Any day now Heather should be receiving the Valentine Supply Swap goodies I sent to her earlier this week. Kari (aka Artsymama) hosted this swap which was so much fun to put together. 
I hope you like it Heather! 
Shhhh....don't tell my DH, but I have a special place in my heart for the postman. He hand delivers such wonderful gifts right to my door....what a guy!!!! The package above arrived from my friend Mercedes in Spain! I first "met" Mercedes after I posted pics of my Winter Wishes book here. And then Mercedes was inspired to make her own version of the book here. And then she was seet enough to send me this lovely handmade Valentine greeting. . .
. . . along with these scrumtious collection of laces. Thank you Mercedes. ~ you are a sweetheart!
The second package her brought me was an order from Karen of Mrs. Kwitty's. All wrapped in a pink (handmade) box with a cute vintage tag. . .
. . . came this darling hand embroidered blue bird singing, "Love You." Surrounded with buttons on a felt heart. There is even a button detail on the back of the heart.
The final goodie that Mr. Postman handed me is this wonderful Monogram Journal that I ordered from Rebecca Sower. It has a clear acrylic cover and lots and lots of pages to fill up.
She included the following instructions for passing this award along to other fellow bloggers:So without further adieu, (drum roll please) I ask the following inspiring people to "Spread the Love," by passing this award along to others ~ Cerri, Heather B, Holly, Karin, Jessi, Mercedes, Alison, and Heather K.
Now the board has room for new things, but for the time being I have displayed some of my favorite swap items I've received. I really get a lot of inspiration from other people's art, don't you? 
Open the curtains and this is what you will find. . .three shelving units like this. They used to have doors on them, but I took those off recently too. What is this aversion I have to doors? They were just a hindrance as far as I was concerned, and since the curtain was there to hide the shelves I figured I'd get rid of the doors. I did save them in case I change my mind (which has been know to happen a time or two), but for now I am liking the easy access I have to my supplies.
This corner is on the left side of the day bed and I can hide all sorts of things here because it is less visible. I use a decoupaged metal and wire waste basket to hold rolls of paper. The rose paper covered boxes in the foreground are those paper valises you can get at places like Homegoods. They are handy for storing (or hiding) all sorts of treasures. To the right of the basket of paper rolls is the round table that I showed you here. I forgot to mention that although it looks all pretty and nice on top, it secretly holds more storage underneath the skirt.
Today I am putting the finishing touches on my Valentine Supply Swap box for my sweet friend Heather. Here is a sneak peek ~ don't want to give it all away just in case she is looking. Need to get it ready to ship along with a couple of other things that need to be mailed. We are experiencing a slight heat-wave here today. Temperatures are supposed to reach 50 degrees! Of course we can't get too excited since it is only expected to last for one day ~ tomorrow will he back to the typical wintery weather. It's no wonder so many people are sick around here. Would love togo somewhere today (besides the post office) to take advantage of this one fine day. But I have a ton of things to catch up on around here since I played hookie all weekend, so I guess I'll just have to settle for the sun shining in through the window. Hope you all are having a fabulous Monday!!
1. Craft closet, 2. easter 1, 3. Untitled, 4. winterbella 037, 5. Love of supplies Swap, 6. Love of supplies Swap, 7. Little Girl, 8. Love Lives Here nest box for Ginny 2, 9. tiny pink velvet strawberry, 10. Botanical Faerie Banner *SOLD*, 11. sweet nest.. mama bird & eggs 2, 12. peach welcome 001, 13. pink market basket, 14. she walks in beauty, 15. MA RR sweet couple 2, 16. Valentine Recipe Swap, 17. Cupid, 18. vintage pink roses, 19. Marie Antoinette journal binder, 20. Fiorella front, 21. Color Erratica - My Red Book 1, 22. Garland of Heart Yo-Yo's, 23. Hearts In A Row !!, 24. pinkheart, 25. Hearts, 26. Heart with key hole, 27. waiting, 28. My Christmas Cottage, 29. nove 29th post 010, 30. "Cream Puff" collage, 31. Christmas, 32. Snowflake ornament, 33. Ornament Swap Cone, 34. Pink Sugar Plum, 35. Bottlebrush Trees, 36. Vintage angels
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!
