Rose Garden Romantic

2009-07-02T11:01:00.010-05:00

A Little Bit of This and That....
Hello! No real theme today. Just a little show and tell. Above is the beautiful plate my sweet mama bought me on our Mother's Day antiquing trip. I had one just like it years ago, but one fateful day I was cleaning and knocked down the shelf holding it and many of my other favorite dishes, breaking them all. I saved the dishes so I could salvage their beauty and make a mosaic with them, maybe around a mirror frame or picture frames.Next a photo of some of my favorite rhinestone pieces on a pretty dish. When I can't go shopping for vintage treasures, the next best thing for me is to play with the ones I have. I had fun yesterday while Mr. Baby was sleeping. I redecorated the top of my TV cabinet with some pretty white baskets, vintage hats, and a pretty white frame.I found two of the baskets at Goodwill for only a dollar each and I found the lovely swan there, also.
I also redecorated my jadite green side table with a curio cabinet filled with millinery flowers and other vintage goodies, a cute lamp I found at the Goodwill, a baby book, my own baby shoes and my favorite teacup.
My sweet little carnival doll- I love her. She always makes me smile.
And of course I have to show off this super sweet photo of Daddy and Mr. Baby.Michelle xoxo

2009-06-28T17:22:00.005-05:00

My three boys and more cute stuff....
First a few pics of my adorable boys.
This adorable vintage baby book was Mother's Day gift from my sweet mama. It is perfect and unused inside so I can use it as a baby book for Dylan. I just love it!
There are so many sweet illustrations inside.

So cute!!This next one is my favorite.
This adorable baby plate is another sweet gift from my mama.She also gave me this gorgeous vintage rose corsage!! She knows exactly what I love!It's a bit late, but I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day (and Father's Day!) Mine was very special because my sweet mama was visiting from California and I have another sweet baby boy to love!! We were lucky enough to have a little fun at one of our favorite antique malls. Dylan was only two weeks old then, so he slept the whole time! Oh, that reminds me my mama bought me one more beautiful Mother's Day present at the antique mall. I will show you in my next post!!
Michelle xoxo

2009-06-18T18:03:00.005-05:00

Meet Dylan Connor.....
Here is my newest little guy. His big brothers and his daddy and I adore him!! He is eight weeks old now and he's my excuse for my neglecting my poor blog. I will try to blog more soon!!
Michelle xoxo

2009-04-11T23:14:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter!!!
Oh dear!! How can it be that I have not posted since the last holiday? I have decided to blame it on the awful flu that our little family has been suffering from for weeks and the fact that I am in my last trimester of pregnancy! Whatever energy I have has been put towards nursing us all back to health and getting our nest ready for our new little bundle of joy. The gender is going to be a surprise and we can't wait!! Only two and half weeks left till my due date! So exiting! I hope to start posting more often very soon. Here are a few photos of my Easter hutch. Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!!!

2009-02-13T07:58:00.008-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I haven't posted for a while because one of my sweet boys has been sick with the flu and early stage pneumonia,but no worries- he is recovered now. Also, sweet husband rebuilt the computer and at this point I don't have access to my photos. What fun is a blog post without some pretty photos?? I will be back soon. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!!!!

2009-01-19T17:09:00.007-06:00

Having lots of fun today....
I have been busy making pretty Valentines with my stash of vintage goodies!!
I can't decide which one of these I love more. One is for my sweet mama, so I will let her pick which one she likes the best. I love the checked paper I used on the sides.I started out just planning to cover one vintage cardboard candy box, but I was liking it so much, I just used the top of the box for one of these Valentines and the bottom for the other one.I was lucky enough to go to my favorite antique malls in town this weekend. (All 5 of them!!) My excuse was looking for presents for my sweet mama's upcoming birthday. I had so much fun and found lots of little goodies. These are a few of my favorite finds. (Look away, Mama! Some of these things may find their way into your present!)

