Spring Secrets...

Finished up creating my book, the cover and the first few pages for the new round robin I'm in. Then I'll be shipping it off tomorrow. Before it arrives home, four fabulous artists will be working in it. Can't wait to see how it all ends up. The theme on this is a bit different. I was really stuck for awhile. The overall round robin theme is Spring Secrets. I just wasn't finding any images that I was happy with. I think I've done so much art this spring, I was coming up a little dry. Then I dove into my Anthropologie catalogs and (of course) found my muse there. I love these pages, they're quirky, whimsy and still have a spring feel. They really feel right to me right now. I'm happy with that. This page is in there too. It's one of my favorites. Well, the book is off to Lilia now to work in it first. Can't wait for everyone to share their little splash of art inside!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Stay tuned tomorrow for all the May Baskets to fill up blogland with May Day love! Post pics of May Day baskets whether you were in the swap or not. We'd all love to see them:)

Mexican fiesta basket...

The third basket I made for the May Day swap is for the ultra-fabulous Miz Suzi Finer. Now Suzi gave me quite the challenge. When I asked her what she liked, first she said "everything." When I asked her to get a little more specific, she was really into Cinema Mexicana. I thought, ok...hmmm.....where do I go from there!?! Well, an estate sale, of course!!! That proved to be fun. I found this basket made in Mexico and a bundle of these gorgeous Mexican crepe paper flowers. All in the basement of a fancy house on Lake Minnetonka on the second day of the sale, everything half off! Doesn't get much better than that! Also found this adorable vintage Mexican figurine pushing his oxcart, the lovely floral dish in the front of the basket and the ceramic bird bells (made in Columbia) at the same sale. Total score! I added the beaded skeleton, since Suzi said she liked Day of the Dead.I thought the basket still needed a little something. When I saw these antique Mexican Cinco de Mayo cards on Anahata's site, I knew it was the perfect finishing touch. So there you, go...I hope you like it Suzi!!!


P.S. Here is a preview of the magnificent looking altered art book In this House by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn coming July 1st.

For Andrea

Happy Friday, everyone!! It's supposed to be a gorgeous weekend here in Minnesota. Sunny and in the 70's. Lovely! I will continue on with sharing the May Baskets I made for my three partners. The second basket has arrived and this was especially made for the vintage queen herself, Andrea. Check out Andrea's blog too, she has a fabulous giveaway going on. So what's a girl to make for someone that seems to have the most fabulous vintage goodies already?! After I found this milk glass basket, I knew I was set. Just what to do with it....Lets start with the outside. I found this gorgeous, very vintage brooch at an estate sale and thought that Andrea would really like it. I made a paper rosette around it and attached it to the basket with pink tulle.For the "heart" of the basket I made a little nest. I added the fun vinage birdy and then started adding flowers and more flowers. I had my radar on at estate sales for vintage flowers and found many different ages and style. I like how they all come together.

Finally I added on one of my favorite old postcards. These darling children are holding lilacs, the ultimate sign of spring here in Minnesota. What a fun May Basket to put together, all with a little vintage flair for my pal, Andrea!!!

For Dede...

Yay...so exciting that people are receving their baskets. One of my partners, the fabulous Dede received hers from me yesterday, so now I can share some pics! Dede was abandoned by her partner, so I gladly took her on as one of my partners. I adore Dede and knew we have similar tastes, so putting her goodies together was wonderfully fun! First off, I didn't even follow my own rules and made her a decorated bird cage. I saw it and absolutely couldn't resist! I decorated it just as I would a basket, so it still has that May Day flavor:)

A peek inside....

I adorned the top with a tag and vintage key. Embellished the outside with some vintage flowers and butterflies.Then at the last minute I found this adorable little vintage chair at an estate sale. I knew Dede would love it!

All for you, Dede!!

Look what I've started...

a May Day basket bonanza!! Wow...look at all the baskets people are making for the May Day swap! They're gorgeous! See more here. Keep checking back, people keep adding pics as they send and receive theirs. SO much fun!!! After a bit of a rocky start on hosting this swap, it sure has been a lot of fun. Everyone is putting so much creativity and love into their baskets and it shows. All of the baskets I've seen are above and beyond fabulous! I can't wait for the partners to start receiving them and for everyone to post thier special package on May 1st! Thank you all for your patience and kindness and generosity. I am grinning from ear to ear:)

This is the day...

