Monday Yumminess!

Happy Monday to you, Sweet Friends! Hope this finds you well, happy and positive. That's my goal today: Stay Positive. This is one of those Mondays on which I am needing to tell myself to put on my "big girl pants" and get moving since what I FEEL like doing is getting right back into bed or closing myself up in my room with my crafts and a cocktail! But instead I am going to be productive and positive today and hopefully get lots done with a good attitude.

Going on a little window shopping trip with YOU, my bloggy pals, is just the thing to get me moving and smiling! So let's hop on in our little cyber cruiser (coffee in hand!) and see what we can see!

YUMMY THING ONE: Pink Rose Pastries by Catherine Chavez

First stop is Pink Rose Pastries, an over-the-top yummy shoppe just jam-packed full of sweetness! Catherine, the "baker" in this darling little confectionary, is just as sweet as her creations. This is a sampling of her creations from Glitter and Grunge but she also has an entire web site you simply must check out! Here are Catherine's yummy confections on Glitter & Grunge , but just look at the cupcakes and other delicious treats on her web site.

YUMMY THING TWO: Birdie Keepsake Boxes by Sweet Eye Candy Creations

These are just as SWEET as can be! Now anyone who knows me knows I am a container FIEND. I can't get enough! But these aren't just containers, these are TREASURES! Just adorable, don't you think? They make me happy just looking at them.You can find "the girls" in Jennifer's etsy shoppe!

YUMMY THING THREE: Barefoot Roses Fabric by FreeSpirit

Natasha wrote me today because she found this fabric at The Fat Quarter Shoppe! This is the fabric I want to decorate my studio in, remember?? And it's available!!! YIPPEEEEEEE! Thanks, Natasha! MMMmmmmmm....isn't it DELICIOUS?

YUMMY THING FOUR: Dress Painting by Natasha

Speaking of Natasha, look at this incredibly gorgeous painting! I have a "thing" for old-fashioned dresses and though I love every single one of her paintings this is by far my favorite:

You can find this lovely and many others on her delectable website. Don't miss her specialty papers...I ordered a few for my Emily's birthday...she is going to be WILD over them and I can't wait to see what she makes out of them!

YUMMY THING FIVE: Custom Vintage Desk for Emily by Summersdarling

And speaking of Emily's birthday (like my transitions this morning?), I must show you what Summersdarling made for my Emily! It's a vintage "lap desk" that she has enhanced and personalized for the birthday girl. I can not WAIT to give it to her. I'm going to put lots of art supplies in it, including the lovely aforementioned papers by Natasha. She will just LOVE keeping her things in it. She has been saying lately that she is going to be an artist when she grows up (and goes through a ream of paper every 2 weeks!). But just the fact that she has a spot she can put her own things in will delight her, I know. I think she inherited the "Container Fiend" gene from her Mama!

This sweetest of fairies is a lovely "altered" Maude Humphrey image that summersdarling has created and I am just in love with it. My girls are wild about fairies and run around the yard with the mulberry tree leaves as their "wings" so their room has taken on a vintage fairy theme that we all love. This sweet desk will be right at home there!

Well, Friends, here we are....back at home...hasn't this been a pleasant trip? I feel soooooo inspired and energized to face the rest of the day. How about you? :) Let's create beautiful things today, whether it's making something out of paper and glue, putting a smile on the face of a fellow blogger or making a memory with our little ones.

Hugs to you all!

A Little Bit of Everything!

Well hello, My Bloggy Chums! I just got back from Michael's (the craft store...rather like your Hobby Lobby back east) and feel overwhelmed by all the crafts I would like to do but don't have the time for! So instead of working on things I really OUGHT to be doing I am going to catch up on some things I've been wanting to blog about and haven't!

First, I want to say a HUGE and heartfelt "Thank You!" to my sweet friend, Debra, for the SWEETEST package I got this last week! She and I have decided to exchange "Yummy Boxes" once a month and I got my first package from her. Just LOOK at these yummy things she sent:

Just SOME of the sweet-as-can-be things she sent for my Miss Emily's birthday (she's turning SIX!!!)...plus SO MANY incredible ideas for decorating, parties and other fun ocassions. She is a "new friend" and we already have discovered we have so much in common, including a profound and abiding love for PINK, fairies, girly-frou-frou, vintage just about anything and planning parties with lots of lovely details!

And look at this incredible little birdhouse box...it opens up!

Thank you so much, Dear Debra! Your package is coming soon!

Also, I just HAVE to share pics of my sweet little Andrew mostly because there are so few of them. And not for the reasons you'd typically expect to see fewer pics of the youngest child! The reason why there are so few photos of this gorgeous child is because he is my VELCRO BABY and is always on my hip when I am photographing his sisters!! But his teething eased a bit this last week and I was able to get him to play alone a bit, albeit in my box of lace, trim and ribbon! So good to see him happy again after a few weeks of discomfort...

And lastly, I want to show you, because I am just SO THRILLED ABOUT IT and because I KNOW you will understand my incredible excitement over it.....

MY FUTURE STUDIO!!!!!!

It is OH SO EXCITING!!!

And look what I found at a local antique store to put on the door of this beloved of rooms...

Well that's my "little bit of everything".... off I go to eat dinner and work on some new projects.

