HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wishing you all a beautiful, happy and safe new year!

A MERRY KIND OF A DAY

Monday I met up with Cammy and Hope for lunch for a little Christmas cheer. It was one of those days I will cherish for a long long time. We met for coffee and then it was off to lunch at The Tasting Room where we exchanged gifts, had some delicious food and leisurely shared each other's company.
Hope's gift to me is simple amazing! A beautiful mug from Anthropologie filled with fun goodies that are so Me. She knows I have a thing for buttons and inside the mug was a beautiful pouch full of old buttons from French General. Also a small box of beads were tucked inside. (Notice the vintage ladybugs beads?)
Hope also made address labels which I absolutely love.

Cammy's gift to me is so wonderful as well--it makes me giddy every time I look at it.
She made this oh so beautiful, amazing stocking from a felted wool sweater and lace with vintage baubles and millinery. I absolutely love the colors--- it has Kelli written all over it!

Inside the stocking I found all of these over the top goodies! Things that make a girl like me happy!

My gifts to Cammy and Hope were scarves that I crocheted in colors they love. I had so much fun working on them. I hope the scarves keep them warm for years to come!

I have all my gifts spread out on the table, just so I can look at them every time I walk by. I love them so much, but most of all, and what really matters, are the wonderful women from which they came.

Thank you Cammy and Hope. Thank you for your gifts, and for your friendship.

I love ya, and Merry Christmas to you both!

And Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. My wish is for all of you to have a very blessed day with the ones you love.

SNOWED IN

Saturday it snowed and snowed and snowed!

Loved every minute of it!
We did a little sledding, but most of the day was spent inside cozy and warm, watching the beauty outside the window... baking Christmas cookies....

and drinking tea by the fire.

Hope your weekend was just as lovely!

CHRISTMAS COLORS

Just wanted to share some of my favorite colors of Christmas with you.

These are a few of the vintage ornaments I have found on recent treasure hunting trips.

They make me happy. What Christmas colors make you smile?

MORE POSIES!

Just wanted let all of you know there will be two new Posie Pockets added to the shop by 6:30 EST Wednesday morning!

There is still time to order before Christmas! Lots of Rosie Posies, wands, crowns and party hats to be had for that special someone! Or treat yourself!

FIRST SNOW

This is what we woke up to this morning!

A perfect cozy day to play Christmas music and make soup!

Hope you are having a beautiful Saturday as well!

FESTIVE FRONT DOOR

I just wanted to share with you what I did this year to decorate my front door for the season.

I wanted something different than a wreath this year so I unearthed my old skates from the basement. Which by the way, has moved to many places throughout my life since I have had them as a kid. I remember skating on frozen ponds in the cold cold winters of Wisconsin. my brothers and I would clear off the snow with snow shovels and then we would skate until our toes were numb and our ankles soar. They would play hockey while I would pretend I could skate like Dorothy Hamill.
Sigh----I just love remembering happy times, don't you?
Anyway, I think my skates look pretty darn good on my aqua door nestled in a bed of greens.
Now, every time I come home, I see my skates and I smile!
(I'm not sure what I'll do if I get the urge to skate this winter:)

As you open the front door and step inside my entry you will find my latest creative endeavor. Last week I took a break from making Posie Pockets for a couple hours and whipped up this wreath that I have been wanting to do for a while. I saw a photo in the Pottery Barn catalogue as well as a couple photos in a past Somerset Life publication. I was truly inspired. What a great use of beautiful aged pages from an old book.
I made a ring out of cardboard, then, simply rolled pages and glued them onto the base with hot glue. I did that until it was full to my liking. I then added all the fun little details such as, small doilies, buttons, sheet music, seam binding, a sparkly bauble, vintage French post cards and Christmas cards. Voila! Door---decorated---done!

I have other decorations to share in the next week---everything is done! (except for the new stockings I want to stitch)
Wish my shopping was!


Wishing you all a beautiful weekend.

NEW POSIES!

4 new Posie Pockets will be added to the shop Tuesday morning at 8:00am Eastern Standard Time!

Dont't miss out!! Great for filling with those tiny holiday treasures!

This is just a start. I will be adding more as I make them!

A PERFECT START TO THE SEASON

Friday we kicked off the holiday season by making the trek to our local Christmas tree farm to pick the two perfect trees for our home. It was a cold and blustery day!

