April Recap

Happy Sunday. Hope your May started off well even though I know it is already almost the end of the month. It has been raining and cold here all weekend which has not been very enjoyable. The warm weather is suppose to come back this week thankfully though.

I was inspired to make this April watercolor wreath from Erin The Petite Planner, She is an amazing journal artist and has some awesome online courses with a Facebook group. I would highly recommend you check her out.
April started off with Emilia's 20th birthday on the 2nd, I know I say this every year but were did the time go? Sometimes I wish I could turn back time and go back to this stage. She has become a beautiful young woman inside and out though.

We were going to go to Top Golf the Saturday before but there was over an hour wait when we got there so that didn't happen. Next time we go we will be making reservations. I never thought it would be that busy. If you have been what do you think of it? We ended up going to look around Ikea instead which was close by. I had never been there but was not that impressed. It kind of felt like a museum to me.  I will be sticking to the catalog for future purchases. On her actual birthday she and I  spent part of the day shopping at Nordstroms. She had a gift certificate left over from Christmas that Rich had given her and I added to it. It still didn't get her much but she came out with a cute outfit. Later that night we had my mom sister and niece over for cake. As you can see she went all chocolate this year. We got the cake from the same lady that made her cake last year. Overall I think she had a good day.

Shortly after that we added a new member to the family. Meet Indigo. Indie for short.

As devastating as it was to lose Sophie we knew there was another dog out there that needed a home. So after a few days of grieving we started looking again. We knew we wanted another black dog so that narrowed it down. We ended up meeting 2 others before her. The first one was so nervous that it would not let any of use even pet her, The second one had too much energy for me and Emilia but Rich loved her. She ended up being adopted by someone else anyways. Indie or Midnight/Maggie which was the name she came with was the 3rd dog we met and we all agreed she was the one. We got her through an organization called Paws on the Ground. She was a little shy at first but warmed up quickly and now it feels like she has been a member of our family for a long time. The only problem we had was she was not spayed before we got her so that still had to be done. The rescue took care of it but about a week later she started bleeding. I could not figure out where the blood was coming from. It finally dawned on me that she was in heat. I didn't understand how that could happen though since she had just been spayed but found out it can happen if she was about to go into heat before the spay which made sense since she is around 1. Thankfully it didn't last to long. I also found out that she was found in a kill shelter in New Mexico and only had 1 more day to live. I am even happier we adopted her now. She is the sweetest dog. I don't understand why it took so long for her to be adopted I would like to think that it was because she was waiting for us though. Sophie will never be forgotten and continue to live on in our hearts. Speaking of Sophie we received these beautiful flowers from Ollie after she passed. Click the photo to read the card.  I was so touched by their kindness.

I was feeding Sophie their dog food in the end because it was nutritious and soft. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for soft fresh food.
I also made this hand lettered piece in honor of Sophie too. I used a another gird from Stefan Kunz as for the layout.

Lily also turned 12 on the 10th.

You would never know she is that old just by looking at her. I sure hope the inside of her stays young too. I told her I need at least 5 more years. Of course I would love for her and all dogs to live forever though.

Things in our  Etsy shop were not great but were still keeping us busy. I made this monster hat and Emilia made the matching onesie for a return buyer. This is the 3rd outfit she has bought for her grandchildren now. I love buyers like that.

We also got this great photo from a past buyers sister as well. Her sister got a hat for baby boy when he was 6 months too.

I also did a few more art pieces. I  drew the tulips and watercolored them using another tutorial from Authenic Frani.

Last year I took the Show Me Your Florals course from Stefanie Fehrenbach and Karin
Ipadlettering. I mainly did the digital part though. This April they did it again so I was finally able to finish the peony that I started last year.

I was eagerly awaiting the new Monogram Floral course that was offered at the end. It was finally released the the middle of April and I have been loving creating them every since. So far I have only done it on the Ipad though. I am hoping to do the whole alphabet. This was my first attempt with the letter A. I love how it came out. I hope you do too

Finally I found this great recipe for a loaded tofu scramble on Flora and Vino's Blog. Tofu is not Paleo but I still eat it in small amounts. If you like Tofu you will love this. It is vegetarian, gluten and  dairy free too. 

I also made this Paleo banana bread from Paleo Gluten Free Eats. I made it in mini loaf pans though. Emilia is in love with it. I added chocolate chips for her. If you like banana bread and are looking for one that is Paleo definitely give it a try.

That's it for now. I hope the rest of your May is a good one and I will be back next month with more to share then.