Miss Rhea's Easter Basket Swap

I recently participated in an Easter basket swap hosted by the sweet Miss Rhea from Sweet N Shabby Roses.  I usually don't participate in many swaps but this one was just too cute to pass up.  The idea was to create an Easter basket using an empty yogurt container.  Create something beautiful out of something that normally would be thrown away--sounds good to me!! At first I was puzzled at how to go about this challenge.  I was thankful that Miss Rhea gave a little tutorial to help me along.  You can read her helpful hints by clicking here.  We were each assigned two partners so for me the first step was to introduce myself and get to know a little bit about them.  That's always fun for me--I love to meet new people :) 

My first partner was April from Frilyy Frolic.  I learned April's favorite colors are pink, aqua, and white.  Here is the little basket that I created for her.

We were to include five small gifts with our baskets so I included a couple of seed packages (forget-me-nots and sunflowers) a tiny little birdhouse, two pieces of chocolate and a soldered charm.  In reading April's blog I could see the love she has for her children and how much joy they bring her.  When it came time to solder her charm,  I wanted it to reflect that joy. 

My other partner was Kelly of For the Love of Laundry. Kelly's favorite colors are pink, blue, cream, and light yellow.  Here is the little basket that I made for her.

Kelly received some of the same goodies.  In reading her blog, I could see Kelly's love for the Lord, and for all girly vintage treasures. To reflect that,  I soldered her charm using a piece of a vintage handkerchief and used the sentiment, Faith for the back.

                                                            

Now I am so excited to show you the amazing baskets that I received in return.

First from April...

April included the most beautiful crystal on the handle and just look at all the Easter sweetness!!

Next from Kelly......

Kelly included the most wonderful vintage treasures!! Just look at that amazing mother of pearl belt buckle.  I will be saving that for something special that I create for me :)

Thank you both April and Kelly for creating something so beautiful for me.  I could not love them more. 

As I was working on my baskets, Kate and Emma (the little girls I babysit) were so excited to see what I was making from a yogurt container.  I had such fun making these baskets I thought they would make the perfect Easter gift for them. 

Kates favorite color---Green. Emma's----Red

Thank you Miss Rhea for hosting this most clever swap.  I not only have two amazing baskets but also two new friends as a result. 

If you would like to see some more baskets created by the other participants, just hop on over to Miss Rhea's blog for the complete list. (I am a little early with my post as I will be away from my computer tomorrow.   The list may not be posted until then--Saturday April 3)

The Picture of the Week--Family

This past week we celebrated Easter at my parents a few days early. My sister and her family were able to come for a visit making it the perfect timing for an Easter dinner. With them living two hours north in snow country and with all the snow we had this past winter, we had not had the opportunity to visit since Christmas.  I could hardly believe how big my nephews had grown over these past few months.  It is always a challenge to get three silly cousins to take a nice photo together but with a little begging and pleading I was able to capture this photo with my parents. 

Such fun memories!!!

The sun is shining today, I have opened the windows in my studio and I am going to take the day to create.  I have several Easter projects to complete--guess I'd better "hop" to it.  I am excited about these projects and can't wait to share photos with you.......

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Moms birthday--a day that I truly celebrate. 

I celebrate her birth, her love for me, and our friendship. I celebrate the blessing she is to not only me but to everyone she meets.  I celebrate her kind spirit,  sense of humor, nurturing way, love of the Lord, willingness to share her talents, friendliness, wisdom, love of adventure, and joyous heart.  I celebrate the wonderful example she is to my son.

We started the party yesterday when Heidi, my mom's very good friend, Ruth and I all went to lunch.  I even brought a surprise visitor (Alex) to brighten up the day.  Getting him to take a serious picture takes some work (lol) But for Grandma he complied.

 

We continued the birthday fun at breakfast this morning with my Aunt Kathy(mom's sister)--who just happens to share the same birthday.  She was born on my mom's third bithday.  I try each year to make my mom's gift.  She always says not to buy her anything so I try to find something unique to create for her.   This year I knew as soon as I saw the beautiful art of Michelle Palmer that I had found the perfect thing.  Mom loves birds so I purchased three pen and ink sketches from Michelle, made them  mats of vintage sheet music, notebook paper and a page from a French book and framed them in a vintage frame. 

I covered the back of the frame with an old file folder and attached the names of the sketches with Michelle's signature.  My mom was delighted with her gift. 

Happy Birthday Mom!! I love you with all of my heart.

