I’ve finished Ginny’s book in our Marie Antoinette International Round Robin. Whew! Three down, one to go. We’re doing four pages in each person’s book, so I’ve done 12 or so of these so far. Here is what I did for sweet Ginny:
The last one of the crown you’ve already seen, but I thought I’d put all of her pages in one post so she can see them all together.
Have I told you we’re remodelling our kitchen? Well, we are. Almost done, actually. Don’t worry, we still have the awesome old seafoam/jadite green stove. We’ve just changed the countertops and backsplash. Can’t wait to show you. Probably next week I’ll have pictures ready.
Have you all been following what Karla is doing for her dear aunt’s 100th birthday? Over the last several months she has been gathering cards from anyone willing to make a hand-made card for her aunt. Her idea was to present her with 100 cards on her 100th birthday. What a lovely idea.
Here is my offering for her aunt.
The ballerina is “holding” a piece of vintage writing that says “birthday” and she sits on a scalloped oval of vintage pink flocked wallpaper. I attached that to a card (thanks, Andrea!) that says “wish”. It even has the number 100 in the corner! How lucky is that!? I overlaid some vintage pink flocked swiss-dot tulle just for fun.
Simple, but sweet I think. I hope you like it, Karla. Should be there tomorrow (fingers crossed!). I hope your sweet aunt loves it as well.
I’m working on a few special orders and trying to get some things put together for the shop. People have asked me for vintage wallpaper packs, but My oh MY are they a big deal to put together! I’m thinkin about it. I will have some smaller little packs of things that will include vintage wallpaper (and flocked too!) soon.
I’m off to get some work done, girls. Back soon with some pretty things that I’ve bought from other sellers recently. Love that. I love to buy from all you gals, your creativity amazes me.
(update: the sugar shack kits are sold out, thank you!)
This is my latest kit, a sequel to the super fun and sold out Sugar Shack kits I did late last year. This one is all-American! I’m thinkin even Betsy Ross herself would approve.
It’s decked out in glitter, crepe paper, tinsel, millinery that was made into an arbor/arch in front of the front door, a tiny flag and much more. You get everything you see here (except paint and glue). These will ship the next business day from order (so Monday if you order today) and will be sent Priority Mail with delivery confirmation, so you should have plenty of time for some patriotic craftin!
This little kit was inspired by the charming little houses in small town America, including homes in my own little small town. Our tiny town has the cutest July 4th parade each year. Different organizations like little league baseball, the firestation, churches, high school cheerleaders, veterans groups, etc, make floats and throw candy at the kids as they parade down main street, which is decked out with red, white, and blue bunting and lined with people. The dads usually have little kids on their shoulders, standing with moms, grandma and gramps… all waiving little mini flags as they drive by. Later that night, we all watch the fireworks from the Highschool football field, and then go home and let the kids run around with sparklers and eat left overs from the mid-day pic-nic of burgers and potato salad. They run and run until they just about pass out from exhaustion. It’s a wonderful time. This kit is called “Small Town Pride” because it evokes that sense of nostalgia. Norman Rockwell could have lived here!
In all seriousness, I’m grateful for the brave patriots who originally secured our sovereignty, as well as the countless thousands of men and women who have, and continue to, ensure it to this day. Thank you, dear soldiers, as well as hometown heros such as police, fire, EMT, and emergency workers. You are the good guys and I am grateful for you always.
Now, get out your glue guns, pour some swee-tea, and get ready for some Red-Blooded-American Craftin!
Hello friends. Tee-ball was rained out, but only AFTER we drove 40 minutes to a TINY town, sat around because they forgot there was a game tonight so we had to wait for them to bring the bases out (so hysterical). They were so nice, but it was like a comedy of errors watching them try to FIND the bases for the field, mark the field, open the concessions etc at the last minute, only to be rained out!
Anyway…. I’m home and the kits are online now. Please leave me a note in your order (if you’re placing one!) of the color and theme you prefer.
I’ve been busy whiping up some new kits for you. Aren’t these fun? They’re made to look like layer cakes with special toppers.
It’s the season of weddings, so I thought I’d put together a little wedding cake box. It’s made with a millinery arch from my shop, two mini boxes (that really open), lots of seam binding and crepe paper. They also have a little bride & groom that I think were originally meant for cupcakes. And they are so much fun to make. They go together really quickly too. Less than an hour, I would say. How sweet would they be as a wedding gift, or as a memorium of your own wedding or anniversary? Love them. You could even get a dresden number for an anniversary year. I think Andrea might sell those dresden numbers, or maybe Shosh has them. Anyway, there are so many things you can do with them. I can give you any color of seem binding from peach, petal, pale lemon, mint, white, warm tan, or sky. The millinery arches are available in pink, snow white, pale lemon and sky.
I also made a little miniature ballarina fairy box kit. Is this the sweetest? Perfect for a special birthday party or momentos from your sweet girl. Also available in the colors mentioned above.
These will be available tonight sometime, after I get home from Tee Ball. I’m sure I’ll be hoarse and dirty and have gatorade and sticky ring-pop sucker residue all over me by then. ahhhh…. The joys of taking a toddler to watch a ball game.