It's been pretty chilly here in the midwest the last several days, so that causes me to spend time in the kitchen baking and cooking things that make me feel warm and cozy ~ you know, comfort food. I was reading Melissa's blog today and she mentioned that Carrie has started a Dinner Challenge over at her blog to help us all expand our recipe repertoires. Each night (for the next 5 nights) we are cooking a new recipe, photographing the finished project, and then sharing the recipes on our blogs. I know I am always looking for new, tried and true recipes that the family will enjoy, so maybe your are too. I find a lot of tasty recipes in Kraft's Food & Family magazine that in published 5 times a year. The subscription is free and you can sign up for it here. This recipe is from the Winter 2008 issue and was first made by my daughter. She and her fiance raved about it, so of course I had to give it a try. GRAM'S CHICKEN POT PIE
Serves 6
2 Tbls Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (may substitute light dressing, if desired)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces. (I used Perdue's cooked chicken pieces - 10 oz)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
4 oz Velveeta cheese, cut up (may substitute Velveeta made with 2% milk, if desired)
1 sheet frozen Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat dressing in large skillet. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 minutes or until cooked through. Stir in vegetables, soup and Velveeta. Spoon into greased 9-inch square baking dish. Unfold pastry sheet; place over chicken mixture. Fold under edges of pastry; press onto top of baking dish to seal. Brush pastry with beaten egg. Cut several slits in top of crust to permit steam to escape.Place dish on baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I know it's the middle of winter and spring is a long way off, but this is what I've been working on lately. It's my studio/creative space/art room which is undergoing a massive clean out. I know, I know it's not very inspirational. But it's something that just HAS to get done before I can work on anything fun and creative. That's because I procrastinated on this project for most of last year. Oh, I did do some reorganizing here and there, but that was only a mere scratching of the surface. I promised myself I would tackle this once and for all in January, so I am trying to comply. I am working my way around the room and tearing everything apart and sorting through it all. I am terrible at making decisions of what to part with and what to keep. And I am always able to look at the most useless looking thing and figure out a something I can do with it, so I suppose that makes me a pack rat. However, I have managed to say goodbye to lots of things this time that I couldn't part with the last time I did this, so I feel I am making progress. In addition to the sorting, I am dusting, scrubbing, touching up paint, and washing all the linens which resulted in this:
Another perfectly inspirational photo ~ NOT! It's the pile of ironing I have to look forward to now. The downside to Rachael Ashwell's linens is they are not permanent press! But at least I can gaze at the sweet little pink roses while I push the iron back and forth so that makes me happy. 
I base my purging progress on how much empty space is created in the end. These empty jars make me feel SO VERY HAPPY! Oh, I plan to fill them up with pretty little things eventually, but for now their emptiness is pleasing to me. I picked these jars up when the store I used to work at was closing. They held votive candles and the lids were natural stained wood with big wooden ball handles. I sanded the lids down, painted them white and re-sanded the edges for a shabby-chic look before screwing on pink glass knobs I picked up from Anthropologie. The pink gingham lined baskets are from World Market and the paper covered boxes which hold various projects in progress are from Target.
Talk about not very inspiring. . .this is my inspiration board completely cleared off. A blank slate to fill with new inspiring goodies. I can't wait to re-do it, but not until the room is finished. It will be my little treat at the end ~ you know, something fun to look forward to.
Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. We took a quick trip up to the cottage and had a bunch of things going on this past weekend. I promised I would post pictures of my white feather tree when I switched it from Christmas to Valentine's Day, so here it is. It's fun to collect different heart ornaments for it.
This valentine spread is on top of my baby grand piano. The piano is special to me because it was my grandmothers. Four generations have tickled those ivories.