Everyone was excited for the hunt! Cart and saw in hand!

She thinks it is perfect!

So does she!

Here comes the little helper with the cart! Look at him maneuver around the baby trees.

Use those muscles!

Teamwork!

Time to go home for hot chocolate!

Mom's job? Lights!! :(

I"M HOME

I'm home with many wonderful memories to last a lifetime. It was a whirlwind of fun and I do have to say I think Silver Bella 2009, topped last year. Everything was amazing, from the new friends that we met to the most spectacular classes that we attended.

Look at us three (Hope and Cammy) in our aprons. I think we look pretty darn cute! We had so much fun shopping and browsing all the wonderful goodies during vendor night. It was a sea of many beautiful aprons, but I was so busy shopping, I didn't take many pictures of that night.
It was what I imagined, a room full of women, all in aprons---it was a sight to see.

It was so wonderful to spend time with Jen again and meet up with Melissa too. We laughed so hard! Miss you guys already!

I took Jennifer Murphy's Bundle up Birdie class, and loved it so much. She is an amazing, talented person and a great instructor. Now, I'm ready to make a blue bird.

Rebecca Sower's Hodge Podge Journal class was tops on my list of favorites. She is a truly inspirational, wonderful person and I REALLY love her work. I'm a fan for life!

Oh, and the jewelry classes with Kaari Meng! I'm not sure how to explain how I feel about those.

It was an honor and a privilege to meet her. Jewelry making has always been a little intimidating to me, but she instantly put me at ease. Loved loved loved those two classes. We made a necklace in the first class and then had the opportunity to pick up her bracelet class as well, and boy, we are so glad we did. I can't wait to dig into my kits I purchased and make some more. Fun fun fun!

I do have two more project to share with you, but they are not quite finished. As soon as they are, I promise to show you.

This last photo (for now) is of all my wonderful goods I found at the vendor market.

Notice the Rebecca Sower artwork? Love!!!

It's hard for me to find the words to describe how I truly feel about our time in Omaha. It was such a special time to share with very special people who "get it."

We all have a bond, a link that joins us together. Thank you girls, for the fun and the memories!

BOUND FOR SILVER BELLA

Just a quick little sneak peek at one of my swaps for Silver Bella. They have all been shipped and are waiting at the hotel.

My bags are packed full of supplies, clothes, apron, chocolate and magazines! I am ready as ready can be!!

I looking so forward to this and all our adventures.
I pinky swear, I'll post next week and tell you all about it!

Until then, have a lovely few days my friends---I know I will!

SUPPLIES ARE PACKED

We leave for Silver Bella on Wednesday and my supplies are packed and ready to go.

Fabrics and millinery in my favorite shades.

Bits, baubles and buttons.

Beautiful old papers. The old papers on top of the left stack are from Hope. (Thank you Hope)

Silver German glass glitter and mica.

And of course many ribbons, trims and lace.

Tomorrow, it's on to the clothes. Oh, what to wear?

The excitement is building. Can't wait!

APRON LOVE

It has been one big whirlwind around here with preparations for Silver Bella, which by the way, is next week. Yikes! So excited!

One of the best parts so far, I have to say, has been the making of our aprons. Usually there is a theme during vendor night and this years theme is 100 aprons. YAY! Can you picture a room full of 185+ women in glorious aprons? Can't wait!

Dorothy Mae is wearing mine which is finally finished and ready to be packed carefully in my suitcase.

I had so much fun working on it, especially the day Hope and I met up and spent the day at Cammy's to all work on them together.
(Wait until you see theirs---beautiful)

I stitched snippets of fabric, ribbon, and felt. Added a pink velvet pocket, pom pom trim, buttons and lace. I used some lace that I have saved from my Nanny, a beautiful yellow button my mom brought back for me from England, and a big rhinestone button I found the day we all went flea marketing. All of us (Cammy, Hope, Gabrielle) picked one out together specifically for our aprons. We also pick one out for Jen, because she wasn't with us. Can't wait to see yours, Jen!

So, my apron is full of things that make me happy , and the fact that I was able to spend a day with two amazing people, working on them together, makes it even more special.

A memory to cherish forever!

Thanks girls!