We are down to just 16 days before the end of the school year (yippee!)... I'm crazy busy getting ready for summer vacation and have not been very good about blogging.
I miss it.
I'll be back soon... in the meantime, I leave you with this gorgeous yellow rose from my Mother's Day bouquet....
I cannot believe we are already in May! Usually by now, the tulips have bloomed (or are in their final stages), the sweet scent of lilacs is permeating the air... just in time for Mother's Day.
Not this year! This winter has been the longest one yet (for me, anyway)... 7 months of wearing coats is about 4 months too long! As I get older, each Minnesota winter feels longer and longer.
We had temp in the 30's yesterday, and snow twice this week - what the heck?!?
The weather experts have "promised" real Spring temperatures next week... in the 60's. I'm not holding my breath on that one.
Okay, enough complaining.... on to the fun stuff!
Crafting, creating and receiving beautiful art from my Blogworld friends keeps the winter "blahs" at bay.
These are some of the lovelies that have changed hands recently:
"APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS"
ATC Swap hosted by the Altered Paper Group.
Paper dresses swap, also created for the Altered Paper Group.
My inspiration for these mini dresses was three special events in a girl's life:
1st BIRTHDAY
1st COMMUNION
1st FORMAL
I was even able to find vintage cards from my collection that matched my theme!
I felt like a little girl again, playing with paperdolls.
Such fun!
Miniature Tophats Swap, set of 3
These little darlings were a bit of a challenge due to their size and having to manipulate the paper just right.... I went to town embellishing with laces, mini millinery, netting, feathers, even a tiny little pink bird!
I have a few more fun projects on my desk right now... hoping to finish them up today, but it looks like we might have a bit of sunshine today (and temps above 60 degrees), so the garden might take priority....
Enjoy your Sunday!
Just when we thought that Spring might actually be around the corner, we get hit with (not) one, but two snowstorms! I also hear that we are supposed to get even more snow this week... yuck.
To cheer things up around the house, and my spirits, I went out and bought pretty pink and coral tulips.
Is it my imagination, or did the price of the flowers go uphill as the weather went downhill? I could have sworn these tulip bunches were $2 less last week! It's a conspiracy, I tell you.
I've also brought out more of my "flower" vases to cheer things up.
This one was a recent estate sale find; I love its delicate pink roses....
Surrounding myself with flowers and pretty things always cheers me up.
Happy Monday!
p.s. finally recovered from my Europe trip, still organizing and editing photos, which I hope to share later this week!
As I finish packing for my upcoming trip to Europe, I am just a tiny bit sad that I will be away for Easter Sunday....
I will miss the many hours of cooking and dish-washing (haha)... seriously, I will miss having Easter brunch with my children around me.
Only a few of the bunnies made it out to play this year...
Wishing you the loveliest of Easter...
Between the craziness of Spring fever at school
(the kids-and staff-getting ready for Spring Break next week),
getting ready for our own trip to Europe,
and still fighting the flu/cold that won't quit,
I managed to finish a few projects this week...
and a bit of Spring organizing.
Taking my extensive little collection of Limoges and dainty china out of storage, washing, and finding a place to display takes a few days.
This year, I also decided to "wallpaper" the back of the 1970's built-in cabinet in my dining room. I have been meaning to paint it for year, but somehow haven't taken the plunge.... so when I ran across this shabby chic roses wallpaper at an estate sale (although I don't think it's very old), I knew instantly what I wanted to use it for.
Since I don't have room to display all my little pieces, I take turns rotating them.
It brings me joy to look at their dainty little flowers whenever I pass through our dining room... the instantly brighten up a gloomy day.
....
iIwas a week of fairies.... finished my fairy tags for the swap being hosted by JoAnne. They are all packed up and ready to mail! Yay!
The baby image is from my collection of vintage photographs...
She got her fairy wings and graced the tags with her presence...although each one is a little different.
How was your week?
Happy St. Patrick's weekend!
Although I have no Irish ancestry (hmmm.... I don't think the Irish ever made it to Cuba), I enjoy joining friends in celebrating their heritage.
Many of us in Blogland celebrate this day in a different way:
by creating little bits of art!
The ATC I made for partner, Wanda, for The Altered Paper's Wearin' of the Green swap.
And this is the darling ATC I received from OmaSally...
I also joined a pin swap at the Scrapinvintage group. For this swap, we had to make 3 sets of stickpins in St. Patty's colors, and showcase them in a holder, card, etc.
I opted for a mini pennant to hold my stickpins.
Well... I guess it wasn't really "mini" size... as it ended up being about 9" long!
I got carried away with the embellishments (as always) - but just felt it needed a bit of dressing up.
A large green silk and tulle flower held my stickpins....
A wee tag with a St. Patty's Day message.
Enjoy your weekend!
My studio looks quite the mess at the moment.
My desk is covered with mounds of lace, ribbons, millinery....
I've been busy making custom-ordered cufflets for a Spring wedding...
The vintage-inspired wedding colors are soft blue and ivory.
The bridesmaids will be wearing cufflets (the one above is only about 1/3 finished...lots of hand embellishments to add) and carrying a bouquet of soft blue lilacs. Doesn't it sound beautiful?
....
Another work-in-process is this paper crown for a dear and very patient lady. I participated in a crown swap a while back and, due to health and some personal things going on in my life at that time, I was unable to finish her crown.
The base is paper, but I've added my signature fabric ruffles, lots of tulle and vintage millinery in yellows and ivories.
I hope she likes it~!
This weekend, I started working on my fairy tags for the Vintage Dragonfly's swap:
JoAnne's swaps are always fantastic, and this one will be no exception.
A sneak peek at my tag (still working on concept; might make a few changes)...
And of course, I'm working on my book pages for the Beatrix Potter swap I am hosting with The Altered Paper group, which I posted about previously.
I found this darling Jemima Puddle fabric and want to incorporate it into my book covers - and a couple of charms -- of course, lots of millinery in the soft colors of Beatrix Potter drawings.
Well, I think that's it for now... off to finish some of these and get them ready to mail.
Hope you are having a creative weekend.
