These beautiful papers arrived today from the talented Natasha's artistic creation's site. I can't wait to play with them. Her designs are so pretty. Go take a peek at her site. Her packaging is so feminine and elegant.

Viva La France. Our friends and neighbors, Debbie and John just returned from France last week. They lived in France for three years and went back to spend some time with all of the wonderful friends they met. She hosted a fabulous French-themed party yesterday. The photo above is of all the paper items she brought me. She asked a few of us if we had any special requests. I can just hear the other requests, perfume, art, etc. But I requested paper items. She brought me back a beautiful collection of old books, children's books, prints, post cards and wine labels. I can't wait to incorporate some of these items into collages and scrapbooking projects. She made a huge platter of Eiffel Tower cookies and served an arrangement of pates, cheeses, olives and spreads, chocolates, breads, crackers, wine and champagne.

From My Little Nest To Yours is what my tags read for my Club Little House project. I made 12 little "nest" banners from vintage wallpaper, pink and white twine, little birdy rings and letters edging them with my favorite new glittery product of all time, Stickles by Ranger. I cannot get enough of it. My little wreaths started out Christmas green. I bleached them, dyed them pink, added moss and painted egg-shaped pearl beads a robin egg blue shade. I love mixing in a little brown umber paint to get just the right shade. I punched out my tags with my new Marvy scallop punch, stamped them with my Cavallini nest set and used a colored pencil to shade the eggs. It was so easy setting the eyelets with my Crop-A-Dile. They will be sent off to Miss Amy today. This time Amy hosted 4 groups of 12. I believe she is participating in each of the swaps. I would love to have a birds-eye view of all 48 homes as they set up their production lines to create their projects for this fun event. Within a few weeks, we will receive our package of 12 different items that members created. It's like Christmas. I made a few extras for a few of my special "little" friends that are living in a dollhouse world.

First Day of School was Monday. Summer vacation was over in a blink. I hate those blinks. My friend Carmen called me as soon as I returned home from taking her to school. She knew. Knows me all too well. I was crying my eyes out. Instead of jumping for joy - having some freedom - I'm heart sick. I've been keeping myself busy finishing up my Club Little House projects. I'm expecting the calls to start coming in next week or the week after for substitute teaching assignments so I need to enjoy my freedom. But to tell you the truth, Chloe and I are pouting, just a little that the kiddos are at school. Of course there's no picture of the teenager on his first day. Are you kidding???

Operation Party Hat was the name of the surprise for Miss Teresa's birthday. Miss Kim asked a group of Teresa's friends to make either a party hat or a crown for her, send it to her on her birthday, post it on our blogs on the 23rd, and most importantly, keep it a secret. I even asked Teresa last week when her birthday was. I know that she hates secrets! Drives her crazy. Well Happy Birthday My Friend. I hope the surprise worked. It was fun creating mine. I had all ready bought this vintage "Happy Birthday" teacup for her. The fun was in trying to figure out how to incorporate it into a hat. I bought both the crown and the "PARTEA" letters in her former awesome Foofala store about four years ago. I wanted to incorporate some of her personal art as well. Can't wait to see all of the other "hats".

What a fun mail week it's been around here. First I received my beautiful Sparkle Bella charm from Michelle to add to my charm bracelet. Then I received my first order from D. Blumchen. I'm addicted. I can't wait to place another order. However I'm going to wait until I shop at the vendor night at Art Unraveled. Hannah Grey is going to be there and they have similar items. Last I wanted to let you peak at the ebay auction that I won of vintage calling cards. Aren't they beautiful? I wish I knew the history behind them.

The Ancestral Bed. You just have to understand why I have been spending so much time and money on my daughter's room. Honestly, I know that I have spent at least 50-60 hours painting her room. Crazy - right? A better painter or artist would have progressed at a much faster rate I'm sure. When I was a little girl, two of my relatives had houses that I adored. One was my paternal Grandmother, Mary. When I was home last spring, I had my sister drive me by so that I could take a picture of it. Of course it looked nothing like I remembered it to be. Upstairs, in one of the two guest rooms, was this four-post bed. It was given to my Grandparents as a wedding gift from her parents. My Grandparents then gave it to my parents as a wedding gift. After we lost my wonderful, sweetest man in the world Father, a few years ago, I begged my sister for this bed for my daughter. She didn't want to let it go. She didn't want anything to happen to it. After careful research, I found a company that specializes in shipping furniture and it arrived from Iowa. However, we weren't ready to set it up until we had all of the Shabby Chic bedding collection. Then we had to decide on how we wanted the walls painted. Here we are months later. This has been a labor of love and I'm so glad that this project is completed. The bed made it here safely, the hours of painting are over, the curtains are hung.