Our internet was down all day today due to some storms that charged through here last night. It seems like our internet is down all the time! Maybe that’s just because I’m hopelessly addicted to it. Hmmm.
Oh, just wanted to clarify on my last post… My friend is NOT upset with the PTA in any way, it is just the current president who was ugly to her. I hope everyone knows I’m all for the PTA. It’s not the PTA that’s the problem, it was the attitude of one person. But, my friend won’t let one lady’s ugliness stand in the way of her participation! Also, my sister told me that the organization at our school is actually called the PTO (parent teacher organization) not the PTA because they aren’t members of the national PTA. So it’s not even the PTA at all. That’s sort of an aside, but just thought I’d clarify.
I had a few emails requesting to buy some things I’ve recently shown. First was the beautiful post-cards with the image of my millinery garland on them. I decided to put a few sets of 10 in the shop and they are in the pretty papers section, here. Secondly, I’ve had requests for the garland itself. I added it to the original artwork section, here.
I thought I’d show you some pictures of my latest crown. Created for Ginny who requested an enchanted English rose garden theme, complete with vining roses, a fairy, a little vintage blue bird and lots and LOTS of roses. She wanted something special and unique so I did this one a little different. Hope you like it, Ginny!
Here’s a funny story…. Last Sunday I TOTALLY thought it was Father’s Day! I let my dear husband sleep in as late as I could before church. At church, I was in my kiddos class so I didn’t notice that they didn’t mention anything about Dads. The kids and I spoiled and pampered their dad all day. It was hilarious! It was my mother-in-law who told us that it was not father’s day when my husband called his own dad. Oh, SOOO funny. So now he gets TWO father’s days.
Wishing all fathers a very happy and blessed day tomorrow. Fathers are such special and important people. I’m so grateful for the father my children have. Happy Father’s day everyone (again!).
I’ve been playing with millinery again. I love it so much, don’t you? I mean, what is better than velvet flowers? I used a mix of vintage and new millinery for this pretty blue garland. I used these lovely powder blue babies from the shop and others I’ve picked up here and there. Didn’t it turn out lovely? This was a special order for the gorgeous Sandy, who has the MOST amazing things in her shop and her home.
Speaking of true blue, one of the sweetest ladies I know, Miss Connie emailed me today to tell me about a new venture she and another sweet gal are doing together. They’re going to be having a weekly flea market every friday. I used to do that too, WOW was that a lot of work. My little once a month deal is about all I can handle! But I’m happy to SHOP every Friday! So I’ll be checking that out tomorrow. It’s their first one this week, so I’m anxious to see what they’ve been up to. You can read about it here or here.
I have so much more to show you, a lovely crown of roses I did for my dear friend Ginny, more pages in the round robin I’ve been working on FOR-E-VER, and a few more things. I’ll try to get those pictures on this weekend. I’m also putting kits together and working on a website redesign. Whew!
Today was T-Ball night for my oldest son. Oh.My.Gosh. What is cuter than 5 year olds playing t-ball? Half the time they’re pickin daisies. They’re hilarious. SO are the parents! I find myself screaming ”RUN RUN!” or “TAG HIM, TAG HIM” like a lunatic. So funny. There was a coach on the other team being really mean to the kids on his team. Made me so mad. Why would you get mad at a 4 or 5 year old kid for missing a ball? Hellooooo… It’s flippin T-BALL, for cryin out loud. There’s no scouts for the Braves here, folks. Geesh.
Then, at the game I ran into a girlfriend and neighbor of mine who works full time. She told me about a PTA meeting she recently went to that was scheduled for an evening instead of during the day. The leader of the meeting was rude and said they had to change the time (from the middle of the afternoon) to accomodate the “working mothers”. She said it in an irritated tone and was condescending and just plain ugly to them. This made my skin crawl. WHY do we women do this to each other sometimes? We are all mothers at the PTA. Right? The reason MOST women I know work is FOR THEIR CHILDREN. The reason most women I know who stay home is FOR THEIR CHILDREN. We do what we have to do for our families. I’ve never met one working mother who said “boy, I can’t wait till my baby is 6 weeks old so I can go back to work”.
I just got upset because she made my friend feel like less of a mother because she works. I mean, she was AT the MEETING because she loves her kids. And then to get there, after rushing to make it from work, only to be made to feel unwanted. It was sad. I got kinda teary eyed about it. I don’t know. I just wish we as women could be more supportive of each other. I think we mostly are, it’s just the few bad apples that spoil the PTA meeting sometimes. Hey Heather…. if you’re reading this, you rock. You’re a great mother and your kids are lucky to have you. And so is the PTA! I’m glad we’re neighbors and that our boys are such good friends. How blessed are we?! WAY blessed!
Boy, I’m really rambling tonight! I think I’ll go WORK on a few projects so I can get to bed by 2 am!
Just wanted to show you this. Isn’t it such a pretty little thing? It makes me so happy to walk by it. I’ve had the large swirly aqua McCoy pot for years, but just recently added the PERFECTLY hued cotton & velvet millinery that was a surprise gift from my sweet friend Andrea. She sells gorgeous millinery in her shop too, a great mix of new and vintage velvet flowers and leaves so check it out!
