Flowers and Springtime

 Wednesday marks the official first day of Spring here in the Northern hemisphere -yay! It's still a bit cold and it seems that trees, flowers and bushes are late in budding but it can't be far away now.

 Last Friday it was very (record breaking) warm and a perfect birthday day for me with sunshine, and some intermittent thunderstorms (which I love when it's warm and I can sit outside, or at least have the back door open for). I enjoyed a quiet day and evening and enjoyed  the surprise flowers and mail and phone calls:

 We spent much of Saturday downtown celebrating St. Patrick's Day festivities. The temp had dropped drastically from the previous day and it was VERY cold with very gusty winds but we braved it and it was worth it!

 No pics of the main parade as we chose to go in the hotel and watch what we could from the windows. However, we did get to see the doggie parade that took place outside of Donegal Square beforehand and I did take a few pics:

                                 This is an Irish dog- a Glen of Imaal terrier.

  There was a contest with prizes awarded (no idea who won what). There was a large turnout of dogs and humans and I loved getting up close with the dogs! It was not easy to photograph them as they were all too interested in checking out the competition:) It seemed that most of them didn't mind the costumes, and the entry fees all went to a local animal shelter. But, nope, I couldn't put any dog of mine in a costume! Oh, and a few even had socks on!!

 For T Stands For Tuesday I'll share the beer we enjoyed...

 at the Hotel Bethlehem amongst the crazy crowds, great music, and friends:

Next post I'll share a few pics of our friend Lynn's baby shower. You can tell just how cold the day was by my bulky layers!

 Art Time!

 Here is a tag I made to welcome spring, and for the Simon Monday Challenge (Miniature/Tiny Things) and Tag Tuesday (theme is Hares and Rabbits):

 papers, stickers, stamps, pompom from the Simon Says Stamp March 2018 card kit. The kit has been sold out but you can buy the supplies individually. Other products: Distress ink- Tea Dye; Versafine Onyx Black ink; Stickles glitter glue; alcohol markers; twine.

 Speaking of Spring, flowers, and my birthday, I was gifted with art supplies of my choice which literally just arrived:

 I love flowers and Dina Wakley so as soon as I saw these newly released stamps I knew I just HAD to have them!! I had purchased 4 of her paints to try and love them so much I also got a few more-the last four on the right are also a new release - of soft neutral colors. And lastly - a new Tim Holtz release of collage tissue paper -this one is "typography". I know it will be used often!

 This journal page is meant for Art Journal Journey theme is "Hello Springtime"), Moo Mania and More (theme is "Close to Nature"), and of course Paint Party Friday:

  The sentiment sticker translates to "my soul lies in the sun". I have used this on other projects as I was gifted with a set of these stickers both in French and English (sorry I don't remember who gave them to me). The darling bee is from a napkin my dear sweet friend Patty S. just sent me along with a beautiful photo card for my birthday.

  That's it for now. Wishing you all a wonderful week!

" Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn."  Lewis Grizzard