As everyone gets busy and wraps up all their holiday preparations I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. The trees are trimmed, the cookies baked, the presents wrapped & now the very special time of year where we can reflect on the past and look to the future. As we come into 2010 let us all remember the true reason for the season...the birth of a Savior. 
So I have to tell you about a fabulous new line that Lisa is carrying at Lola Rue. It is called Tokyo milk. It is a fragrance line and it is awesome. I bought for myself the scent Dead Sexy...now who could go wrong there???? I also bought a bottle of another scent for my daughter. She will love it. If you visit her blog and post a comment by today you will be entered in for the give away promotion. Trust me...you don't want to miss out on this opportunity.
I was so excited to see this swap listed from Sheila Rumney & her daughter Janna. Sheila's blog is Blessed & Distressed and when I happened onto this swap I was thrilled. You see, I love swapping, my family loves my swapping, and everyone loves to see the swaps that I get in return. This isn't your average swap though. This is a swap designed to get our daughters ready to be Bella's. Isn't that just over the top awesome???? Lindsey gets to participate in her very own swap, with other Bella Daughters. They are called B.I.T.'s better known as Bella's in Training. Here's how the girls were paired up. They filled out a questionnaire with their likes, activities, tv shows they like etc. Then Janna & Sheila paired them up. Lindsey is paired up with Taylor Nagy, you know sweet Jessi, better known as Scrappi Jessy, one of the best Bella's I know, her daughter. Jessy and I are just thrilled are daughters are going to be Bella Sisters. So now the fun begins....I am getting out the glitter, glue, papers, and just all the supplies that will make Taylor's ornament...well just perfectly Taylor. Lindsey can't wait to get started and I can't wait to see what these girls come up with. 
With the rush of getting ready for family to arrive I couldn't help but remember all of the wonderful things that I can be thankful for. Some of the moments of preparation....well let me just say weren't the best...but for the most part the days were joyous. Life has taken me to great places, wonderful family, terrific friends in an artful community, and most of all I am truly thankful that I can live in a country where I can display my faith proudly and lovingly. I am thankful that I have a Christ centered life and my personal Savior is there for me all the time....he was even there to help me hoist the 22 pound turkey into the vat of brine, to peel the 10 pounds of potatoes, and to hand roll the egg noodles, to make the roux for the petite peas, to make the stock for the noodles and most of all the help me with the best apple pie & pecan pie you have ever tasted. Christ has given me these talents and I am thankful! What Christ given talents are you using in your Thanksgiving preparations today???
As many of you know I recently attended an awesome art retreat called Silver Bella. One of the highlights of this event is shopping at Second Chance. It is an antique shop packed to the brim with all the vintage flair that any creative person would go nuts for. It is departmentalized into vintage clothing, vintage sewing notions (my favorite area), vintage jewelry, ephemera & household items. Aside from the shopping, which is out of this world, this is the place to see all your Bella Sisters. We hadn't been in the shop for more than 5 minutes when squeals of joy could be heard all through the streets of the Old Market area of Omaha. Through the door came Lonnie Jenck, Stacy McGinnis, & Natalie Hansen. While shopping in the basement who did I bump into but Jodie Lejeune. More squeals of joy!!! This is the kind of shopping experience you have when you shop at Second Chances. It was purely delightful. Although I only shopped there once on this trip you can bet that I found the most awesome treasures. This is shopping that you don't want to miss if you are in Omaha Nebraska. So wonderful, we called from 2 hours out to make sure that they were still open, and the funniest thing, they knew that we were Bella's and said they would keep the store open longer for us. We put the pedal to the medal and high tailed it to Second Chance. If you are ever in Omaha Nebraska....you won't want to miss either!!
I just love this image of my niece & all her girlfriends. Arm locked...in their PJ's...not a care in the world. That is how I feel when I am with my girlfriends...regardless of the outfit I am wearing. Comfy & not a care in the world. I am so blessed to have new & old girlfriends. It seems like with the things I like to do....craft....flea market shop....antique shop...bible studies...I am around so many wonderful girlfriends. Is your life surrounded by the beauty of friendship...if not...I hope you feel that you have found it here with me today? I hope you have the kind of weekend that surrounds you with beauty...peace...creativity & a love affair with friendship. Blessings to all my dear girlfriends.
Okay...I know it sounds like I just did the first step of a twelve step program...but cut me some slack. Most of you know me as a creator of whimsy...or maybe even a collector...but in my off time 'I am a hockey mom'. We travel most weekends and it starts tomorrow! Most people don't understand my love of hockey....but these moms & sisters sure get it. Tomorrow my son Lincoln starts his hockey season. He will play 4 games to seat us for the season. This year...he is a first year Bantam & we are really excited. That's me in the upper left corner holding the plaid blanket...it's hockey...it is cold. My daughter Lindsey is in front & center in the plaid coat...you could call us the plaid sisters because we love PLAID! Is there a secret love affair that you have...that we don't know about?
