And The Award Goes To....

Last week I was delighted to find out I had been given the Versatile Blogger Award!

Here are the Rules for The Versatile Blogger Award:
1. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs you enjoy reading.

(or less if you're like me and haven't been the best blog-hopper lately)

4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

I would like to thank Natalie for passing this award along to me.

Seven things you may not know about me:

1. I live in a modern house that's decorated in cottage style - weird, huh?

2. I've known my friend Nancy since the first grade.

3. My guilty pleasure is watching all the Housewives shows.

4. I met Keith Urban before he was famous.

5. I've lived in the same house for 32 years.

6. I'm the baby of the family.

7. I played the trumpet in my high school band!

I'd like to pass this award on to:

Dollar Store Crafts

Kate Crane

Skinny Taste

Treasured Heirlooms

In The Country

Daily Painting

Good Morning!

I woke up this morning and made myself a java concoction with hazelnut coffee, a large swirl of Reddi-Whip (whipped cream in a can), and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. It's my new favorite way to wake up in the morning. And don't you love my new mug from Target?

This little box of sweet inspiration came over the weekend from my swap partner Hope. It's the first Petite Inspiration Box I've received from participating in Speckled Egg's swap of the same name. When I opened the package and saw this box I thought to myself, "Who even cares what is inside cause this box is gorgeous!" But eventually I did come to my senses and opened it and this is what I found:

What a sweet sparkley greeting all wrapped up in waxed paper and pink seam binding. Hope's attention to detail really is exquisite.

And look how neatly she has everything all tucked in. Lots of vintage treasures were inside that tiny box. Thank you so much Hope!

And another hug goes out to my friend Elizabeth who bestowed this wonderful Friends Award on little ole me! The sentiment behind this award is, "These kind bloggers aim to find friends and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement." Isn't that exactly what this world of art blogs has opened up to each and every one of us? So many friendships have been formed with people we might never have connected with if it weren't for our blogs. How lucky are we?!!! :)

Honored

Image courtesy of Little Pink Studio

Isn't she adorable? This is one of the new rubber stamps that Cerri is selling in her Little Pink Studio Boutique and guess what she named this little cutie? ~ Little Jeanne Jumps Rope. I love it! Cerri didn't know this, but my childhood friend Nancy and I used to jump rope on the sidewalk for hours at a time. We would make up our own silly songs to jump rope to as well as jumping to all the classics.

I have received the Arte y pico Award from Joanna at An Altered Fairy Tale. Thank you Joanna for this wonderful honor! This award was designed to be given to bloggers who inspire others creatively. You can read more about the award here. One of the requirements after receiving this award is to pass the honor on to five bloggers that contribute creativity, design, and interesting material to the art blog community. Now that is a very difficult task if you ask me. How does one choose just 5, when there are hundreds of blogs that deserve the honor? Well, I decided to randomly select five blogs to share with you from my VERY long list of favorites I have bookmarked on my computer. Here they are:

1. Karin, of Creative Chaos, who always manages to crack me up with her hilarious stories of her family, as well as blow me away with her beautiful creations. Karin, you really should write a book!

2. Paige, of Simple Thoughts, who I think I may have bestowed a similar award to more than a year ago. Paige has a huge heart and she takes the most beautiful photographs of everyday life with her gorgeous family.

3. Lilli, of Make Mine Blissful, is my New Earth reading buddy and one of my oldest (by time, not age) blogging friends. I feel as though I have grown and learned so much from our email exchanges as well as from her artistic talents.

4. Julie, of The Adventures of Blue Girl XO, is a blog I discovered through the pages of one of the many Stampington publications. I adore the attention she pays to detail as well as the simplicity of her fabulous creations.

5. Aina, of Modern Country, makes me want to live inside every one of the photographs in her blog posts. She manages to combine clean lines and lots of white to create a vintage-contemporary style that is fresh and inviting.

Thanks for Making My Day!

I was thrilled to receive this award from my sweet friend Joanna at An Altered Fairy Tale. How wonderful it was to receive a nice surprise like this in my inbox. Thanks a million for making MY day, Joanna!

According to the rules, I am suppose to pass this award on to ten people who inspire me. But since it's really too hard to narrow it down to just ten people, I am going to steal Jessi's great idea and present this award to ALL OF YOU! So if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!

Speaking of the lovely and talented Jessi, she is have the most fantastic giveaway on her blog. You have until Friday the 8th to sign up so hurry on over here and check it out.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Nice Matters

Dawn, my round-robin partner, awarded me the "Nice Matters Award" today. Wasn't that nice of her? I feel so honored to have such a wonderful award bestowed on me. Gee, I hope I can live up to it!! And what exactly is the "Nice Matters Award" you ask? Well, this is what Genevieve, the gal who began this award says about it:

"This award will be awarded to those that are just nice people, good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!"

Isn't that great? Such a simple sentiment and yet extremely meaningful to me. It's the whole reason I started my blog - to meet nice people who share the same DREAM to CREATE as myself, as well as INSPIRE others. And to think a year and a half ago I didn't even know this 'land of bloggers' even existed! I have gained so many wonderful friends who are willing to exchange ideas freely, lend encouragement when needed, and inspire me to be a better artist and person. Thanks to all of you!

I'd like to pass this award on to seven other bloggers who deserve this award even more than I do. Of course there are many more, but the rules say I can only pick seven. Here they are - drumroll please. . . .

Heather, Lilli, Lia, Tricia, Marilyn, Cerri and Paige. In addition to these lovely ladies, I want to give Dawn the Nice Matters Award too since she was NICE enough to give the award to me!