I'm a blessed "chick"

Hello!  Just stopping in to tell you how happy I was to receive a pkg in the mail from my sweet friend Tam!  She sent me those PB postcards I was admiring so much! A nice Easter suprise. Thanks so much Tam - I'm one blessed chick to have a wonderful friend like you. 

Spring Inspiration

Hello!  Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!  I'm enjoying a relaxing Sunday and the lovely sunshine pouring into my windows this afternoon.
We had a bit of snow on Friday but thankfully it didn't stick around too long.  Everyone in my city is hoping this is the last of it!
There are so many creative bloggers sharing all of their beautiful Spring decorations and crafts that I decided to organize my craft supplies and make some things this week.  I've also perused the local antique stores and found adorable vintage images and postcards to use in future projects.
I missed the recent Alice in Wonderland swap at Karla's Cottage but it inspired me to make this gift for my friend's little girl who recently saw the film.  I thought it would be cute hanging in her room.

Did you notice the cute little bunny figurine?  I picked it up at our local  antique mall.  The ceramic teacup is part of a set that I painted a long time ago.  I have a thing for polkadots.   Just ask any of my family! I really liked a white Fenton hobnail ruffled vase I saw at the same antique mall but I lost track of the aisle!  Mental note:  bring paper next time & write down that aisle number!

When I went on an outing to Lincoln with my mom a couple weeks ago I found this darling vintage book (above).  I love the images and will probably end up taking out the pages and scanning them since they are falling out anyway.  There is no copywright date on the book but here's the inscription

1909 ... Wow!

One last thing - isn't this little chickie so cute?  I bought a pack of them from Hobby Lobby.   I also bought some mini plastic eggs from Walgreens that will be perfect to put them inside.  I don't recommend giving them to small children.  They are pretty fragile!  I learned that the hard way!

Have a wonderful week!  Thanks for all your sweet comments everyone.  I'm really enjoying blogging!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I don't have a speck of Irish in my lineage but wanted to wish some of my Irish friends a blessed St Pat's Day!  Maybe I'll listen to a little U2 tomorrow to celebrate! 

Cute stuff at Pottery Barn

This morning I drug myself (and my mama) out of bed to attend a  Pottery Barn table and mantle decorating demo.   I have never been to one of their demos and have always wanted to go.  So I sprang forward (get it? Oh I'm so witty aren't I?) out of my bed & darted to PB this AM.   I wanted to bring my camera really bad but didn't want to be dorky.  That's one thing I'm struggling with as a photographer & blogger... being bold enough to waltz in with a camera.  I know blogging can be good advertisement for stores.  I don't know... maybe some of my blogger friends can tell me how they got over that hurdle. 
Anyway, I really enjoyed seeing all the ceramic bunnies, cabbage roses, patina covered pots, natural baskets and embroidered napkins.   I especially wanted the Easter postcards but when I tried getting them at the store a couple weeks ago I was told they were sold out and not getting any more.  Oh well - I'm having fun finding vintage Easter cards and embellishing those.
Here's a little taste of what's out there @ PB!  Loving Spring stuff! How I left without buying anything took incredible willpower but as I told my mom I think I had ADHD at the moment & was overloaded with too many options and pressure to use that 10% off coupon they gave us.  One day only, of course.  You know I'm totally thinking of going back and getting something before the day is up!

(all photos from Potterybarn.com)

Have A Nice Day

I love Fridays!  Hope you're having a wonderful one! 

Sometimes you get a hankerin

Over the weekend I've been doing some cooking.  I'd much rather cook for others but I definitely needed to push myself to finally get this recipe done!  Ever go to the grocery store & keep forgetting one of the ingredients & next thing you know you're not in the mood or the fresh ingredients wilt or get spoiled too soon? I definitely didn't want that to happen this time!  This picture below is the coconut chicken chili.  I got the recipe from a blog called The Noble Pig.  I liked it but even though it called for cayenne pepper I felt it needed more spice of some sort.   Maybe red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch.  Try it & decide for yourself! 

Every once in awhile I get a "hankerin" for some Southern food!  Biscuits & sausage gravy is something that I rarely allow myself to have but decided that it would be an easy & delicious breakfast for a lazy Saturday morning.  Should I be ashamed to admit that I used refrigerated biscuits & canned sausage gravy?  No shame here - it's all good! 

Unique Plate Display

Isn't this the most unique and cool way to display plates on a wall?  This is from Tina's blog and she graciously gave details on how she put this together.  The entire display is for sale just name  your price!  Stop by and tell her I sent you! 

Winter Survival 101

OK my title sounds a little dramatic!  Got your attention didn't it? Hehe!
Here's a few of my favorite things that have helped me survive this winter a little better:

My mom found this lotion & it really works miracles on dry winter skin!

These nifty things stretch over your shoes & give you traction in the snow & ice.  They really work and I highly recommend them!  No more falling on black ice!   Check out their website http://www.yaktrax.com/ProductsWalker.aspx or buy them off of QVC like we did.