2009-01-12T08:15:00.010-06:00

Dreaming of Paris.....
I love this new vignette I created! It is my ode to Paris, one of the many places I dream of visiting someday. My Wendy Addison "dream" banner and some vintage lace over my favorite mirror. I so wish I had bought two of these gorgeous mirrors when I found them years ago at Marshalls!A basket full of vintage lace, a vintage glass doorknob and my little Eiffel tower up on a pedestal. I love this palette of silver, tan, black and every shade of white. I would love to do an entire room in these colors.
An old rusty alarm clock, and lots of pretty laces. Some in an old jar with a rusty key and the rest in my wire basket. I had been looking for a wire basket just like this for years before I found one at guess where? The Goodwill, of course!
This silver tray, (tarnished to perfection!) was my grandmothers. Upon it sits a (copy of) and old French hotel receipt, a chandelier crystal, another rusty key, an old watch face, some vintage millinery, lace. and vintage rhinestone jewelry and another cute Eiffel Tower from one of my very favorite stores, "Fleuri". If you live in the Sacramento area you should stop by the store. It is amazing!
I also had a little fun taking some photos of a few of my favorite vintage goodies.
I love to collect these vintage button cards. The "Blue Bird Pearls" one is my all time favorite.
My prettiest teacup with a few sparkling rhinestones inside.
Lots of pretty laces, more rhinestons, vintage sheet music tied up in seam binding, vintage millinery, my very own baby shoes and my sweet husband's grandfather's baby spoon.And last, a little Valentine I created. Now I need to go do something a lot less fun than decorating. Time to clean the cottage. It might be a little more fun if mine looked like this...or if I had this adorable polka dot dress to wear while cleaning.....or these cute aprons to wear.....or maybe if I tied up all my towels with pretty pink bows like the lovely lady below it would be more fun? What do you do to make your household tasks a little more pleasant? I would love to hear your thoughts. Have a lovely day!

2009-01-08T16:00:00.007-06:00

My favorite pastime.....(aside from shopping at my favorite antique stores!) is to put on some classical music and decorate my home, rearranging the furnishings, moving things from one room to another.After I moved things around to make room for the Christmas tree I like where everything was placed, but still had a big blank corner where the tree had been. So I stole the pretty pink dresser from my studio and brought it to the living room.I brought out a few of my favorite vintage goodies to decorate the dresser top. This is my new favorite corner. It has made my living room so much more cozy and I really needed the extra lamplight.
Next I took an old wire basket that I had spray painted a soft pink and used it to store some of my favorite vintage linens.And do you remember that pretty white oval frame my sweet father sneakily (is that a word?) bought me while I was busy shopping in an antique store a last summer? I finally found the perfect place to hang it. I used it to frame some of my pretty vintage treasures.Here is my jadite green enamelware teapot. I think it looks so pretty with the this vintage pillow that is made from a piece of vintage quilt.
And I have been busy making some valentines, but this is the only one that is ready to be seen.

2009-01-04T02:26:00.019-06:00

Happy New Year!!
Oh my! I am still trying to recover my home from the toy tornado that hit on Christmas morning! Packaging and toys spread all over the house! Here are a couple more of my Christmas presents. My sweet boys gave me a homemade gift certificate to buy what I wanted and I found these beautiful mercury glass candlesticks, which is something I have been wanting for years now. I just love them! Also, my sweet husband and I did not exchange gifts on Christmas because we just were not sure what we wanted. (We are the kind who would love if it were possible to surprise the other and buy something we know the other would love, but are completely incapable of doing so, so we have always pretty much picked out our own presents!) So when I fell in love with this adorable cottage style table in the perfect shade of jadite green at T.J. Maxx, sweet husband bought it for my Christmas present!!Just what my living room needed to look more cozy and homey and I can always use more tabletop space to display all my treasures! Thank you so much, sweetheart!! Here is a close up of some of the gorgeous vintage goodies my sweet mama sent me and next a few of my favorite vintage buttons.My latest Goodwill find is the sweet little lamp for only 3.99! It just need a nice simple shade.And here is something I forgot to share. This summer, when I was visiting California, my dear mother in law gave me this beautiful rose plate that once belonged to her beloved mother, Jewel. Isn't Jewel such a sweet, old fashioned name? I love those kinds of names and I have been thinking a lot about names lately because sweet husband and I will be needing to pick one out by the end of April. We are expecting a new little bundle of joy this Spring! We are so exited and so are our two little guys. Our 7 year old even wished on a star that he could have a baby sister or brother not long before we told him the news! Isn't that so sweet?

2008-12-27T22:17:00.012-06:00

A Very Merry Christmas!
It was a very Merry Christmas at our house. Lots and lots of toys and cute little smiling faces. Sadly, we were not able to go home for Christmas this year so that was hard. My sweet mama sent me the most wonderful package full of delights! Lots of pretty new and vintage ornaments for my tree, beautiful embroidered linens and a vintage hat, pretty floral plates and best of all, a jewelry chest full of goodies displayed beautifully!!
It included vintage and new jewelry, vintage millinery flowers, pretty buttons and much more! The day after Christmas I spent visiting my favorite places to shop- the Goodwill and the Salvation Army stores. Its' our family's favorite pastime now. The boys love finding great toys, sweet hubby loves finding music CDs and manly treasures, and I find lots of pretty goodies for my home. My latest finds are these two great cottage style chairs I found at the Goodwill for only 2.99 each!! I love the pretty spindles and carved details on these chairs!I also was delighted to find this Rachel Ashwell's Simply Shabby Chic lampshade which I bought and Target several years ago and returned only to regret it later. I paid only 2.50 for it at the Salvation Army!
Love, love, love thrift stores. Hoping all of you are having a wonderful and fun holiday season with your loved ones.
Michelle xoxo