Found both of these prints at an estate sale today. I just love them! Today is the day to mail out your May Baskets if you're in the swap. Please let me know if there are any issues. Be sure and check out all the amazing pictures that people are posting here. I will be posting pics of the baskets I sent when they are received later this week. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. I will then post about the baskets I receive next Tuesday on May Day.

Wake up!!!

I love how spring reminds us to wake up in so many ways. I was just talking to my husband last night about how much I love living in Minnesota. I feel like the seasonal rhythms are so much a part of my life blood and I am so thankful for that. After 6 months of winter, and the weather hits 40 degrees everyone here is ready to burst out the door and enjoy the fresh air! We have had 70 degree days recently and it actually felt hot. I've started a routine of pushing my daughter in her stroller and briskly walking around an open marshy area near where I live. It's so refreshing getting out in the new day when all is fresh and cool and just waking up. Gets my blood flowing and clears my mind. I love starting my day this way and look forward to lots of sunny mornings out on the path talking with my daughter enjoying every breath.

I feel like I'm getting my crafting mojo back a little bit. All of my energy came to a halt last Monday as we all mourned so many lost lives. I slowly got back on track throughout the week. Yesterday we had a rainy afternoon and things started to flow again. I made this page for a new round robin I'm participating in. Finished up my May Baskets and will be shipping them tomorrow. I hope that everyone is wrapping things up with their basket and will be shipping them in the next day or two. I am so very excited to see pictures of all of the wonderful creations.

Happy Weekend!

Spring has really sprung here in Minnesota...finally! It was 80 and gorgeous out today. We enjoyed every minute of it. This bloodroot was blooming in the woods behind my parents house. Love the "magic hour" light in this photo taken during sunset tonight. Ahh...Thank you for all your kind words about hosting the May Basket swap and for all of you that volunteered to take on a partner. Honestly I wasn't fishing for a complement, but its nice to know that you're having fun with this and your sweet words are appreciated. The support of the blogging community always overwhelms me. So the swap has been all cleared up. Everyone has a partner and hopefully you'll all mail out on Tuesday. That way everyone will have their basket in time for May Day. I would love it if you could share a picture of the basket you receive on your blog (if you have one) on May 1st. It will be so fun to all celebrate together:)
I continued to work on the three baskets that I'm making and am having so much fun adding little bits of this and that as I go to estate sales and find more goodies. It's all in the details. Can't wait to send these babies out! Hope you're having a great weekend:)

Basket blues...

Been working on my May Baskets for the swap this week. I actually have three partners and will probably be adding a fourth. That is because some people are leaving their partners high and dry. That makes me sad. I have had numerous emails saying that people still haven't heard from their partner and baskets need to be mailed early next week. Please don't sign up for a swap if you don't intend to follow through. I love swaps and love hosting them, don't get me wrong. I just have never had any problems in any of the swaps I've hosted thus far, but this one seems to be an issue. I just want everyone to be happy and have a lot of fun with this. So please, please let me know if you can't do the swap, for whatever reason. I'm a very understanding person. I just have several people out there that desperately want to hear from their partner. Thanks!As you can see I am creating three very different baskets. Each tailored to the swap recipients taste and style. Pretty fun!

On a happy note, the photos people are posting on the flickr group for the swap are absolutely fabulous. Amazing baskets you're all creating and so unique!

Some art therapy..

Having a hard time getting my mind off the innocent lives lost at Virginia Tech this week, so I did a little art therapy. I worked in Lilia's book, which I promise to get home to her very soon!

I received this lovely little spring packet from Melissa to kick off a new round robin I'm participating in. It's beginning in May with Lilia, Cassondra, Julie and I all be sending around books to one another. Julie is the lovely host. I'm very excited.Should be tons of fun!

Thinking Blogger...

People are spreading the love all over blogland with the Thinking Blogger award. Mary and Karin were each kind enough to acknowledge my own slice of blogland here at ArtsyMama with the award. Thanks ladies for the sweet comments and appreciation. This is how it works. Once acknowleged you are supposed to continue the meme by choosing 5 people to award, I decided to pick ten since I was chosen by two different people. Ok, this is virtually impossible to pick my “favorites”. I’m really not one to play favorites. So I got out my pack of vintage animal rummy cards that I found at an antique store in Seattle and decided to choose a blogger that went with each card. Ok ladies, now don’t take this too personally (the character comparisons) or read into it too much. This is just FOR FUN! Hehe. So here are 10 bloggers that inspire me:

Pretty Kitty- Heather hasn’t had her blog PresentPast for very long, but she continues to post eye candy that would make anyone swoon. Her photography and eye for design are impeccable. Thanks for all the gorgeousness!

