Sharing a little birthday love!

Little might just be the wrong word to use though!!!

And yes, my birthday is the day after Christmas but

my precious friend Lisa and I are known for not being

on time for our birthday gifts to one another.

I just have to share with you

all the amazingly, wonderful goodies

she gave me!!!

Some of the photos are a little repetitive but

I know you like pics and I tried to get close ups ~

She packaged everything so sweet!!!

Each parcel had a number and on the back of each tag

Lisa wrote a little note to me...

Here is a shot before I opened the packages:

And here's after....WOW!!!!

Look at all of the precious treasures!!!!

She SO knows what I love.

All types of sweet baby shoes, a few baby dresses too.

Gorgeous antique lace and a porcelain half doll!

Antique children's photographs and old photo album pages.

Vintage rhinestone pins and postcards.

See the teeny doll shoe?? LOVE!

And yes, at the bottom of the photo below are a few very small animal skulls.

I hope that doesn't creep you out but I love the beauty of nature

(and Lisa knows it)

and will create a shadow box just to showcase them all!!!

Several pieces of the new Tim Holtz fabric, isn't it beautiful???

Wonderful feathers to use in artwork.

An amazing book about old dolls ~ I just love it!!!

And lastly, a few back issues of a magazine from the UK that I love, Daphne's Diary!!!!

Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Dear sweet Lisa,

Thank you soooo very much for my gifts...

and for your precious friendship...
you continually inspire me to be creative ~

I love you girl!!!!

Happy Monday sweet friends and

Happy March too!!!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Precious treasures ~

I received the most wonderful package last week from my sweet friend Lisa!!!

We've known one another now for just about six years...

how in the world has the time flown by so fast???!!!!

We love sending each other birthday packages and

I just had to share her recent gift to me ~

A pile of beautiful treasures....wrapped in precious papers ~

Wonderful old cabinet cards, TONS of Tim Holtz goodness...

These precious little ballet shoes she found and saved just for me!

I don't know what their original purpose was, but I so love them.

And my most favorite?

These sweet scraps of wool fabrics,

all different that she felted....

tied up in a wonderful bundle!!

Lisa sells these felted bundles in her Etsy shop...

keep checking in so you can get your own!!!

One tiny peek at the curtains in our bedroom:

The room's not quite photoworthy right now, so you understand the tiny peek???

Wishing you such a wonderful new Monday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

A very special gift .... and a teeny bit of frustration ~

A dear friend stopped by the house yesterday to drop off a gift she'd made for me ~

well....I'M IN LOVE with it!!!!

I've always admired assemblages inside old clock cases and

Joy made this amazing one just for me!

The shape, the colors, the glass door, the nest...the theme,
just everything about it is so beautiful...

It speaks of time...and how fleeting it truly is ~

Thank you so very much sweet Joy, I will treasure it always!!!

My little blonde forest waiting for something more ~

And then....the baubles.

I was ready to see them! So I'm supposed to wait 24 hours, right?

Well a couple of hours early I decided to see if they were ready.

NOT.

I had to cut, pull and pry with pliers to get these two sweeties out.

But I do love the way they look!

I ruined my mold. Thank goodness it was cheap ~

This harder mold (and a little deeper too) was awful.

I broke it to smithereens ~ but there was a reason and Lisa warned me about this.

It was still a little gooky inside ~ see it on the very top?

So....I'll wait until tonight to try to pop out the others ~

I do love the look of them though, don't you?

I will use them as little embellishments on my artwork...

I guess patience IS a virtue, right? :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday dear friends!!!
hugs and love,

Dawn

The love of a friend ~

I've made so many precious friends here.
Friends who "get" me.
You love what I love.
That's why you visit me ~
You don't hate on me for hoarding...
as a matter of fact ~
you love hoarding gorgeous supplies too!

The images below are of course for you to use however you want:

One precious friend I've made over these last four years
is Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered ~
She emailed me way-back-when telling me about her creative spirit.
She also told me about her precious triplets and
sweet husband but also the fact
that she still wanted to carve out just a little time
for herself and her creativity....

I think we all need this time ~
women are such creative beings...
don't we all just love to make something beautiful??!

Well, as you know, sweet Lisa has blossomed into

an absolutely AMAZING published artist!!!

I think that just being here, blogging and realizing

that it's OK to set aside that time for yourself ~

to nurture the creativity that's in all of us...

Blogging truly provides the outlet to

create and share with so many like-minded friends!

Well, I received the most wonderful gift today in the mail ~
a sweet parcel from Lisa all the way from Texas...
a bit of a belated b'day gift (the woman has TRIPLETS!)
and when you're getting good stuff
you don't EVEN care when it arrives!!!!!!

I know how you love beautiful things
so I just have to share it all with you!

She even decorated the box.....

And when I opened it...
this is the first thing I saw ~



The most gorgeous nest ever!!!
I already have it displayed under a sweet wire cloche
she gave me back in November ~



Wrapped parcels lay inside with tiny notes on each one ~

The most precious old photograph ~
I'll share it as soon as I get the old scanner up and going again...

Tiny notes...leading me to more :)

Beautiful elements that she encased in wax....
timeless and absolutely breathtaking to me ~

The coolest journal that she bought two of,
she altered one and sent me one to alter as well!!!
And of course, it will need to be sent to her when I finish mine...... :)

I've been DREAMING of scrim and she remembered!!
Lisa sent me a bundle of it ~
it's a tighter weave than gauze,
great to use in artwork.....

And then...seeing just a glimpse of what this was
through her wrappings,
my eyes filled with tears!!

I've been wanting this book FOREVER!!!!
Lisa bought her copy at Borders
and showed it to me back in November
AND I JUST DROOLED!

You know how I love nature elements in my artwork, right?
Well, this book shares so many ideas inside
about dying fabrics with plants.....
I can't WAIT to try some of the techniques!!!
(I'll be sure take a few photos for a future post
and share with you what it's all about)

So.
All in all.
It was quite a magnificent day.
All because of the love of a friend.....

Thank you so much Lisa, for everything ~
your friendship is the best gift of all!!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


I want to introduce you to a couple of BRAND NEW bloggers!!
Please stop by to welcome
Deneen of Dreaming in Color
and
ThereseMarie!!!

I just love new bloggers,
we were all new at one time...right? :)




Thank YOU for letting me share my goodies with you ~
Wishing you wonderful Wednesday my dear, dear friends,
hugs and love,
Dawn