Look at the neat thing I did with these wine boxes...you know yucky old pine boxes you get at the liquour store. Unstained....ugly....blah....but really utilitarian. Most of you know that I live in a restored 1850's farm house. Storage & closets are at a premium....so I have to really be creative with places that I can store things. Here's what I did....I got a can a Briwax...the natural wax that cleans, stains & polishes. I love this stuff & the great thing about it...it comes in your very favorite colors. For these boxes I used Antique Mahogany for its rich dark color. With a little elbow grease I transformed these boxes to be, in my opinion, really beautiful. Nice enough to even use as a decorative piece. I keep these boxes stacked and ready to go with all my display pieces that I use at craft fairs or where ever my creations take me. What have you transformed with a little elbow grease lately?
The other day I had the opportunity to spend some time with Lincoln....just the 2 of us. We set our sights on an estate auction for a fun day of bidding on our hearts desire. The cute little auction house is so quaint and he has loved going there since he was a baby. They have all these cool boy things...old tools...old stuffed animals like deer heads, raccoons, birds & coyotes....and vintage license plates. He really liked those and wanted to have some to put in his fort. I had told him that I knew where there were many & quite possibly we might purchase them for 50% off if they were still at this garage sale. Well we high tailed it out of the auction house and drove like crazy to see if they were still there. They were...we were thrilled. We got them for 50% off and decided to embark on a bedroom make over for him. We are going to put them in as a border or something fun like that...we will show the after pictures when we are finished. Most of the license plates are pre 1950's....some as early as 1912 & we think they are just totally neat. What fun & creative adventures have you taken with your child lately?
Says that "You are the salt of the earth;but if the salt looses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out & trampled underfoot by men." I have been so caught up in scripture lately and am just on fire creating pieces influenced by 'faith'. Of late I have been purchasing every salt shaker that I could find so I could create something faithful. I have had them sitting in my view for months. They have been speaking to me. I have crystal ones & sterling ones. I have big ones & small ones. I have useful ones & just darn right pretty ones. Here is what I did. 
I soldered the scripture Matthew 5:13 in really pretty beveled glass. Then I soldered some other pretty little do dadds. I soldered some vintage mirror. I soldered some pieces of vintage sewing tape...you know the measuring kind that is all brown & pretty with age. I also soldered some vintage book paper with a few stamps of random things. I added pearls to the crystal shaker and bells to the sterling shaker...then I strung them up with pearls & the soldered pieces. It is yummy & just scrumptuous. It is such a neat reminder that the Bible is the living...breathing word of our Lord & Savior... Christ Jesus. The salt shaker is a simple reminder that we are the salt of the earth. I don't want to loose my flavor & be good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot. Are there creative ways that you like to share your faith? I hope this post leaves you inspired to share your faith with others through your creative ways. May your weekend be blessed with happiness & creative flair.
I love the simple elegance of these special bottles. One of my dearest Silver Bella Sister's & friend Lisa Orme made these. She has a little shop here in Bloomington IN called Lola Rue & Co. and it is a treat. It is very hard for me to buy these bottles and I have to sneak to do it...because she usually just tucks them in the bag and won't charge me for them. She likes to give just because gifts. I like to support her by purchasing her creations. I picked up the string because I love the color and it looks dreamy with the bottles. Do you have a special friend that creates special & beautiful things?
Look at the awesome crown. Bella's love crowns & this bottle makes me feel so special. Look at the seam binding the way it has been run through the crown. The handmade vintage lace....so yummy.
I am in awe looking at the vintage millnery. The delicate folds and cream colored lace. When I display these in my home I will put them in my bathroom. I like to put all the special stuff there so when I am luxuriating in the bathtub I am surrounded by creative inspiration. Thanks Lisa for adding beauting to my baths and beauty to my life. What kind of beauty will inspire you at every turn today?
I want to wish everyone a happy Easter. It is one of my favorite holidays as it happens in the spring, and since I live in Bloomington 'booming town' it is just gorgeous here. Sometime we get a cold snap, but this year we didn't and the Magnolia's are the best ever. The red buds are just starting to bloom and soon to follow will be the dogwoods. Here in Indiana we have not only white dogwoods but also pink dogwoods that grow wild, so they are not just ornamental. So in a few weeks we will have a sea of white, with the hint of just the palest pink. Currently we are in the 'spring green' time as my mother has always referred to it. It is when the leaves just start to bud out.
