Sweetwater Shed holiday GIVEaway

Come on over to sweetwatershed on facebook and see how our family is celebrating our many blessings this year. Won't you join us? It is a simple thing to do.......:)

sweetwater shed now open

well you never know the direction the good lord will take you. click on the facebook link on the sidebar and you can see a new direction i am heading......



sweetwater shed facebook store now open.... handstamped metal jewelry available at reasonable prices and with free shipping.

stop by and visit....

register to win $20 merchandise credit.

............you never know where the fork in the road will take you, life is going in a new direction and i am blessedly busy.

lovin' lower case font...."it's a good thing"

new lower case font with swavorski crystals now being produced..:)



thank you again for the interest. i am loving making these! as martha or "marfa"(as we say around our house)says....."it's a good thing".

good bones......

picked up a couple of projects to do....(like i don't have enough already?)


60 dollar china hutch. very nice piece. will paint distressed white or black? that is the question. i love black with the pop of white china. but then again i am getting tired of black myself. just my personal issue as of right now.....:)hubby says white as it easier to change to black if i change my mind......imagine that. hubby is thinking more like me all the time....shhhhhh....don't tell him. also will change the glass inserts to old time bubble glass. i actually like the hardware, but i will be spray painting it to change it to something other than antique brass.




and then this 5 dollar chair and little ethan allen footstool. i see some burlap and paint in the future of the footstool. chair i haven't decided. it will be my first real attempt at reupholstering. i am sure i won't get to this chair until the dead of winter,way after christmas, so i have some time to decide on how to proceed.

cole & anne

ahhhhhhhh........my middle son, cole, and his girlfriend, anne,(pronounced annie)over 18 months of being each others' first loves....



so grown up......but still my baby.




anne and cole.........just the most adorable pair. but more importantly the two most kind and loving teenagers i have ever known to each other and the world.


in honor of your love and friendship..........


"In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities. "
~ Janos Arany

cornfield exercisin' and baked goodies

yesterday while hubby was busy installing something i have wanted and waited for, for almost 47 years(more on that in another post to come).......i went for a walk/jog through this.




spent a couple hours in the fields behind our lake jogging and walking. quiet solitary time(with an iphone...:) ) in warm fall air....can't hardly beat that.


came inside and fixed a margherita pizza on whole wheat crust with ingredients from our garden. mmmmmmmmmm.........yumola!





such healthfulness was followed by a couple of these......




made from these.......





wonder who ate the tops......:)





probably one of these two suspicious characters......just sayin'......

fear none, respect all......the boys of fall.

metamora redbird football rules in central illinois. we are the defending state 5a champs and are hopefully goin there again. we are the central illinois version of the kenny chesney song, "the boys of fall". totally fits this little corn-picking town where our boys of fall are taught to fear none, respect all.

made this for a mom who loves her redbirds!!!



i am having some success at my metal stamped jewelry business and am very grateful. i am humbled that my love of stamping is of interest to even one person.

proud army wife dog tag

today's proud bling.....



made for a friend who's soldier hubby is leaving for afghanistan on friday. his april birthstone adds a sweet touch.

and our gratitude is such a small thing in comparison to his bravery....

may he be safe and fortunate in his endeavors....

i am lovin my new hobby.......

i have truly fallin in love with metal stamping. i am not a necklace-y jewelry laden person. but i am loving creating these stamped pieces. here's the latest from our sweetwater shed....




and keeping up with the interest from friends and family is so much a pleasure and truly wonderful thing. i am blessedly busy.

thank you dollar tree

frugality struck our log home mantel today.

wanted to give a shout out to dollar tree for adding that fall touch to our mantel.

the rest of the decor used on the mantel is from goodwill and garage saling. i am not obsessed really i am not....:)






the black birds and pumpkins are dollar tree.

silver pieces courtesy of goodwill.





ummmmm, already had this wreath and pear candles on a tray. yes....ok....they were from frugal adventures too.





wish these pears were lined up a little straighter......





garland made from fall paper doilies(source dollar tree...:)stapled to twine. rocket science happening at our house today.





here's a close up so you can follow along....:)





all put together.....

i still think the wreath needs a heavier hanging material for more impact. maybe some black grosgrain ribbon instead of the twine that is holding it up?




thanks again dollar tree!

forty on friday

friday garage sale finds...















mexi-dogs....
......apparently this is from a hot dog stand-type place that is no longer in business locally. their specialty?.....hot dogs topped with salsa. mmmmmmm.....no thanks. i think.

couple xmas things...


for daisy....our vintage '65 shasta camper restore
....vintage ice cream patio lights. my favorite find of all.


amt. spent for a morning of shopping.....amazingly,$40 for everything..... sooooo happy bout that.

fun with fellow garage salers.....priceless.

job offer from fellow garage saler.....may lead to a second career. lots to think about.

a study in orange

loving orange in our garden......

mexican sunflower.



black-eyed susan vine.



blackberry lily.




plain ol' marigold.



lanterns at night in wire basket.




i'm a sucker for orange.....(and blue too). but that's for another day.

doin' the deck

human backhoe and i are always in the middle of a project. projects are what we share inorder to spend quality time together. it is......us. we spend our time together in really constructive ways.....:)

one of this summer's projects was repairing and restoring our back deck. here it is in all it's grey mossy glory earlier this year.



and here it is after powerwashing, making repairs and finally staining the deck by hand with paint brushes, 2 coats worth....no rollers or sprayers for us home remodelers. we love working on our hands and knees in 90 plus degree heat...oh yeah. took us about 2 weeks to do the project right. plus we were hit with a few rain showers along the way that we had to wait a day or two for the deck to dry to resume where we left off on a previous day. such is life with the midwest summers.




a few more pics from the deck. love toffee twist sedge grass. here it is with diamond frost euphorbia and plain old orange marigolds.




finally paper lantern balls in an antique wire chicken egg basket. look at that lovely new cedar wood stain from cabot. it was a good semi transparent stain to match our log home. we should be good for another 2 years......til we do it again.



deck staining.....lots of rewards.....but very little time to enjoy it before you have to do it again. here's the product we used to stain the deck with.....took us awhile to find the right color. you know it was harder to pick a stain color than it was to name our children.....


(cabot's semi-transparent acrylic stain in new cedar)

now we can enjoy our backyard and watch the trees change to this pretty soon.

this is where we left off........

....over three months have went by without any blogging. it has been a whirlwind of a summer with several trips to lake michigan and florida. and inbetween the adventures.... lots of gardening...here's where we left off in april.....in the lull after the daffs and early tulips have bloomed.....



then the whites of may appear ......old fashioned white peonies and a slew of wild daisies.....





then we have june, a burst of magenta daylillies and monarda.....




and now into late july.....



it is amazing how the monardas and karl foerster grasses have put on such a show for most of the summer. and now the yellow rudbeckias take over. can't say i have a favorite time in my gardens, i love each moment for what it is. this garden is the one everyone who visits sees first....it lines our driveway. i hope it feels as welcoming to guests as it does to me each time i return home from our travels.

long time.........no blog....spring has sprung!