Two Bears In A Box

Hi Everyone,
I have a bit of a back story for this little box.  I will try to be as brief as I can.  Over the years at work my friend Kathy and I would go on break together. Twice a day for 15 minutes, for about 10 years or so. Maybe even more.  We would walk and talk and pretty much brighten each others day.  Kathy is a dear friend and we were always bouncing stories off of one another. At one point in time we worked in the same department but even when we changed our departments we continued to go on break together. Okay ... here is the story ... one day we were walking along and there on the ground we see one of those pencil topper animals. It was a koala bear.  It was so cute. We picked it up and carefully placed on the branch of a box hedge.  He looked so cute clipped onto the branch.  Every time we would walk we would look for him.  As the seasons would change we would check on him.  Sometimes it was difficult to find him.  That little koala hung in there through rain, snow and the summer heat for years.  We started to notice his fur was falling away.  Time was starting to take its toll on our little koala bear.  And time was beginning to take its toll on me as well.  Diagnosed in Jan. 2016 with pancreatic cancer I was out of work for 10 months.  I was thankful that I was able to return to work for about 4 months or so but as my health failed I once again left work in Feb. '17.  I felt like I abandoned my break buddy.  Kathy and I stay in close contact and one day she called me to tell me that the property owner where our koala was had taken down the hedges.  Our koala was gone! Kathy looked and looked for him but to no avail she was unable to find him.  We were both saddened by this turn of events.  Silly I know, two grown women getting upset over a pencil topper.  In the back of my mind I knew I had to somehow commemorate our break times together and our little koala bear too.  So here is a picture of my little something, something I made for my dear friend Kathy.

I am retiring from my position at work and I will miss everyone from my work family so much but none as much as my dear friend Kathy.  I really had fun with this box and those little bears and Kathy loved them too! Till next time friends, thanks for stopping by.
Lysa

Summer Dishes - It's All About the Crate!

Hi Everyone,
So here's the thing, I am obsessed with dishes. Yup, it's a down right fetish. I change out my dishes for each season of the year.  I get this from my Mom who always was entertaining family and friends.  Her tablescape was as important as the meal that was on it.  I think I knew how to set a formal table by age 5. Keep in mind my Mom was born in 1917 so let us just say she beats Martha Stewart by years and years.  So I figured I would pass on this tradition to my daughter by giving her a set of summer dishes for Mother's Day for her new home.  Along with a way to display them as well. We love a beach theme with a patriotic flare so I chose a set of Tim Cofey dishes called Pier 45. They are a discontinued pattern but with a lot of searching I was able to put together service for 8. Including some red, white, and blue silverware, napkins and drink ware. Even wine charms that I made.  What I want to highlight is the crate that I decorated.  I created a logo for them and used the thermal laser print transfer technique to transfer the logo to the wooden crate.  Here is a picture of how it came out.

I had so much fun putting this together and Sam loved it.  It was the perfect gift for Mother's Day.  Here is a pic where you can see the wine charms I made a little better as well as the logo. The logo is dated 2016 for the year they married.

I told her she needs to have me over for a crab dinner! I think I deserve it, Don't you? More wine charms on the way for sure and a patriotic necklace too!!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the warm weather that is finally on its way.
Lysa