Invitation to the Mad Tea Party :)

I was so excited to hear its time for the Mad Tea Party once again. If you have never heard of this blog party.... listen up! lol This is hosted by Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist. She is an amazing artist, photographer and writer. Her blog and especially her blog parties have been featured in so many publications. The very important date is Saturday June 26th. There is a badge on my sidebar to her amazing illustrated party announcement. I could not even begin to do it justice. lol If you would like to attend this event please click on over and sign up. It is the party of the season. Plan your Mad Tea Party and join Vanessa in all the fun.

Blog Give away: Celebrate the Shop Hop with me

In honor of Mothers Day fast approaching and the much awaited Make Mine Pink Mothers Day Shop Hop I am having a give away. Its super easy too! Just leave a comment between today and May 1st (saturday) on this post or any other post after this one to be included in the drawing... I couldnt decide on a prize so I am making it a choose your own! The winner can go to my website and choose any one pair of earrings you like. Everyone has different tastes and likes different colors, so this seems like the fun thing to do.

The Shop Hop begins today and goes through May 1st also. Click on the link to register and get all of the details. But basically you will be visiting all of the participating shops and looking for a hidden shopping bag that says "You found it". You click on that bag to get credit for the find. The more bags you find the more chances of winning. There is no purchase neccessary either! But we dont mind if you take a look around at the shops and have a look at all of the great merchandise that would be perfect for you Mothers Day shopping.

I have also been busy working on a few things for gifts. I have been making a few of these make up bag/wallet/whatever you want bags. lol I also made up another piece of Alice in Wonderland inspired jewelry. This is a statement necklace and was alot of fun to put together. Well, I guess thats it for today. Dont forget to leave a post and here is the link for the shop hop. www.makeminepink.com/shop-hop

Celebrating Mom

By now you all know I am a very proud member of Make Mine Pink, and you probably know that each week we hold our one special day shopping event called Make Mine Pink Friday. Tomorrow is a wonderful theme: "Celebrating Mom". I know their will be so many gift giving ideas from all of the participating boutiques. I am really going to look forward to seeing everything being offered. I have seen a few sneak peaks and believe me you dont want to miss this. I have seen some beautiful tuffets, vintage linens, antique pieces, jewelry just to name a few. So if you need a special gift for your Mom, Grandmother, or maybe this is a special young ladies first Mothers day, visit us tomorrow at www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday

Inspired by Blue

I love color. Every color! Of course my favorite will always be pink. But I have been having alot of fun with blue as of late. What other color has so many hues. There are so many shades of blue from the palest baby blue to the deepest indigo. And they are all so pretty. Its almost like a neutral because blue goes with so many other colors too. Its getting warm here is Arizona so blue represents cool water to me. So this must be why its on my mind. This is a short post with some new creations in blue! Thanks for visiting. I hope the bluebird of happiness visits you this week.... gail

Sarah and her pretty yard.

I believe it was John Lennon who said "Life is what happens while your busy making other plans." Truer words have never been spoken for me and the last couple weeks. But I think I have myself aligned with the stars again:)

I had a petsitting job this weekend. Sarah is a very sweet dog. (who does not like having her picture taken!) She has two cats, but they would have no part of having their picture taken. She lives in a historic home neighborhood and in AZ that means beautiful green lawns, really big trees and lots of flowers. I enjoyed sitting out on the porch this weekend just listening to all of the birds. I only live 10 minutes away, but I dont have the same birds! lol Butterflies and hummingbirds too. It was just what I needed and Sarah was the perfect company.

I have been making alot of new creations for my website and Tillies Attic. I always love being able to add new products. Also, thank you all so much for the prayers and well wishes for my daughter April. She ended up being in the hospital for 9 days and having her galbladder out. With her problems with seizures and anasthesia it was an issue, but all is well now. I had little Mikey the whole time. He is so good, BUT he is four, I am not:) My internet was down a week during this too, so I have been away far too long. I hope we all have a great week. (()) gail

Arizona Bloggers and I found a treasure chest!

Hi, I hope ya all have had a pretty spring weekend. Its been gorgeous here. I have been enjoying all the pretty flowers planted all around the city. On Saturday we had a luncheon at the Back Porch Tea House for some of the Arizona Bloggers. It was the first time I had attended and it was so much fun. I loved meeting everyone in person. I love blogging and I have had the pleasure of meeting alot of my online friend the last couple of years. I truly cherish these meetings! One of the ladies defined our blogging friends in the most awesome way. Because it is online, you get to know your friends heart. That is your first impression, the REAL person, not the physical person. I thought that was very well said. I cant wait until we all meet again!

