Show & Tell Friday

Welcome to “Show and Tell Friday!” Do you have something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, or a treasured collection. Look around your home for something to share; dig through those boxes in your closet if you have to! Share photos and the story that goes with your special item.

This week I'd like to share our new look in the kitchen. It was time to cover up the old floor which was beginning to really show some wear & tear after 20 years! Silly me, as my husband and I laid down the new pieces I thought about all the people, friends & family, who had walked on that floor and the precious memories we have shared.

(Laying down the first piece)

As you can see now, there's a whole new look to the kitchen - and the beginning of new memories to be made. I'm thankful for a husband who is a great handyman. Our philosophy is if he can't do it, it probably won't be done.

I'm tempted to play hopscotch.
:-)

And a few weeks ago we interrupted our front stair renovation to install recessed lighting over the counter and new paint colors. Here's the old look.


The new lighting makes it a joy to work on meals. I feel like I'm on TV with all the bright light.


Thank you for taking the time to hear about my show & tell. Please don't forget to stop by Kelli's and see what's new, or better yet, why not join in? We'd love to meet you.

Blessings,
Jessica

Show and Tell Friday

Thanks to Kelli who regularly hosts the Friday Show & Tell. It's a nice treat to see so many little treasures from far and wide.

This week I would like to share with you a hidden treasure in my garden. But first you must see a fresh clematis blossom. (Did I mention purple is my favorite colour!) This pretty little flower is from a plant I rescued from our local garden centre. I've always wanted these in my garden but had heard they were hard to grow. Well as far as I can tell they are easy as pie! With a little TLC there are now five or six blossoms showing off their beauty.



And this little part of my garden was a complete surprise to me this summer. I had no idea when I hung my bird feeder at the corner of my deck that my aviation friends would do my gardening for me! They must have dropped quite a few seeds for so many of these sunny sunflowers to spring up. It seemed like it would be forever before they would open. (By the way, say "HI" to Gus, the big white dog.)



My thoughtful husband alerted me to the "Grand Opening" by slipping out early in the morning this past week and snapped a photo. Then, knowing I would be checking my email when I got up, he sent the photo to my inbox labeling it, "Surprise!"


Now several blossoms are opened and I can't wait to see them all in full bloom.


So now for the Hidden Treasure part of the story. Earlier this summer I transplanted some rudbeckia / echinacea type plants where they could get more sunshine to help them grow. Apparently my aviation friends didn't care for them very much because they planted the sunflower seeds all around them. Tucked beneath the large leaves are the beautiful cone style flowers. When I look at them I'm sure there must be hidden treasure beneath them.


Thank you for taking the time to read about my simple garden. Please don't forget to stop by Kelli's to see what's new.

Blessings,
Jessica

Show & Tell Friday

I always enjoy visiting at Kelli's for her Show & Tell party on Fridays. I hope you'll be able to drop in and see what's new this week.

Today I'd like to share with you a favourite piece of furniture in our family room. About 7 years ago my husband and I were able to purchase our very first home and we were so thrilled. It was wonderful to have something to call our own (and the bank's :0).

What I like about having our own place is the opportunity to make it 'really' our own! And that's why one day my talented dh downloaded some plans to make a cool futon. I'd slept on some mighty uncomfortable ones in the past so I was a little leary at first. But as soon as I saw this baby all assembled I knew it was going to make sitting by our woodstove so cozy!



My job was to put on the four or five coats of varnish and really make it shine! Then I added a touch of blue to the feet to help it 'match' the decor in our family room. (Cause you know stuffs gotta match when you're a girl! LOL) Then we shopped for a comfortable mattress. We seem to always be hosting company from far and wide so we wanted to make sure our guests would come back happy to stay again. (Plus we like to have nice comments left in our guestbook!)



And we think everyone should have a little corner to crawl in when they need a good nap - and this is ours! Right in front of this.....



Thank you for looking at my show and tell and I hope you're having a warm and cozy winter....

Jessica

Show & Tell Friday

Welcome again to my Show & Tell this week. I'm going to share my latest project which I've completed. But first I have to tell you that some time ago I was asked the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" Knowing that there must be some trick answer seeing the question came from one of my Sunday School kids, I easily gave up on trying to figure it out. "One bite at a time!" came the excited answer with giggles. And don't you know this week's Show & Tell reminds me of that silly joke because it was with one stitch at a time that I completed the counted crosstitch that you see pictured below.


