Love At Frist Sight

As I walked into the Church and rounded the corner,
our eyes met.

It was love at first sight.

I tried to fight it.
But despite my efforts, my eyes drifted that way throughout the day.

By the end of the day,
it didn't matter to me what the Farmboy might think.
Love cannot be denied.
The beautiful dolly was coming home with me.

*********

Isn't she gorgeous?!
This is the art doll I purchased from Colleen Moody.
I swear if I didn't know any better, I would think she was made specifically for me.
She fits me and my home so perfectly!

Yesterday I realized that I was too general in the post on the making of Lucie and I don't want to take credit where credit isn't due.
Colleen had all the dolls already sculpted for us because there wasn't enough time for them to dry and allow us to put them together.
I did paint her, make her legs and completely fashion her clothing and crown.
She, Colleen, provided us with paperclay, so I'm foreseeing much doll sculpting in my future.

Hope you're having a beautiful week!

Friday Love ~ No. 9

I love the outdoors,
bird song
and breezes.
I prefer warm over cold.
This week our air conditioner went out…
and didn’t come back.
Which meant,
I got to open the windows.
And leave them open.
And no one could complain.
It’s nice when a not too grand situation
allows me something I love.

*********

For more Friday’s Flowers visit...
Scented Sweetpeas

And

For more I’m In Love posts visit...
Sandy’s Creations

Have a beautiful weekend!

Right Now

I am enjoying...

warm, fuzzy socks

cinnamon


chamomile and rose petal tea

misty, foggy photographs


lace

thinking about sewing


shades of amethyst

little, poofed up birds

What are you enjoying?

A Day of Celebrations

My birthday and the ten year anniversary of my and the Farmboy's first date. Practically a blind one, on my 30th birthday. And ten years ago, neither of us would ever have dreamt this is where we would be now.

So we celebrated.

Ice skating, as we did on that first date.


Some Anthro shopping.


A warm drink to refresh us.


A most delicious lamb chop meal at the Irish pub, washed down with a Woodchuck and some fabulous live Irish tunes.

Avatar in 3D.

A pink marshmallow s'more.


And wonderful, wonderful gifts from my boys.


The day couldn't have been any better.

I hope your day was a beautiful mine!

(first photo taken by the MIL. All the rest taken by the Farmboy.)

Spring Art Party

Last Friday I hosted an evening of creative escape for my three closest friends and myself. It was a fabulous evening with a French theme.

We started with a laid back cocktail hour, minus the cocktails. But we did have French Lemonade and French Jazz.



Yes, a much needed wind down from the crazy week that we each had had.

From there we moved on to a seriously yummy dinner, al fresco.

Remember the paint chip collage peek I showed before? Here is the whole thing. I read an article in the winter issue of Sew Somerset... napkin rings created out of paint chips. It was a cool idea, so I thought I would try it. However, by the time I finished, they wouldn't curl around the napkins. But I really like how they turned out anyway. And I also made place cards with small silver trays, flowers and antique lace.

After dinner, we moved inside to create.

We made hand bound journals, or at least began them. There was so much laughing through out the evening, that by 1am we were only half way through the project and all dead tired.

We also have been working on a collaborative tag book, but again because of our crazy lives, none of us completed on them on time. So when those are finished I'll share.

Have a beautiful week!

Inspiration and Some New Pretties

So, during my down time I found a few goodies to help inspire me. I thought I'd share and maybe they will inspire you too.


I purchased these three books from Wanda. She's my book go-to-girl. Funny how a few musty old books can make one so excited. And giddy with excitement was just what I was when I opened this package. See that Russian Ballet book? Eeeep! I CANNOT WAIT to get started altering it! But alas, wait I must. I'm still collecting ballerina images. But I am ridiculously excited!

The American Traveler book I am going to have to hide, until I decide what I want to do with it. The Farmboy has already tried to confiscate it once. Saying it's a book that would come in handy for him. You see, he's learning to speak Spanish from a Scotsman via pod casts (funny, I know) and we all know how often he travels through Portugal and France, so of course he would need the book.... uh, yeah right... nice try buddy.


One afternoon while junquing with my friend Nina, after telling myself I was just going to look and not buy, because I was already pushing the Farmboy bounds with the amount of money I spent on new glasses (two pair... doctor's orders), I went home with this lovely pink floral hat and pretty pink trim. A girl can never have too much trim, I always say.


