Happy New Year!

Wishing you the happiest of New Years with those you love!

So Much To Share!

Well Christmas sort of came and went around here and while it was nice, I for one am aready for the new year! I have so many wonderful things going on and I can't wait to share so I will just dive right in.

I want to start by thanking Marie of Savon Marie for the most wonderful package I received in the mail the other day. I was so fortunate to win her blog contest to name her newest soap, "Sweet Embrace."

Now I wass hoping to get some pictures taken of all the amazing goodies she sent but my children (who love her soap just as much as I do) grabbed the goodies and literally ran to the bathroom to "play" with everything. Here are a few of her photos of some of the lovely things I received. Thank you so much Marie for a wonderful after Christmas present.
If you haven't tried her products I suggest you hop on over and see all the wonderful things she has to offer.

My favorite scents are the almond, vanilla and strawberries and cream. Yum!

Next up I wanted to share a little update on our trip to the Dallas Gift Market! We are wrapping up a few details and packing up to head out in a few weeks! Here is a look at just a few of the new lines we have developed for Spring 2010.

We are working to get all of the collections up on our site shortly (you can view them here) and will begin accepting pre-orders for both retail as well as wholesale.

It has been a long journey but we are learning so much and are very excited with the new items we have to offer.

Finally, I wanted to share some of the new things we just listed. We are so excited for Valentine's Day to arrive as it is one of our favorite holidays. We have lots of pretty paper creations including pixies (pictured in the beginning of the post), tags, Valentines. . and these adorable little tins filled with mini cards. We will be continuing to list new items throughout the week and be sure to sign up for our newsletter as well. We will be announcing our reopening early next week with special treats for our subscribers only! Thanks for visiting and we hope you and yours have a truly wonderful and safe New Year!

A Little "Junk" Mail

Yesterday I received some "junk" mail. . but not the kind we all usually get. This was was a wonderful Christmas surprise from two of truly the nicest people I have had the pleasure of working with, Steve and Polly of The French Cupboard.

As you may know I am a member of The French Cupboard along with so many other amazing boutiques. Stop by and get lost there as I often do. The photography alone is worth the visit!

Now back to my treats. Inside this burlap stitched bag was a beautiful stitched candy cane covered in lace and seam binding, some red and white twine and several pretty paper goodies. Thank you Polly and Steve for making my Christmas a little brighter. It was such a lovely surprise and really made my day.

Blessings to you all!
~Carrie

Meet Jane

This is Jane. She is a rather plain Jane at the moment. She will however be getting a very drastic makeover soon. Watch for her debut later this month!

Looking Towards Spring

I know Christmas is in full swing but here I am in a sea of pretty pastels. I just love spring and cannot wait for it to arrive.
With that said. . I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

My Tuesday Treasure

A little something to share this week. This beautifully altered vintage jewelry box is filled with lots of yummy notions. It is also available in The Treasure Chest. Wishing you a day filled with sweet inspiring treasures of your own.

And the winner is. . .

I really want to say thank you to all of you who entered the giveaway. Your sweet comments truly mean so much to me! ((())) Now for the winner. . .

I used random.org and the lucky winner is # 25~ Connie from She Dreams Big!! By the way, you should stop by her cute blog when you get a chance!
Congratulations to you and thank you all again! I'll have to do these more often!

It's My 200th Post!!!

I can't believe I have reached my 200th blog post!
What a wonderful year and a half it has been. To celebrate I am having a giveaway. One lucky person will win everything pictured here!

A one of a kind journal.

A set of tags trimmed in vintage lace,

and all the little extras shown here. It will come to you beautifully wrapped with some extra special little touches.
To enter simply leave me a comment and be sure I can contact you by e-mail if you win. One winner will be randomly selected and announced on Friday, December 4th. Good luck!

The Finished Product

Here they are! I didn't think I would get them ready. . you see, I have a bad habit of starting one project and then moving on and starting another. You see the pattern. . . My distraction this time is something I am so excited about! A furniture makeover which I will begin very soon and blog as I go. I found an amazing old desk for $12.00 and a great chair for $5.00, but more on them later. Here are the journals.

The first one is actually an off white color, it looks a bit cream in the picture.

Next up is the soft rose.

Last up is the blue-gray, my favorite.
These will be available for wholesale in the color of your choice and will debut at the Dallas Market in January. I may also carry them on my site for retail as well. Thanks for stopping by and my next blog post is #200 so I'd better come up with something good. .. maybe a giveaway. :)

A look at things to come. .

I thought I would give a little preview of one of the new journal designs we are working on for the Dallas Market in January. This is part of our spring line of new journals, tags, garlands and tussie mussies. This particular design offers three color variations. They are in the beginning stages but I am loving the vintage wallpaper and beautiful ephemera! Check back on Tuesday for a look at the finished product.

Where did the week go?

I am finding it hard to believe it is Thursday already and that Thanksgiving is just next week! I was reminded of this when a large group of sweet children came to my door late this afternoon collecting canned food for the homeless. I was also reminded of how truly blessed we are at this time of year. Now, on another note I managed to squeeze in some time between preparing for the Dallas Market, to take pictures of a wonderful variety of new cards and tags I will begin listing later today hopefully. Here is a look at a few of them.

What a Thrill!

We are so grateful to be featured in the January 2010 issue of Romantic Homes in the "Sites We Are Loving" section. Be sure to pick up your copy and check us out on page 13! Thank you Romantic Homes, one of our favorite magazines. It is such a dream come true to see our name and our creations in such an amazing publication! I just have to pinch myself each time I look at it!

A Sense of Accomplishment

This week was a struggle to find the time to get much done. I was a bit under the weather and the holiday threw a relaxing kink in my week. Alas, my creative bug kicked in and this is what I came up with.

I have been wanting to give this washboard/shelf a makeover for quite a while now. I covered it with vintage wallpaper, added vintage glass buttons for knobs and accented it with bits of old lace and trims.

I also made several new holiday tussie mussies in a variety of styles and colors. They are left empty and just have a bit of crinkle paper and a coordinating tag. I think they are wonderful filled with pretty little gifts and stocking stuffers.

This blue one is my favorite! I just love the ephemera. and crispness of the soft blue and white.

All of these new creations and more are available on our site. Wishing you a wonderful upcoming weekend!

Tea Time

Yesterday was my little one's 4th birthday tea party. As you can see, while we were setting up she was all smiles. I have to say it was such a fun day and after all the planning and set up it was so worth it! A comment on the pictures. . . my sweet hubby was playing photographer, and while he got many great shots, he did not get any of the food or tables all done up! Ahhh!!! All that work and no pictures! The kids and moms seemed to have a nice time so in the end I guess that's all that matters. Here we go!

We had a table for the moms to enjoy their tea and yummies, and lots of pretty flowers.

Francesca was all dressed and ready to go!

The girls had fun frolicking around the garden blowing bubbles in their pretty dresses and hats.

I just loved this shot!

It wouldn't be a tea party without a rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot."

Then it was time to eat! They gathered around for lots of yummy snacks. .

and fun finger sandwiches. Who doesn't love pink and purple bread?

It was then time for a few activities. . .

which gave the moms and grandma a chance to enjoy some tea, cucumber sandwiches and petite fours. Yum!

After much fun it was time to open presents.

Then it was time for cake!

This is what my son thought of the whole thing. . pink, girls, yuck!

She loved her snowball shaped cake which had to be pink of course!

The party ended with smiles, laughter and fun playing with good friends.