Don't forget tomorrow is Monday. That means YUMMIES for YOU! :)

p.s. Oh and just in case anyone wonders...I DO know that a "necessary room" is another word for a bathroom. ;) Just thought it was oh-so-appropriate and a kind of a joke since without my creating I would be downright certifiable! So this room will be "Necessary." Didn't want any of my British friends to be feeling sorry for the poor little American girl who mistakenly put a bathroom sign on her studio door!!! :)

A New Arrival!

I am so excited to show you what I've been up to! Remember those vintage cards I was getting up the nerve to cut up and use? Well I finally took hold of my scissors and just WENT FOR IT! And I am so pleased with the result!

So without further ado, I present to you, the new arrivals!

THE VINTAGE BABY COLLECTION

~Keepsake Box~
This sweetest of vintage glove boxes has been transformed into a sweet-as-can-be keepsake box for Baby. Box lid features vintage a baby card, lovely roses and vintage crocheted tatting and lace. The box ties closed with a cream satin ribbon but when it is untied, it opens to reveal more sweet treasures! Charming "baby powder shaker," unused vintage baby card and sweetly-decopauged mini-hatbox are tucked inside. The tiny hatbox has been decopauged with images from another vintage baby card....SOOOOO sweet!

The Keepsake Box is listed in my etsy shoppe...hurry on over, as it is a One-of-a-kind treasure!

"Little Traveler"

"Welcome, Little Traveler...

You've had a long journey,

but now you're here to stay.

You'll find you're the monarch

Of all you survey!"

Sweetest little suitcase has been decopauged with vintage card images and poem...perfect for display in baby's nursery or even for taking baby's "going-home" clothes to the hospital in! Inside you'll find three wooden "tags" with vintage card images decopauged to them and tied together with tulle. Also included is a sweet "Sleeping Baby" placque, also made from a vintage card decopauged on wood.

~"She's My Doll" Fabric Book~

One of my favorite things to make these days are these "altered art" fabric books...I get to incorporate all my favorite things: embroidery, vintage images printed on fabric, ephemera, beautiful fabric and more! This is one of my favorite books to date - "She's My Doll." Gorgeous quilted fabric makes up the cover of this book and a stunning vintage image of a girl and her doll is the centerpiece. She is hand-embroidered to a piece of lovely rose barkcloth and trimmed in vintage hand-tatted lace. SEW SWEET!

The inside pages all feature pockets for storing cards, letters, photos and the like and each page is unique. I will take more photos of the inside pages, as well as all the treasures that will be included with this book. I'll be selling this on eBay a week from now, so watch my auctions there for this one-of-a-kind treasure!

Here's an example of the "pages" of this book. This is page 1 and it has two large pockets and some vintage cards, as well as an appliqued barkcloth heart filled with dried French lavender! There are 6 pages total in this book, so stay tuned for more photos in the next few days!

Drumroll, Please!

I'm pleased to announce the gals whose comments I selected to use for my Secret Project! This was so tough to pick, since I loved them ALL! But here are the ones I am going to use:


She'sSewPretty: "Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back" by Babe Ruth.

Artsy Momma:
"Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly" - St. Francis de Sales

Jennifer: "You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it."-Oprah Winfrey

Linda of Lilly Cottage: "What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn't fail?" -Unknown author

Natasha:
"A misty morning does not signify a cloudy day." -unknown

O.k. sweet friends, send me your addresses so I can send you something yummy!!!

The Reveal!

A couple weeks ago, this dear little vintage sewing basket showed up on my doorstep. I had mixed feelings about her; she was a yummy vintagey pink which is what drew me to her in the first place and I won her for a song on eBay; but I disliked the top "upholstery" and had just assumed it would be cuter in person.
When I opened it up, however, I was shocked! It was clearly unused. The inside was a lovely pink satiny fabric with not a single pin-prick or stain! The exterior was only a bit dingy from storage and the top could be redone. So I decided then and there that this little lovely would undergo an "Extreme Makeover," Rosey Posey style!

I chose this DELICIOUS Robyn Pandolph print...one of my all-time favorites! And it just happened to match the darling pink of the basket which I wanted to leave in its sweet vintage condition!

Ta-Da!!! It really was like one of those makeover shows in that the end result was so fabulous, it was as if my dear little Plain Jane of a basket had ALWAYS looked this lovely. She was BORN to look like this!




Next I altered an incredible vintage sewing book to match the basket. The same gorgeous pink cabbage roses were fixed to the cover and a little glitter applied!

This is a really incredible old sewing book, both practically speaking, as well as for the fab vintage illustrations. I (with much difficulty!!!) resisted the urge to cut this up and left it intact in all its sweetness!

Here you can see the tray of the sewing basket, as well as a plump pin cushion that has a bit of French dried lavender in it...

The notion jars are the perfect size for buttons, pins or bits of trim. The lids are painted in a lovely biscuit color with little pink rose decals.

The scissor cozy matches (of course) and the scissors are included. It has a vintage lace "collar" for hanging around your neck while you sew...no more searching for your scissors! You'll know right where to find them.

The interior of the sewing basket has the original plastic tray with sweet little compartments for notions. All the vintage trim, new beads and thread seen here is included.

And another little vintage-sweet addition to your sewing room...a yummy biscuit spool holder with ALL PINK EMBROIDERY THREAD on it! I painted the holder and then found every shade of pink embroidery thread known to woman ;) and wound them on the original spools that came with this holder. And look at the sweet little drawer!!

You can find the sewing basket, altered vintage sewing book and acessories on Glitter & Grunge! The vintage spool holder will be in my etsy shoppe. (update: having trouble getting my pics to upload on etsy, so if you are interested in the spool holder, just let me know!)