Little kids & Big Friends!

It's been a big week in our little part of the world. 

The kids graduated from Pre-K on Tuesday. WooHoo!

Oh, you would have thought they were graduating from college the way I carried on. But it was so cute, all these little ones singing their songs, lining up to accept their little diplomas.  I wish I could freeze time right now.  I know in a heartbeat it will be high school or college, & I'll think back on the day they were 4.

Wednesday was this little guys birthday.  You think my kids look just like their Daddy or what??  I'll bet my MIL looks at this picture & remembers it like it was yesterday.  She made his sweet little shirt.

Since my thoughts have been on wee ones all week, I spent some time sorting through my cabinet cards.  I picked out some favorites to share with you. 

I know everyone loves the sweet babies & girls, but I'm crazy about the boys.  Look at his boots, toes all scuffed up. Probably wishing his Mommy hadn't made him dress up in this outfit & stand still for an hour. 

This is one of the first I ever bought, ages ago.  I've digitally altered it , transferred it, photocopied it.  He has been a focal point in many projects.  Doesn't he look like a little magician?

Since I have my own sweet girl, I had to include little sassy pants!  That attitude, love it! Lily gives me this same look all of the time.

I'm putting these, & more of my favorites in my shop, under 'Free Stuff'.

Speaking of my shop, thank you SO much for supporting me in my new venture.  I never expected to sell so much. I'm hard at work listing & creating more goodies.

Here's a peak at a collage I'm working on.

You might recognize the image from Dawn's post earlier this week.

And speaking of busy weeks & blog-shops, one of my dear friends Rebecca has a lot to celebrate.  Her amazing, & I mean AMAZING studio is featured this month in Where Women Create.  She also opened her new blog-shop & it's packed full of wonderful things.  Not only is she mega talented, & owns her dream store, but she's gorgeous.

If you go check her out you can enter her new giveaway.

And another beautiful, talented friend is having a giveback,

Shelley, is celebrating 200 posts by giving away some serious treats!

I just love Shelley's blog so much, she is one of my first blog crushes.  You know how you look at blogs & they're beautiful, & then you see a blog that just stops you dead in your tracks.  It just screams 'YES'! That's Shelley for me. I'm going to Round Top in the fall & one of the main reasons is to see her amazing talent in person. 

Last, but certainly not least I gotta shout out to my girl Karen!

 Rock Star!

When I opened up WWC & saw her face looking at me from the pages of this amazing publication, I got chills! I am sooooo happy for her.  It's hard to believe that Karen just started her blog a little over a year ago, look how far she's come.  Magazines, killer blog parties, Jo's number in her cell phone (LOL), a new business.  What a great example of how blogging can change your life.  Karen is the most genuine, funny & generous friend a girl could ask for, & I'm thrilled for her. 

 I've been looking forward to this blog party for a year now (I wasn't blogging last year). I'm fluffing & foofin' away so I can show off my little space in June.

White Wednesday/For the love of Rose!

Okay, it's not that Rose.  That's a whole other post!  LOL

I was on the phone with my girl the other night... for hours we flipped through our respective magazine stashes until we found the the story
we were searching for. 

There she is, the one & only Rose Hicks, Queen of cream.  Surrounded by her mega talented daughters.  These pictures were borrowed from ME Home Companion October/November 1998.  Rose's beautiful style is as relevant today as it was 13 years ago.

Her kitchen was the first I saw open shelving in. What a concept, huh? And look at that altered chandy on the left, with the little salt & pepper shakers on it.  I'll never tire of her creamy white palette.


Yes, too bad the idea of using book pages as wallpaper didn't work out! LOL 

Oh, those plates! I love it when they are really old & have that stained crackle running through them. I saw her little round coffee table surrounded by child size chairs, & spent years finding my own.

Love, Love, LOVE it! Plates displayed backward, so clever!

 I fooled with these 2 pictures forever, trying to get them side by side - sorry.  Look at that sweetie with her little tea cup.

How about the layered up frames!

I just love her simple assemblage. I'll be she didn't give it more than a second thought, just bent that wire over the top & plopped it over the frame.

Oh, that pillow on the couch! Such an example of how much we are influenced by others. I see so many pillows now, but each one different, reflections of the artist making them. 

Don't you just want to jump into that cozy bed! The teeny frames hanging above the bed look so casual, like an afterthought.  But the contrast in size & placement are so unexpected!

Years ago, before kids, Kevin took me on a little overnight trip to Fredericksburg.  After a nice lunch & a couple of good German beers, my reluctant husband agreed to drive me around town to stalk search for the Bolton homes.  After some detective work at Homestead, & leads from various magazine articles I set out on my mission.  I found Sister Janet's house first, but to my horror they were all in the driveway talking to neighbors. I ducked down under the dash so they wouldn't see me. Oh, I was so embarrassed, not enough to keep me from seeking out Carol's farmhouse.  We parked pretty far back to avoid discovery again! Kevin took pictures of me pointing at the house. GOOBER:) for sure. Those were the days before digital camera's, I've searched high & low for those pics.  The last house on my list was Miss Rose, & you know we drove all over town. Up & down streets until the sun set, sadly my sweet Rose eluded me.  So she reamins an enigma & a muse.

