From this window.....

Today is a picture perfect spring day.  It's a balmy 62 degrees, light winds out of the south, the grass and trees sparkle from last night's rain, the crabapple tree is in full and glorious bloom, birds are singing, especially the Brown Thrasher in the woods and life is good.  All the windows are open, Rio is singing in the living room and the bluebirds have been back to check out the birdhouse several times this morning.  They'll be getting ready to nest soon so fingers crossed that they use our bluebird house.  If they do, you will share that journey with me.  Carl is clearing the deck and gazebo in preparation for power washing and staining.  He found our first grey tree frog on the deck today and nearly stepped on it.  The toads are still in the skimmer; we don't have tadpoles in the pond yet even though we have had lots of toad eggs.  And I have a HUGE, did I say HUGE? bouquet of lilacs on the island in the kitchen - unheard of for this time of year. AND, AND the best sight of all?  Our crabapple tree is covered with honey bees, yes, I said "honey bees".  You can stand under the tree and hear them and I can see them from my window.  It's been years since I've seen more than one honey bee at a time and we have dozens.  I might open a bottle of wine for dinner in celebration.  If you don't understand why that calls for celebration, read this.  There are several really good documentaries on Netflix about the disappearance of the honey bees.  Scary stuff.

Since I got my Cameo, I've been buying some files to cut - not many because there are so many free files I couldn't use them all if I lived to be two hundred - but some.  I've especially liked the SVGCuts files.  I use the .svg files but they come in many file types.  I recently bought the Attic Treasures file which contains several projects but the one I truly wanted was the book.  I struggled to make this pattern, throwing away four books before I got one right.  And not because I wasn't putting it together correctly, I paid attention to the corners making sure they were at right angles, I was meticulous.  I just couldn't get the book to close properly.  Finally, I make the box inside a tad smaller and that helped a bunch.  So, after all the disasters yesterday, I finished two books and love them both.  I can see making these for gift cards for Christmas, matching the book to the recipient.  My daughter's book would be True Blood.  My SIL's book would be Homer Simpson's Memoirs, mine would be the next book I show you.  It's approximately 5" x 5 3/4" and about 1" deep.  How about "Home Remedies" for a sick friend and fill it with aspirin, band aids, antacids, etc.  Or a sewing kit, I'm sure you can think of many uses for this little beauty.   The file comes with the panels for the front and embellishments for the binding.

The paper for this box was DCWV and Bazzill.  The flowers I've had in my stash for at least ten years.  The white box was created with Beckett Radiance 120 lb paper so it's very sturdy.  The letters are Tim Holtz Vintage Market and it's the first time I've used them.  Awesome, huh?  I stamped the letters with PTI's Background Basics: Text Style.  The ribbon is from Joann Fabrics.  I love the way this box turned out, now to find a use for it.