Vintage Easter Blog Hop

Welcome to the Vintage Easter Blog Hop!!! This hop is being hosted by Joan at Anything Goes Here in celebration of all  vintage treasures relating to Easter.  After you take a peek at my Easter Vintage,  hop on over to her blog to view the complete list of all those who are participating.  I took a minute to look at some of the posts and believe me there are some amazing treasures out there.  I hope you enjoy my little contribution......  

First a few vintage greeting cards and sweet Easter images.

This Hummel figurine entitled "Playmates"  is not ment for Easter but I adore those little bunnies.

 

I am not sure how my Mother will feel being a part of a VINTAGE Easter collection(hehehe)  but these pictures of her and my Aunt in their Easter best are priceless and I just had to share.  Mom is on the right in this photo....

and on the left in this one.

This photo is of my Mother-in-law (the little girl sitting on the steps) her Mother and her two sisters all decked out in there Easter bonnets.

The last Vintage Easter item I would like to share with you is this wonderful basket. I came across it when cleaning out the attic of my Grandmothers home after she passed away.  I loved the look of it with it's strips of braided straw. It became even more of a treasure once my mom told me what it had been used for.   This was the basket used by my Grandmother to carry a sample of their Easter meal to church to be blessed by the priest.  Once the blessing was given the meal was carried home and enjoyed by all.  Eventhough we no longer carry on that tradition, I love that this basket was something used by my Grandmother.

 

Thanks for hopping by to take a look at my Vintage Easter and for spending part of your day with me.  I wish you all a Blessed Easter.

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop--Button Challenge

It's that time of month again!!!! Time for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. I have participated for the past couple of months and had such a wonderful time meeting fellow crafters and viewing their art, I just had to join in the fun once again with March's challenge.   When I logged onto Papertrey's site to check out what this months challege would hold, I read the first line--"Calling all button lovers!"  OH THATS ME.  I love buttons--the shapes, the colors, the different sizes.  I am excited to share my project but I am even more excited to see what others have created.  With Easter on the way, I decided to create a card using some of my favorite new products from Papertrey Ink. 

I love the color combination of this patterned paper from Papertrey Ink called Egg Hunt. It mixes so well with their clear stamp set also called Egg Hunt.  It was fun to use the sweet little egg die to cut out a perfect egg shape all ready to be decorated.  The button border gives the finishing touch to my card.  Thanks for taking a peek at my button project.  Don't forget to hop on over to Papertrey Ink to see what wonderful projects await you. 

PS I recently did a blog post showing how I store my buttons.  If you would like to read all about it just click HERE.

Welcome to another Rednesday

It's Wednesday---you know what that means----time for another Rednesday post.  It is amazing how many red things I am finding around my house.  I have been having such fun sharing them with you all.  I even find myself thinking about it during the week.  I see something fun and red and I think to myself "Oh that would be a great thing to share on Rednesday"  I am not sure what that says about me---maybe I have a sickness (lol)  Oh well here are my red treasures for today.....

I can always count on my friend Joyce to come along with me on an afternoon of treasure hunting.  We decided to visit our local antique store on Friday.  I think I may have actually squealed with delight upon finding this treasure.  What could be better than a red polka dot apron.  This was a definite keeper. 

After doing a little more searching I came across this little beauty.  It was a little out of my price range but it was still fun to take a picture of.  Can you see that wonderful  red Coke sign tucked into the corner.....

We had such fun--laughing, treasure hunting and just enjoying each other's friendship.

My next red item was purchased this weekend as well.  There is nothing like a Saturday trip to the Strip District.  I have posted about this Pittsburgh treasure several times before.  The name is silly and may give you the wrong idea(hehehe)  but  for those of you familiar with Pittsburgh, you know that this is an area just east of the city known for it's wholesalers, restaurants and fun funky shops. There are so many ethnic groups represented in the Strip and the street vendors are plenty as well selling everything from food to T-Shirts.  After eating breakfast, Alex and I did a little shopping.  Being that it is the Spring season, the artist market was open.  I was quickly drawn to the table selling the most adorable things from felted wool.  The artist visits flea markets and Good Will shops in search of wool sweaters and turns them into items such as these...

Thanks for visiting me today on this Rednesday.  I hope you enjoyed my red.  Don't forget to visit It's a Cherry World to check out the all the other wonderful contributions.

Well tomorrow is the Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop.  The challenge this month is all about buttons.  My favorite.  I have not even begun to complete my project so I am off to create.  I would love for you to visit again  tomorrow to see what I come up with.  Unitl then...

Happy Rednesday :)