Thursday, July 26, 2012

Tattle Tale Today!!

I was asked to be the blog manager for the OFG Team Blog and boy what a fun"Job"!
I have met so many new and creative people that today I will "Tattle" on two of the fun shops!
Crystal of Em's Prims has some of the cutest critters with such personality!!
She designs her own work!!
These are a few of my favorite!  Click on her banner above to go check out her shop.
She has some love birds in her shop that are precious!! 



One of my other favorite shops is Christi Hocking and by looking at some of her designs below you can understand why.  Her first creation made me giggle out loud.  As you know rare occurrence and children come to investigate to see if I had gone "mental"!
 Click on her banner above to go check out her shop.
As we all know I love a bit of whimsy so I have added a couple of magnets to my Etsy shop for the Christmas in July Sale.  This sale will go until the end of the month.
Free shipping on all ornaments, magnets and pins.
I also have a clearance section with art work marked down 50% (got to make room for the new)!
Click on the banner below to check out my shop.


Hope you all can stay cool in this heat and enjoy your day!!
Barb

Monday, July 23, 2012

Winner of the Quickie Giveaway

Well my rain dance giveaways must be working. 
We got a little bit more rain last night and the forecast is for more in the afternoon today.  It is monsoon season and the humidity is sky high.
For me anything over 10% is horrible.  OK, no laughing on the east coast!
So before my son left for Scout Camp I had him pull a name out of a sour cream container-yes it was washed and cleaned-the winner is Jennifer Gail!
Jennifer contact me and I will get this in the mail to you.
Thank you all for your sweet comments and for following along on my ramblings.
I will be posting photos of our weekend progress on the house hopefully soon.
As you recall Monday is the day to recover.
All the siding is up.  Now it needs some touch up paint and the RAIN gutter back on!
PROGRESS!
Enjoy your day,
Barb




Friday, July 20, 2012

Fall and Christmas Celebrations--in July!!

We have been getting more rain but 1-2 inches in 20 minutes has it's draw backs in the desert!
Flash Flooding! 
When we lived in Las Vegas it was really something to see.  The freeway exchange where we lived would be completely under water.  They have since redesigned that section of the freeway.
On a fun note I will be giving away this ornament (still in celebration of the rain dance, Christmas in July and Fall's Splendor Shop Hop)!
Leave a comment here and I will pick a name on Monday morning July 23. 
Any new followers welcome too.
 I am finding that my weekends are spend outside working on the house and I have been caught hiding downstairs at the computer too many times in the last couple of weeks.

Christmas in July Sale is still going on through the month of July with a clearance section you can visit here:
and free shipping on magnets, ornaments, and pins found here:

Fall's Splendor Shop Hop is going on until July 22 at the Old Farmhouse Gathering.
Click the photo below to take you to the rules!
Just a little added fun...if you can find my giveaway for the Shop Hop and leave a comment with the link back I will give your name an extra chance at the ornament giveaway.
Enjoy,
Barb







Tuesday, July 17, 2012

We are Getting Closer...

Yea, were are getting closer to having this HUGE project done...well at least on the outside!
We had cooler temperatures this last weekend so we were able to put up quite a bit of siding.
And by "WE" I mean my husband!  I am on clean up duty.  I don't usually mess that up! 
We did get more rain and that was a good thing even though it brought the project to a halt. 
 
My kids were outside jumping on the trampoline and found a little humming bird in her nest.
They had a great view of her (sorry my photo is not so good) but them jumping near the tree was making her nervous so before I could get up there and take a photo they had moved the tramp.
Probably a good thing: me+tramp=pain!
So while I was outside I took a photo of our 2 day lilies.  Our yard has suffered this year with no water and no attention due to the work on the house. 
I am hoping that we can finish the outside this next weekend and then the excitement will begin on the inside.

OFG Team is still having the Fall's Splendor Shop Hop.
Click the image above to go to the OFG Team blog for the rules.

I am still in the middle of Christmas in July Sale were
I have free shipping on all magnets, ornaments, and pins during CIJ!
Plus a clearance section with 50% off during the whole month of July.
Wishing you and enjoyable day!!
Barb

Saturday, July 14, 2012

OFG Shop Hop Giveaway!!