2008-11-24T16:43:00.009-06:00

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.......
Eeeeee!!! I finally got my white tree!! I have always wished I lived somewhere where it snows at Christmas time, but I never have. So I bought myself a pretty white "snow covered" tree. I love the way my aqua, pink and silver ornaments look on it and happily, my homemade ornaments look right at home on it, too! Hope you are all having fun getting ready for the holidays like I am. Christmas decorating is one of my favorite things to do and this year I manged to show great restraint by waiting until the end of November to decorate. Usually I am decorating the day after Halloween, but I know that is a bit extreme and kind of confusing to my little guys, so I waited this year. I think I need to get busy making some more fun little ornaments like these.

2008-10-16T18:26:00.004-05:00

15 Happy Years!!
So happy to celebrate being married to Sweet Husband for 15 years!! Thank you, my dear sweet husband, for all the happy years and for putting up with this crazy girl, for claiming you love all my girly shabby chic decor, for ignoring my artistic messes, and for understanding me and loving me for who I am. XOXOAs you can see, I have been having a bit of fun making Christmas ornaments for that white Christmas tree I'm hoping to buy this year. I can't wait to make some more!

2008-10-13T06:54:00.005-05:00

The time flew by.....
My sweet mama just left and I miss her already. We had so much fun together while she was here! Below is a photo of my pretty new mirror I found at the antique store. I bought it with my birthday money. Just what I needed in my studio. My studio is my favorite room in the house. So full of bright, happy sparkling goodies and lots of art!!And here is one more fun thing I found at the antique store- some vintage Christmas ornaments. I have really been wanting some of these for a while now and it was only $4 for the box, so I could not resist! They would look so pretty on the white Christmas tree I am hoping to buy this Christmas!! Once I saw Jenny's white tree, I knew I had to have one!! Maybe since I had to clean up the studio for my sweet mama to stay in I will get some art done now! I'm itching to create some cute ornaments for that white tree I'm hoping for!
Michelle xoxo

2008-10-07T14:46:00.010-05:00

Birthday week fun!!
What a fun week it has been with my parents visiting!! We celebrated my birthday by eating at Pasados (I adore Mexican food!) and we had a yummy white cake with buttercream frosting, which is my favorite! Then I got to open my wonderful presents!! Here are a few of the goodies my sweet mama gave me..... two adorable vintage embroidered linens with scottie dogs, some pretty trims and buttons,
this gorgeous vintage dishtowel (faded just perfectly!),soft pretty sheet music and perfectly coordinating vintage wallpaper,this amazing vintage tablecloth- also faded to perfection,sparkling goodies for making art and a necklace pendant I can personalize with my own artwork or photo,
this pretty crazed plate, more vintage trims,lots of my favorite candy,and this amazing vintage hat!! I had some fun creating a vignette inspired my fabulous new hat and sheet music.
And of course, whenever my sweet mama visits we always must go antiquing!! These photos are from my favorite antique store called "Gatherings" in Georgetown.
The serenity of white.
Cute, cute stuff!!! Love the vintage toys and dolls!!

Here is my dad with my littlest guy. My dad is so sweet to always keep the kids busy so mama and I can have some kid free fun.Here is my cutie in front of one of my favorite antique stores called "Rough and Ready" in Georgetown.
I had such a fun week! Sadly, my dad had to go home after a week, but my mama gets to stay for another week!! So there is more fun to be had!

2008-10-01T05:44:00.014-05:00

Happy Birthday to....... me!!!It is my 35th birthday and I am getting the best present- my sweet parents are coming to visit!! That means some fun antique and thrift shopping with my mama! I will bring along my camera because I know you girlies love to see those photos of all the gorgeous antique stores as much as I do!! This lovely little aqua vase is my latest Goodwill find. It was only 99 cents!!I have not been creating much lately, but I did make this sweet scrapbook page. I also had some fun painting and adding glitter to these vintage bluebirds. Can't wait to use them in a project!!Well, I must go do some last minute cleaning before my parents arrive. Will be back with some yummy photos in a day or two.

