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

Hi sweeties ~

I wanted to thank you dear friends.....
for stopping by to see me ~
I've been working with the family at the soap shop, making soap
just as fast as we can!!
I've GOT to get back into my studio.....
now that it's so sparkly clean ~
What is it about a clean space that makes you want to get busy creating?!

Have a wonderful Tuesday sweet friends,
hugs and love.
Dawn

Giving thanks & counting blessings!! (& giveaways!)

I am!!!
I'm giving thanks for being here....
for meeting you here....
and for so many precious friends!!!

A few tiny gifts for you to use...some goodies I scanned:

YOU are my blessings!!
My encouragement,
my inspiration
and
I thank you ALL so, so much!!!!

I've had three blessed years of blogging this week on February 11th,
so tomorrow I'm offering a thank you giveaway!!!!
Thank you all so very much
for blessing me with your friendship ~





And here's a little more giveaway love!!!!

Please visit Treasures from the Heart to enter Barb's giveaway HERE ~






Please visit Free Pretty Things for You to enter Keren's giveaway HERE ~







Please visit Candy Creek and enter Robin's giveaway HERE ~




February really is the month of love!!!!
hugs and love,
Dawn

A sweet friend needs your vote!

Lana of Honeysuckle Lane creates the most beautiful things!!!
She's been featured in an Etsy Voter of Best Sellers....
If you have a moment, I would SO love for you to stop by
and vote for her gorgeous paper wreath!!!

Just click HERE to vote for her!!!

hugs and love , Dawn

What I know this December morn....

that we are loved immensely by our Creator, enough for Him to sacrifice His only Son so that we can live eternally in Heaven above....

that I'm thankful for so many blessings in my life, thankful for good times and even the bad ~ as trying times make us appreciate the good so much more and build character within us.....

that my family is precious. Each and every member ~ I'm blessed with a wonderful husband and five amazing sons...a sweet daughter-in-law and an angel of a granddaughter. I miss those who are no longer with us and cherish their memory.
I am so thankful for times spent together in the past.

that friends are the bread of life. They sustain you, they lift you, they cheer you....they inspire you ~ As I tip-toe through your blogs, I see your heart and soul, how much you love your family and how much you share with others. Where would we be without our friends?

....thank you precious friends, for all you are to me.

I am so blessed ~

Thank you all so, so much for your sweet well wishes!! I'm feeling a little more human right now but still dizzy and coughing a bit. I do think it was cleaning so hard :) I'll have to remember that next time!! I slept all day Sunday on and off, took Benedryl, loved me some Vicks Vaporub and just tried to get over this junk. Every time I'm sick I realize how very precious our health is and how we should be so thankful and take good care of ourselves. Thank you so much for your prayers and well wishes,
you all are such angels to me ~

Friday Karin of One Perfect Little Miracle came over for a day of creating, having lunch together and just relaxing. And we did just that! She came bearing gifts....not pictured are TWO swing arm rods to hang those gorgeous antique shears on either side of the guest bed. Also two beautiful, large pieces of beveled glass! And then the sweetest nest on a branch that she made:

And look at what she brought for our angel Clara!!! A little Scottie dog stuffie and a doll quilt made with her own two hands!!! Isn't it gorgeous?? Plus she even brought Noah a little Farkle game!

Oh Karin, you are so incredibly thoughtful sweet friend, thank you so much for each and every gift ~

We worked on altered composition notebooks while we chatted ~ it's relaxing making these and we enjoyed digging through my images and papers. I think Karin really enjoyed working with the matte gel medium too!

Karin's beautiful notebook ~ she said she still wants to add
a few finishing touches with trims she has at home.
It's so gorgeous to me!!

My French themed notebook ~

It truly was a wonderful day! We should all take the time to get together, spend time with precious friends and relax with one another. Time is flying by us so quickly, we'll blink and another year will have passed. Thank you so much Karin for the blessing of your friendship!!!

