Ribbon Roses

I love working with ribbon. I also love embellishing my cupcake pillows with fancy trims and pretty ribbon roses. This has led me to several books on working with ribbon. There are a few very good books on the market and I cant wait to dive into a few. I have been wanting to start creating my own trims by experimenting with ribbon and also different dying techniques. I hope to have a garden of ribbon flowers to share with you soon, but for today I wanted to share this publication. Its the latest issue of Sew Beautiful magazine and its all about ribbon. There are many projects with complete instructions inside. The roses I have been making for a very long time. I learned how to make this ruched trim and I thought I would share it with you. Its very easy and is just beautiful when done. You would use a double faced satin ribbon. Hand stitch a gathering running stitch in a zig zag pattern as shown in the photograph. Every few inches I pull the gathers up and this is what it looks like. How easy is this! I think it looks like the perfect buttercreme frosting for a cupcake pillow :)

I hope everyone has a pretty week. Happy Creating, gail

Its Coming Up Roses for Pink Friday

Tomorrow is our once a week themed shopping day at Make Mine Pink. Tomorrow is one of our favorite themes too. ROSES, romantic rose (sigh :) ). I have seen a sneak peak at some of the beautiful things being offered for sale tomorrow. Gorgeous china pieces and teacups, vintage linens. Stunning needlepoint tuffets, jewelry. There will be handcrafted soaps, ceramics, pocketbooks, pillows. You can always have a website designed for your own business inspired by romantic roses by visiting http://www.cottagecollections.com/. So set your alarm, mark your calendar, this is one event you dont want to miss.

If you live in the southwest as I do, keep in mind that February is the month to trim back your rose bushes. By May they will be lush, green and full of blooms. I have really found this to be the secret to beautiful rose bushes and have had alot of success by doing this. May your spring be rosey and full of beautiful pink blooms!

Fairy Sparkle Earrings

I went to a great sale at a local bead store called Beads Galore. They were having a wonderful sale and I bought some crystal beads. There were sooo many beautiful colors it was very hard to choose. I have enough to make earrings all year long I think:) It inspired me to come home and make earrings this weekend. I used to have a catagory called Fairy Sparkles on my website but deleted and combined the earrings into other catagories as they sold. I loved that idea of sparkling earrings that were fit for a fairy! So I have decided to add the catagory back. Some would appeal to a garden fairy, others to earth fairies. A couple of them are vintage inspired but they all sparkle. I made 18 pairs today and decided I better stop and get the photos and add them to the site before I get too carried away. lol

This is a picture of Lucy, many of you may know she is my office manager. This is how I have to make earrings. Try as I may to move her she always comes right back, so I just have learned to work around her. But I dont think I will be giving her any raise this year! Have a beautiful week, happy creating,,gail

Linens, Lace and Grandma Friend

As most of you know every friday we have a themed shopping day at Make Mine Pink. There have been some really fun themes so far this year, but I believe tomorrow will be a favorite for alot of you. Its all about linens and lace. So many of the participating boutiques will have a large variety and assortment of vintage linens and lace. I dont have alot, but I was able to come up with one new project I will post tomorrow. www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday.

This weeks theme did get me thinking about a few embroidered napkin sets on linen and some vintage handkerchiefs that belonged to one of my Grandmothers. Grandma Friend was always old for as long as I can remember. Very hard of hearing, but the sweetest little lady you ever saw. I have heard told she had a very stubborn streak, (that may explain something about me.lol) but I never saw it. I love to visit her in San Diego. She had a very cute cottage style house with this unbelievable garden. She grew everything. The berries were wonderful. Black berries, strawberries and even boysenberries. She had peach, apricot and plum trees also. There was an adorable play house made of wood with pink gingerbread trim I loved to play in. Then we would always make a trip to Sea World. The only part of the trip I remember disliking was her mean little dog. That thing bit everyone! I have so few belongings of my relatives that are now gone so these are very special to me. I have two boxes that the hankies were never removed from. So someone gave her a couple gifts that never got used, but I am happy it turned out that way, because I now have them to take care of.

Its 75 degrees, anyone want ice cream?

Hi, and happy Sweetheart day to everyone:) The weather this weekend in Phoenix has been picture perfect. It was 75 out today and it will be for the rest of the week. I know so many of you are buried up to your bums in snow and I hope its beginning to thaw and you are staying warm and safe. BUT you see, it wont be long and I will be living with 110 plus everyday for months, so I must enjoy now. Its been a rather hectic week here with my daughter in the hospital, another tire blow out and babysitting my four year old grandson full time. But today was my day, just little ole me. I spent the day romancing my business:) Adding new items to my website and Little Pink Boutique and taking some new things into Tillies Attic. This weather put me in the mood for ice cream. Because of the above mentioned blow out I am car-less today and no ice cream in the freezer. So I did the next best thing and made two pillows. Strawberry and Mint Chocolate Chip to be exact. I also got this gorgeous fabric that looks like fluffy frosting and couldnt resist making a cupcake too. Enjoy the new week ahead and happy creating!

