Springtime & The Living is Easy

Okay, so I know I said "more coming soon," but you know me and "soon" simply means a minimum of a week ;). Sorry about the long departure, but I am kinda feeling good about this whole spring blogging thing. You see last year when I created my blog I couldn't stop making new posts or visiting new sites. But now that its been over a year, I pretty much have thoroughly looked at most of the blogs I love, and now I am left with occasional daily check ups to see who updated theirs, while mine sits here dull and lonesome. I think that happens to all of us in blogland at one point or another, I know that when I first discovered blogging by googling "Shabby Chic" and winding up on one of the queen of bloglands sites, I was utterly amazed and couldn't believe the world in which I had just ventured into, and now I feel as though that excitement has blossomed with the coming of Spring once again, and hopefully as a benefit to all of my dear blog readers, you will be seeing a whole lot more posts, with all things crafty and inspiring!
Off the topic of my blog and onto the Flower Show, I know you have been waiting for these, so here they are. Students from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia were to make their debut to the public by creating beautiful dresses out of recycled items. My favorite would have to be the one above, made of old film. The orange plastic barricade one is also very nice, but I did not snap a photo of the one made of rubber gloves with imprinted faces because it was really creepy; I mean silence of the lambs creepy ;) Below the dresses are pieces of jewelry made of natural items such as leaves & twigs, etcetera. I personally think that the artists included in this years flower show totally blew the arrangements out of the water. Very very creative people out there might I add! And scattered throughout are some more vignettes of New Orleans streets, and close up shots of a floral alligator, cherry blossoms & of course roses!Perfect post for the first day of Spring huh? Enjoy!

Swingin' into Spring

So yeah, I kind of just left you hangin' on my last post didn't I? Sorry about that, I was kind of in a rush and had wanted to add a little linkage to a previous post but I was about to leave to go to the bah da da da *2008 Philadelphia Flower Show.* Yep, I had been waiting all month long to go, and especially being stricken with Spring Fever, it was the perfect remedy for my winter blues. Again, this year did not disappoint, and I was pleasantly suprised by all the glorious flowers and innovative designs that artists from around the country had made.
I am going to share a different segment on the Flower show in my next post, but for now this post is all about flowers! (as it should be.) This years theme I believe was "Big Band," with hints of Louisiana, the bayou, and of course Jazz music. Greeted by a giant piano entry way and musical instruments made of intricately placed carnations of all colors, the views were amazing and the aroma was out of this world! I won't babble on anymore, I'll let you decide! Enjoy!!

Lets take a little tour shall we?








Check back soon... Lots more to come!!

Anatomy of a Rose

Ahh, how wonderful that soon-to-be Springtime breeze feels today!! I'm tellin ya, I have been in the mood for Spring all this week and last, and today I thought instead of just letting my blog sit for yet another week, I would share a few of my favorite things. Roses have been one of my favorite flowers since I can remember, much like the rest of the world, but certain roses catch my attention more than others. Billowy petals, and pastel colors automatically make me look twice. Since my all time favorite flower is the Peony, roses that resemble the peony in any way shape or form always make it to the top of my list. Since I have been in the mood for Spring lately, (although I wouldn't mind a couple more snow storms ;) I decided I would put together a little visual aid for all of you dear readers, since I am sure that most of you are dealing with Spring Fever as well.
I went online to the Queen of Good Things website, and of course found an array of beautiful images and plentiful information regarding all sorts of plants and flowers, of course including roses.. So here it is my friends, just a short list of a couple favorites on Martha's behalf. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have, and hopefully you'll check back tomorrow because somebody I know (ehem...) is going somewhere tonight that fits in perfectly with this post and Spring of course ;)

Wishes Granted

Coming home on this rainy and slightly snowy afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised by the red white and blue box that was sitting in front of my door. I have been waiting for over a week for this package of goodies to arrive and finally today of all days it has come! When I reached the door, and picked the box up I was appalled to see that it was soaking wet and slushy all over. "I cannot believe this!" I screamed out loud, luckily no one hearing, and I rushed inside, found a pair of scissors and cut the box open. I thought I was going to find a pile of mushy papery mess, with soaking seam binding and drippy glue. Instead I was thrilled to see that everything had been gorgeously packaged by that crafty Andrea, and not only that, it was all gently protected by gorgeous pink and brown tissue paper. The tissue paper had soaked up all of the wetness and left me with a feeling of pure joy.
My heart skipped a beat when I opened up all of the individually wrapped seam bindings, and vintage ledger papers, and my nose was delighted by the almondy sweetness that those Cocoina glue sticks emit. "WOW" were the words that crept out of my mouth as I opened up the elegantly packaged glass glitter bottle and the Flea Market flash cards. Today has been a wonderful day, despite the rainy muck that encompassed the package and the rest of PA. Beauty rested inside, and now my craft room is full of a whole lot of pretties. I cannot wait to use these new supplies, and order some more in a couple of days. Won't you head on over to One Hundred Wishes, you wont be disappointed!! PS: Happy Valentines Day to all, perhaps tomorrow I will share a little treat with you, since all of you are so deserving of some craft love!