Now this has a story behind it. There I am rushing off to an appointment. Starving, as I had not eaten yet and it was already 12PM. So I decide to drive through Starbucks and get a latte thinking it would tide me over until after the appointment and I could then grab a bite to eat. So I do just that. Pull out of Starbucks onto the street and stop at the stoplight. Are you with me so far? This is where the story gets good. Red light... I pick up my grande Carmel Macchiato. There is no cup sleeve on it. Starbucks no longer puts them on. If you want one, you have to ask for it. Well, I was preoccupied when I took my cup from the nice barrista, so I didn't ask for one. The cup was HOT. I started juggling it one handed trying not to burn the skin off of my fingers and get it back into the car cup holder. Before the cup made it into the said cup holder, scalding hot carmel macchiato ended up all over my left knee, right thigh and the console of my car. I'm really surprised my car didn't shoot out into traffic. Somehow I managed to keep my foot on the brake pedal. I did end up with a nice red welt on the underside of my right thigh where the coffee pooled up in my seat. Needless to say, that evening I went Internet shopping for a handmade cup sleeve. I found this one here. I have vowed to always have it with me in case a coffee craving should ensue... no more scaldings for me.


These little pretties I found while out junquing with my friend Cheryl. Love the lady on the lid. I think I'm going to put her on the cover of a book I'm making. Both the lady and the circular rhinestone brooch, I saw while I was out with Nina, but didn't get them. When I saw that both were still there,as well as on sale, I knew it was a sign. ;)


Last item. You will never believe where I got this. Well, at least I was surprised... Target! I actually had another one in my basket that I had picked up in the Easter section, but when I saw this one, that one went right back. I love the colors. I reminds me of an OliveJuice & Co. apron. I know your thinking exactly what I'm thinking. I am going to be a Domestic Diva in this apron. Okay, maybe you weren't actually thinking that, but I am... thinking it, that is. Yes, I know it's a little wrinkled and please ignore the grubby hand marks on the door, but I did say I would be a Domestic Dive when I had the apron on... and well right now, technically, Callia Adel has it on, not me. Anyhoo...

Whew, that was a lot longer than I had anticipated. Sorry for that. I suppose I should go don my new DD apron and clean those doors now.
Have a beautiful day!

Making Me Smile

I'm coming off a two day Real Housewives (OC and NYC) binge... cloudy skies do that to me. But now, the sun is shining bright and it's warmed up a bit. I'm feeling like me again.

So I thought I'd share a few things that are making me happy this morning.

This blog. How can this bright spot not make you feel good? The colors, the music, all of it.

Love Letters ezine.

This is the only project I've finished so far, but regardless, I'm enjoying them all.

My Crocs. Hmmm... yep, something this frivolous is making me happy.


Velvety soft Lambs Ears.

I have an idea for some of these lovelies. We'll see if I can execute it in the next few weeks.

These little cuties. I've already pre-ordered my kit.

And I'm feeling some Marie coming on. Although this is the movie I feel I need to see first.

And last, but not least, A Year of Color and this magazine. These two things have been fantastic jump off points for my art journal. Which, I've been very good about working in lately. I'll share soon.

Well, now that I have some energy (thank you Mr. Sun!), I'm off to clean the house.
Have a beautiful day!

A Happy Planning Me

I've been waiting for this, from PaPaYa!, to arrive and it finally did today! Thank goodness, because my last one, which was quite lovely itself, was out of days to plan! It ended right on the first day of 2009 and I've been having withdrawals.



I am a list maker. I make lists for EVERYTHING. I even make lists for lists. Balances out the constant chaos inside my head. ;) So weekly planners are a thing of love for me. I can write little mini lists everyday for every week for the things I need to do and places I need to go and I can do it all in one marvelous place.



And seriously! What a place this little planner is! It's gorgeous and functional.



It has this fantastic accordion file folder in the front. You can bet I'm gonna use that! And it is FULL of Anahata's amazing art work.



Inspiration with every turn of the page!

Bluebirds and Friendship

Bluebirds and Friendship are the two things that I am most grateful for this weekend.

If you know me, you know of my obsession with Bluebirds. I own several glass Bluebird figurines... two of which are very special to me because of whom they came from.

We unfortunately don't have Bluebirds here in my neck of the woods (or I should say city), but if I drive a few hours east and into the actual woods, I can see them. I worry that someday I may give my Farmboy a heart attack from my impulsive squeal of "follow that bird" as we are driving through East Texas. I get so delightfully excited when I spot one!

Anyway, for me Bluebirds represent "happiness". And that is exactly what I felt, after the initial surprise, when I opened an unexpected package from my sweet friend Whitney.


Whitney made this lovely lariat Bluebird necklace and said that as soon as it was finished, she knew that it had to be sent to me. Thank you Whitney!!! I absolutely LOVE it!


I am truly amazed by the generosity and kindness I continually find here in blogland... which leads me into the subject of friendship.

