Happy St. Patty's Day!

1. Green, 2. Green fabrics, 3. Green, 4. Green with Envy Cupcakes, 5. Green Leaves - Spring Crocheted Doily, 6. Cuba Gallery: White and green house with the white picket fence, 7. green shoes, 8. Green Bicycle Playing Cards, 9. Green ink

Kits & Cookies

TODAY IS THE DAY!

I'm so excited because today is the day that the Joli Paquet holiday kits go on sale! My Sweet Vintage Wreath Kit is pictured above and features a sweet image from a vintage German postcard that I found on one of my trips to the flea market. I loved that the one girl has a fur muff because I used to have one like it when I was a little girl. The little wreath is all done up in pinks & greens and embellished with buttons, gingham, glitter and glass beads from

a vintage Christmas garland. Quantities are limited so don't delay!

You can find this kit in my Etsy Shop by clicking here.

I've restocked my shop with some new Christmas items (shown above). Also, while sorting through my craft room, I came across enough supplies to put together a few of the kits I was selling for last year's Joli Paquet Holiday Event so I've listed them in the shop too for tose of you who missed out.

The rest of the Joli Paquet artists - Lilia, Brandy, Melissa, Cerri, Cindy and Jenny - have designed some adorable kits too and you can find links to their shops here.

Another event you should check out today is Scrappy Jessi's "3rd Annual Cookie Exchange" that she's hosting on her blog. I've participated in this event in previous years and it's a great way to get some new cookie recipes. Here is my recipe:

I think I might make these for a real life cookie exchange I am going to later this month.

Have fun shopping and baking today!

Cozy Green Quilt

I remember the quilt, made with loving care,

Draped over the back of her favorite chair,

In my Grandmother's parlor.

~ Priscilla Schrock ~

This is not my grandmother's quilt, although I do have a wedding ring quilt which she made and used to grace the bed in her spare bedroom, where I would spend the nights on occasional weekends. This quilt is one that I bought on a recent trip up to the cottage. I liked the colors and the price was right. It usually is draped over the back of one of the loveseats in my living room. But today it just seemed like it needed to be outside draped over this bench on my patio. It looks like it's inviting me to take a break and relax with some pink lemonade and a cherry scone...won't you come join me?

A Place to Hang Your Hat

Home is a place to hang your hat...and your heart.

This vintage pink architectural piece is where I like to hang my hat.

Every house where love abides

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home sweet home

For there the heart can rest.

~Henry Van Dyke

Secret Garden

This is day three's contribution to Sara's Shade of Inspiration Challenge. I love the soft pink color of the tiny roses on this sign. I have a lot of this shade of green around my home. Green makes me think of nature and springtime, when all the little plant stems peek their heads out from the ground. I find it to be so wonderous how they push themselves up through the soil towards the sun each and ever year. That simple little miracle, which is often taken for granted, gives me such a renewed sense of hope and a feeling that anything is possible on this earth.

Shades of Inspiration

Sara at Sadie Olive has chosen GREEN as the color of the week for her Shades of Inspiration challenge. You can get more details here and here.

Flowers in My Garden

1. Allium 2. Vinca ground cover 3. Columbine

4. Pansies 5. Miss Kim Lilac

6. Sweet Woodruff 7. Virginia Bluebells 8. Bleeding Hearts

If you stopped by my garden for a visit today, this is what you would find blooming. It is so much fun to walk around the yard and discover what flowers are bursting open with color. Each day I find something new has opened up. It truly is a miracle that these plants stay under the earth all winter long and come back year after year with new blossoms for us to enjoy. So what's blooming in your garden today?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!