It's a party!

Don't we all need a little party on these cold, grey January days?! I seem to have some good estate sale mojo lately, especially in the party supply department. For those that have read this blog for awhile, you may know I'm a huge fan of vintage party supplies. Finding a huge box in the basement of a sale filled with treasures like those below completely blew me away! This is about a quarter of what was in the box. I wanted to share some of the fun with you, so I just added a bunch more great vintage treasures to the SHOP. I also have lots and lots of zines and Somerset magazines listed on eBay here.Glad you guys are enjoying all the goodies as much as I do! For those of you that have made purchases in the last few days, I will be shipping out on Monday. Thanks so much!At that same sale, I may have found my best estate sale find EVER!! Many of you also may know that I am a huge fan of Halloween, it's my thing! So to find the lantern below stamped Germany with all four sides intact with amazing embossed die cuts pretty much made me giddy. I think it's from the 20's. Man would I love to know it's story. This will be displayed year round, guaranteed!

Ok, time to catch my breath. Have a great weekend!!

Winter sale!

I just listed over 20 new items in the SHOP! So much fun, it's been so long!!All these tins are filled to the brim with vintage millinery, trims and other treasures and are in the shop. I dug through my entire stash to come up with some fantastic bundles. There are loads of colorful goodies to brighten up your winter days. Check it out!

I'm also listing lots of fun art magazines on EBay, check out my listings HERE!

color my world....

Finished up Poppytalks winter colour week last week with a very cold morning for green day, at -20 degrees! I did manage to find a bit of green in this icy landscape on the morning dog walk.Speaking of our puppy, Friday was silver or gold and I could resist doing a little photo shoot of Bodhi on our gold chair. For more, see the dog blog.Then while estate saleing this weekend, I found a wonderful burst of color in these vintage party supplies in an old box in the basement. I love party supplies!!!These old horns were made in Italy. What a find!Make everyday a party!

finding color....

Poppytalk's winter colors week is in full swing! I've had fun challenging myself to take my color photo for each days color on that day.

Monday= redTuesday= white

Wednesday= blue
I headed to the thrift store today to find some blues, a scavenger hunt on this icy cold day.

yep, it's january...

Enough said. Lots of cold walks and prancing through the snow. I thought my blog could use a little make over as well. A nice clean look for the new year. Thanks to the wonderful Hope Karney of Paper Relics for working her magic!I'm doing a 365 day project for 2011, one photo each day. I started a blog just for it. Check it out here.

Definitely partaking in winter colours week next week. See you there!

Monday - Reds

Tuesday - Whites

Wednesday - Blues

Thursday - Greens

Friday - Silver and Gold

Hope you're year is off to a great start! I have some exciting news that came to me in the first days of 2011. I hope that his is an indication of how wonderful a year this is going to be! We all know and love the fabulous Jenny and Aaron and their amazing sweet creations known as Everyday is a Holiday. Now they have put together a design team to play with their inspiration kits and come up with whatever projects our hearts desire with their wonderful artwork as the medium. How fun is that!?! Oh yea, and I'm on the team! I'm thrilled and it's just the spring in my step that I need on these cold, snowy January days in Minnesota. Other than that, things have been kind of slow around here, easing into the new year. I tend to get very introspective this time of year and have enjoyed taking a break to read this wonderful book, which is all about having and being enough. I have been embracing this by taking some time to play with the dog, set up the kids new toys and generally taking it easy. I found this cute vintage wooden house at an estate sale and it displays Chloe's new collection of Littlest Pet shop critters perfectly. I'm also taking two different Big Picture Scrapbooking classes from Ali Edwards. One is about getting down your stories from yesterday and today, which is the name of the class. The other is finding your one little word for the year and working with it throughout the entire year. My word for this year is Explore. I'll be sharing more about this as the year goes on.

On the eve of the new year....

We've had such a fun winter break. Romping in the snow....
baking cookies.... lost teeth.... precious time with family...Cheers to 2011!

Winter solstice...

Hearths and hearts aglow,
Winter wonderland is nigh,
Peace and love to all.