Whitney and I met through Artsy Mama's "Vintage Party Swap". This was a first time swap for the both of us and seriously, I couldn't have been given a better swap partner! It's going on a year since that first swap and Whitney and I have continued to stay in touch through our blogs and email and our friendship has grown.

2008 really seems to be the "friendship" year for me. Much like mine and Whitney's friendship, I have had other cyber friendships blossom into something sweet and lovely.

I've met so many nice ladies and made so many new friends though different parts cyber space... Blogland, Etsy, LolliShops, Silver Bella, TwilightMoms and Meetup.com. Some I have had the pleasure of meeting in person thanks to Silver Bella and others I am just lucky to live close enough to, so we are able to get together on a fairly regular basis.

So these are two things that bring me happiness and that I am extremely grateful for this Thanksgiving week... Bluebirds and Friendship.

I've decided to go out of town with my Farmboy this coming week, so I probably won't be around here. I hope you all have a very beautiful, safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Kings and Crows

My Farmboy took the day off yesterday and surprised me with a special trip down to the Dallas Museum of Art. The reason for the little excursion? King Tut!


A little known fact about Alisa... fascinated with anything ancient Egyptian. I have been for a loooong time. I don't know why, just am. I have all kinds of books on the subject. I even completely get into Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series. This is fun, light reading, but I always get so into the story that I don't sleep at night... just read until the book is over. Love that Amelia!


(postcard purchased at the exhibit)

So back to the King. I thought the exhibit was, over all, really great. I was a little disappointed that Tut's death mask was not part of the exhibit, but we did get to see his possible grandmother's, as well as, her sarcophagus. That was pretty cool! And we got to see some of the jewelry items that were wrapped in his linens with him... jeweled collar and his gold crown. Plus quite a few of the items from his tomb. There were also artifacts from other tombs of the Golden Age. Oh, for me one of the coolest things, were the head statues of Nefertiti. Amazing!

This is another postcard image. We actually got to see this piece. It's a jar depicting Tut as a lion trampling his Nubian foes.

Now on to crows. I finished another Bellaween project. Seriously, I'm loving these so much, I think there is a chance I may continue Halloween crafting even after Halloween has passed!

My Farmboy has named this crow Russell. Ha! We are such a comedic family. He also pointed out how very Egyptian it looks. Which I thought was amusing considering the above.

I hope everyone is having a beautiful week so far and thanks for stopping by!

Pushing Daisies

I don't really watch much TV, but I do go through phases sometimes. Last season I heard of the show "Pushing Daisies", but didn't know anything about it. Two weeks ago, as I was passing in front of the teenager who was in a TV induced coma, I caught a preview for the season premier of "Pushing Daisies".

Hooked right then and there.



This show is crazy. I don't even know how to describe it. I guess it's kind of like Dr. Seuss for grown ups with some Dick Tracy stirred in (or maybe the other way around) and then sprinkled with a touch of Twin Peaks. Anyway...

I Love This Show!

(Oh, and for those of you who do/did watch, what about that lovely yellow floral wallpaper in Olive's apartment?! Love it too!)

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Welcome to the Awards Ceremony! I have been honored three times recently. Yes that's right, three times!

The first award is the Tree of Happiness Award. My sweet friend Diane gave this to me.

This award says...
"You have just received the tree of happiness. It is scarcely
a small plant, which depends on you to grow firmly and strongly.
Plant it on your heart, water it with your smiles and kindness,
feel the aroma of it's flowers, savour the sweetness of it's fruits
and protection under it's shade with whom you love."

I now have to share 6 things that make me happy (this is the hard part... there are a whole lot more than 6 things that make me happy):
1. Life
2. My Farmboy
3. My children
4. Creating
5. Being able to spend all day creating if I so wish it.
6. This awesome blogging community

Now I will nominate 6 people to accept this happy award (okay, no, this is the really hard part):
1. Joanna for listening to me babble all day long, every day. (She is sporting a new look by the way, and I personally think it looks marvelous!)
2. Dawn because her sweet giving-self totally rocked my world this morning in an email!
3. Natalea because she let me join her swap and she is so giving too.
4. Sherry because you are a good friend and I believe that trees can help us find strength and peace when we need it.
5. Whitney because our friendship began here and has grown very strong and beautiful just like a tree.
6. is for anyone else out there in blogland who would love to have this award. There isn't anyone I've met who has not passed on a little happiness to me in one way or another.

Award number two also comes from Diane! This one is the Blogging Friends Award.


