Focus on your ARTIBILITY!!!

When I set out to write this post, I already knew that I loved Anna's jewelry...and that I had a lot of respect for her for serving our country as a Marine.  I would have never guessed just how much admiration I would have for her after this post was done...
Let me state the obvious...she really REALLY makes beautiful jewelry...

Seriously, I could have filled up pages with the gorgeousness (is that a word??) in her shops!

BUT...did you know that some of the beautiful items she makes, are fundraisers that help kids with AUTISM, artists w/disabilities and to raise funds for our Marine Corps League!!  OR that her son, CJ, helps with the jewelry, has his own page on her shop AND..has obviously gotten his mothers gift of artistry..

Anna has several beautiful shops...one on Etsy, another one Artfire, another that is still under construction here, and my absolute favorite....This shop is so cool, because she shows personality for each style of her designs!!  What a brilliant idea!!

Here's just one of the many personalities...my personal favorite...Sabina..

I know it's tiny, but if you go here you can read it much better, and see the just how much thought is put into all of the loveliness in Anna's work.

I would like to leave you with two thoughts...first is a quote from Anna's shop home page, which I loved as soon as I saw it:

"A person is not measured by their possessions, but rather by their Heart and Soul ~ Their trinkets are a small glimpse of the style that represents who we all are ~ So be classy, be unique, be kind, but most of all, just BE" ~~ Anna

Thank you Anna, for letting me share all that makes you and your jewelry wonderful!!

The second thing I wanted to say is that I've been seeing a lot of sites lately saying they will do feature of your shop if you send me XYZ, and that's great, for them.  I do NOT get, nor do I want anything for doing these features...

I do these because I love handmade things, and truely believe in helping promote the artists that bring such wonderful things to our lives...that said, my comment door is always open, and I'd love to share more shops with all of you!  If you have a shop you'd like featured, just drop me a note!

hugs,

heather

Winds of Change....

With Earth day right around the corner, (April 22...yup that's tomorrow!!)  I can not think of a better time to tell you all about this great shop.  We all know how important it is to recycle....and Misti, from Prairie Wind Designs, is doing just that! 

Misti uses previously loved clothing and top quality quilting fabric, to make wonderful bags, toddler dresses and the cutest little mary janes!

Misti says in her profile, growing up in Kansas on a farm, she learned the value of making things with her hands, and that her Grandma was the master of making something out of nothing...

She also says in her profile, that her sewing machine brought her comfort when her husband was deployed.....

Prairie Wind Design is a beautiful, cozy shop... If you haven't checked them out, you should stop over and say Hi! 

You can also find Misti and Prairie Wind Designs on facebook here or on twitter here.

I also wanted to let you all know that the wonderful Dolcie from DeeCee's Wire Wonders gave me another sunshine award!! 

Oh how I love those beautiful flowers!!  Thank you so much Dolcie!!  If you haven't checked out her shop, you really should!  It's full of gorgeous handmade jewelry like this

and that's just one beautiful piece from her shop!!

Thank you again Dolcie!! 

hugs,

heather

Where is your Home?

  I was on facebook the other day, and my lovely friend Kris, from Aprons by MeMe posed a question to all of us.  "Where would you like to live if you had a CHOICE?????"  Kris stirred up a heck of a conversation with this question, with everyone going back and forth about where they'd love to live.
  This made me wonder if everyone felt like the rest of us?
  I live in Cincinnati, but, Cincinnati is not, and never will be, home.  (Now before anyone from Cincinnati gets bent out of shape, I've lived here a long time, this is where I met my husband and where my babies were born.  I love Cincinnati, but....)
  Home to me is here..
                                                                  Buttermilk Falls, NY

and here..

Whiteface Mountain, NY

and here....

Sitting on the back porch at my daddys house, in upstate NY.

New York will always be home to me.... there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it, or talk about how beautiful it is there.

Where is home to you????

hugs,

heather

Mantel Makeover and a Giveaway at The Ruby Blog!

I have to say that The Ruby Blog is one blog that I check out everyday... Not only does her blog always have something great on it, but her shops rock as well!  So when she had posted on her blog that she was having a give away for showing her your mantel...well, I had just re-done mine....so why not enter!
This is what my mantel looked like at Halloween....I know, I know...PLAIN!!!!

I swear it looked a bit better at Christmas, but, I didn't take a picture, or if I did, I certainly can't find it now!

