President's Day Holiday

Today was President's Day, a U.S. holiday to celebrate our nation's leaders, past and present. Here is a cute picture of President Obama and family:





Ernesto was off today (government, city, state employees are off) so he worked on the garden. The radishes and basil are flourishing, and we've got tomato, chile and onions growing as well. He put a fence to keep the ducks who live in the pond out back, from eating the garden! You can see my crazy lavender thriving in the background.
Although we have no mail service today, I have five postcrossing postcards ready to go, a get-well postcard (the vintage motorcycle), and two letters -- one in another Tuscany-themed envie, and the decorated back of the letter bound for Australia:The cupcake-zombie postcard (green face) is by the talented Texas artist, at Illustrated Ink. She does a lot of "Day of the Dead" and tattoo-inspired art. The postcard says, "Trust Me....It's Delicious." (I believe I have said that to Ernesto before). I love cupcakes, so I had to get these postcards! This one is going to Talia, in Florida. So I hope you had a nice day off, or at least a Happy Monday.

I sent five letters in the last few days (to California, Japan, England, Finland and Australia). Here are a couple of envies I made: A page from a calendar featuring Tuscany. I sealed it with an unused vintage stamp and my return address labels are Tuscan-themed, too.

























Here is the first envie I made from an old record cover (about 50 cents at a thrift shop); I like how you can see the glass slipper on the back.

Sandy Floorboards Blog Giveaway!

One of my new penpals is having a giveaway!
She is an artist, poet, jewelry-maker (see her on etsy), a true romantic and
has the sweet name of Gemma. Check out her blog when you have a moment.

(I am just a pebble by Gemma)

Pen Pal of the Week!

I was recently featured as Pen Pal of the Week on the blog,
We've Got Paper

http://wevegotpaper.blogspot.com/2010/01/penpal-of-week-31.html

In a Pink Mood

I took these pictures of the sunrise out in my backyard last week. Arizona is famous for beautiful sunsets but this was the sunrise:

Once our Christmas decorations were put away, I brought out my Valentine's decor, which includes prints by one of my favorite artists in Canada, Lu Lu, from
My Pink Turtle art.

One more pretty in pink from Lu Lu: My Valentine's decorations includes a heart-shaped lights wreath on the front door, and a new rug from Ikea:

Whenever I think pink, I think of the lovely young British writer named Libby Page. She blogs here: Love Pink, and has written this book: Some vintage pinkness for you:

Some etsy pinkness for you (click on the picture for the link):

Snowmageddon 2010 in England

No, it's not snowing here in the Phoenix area, although we have had nice snowfall in Northern Arizona. We are having our typical mild and sunny January weather here in Chandler! This photo is a shot from Postcard Jim, a talented art student in the U.K. He posted a few more lovely snow scenes here.
My holidays always stretch out for longer than two weeks with Christmas, New Year's and then my birthday. But now it's back to reality. We've got all the Christmas decor put away and I'm gearing up to start traveling again for work -- Louisiana and Illinois coming up. I've had a busy outgoing mail week: Seven postcards, three thank-you cards, three letters, one rebate request and one get-well card.
I thought I'd also mention I've also been blogging for a year now; my how time does fly!

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

I just love this song by Nancy Sinatra! I'm feeling a little cheeky this week since my birthday is coming up on the weekend.