Here are the rules:
1. Use the Twinks Bank icon
2. Nominate 5 other people only
3. Four (4) nominees have to be dedicated followers of your blog
4. One (1) has to be someone new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
5. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

I nominate:
1. Lori since the first day she read my blog, she has left a kind words for me.
2. Jenn whom I am so glad for having met this past summer.
3. Allie it's always a pleasure to read her comments.
4. Brenda she has jumped right in to my little world and always leaves words of wisdom for me and I appreciate it very much!
5. Elly I have just met Elly through LolliShops and linked her up today. Her blog is really so fresh and inspiring. You know, it reminds me of a breath of Spring air. I know that probably sounds corny, but I really truly believe that.

Award number three is from Natalea. In all of her sugary sweetness, she has given me the E is for Excellent Award.


Really, I think every blog I read is excellent, otherwise I wouldn't read them... right? But 5 must be nominated so:
1. Karin OMG, she cracks me up!
2. Tiffany OMG she cracks me up too!
3. Brenda again with the cracking up. I really like to laugh, can you tell? It all goes back to that "happiness" thing.
4. Wanda there are a lot of reasons here, but if for nothing else, her blog has a rating of "genius"! I'm hoping some of that rubs off on me.
5. Sadie because Sadie has and is doing the most excellent job when it comes to LolliShops!

Whew! I think I'm all awarded out, but I really do feel honored. Thank you everyone!

A Sweet Gift and Some Other Pretties

First the gift.
I got mail the other day and what a lovely surprise it was!

Diane sent me this sweet "thank you" package. Diane is a busy lady! Along with a lot of other different crafts, she makes these pretty pins with bits of textiles and trims and embroiders on them... they are really pretty. She also designs fabric for Clothworks, as well as, paints. Look at these watercolors! Aren't they gorgeous? Thank you so much Diane! :)

And now for the "other pretties".
Remember those little bottles my BIL gave me? Well before I left, I started playing with a couple of them.


I hit the mother load in vintage image rub ons at a garage sale last month. You should have seen my MIL and I digging through all of these boxes and spazing like a couple of kids in a candy shop. At one point I thought it was going to be a wrestling match, thank goodness she decided to share. She's one tough, old bird... I think she probably could have taken me without any problem.

I also have to show you these, because I simply love them. Remember when I bought that gorgeous old clock face? Remember how ridiculously happy it made me? (It still does.) Well, I found another old item that makes me just as ridiculously happy as the clock face.

Look at that Lemon Extract bottle!!!! I know, how can a dirty, old bottle make someone SO giddy with excitement? I don't know, but it does! As for the book, well, every time I went into this one shop I would pick it up and then eventually put it back. After doing that for months, I finally brought it home with me. I love the image on the cover and thought that some of the pages were missing so planned on using the cover in a piece of art or maybe doing an altered book with it. There aren't any pages missing on closer inspection, so I'm going to read it first... then use it.

The last little pretty.

I've been so into polka dots recently and I decided I needed a red and white polka dotted apron. I found this at Honey Bend Vintage and loved it, so I snatched it right up. It's not red and white, but that doesn't matter. It has that cute little ribbon flower and the bottom edge is scalloped... love that! So it hasn't made me cook more than usual, but I sure look darn cute in it while I am cooking. :)

Oh! Be sure to stop by and visit Jenn's new etsy shoppe, The Peony Princess. I already have!

That's it for today. Have a beautiful one!

I Have Someone for You to Meet

There's a party going on today and Tiffany is hosting!

She has asked us to help her convince her hubby that she is not crazy and dress forms are beautiful, not creepy!

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to...
Callia Adèle

Yes I know, she is not the typical dress form, but I adore her dearly nonetheless. I have been searching for just the right "real" French form, but have yet to find her. My sweet Farmboy has even looked. He thought he was going to get to surprise me last Spring with one. He had called around Austin and after describing what he was looking for the lady said, "I have just what you want!" When he got to the shop he took one look at it and said, "Yeah, not so much." But really, just knowing that he has been looking makes my heart go pitter patter!

I used to have, 10 years ago or more, a lovely wicker form. She was displayed wearing the most beautiful long, deep blue, velvet 1930's gown that had the sweetest lace collar. However, in a fit of insanity during my divorce, I got rid of both because he had purchased them for me. I now regret it knowing that there would have been no emotional ties to them anymore. Oh well.

I will continue my search for the other form. I know that when I find her, she and Callia will be the best of friends and they will simply look gorgeous posed next to each other in a lovely corner of my home.

Speaking of form placement, Tiffany, it might help you out to know that when Callia came home with me, I asked my Farmboy if he thought she should go in the family room. His immediate response was "NO, put it in the bedroom!" I believe I have deduced the reason for this... he doesn't want any visitors to see it. Maybe you can use this placement reasoning with your husband. Good luck!
And a big Thank You for hosting this get together!

To everyone else, thank you for stopping by and make sure you visit Shabby Scraps for a list to all of the other lovely dress forms out there!

Have a beautiful day