spring countdown post 2....

I just had to brag that my kitchen faucet is on the cover of the latest issue of Country Living :) I still love this faucet as much as I did the day we bought it :)

Okay, onto spring....


**pics taken last spring before I changed my blog name**


All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.
Helen Hayes

Valentine pastels...

Hello! Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far. Mine has been spent creating for my shoppe! I have so many new ideas and things that I want to do. It feels good to be inspired! Tomorrow I have to go to the doctor for some tests :( And Savannah has to go in tomorrow for immunizations :( Not at all looking forward to any of it, lol. But when I went to the doctor last Monday and got weighed (no, I don't have scales in my house), I was shocked to see that I only have four more pounds to lose to get to the weight I want to be at. So that was a nice surprise :)

January is finally almost over and Valentine's Day will be coming. So I wanted to share some Valentine inspired pictures today :)



Pretty pinks and reds. Valentine's Day is the only time I like red. Other than that, I cant stand it, lol.
I loooove candles!! And it is a bonus when they come in cute packaging! This one smells so good, like strawberry cream. And I love what it says :) This smells so good that you can just leave the top off and the smell goes through the house.
And of course the beautiful Valentine issue of Romantic Homes. This one has amazing ideas in it too! I love the cupcake bar idea :)
This is another wonderful smelling candle with darling packaging :) I actually found this at Marshalls! I have this one in my sitting room with the top off and the whole room smells wonderful.
This is the cutest Valentine card that I received last year from my super sweet, supportive, wonderful friend Lisa! Be sure to visit Lisa's blog HERE.
And of course Hello Kitty and My Melody!! I looove them :) The pink hot chocolate was a Valentines gift a few years ago from my mega talented friend Jenn. Love the packaging!! So many cute things come out for Valentine's Day in the stores! Just cannot resist something cute, lol.
I have no idea why this pic is sideways, lol But I wanted to do another one of my vintage inspired candy boxes for my shoppe. Vintage flocked wallpaper, tons of vintage millinery flowers, sigh...
Pink velvet bow from one of my millinery hats and vintage rhinestones too :) This is in my shoppe now. It is the only one I am doing this year.
Gorgeous soft roses, still from my birthday :)

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Hope the rest of your week is amazing!! Hugs ~ Amy

a true thank you...

Hello :) Thursday, I posted about strong bright yellow dandelions. Today, I am showing soft, delicate, fragile roses. Another side to my personality I guess, lol. I received these from my sweet David for my birthday :)


I wanted to share them with you as a thank you for your birthday wishes, kind comments, emails and words. You all made my birthday special and I thank you so much. I wish I could give you each a real rose!
Thank you for letting me share my feelings and reflections with you. It is nice to be able to do that from time to time. To just flat out be real! And I have done that, now it is time to move forward. Take the personal out of my blog for a bit...
let this be a soft place to fall when I need it. Just see the beauty and talent from other bloggers and artists. I think we all need that break! If I don't always comment on your blogs, please know I am reading them. I have been horrible about that lately and here you all are leaving me such sweet comments! I need to change that for sure. I used to comment on every blog and now I don't. I feel bad for that!!
Anyway, I want to go back to lightness here and focus on pretty things. I treated myself to a bunch of new craft and project items and I am really excited to get started on them and sharing them with you along with more countdown to spring posts.

Thank you all once again! Big hugs ~ Amy

dandelion...

I woke up very early this morning. I heard my husband leave for work and couldn't get back to sleep. I lay there for over an hour thinking. I realized it was my birthday after a few minutes, lol. When you get my age, you would rather forget your birthday than remember it, lol. I mean, who wants to be 35? What child says "oh I just cant wait to turn 35!" Maybe if you are 80 you might want to be 35, lol. Anyway, I started thinking about my life. As a child I had so many hopes and dreams. I wanted to be a famous fashion designer or an interior decorator. I didn't do either. There are many many things I never did. Little things and big things. I thought about the life I have lived. I had a hard life inside. I had wonderful parents and wonderful friends. But I suffered within myself. I lived with the terrible disease of bipolar disorder for all my life, not knowing then what was wrong with me. It is a terrible thing to have. I beat myself up a lot inside over the years. I could have been so much more without it. I would have had more courage, more self esteem, more drive. Oh well, it is what it is and I guess it is for some reason that I will probably never know. To me, it is just another January day, this day I was born. As an adult, you really don't think too much about what you want. Not like a child does. Anticipating the day for weeks, wondering what gifts they will receive. I mean, at my age, what do I really want or need? Perhaps things that can never be, like a chance to do my life over again. I looked out the window from my bed and saw snow falling. Well that figures, I though to myself. My thoughts then turned to my longing for spring. I always wished I had been born in the spring.

