A Fresh New Year

Happy New Year, Sweet Friends. I know, I'm a bit belated with my greetings. I think for once, instead of thinking, talking or writing about what I want to do in the new year, I've just been doing it. Imagine that! Me, actually doing something!
This adorable, giant-poof-of-a-pincushion was a fabulous Christmas gift from my fabulous friend Lisa-- and it's kind of become a springboard into the new year for me.

I love this giant pincushion more than words can say. It's in my favorite colors, and I love it so much I want an ottoman that looks just like it, for my living room. Wouldn't that be adorable?! Lisa so generously cut into one of her favorite fabric stashes to create it, like only a true friend would. I know this was not the easiest thing for her, so I love it all the more. (Thank you so much, sweet friend!)

Like I mentioned above, this giant-poof-of-a-pincushion has been a bit of a springboard into the new year for me. When you bring something new into your home, do you ever clean and tidy the house before finding a home for that item? Am I the only one that feels that way? I also feel that way about crafting. I want the house tidy, and then I feel like I can "treat" myself to some creativity. Needless to say, there wasn't a whole lot of crafting going on around here last year.

Without going into it, I'm really happy that last year is over. I'm really ready to move forward into this new year.

I've been cleanin' and stitchin'--- and it's been pure bliss for me. Creativity makes me happy. Simple, but true. I haven't been doing anything fancy, just sweet and simple stitching. Everything that I've been stitching has been gifts for friends and family. Creating for people I love adds a whole different level of joy for me. How 'bout you?

Well, my Sweet Friends-- stay tuned, and please come back soon to see what I've been up to!

Hugs,

Sweet & Sparklie Christmas Kitchen

Well, here it is... the end of my Christmas Home Tour! I saved the kitchen for last and I hope you have fun visiting. My kitchen has a "Christmas Sweets" theme going on here. It all started with the chandy a couple of years ago. I didn't have a tree to display my cake/cupcake ornaments near the kitchen, so I hung them on the little chandy above the sink! I love them up there. As my collection grew, I ran out of space on the chandy, so I "borrowed" the idea hanging them in the window from the fabulous Elyse. I wrapped a tension rod with ribbon and hung my ornies on pink polka dot ribbon with clips. It was the perfect solution, and I love the added sparkle in my kitchen!

The aqua and pink pastry/ice cream decorations fit naturally into the color scheme of my kitchen. I even found some candy canes in pastel colors. The gingerbread man sink sponge came from HomeGoods. I think he adds to the whimsy going on in here.

I have this spice rack of sprinkles and the straw canister out all year. I just change the colors and sprinkles out to match the current season. I served milk with paper straws last weekend when I baked a chocolate cake and my family loved them. It was nostalgic for the adults, and fun and new for the younger family members!

I love sprinkles... and have a pretty extensive, obsessive collection. I don't display them all at once. I would really love to have the space to do that like Saucy. Her sprinkle shelves are something that legends are made of. Seriously.

If you turn around from the sink in my tiny kitchen, this is what you see. I don't decorate for Christmas much over here except for the towels and vintage apron hanging on the oven door.

I love this new addition to my Christmas towels. It was one of the amazing gifts I received for my birthday from my dear friend Lisa. (I'm saving the rest of the gift for another post and I can't wait to share it with you!) I love the stitching on this adorable towel. It had me at the rickrack and pom pom trim! I grew up calling pom pom trim "dingle berries"... do any of you call them that? Just curious.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my little Christmas kitchen. My kitchen is small, but it's perfect for me... especially when decorated with sparklie sweets!

Hugs,

For Me?! Squeeeeeee!

Have you ever received a gift-- a really special gift-- from a very special friend? You know that friend. She's the one that just knows you so well that the gift touches your heart from the first glance?

My friend Joyce is that friend. We've been friends for about twenty years. We made it through our 20's together, our 30's together... and now we're navigating our 40's. We've been there for each other through thick and thin, joys and silliness, loves and losses. She's that kind of friend.