I honestly can't remember when I started this project but I do know that when I saw the pattern I fell in love with the colors and messaging. For years I would bring out my special teddy bear bag with its box of thread, needles and aida cloth and would stitch away. Sometimes having to remove a section because of haste or confusion but in the end everything blended together perfectly.

As you can see from the date I actually finished the needlework 3 years ago but I tucked it away for some unknown reason and didn't get it framed. Well, a few weeks ago I came across it again and have been plotting the framing since then.

The stitching is 10 x 12 inches and the frame is 16 x 20. There is glass in the frame but I removed it for the photo so as to avoid any glare.

Here is a close up of the stitching.....



What a satisfying feeling to have this project finally completed. I hope that if you've got something on the go that you've maybe been avoiding that you'll pick it back up remembering that you can finish it, "One bite at a time."

Thanks for visiting my show and tell this week and please stop by Kelli's to see what others are sharing this week.

Cheers,

Jessica

Show & Tell Friday

Not too long ago my husband and I came home from church and he passed me an envelope that had red and white diagonal stripes. He said it was for the both of us.

Naturally I was curious as to who had given us the card and for what reason. It wasn't either of our birthdays or our anniversary. So I quickly opened the envelope and inside was a precious greeting card from a certain 10 year old boy who attends our church with his family.



The printed message was..

Friends

....are the flowers in life's garden.
Thank you for being my friend!

And it was accompanied by a personal 'thank you' for all that we do for him and his family. My heart just about melted. For years the kids in our church have handed us simple homemade crafts or cards or rocks, but this time was different. This was a sign that things were changing, that these kids are growing up. The boy actually selected this professionally handmade card and parted with his hard-earned money for it...just for us. And somehow this expression of love had just grown even more priceless.

I couldn't help but think of the bible verse that says,

"Give, and it shall be given unto you good measure,
pressed down, and shaken together, and running over,
shall men give into your bosom.
For with the same measure that ye mete
withal it shall be measured to you again.
Luke 6:38

I want to be a giver, don't you?

Thanks for reading my Show and Tell this week. Please don't forget to check out the rest at Kelli's, There's No Place Like Home.

Cheers,
Jessica

Show & Tell Friday - Quilting

Won't you join us for a little fun? We're having Show & Tell hosted by Kelli at There's No Place Like Home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About 5 years ago I hosted a "Quilt In A Weekend" event at my house.

Seven ladies from our church got together for a Friday and Saturday and cut, ironed and sewed to our hearts content.

Our instructor was a wonderful lady who lived about 4 hours away. She brought a team of 3 other ladies with her which worked out perfect because then there were more than one pair of teaching eyes and hands.

For preparation, the designs and materials were all selected beforehand.

Our first step was to practice our pattern on scrap material while getting used to the techniques that would be used on the final product.



As you can see from the picture below, I moved all my living room and dining room furniture to the sides and we set up 4 super large tables for our work surface.


We worked for about 5 hours on Friday and 12 hours (8-9) Saturday. We only stopped for our pot luck lunch (and of course, a coffee break or two). Sure it was a lot crammed into a short period of time, but it was well worth it. Our project was finished!

Here's the final outcome.......a quilt that fits on my queen size bed. It was a great experience, great fellowship and great fun.



As an aside, here's a beautiful quilt that I received as a gift for Christmas one year that was stitched by one of the ladies who helped at our weekend session. I can certainly appreciate all the detail that goes into a project like this.


What about you, what type of projects have you done in a class or group setting? I'd love to hear your ideas so I can plan something like this again.

Jessica

Show & Tell Friday

Please join in for today's Show & Tell hosted by Kelli at There's No Place Like Home.

Here's a little corner in my dining room where I've tucked way all my favourite candles and candle holders. I didn't realize that I had garnered this collection until one day I was doing some cleaning and organizing. When I saw how many candles I had, I wanted to be able to keep them all in one place.

I remembered I bought the shelf at a garage sale last summer for $2 but unfortunately, it was collecting dust in my laundry room. So I cleaned it all up and brought it upstairs and put it all together.

(click to enlarge photo)

By the way, my favourite piece is the gold crackle glass vase on the top. I bought it at a ginormous antique store near Toledo, OH about 10 years ago while visiting friends.

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to see my Show & Tell. It's not everyday you get to go to Canada, eh?

Blessings,
Jessica

Show & Tell Friday

Please join in for today's Show & Tell hosted by Kelli at There's No Place Like Home.

What you will see today are memories of the most beautiful African violet that I have ever had in my possession. Three years ago one of my precious sisters in law wanted me to have this simple potted plant and I was thrilled to have it. I know some of you might be thinking, "what's the big deal?" But the fact that she knew I was trying to improve my green thumb abilities and provided me an avenue to practice those abilities was just awesome.

