To be three...

Chloe's birthday was full of joy and wonder and delight!Thanks to so many of my artsy friends for being a special part of her celebration through your art that I displayed in festive style.
The birthday girl surely felt loved.
Blowing out the candles was a highlight.

"Daddy" grilled outside in a stocking hat with snow on the ground. Yikes!

Big brother worked on putting together Chloe's new trike.Chloe loved her gorgeous handmade gifts from Creative Touches Creations.

Oh what fun tea parties we will have!

On her actual birthday, yesterday, we went out hunting for signs of spring and found these fluffy pussy willows.
What wonderful amazement we all have at the world around us at three years old. May we never lose that enchatement.

Junkin' again...and pixie dust

As many of you may remember, last September I had the wonderful opportunity to be a vendor at the JunkMarket Junk Bonanza just down the road from my house here in the suburbs of Minneapolis. I prepared all summer and had a grand time in my first ever vendor opportunity. I have been a fan of the JunkMarket ladies (Ki and Sue) ever since reading their column in Country Home magazine and attending their first Junk Bonanza event. I did several posts here and here of the big event and interviewed Ki. I am thrilled to say I will be selling at the the JunkBonanza event again this year! It runs September 11-13th, so there's plenty of time to plan a road trip to the Twin Cities! This year Matthew Mead will be in attendance as well. Wow! Fun times will be had!So needless to say, I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of their new book Junk Beautiful.

It is chock-full of wonderful photography, sketches, inspiration and TONS of fun ideas! Junk Beautiful shows how to create a home that is user-friendly and "doesn't shout junk, but rather whispers timeless elegance." Ki and Sue show their magic ability to take a piece of junk found at the bottom of a scrap heap and re-craft it into a one-of-a-kind work of art for your home. There are nine rooms featured presenting decorating and storage challenges. Sue and Ki show how-to's for each element using junk in ever so creative ways which any do-it-yourselfer could manage. I love their Junk Beautiful "philosophy" that was born out of a need and desire to recycle and to create a lifestyle that exudes beauty and function out of seemingly nothing. They encourage people to create their own style, one piece of junk at a time. Each time I look through this book I get so excited to go out and find some junk to transform. Love it!Oh yea, and as I was blogging, what was Chloe doing on the eve of her third birthday party!? We thought she was asleep, it was after 10 pm after all. Oh no, she was up dusting these cupcakes with her pixie dust and then proudly came down and showed them to me:) Hope you're having a great weekend!

Still getting festive...

This alone was more than enough to put a smile on my face today. The gorgeous spring hanger above is by Kris Hurst. The colors and the design of this piece are just stunning. I have it in our kitchen and it stops me in my tracks every time. Helps me forget about the sleet and snow that we are getting outside and remain optimistic that spring will come!
Back to merry making for Chloe's big day. The fun vintage paper pinwheels above are from Candice's new shop Peacoats and Party Hats. Couldn't think of a better place to find some vintage party goods, her shop has such fun stuff. Also bought the balloons below from her.

I've been wanting to use these vintage party plates for some time after finding them at an estate sale. Love the princess theme without all the Disney. I am making a birthday banner with them.

I've been getting tons of goodies for the birthday gal in the mail. I think the mailman is really wondering what's up. I've shared much already and it keeps on coming. Luckily she's too young to be reading my blog! The sweet cupcake card above is from Analise. The cupcake liners and chenille stems are from Pink grapefruit style. The hats and glittered fern are from none other than Corey Moortgat. Tons more from her below.

Corey was my other partner for the Vintage Party Swap. We had a ball swapping with each other! Check out this cutie pie birthday decor she made above.

The box was filled with vintage children's goodness for all the senses. The embroidered heart pillow above it filled with lavendar. The gorgeous gal on the bottom right is actually a hand mirror on the other side. The tea cup and saucer is the most gorgeous robin's egg blue.

Then comes all the paper ephemera. Wow!!!

Finally some fabric. Boy am I a lucky gal. Thanks, Corey!!!

A girl only turns three once!

Vintage cuteness galore...

