I received this in the mail today from Dolly, a very special sister in our PRH group. Her cherry heart is a cheery heart! She is a sweetheart. One picture is closer up than the other so you can see all her darling things - a cute cupcake that goes inside the pocket of the dress and the hang tag that goes up into the bottom of the dress, which acts as the envelope. Just so sweet and thoughtful. Thank you, Miss Dolly!! I love ya, sweetpea.A Darling Birthday Card
I received this in the mail today from Dolly, a very special sister in our PRH group. Her cherry heart is a cheery heart! She is a sweetheart. One picture is closer up than the other so you can see all her darling things - a cute cupcake that goes inside the pocket of the dress and the hang tag that goes up into the bottom of the dress, which acts as the envelope. Just so sweet and thoughtful. Thank you, Miss Dolly!! I love ya, sweetpea.Little Pink Roses Plate - FREE!!!!
Vickie won the plate!! Congratulations, my chickadee!Wow, I cannot believe it's been a week since I posted. I'll have an announcement soon................
Hmmmm, now what do I do with this little plate, huh?!?!
9 AM, chicks!!
Okay, the first one to email me gets this little plate to adorn their home. I just couldn't resist buying it yesterday and giving it away to one of my rose-loving PRH sisters. You can post a comment here and it'll be emailed to me or a direct email. Whoever is first gets it!! Surprise!!
Ooooh My, Look What I Got Today!!!!!!
I got a box in the mail today and all I could say was "ooohhhoooo, hoooohoooo, hoooooooh, aaaahhhh, and oh and ah for a good 30 seconds!! Not only the gorgeous pumpkin (please click to enlarge this beauty!), but 2 tags (I have several message boards around my house) and a stunning little, well, not so little, charm to hang. Celeste outdid herself on this one because it is gorgeously exquisite. I'm so happy I could just burst!!! This is from our "Great Pumpkin Swap" that this group of wonderfully talented, sweet, kind, supportive women that I've ever had the privilege to meet, have been having on our group. Group?!?! Noooooon noooo, it's a true Sisterhood! They are just fantastic!! Thank you, Celeste, from the top of my fluffy haired head to my pedicured toes!!My Sweet Birdhouse Collection
I was going to dust today. Yeah, yeah, I know......DUST?!?! Yep! Anyway, as I was taking these off the tables and shelves I thought, "Maybe I could put them on my blog for all to see." So here they are. I love birdhouses. Some I bought and some of these I've made. I didn't do the painted ones. The log and wood large ones are 2 I made when we lived in California, so they're over 14 years old. And if you look reeeealllly close you can see the dust! Now I'll go dust them and go shower. Hah!!!
My new book arrived today!!!
Look what UPS brought me today: 2 books I ordered last week! I'm soooo excited to sit down tonight and see what little treasures and eye candy await me. Ooooooh, it's almost like a kid in a candy shop today seeing just the covers of those 2 magical books. Hey, I might even share some of the photos in there for y'all to see, chicks!! I'm grinning like a man on his wedding night. I'm so easy to make happy - a book or a tag or a piece of shabby roses fabric. :-) I am such a cheap date, gals!!
Sassy & Saucy 50s Glam Tags!
The first photo is what came in the mail today as a gift I won from Bertie of auntmayscottage! Oh, it is so gracious and gorgeous. Thank you, Bertie. It was a combined package of a drawing I won and a gift for the anniversary of our group I started a year ago. I just love the women in our group. They are ALL so wonderful.
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The last 2 photos are some "glitz and glam from the 50s" tags I did today. Pretty roses fabric, feathers, buttons, porcelain roses, ribbon roses, snippets of lace and snippets of yarns and rick rack. I think my next ones will be paper though. I think I'm gonna like paper better than fabric.
Vintage Sewing Drawer
Isn't this lovely? My daughter made this for me. She does mosaics. She rarely sells them though. I've told her to start and she has. Visit her by clicking here: 
She has some beautiful tiles and items for sale. Her hubby, Bill, does all her painting. Now if I can just figure out how to get her dad to do that for me!!
Is This Darling or What?!?!
One of my daughter's acquaintances sent this picture of her guest room. I just love it! I want my office to look like that! Her mosaiced chairs are just fantastic also. I'm gonna work towards my office looking somewhat like that. I probably don't have as much room as she does but, hey, I can dream, can't I?!?! :-)
Surprise Swap - Don't Tell!!
Shhhhhhhh....... this is a surprise for someone and I don't want her to know. It's a swap and I made this little box for her. Shhhhhhhhhh.... It contains pretty rose leaves, lot of little tags, which I think she'll love and a little "bling" pumpkin of felt and PINK, PinK, Pink, pInk..............did I mention it is P I N K?!?! Oh, I covered the box with just the prettiest pink toile on bottom and the lid is a Waverly pink dot, and a pretty rosey print around the rim. Then it has a paper rose on top resting atop some pink bridal tulle with organza bow and little tags on the outside. And it smells sooooo good with an Evelyn & Crabtree rose oil in it, a pink crystal prism, rhinestones, a ribbon rose and pretty yarns on back and also a pretty hanging ornament with glitter on it so she can hang it in her pretty home. I stuff these will a very secret ingredient that truly permeates for a very, very long time. Shhhhhhhhhh......don't tell her. She doesn't read blogs I think so it'll be our secret, right?!?! Huh, right?!?! ;-)
A Mail Delivery Today!