2008-09-11T08:02:00.008-05:00

Shabby Chic Blog!!!
Just had to pop in today to let all you Shabby Chic fans that Rachel Ashwell has a blog now!! Just click here to visit!!I know I haven't posted much lately~ will be back soon!!Here is a little eye candy till I return.Michelle xoxo

2008-08-25T07:40:00.011-05:00

My little guy's first day of school....My oldest son started 1st grade yesterday. He's never been apart from me for more than about 2 hours, so I hope he has fun at school and makes lots of friends. He was exited to go to school for the first time, but the night before he got scared and he kept saying, "Mama, I don't think I can be without you for 7 hours!!" Poor sweetie. When I picked him up he said "I don't like school!" His main complaint is that they don't let him talk!I think it's just going to take a little getting used to! LOL! He didn't complain about going to school today, so I think it's going to be o.k.

2008-08-07T14:26:00.004-05:00

The good old days...

LOVE these old cartoons!! Don't you? You can finds lots more on YouTube!

2008-08-05T06:59:00.021-05:00

A Magic Fairy and a magical place...
I have been artistically frustrated lately. Not a lot of time to create and when I do find time I feel my head is just full of too many non-specific ideas! But I did create a little something- my Shopping Fairy. I have had so much luck at the Goodwill stores I knew there must be a little someone magic helping me. I call her the Shopping Fairy. She is a cutie, isn't she? I thought you all might like to see my little buddy. Since I don't have my sweet Mama to shop with here in Texas, at least I've got this little lady who helps me find all the best Goodwill goodies!
Just have to show you my new dress. Sadly, I haven't worn a dress more than once in the last 6 years since I had my little guys. I am such a girly girl it is nice to be dressing pretty again and I am going to keep it up.

My parents live in a small town in California and there are NO good places to shop. They finally have some of my favorite discount stores (Ross and Marshalls!) and a few good fast food places (In and Out!) , but absolutely no good antique or just pretty stores- except this one. It's called "Vintage House Nursery". It is a charming old house with the most amazing overgrown (in a good way!) garden. It reminds me of one of my favorite books, "The Secret Garden". It is beautiful with all sorts of paths to follow and get lost in. And the best part for the kids is the garden is full of funny looking chickens and baby chicks and a sweet friendly kitty to pet, too!Once you step through the door, there is more magic to behold. Every room of the house is filled to the brim with vintage and new (vintage inspired) goodies. There are decorations for every holiday and season! I'm better be off now to "play house" as my sweet online friend Jo would say. If you don't know Jo, you must go visit her blog. She is one of the most charming people you will ever "meet" online. She lives her own little magical world in Australia called "Fairy Cake Pond". That is why I love the internet. You can meet kindred spirits from all over the world that really "get" you when the people in real life look at you as if you have lost your mind when you buy a chippy piece of furniture, a mirror with the silver backing nearly gone, or a vintage dress form (and name it and dress it up!) And when you show them (gasp!) your artwork and they say "I don't know what I am looking at". LOL! (Yes, sweet husband said that! But he meant it in the most sincere way!) It's nice to go online and know you are not alone. :) Love you guys!!

2008-07-28T19:47:00.012-05:00

There's no place like home....
I've been back home for a week now, but I am just now settling in. It was wonderful to visit my home state and live in my childhood home with my sweet parents for a few weeks, but now it is good to be home in Texas with Sweet Husband, who I missed dearly! My parents took us to Six Flags, we swam in their pool nearly every day and of course there was some antiquing to be done!! Here are a few of the goodies I came home with. The silver tray was my grandmother's, the millinery flower , lace and rhinestone buttons were antique store finds and the adorable little teapot is another one of my Goodwill finds. Apparently my Goodwill store luck isn't confined to Texas!These pretty pillowcases and the lovely vintage embroidered linens below are some my sweet mama gave me from her fabulous collection! Thanks Mama!!
Mama came back to Texas with us and stayed a week and we were lucky enough to visit my favorite antique stores and we found a few goodies. Here are Mama's finds and in the next photo
are mine. I could not resist the photo of this lovely young lady at a dance and the soft pink velvety millinery flower.
And lastly, a few photos of my mother's beautiful home and garden...
How lucky am I to have grown up in such a beautiful place?? You can see more photos of her lovely home and garden here.