I love this lip balm.  It's soft on your lips & keeps them super moist.  http://www.nivea.com/products/show/223

                                           

I have sensitive skin & this shower gel by Aveeno is gentle & smells so good!  It's getting harder to find but I recently found some at Target

I don't know how I lived without a down comforter for so long!  I never want to get out of bed when I'm all snuggled underneath it!  It has definitely kept me warm!

And last but not least the wonderful duvet cover I have over the down comforter.  I got this at Crate and Barrel last summer.  It's incredibly soft!

Makes me smile!

Here's some little pals that are currently hanging out amongst my craft containers and are there to simply bring me joy and make me smile!  I love Hoops & Yoyo and their e-cards just crack me up.   Some of the Hallmarks in my area have been closing so I grabbed a couple items including the cute dessert erasers from Japan (and a fun bobble head for my desk at work).  I thought about using the erasers for a craft idea I had.  We shall see!  Have a great weekend!

I wish you love

Happy Valentine's Day!  Today I wish you love.  Love is a wonderful magnificient thing. 

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."   Psalm 33:22

Today I'm thankful for love of my family and friends.  They are there for me and are such a blessing in my life... I am so thankful for a Father above who loves me no matter what.  No matter how many times I fall He will pick me up, dust me off, make me whole and wrap His loving arms around me.  

May you feel His love today and know you are not alone.  He loves you, too! 

Great Information

You know how much I love period films, right?  Well goodness be! Looky looky here!  http://enchantedserenityperiodfilms.blogspot.com/2010/02/150-top-period-dramas-l.html
It's kind of funny because I've seen a lot of these films.  I'm sorry that I missed "The Young Victoria " because I really like Emily Blunt.  I'll be catching it on DVD soon I hope.

A little bit here and there

I'm a bit bored today.  I've been home ill & pretty tired of ... well ... being home!  It's been a lonnnnng winter.  I'm so glad I'm not on the East Coast right now battling tons of snow.  We've had our share in NE!
Today I sent a birthday card out to my little cousin for her 1st birthday.  She's a sweet princess in our eyes and brings a lot of joy to my family.  Her smile can brighten even the gloomiest of winter days! It's fun to have a baby around!

Spreading a little love

For some reason this year I've gone nuts over valentine's day.  There are so many adorable, lovely and sweet (emphasis on SWEET) things out there in the craft world!  I have gone over the moon over everything with cupcakes on them!!  There's been a huge surge in the popularity of baking cupcakes right now.  They are so very cute and you can really jazz them up with special picks, colored sprinkles, printed papers.   Decorated sugar cookies are fun, too.  Martha Stewart had some darling ones on her show yesterday. I'm really not that great at baking.  Once I burned the dickens out of mini fridge choc chip cookies when I was baby-sitting for a family with a fancy Viking oven.  I warped their baking sheet and had to throw them out the back door.  I proceeded to douse their place with even more fancy air freshener to mask the horrible burnt smells wafting in the kitchen!  But I have had some success with ginger cake & Nana's biscotti recipe.   I digress...

But I do love me some cake!  Best part about all this cute cupcake stuff I've been finding is that they are on paper as well as ff/calorie free.  So one can appreciate the cuteness without the dreaded added poundage.   Got me?

So that's what I've been up to.  Getting some much needed creative time in and spreading a little love to my friends and family.  

Any opportunity to tell someone I love them - even if it was created by the card & flower companies - is well worth it! 

I got it!

I was delighted to receive my valentine from little Alfredo yesterday!  Seems Amy and I have the same taste in cute things! 

I must say that having this come in the mail brightened my day and really gave me something to look forward to!  Thanks Alfredo.  God Bless!

Getting creative

Hello!  How was everyone's weekend?  First off -  I had a great Friday night over at Glad Tidings Church to kick off Jeff Booth's  CD release.   We had a wonderful time of worship.   Best part is that I got to meet my blog friend Becky Novacek & her husband Tom.  Becky is such a sweetie & I really admire her talent, friendliness, authenticity and faith!  I hope to take a photography class from her one day.   It was a treat just to finally meet her in the flesh!
Saturday I had lunch with my mom and we had some nice "girl time" chatting and catching up.  I always treasure time with just me and Mom!
Later in the weekend I decided to head to TJ Maxx to see what bargains I could scrape up.  All the holiday & winter stuff was already picked over.  I was trying to find some nice dress pants for work but came up empty-handed in that area.  Instead I found myself a nice modern white/cream lamp for my bedside table.   Only $20. Score!

I also spent lots of time scouring the Michael's store for cute Valentine's stuff.  I found the adorable K & Company chipboard set pictured.  Monkey's are so cute & I decided to use the little monkey inside for a card exchange I'm doing with Amy & Alfredo.  I'm so excited to do my first exchange! 

Alfredo is the cutest and Amy is a testament of how God works in wonderous ways to open doors when all seems lost. I know she's enjoying her time with that little guy and getting a valentine from them both will totally touch my heart...