I don't know why but dandelions came to mind. Have you ever thought about dandelions? I mean REALLY thought about them? To most adults, they are just an annoying, ugly weed. But in the eyes of a child, they are a beautiful flower, round and bright yellow like the sun. A beautiful flower that they can pick for their mommy. I picture my precious boys coming to the door with outstretched hands and a big smile on there faces as they hand me that big bouquet of dandelions. Such a simple gift. But given with such love and heart. They would beam from ear to ear as I filled a glass with water and put the dandelions in it. They sat on my counter. Yellow like the sun, so full of love. Dandelions are strong little flowers, or weeds if you prefer. You mow them down and within days they are back again. Those bright yellow spots amongst the green grass. A reminder of spring and summer. They always come back no matter what. Whether you want them or not, they are trusty little things! You can count on dandelions to be there every year. As the earth comes alive again, so do they. I realize that I am like a dandelion. THAT is what I have accomplished in my 35 years! I have become like a dandelion. Not beautiful to look at. but I have been mowed down over and over again. Somehow, I have managed to come back again. Struggles and happiness, easy or hard, I have sprouted back. That is something to me. And if I could have anything on this boring, cold January day, it would be a big bouquet of dandelions picked by my babies little hands, sitting in a glass on my counter. And to always, always be....a dandelion.

A teeny bit of organizing and a little crafting too!

Hello :) hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I have a doctor appointment this morning so decided to get up extra early for some coffee and computer time before Savannah and the dogs get up. Sunday, Dave actually had an entire day off which was great! It has been a long time. It was just the three of us which was very different and very quiet, lol. Last night, we went and got some groceries. I was soooo happy when we saw grilling items, winter clothes on clearance and new spring clothes! We even saw an Easter baby bib :) So nice to see after all the wintery items. And it is bitter, bitter cold here, so it was also nice to see that everyone is getting ready for spring. Their were of course lots of super cute Valentine items too :)

I love Valentine's Day because you can keep a lot of the decor out year round. Hearts are something that is seasonless and everyone loves them :) And of course I got married February 16th :)

I worked on a couple new Valentine items for my shoppe and wanted to share them. I am so thankful to the wonderful response I have had on my Valentine items!



I did a couple of card/tag/ornaments last week. This one is so pretty with the white and lavender. Their is just something about those two colors together that is so spring like.

This one is done with a vintage crochet doily for the base:)

****************************************************************************

I got this awesome shelf for Christmas. I just love it, it is nice and big and so perfect for organizing some of my crafting supplies! I have been wanting to get more organized so my things are easier to find, lol. I put all of my go to items on here, the things I use on almost every project. I have more to add but have a pretty good start.
Not only is the shelf useful, but so pretty too! It is a yummy chippy distressed mint green with pink peeking through.
Here you can see the colors better and oohhh how I love beadboard! So cottage cute :)
Here it is with some of my items on it.
All nice and organized :)

I filled mason jars with some of my vintage millinery flowers :) One of my very favorite things :)
Such pretty, happy colors :) I have a lot more but for now, these are what I have finished and ready to use :) It took me forever just to pluck them from their hats :)
Pretty powder blue roses with velvet centers. My favorite ones :) And a mason jar full of clothespins ready to be embellished.
Some of my favorite laces in an aqua sewing machine drawer :)
Buckets that I made look pretty :) These are filled with some ribbons and trims.
Cute correspondence :)
Cuppycake bucket full of more supplies :) Their is a lot more room on here to add more items but for now, this will do. I am taking my time with it. I want it to be pretty as well as useful. It just motivates me more to have everything looking pretty, lol.

