Giorgina from Decor Medley recently interviewed me for her website. Before I started blogging the only interviews I was lucky enough to get were job interviews! It's such an honor that someone would want to interview me just because of my blog! Isn't blogging great? You can read the interview by clicking here. Thank you Giorgina!
Do you remember that last month I showed you some beautiful things that Lorrie, one of my blog readers sent me? Well, she sent me more beautiful things! When I came home Wednesday night all happy with my double soup tureen jackpot there was a package waiting for me. How good can one day get? Really? And how did I suddenly become such a lucky person? Actually I've always been really lucky except in love. Anyway...look at these beautiful things. Lorrie and I email back and forth a lot because we love the same things. She's now got me hooked on Cambridge Glass and I've been bad and bidding on some on eBay. I told Lorrie she's a bad influence on me. She told me that I'm a bad influence on her! Haha! I have yet to win a bid but I may keep trying!
She sent me two Cambridge glass sugar and creamer sets. It's hard to photograph the beautiful etched pattern on them. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see more detail! They are gorgeous!
She also sent me a lot of hand painted plates! These will be moving into my hutch this weekend!
Did you notice I put my soup tureens in the blue armoire in the background?
Oops the cherries are upside down! I didn't notice that when I took the photo!
She also sent me another sterling ladle. GORGEOUS!!!
Thank you Lorrie! I love them all!!! You are such a generous person!!!
Every morning when I wake up, I tell myself "something amazing is going to happen today!" Then on my drive to work I say it to myself again. Throughout the day whenever I think about it I say it again and again. I don't just say it, but I really feel it! I really believe in the power of positive thinking and living in a positive way. Any way, to get to the point, something amazing happened to me yesterday but I have to go back and tell the story from the beginning...A couple months ago I found some cute little soup bowls (pictured above) at Marshalls. I thought it would be nice to have a soup tureen to match them so I did a Google search and found the perfect tureen at Williams Sonoma. The only problem... it was really expensive and there was no way I would spend that much on a soup tureen. So last night I stopped in the Salvation Army on my way home from work and you are not going to believe this....there on the shelf, were TWO of the Williams Sonoma's soup tureens!!! TWO!!!! The price....$7.50 each!!! I couldn't wait to get home and look them up on the Williams Sonoma website because I couldn't remember how much they were. I did my little happy dance when I saw they sell for $139 each!!! The suggested retail is $166.00! HAPPY! HAPPY! HAPPY!!!!
I bought one for me and one for my mom!
My theory is that someone must have bought these for their holiday dinner and then didn't want to store them. One of them still has the paper sticker on the bottom! I'm glad I live among these rich Silicon Valley people that like to donate their expensive things to the thrift stores for me to find!!!
I've been so busy making things for my etsy shop that I didn't even have a chance to figure out what I was going to put on my blog today so I just grabbed some of my old photos so I could have something pretty to share with you. If you've been reading my blog for awhile you've probably already seen these...I apologize. These were taken on my trip to Martha's Vineyard in June 2006! I'm hoping that I can return there for a vacation in the summer of 2010! I just have to save my pennies or win the lottery.
Thanks to all of you who entered my giveaway! I read every single comment and I'm so touched! You really don't have to say all those nice things to be entered to win. Next time I have a giveaway I'm going to say "no compliments" because I find myself blushing as I'm reading them. You are all so sweet and nice and polite!
This is my 600th post! Wow, that's mind-boggling to me! I can't believe that's possible! This blogging thing has become such a big part of my life...I actually feel like I'm a happier person now than before I started blogging. Does anyone else feel that into it or is it just that my life is so boring that this excites me? (I'm joking, my life is not boring, at least not to me) Anyway in honor of my 600th post and my new etsy shop, I would like to give away a pink toile heart. I'll probably throw in a couple other Valentine related things too!
Just leave a comment below by Friday night (Jan. 30, 2009) at 9:00 PM Pacific Time to enter. You don't have to have a blog to enter, just make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! I'll post the winner this weekend!
Look what I made this weekend! I am so thrilled with how it turned out!
It all started when I found this pink toile scrapbook paper. I planned on just putting it on a heart but then I thought it would make a wonderful banner for my hutch so I bought some coordinating scrapbook papers.
I couldn't find any lightweight letters so I bought a thick wood X and O to use as a pattern and a sheet of foam board. (I wanted to spell LOVE but they were out of L's) I traced the letters and the heart on the foam board and cut them out. Had I known that this would take forever to do, I probably wouldn't have started it. Let me tell you...it's really hard to get a clean cut with an X-Acto knife so I had sand the edges to get them straight and smooth...very time consuming!
I really would love to find some lightweight letters so I could make these for my etsy shop! I will be putting some pink toile hearts on my etsy shop soon. 
I have been busy this weekend making new things for my etsy shop and filling special orders! I just added this tassel, the green is a little brighter than this photo shows. I'll be adding some Valentine items next week! I've had so much fun making things but now I must clean the house!
I had mentioned earlier in the week that I had done some silk ribbon embroidery in the past. Here is some of my work. I added the embroidery to two stretch velvet shirts I had purchased. I did the embroidery at the neckline and at the wrist of each sleeve.
I also added some seed pearl beads which you really can't see in these photos. Believe it or not, these shirts have been through the washer and dryer many, many times! I'm amazed at how well the silk ribbon holds up.
I taught myself how to do this after I saw a beautiful piece in a quilt store while shopping with my mom. I still remember how amazed I was when I first saw it! I could not believe that you could embroider with silk ribbon...it just didn't seem like you would be able to pull ribbon through a piece of fabric! My mom assured me that it wasn't that hard to do. I already knew how to do basic embroidery because I had taken every sewing, craft, and Home Economics class that was available to me in Jr. High and High School and my mom had also taught me some things. I bought myself a silk ribbon embroidery book and went for it! It's so much fun...I would like to do some more of this some day! I sure wish I had more time to do everything that I love to do! 
Here's a little secret...
if you mix real dried hydrangeas...
with silk dried hydrangeas...
it's hard to tell they aren't all real! I don't listen to those designers that tell you to get rid of all your silk flowers! I think nice silk flowers in moderation look fine! 
I had to share some more heartfelt gifts I received from some blogging friends. The ever-so-talented Pat ~ Birds Nest on the Ground made me this pincushion! It looks big in these photos but it's just the right size to fit in the palm of your hand. Think about that when you look at the embroidery on this. Those little daisies are so tiny and dainty. Notice the beaded edging...gorgeous! She even added pins with blue and white beads! I love the ribbon embroidered roses! I used to do ribbon embroidery years ago. Maybe I'll show you some of mine later this week. You must visit Pat's blog to see her amazing needlework! She is so talented!
I also received a gift from my blogging friend Carol~Meadowsweet Days. I have to show you the beautiful bag first.
I think these French Dragees look pretty sexy in their beautiful, see-through bag. 
You may remember that I tried to find these to decorate my Christmas cookies and found out that they are illegal in California because they contain trace amounts of silver. Carol was so sweet and surprised me with some! I may even pull out the pink ones for Valentines Day cookies! You must go visit Carol and see her gorgeous conservatory! I dream of having a conservatory one day!
January just seems like it should be white, silver and crystal to me so that's what I did! My $10 flea market silver tray is filled with crystal candle sticks with white candles, mercury glass and white silk hydrangeas.
I think I'll work on just changing my centerpiece once a month. Maybe we should have a monthly centerpiece party and I'll put up a Mr. Linky so we can all join in! Does that sound like something you would like to see or be a part of? It would be a great way to get new ideas!
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