born to fly

beautiful birds & mischevious kittens...

a little while back

i participated in the lovely danielle's spring swap, "a bird in the hand."

lucky girl that i am,

my swap partner was miss danielle herself!

take a peek at the treasures i unwrapped...

this amazing bird collage

which i absolutely treasure!

love the natural wood branch as the hanger...

it's sitting on my kitchen counter right now as you see above

along with some roses from the garden.

and see that lovely vintage aqua book, wrapped in seam binding, under the roses?

miss danielle sent that book to me along with the swap treasures.

an entire book, "a field guide to the birds," filled with vintage bird images.

be still my beating heart!
 
 

above is the darling little nest she created for me. aren't those tiny blossoms wrapped around the handle just beautiful?

  

and just in case you thought that i was the only one

who enjoyed the sweet package...

two little kittens in the house thought the shipping box

with the shredded papers inside

was just about the coolest new toy ever!

 

trouble makers.

:)

thank you miss danielle...

when can we swap again???

xoxo,

cs

bear with me while i act the proud mama...

this past weekend was prom for my oldest sweetpea.

sigh.

where have the minutes, hours, day and years gone?

when did the tiny bundle in my arms with the mop of curly hair

become a handsome, taller than me, 18 year old man?

sigh.

i was so happy to be able to participate in the fun day

by making the wrist corsage for my sweetpea's date.

 

i used a combination of pale pink spray roses and white freesia.

 

added in some white feathers, cream seam binding

 

and a few sparkly stick pins...

i was so happy with how it turned out,

and more importantly so were my sweetpea and his date.

speaking of the handsome sweetpea...

 

and his sweet, beautiful date...

  
 

they even let mama sneak in for a photo...

 

even the shoes were accessorized...

tee, hee. silly photo but i love it!

sigh.

xoxo,

cs

a little wisdom & free download just for you...

 at church on sunday

the pastor shared a lesson

based around these beautiful words

spoken by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

my heart was so touched by these simple words

and how true they are.

in this crazy world

of bigger, better, faster, more...

we may never experience

that supreme moment of greatness

recognized success

public acknowledgement.

we many not

have a gazillion readers

and comments on our blogs,

win the contests we submit too.

in fact, the truth it

most of us will not.

most of us

will continue on

day to day

not winning awards

or being lauded publicly for our great deeds.

we do have a choice though...

a choice to live our lives

with grace and love.

to make each and every moment

our own piece of success.

the smile you give

to the sales clerk that was extra grumpy with you

might be the loneliest person in the world.

the car you let pass in front of you

even while they are honking

might be rushing to a sick child.

the kind word you share

to the school yard bully

might be the only kind word

they have heard all day.

don't get me wrong...

success, acknowledgement, awards...

they are wonderful!

but if you think for one moment,

that the tiny things you do

and ways you share love

each and every day

don't matter...

how wrong you are.

in conversations with my mama of late,

i have commented to her

how ironic it is

that while i am experiencing some very difficult

and challenging times of late,

i also have some of the most amazing

and unexpected wonderful things happening.

in moments of sadness,

i have received simple emails

with words of kindness

that have changed my day.

while struggling through

my own personal journey,

i have chosen to share my experiences

in the hopes that maybe just one person

out there who is experiencing something similar,

knows that they are not alone.

dear sweet friends,

each and every thing we do,

every tiny piece of love we share

has the power to change the world.

i hope you'll go out today

and pay attention to what small things

you can do with great love.

xoxo,

cs

p.s. if you click on the quote graphic above, i created it in an 8 1/2 x 11 size, so you can easily print it out to use in your artwork or post on your bulletin board for a lovely reminder. xoxo

happy mama's day...

to the beautiful, lovely women who have been & are a part of my life...

 

my grandma audrey and my mama catherine.

my mama.

 

my mama at senior prom.

 

my mama and dad.

 

grandma audrey and mama.

 

my abuelita carmela and mama.

me and mama circa 1987?

around 1995?

my beautiful godmother vicki, mama and I. 1999.

my mama and carol wingert, last month in AZ.

 

am i just the luckiest girl in the world or what?

wishing all of you a wonderful mama's day with your loved ones.

xoxo,

cs

 

 

 

loving today...

 

those faint freckles on your nose

the tiny smudge of chocolate on your smile

that piece of hair always in your face from growing your bangs out

that little dimple that shows when you smirk

the dirty fingernails from digging in the yard

the fact that mama snapped this photo while you were "helping" me work

loving most of all...

those eyes

and the fearlessness

they reflect.

they remind me daily

of all that is inside me.

xoxo,

your mama