February Dress

I have finished my February dress at last! Yes, it's a bit cliche - but I like Valentine's Day! If you haven't read my previous dress post, I am participating in the Alice and Camilla Dress-Up Challenge. Hopefully I will finish my March dress this weekend so I can post it at the beginning of the month! I'm also showing a photo of some vintage hand-painted ribbon I was going to use on the dress, but I chickened out.... it's just too pretty to cut. Any ideas on how I can display this?

Embroidery Crazy

Since I began Teresa's embroidery project I am obsessed! I have been checking all kinds of blogs and websites for patterns and information. One very obvious site that I wasn't aware of was the DMC thread site... wow. You can spend a great deal of time looking through embroidery, cross-stitch and other patterns and ideas on their site. They also have this new game available - 'quilt monopoly' - how fun is that? (photo courtesy of DMC site)

Tiny Book Swap

I received my Tiny Book Swap from Julie Collings. My pictures do not do these justice! They are all incredible little treasures! I didn't pay strict attention to instructions. My books are a bit bigger than they should be!

Creative Time

I have been working on my Embroidery project I started with Teresa of My Minutia... this is SO fun. I love it! Check out this project (you can sign up, too!) on the sidebar.

I also attended my 5th grade daughter's school play last night. Their rendition of Shakespeare's As You Like It. It was great! She's in front in the blue ribboned dress!

More Fashion!

I was visiting the Calamity Kim blog this morning and she posted about some wonderful wool gloves and hats, but how living in Florida might limit her use of them! Well, I would love to own a pair of these, and they would come in handy during our Montana snowstorms! You can find them here on Etsy!

New York Fashion Week

As I've mentioned in a long-ago post, I love fashion, though I dress like a frump! It is Fashion Week in New York and you can view the Fall 2010 collections online here. I am showing a few of my favorites from Anna Sui - probably the only designer I could see myself in! The 4th dress down is my favorite. I love the colors, patterns and textures! Did you ever want to be a fashion designer when you were growing up? I sure did. I spent hours drawing and designing!

We Have a Winner!

I used the Random Number Generator to choose a winner and it's #102!

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 257

Result: 102

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congrats to Shazza - she is the winner of the vintage/Shabby Chic goodies for OWOH! I will get this out to you asap. Thanks for your address! This was such a great way to visit other blogs. Thanks to all of you who came by for a visit! I didn't win one thing...but that's ok. I will definitely do this next year!

Winter Olympics

As we near the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I just have to mention that my daughter Amber's friend Heather McPhie will compete in the Women's Freestyle Moguls for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team! I think the competition is on Saturday, Feb 13th... We are very excited to have someone we know compete! Wish we could be there!

Back From Vegas & New Book Purchase

Yes, I finally got back from Las Vegas. I will have pictures to post as soon as I can get it together. We had a great time, but it wasn't very warm! Also, I just purchased this book today. It's really a great book, even if you don't have small children around your house! Lots of great ideas/techniques. You can win a copy here - on Shona's blog or order it here on Amazon. I can't wait to get started on some of these projects!

Vintage Dollies

I recently found these in a closet - I had forgotten about them. I remember when I was very small my mom had these sitting on a shelf in the bedroom I shared with my two sisters. I know we weren't allowed to play with them and very rarely got to touch them. As we got older they got tucked away somewhere. I found them in a closet at my parents and asked my mom if I could have them. They are Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls. You can read about them here. I am hoping to repair them to display - so much detail on them!

Viva Las Vegas

Guess where I'm headed on Thursday? Yes - I'm goin' to Las Vegas. Jim and I are going with our friends to spend a few days away from the snow and cold! I'm looking forward to getting out of town! We are staying at the Polo Towers. Looks like a fun place.

January Dress

I have finally completed my "January Dress" for the monthly dress-up challenge offered by Margaret of Alice and Camilla blog. January is cold and snowy here in Montana so I wanted something 'quilty' yet with a few flowers to remind me that spring is on it's way! I've used vintage lace and ribbon, plus a tea-dyed paper doily for the collar and a strawflower from last year's garden! You can view the other participants dresses here as well. I'm still working on the closet to house all the creations, so I will let you know when it's done!

