It is almost like Christmas around here with all these little goodies arriving. A Bevy of Birds collage packet came in the mail today. This one is from Melissa's shop here. I adore the presentation of the packaging almost as much as the collage papers themselves. {Note the vintage wallpaper package topper attached with spring green staples.} These images should be fun to use in some of my collage work.
I thought I would catch you up on what arrived in my mailbox this past week. First of all, I received the new Gudrum Sjoden home textile catalog, which is appropriately entitled Inspiration. It is chock full of beautiful scenes of dream rooms and accessories. The pages remind me of Anthropologie's lovely catalog. You can get one for yourself here. Below are some of my favorite pages.
I was thrilled when the postman delivered this sweet Bird Ephemera Kit that I ordered from Cerri over at Little Pink Studio. She always has the most wonderful little things in her little shop. I love all the "birdie" related papers, book pages and stickers, as well as the yummy lace and ribbons! She even tucked in a little "surprise" egg filled with goodies as a bonus.
Below is the Her Stashaway kit that I ordered from Teresa Mcfayden at Paper Bella Studio. All the wonderful papers and ephemera will be used to make hanging pockets to stashaway fun little keepsakes. I especially love all the colors (and birdies) included in both of these kits.
I thought I would share with you the way I store some of my vintage lace, ribbon and trim. I wrap them on old clothespins (not the spring type), secure them with a straight pin and place them in this tiny robin's egg blue colander that I found recently at Marshall's. I keep this one on the desk in my studio where it is handy, but also pretty to look at. They also had a matching full-size colander that I bought to use up at the cottage. I think I may have to go back and see if they have some more of these as they are great for extra open storage. Well, I think that is all for now. Have a happy Monday everyone!
I made these little baskets after seeing Andrea Singarella's creations on the cover of the upcoming issue of "Eye Candy" by Portals Zine. They were easy and fun to make and I filled them with Cadbury's Mini Eggs.
I am all ready and waiting for the Easter Bunny {and my guests} to arrive. The table is set with my Laura Ashley plates. Nothing fancy - we use these everyday. I found them a couple years ago, piece by piece, at Homegoods. The table runner was made by a friend of mine. The center-piece I put together myself.
Below is another view of the center-piece from last year when the color scheme for my table was yellow and lavender. 
This is my Easter feather tree that I have by my front door. I got it {and a smaller version also} for practically nothing at the little shop I used to manage. This one stays up from Christmas thru Easter as it gets decorated for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day as well. The little baskets hanging from the branches hold jelly beans and fluffy little chicks and are made from peat pots which I painted pastel colors and added a little ribbon for the handle.
Here are some sweet little Easter baskets sitting around my house. Don't you just love all the soft pastel colors of easter? They are all so yummy. Gotta run and get the rest of the house ready for tomorrow!
Here it is - all finished! I decided to turn my altered board book (see how it all began in this post) into a book of My Intentions. These are things that I want to keep in the front of my mind everyday in order to live a more full and happy life. I really got motivated to complete the book before the holiday weekend after being inspired by Linda's work here and Patti's work here and Marilyn's work here. These gals are awesome artists! 
I found this happy couple over the weekend at a cute new little shop in my area. I love the pale, soft color of their clothing. They have a vintage feel to them and make a nice addition to my Easter collection. Speaking of vintage, the basket below also has that feel to it. It is glass and covered with aqua foil and it is embellished with a crepe paper ruffle, tiny velveteen flowers and silver leaves. Very sweet .
Just a few changes to report on my altered board book. In the first photo, the sitting lady sprouted a pair of glittery wings. Some gold accents were also added to the page, as well as small clear flower buttons stamped with script writing. The new page in the second photo features one of my Moo Cards. I carryied the swirly pattern from the left hand page onto the right page in order to tie the two pages together. I used one of Tim Holtz's images from Stamper's Anonymous on the page in the next photo (also a new page). More work needs to be done on all the pages. I have been working in small increments of time, walking away and then returning to work some more later in the day or the next morning. Seems to be working well for me this way. Have you noticed that I haven't come up with a theme for the book yet? This is a rather backwards approach for me, but I am letting the book "speak to me" and tell me what it wants to be. Have a great day!
I am making some progress on my altered board book, although it is still a work in progress. It has come a long way since this post. I am using papers from Basic Grey's Stella Ruby collection as well as catalog pages (my favorite) and the paper napkins that I wrote about here. The rectangular embellishment on the cover is made using alcohol inks on a game piece and attaching a charm to the top. I intend to hang something from the charm eventually. I applied the papers using Golden's soft gel medium. I am finding that I prefer it to the regular gel medium (as it is a thinner consistency) or Mod Podge (which seems to make the papers wrinkle more). As I said, it still needs work, but thought you'd enjoy seeing it evolve. Hope you all are having a happy Monday!
Look what arrived today! My Moo Card order!! I love these little cards. I'm using mine as business cards and hang tags. Have you ordered yours yet? If not, then check them out here.
Happy first Day of Spring to Everyone! It is pouring down rain here and rather gloomy. I still am feeling a bit under the weather, but nothing that a cup of tea with honey wouldn't cure. Fortunately, Artsymama is hosting a virtual tea party at her blog today so we can all gather and chat while we sip a lovely brew. I just started a pot of my favorite - Ashby's of London's Apricot Tea.
I have the tea pot all set up out back in my potting shed. It is cozy inside even if it is raining outside. 
I have a small collection of tea pots, so I will take you on a tour of them. Pictured above is a hand-painted porcelain teapot by Betty Platner who is originally from Argentina. I love the delicate roses and it fits so well with my Limoges demitasse cups and dessert plates I have set up on the sideboard in my diningroom. The photo is a picture of my grandmother setting the table in her diningroom for one of her fabulous gatherings. She was a wonderful cook and baker who loved to entertain.
Here is more of my Limoges collection. This photo was taken in my "rosey" studio.
This set is sitting inside the the glass doors of my secretary desk in my livingroom. It is a Mary Engelbreit tea set that I bought when she had a shop here in Illinois. I love the pink and yellow color combination.
Here is another of my Mary Engelbreit tea pots, but this one is particularly special. It is signed by the "Queen of Everything" herself. I stood in line for hours to meet her at her shop and she signed the bottom of my teapot! 
This teapot is a favorite of mine because of the little bird on the top of the lid. He is so sweet and I love the soft blue color of the pot.
And finally, my Ode to France. . .those of you who read my blog know that I long to visit Paris someday and until that time my family room is decorated in shades of cream with black and white toile and little French touches throughout. So of course this tea set fits right in!
I am so happy you stopped by and if you want to experience more tea party goodies, be sure to visit Artsymama's blog to see what the other party guests are up to. 
Dug out this old photo of a kleenex box because the CRUD has officially been passed on to me! I feel soooooo yukky! I have two events to go to today - why don't we ever get sick at a time when we don't have anything to do? Not sure if I will make it to either one now. Not sure I should even try to go since I would just be passing the CRUD on to someone else. Going back to bed now. . .
In other news, I got an e-mail from Betz White, the gal who made the darling little cupcake pincushion pictured above, and found out she has a new book called, Warm Fuzzies, which is due out at the end of the year. It has 30 felted wool projects to create. In addition to her website, Betz also has a little shop at Etsy here where you can buy her pincushions.
