It's a PARTY!

Vanessa, over at A Fanciful Twist [http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/] is hosting a MAD TEA PARTY!!! I've had an incredibly busy month and wasn't able to make plans to attend, so I thought I throw together a last minute, albeit small ~ but FUN, tea party here to party, PaRtY, PARTY with Vanessa and all the other party goers today!!! A few were invited and all RSVP'd, but after Alice arrived... well, the room WAS a bit small... *sigh*... but I can attest to the fact that Alice enjoyed herself VERY much :)

Miss Charly Ann Daniels

We love you and miss you more each passing day <3

*this post references a very beautiful girl I wrote about in my very first blog [see below]
~ she's an incredible girl who is very loved <3
I think this video was taken just after Charly and my daughter, Briana, met in '99 or '00 and it was shown as a trailer just before church service started ~ www.flipsidechurch.com

A Party at Fanciful Twist!!!

I'm SO excited! A Fanciful Twist is having a Party... a MAD TEA Party ~ June 28th!!!

I am also thinking of making something to sell and something to give away for the PaRtY as it seems like the perfect reason to make some things to share <3

Stay tuned for more PARTY updates!...

curious ...& curiouser

It's finished...

The purse I started yesterday (please see post below) is done ~ and it's so So SO cute!!!


up close...

and in the the bedroom (I made all the purses [neutral crocheted bag on the shelf, lunch pail with black flower at the bottom of the shelf, the Hello Kitty purse and the "straw" knitted purse with embroidered flowers], the top hat [paper mache'] and the mattress and bedding in this room)... the floor of this room is made from popsicle sticks that I glued down, sanded the heck out of, whitewashed with watered down acrylic white paint and then painted with a satin clear gloss... the shelf is made from scraps of wood and bits of miniature molding around the top and bottom - also whitewashed. The victorian looking picture frames hanging on the wall are from the local scrapbook store - I just bought stickers from Belle & Boo [www.belleandboo.blogspot.com] and am going to hang them using these frames! They're going to be adorable!!! <3

I just got a new book...

I love knitting - it's a newly discovered passion... and I just bought this book ~

and I'm trying to make the purse on the front cover - it's SO cute! But instead of making it large for me, I'm making a small version - with a few alterations - for my dollhouse doll <3

Here's my progress so far...

Happy Mother's Day

I babysit my two nephews, Robert who is 5 years old and Michael who is 2 years old, every Saturday morning. Today Grandpa, Aunt Betsy, and two of my girls helped me make a Mother's Day gift from the boys for their mom, my sister-in-law... I printed the inside frame, message and the boys' names and the year in Microsoft Word and printed them on white cardstock. I then painted the boys' hands with black acrylic craft paint - Robert said he thought it tickled and Michael threw a little fit (I should have done it when he took his morning nap). All in all, I thought they turned out really cute, but the photography of the finished product leaves something to be desired (sorry...)

knitting... tiny socks!!!

I'm sick with a cold/sore throat/cough virus, as is my 10 year old and my dad :( ...

and I'm just not feeling like working on my dolls at the moment - but, I did learn how to knit socks this week!!! They fit my dolls - and they're my first attempt, so I'm really, really proud of them... I included a penny so you could see how small (and thus even cuter) they are <3

Julie... aka PinkParisMatch

Okay... I just realized that I totally blogged about Julie in my last post and did not say - Julie, aka PinkParisMatch (http://juliebergmann.typepad.com/) who is one of my BEST friends and an InCrEdIbLy AMAZING Artist!!! She made this fairy house for me for my 40th birthday - gorgeous! and I love fairies!!!

You have to check out her site - she does paper mache', ATC cards, photography - yes, she did my 19-year-old's senior pictures... beautiful. Her talents are seemingly limitless and her artwork is gorgeous.

BlackEyedSuzie & Yoshida Style...

I am an admirer of Miss BlackEyedSuzie's dolls [http://blackeyedsuzie.typepad.com]

and this one might be my favorite - though they are all beautiful...

A couple months ago Miss Suzie posted a blog about a new book she'd purchased called "Yoshida Style - I was curious and intrigued!!! So intrigued, in fact, that I recently received my own copy in the mail (I found it on eBay) and I LOVE this book!!! The entire thing is illustrated in such detail - though ALL of the book is written in Japanese (and though I took a year of Japanese in college and "Aced" the class - that was many, many moons ago and I can not read nor understand a thing this books says... BUT the illustrations for EACH and EVERY step are done so well, it's incredibly useful even without understanding the text.
[a little side note that I know will make my friend Julie shake her head... but the dolls are all anatomically correct and pre-teen in age - that's not disturbing to me (much) but the fact that the author dresses them provocatively kinda freaks me out - so I've taken the liberty of "re-dressing" some of the photos (in case my girls - ages 10 and 13 - decide to browse through it) because I think girls should dress and act like girls...

okay, I'm getting off my high horse now - and please, please don't take offense - Julie disagreed with my prudish-ness but STILL loves me]

Thank You SO Much Miss BlackEyedSuzie

for sharing your incredible talent

and your wonderful finds <3

I just finished knitting this little blanket for my niece -

she turned one-year-old last month and I'm

very, very late in sending her birthday gift...

I found the teddy bear in Lake Arrowhead - so cute!

and the blanket's significance? My Grandma Peg, when

she still had her eyesight, would knit a receiving blanket

for her new grandchildren... she passed away several years

ago, having lived a long, adventurous and wonderful

life into her 90's, and we still miss her terribly -

the blanket is in honor of my grandmother's tradition

and a loving memory to share with my niece <3