Im Sorry, So Sorry

Where on Earth has the month of January gone?!? Last thing I know I'm tellin ya the next time you'll see me is sitting in front of a present piled tree sipping a nice hot cup of chocolate and bam! January 25th. I have no specific excuse, many things have been happening in my life, and along with them alot of stress as well. I have been piled up with responsibilties, a sometimes inbearable workload, and to top that off the stress of the new year and my resolutions (which I have decided to start in February ;)
So now that I have found some time to relax, and take a couple pictures here and there, I decided to craft. Craft is a word that I have not thought of in over a month, not since wrapping my presents (which by the way were super snazzy, but all were unwrapped ;( So anyways, January has rushed through and I feel as though I have had no time for myself. So today, I decided that I was going to craft up something for the coming Holiday, seeing that all of my recent magazines are filling me with Valentines inspiration. I'm only showing a few snippets of the pieces, since I still have not decided what I am going to do with them. I just love the red sequins and the glitter, and that green I felt just went so nicely with my "Love Potion" that I'm cooking up. As for now, I have some events lined up ahead such as the Philadelphia Antique Show, Redners Antique Show, and the Spice Girls Concert (*yeah, I'm goin ;) So hopefully I'll have pictures to share with you of my future adventures. Right now, I think I'm gonna go keep working on my valentines projects and perhaps purchase a few crafty items online. Until next time, wishing you love and inspiration!

The Final Countdown...

WOW, just 5 more days until the big one!! And is it that horrible for me to say that I still have yet to go Christmas Shopping!?!? Yes my friends, it is true... I am a procrastinator, and this is one of the worst cases for me. I cannot believe that I have waited until five days remain to buy a load of presents that wouldn't even fit on Santa's sleigh!! To make myself feel a little less anxious, I have bought a few presents for my mom, but that is all. I do have lists upon lists of present ideas for people, so I've gotten the "What to get?" question dealt with, now I just need to fight the traffic and the lines at America's second largest mall. I am usually a shop-a-holic, visiting the mall at least once a week, but I... haven't... been there in.... 2 months!! How have I been able to live?? Just kidding, but you would think that for someone who loves shopping so much that they would go and get it done and over with. Well, I am going today my friends, venturing out into a world of Christmas Chaos and last minute shoppers (ehem...) and getting it all finished. This is not just another one of those "half promises" of mine, this is a fact! ( You see I must tell myself that so I don't totally have a Christmas Breakdown.
Anyhoo, I am going today, meeting my sister for lunch, then perhaps shop with her for a little bit, see what extravagant new items she's been eyeing up, and see if my pockets don't burn holes in themselves by the end of the night. I also have to get wrapping paper, probably brown kraft paper with luxurious ribbon or raffia and tea stained tags. I am still unsure; I bought this really pretty blue plaid print at Target, with brown velvet ribbon, but I am unsure if it is matte or shiny. I like to use matte finished papers, don't ask why, I just think it looks better. Alrighty, well I am going to finish up here, since I do have a ton to do today, and hopefully the next time I post, you will see dozens of beautifully wrapped gifts with a nice cup of hot coco and The Grinch playing in the background! Wishing you timely holiday shopping and wrapping, as well as cups of frothy hot chocolate!!
ps: Today is my 50th post, somewhere in the near future, you will be seeing a suprise for all of my dear readers... Make sure you stay tuned!!

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree...

That good old Christmas clock is ticking away and there is just about 10 more days until Christmas!! Meaning that in the next 10 days I must finish all of my shopping, give my own "Wish Lists" out and finish up decorating and of course wrapping presents. Never has a Christmas been so hectic as it has been this year, and although it has been nerve wracking at times, I still cannot wait until the big day! I have been uber busy this entire month, and I am quite surprised that I even had the time to get a tree let alone decorate it! I have not forgotten about you dear blog, just ignored once again, and I am sorry once again, and I hope you understand. We are all busy women and I know that everyone's life gets hectic at times.
Alrighty off of the bad topics and onto Christmas!! So last Saturday I went to the local Nursery and picked out my tree, a frasier fir like every other year. I also enjoyed my annual cup of apple cider that I always get while the tree is being drilled and I picked up a beautiful wreath for the front door. I then proceeded to wait a week, stock piling ornaments and garlands for the past month in my living room, and finally tonight I found the time to decorate my tree. I also decorated my bay window a couple of days ago with lights and different sized and shaped ornaments floating at different heights from ribbon. I admit that this is not how I planned I would decorate, all in one crazy night, but thats how it happened and now I can finally enjoy it all. I'll post some pictures of the tree in a couple of days, and maybe even the silver tinsel tree I set up in my guest bedroom/ studio. As for the decorations, well Target and KMarts stock just went sky high since Genevieve bought out most of their supplies. I'm tellin ya, the day after Thanksgiving, me and the other decorators were going head to head, "fighting" each other to get the last glass glitter snowflakes at Target (which I did ;) Lets just say that Target and Kohls did not disappoint with their wide selection of gorgeous glass glitter ornaments. I am sure you've already visited and gotten some yourself, so for now heres just some inspiration (as if you need it!) Enjoy!!