****************************************************************************
I am still working on my diet! I have been doing pretty good. Last night, I bought lots of fresh fruits and whole grains. Also my Vanilla Almond Special K :) That is just the best cereal! I must have that and Yoplait light thick and creamy key lime pie yogurt! They are both sooo good and taste like you are being bad, lol. I am trying to lose ten pounds and Dave is trying to gain 20, lol. What a funny pair we are. I wish I was trying to gain, lol. Lucky guy. I met Dave when I was in fifth grade and he was in eighth. And he is about the same weight he was then, lol. He looks exactly the same. We both still get carded at the bar, so I guess that is a good thing. I like being told I look 20 now that I am "middle aged", lol. I used to hate being told I look young. But now I find it flattering. I just want to be one of those mom's that always stays up on the styles and trends. You know what I mean? I guess I just dont want to grow old. But no one does. Dave and I are both metal heads though, still listening to Metallica and all the hair bands. Our kids make fun of us for listening to "old" music. I cant believe that music is considered old! But I do like some of todays music like Lady GaGa, Eminem and my most favorite song is In My Head by Jason Derulo :) It is my song to Dave. But I'm still not giving up my hair bands, lol. Okay, I got waaayyy off course here, lol. Anyway....
Have a great week and thank you so much for visiting me! Hugs ~ Amy

Bake up a little love...

Hello! Just wanted to do a quick post tonight as I wait for Dave to get home and Kitchen Nightmares to start. He has been really stressed out lately and working a lot of hours. Sooo, I decided to make tuna casserole for dinner, one of his favorites and such comfort food. I also made him some pumpkin muffins to take to work as well as some gingerbread man cookies :) You are never too old for a gingerbread man :)


Pumpkin muffins are one of my favorite things!! I love anything pumpkin but pie, lol! Weird, huh? I indulged and ate three of these!! Yikes! I have been on the Special K diet for the last week trying to lose ten pounds. I had been doing so good until today :( But that is what I get for baking something I love too, lol.

My birthday is next Wednesday and I told Dave NO cake and NO candy for me!!! My youngest son Gibson's birthday is February 3rd, and I will have a cupcake then, lol. Cant let my little guy down :) But I am going to try and stay away from sweets from now on and working out again. No, it is not a resolution just something I need to get back into. I am not feeling good about myself lately. And turning 35 (gulp) does NOT help. lol


Here is a yummy recipe for the pumpkin muffins. ** NOTE** These are soooo good with a couple handfuls of chocolate chips added in! Had them at a B&B years ago and they were to die for. Your kids will like them too :) Enjoy!

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

Bring on the hearts!!

Hi there :) Hope you all had a great week! Are you looking forward to your weekend? This will be our first weekend in about a month without kids (other than Savannah of course). Ir will be very different!

The season of love is upon us! I have just filled my shoppe with lots of pretty hearts :) Dont you just love hearts? I have many decorating my home and they always make me smile. I wanted to share some of my new pieces with you. I don't think I will be doing any love note pockets this year. I would like to do a few more of the puffy heart sets though. Those were so much fun to create!



First up, I just new I wanted to do a tart tin ornament for Valentine's Day! I love the way it turned out :) This tin has a bit of a heart shape to it. I filled it with all of my favorite things, rhinestones, lace and pearls. That just screams romance to me!! I added a vial to the bottom of "love potion". Aged pink glitter and some more vintage pearls :)
I also added the title of a song called Love Lies Dreaming :) It is from my antique love song sheet music book. Perfect for Valentine's Day!
This is a scrolly heart covered in romantic wide lace. I created one of my handmade lace roses too for this and added a vintage aurora borealis button to the center. Boy does it sparkle :) This reminds me of a wedding in summertime :)
This is a vintage style candy box. I covered it in vintage flocked wallpaper and tons of millinery!! This is to die for in person. Such a beautiful display piece.
I covered the inside with tattered and torn pink tissue paper and an adorable cherub image that I heavily glittered and outlined in gimp. There are more pics in my shoppe of the inside.
And this beautiful aqua piece is full of beautiful pastels! Super pretty hanging piece :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and thank you soooo much for stopping by today and letting me share my creations with you!!