TODAY IS THE DAY!!
Head over to the Old Farmhouse Gatherings Blog for the offical rules for the Shop Hop.
There are 30 prizes and three will win!
Click on the photo above to go to the OFG Blog.
Good luck to all!
Enjoy,
Barb

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Christmas came to my House in July!

 
Lucky me!!  I was the winner of Yorkie's Primitives Giveaway !!

Talk about spoiled.  Not only did I receive this darling patriotic mouse but these fabulous flower stakes. 
Not done yet...these wonderful small decorative pillows. 
The detail and craftsmanship is outstanding!!
Visit Valerie's shop here:
Thank you so much Valerie for all of these fabulous goodies!!
Barb

Monday, July 9, 2012

Rain Dance Giveaway Winner!!

By the time we finished Saturday night it was pretty late and then to beat the sun and the 100 degree heat on Sunday I was pretty exhausted.
We are making progress and trying to beat monsoon season but those big puffy clouds in the afternoon are looking a bit ominous.
I am not sure if any of you are having problems uploading photos to blogger but it has been a pain.  After about two hours last night to upload two photos I finally gave up.  I apologise this has not been posted until now.
 We drew a name and the lucky winner of the watermelon magnets is Wendy of Ravenwood Whimsies!!
Congratulations Wendy! 
Send me your address and I will get these in the mail to you.
Thank you all who stopped by and left a comment.
I appreciate each and everyone of you!
Enjoy your day!
Barb

Friday, July 6, 2012

Rain Dance Giveaway!!

This was our view while watching fireworks on the 4th of July. These are images I borrowed from the Internet because I forgot my camera. 
I was more intrigued by watching the fire move up or down the mountain then the actual fire works.  Our little town does it up but this was something to see. 
Luckily Mother Nature took pity on us and yesterday we had a huge rain fall.
For us it was a mixed blessing.  I am glad to have the rain but my husband and I were out at 6am to put the last of the tar paper up on our house before the rain came  down. Hopefully our house will survive all of this.  
In the happy spirit of RAIN I will be having a quickie giveaway of these watermelon magnets.
I love watermelon!!  So refreshing!
The only rule is to leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner Saturday the 7th of July in the evening. (After a long day of working on the house.) 
Just a quick reminder of the Christmas in July sale I am having at my Etsy shop.
I have free shipping on all magnets, ornaments, and pins during CIJ!
 Plus a clearance section with 50% off during the whole month of July.

Click on the link above to go to my shop.
Good luck to all and enjoy your day!
Barb

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Tinder Box

Here in Utah, and across the west, we are having the worst fire history ever so the news tells us.
Last Friday I came up from the basement to take my daughter to a friend’s home and noticed huge plumes of smoke to the west of us.
It was a bit frightening because I know people that live in the canyon. Luckily it was extinguished fairly quickly but a few homes were lost. 
This photo is from outside my front door.
Then as we were headed to our little town’s parade on Tuesday night the mountains to the east were on fire.  You could see the flames and hot spots everywhere. By night fall the flames were something to see.  It must have been massive because we live on the south west end of the Salt Lake Valley and could see flames late into the night.
We are leaving our neighborhood to see the parade and this is our view. 
This is in the area that we go fishing and they had evacuated all the campers.
Bet they were not "Happy Campers" this 4th of July!
Needless to say there are  still a couple of huge fires to the south of us still raging on so the air conditions in these valleys are tragic.
We are coming to the monsoon season but with that comes dry winds and lighting.
So as the east is flooding the west is burning.
I am hoping for rain soon.  My hope is for all of us to be safe!
Barb 

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July

Hard to believe July 4th is already here!
We will be doing the BBQ thing and hanging out with family!
Our little town puts on a really great firework show so that will mean a late night!!
Love this Freedom Lady.  Freedom is what this holiday means to me.
I want to wish you all a fabulous holiday!
Stay safe and Enjoy,
Barb

Monday, July 2, 2012

Christmas in July Sale at my Etsy Shop

Christmas in July Sale going on now through the month of July.  Please refer to my clearance section where my art work has been marked down 50% from the original price.
Located here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/barbsheartstrokes?section_id=11413828 or click on the collection of photos to take you to that section.
Also all Magnets, Pins and Ornaments will have free shipping during the month of July.
Located here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/barbsheartstrokes?section_id=7112403 or click on the collection of photos to take you to that section.
It is house cleaning time on Etsy to make room for some new inventory!
If you have any questions please contact me.
Enjoy,
Barb