Bella Dia

Happy Mother's Day!

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the
charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. 
~Marcel Proust

Happy Mother's Day
with love to
my Mom

BHG Holiday Crafts and Me!

I am thrilled to tell you that two of my projects are in
the Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts issue out now!
See the little pine cone girl skiier on the cover - that's mine!

There are tutorials for the mini felted wreath and the pine cone girls
that I made last year and it is so fun to see them as new again.

This issue is full of really terrific ideas from great artists
like Betz White, Wise Craft, Linaloo, and Jenn Docherty
that I want to try as well.

DIY City Mag Feature!

I've been meaning to post this for awhile but as usual I am
behind. Anyways, I am very excited that the nice ladies over
at DIY City Mag featured a page from my inspiration journal!
 DIY City Mag is an online magazine that spotlights a different
city each issue and shares all the best DIY resources and
inspiration to be found there. I am so flattered to be included
so I hope you will take a look if you get a chance.

Fall, I hardly knew ye...

Well, that was quick. Fall is usually fairly short here but
this is ridiculous! All of the leaves haven't even changed color
and we just had our first snow! I'm glad I have these pictures,
and we may get an Indian summer yet,

but I have this photo set as my desktop just
in case I need a reminder!

If you want to see the pictures larger go to my Flickr page.

Sentimental Jewelry

Isn't this pretty?! It's my new necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs! I rarely get things for myself, especially jewelry, so this was a real treat. I'm very fond of the circle shape, the simplicity, and the pearl which is my favorite "gemstone." She hand-stamped it for me with three special words: inspiration, sunshine, laughter.  Each word is associated with one of my children: inspiration is for my daughter, my first born, for giving me the gift of seeing things with new eyes. Sunshine is for my middle child; my son that warms a room just with his quiet and calming presence. Laughter is for my youngest son, always there with a hug and a smile so that no day goes by without love and laughter. I always tell my children that they are my treasures and they truly are.

Sentimental jewelry is the best and Lisa is such a sweetheart to work with and quick too! Please visit her shop to see her other gorgeous designs and treat yourself as well! She's got an amazing new bird necklace that you can see on her blog that I'm in love with too.

I've seen this meme around and thought I would do it since I so rarely do these things - not because I don't like them but I am so indecisive when it comes to thinking up answers that it takes me forever and a day to do it!  (click the image to see it larger)

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?  Cassi
2. What is your favorite food?  sushi
3. What high school did you go to? 
Corona del Mar
4. What is your favorite color? turquoise
5. Who is your celebrity crush? 
George Clooney
6. Favorite drink?  mojito
7. Dream vacation?  see the Northern lights
8. Favorite dessert? pie
9. What you want to be when you grow up? young at heart
10. What do you love most in life?
my children
11. One Word to describe you: trying
12. Your Flickr name:  Bella Dia

Click here for photo credits.

If you'd like to do it too here's what you do:

Open three windows.  One with the list of questions, another open to Flickr and ready to do an image search, and a third to Big Huge Labs' Mosaic Maker (create a mosaic with 4 columns and 3 rows).  Answer the first question, put your answer in the search field on Flickr and choose one of the images from the first page to represent your answer.  Click on the photo then copy and paste the url into the #1 spot on the Mosaic Maker.  Do that for all 12 questions, then click create and post the results to your blog!  Your kids will have fun with it too!

I saw this other cool thing on Vintage Delights -
it's a signature creator!

Enjoy!

Simply Happy Pretty Things

"Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy."

Sarah made a comment about my tag line - "simply happy pretty things" - and I realized that I had never really said where it came from. I came across this quote from Osho and I just loved it. It reminds me to take notice of and enjoy the little things, to find peace and joy in nature and to try and live simply. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Can you help me?

I've been working on an FAQ for my blog for awhile now, actually forever. I have a list of questions that I am frequently asked that I'll be answering but I thought as long as I'm doing it maybe there's some other questions you'd like to see answers to. I can't say I'll answer anything but leave me a comment if there's something you'd like to know and I'll do my best :) Thanks for your help!

P.S. The embroidery above is just a bit of freeform redwork I did - I just can't make a post without a picture!