Isn't it stunning? (click on the photos for a close up)


The petals are a delicate purple colour and the leaves are such a vibrant dark green. I love flashy flowers!



The bad news is that this gem has not survived the long term life I desire for it to have.


The good news is I live in the era of the digital camera and this little beauty will live on forever (or at least until my computer crashes)!


So thank you once again for taking the time to see my Show & Tell. Please let me know you stopped by and if you have an African violet tip please, please, please leave it in the comments. I desperately want to try again!

Isaiah 40:8
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Show & Tell Friday

Welcome to “Show and Tell Friday!” Do you have something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, or a treasured collection. Look around your home for something to share; dig through those boxes in your closet if you have to! Share photos and the story that goes with your special item.

This week I'd like to share some pictures of the lilies that grow in my backyard. I'm a beginner at gardening so whenever the plants in my garden actually have blossoms I get excited and this summer is no exception.

I have two varieties of lilies but both are the same colour - by accident! The first set of pictures are of my Asian lilies. Yesterday was the first day the blossoms began to open and there are many more to come. I've had to contend with a little red beetle who want to destroy all the leaves this year but so far I'm winning!

(May 29, 2008)

(July 11, 2008)

This plant gets pretty tall - about 4 1/2 feet!

This next set of photos are of my day lilies. Their orange colour is a bit more muted but vibrant just the same. They also are very tall - about 5 feet.

(May 29, 2008)

(July 11, 2008)

These have turned out to be some of my favorite spots in the garden because of their hardiness and predictability. I wouldn't mind a bit if they spread everywhere!

Thanks for taking the time to visit a portion of my flower garden.

Blessings,

Jessica

Song of Solomon 2:1
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

Show & Tell Friday

I'm participating in Kelli's Weekly Show & Tell.

Why don't you come on over to There's No Place Like Home to join in the fun!

This week I'd like to show you the Explosion Style Mini Memory Book that I made last summer. I had a good friend walk me through the steps to make it and it was a really fun activity. This memory book was patterned after the instructions by Sandi Genovese. You can read them here.


A couple of years ago my sister in law gave me a memory book like this one and I was really intrigued by it. It starts out looking like a ribbon tied square but when you untie the ribbon the book folds out with lots of little nooks and crannies for posting sweet memory keepsakes or photos!

I chose daisies for the outside because I knew I would be giving it as a gift to my friend Daisy. She and her husband had their first baby and they needed somewhere to put all those pictures of the new little darling. Everyone knows that the first baby gets the most photo time!

On the inside I chose coordinating yellow and purple paper for a fun background. There were places on both sides for pictures! Lots of room for cute baby photos.


I really want to know if anyone else has made these neat keepsakes and how did you use it?

As always, please leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.

Blessings,
Jessica

Show & Tell Friday

Won't you join us at Kelli's for Show & Tell?

This past week I finally got around to cleaning out under the back deck. It's not completely ready for a write up in Better Homes and Gardens but it sure is a step in the right direction.

You might recall that I told you the other day that I discovered a robin's nest tucked away under the decking.

CarefullyI began removing the junk stored underneath the deck, so as not to disturb Momma bird and her babies.

After finding proper homes for my important stuff....this is what it looks like now....

And Momma bird was still resting peacefully.

However, the next day when I was working in the backyard, minding my own business, Momma bird gave me a big surprise. She began to swoop over my head as if she had a personal vendetta against me. What I didn't realize was that her babies had been born and she was into serious protection mode.

The first time it happened I thought it must have been a misguided flight pattern. But as I was close to the nest, I heard the babies chirping for their food and I began to put the puzzle pieces together. I quickly backed away from the deck and headed inside (looking all around like an army commando on maneuvers.) As I reached the top of the stairs and started for the dining room sliding door, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. Momma bird was on a mission and she had me in her sights!

Sure enough, she dive-bombed me again! I did what every other self respecting girl would do. Let out a squeal, waved my arms around and made a beeline for the door!

Safely inside, I peaked out and snapped this photo!


In order to recover from all the trauma, I made myself a heartwarming cup of coffee, sat down and googled robins. I found out that I could expect another 14 days of competition between me and Momma bird in the backyard! She and I have been eyeing each other every day since. Monday I wore my canvas sun hat to mow the lawn. The mower had never gone so fast across the yard - I'm sure my neighbors thought I was doing trials for the local engine races!

Only a few more days to go....

Blessings,
Jessica