Doesn’t the color look positively dreamy? ahhhh… I love it.
Hope you’re having a loverly day today. I might take the kiddos swimming. And put LOTS of sunscreen on. In fact, here is my list of why i should be more diligent about sunscreen:
1. Sleeping on fried shoulders is not pleasant.
2. small children do not understand that grabbing, scratching, slapping and pulling on sun-burned skin is enough to turn me into a screaming maniac.
3. Searching the recesses of my lingerie (if you can count left-over maternity panties and bras with shot elastic “lingerie”) for that strapless bra I bought 4 years ago and never wore is annoying.
4. Bra straps.
So… I’m going to be smarter this time I’m going to make sure to take care of myself! I may wear a cardigan in the water.
So, I’ve been meaning to show you some things in general lately, so here is a post full of pretty things. Gotta love that! The photo above is a cabinet in my kitchen. Do you LOVE LOVE LOVE those vintage seafoam millinery flowers? I do! I LOVE them! They are vintage and were made in (and found from an ebay seller in) France and are the best shade of cotton seafoam/minty green. They’re my favorite thing right now. Check em out in my kitchen:
Speaking of millinery, check out what I found at the flea market today! A box FULL of new old stock deep pink/fuchsia (thanks for correcting my spelling, DONNA!) MILLINERY ROSES! *GASP* I couldn’t resist arranging them in the shape of a heart….. this would be a great valentine picture. The lily-of-the-valley was from the same dealer and is faded pale pink… *sigh*
Also from the same dealer, a plate full of vintage sequined fruit.
I also wanted to show you two sweet gifts that I received recently. The first is this FABULOUS set of postcards that sweet Heather snuck around and made me! She had to email my husband and have him search through all my millinery pictures. Ha ha ha! Can you imagine my husband trying to decide which millinery picture to send to her? Love that. Those two. Gotta watch them! Heather was so sweet to do this for me. She new I wanted some and I love that I never had any idea what she was up to. Love her.
Aren’t they great? And remember, this is a picture of a print of a picture and LOOK how clear and gorgeous it is! She does these professionally, so give her a shout-out at www.bluhmstudios.com if you want some too! How cute would these be with your kids for Christmas this year?
Another sweet surprise gift was this set of three little aqua and pink faux cupcakes from my precious friend Natasha. She even sent me the plate they sit on! She also sent a package of that blooming flower tea (you may have seen it in Marie Antoinette) but I haven’t used it yet. Saving it for something special. I’ll show you pictures when I use it. Aren’t the cuppies so sweet? I kid you NOT, my kids BOTH tried to eat them because they look SO darn real! There are actually teeth marks in one of them from my toddler… *sigh*. Oh well, I guess that just adds to the authenticity! If you’ve got a hankerin for cupcakes, check out Natasha’s site at www.natashaburns.com.
I recieved a couple of other gifts I’ll show you another time since I lost the light for good photos.
I’m so overwhelmed by the loving generosity of most of the people in our community, aren’t you? Most everyone I’ve met is kind, genuine and lovely. Thank you, sweet friends for sharing your talent and generosity and spirit with me!
That’s it for the goodies today. I’ll be listing some of that new old stock millinery in the shop next week. I’m having so much fun finding millinery to share with you! Isn’t it cool that as soon as I open a little millinery “shoppe” that suddenly I start running into huge swaths of millinery? No accident, I’m sure!
This post is FULL of pictures! First, the new millinery in the shop right now. The picture above is of a limited supply of NEW OLD STOCK Lily-Of-The-Valley bunches. These are priced at only $1.99. I got a great deal on them so I thought I’d pass that on to you, since I can’t use ALL of them! They are in the Millinery Flowers section right now, as are all the new blossoms below:
The epitome of millinery… a Pink Velvet ROSE!
soft sky blue and rich chocolate cotton and velvet blossoms..yum.
A stunning boquet of millinery daisies and a beautiful turquois rose blossom.
If there are any other certain kinds of millinery you’re looking for, send me an email and I’ll see if I can find them for you!
OK, now for the Flea Market Friday goodies which will be available tonight at 7:30 PM Central time. Only 4 things this week, but they’re GOODIES. Check out the AMAZING vintage PINK satin little girl’s dance recital costume. Ahh… to be a 4 year old ballerina!
and, in keeping with the froufy skirt theme, look at this TINY vintage crinoline with millinery!
I love vintage architectural salvage and I found two more that I had stashed away. The pink one is just the palest whisper of pink….
and I also ADORE this one, with the pale white and French Gray coloring:
That’s all for now, folks. Come back by tomorrow so I can show you the gorgeous post-cards my sweet friend Heather snuck around and made for me as a birthday gift! She had my husband going through my millinery pictures… ha ha ha! Can you imagine Brian trying to pick out which velvet flower pictures to send her? hilarious.
Hope to see you all tonight! I have to be at Vacation Bible School tonight, but I’m checkin out early to get here. If for some reason I’m not home by 7:30, I promise I’m on my way!