2008-06-23T10:27:00.004-05:00

I love the Goodwill: Part IIMy sweet Mama arrived on Saturday night!! Yay!! Sunday we went to one of our favorite antique stores. I didn't bring my camera because I shared photos of the same antique mall just a few posts ago. We didn't buy anything at the antique mall, but afterwards we stopped by the Goodwill and I found something I have been looking for for years- the cute wooden linen rack that is in the above photo. I have found many over the years, but they always were ridiculous prices but this one was only $2.99!!! My sweet Mama bought it for me! Thank you, Mama!! It is so nice to have a place to display my beautiful vintage embroidered linens so I can see them everyday, instead of having them stored in a box.
This pretty pillow is another favorite recent Goodwill find. It is a Rachel Ashwell "Simply Shabby Chic" pillow sham. It was only $4.99!! I just love the gorgeous print and colors on this fabric! I will be leaving for California tomorrow and will be gone for about a month, so don't forget about me!! I will be bringing my camera, so I should have lots to share when I return!
Michelle xoxo

2008-06-20T18:54:00.008-05:00

Summer fun and I've got the blues
Here are my sweeties enjoying summertime. The little one above, is gardening with a plastic spoon. He digs for roley poley bugs and then brings them in the house to be his pet. He puts them in his Fischer-Price house and make them ride in his toy cars. It is SO cute. (I limit him to one roley poley in the house at a time, in case you were wondering if there were bugs all over my house!) Don't you love the fake smile he is giving me? My big guy, who is 6, is doing an rather interesting pose. To me it looks like he is posing for a hunky guy calendar!! (Not that I look at that sort of thing!LOL!!)
My sweet Mama will be coming soon and then the kids and I will be heading to California with her for a long visit. Since I will be gone I thought I would post my photos for next weeks Shades of Inspiration group a little early. This week the color is another of my faves, blue!!
My blue enamelware coffee pot which is my very favorite shade of blue!
Lots of pretty blue buttons.
Love my striped pillow and the embroidered one , too. I think they look so summery.A lovely blue transferware plate. I have SO many blue transferware pieces but they are stashed away in the garage because I have way to many dishes!!A blue basket full of seaside treasures.My dotted pitcher which I adore.Most of my blue goodies all piled together. Someday I would love to decorate my bedroom in a blue and white seaside theme.
And lastly, a fun little blue tag I made.
My mom will be arriving late Saturday and Sunday we will go have some fun at our favorite antique store, so I might do one more fun post before I leave if I remember to take my camera with me.
Michelle xoxo

2008-06-10T12:49:00.005-05:00

Seeing green.... I adore green, especially Jadite green!! I have been collecting Jadite and other light green colored goodies for years, so I was so happy when I found out this week's theme for the "Shades of Inspiration" group on Flickr is green! I love the pretty pattern on these beautiful sheets my sweet Mama gave me for Christmas!Not a very good photo of it, but I love this lantern I found years ago at Restorations Hardware!
A vintage green pot holder. I will have to share my pot holder collection with you all soon!
A sweet greeting card I received long ago.
I adore my sweet Mary Englebreit dish towel.
A jadite green vintage cupbaord door.
Vintage green alarm clock and lots of buttons is all shades of green!Last, but not least this adorable potholder with a happy vintage style!!

2008-06-02T16:52:00.006-05:00

I love the Goodwill storeI found this amazing "Simply Shabby Chic" bookcase that I have been wanting from Target for years at the Goodwill store this weekend!! It is $200 new at Target. I got it for $29 at the Goodwill and there is only one minor and fixable flaw- nothing a little spackel and cream paint won't fix! Yay!! I'm just so giddy about this wonderful find!! As you can see I have already started loading it up with my art supplies!
Here is a photo of my sweet baby boy. It is so hard to get him to look at the camera for long enough for me to get a shot. It took about 40 tries to get this cute one.
And here I am with my big boy. Also one that won't look at the camera for more than a split second!
I haven't been keeping up with "Show and Tell Sunday" even though they the themes are ones I could be taking some great photos for. I just haven't felt like decorating and taking photos lately- someone call the doctor, I must be sick! LOL! Anyway, hopefully I will crawl out of this funk and do one big catch up post soon. Also, I have been tagged by a couple of you lovely ladies and I promise to get to that soon!
Michelle xoxo

2008-05-15T12:52:00.006-05:00

Smile Like You Mean It
I just HAD to create something with some different colors and I really like how this one turned out! I so love this photo I used courtesy of SassyArts from Flickr. She has some really wonderful photos that she shares in the Collage Images group on Flickr. Don't you just love that wonderful smile on her face? When I saw her I knew she would be perfect for the phrase "There 's a Silver Lining to Every Cloud" . This piece has such a happy feeling- it makes me smile every time I look at it!This is a little banner I created. I just love the little girl's face! I have been feeling so inspired lately- my muse has been keeping me quite busy! I hope she is here for an extended visit this time! I'm off to visit all of your blogs, ladies, because really YOU are all are my muse and you never fail to inspire me!! Thank you!!
Michelle xoxoxo