If you don't know this, my home state of Indiana is the basketball capital of the country. I grew up in Bloomington, IN and am raising my children here. My daughter is a sophomore at my high school Alma mater, and around here.....we love basketball. We played in the state championship game last night and WON!!! The score was 69/62 and those boys played their hearts out. We haven't won a state basketball championship since 1919 and that year they canceled school for a week to allow the fans to reach the stadium. We didn't get time off to travel, but we have the best fans in the world. Conseco Stadium was packed to the gills with 17,000 fans, 3/4 of them Bloomington South Panther fans. It was a sea of purple and the crowd was lively. We went to the pep rally today at Bloomington South and they had already painted the gym floor with '2009 State Basketball Champions' & 'JR Holmes Court'. He is the coach and began his coaching career when I was a junior there....that makes him OLD! We are now currently ranked 3rd in the nation and Lincoln thinks we need to have some kind of national tournament. I agree with him, I am not ready to watch these boys stop playing. I hope you all get to enjoy sporting events with your family. I think it builds such a strong sense of community don't you think?
Well we are finally going to get some R & R. We are heading to the beach for spring break. We have been traveling the past 4 weekends to hockey tournaments and my step-father-in-laws funeral. Lucky for me, I had a lot of time to read my Somerset Artful Blogging and found out that I needed to let you all know that I wouldn't be posting for awhile. So, as I have mentioned before, this blogging thing is a giant learning thing for me, and with blogging etiquette, I will apologize for not informing all of my wonderful blog sisters that I was away. I hope you are all enjoying your beautiful springs and possibly get to head out for a fun trip with your family. We are heading off to Daytona, close to Jeff's mothers so we get to spend time with her, yet be at the beach!!! Blessings for safe travel, and a happy Spring Break. I think Lincoln (above) has the right idea!!
Sixteen years ago I never suspected that this beautiful girl could ever make me as happy as I am today. It is pretty special when you really like the person she is. I like the person that Lindsey is, I like the person she is becoming. I like the way she sees the world and I like the way she makes her choices. She tackles new things with grace & confidence, something I don't see in many 16 year olds. That sure wasn't me. If I had to do it all over again....Lindsey is the teenager I would be!!! For this, I am truly blessed.
At the end of January I got the sweetest request from two of the nicest Silver Bella's. I met Stacy McGinnis & Natalie Hansen at this year's Silver Bella in Omaha Nebraska and when they invited me to participate in a swap they were hosting I jumped at the opportunity. The swap, the Heartfelt Spring Swap intrigued me, and the reason, because our only rule was to create a spring ornament with felt. I was so excited to start creating and I began thinking about what to make. I decided that I was going to make my ornament reminiscent of an old fashioned sugared egg. I used vintage wool felt, hand dyed chenille & hand dyed velvet that I mixed myself to achieve those oh so special shades of spring. Then I glittered them up, added some fresh water pearls, added a special label and mailed them off. I hope the other girls in the swap enjoy them. When I receive my swaps I will let you see right away the special spring joy that comes my way.
I recently participated in the Puppy Love Tag Swap hosted by Karla Nathan. Sugar Wings must really be happy to have such a neat Grandmother, because these books she put together are too cute! I know that a lot of girls out in blog land are sad that they didn't participate. I know that I am really happy that I did. This was the first swap, other than ones at Silver Bella that I participated in and it was so much fun. If you haven't participated in one, I highly recommend it, it forced me to do things creatively that I wouldn't have done otherwise. I used craft supplies that I was hoarding for a 'rainy day' and that made me come out of my bubble. It made me ask 'Why are you hoarding this....it is too special to save....use it...and make someone happy.' I no longer just save the good stuff for a rainy day. Are you still saving the good stuff or are you making someone happy with your bits & baubles??
I finally got to sleep last night after thinking about what I wanted to create when I woke up this morning. I thought this would be a great day to create. Lindsey & Lincoln were both on sleep overs and I thought this would be a fun way to celebrate President's Day. I pulled out all my favorite papers, old French checks, inks and old flocked letters and this is what I came up with. I hope you like them. What creative & fun things did you accomplish today?
My sweet niece Hadley turned 5 years old. I am just smitten with her....she is so special and so much fun to be around. Hadley is like a good girlfriend. She calls me up with her sweet & adorable voice and invites me to lunch....and if anyone knows me...they know I love to do lunch! When my sister, her mother, told me Hadley's birthday was going to be Max & Ruby, she asked if I could make her something with the characters. I knew Hadley needed some more Aunt Hope bling and set out to make her a silver soldered Max & Ruby necklace. Beauty might come in the form of a niece or possibly a nice plate of truffles, but my photos of my jewelry creations really lack something to be desired. Below is the picture of Hadley's birthday necklace. I know she will really like it and I will be thrilled watching her love it.