- Annabel Sheila

To celebrate the winter solstice and the full moon, today we made

moon cake

1 cup water
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and lightly grease a round pan.
In a large saucepan, bring water and margarine to a boil. Remove from heat, and mix in flour with electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Spread evenly in prepared pan .
Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside to cool completely
In large bowl, combine pudding mix, milk and cream cheese. Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Spread evenly over cooled crust. Top with whipped topping and drizzle with chocolate syrup. Chill in refrigerator and serve cold.

snowed in....

It's an official winter wonderland.

I'm going to be taking a blog break. I've been needing to take a step back for awhile. I want to take a look at this blog and what it means to me. I need to re-examine, re-define and re-imagine what I want it to be. I hope to come back refreshed and inspired before too long. Take care and enjoy the season.

five senses friday: new puppy edition

This week has been a whirlwind getting acquainted with the new puppy. His playful nature and warm snuggling has been a treat on these cold blustery days. I thought it would be a fun week to join in on abby's five senses friday.seeing: this cute little face. who could resist!?!touching: this amazing crazy quilt circa 1896 that I found at an estate sale last weekend. It's filled with beautiful colors, stitching and textures.smelling: my new favorite candle fragrance, mistletoe

tasting: sneaking a treat here and there as Chloe made her gingerbread house
hearing: the wonderful music of the Nutcracker while Chloe paints her own figurine. We're taking her tomorrow to see the Moscow Ballet's production.Thanks so much for all of your five year blog birthday wishes. I appreciate each and every reader and all your support. Hope and I were excited to get our winter stories class underway this week and the winner of my giveaway for a spot in the class is Suzie Button. Congratulations!

ArtsyMama turns five....and a giveaway!

Today is quite auspicious, it's been 5 years since I began this blog and this is my 1000 post!

Here's a look back...

Year One

Year Two

Year Three

Year Four

This year I've been quietly blogging away my daily adventures with the kids and have stuck to my New Year's resolution of a scrapbook page-a-day throughout the entire year. I am already enjoying those 11 albums all lined up, showcasing what we did with each and every day of 2010.

Since this year was all about documenting the everyday, my five senses Friday posts pretty much encapsulate my year. They begin in the frigid months, here, here, here, here, and with glowing hearts.

Then having some wanderlust, taking a trip, indulging and being aware of all the changes of an early spring.

Soon enough, school was out and summer took hold with it's rainbow of colors. Then suddenly, the kids were back to school and it was fall! I documented September alphabetically. Then before long, Halloween arrived, then Thanksgiving. Yikes!

Where has the year gone?!

A hightlight of the year was Chloe's 5th birthday party with a Strawberry Shortcake theme. Also our girls trip out to California to celebrate my niece's golden birthday with an Enchanted Woodland party. Along with Hope's visit in the fall. Of course I documented each season in detail, as I always do. So wonderful to look back at all the color as the cold, grey winter has taken hold already.

I arrive at this occasion with a lot of nostalgia for where this blog has been and a big question mark about where it's going. It seems that I am closing a chapter and hope to open a new one with a fresh focus. I plan to work on compiling all that my blog has been into another self-published book. I also plan to index this blog so that all of the 1000 entries I have done, can be categorized and accessed. I am not sure where this will take me. Hopefully it will offer a new perspective.

One thing I'm very excited about is the Winter Stories class that Hope and I are hosting together that begins TODAY! Find out all the details here. In celebration of all that this blog has been and where it is headed, we are giving away a spot in the class! If you don't want to miss out on any of the fun and sign up before I announce the winner, you will be refunded the price of the class, if you win. Please leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway!

introducing....

the newest member of our family, a little 10 week old cocker spaniel puppy named Bodhi. He arrived on Thanksgiving Eve. Joe drove through a snow storm to pick him up. The kids were elated!


Chloe is totally in love!

Such a busy couple of days we've had all getting to know each other. Of course there have been accidents and nipping, but we're working on that. We love our newest family member!

Hope your Thanksgiving was memorable!