Show and Tell at Tillies Attic

This was an exciting day for me. Today was the special event at Tillies Attic from noon to 4 pm. Alot of people came out to the store and enjoyed refreshments, wine and of course chocolate and shopping. I enjoyed meeting some of the other vendors also. I really appreciate my friends and family who came out to visit me and support me in my new venture. It was great seeing you all! I am really looking forward to making so many new projects to put in my little cupcake room. I really think Tillies Attic is going to be a great success, and if you are in the Phoenix area make sure to stop by and see all of the new vendors and merchandise. Here are some photos of this pretty store!

One of a kind treasures

Good morning! I just wanted to remind you all that tomorrow is Friday,,, thats Make Mine Pink Friday. Our one day only themed shopping event. This weeks theme is "one of a kind treasures". Its always so fun to have something that only you and nobody else has. lol By visiting the participating boutiques there will be some pretty vintage and antique treasure for sure. For the shops that create their products you will be able to find one of a kind artwork to decorate your home or even jewelry for that special outfit. You dont want to miss this one, so remember tomorrow. Visit us at www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday.

Also this Sunday, the 7th of February is the Sip, Savor and Shopping event at Tillies Attic! There are so many new and beautiful items and new vendors in this East Valley location. If you are local to the Phoenix area, dont miss this fun event. Join us for chocolate and shopping from noon until 4pm. It would be great if you could RSVP ( they dont want to run out of chocolate:) . You can email Vera at vmanuz@cox.net and bring your friends.

My next post will be the before and after photos of setting up my shop at Tillies Attic. Its been alot of fun. Also pictures of the whole store! The photo above is a one of a kind treasure I was given,,, an antique cast iron stove for my little shop, and its a sneak peak at whats to come in the next couple days....until next time.....gail

I am opening up a shop and good help is still hard to find!

I have some really exciting news. I was approached by the ladies of the Briar Patch Marketplace and invited to participate in their new venture. A brick and mortar shop in Mesa. If you are local here in AZ its on Guadalupe and Dobson. It is a partnership with the shop Tilly Attic, which has been in this location many years. I will be displaying all of my creations in my own little room and I am in the process of setting up. I am striving for the look of walking into a shabby chic bakery shop. I am really short on time as I need to be done by February 6th. There will be a special event at the store on the 7th and I need to be in place and ready to go. Wouldnt you know I would come down with something. (again!) I have been fighting a respitory infection and also now babysitting my 4 year old grandson Mikey. But despite all of that, its falling into place nicely ~ thanks to my friends :) Today I just got ahold of an antique stove for display. Here is a few of the projects I am working on. Cupcakes of all sizes, chocolate Easter bunnies too. I will have all sorts of sweet treats from ice cream cones to large layer cakes to display on a pretty cake plate. (All with zero calories!) Even my sister Stephanie will be doing some dessert paintings for your walls. I will be posting before and after photos of my "shop" within a great store!

With all of the work that needs to be done, you would think the help would be a little more, well, HELPFUL. Googars doesnt have the same excitement that I do. Silly boy. (He needs a bigger bed!) lol I will keep you posted and until next time...... gail

In With The New

Its time for our weekly shopping event at Make Mine Pink. This friday the theme is "In with the new." We are all getting over the holidays and back to business. (Finally) I am so happy to be creating new things. I will hopefully be adding new items to my website and etsy shop every couple days. So many new ideas. Be sure to visit all of the participating Make Mine Pink Boutiques to see all of the new products this week. Maybe its time to do a little shopping for yourself! :) www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday

This is a picture of my new Valentine Pillow. I think it looks like a fancy box of chocolates :) The plate with the kitty was something I did at a local ceramic painting studio called As You Wish. My friends and I love to hang out, eat cupcakes and try painting. I love my girls day out.

I like the idea of "In with the new" I hope to be adding alot more to my blog this year. I love the idea of featuring lots of the talented women and guys that I am lucky enough to call friends. I hope you will find lots of interesting people and information here in the coming months. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time....... gail

Pink Slippers and Marie Claire Idees

Hi:) This week a made a couple pairs of slippers to send to the Pink Slipper Project. This is always such a fun project and its for such a great cause. This is an organization that collects handmade slippers from women and groups across the country and are donated to womens shelters for women and children. Some of the ladies crochet slippers and they are so pretty. Others, like myself sew them. If you or a group you know of would like to participate please contact Joyce at http://www.pinkslipperproject.org/. You will enjoy it so much and be helping some very special people.

