Friday Fill-Ins

And here we go . . . .

1. When we go antiquing, we always find something we can't live without!

2. Sometimes my head hurts.

3. It'll be fun to visit Galena later this summer.

4. Paris is a place I always wanted to visit, but haven't yet.

5. When I'm sad it hurts; when I'm happy it doesn't.

6. Going on Historical Walking Tours is something I like about my community.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to lounging around with friends, tomorrow my plans include going to the Scotty Dog Parade and Sunday, I want to have brunch!

Atlanta Trip -Part 1

One of the sites I visited on my trip was the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The beauty of the flowers in bloom was truly glorious. My friend told me the week before I arrived the blooms were even better. I can't even imagine! Today I'll share the rose garden with you. Enjoy!

Farewell Summer

On this last day of summer (sigh) I thought I would share some photos of the rose garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden which I took during a visit there this past weekend. I was surprised to see how many blossoms were left.

Color Inspiration

1. Peachy-Pink Bunny Print Baby Quilt, 2. Concrete Peach Texture, 3. Picking Peaches, 4. peach rose with raindrops

I know I told you I'd be posting photos of my vintage finds from our last trip up to the cottage. I haven't forgotten. I've been busy with this and that. Besides the rain clouds that have been lurking overhead for the past few days haven't made for good picture taking weather anyway. I'll post those pics soon. I promise. In the meantime, enjoy this yummy peach inspiration mosaic.

Paper Roses

I've got a tutorial for making these paper roses up on Joli Paquet today. You can use them to embellish lots of things like:

A paper corsage for mother. . .

Or a vintage looking trinket box.

The possibilities are endless!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I made some of these over the weekend. These are the white chocolate pretzels. I made milk chocolate ones too. I like both kinds. To me, chocolate is chocolate no matter what the color is.

I packaged them in these cellophane bags from Hobby Lobby.

Now this has nothing to do with Christmas, unless you use this as an ornament and come to think of it, it would be quite nice hanging on the tree I put in my studio. I found this plain white shabby-chic birdcage also at Hobby Lobby and I thought it might look cute all "frou-frou'd" up with tulle, ribbon and satin roses. So that is exactly what I did!

The birdcage goes quite nicely with my flea-market-find pink angel. . .

I guess I really should get back to work preparing for Christmas - I get so easily side-tracked!

Mother's Day Beauty

Every year around Mother's Day, the crabapple trees bloom around here. The beautiful shades of pinks and white are a gorgeous gift that everyone can enjoy.

This sweet little bird hanging was a Mother's Day gift from my daughter and her husband.

The four of us went to brunch and the resturant gave out pink roses to all the Moms.

Last year they gave me a rather wilted rose, but this year's was nothing but perfection!
And my DH surprised me with this beautiful bouquet of red roses as well.

I hope all you moms had a wonderfully special day!

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.

Beautiful Thursday

Not much happening around here today, other than the fact that I have to clean the house as we are having my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner tomorrow. It's a busy weekend with Mother's Day on Sunday and Saturday is my mother-in-law's birthday as well. We will be celebrating non-stop all weekend. The diet will have to wait until Monday to start.

Jessi, Where Are You?????

I'm still waiting for Jessi Nagy to get back to me about winning the giveaway I held last week. I've left comments on her blog twice to let her know. I know she was at an art retreat when I announced the winner and she is probably still trying to catch up on things. Hmmmm...I think I will just sit back and see how long it takes her to realize she has won. LOL!! So if you're reading this Jessi, I need your mailing address. (Just click on my profile at the top right for my email addy)

I've been creating more pages for my art journal. I got some backgrounds completed which are still waiting for me to journal on them. I worked all day at the office yesterday and had to concentrate on boring things instead of arty projects, so now I am trying to make up for it. What projects have you been working on these days?

Studio Update

I've gotten to the part of my studio clean-up that I love ~ adding the decorative touches. I like to surround myself with some pretty little things while I work. Not only does this supply me with endless inspiriation, but it also puts a smile on my face when I gaze at my collections. Some of you already know about my love affair with vintage Limoges rose patterned china. Well, my studio is the perfect place to display some of these pieces. I love little boxes of all kinds ~ great for stowing away small doo-dads and what-nots. And pitchers are great for holding fresh cut flowers, pens and markers, or simply hanging from a ribbon on a hook. Pedastal plates can hold all sorts of tiny treasues including rhinestone encrusted tiaras, paper roses and nesting birds.I love this pottery on top of this cream painted hutch because of it's color, which I fondly refer to Martha Stewart Blue. This same color also covers the walls (Restoration Hardware's Silver Birch) and also happens to be the color of my VW Beetle (Aquarius Blue). The little heart with the quote "Keep a dream in your heart" was given to me by my mother more than 30 years ago.
A bouqet of roses, a small lamp and a sweet cast iron pink birdie complete the top of the hutch.
More Limoges china and some pink depression glass pieces. The "oil painting" canvas was bought several years ago at Homegoods.
I hung some vintage hankies over a tension rod to create a valance for the window and topped it with more Limoges plates. TIP: Be sure to hand baste the hankies together, otherwise they will all fly off the rod when you have the window open on a breezy day ~ learned from experience! I would love to see pictures of the things that inspire you in your studio/craft space. Just leave a link in the comments section so I can come for a visit!

On The Fourth Day of Christmas. . .

This little pretty is from Holly of Holly Doodle Designs. Inside the plastic envelope was this fabulous vintage wallpaper ~ big sheets of it too! Woo-hoo!!!
After going ga-ga over the wallpaper, I unwrapped this little scrumptious wall hanging! Oh the colors are just perfect for my house, but I am going to hang it in my studio. . .I think. Love the vintage flowers and wallpaper, and you can't tell in this photo but the outside border sparkles!
The inner rectangle is made so you can insert a picture (or a vintage postcard as pictured below) into the seam binding corners. Isn't that clever? Oh Holly, you are so smart. . .and creative!! Hugs to you Holly! I love it!