I stumbled upon a buried treasure! Actually a friend of mine called and said they were given these beads and were going to put them on Craigs List but wanted to call me first. Well, hello! I am so glad he did. There are thousands upon thousands of beads, tools, containers, findings, and STUFF! And I got an unbelievable deal on these. The only thing that would have made this perfect, was if there were all mostly pink instead of blue.LOL But I can go with the flow!

I hope everyone truly has a beautiful week. I want to also thank everyone for the well wishes for my daughter April. She is still in the hospital for tests, but thats a good thing.She needs a couple things fixed, but she is healthy. We just have one sad little boy who misses his Mom. He cant visit her. This time of year they dont allow kids under 12 because of flu season.

The Mad Hatters Pinkeep

I am still playing around with ideas from inspirations from Alice In Wonderland. Its been alot of fun to use the pretty blue and white colors. I found this empty pocket watch case and started thinking about some ideas for that. Its seemed too big for a pendant. One thought led to another and somehow my brain came up with the idea of doing a small pin cushion. After all the Mad Hatter designed hats and surely used such a sewing notion. :) I repurposed an old brass bangle bracelet and wrapped it with blue velvet ribbon and added the roses. I truly have more pieces coming this week. Its been a crazy week with the Grandkids, but I always love spending time with them. But I am hoping for a much more creative and productive week. I hope spring has arrived in your world and you all have a beautiful week. Gail

I finally did it!

I love to draw, and I draw alot. All over everything! But I want to paint and I have not had any classes since Jr. High. I have painted a little in water colors and acrylic, but its been awhile. I have had this blank canvas since last Christmas,,not 2009, but 2008. I finally sketched this cat a week ago. I got brave enough to paint it today. Its not great, I had issues, but it was alot of fun. I so hope to be able to take classes soon. My dream is to do florals in oil. In my head they are sooo pretty and I am just busting at the seams to learn. But until that time I think I will practice and paint cats. I already have a plan and sketch for the next one I want to do. Painting is one of those things that is just practicing over and over and studying color and nature. Training your eyes to see whats there that is overlooked normally.

This weekend has been beautiful, sunny and in the 70's. Flowers are blooming everywhere and the birds couldnt be happier. It was also a great weekend for yard sales. I got a few treasure including these vintage earrings. I got this adorable cat plate from Tillies Attic. Today was our once a month event at Tillies and it was alot of fun. There are some really pretty new things in the store. And lots of chocolate! I hope you all have a great week. Gail

You Are Invited!

Sip Wine, Savor Chocolate, Shop in Style and Socialize with Friends!

If you are one of my blogging friends and you live in the Phoenix area we are having another fun shopping event at Tillies Attic. Its this Sunday, March 14 from 12n to 4pm. Tillies Attic is located in Mesa on the SE corner of Guadalupe and Dobson. The address is 1941 W. Guadalupe #111, Mesa AZ 85202. The phone number is (480) 775-4342. There has been alot of activity at Tillies this last month. Come and see the new Antique and Vintage booth. Its just gorgeous and I have seen some really nice things, and great prices. I saw two pieces of vintage samsonite luggage in excellent condition and a vintage chenille bedspread. (sigh) There are alot of new garden items, adorable handmade Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, and there is always a great selection of Gold Canyon Candles too. I have some new things in my pink cupcake room too. So, if you find some time on this beautiful spring Sunday, stop by and visit. We would love to meet you.

Please RSVP vmanuz@cox.net or (480) 775-4342, thank you :)

Alice and the Tea Party

Have you seen Alice in Wonderland yet? I havent, but I will be going this friday. I am so excited, I have waited at least a year to see this movie. I am a Tim Burton fan and love the story of Alice in Wonderland (also Through the Looking Glass) but add Johnny Depp to the mix and it has to be a good thing!

I woke up the other day with an idea for an Alice in Wonderland bracelet. I like the way it turned out and I am currently working on some new pieces with an Alice theme. I have also been working on a new project that is just perfect for a posh tea party and goes with my cupcake theme. I am recycling pretty plates, glasses, candlesticks, etc., making pretty dessert or cake stands. These are the three I have done now and will add them to my website by tomorrow. I will also have some available at Tillies Attic.

I must go, I have much to work on and I am Late! Late for a very important date! Have a great week:)

Touch of Whimsy :)

Its time for Make Mine Pink Friday again tomorrow and what a fun theme this week. Touch of Whimsy! I love decorating with the fun of the unexpected. I love coming home and seeing my cake plate with the faux cupcakes sitting on my kitchen cabinet, and cupcake pillows on my rocking chair. Its just for fun and we all need a little fun these days. There are going to be so many fun products being offered tomorrow for this event. Ceramic rose fairy houses, even fairy dust. Altered art boxes holding luxurious soap. Vintage needle points made into magical tuffets and magical inspired jewelry. We would love to have you all visit us tomorrow. Grab some tea and fairy cakes and have a look. www.makeminepink.com/pink-friday .

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