The blurry but oh so specail Max & Ruby necklace. I hope you are able to create special pieces for loved ones in your family. The joy that comes from giving is such a wonderful feeling. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday afternoon.
When I asked Lincoln in January when he wanted to start making his Valentine's he said "I'm not doing Valentine's this year". Well I was heart broken, but he said "I'm too old to do that". So I thought we had come to another milestone. Lincoln is 12, and he has assured me, even very recently, that I will always be able to hug, hold, & kiss him, even when he is married! I think that is sweet, but I know that my days are numbered in that area too. So I was very happy when he came home Wednesday night and said "I want to make Valentine's" and I asked him if he wanted to go to the store and pick some out with the little envelopes and he said "Mom, we have never bought store bought Valentine's" so we set out to make some. I went to the store and bought some brown polka dot Martha Stewart party cups, used some pink card stock, some pink & brown ribbon, and purchased some Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix with marshmallows. This is what we came up with, in a huge hurry! I love how they turned out, and even the boys in his class loved them!!! Way to go Lincoln. Do any of you have sweet boy stories, I just gush when I hear them?!
Lindsey's Valentine's weren't so cute, but then again, she hadn't even mentioned Valentine's Day. She is a sophomore, and I wasn't sure if she would even want to, but I was prepared, just in case. When I saw these little candy boxes that you could fill with pre-packaged conversation hearts, I was all over that. And you couldn't beat the price. Twenty-two Valentine's for $4.88. I just love Wal-Mart!! She took these and passed them out at school and you can't tell me that the Sophomore's weren't tickled pink to get a little treat!!! I am glad that my children are gift givers. I hope that your little gift givers bless you with many Valentine treats today!!! Have a wonderful day filled with many blessings.
I am taking the Beth Moore Study on Ester. I have been making these tags with scripture for the past 2 weeks & passing them out to the ladies at my table. I think they have enjoyed them & are being inspired as well. My friend Stephanie Oyler got me back into the practice. We used to do this years ago in a bible study some friends & I used to do in our homes. The little booklet is very dear to me and it proves that the bible is the living word. It is nice to see the compilation of many of the ladies in the study. It depicts what was going on at the time in their lives. Many of the tags from me were about family & being a healthy person...mind & body. Yes...I am still struggling...but aren't we all trying to be the best person we can be in God's eyes?
Above is the tag book that we made years ago I think some of the tags were made almost 8 years ago. It is a dear book, and I am glad that in the last few weeks I have re-visited it. When Stephanie gave us our new tag book a few weeks ago, I knew that I wanted the ladies to have an idea of what it was like giving tags & then adding them to our tag books. It really is fun. I like decorating my tags with inks, millinery, & special papers & changing them up. Making them a little special like Stephanie did adding her cute red ribbon. Below...you can see the cute tag book that Stephanie started for us. I hope to add several tags to it over the remainder of our class. Maybe some of the other ladies at my table will be inspired as well.
I love my tag book. I hope that Stephanie knows that I am just thrilled that she brought this little tradition back to me. I am sure I will treasure my book, like the other book for years to come.
I fell in love with this gorgeous box that I received. I participated in the Petite Inspiration Swap hosted by Heather of Speckled Egg. It was so much fun having 3 swap partners and creating and filling their boxes. I thought it was more fun creating....then I started receiving the boxes and then I wasn't so sure. This one came from Joanna Lewis and I think it is just precious. The sentiment posted inside "Always follow your dreams!" is so sweet and inspirational. I guess that was what the swap was all about. Really, to be quite honest I didn't even want to open it....but then I knew that the treasures awaited me.
Just look at all the fun and gorgeous supply goodies! Vintage millinery, vintage seam binding, baubles galore, tickets & keys and old S&H stamps...I remember those from when I was a child...pasting them in their little booklets to redeem at the grocery store for household items such as new silver ware or can openers. Didn't the Brady's earn a new TV set with theirs? I bet they had a lot more booklets filled then we did!
Never in a million years would I have ever thought that there could be so many fun ways to decorate large kitchen match boxes....but then I never ventured into the wonderful world of blogging. I joined Speckled Egg's Petite Box Swap and I received 3 swap partners. I received Jeanne's box yesterday and you have never seen packaging come off a box in such a hurry. I was like a toddler on Christmas morning. I couldn't even open the box for what seemed like an eternity because it was so creatively & lovely decorated with vintage wallpaper, doilies, vintage velvet & German glass glitter in the most beautiful shades of creams & browns. Then I slid open the 'drawer' and there, lovingly packaged beneath the most adorable dotted swiss tissue paper was oodles of vintage ephemera, old doilies, crepe paper trims, millinery & baubles to de-lite any 'Bella' near or far. I hope the next petite boxes come staggered...because that might be more than I could bare in one day!!