The above photo is taken in my family room. The chocolates are actually little candles that I got one year at Homegoods.
I was reading Melissa's post here and she mentioned how she is already starting to think about hearts and Valentines and I thought to myself ~ so am I! It always seems like such a let down when we have to pack away the Christmas decorations. After all the coziness the house exudes from being adorned with pine boughs, berries, candles, stockings hung by the fire, and the beautifully decorated tree, everything starts to take on such a bare appearance when they are gone. So visions of hearts ~ the symbol of love and Valentine's Day ~ is a welcome sight right about now. I noticed that some stores were bringing out their Valentine merchandise before Christmas even arrived and I find that a bit ridiculous. But after Christmas ~ even on the 26th of December ~ is perfectly acceptable as far as I'm concerned. We need something to carry us into the new year and to brighten the cold, gray days of January (if you live in the midwest, that is) and what better symbol than the heart!The hearts pictured in the photo above are actually Christmas ornaments, but these will not get packed away with the santas and snowmen. They will remain out on display in a different setting. The white feather tree in my front hall (pictured near the bottom of this post) will get "re-dressed" with a wide variety of pink and red hearts. I'll post pics of it when the redecoration is complete.
{Photo Borrowed From Artsymama} 
Something else that I signed up for in order to beat the winter blues is the Winter Bella e-zine hosted by the McFabulous Teresa! She is sharing special projects 3 times a week throughout January. It's not too late to join in on the fun. 
It's that time of the year when we look ahead to a brand new year and a fresh new start. . .A CLEAN SLATE, as we refer to it. I'm putting together my list of resolutions and goals during these last few days of 2007. I write them in a Goal Journal that I started several years ago. It is fun to look back and see what I wrote in past years and which goals I achieved and which ones I am still working on. The key is to LOOK at them often throughout the year. Better yet, post the list on your inspiration board or refrigerator or tape it to your desk so you see the list EVERYDAY. I'm looking forward with anticipation to whatever excitement 2008 has in store for me. The possibilities are endless and all we have to do is set our sights in that direction.
I spent the day yesterday playing around with the new camera my DH gave me for Christmas. (Remember my old camera was prone to taking blurred close-up shots.) Lots of new settings to learn about and play with. Above is our grand-dog, Shooter who was visiting for the day. And below is our cat, Midnight who isn't exactly thrilled to have Shooter invading his space.
Our white Christmas was a little delayed here in our area. Today we woke up to falling snow and it has continued to snow all day. 
The tree branches are heavy with the wet snow. . .perfect for snowball fights and building snowmen. I ventured out to the bank and grocery store and although it looks pretty, driving in this weather is a quite challenge.
After finally making it back home, I decided to stay there and catch up on some reading. I've been anxious to read this issue of Somerset Studios because so many of my favorite artists featured like Sally Jean, Pam Garrison, Lori Oles, Corey Moortgat, Melissa McCobb Hubbell, Leslie Riley, Anahata, Roben-Marie Smith, and Tricia Scott. So I made myself a cup of hot cocoa and curl up by the lighted Christmas tree for a moment of relaxation and inspiration. Hope you can find time to do the same now that the hustle-bustle of Christmas is over.
This is the final day of our 12 Days to Christmas Swap and though I will miss the fun routine of opening a present each day, I have so many exquisite gifts to treasure for years to come from a group of the most talented ladies around. Each person gave of their time and creativity to create such a wonderful memory.
This lovely wallhanging is made from what appears to be a page from a vintage photo album. The color is the most heavenly shade of blue and it coordinates quite nicely with the brown tones of the vintage photo and the snowflake, button and ribbon accents Kari used. It really is gorgeous! 
Thank you Kari! And thank you again to the rest of the 12 Days gals ~ Cerri, Holly, Karin, Tia, Marilyn, Martha, Donna, Shosh, Tammy and last but not least Heather, who arranged this entire fun event! BIG HUGS and Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!