I rarely use the postal service anymore. I pay everything on line. I think most of us now do most things on line that years ago we did through the post office. I know I do! But it is still a "thrill" for me to receive personal letters, cards or packages from our mail lady. She is very, very sweet and always rings my bell for items not fitting into the mail box. Soooooo........look what she brought me today. I purchased this beautiful sign from Lorena at 2chicfriends on ebay. She put in a darling little painted Christmas ornament also. She's such a sweetheart! Then I received this little tag from Karla. It was wrapped in an old page from a book. I just might use the page on one of my tags also. It was so nostalgic and "time worn" just enough! Delightful, ladies! I'll treasure them. Thank you for the gifts, but also for the feelings that came when I received and opened them. I am well loved, chickadees, well loved. :-)
Sale Sale Sale!!!!
During the month of august I'm offering 20% off of anything in my store. So click on my website and go there and see if there is anything you might like to buy now or for Christmas gifts - such as the cutie sachet above.
Sharing My Roses!
I just seem to be on a "rose" kick lately! Sorry. :-) But I received the Jackson & Perkins catalog last week and cannot stop looking at their roses. They have some absolutely gorgeous varieties this year. Above I'm posting 3 pictures of 2 different silk roses that I bought several years ago. The ruffled one I've had for many years and is quite pretty. The other more rose bud looking one I purchased at Joann's fabrics and it has fooled everyone who has ever seen it. It looks exactly like a real one. I think I'll put a few drops of rose oil on it in the bottom of the bud so that it smells like a real one also. Please "click to enlarge" to see how real they do look. They are stunning. I have several bouquets in my home and just love them!
Vibrant Pink Rose!
Wow! This one turned out very pink and pretty. On this one I painted the petals before assembling it. That was much easier to do - painting wise. I used a more vibrant pink and edged the petals with even a tad darker pink. It turned out lovely, but my favorite is the previous one - pink with magenta edges. In person that one is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. These will probably go to a friend in a gift I'm preparing for her. These are delightful to make but one usually takes most of the day. I wish I could streamline them somehow but haven't figured that one out yet! Some lucky girl is going to receive this one!!! Wonder who?!?!
I Love Pink Roses and Truffles
Three different views of this beauty. This is the big white rose from below. I painted it pink and added more petals and then tipped the petals with a magenta pink edge. Beautiful. They take a bit of labor to finish. Cutting, painting, attaching! I may not make a lot of them but I'm giving a few to people I care for or people who just need a boost at this time. :-)
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I'm making some tags for a tag swap and I'm also making something for a pumpkin swap. Ever see a pink pumpkin?? Well, this one's gonna be!
Nice Matters!!
I have a sweet, sweet dear friend named Stephanie, aka Lucy(!), that I just love. She has given me the "Nice Matters Award"!! Now, if anyone deserves it, it is her and her Mum. They are true southern belles and just kind, sweet, nice, genteel and beautiful. Thank you, Lucy!
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Now for my latest "finished" rose. This one I base coated with white and then yellow. It is not a light yellow but was rather exuberant. I love pink and yellow together! Yellow is just the sunniest color. :-) Pink, however, is my most favorite color of all time. I'll never tire of it!! Then pink over part of the yellow. The tips are then gone over lightly with undiluted paint so they are deeper pink. This is the best one yet and I love it. I'm becoming more familiar with how watercolors work and the blending. These roses are a bit labor intensive and there are several steps to doing them. With that in mind, I'm not sure I'll be offering them for sale but I plan on giving some as gifts.
Coming Along Nicely
Okay, here is the next rose color - kind of a pink with magenta tips. Don't let anyone tell you this is easy! It takes practice, trust me. I'm excited about doing the last rose because it is much fuller and the best one so far. Maybe tomorrow I'll finish that one. :-)
Working on da Roses!
I've just started on my 3rd rose. I can see the progress with each one. The 2nd one I painted white before I started forming it. That seemed to be much easier than painting it after making the flower. The 1st one is on the left and already painted, the middle one is the 2nd one with its first coat of white paint and the right one is just formed without the painting yet. I was so anxious to see how the 3rd one would come out I just cut the petals out and started on it. Instant gratification!! But I'll show you these when I get them painted and they look like real roses in the next couple of days. Gotta go to a picnic today. In this heat?!?! Yikes. Trust me, we will not stay long. Just go eat and run. Too danged hot. But after I have perfected Connie's paper rose I'll let you all see it. I think one will be all pink and one pink and red maybe. Never know how they will turn out!Making Roses
I just started making these roses. This is my first practice rose and it looks more like a gardenia but the second one is more like the rose. They are so real looking. I'm making more today after I do the housewife thing - ironing!