I spent some time at my favorite Barnes and Noble yesterday. My daughter and sweet 4 year old grandson are staying with me for the week. She is moving into a new apt. and cant get the keys until next friday. Its a great move for them, but this is a 51 year old grandma who is used to lots of peace and quiet. So I sat in my comfy chair at the bookstore for an hour. I had a gift card and bought the new bood from Tara Frey called Blogging for Bliss. I cant wait to dig into that one. I love blogging and cant wait to learn more tips and ideas. They had one of my favorite magazines called Marie Claire Idees. Its printed in France and hard to find. I have a few copies but there was a new one so I grabbed it. I cant read the french but it is full of beautiful photos and so much inspiration. I thought I would share a few here with you. Believe me this is just a tiny sample :) Have a great week. I have lots of new projects to keep me busy. Plus a 4 year old!!!

Make Mine PInk Friday

Join us for our first Pink Friday event and Make Mine Pink. We are going to continue having our weekly themed shopping events. This week is a great theme, "making way for the new". There will be alot of shops offering great discounts and sales in order to make room for all of the great things they are working on for the new year. So remember, tomorrow, one day only! www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday.

I also wanted to share this information. If you have ever wanted to open up shop at Make Mine Pink, the time could not be better. There are new rates for 2010 and they are unbelievable! Very affordable and the best networking and support group of women in business. Dont miss out.

Organized and ready to go!

I hope everyone had a healthy, happy new years weekend. I am really looking forward to a new year. Its funny but everyone I talk to from all walks of life are so glad to see 2009 behind them. There is something about a new year, especially when its the beginning of a new decade. I have alot of new ideas and new directions for this year and I am ready to get going. But I had to organize my space! The two weeks before Christmas life happened and my cute little apt. looked like a bomb went off in it. So I designated the week between Christmas and New Years to an early spring cleaning and organizing my whole apt. Closets, cabinets, drawers and especially my studio. Its Sunday night at 9:45 and I have just finished. It took the WHOLE week. But what an awesome feeling to be done.

I am posting some BEFORE photos of my studio.... I dont normally let it get soooo bad, but like I said, life happened! Then a few afters. I am really excited to have set up an area just for painting and drawing. I have all of my books, paints, pencils and stuff in one place with my easel. Its been scattered for the last year so I plan on working more on these projects now. As you can see my office manager Lucy has her little blanket back where it belongs. Still sleeping on the job though. lol And last but not lease my desk. You cant believe the very large bag of garbage I threw out here. So, tomorrow I am setting up all my new files and after that..... watch my dust! :) I hope you have a great week and have a wonderful new start to your year. Take the time to get a little organized. It does wonders for your spirit!

Looking forward to 2010

I hope everone had a wonderful holiday and a Merry Christmas. I had a great day with family, friends and in the evening I went to see the new movie Sherlock. I really liked it alot. The movie theaters were packed! I guess thats the new thing to do on Christmas night these days. I am really looking forward to starting the new year. This is a year that has had many good things, but a very hard one for me. There is nothing like a fresh start and a new attitude. I normally dont make New Years Resolutions, but this year I am. I hope your New Year is an exceptional one. I wish each of you a Happy, Healthy, and Successful New Year! May all your dreams come true :)

This is a few gifts that I made for my sister this year for Christmas. :) The cat on the purse is her cat Lily. It was a photo transfered on fabric. Lily likes having her picture taken. My sisters living room has a little red love seat and she uses the leopard print as accents, so I though why not a leopard cupcake pillos. lOL

Quilt and Stitch Ornament Exchange

I participated in a really fun ornament exchange that the Quilt and Stitch Marketplace had. I made cupcake and ice cream cone ornaments for my contribution. The three I received are so sweet. I hope they will do this again. The first one is a sled from my friend Nancy at http://www.couerdalenegifts.com/ . She also had a bag of wonderful potporri sitting in the sleigh. The second is an ornament made from folded papers. Its very intricate and detailed. I just love it. Its really nice on my tree and it was made by Rebecca Dean from Utah. The third one is a sweet knitted hat and mittens made by Liz Sampson from Norwood New York.

This is my Grandaughter Mya at her ballet perfomance last week. She did awesome, of course. LOL She is really growing up fast.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year! Gail