Now, I'm off to finish an article for Somerset before Jenny puts me in the dog house!!

Thank you again for your friendship, I love you all so much ~ Happy Monday!
xxoo, Dawn

Some days just make you smile ~

Little gestures by friends can make an ordinary day turn into a great day!
Joy, a sweet friend from The Plum Tree, contacted me to let me know she left me some old papers at the store.
Of course, if it's paper and it's old, I'm there!!!!

So, I stopped by The Plum Tree today, which by the way is looking OH-so-incredible with their fall and Halloween displays!
Anyway, this is the precious bundle Joy left me ~

Now tell me this, which of you would be
THRILLED to see this waiting for you as a gift???
Old, tattered, stained pages of books and sheet music.....
it just warms my heart!!!
Thank you so much Joy, I love every bit of it ~

And sweet Cindy gave me the newest (not at the newstands even) issue of Romantic Homes ~ Thank you dear Cindy, it's a great issue and I was so excited to see Alice's shop Painted White featured on an "internet finds" page! Congratulations Alice, I'm so happy for you!!

When I returned home, I had a wonderful package
from Mandy waiting on me too!!
I won a recent giveaway on her blog Wish on a Whisker.....
and ohmygoodness, she sent me the most precious things ever!!!!

Packaged so sweetly ~ each with it's own descriptive tag....

Just look at these treasures!!! The little framed print is so wonderful to me....
and she's hugging a broken doll ~
Oh Mandy, thank you so much sweet friend!

Isn't this little stitchery the cutest thing ever??

My very own fairy!!! She's so beautiful Mandy ~

Yummy chocolate (Noah and I shared this wonderful chocolate bar :)

And look at this little book, "Always Kiss with your Whiskers" (Well, I should have no problem doing that :) I'll have to read this with Thelma and Chester ~

A bar of great smelling soap....
it's already in a little bird dish by my sink Mandy!

The little fairy has taken a place of honor under a pretty cloche ~

Today was a love gift day.....thank you so much my sweet friends,
I will treasure each and every thing!!

I'll share some photos soon of the little guest room I'm working on ~
we're still trying to get all of Noah's things out :) he had a lot stashed in there!
I guess like mother, like son ~



I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday dear friends,
hugs and love,
Dawn

Precious fairy ~

Do you see this wonderful fairy in a jar?? Minnamarika of Lumivalkoista purchased my tutorial from Lessons from The Nest just yesterday
and has already finished her!!!!
Just look at how beautiful she is ~

Minnamarika, she is absolutely wonderful!!!!
Thank you so much for buying my tutorial sweet friend ~

xxoo, Dawn

My sweet blog friends ~

When I returned home Saturday evening from Tammy's house I had a sweet little package waiting on me from a precious friend, Nita of Red Tin Heart! She's one of the most thoughtful, selfless women I know....look at what she created just for me ~ a bird's nest ring! She's started making jewelry and she knew I would LOVE this and I do dear Nita! Of course she had to add a few extra goodies, flower seeds and some pretty collage items......and the sweetest of all? She sent Noah some McDonald's gift certificates!!!

Dear Nita, thank you so very much, I pray you will be blessed beyond measure......

Wednesday the mail came and there was a package addressed to Noah.....he has quite a few thank you notes to write now!!! Well, it was from Myrna of Heirlooms sending him a get well package chock FULL of great kid goodies!!!! Thank you so much sweet friend, you are so kind and thoughtful to send this care package wishing him well,
HE JUST LOVED IT!!!!
Blessings to you as well dear friend ~

I'm constantly amazed at the friends that I've made while blogging these last two years. There are so many caring, thoughtful people here in this land of blog. Just by keeping up with one another, commenting on each other's blogs and sharing our lives creates a sweet bond that I absolutely love ~ thank you always for your friendship dear friends.

Happy Thursday!
May you all be blessed beyond measure ~
xxoo, Dawn