Retro Dandelion Prints

I am very excited to introduce my retro dandelions in prints!

Please enjoy :)

Voleur de Bijoux

These pretties are my newest addition to my jewelry collection. They are genuine grey pearls from Voleur de Bijoux. I was stunned at how simple and elegant they were all at the same time.

Voleur de Bixoux, otherwise known as Tran, is a fellow etsyan, a founder of the Etsy Team CAKE (Creative Artist Kick-Ass Etsyans) and has become a very dear friend.

Here is another sample of the absolute beauty that she can create in a pair of earrings (she is quite obviously a talented photographer as well):

You can find her at http://voleurdebijoux.etsy.com

Little Artists

Ah yes. My love for art has been passed on to my little guys. This is my youngest, not quite two, and painting away. If this picture had been five minutes later, you could see that he painted his paper, his hands and arms, and his face. A very creative and adventurous little guy.

And as we all know, sometimes being an artist is just plain hard work!

Here is his big brother, deep in concentration over his masterpiece. And just in case you didn't already know it, green is the *best*

Do you like my new banner?

I absolutely *love* it! And I couldn't wait to show it off and let you know who the talent is behind it. It is one of my beloved Etsy friends, Jessica, also known as beadbug. You have seen her pendants here and now you can see the great things she can do with graphics.

She doesn't have any listed in her store yet, but you can contact her for special requests. Find her at http://beadbug00.etsy.com/.

While I adore my banner, I still believe that Jessica's biggest talent lies perhaps in her gorgeous pendants. You have seen her fused glass pendants on my blog before. Today I got two new pendants from her.

And this one is called a Tagua Nut Necklace. She sliced a Tagua Nut, dyed it lime green and made a truly beautiful piece of wearable art out of it. Hello, can you say *creative*?

Have I told you lately...

How extraordinary etsians are? I joined etsy as a means to sell a few of my crafts, and have found that there is much more to it than that. I have met some of the most kind, most generous, most creative group of women that I never knew existed.

I participated in a contest and got to know many of the posters there. It is so much fun to get to know the personalities of other etsians.

I won these goodies from BeadBug00 and her threadkiller contest on etsy. I practically have not taken this one off since I got it!

She also sent a very pretty and elegant greeting card. You can see all of her beautiful items at http://beadbug00.etsy.com/.


Then, as if that wasn't thrilling enough, another etsian, UneFemme, offered to give me this ACEO. Yes, give it to me. Because she knows how much I love them, and thought I might appreciate it. Are you kidding, I love it! It's gorgeous. How often do you find people who want to do something incredibly nice for you, just because?

I am expecting a print from UneFemme, and can't wait to show it off. For now, you can see her lovelies at http://UneFemme.etsy.com.

Arizona Birdhouse

I have lived in the desert my whole life, and sometimes am still taken aback by the beauty of it. This year I decided to get out and get a few pictures before summer sets in (by about mid-April, no doubt) and it gets too warm to be out. I found this bird hanging out on the Saguaro cactus, which make great homes for birds and are also very pretty to look at when they bloom.

Below is a picture of flowers growing in the most random place, a pile of rocks. But that shows the wonder and surprise that takes place in the desert.

And this is something that I love. No matter where you look in the valley, there are mountains everywhere. It makes for a beautiful view! You can see the mountains in the background as I stood on a different mountain. The only drawback to living amidst millions of other people is the resulting air quality, which can be seen here.

Amazing bubbles

I just *had* to share these photos. We bought a bubble generator, and it has been one of the neatest things my boys have ever had. They never get tired of the bubbles, and I never get tired of watching them explore and chase and pop and dance in a rainbow of bubbles. We even got it out for a little while Easter day for the kids to play.

There aren't too many bubbles in this picture, but I just love the "movement" it shows of her trying to get that bubble she's got her mind set on:

Again, just a great shot of a little boy as he oohs and aahs over those mysterious things appearing and disappearing before his eyes:

And here's my littlest guy, dancing, laughing, joyous, not a care in the world!

Happy Easter!

As promised, here is the picture of my Easter cake. It didn't turn out quite as well as I hoped (for better results, don't decorate the cake when you can barely keep your eyes open!) but it didn't seem to have a problem disappearing!

Since I did the bunny last year, I wanted to do something springy and fun, and I think this hit the mark. :)

Hope everybody had an "eggcellent" day!

Easter bunny

This busy mom didn't realize until yesterday, when my mom mentioned Easter, that it was already upon us. I had some cute projects planned, but they will most likely go in the file folder for next year. Things got too chaotic with Braeden returning to prekindergarten this week after his spring break, and with Mama's online class starting this week as well.

So instead, I will share with you the cake I made last year. This cute easter bunny is a carrot cake, of course. What else would you expect??

This year I plan on trying out a cute flip-flop cake I saw in the current Woman's Day magazine. I'll post pictures when I get it done.

Happy Easter!

Tell me how you found me, win a set of cards

From now until the end of March I have decided to run a small contest. Between today and March 31st, all you have to do is comment anywhere on my blog, and make sure you tell me how you found me here. On March 31st I will collect all the posts and randomly draw one of them to win a set of five handmade greeting cards. I can surprise you with the designs, or you can place a request for colors and themes. So easy and so much fun!

Make sure to include your email address, so I can email the winner!

Thanks and have a great March!