And the Winner is...............

Just to be sure this give away would be fair, I enlisted the help of my son, Alex to help me pull the winning name. (what a good sport he was)Without further ado, the winner is.........
Pam is a wonderful friend that I have met through my blog. She is also a very talented artist and creates the sweetest, most whimsical watercolors. If you click this link it will take you to her blog. Take a peek I know you will love her work. Congratulations Pam!!! on being the winner of my first blog give away. Thank you to all that left me a comment. I had fun with this give away so look for more to come in the future.
Pam just email me your address and I will send your prize right away :)

Happy Birthday Dandelion Wishes

I can remember it so well. Sitting at my desk, staring at my blank computer screen, wondering if I should actually begin a blog. "Oh I'll give it a try" I thought to myself. "Maybe my family will enjoy reading it now and again" As it turns out I was right. My family and my close friends did read my posts and would leave me a comment or two. I enjoyed writing and looked forward to their comments. So a month turned into two and then three and four. As time carried on, I began to notice comments from others that were not in my family. What fun it was to think that others actually visited my blog and then left me comments to make me aware of their visits. I began to visit their blogs as well getting to know them through their pictures and posts. And so I continued my blog, meeting and making so many new friends along the way. Four months turned into five and then to six until I sit here today marking the one year birthday of my blog. Who knew that my little blog would help me to meet and befriend ladies from all over the world. All because of this little thing called a blog. I am so grateful for these friendships -- the old and the new. So on this, my blog birthday, I want to celebrate and say thank you for all of your visits and comments by having a little give away. All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post. I will put all the names in a hat and pull a winner on Sunday April 19. Now for the fun part-------here is a little sample of the prize (just a sample, it's always fun to receive surprises)
******A sweet little birds nest, a hand soldered charm with vintage lace, and a package of peek a boo love notes. (plus a few more little surprises) *******

Thanks to all of you for making the past year so lovely with all of your visits, comments and inspiration. I am looking forward to another year full of friendships.

xoxoxo

Mimi~

A Blessed Easter

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again." 8 Then they remembered his words.

Luke 24: 1-8

Wishing you a Blessed Easter filled with family and the wonderful reassurance of Christ's love for us. How he demonstrated this love by suffering and dying on the cross for our sins. And then rising again on the third day so we would know that he truly is the Son of God. Have a beautiful Easter day.

xoxo

Mimi~

With a Heavy Heart

Life is busy. Days become filled with the everyday chores of life that are so familiar to me. There are meals to plan, groceries to purchase, laundry to do, house cleaning that needs done, bills to pay, homework to help with, sports practices to make, phone calls to return --the list could go on forever. It is so easy to take for granted that each day will start the same, be filled with these chores and end with a goodnight kiss from my loved ones. Every once in a while something will happen to remind me of the uncertainty of life and just how much each day is a gift. Last Saturday a situation occurred here in Pittsburgh that ended so tragically with three of our city police officers losing their lives. It was a senseless act leaving several small children without their Daddies and many family members asking Why. As I watched on my television this afternoon the procession of family members, officers and the public filing in to pay their respects to these fallen heroes, my heart just broke. My heart aches for their loss. Their lives are changed forever. Through this senseless tragedy I have been reminded to stop in life's ongoing rush and appreciate my family and all that I have. It also reminds me to appreciate those who place their lives on the line daily for our protection. With a brother-in-law who is a police officer and a son contemplating this profession, this tragedy brings home to me how we need to pray for the safety of these special men and women. In support of our police officers and to honor those who have lost their lives we have been asked to place a blue light in our window. A small token of support to those who give so much of themselves for us. Thank you to all those who serve.

Weekend Fun

The weekend, a time for relaxing, sleeping in, spending time with family, and just doing something you enjoy. This weekend my sister and her family came for a visit. They only live a couple of hours away but you know how life gets busy and before you know it months pass without seeing each other. We decided to take a trip to the Strip District. I have posted about this wonderful area of Pittsburgh in previous posts. It is one of my family's favorite places to visit. We had breakfast at one of my mom's favorite diners, Pamela's and then did some shopping at all of the wonderful shops. Because this trip was in honor of my mom's birthday, I thought it would be nice to take a picture of her and all of her grandchildren. I love this picture. Believe me this was not an easy one to capture. It's hard to get three silly boys to stand still and smile without making silly faces at the camera. I reminded them it was for Grandma's birthday so they finally behaved themselves. Oh boys will be boys.