As I may have mentioned a few times, my daugher Chloe turns three on Monday! This inspired my Vintage Party Swap which is in full swing now. If you're in the swap and haven't mailed yet, Monday the 14th is the deadline. Also please continue to add your photos to the flickr pool. So I am in full party mode now and the color theme seems to be pink and greens/blues this year. Similar to last year, but a bit richer tones. So of course I couldn't pass up this amazing wreath from one of my favorite artists Katie Runnels .
One of my partners for the Vintage Party swap was Lori of goodygoodygumdrops. This girl should be a party planner. Look here, she thought of everything! The party favors are pink spoons with a darling vintage image and lots of fun embellishments. She made a banner that says 'Celebrate' that is oh so festive!

She made Chloe this darling "c" covered in scrapbook papers. She even altered cupcake pics to go with the vintage girlie theme.
Last but not least, she gave us a little jar to fill with Chloe's "pixie dust". I told you she thinks of everything! So cute and fun, Lori. Thank you!
Along with the vintage party swap I did a few mini swaps on the side, since I had bits and pieces of vintage party goodies to give away. Britt was interested in swapping and sent this gorgeous package of more vintage girlie goodness (above) in return for some vintage baby shower stuff I sent her. Love it all!

Vintage Indie hosted a spring swap and my partner Maria sent me these wonderful vintage finds that also happen to be in the party colors. I can't stop staring at this ribbon. Wow!

Another side swap I did was with shocking pink thread. She sent me a variety of fun supplies to use for projects.

I absolutely adore these fabric pieces. Can't wait to use them:)

Finally, a huge package came from Wanda Clark. She wasn't my partner for the swap, but said she had "extra" supplies for the mommy and me craft theme for her partner and sent them my way. These are her extras....they blew me away! What fun Chloe and I will have.

I would say I have plenty of inspiration and fodder for the big day!!!

In my own words...

I was thrilled and truly honored to be asked by Country Living magazine to supply some quotes about crafting for an upcoming issue. Yesterday I received my May issue and lo and behold on pg. 46 there is my quote about something I love to do....go to estate sales:) I'm such a huge fan of this magazine, it's really fun to see!

A crafty day...

I had a super crafty day today and it's not even the weekend yet! Gearing up for Chloe turning three on the 14th I made this cake scrapbook album after seeing it here. Each layer opens up into an album. Wow, so fun and cute! I know I'll be making a lot more of these.
I'm going to a baby shower tomorrow, so I made a little brag book album. The crepe paper rosettes on both these projects came from Lilia over at Flea Market Studio.

Updated my big collage frame with pictures from our recent trip and new papers I got out in California. Hope you have a happy Springy weekend!

Spring has sprung...

After getting 6 inches of snow this past week, seeing this first crocus of the season is reason to celebrate!!!This spring bag I got from Jenny over at Frecklewonder is also making me smile. Hop on over, she's having a $10 sale this weekend! Woohoo:)

California flea market scene...

I've heard so much about the flea markets in California that when we had a moment to spare in LA we headed to the Long Beach Flea Market on Sunday. It was a quick jaunt through, but as an estate sale junkie here in Minnesota, I had to see what California had to offer. I have to admit I am very spoiled here with the prices and the thrill of the hunt at estate sales. Here's what I saw...Piles and piles of vintage costume jewelry.
Some gorgeous Indian textiles.
LOVED the colors on these vintage bells.
The find of the day was this gorgeous vintage princess mirror. I just adore it. It was $175 and I had no way to bring it home, but hope to see something like it again sometime. Wow!

Here's what I did purchase. Aren't they adorable?! Love these little guys. Bought this cute vintage juice glass set as a thank you to my sister. When I got back to work on Monday night I had a bag of trims waiting for me from a co-worker. She has seen my blog and got such a kick out of my facinating with all things vintage. These are from her mother and grandmother. What a load! I love them:) Thanks, Rose. Don't you just love it when people "get you"!

Today is...

The first United Nations World Autism Awareness Day! Autism Speaks talks about this unprecedented day. CNN has lots of information on their web site. Join the virtual Walk Now for Autism. As many of you know, my four year old son Lowell was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two. He has had lots early intervention and has come a long way. The people that have come into our lives during his treatment have forever changed us in such positive ways. We still have daily reminders of how different Lowell is, but he has certainly changed us and helped us grow in more ways than we could ever name. He has made me a much stronger mother than I ever thought possible. He has tested my limits and shifted my perspective on this journey called life. I try to always remember that he is who he is and we couldn't love him more!!!!