelope to take a picture, it wrinkled the little label on front, so had to totally redo it. Usually anything can be fixed!

Most of the papers I used were/are digital papers I bought from Etsy or from a site called Snapclick Supply, which I love. They have many name brand papers that are digital downloads.

I also made a few little treat boxes, also from prints I bought from Etsy, or that were free from various blog sites.

I love the little "retro" treat boxes!

And of course, I just HAD to make some tea packet favors. I bought this digital printable (below) from Vectoria Designs on Etsy. You just print them and cut them out. They have amazing printables!

I had the little paperclip pom poms on hand, that I had bought from the Dollar Tree and had NO IDEA what I was going to use them for! You just never know when the little things you buy (on a whim) will come in handy.

As I write this, it's Feb. 12th and I didn't finish any more of the little flipbook/cards... well I did finish one and mailed it to one of my sisters. The rest have been put away until next year.

I also made one more really gorgeous envelope card that flips open. I love it! I saw the video on the  Smile by Holly channel on Feb. 8, 2022. She makes some really darling (and fairly easy) projects.

This sweet (and very substantial) "card" uses just two envelopes. I used 5x7's.

You flip it open and there is a large pocket on the bottom where I tucked a little booklet with tea bags inside. The top pocket held a little cash, just for fun.

I made a few other very simple cards and got those sent off. 

Oh... and I DID make about 14 Hershey bar pockets which are really popular in the little shop here in town. Here are a few. I just had so much fun with the pretty papers!

I love the vintage look of this one!

I used quite a "mish mash" (as my mom used to say) of papers.. scraps, some leftovers from past years, and some digital papers I either bought or had on hand as freebies. 

Which one do you like the best? 

We've had gorgeous weather here.. in the 60's and one day it was 72. On that day, I almost went on a picnic to the lake which is about 9 miles away, but decided not to. I thought maybe on Sunday I would go, if it's still as nice.

God Bless everyone... and have a nice VALENTINE'S DAY!

~Marilyn~

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A little sprucing up....

Happy February everyone!

Another new month in this new year. I hope it doesn't zoom by like January did! I've been puttering and doing a little bit of clean-up, sprucing up and reorganizing.

And my Christmas tree is finally put away for another year! I can actually SEE out of my front window now!

She's gone for another year.

I shouldn't have Spring fever yet, but I seem to be wanting to clean things up, remove "stuff" and make my surfaces more clear and open. So I've been swiping stuff off, either for just tossing or putting in a donation box. I don't know what has gotten into me!

I'll walk into a room and think, "now there is just too much STUFF in here"!! 

My little master bath received a teeny tiny makeover. My counter was just too cluttered..........  here is the "before"....

The little plastic drawers took up too much room... and the little dish of my combs and brush cluttered it up..... so I removed the plastic drawers and put everything that was in them, into some little glass (yogurt) jars I had saved to use for "something". I actually hadn't thought of this until I was rummaging around in my kitchen cupboard looking for something, and saw those glass jars. It's very unusual for yogurt to come in these darling, cute, glass jars so I kept them. 

Here is the brand of yogurt that comes in these cute little glass jars.

So when I was trying to decide what to do with the contents of the plastic drawers, a light bulb went off in my head! use those little glass jars.

And voila........... this wicker shelf (below "before") got cleaned off and became the holder for all the little glass jars filled with things from the plastic drawers.

"Before" shelf... didn't need those ugly pill bottles there, or fingernail polish (which I NEVER use!

I love it! I made the circular labels and printed them out on sticker paper.

And my counter is now cleared off and it feels so much nicer and cleaner. 

It doesn't seem like much, but each little "spruce-up" makes me feel lifted up. I need these little things to pass the time and cheer me up, since my husband passed. 

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I don't know if I ever showed pictures of our main bathroom vanity that we had (someone else) installed last summer, so here is a photo......... and I cleaned it off just recently, and cleared the clutter off, and I like how it looks much cleaner and clearer now.

Below is the "before" photo. Awful! I still have to patch the holes in the wall where the old mirror was....I actually was going to do it one day a few weeks ago, and had everything ready to go, plus an (older) container of spackle, and when I went to get started, it was all dried out. So that project got put aside and I never have come back to it! One of these days when the mood strikes me............... and I also have a can of painting sitting there, inviting me............

And one more thing I don't think I ever showed, was the work I did on our fireplace/wood stove area last summer. Here's a "before".....

The wall behind was red brick, like the hearth, and it had been torn off so it was just bare wallboard and the metal plate that was installed.

I sanded the wall and painted it white. Then I bought some molding and painted it white, and nailed it to the sides. I left room at the top for a mantel eventually (I need a handyman!).... and used heat resistent ceiling tiles to cover up the metal plate.  I really like the results, and felt good that I accomplished this little project on my own (last summer before all the sickness started).

I don't know if I'll ever get a "real" mantel, so my next project is using some decorative black scrolly metal supports to hold up a nice white shelf. That is on my ever growing annoying "to do" list.

I've also been having fun with some Valentine's Day crafting. That'll be in my next post.

We are having GORGEOUS sunny weather here. It feels like Spring, but I know there is probably still alot of winter weather ahead of us. For today though, it's sunny and bright, blue sky, 60 degrees and no wind. 

Be blessed............

~Marilyn~

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PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY PHOTOS AND IMAGES INTO YOUR OWN POSTS WITHOUT FIRST LINKING TO THIS BLOG AND MY NAME.

To keep me warm.

Hello friends,

My brain is still in a fog from all of the past events...... nothing seems to pop into my head that I want to share on my blog... not like it used to anyway. I was always inspired to share "something".  I hope I get that part of me back. I do want to share two of my most recent purchases that I just love, and one keeps me warm and one keeps me company!

I've needed a little heater for my bedroom, as there is no heat at all in there, and I close the door at night to keep the kitties from jumping on my bed during the night. Oh yes.. I would LOVE to sleep with my kitties if they wouldn't walk all over me, but they do, and I need my sleep! So the door gets closed... and then the bedroom gets pretty cold.

I just LOVE this little "heater"/fireplace. It makes for such sweet ambiance in the evening when I retire to the bedroom and spend a little time playing a few games of solitaire or working on a crossword puzzle. Those things relax me......... and then I'm ready to snuggle in and go to sleep.

The pink lantern on top is one I had outside last summer, hanging on my fence. It had fallen off the fence and sat there on the ground for the last few months (under snow even). I found it, picked it up, and the batteries still worked, so inside it came. It's such a nice soft light.

And what better way to play my solitaire on then a NEW smart phone! I treated myself to my first ever "smart" phone... and is it ever smart.. way smarter than me! But it's my new toy and I'm enjoying it. (did ya notice the pink wallpaper????) of course.........

And I even got a little tripod to take pictures of me and ???, family or friend if the need arises. The stand arms can bend and twist, and you can wrap them around a pole, or fence, or car mirror, or whatever, so that a timed shot can be taken. Love it!

I even tried taking some selfies........ such fun, but maybe one out of 100 turned out decent.... decent enough to show the world. And by the way, yes my Christmas tree is still up.... I so enjoy the lights that I'm not ready to take it down for the year.

I want to thank all of my blogging friends for reaching out to me, either by commenting on my blog or emailing me. These are lonely days, and I so appreciate the rays of light that shine on me when I receive a card, email or comment. Each and every one is such a blessing!

~Marilyn~