Challenge change and {NEW} goodies!

Still need more photos.....pleeeaaasssee (see post below)!! Just one photo, anything. Anyone can send in, you don't have to be doing the challenge. Come on, it'll be fun:) Thanks! Also PLEASE NOTE: Bonnie and I have decided to have the Cabinet of Curiosities prompts once a week instead of twice and we will continue to go back and forth between our two blogs. Bonnie will post this Sunday and I will post the next. So the prompts will continue for 4 more weeks. Hopefully that will help ease some of the "stress" of the prompts coming too quickly and we can all take a breath and continue to enjoy the process. Also it's never too late to play along. Now that we're slowing things down a bit, we hope more people can join in the fun.

Well, I have some fun new artsy stuff around here that I thought I'd share. I'm always oogling Fleamarket studios wonderful finds, so I thought I'd share some of my fun finds from last weekend. You all know she has a blog now, right? So exciting! I don't go to flea markets, but here in Minnesota we have many estate sales each and every weekend all year long!! It's a treasure trove for finding wonderful vintage artsy goodies:) This past weekend I found this fabulous *mint condition* baby book ($2), pretty pink vase ($1), pile of number game pieces (perfect for these calendars), a Barbie paper doll from the mid-80's with some fabulous clothes ($2) and this fun little "basket" made from old colorful cards and sewn together ($1). Love it all! My kids totally scored too, I got a large doll house with all kinds of fun accessories for $6!!!

Then in the mail, I recieved a beautiful altered composition book by the wonderfully creative Tricia Scott. Just found her blog recently and LOVE her style!!! She also included a bunch of goodies including a couple of cards of her amazing art and some ephemera and such. So much fun! Thanks, Tricia.

On my recent trip to Anthropologie (which, by the way, says on thier web site that they are now going to have a catalog *every month*!!!!) for my new journal, I also found this gorgeous little notebook with Amy Butler print fabric on the front. The inside pages also have bits of her designs. Can hardly stand to write in it. Then I literally almost fell off my chair when I found out that Amy Butler now has scrapbook paper and tons of fun scrap supplies with her patterns, including a scrapbook bag ! This was all featured at CHA this past weekend and is soon to be released by K and Co. I am beyond excited about this!!!! You can see it all here and be sure and click on each collection to see the full array:)

If this weren't enough, I got two brand spankin' new mixed media arts books in the mail yesterday. Yawoza! First off, Kaleidoscope by Suzanne Simanaitis of ARTitude zine fame, has compiled a wonderful mega zine book that is full of eye candy and articles about digging deeply into your creative well and making art that is not just about being pretty, but about true expression. Unusual and insightful stuff. Just got a chance to page through it last night and it is full...I mean really really full of inspiration. Also got my the new book by Lesley Riley called Fabric Memory Books. She has always been such an inspiration for me for making fabric art, which is how I started this whole mixed media art "thing":) Love her work and what a treat to have her explain how to make many different kids of fabric books and projects. A must see!

Ok, must breathe now.....