My thanks to Kathleen, our White Wednesday Hostess.  Check out her blog for some serious inspiration & a list of other great blogs!

Weekend from my weekend!

Wow, talk about a wild weekend! I need a weekend, to rest from my weekend. - You know what I mean?

Friday we worked on getting our vegetables planted.  If they make it to harvest it will be a miracle.  The kids have already dug them up & re-planted them 5 times. 

They also think if you water them every hour they'll grow faster.

Saturday was our neighborhood garage sale.  Instead of participating, as I should have, I continued to help the economy!  On garage sale mornings, the kids get a couple of dollars from their piggy banks, we pick up Dunkin Donuts for nourishment (aren't I a good Mom?) & hit the road.  My kiddo's love finding treasures of their own.  Our rule is, if you bring something home, then you have to donate an old toy to Goodwill.  Now that I think about it, we've probably bought back our own toys! Full circle right?  Here's a peak at my haul.

I love these stitched dish towels, the birds are so cute.

Lot's of little jewels.

The rhinestone safety pin was .50!

Old French school notebooks, they contain tons of maps & pictures.

And the linens & lace! I'm so dang happy people don't appreciate these things.

They were practically giving it away.

The last house we hit was grunge paradise! Rust everywhere.  I love the way the residue from the vanilla stained that bottle. Very cool.

I told you there were some rusty treats! Look at that crazy sprinkler on the left. Great base for an assemblage.  I bought a bunch of mason jars & covered jam jars.  Someone told me they are actually snuff jars?! Whatever they are, I cannot get the lids off. Age & rust have seared them together.

I jumped all over these Army accessories. I love the olive drab color, & the wool on the gloves is wonderful. Wish I could find a sweater like that. Don't you love the number on the canvas bag? I will so be using that in some sort of collage. There was also a little shoulder bag to hold a canteen, my son confiscated it to play GI Joe. I found a very cool puppet show/lemonade stand for the kids at one house. They spent the rest of the weekend making funky, ghoulish Kool-aid & pawning it off on everyone in sight. I wish I'd taken pictures.

My greatest task this weekend was getting my new blogshop open!

You've heard the quote 'it takes a village' right?! Well I have 2 super stars working on my blog. Our sweet Karen, & Michelle at Shabby Creations.  Michelle is the whiz who designed my beautiful header last year, she also created my blog shop.   Karen is working so hard 'foofing' up blogland, but took time to help a poor friend. She talked me through the process of setting up shop, & what she couldn't explain over the phone, she just did. 

 Dawn talked me down off the ledge a couple of times, & Rose kept me laughing through it all.  Rebecca & I shared our shop trials & triumphs via email.  BTW, Rebecca's new shop is ready too!

I'm pretty proud of myself & grateful to my friends for helping me to accomplish one of my goals.

These pictures are from 'the shoppe'.

So now you know what I meant about needing another weekend! Hope your's was great too!

Doin' my part.

 I think I've done my part to help support our US Postal Service this week.  I kept 'ol Mike busy delivering not only my mail, but my swaps!

Packages from my partners in Heather's Petite Inspiration Box Swap arrived early in the week.

This box is from the lovely Melissa at Abilgail's Pocatello.

Look at the sides! How clever is that?? Her colors were all cream, brown & dingy robin's egg blue. Very Cool.

Look at all of the goodies she sent, rusty stars, bits of lace, buttons.....it's too bad I don't like that stuff. 

HA!

You know that's a joke. Honestly, why do we foam at the mouth when we see this stuff?  But we do!

This one is from Heather, our hostess. Isn't it wonderful! That vintage taupe velvet ribbon...yummy! 

She had it packed up so neat too, old faded newspaper stuffed in the box for padding.

The eggs in the nest are actually pearls, she included a little bag of them for me to create with.

Bits of lace, flowers & feathers.

These tags are so beautiful! I don't know how Heather fit everything into that little box without any of it bending. 

I had a lot of fun putting boxes together for this swap.  It's such a cool way to get to know new friends.  My husband compares it to little girls trading Barbies, except we trade buttons & lace!

I had to share my latest 'find' with you.  I was strolling through one of my favorite malls last week, & saw this book poking off a shelf. 

 

It stopped me dead in my tracks!

Pages, & pages of beautiful sheet music, & the most amazing engraved illustrations!  Loads of them.

Each, better than the next.

They will eventually be used in some art, but for now I'm happy just flipping through the pages. 

Hope y'all have an amazing weekend! I'll be working on my Paper Cowgirls projects.