You'll never guess what I did this weekend? What's that you say? Painted? That's right - painted again. No white walls is my motto. This is the second time I've painted her room in three years. You might remember when the wall looked like this. She has outgrown the look of her sweet Pottery Barn daisy bedding and has moved on to the Shabby Chic floral collection. Bye bye yellow, hello pink and green. Same colors as my studio and laundry room. I promised her that we would finish her room this summer and since school starts Monday, I'm scurrying around buying a mattress, new pillows, mattress pad, etc. Thank goodness I all ready bought all of the bedding.

Nancy Drew was the perfect summer matinee for my daughter and I to see. I grew up reading Nancy Drew and loved the series. I can't convince my daughter to read them. I had bought her a small set of Trixie Belden sleuth books and she likes them better. Now I have to search Ebay high and low for the ones that she still needs. Both series are very fun for girls to read.

Mudd makes the cutest sunglasses! We went shopping yesterday for a new shower curtain and came home with three pairs of sunglasses. Taylor's are so stinkin cute. She's wearing the rose tinted ones with pink bling in one corner. Chloe is sporting her second pair which is aqua with a butterfly. I found this darling pair adorned with a crown.

7 1/2 gallons of paint is what it took to paint our living room, dining room, foyer, stairway and upper walls and loft. I'm so glad it's over!!!! It's time to clean up. The pictures are all back on the walls. Just a few more pieces of furniture to put back in place. I'm loving the look of all of my white items on my newly painted shelves. I'm off to find an urn to put my garage sale topiary in.

Have a fear of heights? If so - don't read any further. My sister-in-law painted the interiors of homes for a year or so when she lived in California. I hired her to help me paint a few rooms until she starts her new job next week. My bunco group consists of 12 players, 8 of whom have the same model as me. Good ole tract housing. We do have the best model if I say so myself. Anyway - we have this crazy high wall. I think only four of us have this particular wall painted. My friend, Jenny, bought this ladder contraption just for this wall. The rest of us are taking turns borrowing it from her. Not only am I somewhat afraid of heights, but my weakest painting skill is trimming the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling. Julie swears that this didn't bother her at all. Climbing up to the top of this ladder, that by the way is the tallest one I've ever laided eyes on. Brave woman! Tomorrow we will finish the loft and let the painting take a rest for awhile. Four more rooms to go!

Giddy Up. While we were in Prescott, we went to the World's Oldest Rodeo. I hadn't been to the rodeo in years. It was so much fun and the commentator's were hilarious. It seems like before you can blink, the cowboys get bucked off of the bulls. Who could hold on? We did witness a scary incident when one of the clowns flew up in the air after the bull came after him. I wouldn't want their job!

The Gazebo in Prescott's town square was all decked out for the 4th. It was so wonderful to escape from this heat. I loved this gazebo and would like to know the history behind it. I'm always drawn to architectural details. There are also several Victorian homes here. The fireworks were incredible. It felt like it was only about 70 degrees. It's so much fun to watch fireworks on the Fourth while you're listening to the accompanying music. The town had several games and crafts for the children as well. I'm dying to go back. I found a wonderful home accessory/furniture store and I'm contemplating buying a hutch for our living room.

Happy 4th of July from my house to yours. I thought I'd share with you a few of my patriotic vignettes. The 4th is a big deal in Iowa where I grew up. Not so much here. We have an extreme heat advisory here with a temperature prediction of 117. When it comes right down to it, most of my memories of the 4th occurred "outside", picnicking, watching fireworks and who could forget sparklers. We are starting a new tradition in my family. We are going up north, just a short two-hour drive, to get a reprieve from the heat and enjoy the fireworks. I wish you all a wonderful, safe 4th filled with traditions and memories - new and old.

The foyer took two gallons of paint. We are making progress. Later this week, we will paint the stairway which includes eight stair-step plant shelves. Four on each side of the stairs bordered by two-story high walls. I'm guessing another two gallons of paint. I'm getting tired. I could not do this for a living. So thankful that I don't have to. Count our blessings, right?

What a difference a day makes. This morning my living room and dining room walls were white . My sister-in-law is helping me paint. Tomorrow we are tackling the foyer and the stairs. Yikes. I don't know how we are going to handle the 2-story high walls. My shabby shelf looks so much better with some color behind it.

This vintage hand tinted photo of my Mother as a baby with my sweet Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul was the photo I had in mind to use for one of our Sparkle Bella workshop projects. I could not locate it. I finally found it today and was inspired to finish one of my four projects. It's hanging on my studio door along with my new star from Melrose Vintage. I love the Melissa Frances keyhole. So shabby.