We met each other through one of our loves... paper crafting. Through the years we've seen each other's creative styles grow and change. From the early years of the rubber stamping craze, we've stretched our creative wings through various style and color combo obsessions. Through crazy pop-up dimensional creations... to simply elegant. This gift box would be in that simply elegant category. Don't you love it? My favorite color and details... lovelovelove.

This month is my birthday. Yes, I said month. My friends know that I do not object to celebrating all month long. He he. Well, my month kicked off to a start yesterday with my favorite sushi dinner, and an early surprise birthday gift! My dear friend Joyce created the beautiful gift box above, and gave me this absolutely beautiful necklace.

The moment I opened the box my breath was taken away...

A beautiful dragonfly... the keeper of dreams... created with vintage silver spoons. Joyce has always known of my affinity for dragonflies. She's also always known how selective (a nice word for "picky") I am about dragonflies. My house is not full of them. I don't tell people I have a thing for them for a good reason. Years ago, a friend of mine use to (past tense) love black & white cows. Needless to say, she was inundated with black & white cows, lovingly presented to her by her dear, well-meaning friends. So basically, only a few of my close friends know about my dragonfly thing. I have always wanted to keep my love for them special.

Well, this beautiful dragonfly is special. Super special. It's the perfect combination of my favorites: dragonfly, silver, and vintage. Looooooove this. So much.

Thank you so much, Joyce... I love this special gift, from first glance to forever. Just like our friendship. xox

Hugs,

Glory Be

Okay, is this not the cutest version of an American flag that you've ever seen?? Well, I think it is. I absolutely love the vintage linens used to create this-- the chenille, the table clothes--it's genius! This beauty was created by Amy of Into Vintage-- she has one of my favorite etsy shops of all time. (You may remember the adorable Christmas bunting and table runner that I purchased from her shop.) Amy knows how to work her magic with those (priceless-to-me-I-just-can't-cut-into-it-myself) vintage fabrics. She's a Vintage Fabric Whisperer. I'm kinda' a big fan of hers.

Well, look at all this wonderful vintage goodness! Amy is also very thoughtful and generous- she snuck some super fun extra goodies in for me-- is that so cool, or what?? I think I must have squealed out loud as I opened this box. Everything was packaged so special-- I loooove that. Check out that embroidered sachet tied to the wrapped package. Love, love, love sweet details.

Oh my goodness, she sent me one of her wonderful embellished dishtowels. It's hanging in my kitchen at this moment and I love it. (It dries really fast!)

Oh!! Looky at these!! Ahhhh!! I LOVE these! These are fabric covered magnets, and they couldn't match my kitchen any more perfectly! Check out that packaging. Love. It.

They coordinate perfectly with my magnetic kitchen timer from Anthro--- so cute! Thank you so much, Amy. I love my flag pillow so much, and ohmygoodness I love all the sweet extras you included. It was such a lovely surprise! (And soooo generous and thoughtful!)

Well, I hope that you all have a fun and safe weekend celebrating Independence Day here in the good 'ol U.S.A.-- don't forget to pull out your flags-- no matter what form they come in!

Hugs,

Winner, Winner... (Better Than A) Chicken Dinner

I won! I won! I was the lucky winner of a $50 gift card from the fabulous Sasha at Saucy's Sprinkles (aka Bloggedy Blog Blog)!!! Saucy is celebrating five years of blogging. I'm happy to say I've been loyally reading her crazy-fun blog for at least three years or so. I lurve it.

Saucy is incredibly creative, so it was no surprise that my gift would arrive with such a lovely presentation. Check out that cute heart charm!! Saucy creates the most wonderful charm bracelets. (And many other wonderful things. I don't think she ever sleeps!) She's a very generous blogger and often shares fun tutorials, recipes, etc. She's nice like that.

Her blog is a huge source of inspiration for me... please be sure to visit her sometime! (Thank you so much, Sasha!! I'm sure that I will have loads of fun spending that generous gift card!)