Magic Carpet Ride

When I saw the theme for One World One Heart was the Magic Carpet all I kept thinking of was the song Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. It was a 'psychedelic rock' piece recorded in 1968! Wow. Check it out here... I love this song. It makes me think of peace and love. And yes, I was alive and I do remember when it played on the RADIO!

Here are the lyrics!

I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine

On a cloud of sound I drift in the night

Any place it goes is right

Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here

Well, you don't know what we can find

Why don't you come with me little girl

On a magic carpet ride

You don't know what we can see

Why don't you tell your dreams to me

Fantasy will set you free

Close your eyes girl

Look inside girl

Let the sound take you away

Last night I held Aladdin's lamp

And so I wished that I could stay

Before the thing could answer me

Well, someone came and took the lamp away

I looked around, a lousy candle is all I found

Well, you don't know what we can find

Why don't you come with me little girl

On a magic carpet ride

Well, you don't kow what we can see

Why don't you tell your dreams to me

Fantasy will set you free

Close your eyes girl

Look inside girl

Let the sound take you away

So for the giveaway part!!! It's nothing very psychedelic but more shabby chic vintage...! I'm sure I will add to this collection but I have some vintage lacey pieces, a tin container, locally grown lavender, a charm pack of Moda L'Amour fabric, handmade salt dough heart ornaments, and more goodies! Hope you'll leave a comment to say hello! I will draw a winner on February 15th!

One World One Heart

I had read about One World, One Heart several weeks ago, but time has slipped away, so I don't have a photo of my giveaway until tomorrow! Hope that's ok. OWOH is a great way to meet other creative bloggers and to sign up for some really awesome giveaways from around the world! Please go to A Whimsical Bohemian blog for all the details! I am looking forward to this! Come back tomorrow to sign up for my giveaway! I will be naming a winner on February 15th so you can leave a comment on tomorrow's post!

Tiny Book Swap

I have joined a TINY book swap hosted by Julie Collings of the adventures of bluegirlxo. I have made these books before. Each page is about the size of an ATC (altered trading card). I am so excited. Photo is from Julie from a recent blogpost...! I think you can still join the swap if you are interested! Julie has instructions on her blog and you can also find instructions here and here. By the way - Julie is the author of a fantastic book I recently purchased - Pretty Little Felts. Some very yummy projects in here!

Paper Doilies

I saw this on a blog - tea-dying white paper doilies. I thought I'd try it. I soaked them in boiling water with two Lipton tea bags for about 10 minutes. I kept them mostly together. I let them dry, then separated them. I will probably iron them so they'll lay flat. Cool, huh? Not sure what I'll use them for but I like them.

Project for 2010

I am going to join Margaret of Alice and Camilla for this very fun dress project for 2010. We are going to use the pattern that Connie Govea Stuart created in the first issue of Somerset Life. I am going to create a little 'closet' for the clothes, similar to what Margaret has done! You can join us as well or check back on the blog for each month's creation!

** pictured is an image of Connie's dress from Somerset Life...

Best Buds

I really haven't posted a photo of me before because I think I'm terribly UN-photogenic... but I like this picture of me and my best bud, Karla, whom I've known for 18+ years...I believe this is one of the few pictures of us together! This is from my recent 50th (ack!) b-day party. I should probably photoshop out the green beer bottle. Don't know if it's hers or mine! I think this was taken during the dwindling hours of Saturday night... I'm not wearing make-up...I'm on the right!

My Color

I LOVE Alabama Chanin. If you are not familiar with her designs, lifestyle, etc. please check out her blog/website. I really like the look of her clothing. This dress is something I would love to wear - and it's one of my favorite colors. If I have to pick a 'color of the year' for me in 2010 - this will be it. I had a WONDERFUL birthday. Oh, my goodness. We had a house party with family and friends and I couldn't have asked for a better time. I just wish a few others could have been there!!! So ~ here's to my 50th year!!!

Check out this giveaway

Please go to Tammy's blog - The Other Side of Me - for this fantastic giveaway....

isn't this the most clever organizer?