I've had an interesting day. We had a really bad storm here yesterday, we lost our power and a bunch of trees in the area went down- luckily none in our yard. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but I have an Autistic son that has to have things "how they're
supposed to be". So when we had no power he totally freaked out. Couldn't turn on his ceiling fan, the lights, or the tv. Not good. So we spent the night at my parents. So glad they had power! The kids did great, but I didn't get much sleep. Came home today to power restored (yay!) and then the garage door broke. Ugh! Needless to say, it's been a bit of a stressful 24 hours.
I was more than giddy when the mailman showed up with some *major* pick-me-ups from some of my blogger friends. As you will see, there's no way this wouldn't put a smile on my face! This book is a collaboration I did with
Lilia and
Marilyn. Lilia was kind enough to start another book for me when we thought mine was lost. Then it
showed up, so now I have two books with her gorgeous work. Marilyn also participated in it and her work is always stellar and so awe-inspiring. Could I be any luckier?! First is my work, then Lilia's, then Marilyn's. They each have two books as well. Now my two are home and I'm estatic to show this to you. Enjoy!
But just wait...THEN I got a package from my new blogger friend Donna. I discovered her blog
Under the Red Roof when she left a comment here. I love it when people leave a comment and I link to their blog and find a whole new world of inspiration! This was the case with Donna. Her work with vintage elements is absolutely stunning! Check out this collage she sent me below. She is such a sweetie.
Thank you, Donna!
I would love to shop with her. She has the best stuff. But now we can all get in on it too. She just opened up her etsy shop. Yay!! Check it out
here. She sent me some of her vintage wallpaper and tons of other goodies and the prints and colors are amazing. She even has a bunch of
flocked wallpaper. Yum! Run over over and get some for yourself!!
Well, blogger friends...you always manage to turn my frown upside down! hehe. I hope you're all doing well.
These little books are part of the spring round robin I'm in with some very lovely ladies. This treasure chest (literally) began with Cassondra. She did the bottom book. Julie did the middle book and I did the top book. It will then move on to Lilia and Melissa to do books of their own. Finally ending up in Cassondra's hands again filled with delightful goodies of all sorts!
Inside my book box, I decorated with vintage wallpaper and German die cut images. I then made a little accordian book. Love this button card I got from Donna.
This is the little book I made for the inside. Such a challenge for me to work so small and had never made a book accordian style from scratch. I kept it simple and used lots of romantic girly stuff like flocked vintage wallpaper and these gorgeous cards (also from Donna) and some vintage jewelry. What a fun challenge this was!
I received this wonderful book in the mail to review called Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori. It's absolutely darling! It reads as a simple story of two friends, Billy the glove dog and his pal Marcus the sock monkey and all the new friends they meet made from cast-off socks and gloves. These critters are adorable and the second half of the book contains step-by-step instructions with pictures for making each of the 14 creatures. Everything is clear and precise with lots of color how-to photos. What a joy this simple little book is! Can't wait to try one for myself:)
Today I posted my last interview of May for the 
I will also offer these retro containers filled with notions and other treasures. They include various vintage aprons and other kitchen goodies as well.
This vintage cake pan (is that what it is?!) is filled with rolled up vintage crepe paper in a rainbow of colors. I was beyond thrilled when I found this crepe paper. Vintage crepe paper is not like what we have now. It's more elastic and can be used to make great rosettes, trims or other embellishements on your projects.
I also have KITS!!! I have 4 different kits. Some come with an adorable mini pink collander with the supplies, others with these neat retro ice cream cups. So cute! They're filled with pom pom trim, vintage seam binding, crepe paper, flowers, velvet leaves, vintage wallpaper, 2 sheets of patterned paper, a template and instructions to make 2 aprons. You will love them!!
This vintage white metal basket came from a garage sale nearby of a woman who is a florist. She had some fabulous stuff, including these little nests and eggs and birch bark cones that I put inside. Not sure what I'll have in the basket permanently, but I thought it housed the eggs well for now. The book you see on the table next to it was a grand find. It's a Victorian photo album in good condition. The greens and golds on the cover with the birds are just perfection. It also also happens to match my blog banner perfectly! The pages inside are pretty amazing (see below) and each one has a wonderful illustration around the photo frame. Lovely!
Also, I love the 
THEN I've put together some of my very favorite vintage papers, sheet music, pictures, ribbon, lace, fabric, wallpaper, ric rac, cards, birds, flowers, Paris stickers, pages from my vintage Raggedy Ann book and others, journaling tags and much much more all coordinating to the style and colors of the album. These are things that I've gathered for a long time, including flocked wallpaper from 
I started it when there was snow on the ground and I was dreaming about springtime. It returned today, gorgeous and 70 degrees outside, springtime in full bloom. 
Of course she wrapped it up so pretty with a little birdie and a tag. Love every bit of it Lilia! 