Silly Goose- Love Lia’s ArtJunkGirl blog. She is so playful with her creativity and tells it like it is. Thanks for reminding all of us to let loose!

Sassy Squirrel- Laini Taylor is so absolutely sassy. She is an artist and author. That girl can do it all! Love hearing bits about her exciting life through her blog. So fascinating to get inside her brain for a bit.

Turned Turtle- I don’t even know what this means, but I pick Ulla at Ullabenulla because her blog helps turn my usual way thinking upside down. Love all the amazing art she shares and she sees things from such a wonderfully fresh perspective.






Wise Owl- Love the scrapbook pages/altered art pieces that Ashley Calder produces. Her style is so unedited and *present*. She inspires me like nobody else to just BE!








Wooly Lamb- This made me think of Stephanie at Little Birds Handmade. Her wonderful use of so many different medias is so inspiring. She could literally take the wool off a lamb and turn it into something amazing. Her fabric pieces are divine. Love her style!





Slick Chick- Bonnie is one slick lady (in the nicest sense)! She reminds me to stop and smell the flowers each and every day. Love her attitude and the way she makes me think.






Sly Fox- Patty Van Dorin comes to mind because she is so sly with using such interesting techniques and supplies in her work. She transforms those objects and comes up with the most stunning work!!



Funny Bunny- I chose the one and only Anahata for this. Not that I find her blog hysterical or anything…it’s just SO her!! Her style is amazingly full of life and vibrancy.






Brown mouse- Tricia Scott is my pick for this. Her blog is so reflective and enduring. Not sure how this makes her a brown mouse. Her blog and her art are just lovely and from the heart.

So that’s it! Really, thank you all for the wonderful inspiration you provide. This blogging community is absolutely amazing!
Cheers!

Box full of treasures...

This box of treasures arrived right in the middle of Chloe's birthday bash. When I saw that it was from my Vintage Kitchen Swap partner Lauren Mumford, I could hardly wait until the party was over to open it. Lauren is the absolute ultimate in swap partners, let me tell you. She went way above and beyond! As you can see, everything was wrapped beautifully with shabby chic tissue and vintage crepe paper...sheets and sheets of it. I will be making rosettes with this stuff until the end of time. Woohoo!! Ok, now to show you the goods. Everything was perfectly color coordinated as well. Lauren is an absolute genius at putting things together and pays attention to every little detail. This vintage tablecloth is hand painted. It's the most gorgeous shades of grey, yellow creme, turquois, gold and off white. Yummy! In the beautiful tin was a little bag of lavender with millinery flowers attached so the entire package smelled divine as I opened it. Also in the tin was the tiny little chair with a vintage RSVP postcard. I adore this!!! See an up-close pic of this later in the post. There was also a lovely vintage paper tablecloth and plates in a cute turquois print. Finally, a teacup and a vintage tray in the most scrumptious shade of buttery yellow and silver.

Ok, ready for this?? Lauren enclose an original piece of her artwork. Just look at this!!!! I literally was teary eyed when I was opening it to think that I now own a Lauren Mumford original. It went straight to the wall next to our dining room table. I will cherish it forever. Thank you!!!
Ok, there's more... This cutie pie vintage party book and these little glass canisters that Lauren altered and filled with sprinkles and candies. Isn't she just amazing?! Oh, and she also enclosed a stack of fun vintage ephemera that I didn't get to photograph because I started using it in my art immediately!Here's a close up of that little chair that I can't stop staring at. A huge thank you to Jenny for hosting such a fun swap and to Lauren for the loveliest of lovely treasures. I really felt like it was my birthday yesterday:) If you would like to see what I gave Lauren, she posted about it here.

Pictures of the big day...

Happy Birthday Miss Chloe!!! My dear daughter, Chloe, turned 2 today! I had all these crafty ideas in mind, but all I got around to was making this party hat for her. A closer look at the hat.

Havin' some fun!

Chloe opened up the most amazing gift from Jenny and Aaron over at Everyday is a Holiday!! Look who's on the cupcake:) They also gave her a chenille cupcake. Does she realize how much I love chenille cupcakes?! Jenny, you're too sweet!

Isn't it just too cute!!

Big brother had a lot of fun too!

A cake to match the hat, of course!!All in all a very fun day!!

Love you Chloe!

xoxoxo