Where Bloggers Create - Blog Party!

Today is the day we've all been waiting for - having a sneak peek into other artist's blogging and creative spaces. What fun! It's all happening on Karen Valentine's blog, My Desert Cottage. This is the second year Karen is hosting this fabulous blog party and there are more that 450 party guests participating this year - WOW!!! So make yourself a cup of your favorite beverage, sit back, relax and enjoy the tour.

Welcome to where I Dream, Create & Inspire.

This is the wall I face when I sit at my desk and it is filled with various cubbies and shelves holding lots of treasures and supplies.

I like using suitcases to store (and hide) lots of fun things.

Scattered throughout the room I have beloved items I have purchased, like the tiny spun cotton cat figure I picked up from Vintage by Crystal shown below.

Here is one of my original collages, a few vintage books and a dancing girl given to me by a favorite friend. The second "book" down from the top is actually a bank given to me when I was a baby.

These are some of my Inspiration Boxes I received from swap partners in Heather's Inspiration Box Swaps. Right now I'm working on her latest swap theme - The Paris Edition.

This cubby opening used to hold a TV. The shadowbox frame I picked up a couple years ago at Michael's filled up the space nicely along with some mercury glass pieces.

A side table holds more of my "pretties."

My DH built this behind-the-door storage for my rubber stamp collection years ago. Hanging in front are more goodies from a swap partner.

I found this little spice shelf at Goodwill, painted it white, added the wood scroll work and it now holds some of my favorite antique shakers filled with glass glitter.

This old rubber stamp spinner, another vintage find, holds even more glitter. In my opinion, a girl can never have too much glitter.

Here's my mannequin I picked up at the flea market. She currently is without a name. Hmmm....got any ideas?

A sign bearing the name of my Etsy Shop which I made years ago. The striped metal storage boxes are a Homegoods find.

An angel made from vintage hankies found at a craft show and a hand-crafted pin board is from the craft mall I used to work at.

I have several inspiration boards throughout my studio.

These bookcases sit behind my desk. The shelves hold lots of pretty treasures and the cupboards on the bottom of each of them hold supplies I use often.

Here's some of my vintage book collection.

The flowers below are actually a bridesmaid bouquet from my daughter's wedding that dried beautifully. The candle holders were used on the place card table.

My tiny mannequin collection.

Crowns seem to be a theme that keeps repeating itself all over the room. That's my beautiful daughter on her wedding day in the photo above. And a vintage program for the Queen's Ball shown below.

I love anything related to birds and nests - here's a few special ones.

Ballerinas, an assortment of vintage boxes and mother-of-pearl buttons.

This three-tiered caddy sits next to my desk and holds all sorts of small supplies.

Tiny shelves hold tiny treasures.

More vintage goodies and a swap partner's collage.

Vintage pink gloves and a white beaded hand-bag.

I use vintage rose patterned Limoges china plates all over the house. This collection hangs over a vintage hanky valence above my studio window.

I hope you've enjoyed this tour of my creative space. You can see lots more studios by clicking here and then going to the sidebar of Karen's blog where she has links to all the other party guests. Happy visiting!!!!

Someone to Watch Over Me. . . .

Isn't she beautiful? I purchased this Madonna figure from Beth Leintz after reading this post on her blog. I was drawn to her because of the pale pink and blue colors and delicate detailing. Just as Beth said in her post, I'm so happy she watching over things around here.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for this.

Be Soft

Sometimes this is a difficult concept to achieve. . .

. . . but just keep working at it, because in the end it's much better to be sweet than to be cynical.

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.

Summer Cottages

Blogger has been causing problems the last few days and so that is why I haven't been posting. It seems to be working for the moment, however there seems to be changes to the system that I am not exactly thrilled with. What a pain! I wish they would leave well-enough alone. So be patient with me as I try to adapt to all the new-fangled features.

After my last post about that cute little artist's cottage, I decided to do a search on Flickr to see if I could find some other fun summer cottages. During my search I was surprised at what some people consider a cottage to be. Wikipedia describes a cottage as "a modest dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location." That is sort of the same thing I picture in my mind when I think of a quaint little cottage. But some people have pictures of what I consider to be huge mansions tagged with the word cottage. I guess it's all in the mind of the beholder.

I couldn't figure out how to add the links to each of the cottage photos shown above with this new version of Blogger, but if you are interested I do have them linked up over on Flickr right here.

Weekend Getaway

We had a chance to drive up to our cottage this past weekend. It had been two whole months since we were last there. The photo shown above is not our cottage, but the "art cottage" of Pipka, an artist who has long been a resident of the area. Pipka began her career by making gorgeous hand-painted Santas. She continues to create them, but has also delved into the world of mixed media collage. The pieces she had on display and for sale were full of wonderful texture and dimension. Someday I hope to take a class here at Pipka's beautifully landscaped studio.

Her gardens are truly amazing! What glorious surroundings to create art in.

Such meticulously manicured planting beds.

The blossoms on this Horse Chestnut tree were HUGE!

The Siberian Iris blooms made quite a statement. I forgot to take my camera along, so all these photos were taken with my cell phone. Everything was even more awesome in person!

Two different types of Lilac bushes - my favorite scent of all the flowers!

Next time I'll share some of my vintage finds from the trip.