So since then, (if you read what I jabber on about, you know) we've been doing a LOT of remodeling, and one of the things I did was this....

Ok, so it's not the greatest picture, but here's a little bit of each part

These are some of the books I love.  The tall skinny one on the end is actually my great grandfathers daily log from when he was a carpenter...It's from upstate NY and has names in it like Roosevelt and Vanderbelt..and yup, those are the families you think they are...It's very interesting to have a link to a President in my own home!  The Bible and glasses were my fathers, and I think they deserve a place in my home where everyone can see them.

Next is an antique mirror off of an old dresser, the stand that holds it was broken, so I turned it sideways and propped it up on the stand instead...and of course, pictures of my husband and I on our first date, and our kids!

This side has an old cribbage board and a childs shoe form that my husband has given me.  Also, the glass jar has pebbles and some small twigs from our weeping cherry tree....

Of course there are candles on each end that are sitting on rod iron stands...

So...that's the story of my mantel!

Now...stop by The Ruby Blog and show her yours and get in on this giveaway!!!

hugs,

heather

A Beautiful Garden....

What a lovely, lovely time I had today, nope, not outside, because the pollen is killing me...but, sitting right here at my computer.  Gracie's Garden Designs has the most adorable little hats, it's like walking through a garden in full bloom!  I oohhhed and aaahhhed so many times....

how cute is that!!

just adorable!!!

Carissa is the artist, wife and mommy behind these gorgeous creations!

She not only has made these fantastic hats,

but, she has a giving heart as well... 10% of all the profits of her shop go to the Spina Bifida Association. 

You really need to check out her blog to read the inspirational story behind this...it's an amazing story right on her sidebar, and it gave me chills...just beautiful..

You can also check out Carissa and her awesome hats on her facebook fan page!!

I have to share one (or two) more of these pictures before I go....(I'd like to say thank you to Carissa's mom, Coleen Rausch for these amazing pictures!!!)

I mean really....how can you resist! 

Thank you, Carissa, for sharing your talent with me, I truely enjoyed taking a tour of you lovely garden!

hugs,

heather

I'm Baaaacccckkkk!!!

Wow!  Well I'm glad that's all over with!  Now I'm back and I have more to say then a little kid with a sugar high!!  If I get annoying, well, just let me know!  :)
So, let's see where to start catching up!  First!!  I won the most fantastic bow for my little girlies!!  Babe's Bowtique really came through when I said I wanted pink and purple so that both my girls would love it!!

We've worked out a schedule so that they take turns every other day wearing it so there's no arguing, but I'm going to have to order some more....you know, to match the softball uniform!  So watch out Heather, the girls birthdays are coming soon!!

Oh, yes, did you see me mention softball....my oldest daughter has decided that softball is going to be "her sport" :)  So this past Saturday (and part of Sunday) was all softball....ALL day!

She really has quite an arm on her...we tease her and tell her it's a rocket!

The littlest played a great outfielder for us, although she sometimes got distracted and had to hug the pitcher...(her daddy) :)

The other thing we did (on the way to the park) was play in the back of Daddy's convertible..the girls think it's a roller coaster...

I think it makes me sneeze...lol

As for what I did all day Sunday (while Daddy and the girls played ball in the front yard)..

I worked on turning this..

Into a WHOLE LOT of these...

None of them are stitched together yet, but you get the idea!  These are only 3 of the 10 I finished over the weekend......I have 11 more to go!  They are all for the Relay for Life quilt I've been talking about, I really just can't get over the response I've had to it! 

So, I've jibber jabbed enough for today!  Don't forget, I'm still looking for shops that would like to be featured, so drop me a note if you're interested!

I'm sure I'll think of something else that I forgot to tell you all soon!  So until I do..

hugs!

heather

Happy Easter!

Sooooo, so much for no more unscheduled interuptions!  As some of you already know, I've been sick.....VERY sick....yuck..and I've been in bed...A LOT....so the picture above is what I really....REALLY want to get back to..I'm kinda tired of feeling like I need a nap all the time..and I miss my friends...real and virtual :) (that means all of you!)

I just wanted to take a second and say HAPPY EASTER!  to all of you that celebrate it! 

My kids are eagerly awaiting the Easter Bunnys arrival...hippity hoppity!

Hugs to you all... Hopefully very soon, I'll be back to normal, and harrassing all of you

with more regularity!!

hugs,

heather