Now, switching gears (no pun intended)--- I couldn't resist ordering this beach cruiser print on Etsy the other day. It's my dream bicycle... well, except it needs a nifty bell and fancy handlebar streamers! I just love this!

I love it when Etsy shop keepers send "little extras", don't you? Mary enclosed a sweet matching card/envelope! Sooo cute!

And... speaking of cute, this is what Hagrid is doing at this very moment. This is his get-off-the-computer-and-pay-attention-to-me look. He knows that I love his pretty smile.

Dang, is that a cute dog, or what? I know, I know... I'm a bit nutty about my dog. I'm very silly. I'm okay with it though. Besides, why even have a dog if you're not going to love, adore, and be crazy-nutty about them?!

Huh, Haggie... who's my sweet boy? You're my sweet boy... my sweet hagimus maximus... hansome boy... baby-boy-boo-boo-liscious.....

Hugs,

To Market, To Market...

Spring has sprung, and you know what that means... outdoor market shopping!!! Last week I hurt my back and was laid up pretty much all week. Laying around, especially in the spring, is not my thing. My doctor said that walking would be good for me, and that I can lift no more than ten pounds. Therefore, I went shopping for ten pounds of merchandise today.

A little sassy bird named Marsha told me about this fun outdoor sale today~ Heart & Garden. Let me tell you, it was a fun one! My favorite booth by far was by Old Soul Studio. Love, love, loved it. Jacque and James specialize in iron garden art. There was tons of inspiration... but I had to remember that I could only buy ten pounds. Hmmmm... what could I buy?

I was really groovin' to that hand made iron peace sign... and I looooove me some galvanized water cans...

I loved the simplicity and organic, but industrial feel of the items in this booth.

Hmmmm... ten pounds of vintage photos? Ne, but they sure were pretty...

Ten pounds of silver? Hmmmm... that urn was pretty too...

Okay, here's what I brought home... The beach sign, some abalone shells for my planter, and...

A groovy peace sign to hang on my back fence! I think I met my ten pounds of merchandise maximum at this sale... uhm...so I had to go to another sale too...

I went to a mini flea market today in the parking lot of The Elegant Dollhouse. I don't have any photos of the sale itself, but this is what I came home with. (By the way, you can get a lot of miniature items within a ten pound maximum...uh...but I didn't.) I found a new bathtub for The Little Pink House. I have one, but I've never really loved it. It seemed too thick. This one is still a little thick, but I'll see how it works out.

Isn't this sweet? A young girl made this. I thought that it would look cute on the porch of The Little Pink House.

Okay, and this was not a purchase. This was a very sweet gift from a very sweet friend that I met through Club Little House. Lynne (who continues to remain blogless, much to my dismay) and I met up and shopped at the mini flea, and then went out to lunch with her hubby and mum afterwards. I could not believe my eyes when I opened this thoughtful gift. This little lovely was made by Kim Saulter... yes, Kim Saulter, The-mini-food-sculptor-of-all-mini-food-sculptors! I've always dreamed of owning one of her amazing creations, so my jaw dropped when I saw this! Meg (The Lady of The Little Pink House) will absolutely love this! Thank you soooo much Lynne!

Well, it was a fun day of shopping/following doctor's orders. I think my back is feeling better already!

Hugs,

A Little Bit of Spring Sweetness

Although it's been raining all week, spring is starting to show up around here... blossoms on the trees, spring bulb flowers coming up... and I finally get to pull my favorite white blouses out of the back of the closet. (Friends that know me in real life are probably laughing, because they know that I loooove my white blouses!)

I don't really wear a lot of jewelry~ but when I do, you know that I really, really love it. My friend Lisa made this darling flower pin for me for Valentine's Day. Isn't it the absolute sweetest?! I'm always so touched when I receive a handmade gift from a dear friend.

Oh, and I've been wearing it a lot... because I really, really love it! XOXO

Hugs,