After the Strip District I decided to take a little walk around the local antique store. They were having a sale---anything with the color blue was 15% off. Oh I surly could find something blue. And guess what, I did!! I have a love for vintage children's books. I find the illustrations to be so delightful and innocent. I found two of the sweetest books (both with blue on the cover) I scanned one of my favorite images to share with all of you.

The other book was filled with nursery rhymes and the accompanying sheet music. When I opened the cover I had the instant idea to incorporate these sweet images into note cards for my shop. Here is what I came up with.........

Simple but sweet. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend doing all the things that you enjoy.

With a Little Help from My Friends..........

...........Dandelion Wishes at Sweetpea's is officially open. For the past three weeks I have been working nonstop on items for my little shop. There were so many things to accomplish before my deadline of April 1. Collecting items for my display, making inventory, pricing inventory, and preparing all the little things to make my shop special. I have had the display set up in my living room for weeks arranging and rearranging to get it just the way I had envisioned it my my mind. I must say I have been blessed with so many friends and my family who provided me with so much encouragement and support. When I started to become overwhelmed with the task of labeling and pricing all the merchandise it didn't even take a second for my friend, Heidi to volunteer to help.

And when the day finally arrived to set up shop, my mom and my friend, Joyce were right by my side to lend a hand.

I am really excited and pleased with the ending result...........

I am not sure where this little adventure will lead but I am so looking forward to the journey.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

This day in March is the day we celebrate my Mom and her birthday. Today we celebrate all the special things about her that makes us love her so much. 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. There are so many things I love about my mom I couldn't possibly list them all. Her unconditional love for me is such a blessing and something I cherish. We had a lovely day. My friend, Heidi, invited us to her home for the most delicious lunch. What a nice time we had laughing and spending time with each other. Heidi has the sweetest little dog named Jazzie who just could not be left out of the celebration. Later in the day Mom came to my home for dinner and for a little bit of crafting afterward. We worked together making cards to be mailed to members of her church group in need of cheering up.

Alex ventured in to say hello and because it was Grandma's birthday agreed to pose for a picture without too much convincing.

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you so much!!!

A Swap for All Seasons

When my very good friend, Joyce, mentioned that she had joined a Spring swap my first thought was "Oh that's nice---Swaps are just not for me. You may be asking yourself what exactly is a swap??? A swap happens when a group of Internet friends decide to exchange names with each participant receiving the name of a partner. The swap has a host who organizes the event and assigns a theme. The goal is to get to know your partner through her blog or through e-mails and keeping with the assigned theme search for special treasures that your partner will love. I thought the idea sounded like fun and had joined two swaps in the past. After putting much thought into the gifts for my partner, I received nothing in return. It was a very big disappointment. Joyce assured me that this would not happen in this swap-- "The host, Linda, is a lovely lady and her swaps are organized and so much fun." After receiving a thoughtful email from Linda and reading her beautiful blog, I felt reassured and decided to give it another try. Oh my goodness am I glad I did. I was assigned a partner (also named Linda) and began to get to know her by reading her wonderful blog, Lambsworld. After exchanging emails I set to work hunting for special treasures. I will post pictures of them in another post as her package is still in route and I want her to be surprised. But I will show you pictures of what I received in return. I am overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude. First of all this is the top of the box my gifts were mailed in. WOW!!! The mailman just smiled at me as he handed me my box of treasures. I carefully opened the box from the bottom so that I could save this masterpiece. These are the wonderful goodies I found inside..........After opening all of these lovely gifts, my little helper Emma could hardly wait to open her favorite of all ----the M & M's

Thank you so much Linda for all of these wonderful gifts. I could not love them more!!!!