Show Me Your Form Party!!!!

I'm so excited to be a part of the super fun "Show Me your Form" party that Tiffany is hosting! I hope you actually read the post and the previous post about how her husband feels about her dress forms. It's hilarious! So, yeah, I have the twin to her Kitty...{gulp...THAT sounds a little weird!}

But, I DO have a wire dress form. And I DID but it at the same yard sale that Tiffany bought Kitty at. It was a hot summer day (okay, a warm day...we DO live outside Seattle! But, it was definitely mid to upper 80's for sure!) So, we had been yard sale-ing all day with quite a bit of good luck, had the van stuffed to the rafters with loot (including a concrete birdbath that may or may not have been by someone's trash can for pickup...) and we pulled up to JUST ONE MORE yard sale. And this one looks like a good one! We hop out and head in and BAM...I swear the clouds parted...angels started singing...the hand of God Himself reached down, pointed and said, "Look, my daughters, a dress form for each of you!". Seriously.

Oh, and the best part, Mine was $3.00. THREE DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!! Tiffany's had a cloth slipcover, so hers was $5.00. I had, like 2 bucks left so, she, being the sweet and wonderful friend she is, chipped in that extra dollar....sniff...I LOVE Tiffany!!!!!!!

But, what I love about my dress form is that she is expandable! She's no petite girl, my form, oh no! She's curvy and voluptuous and I love her that way!

She sits in my garden, with a green bowling ball on her feet, and a small purple clematis growing inside of her. I spite of the green bowling ball, which is intended to keep her steady, she was knocked over in one of the wicked windstorms we had earlier this year and lost all but one 12" vine. She and the clematis survived, and stand sweetly right outside my kitchen window where I can look at her as I do my dishes. Here she is:

These open up to the most beautiful little bell shaped flowers!

She doesn't have a name, though. I have to say I'm a little uncomfortable with the naming your dress form thing. Oh, and the naming your dolly thing...I don't know what it is...maybe I'm just a little weird...

Anywho, thanks for looking! Have fun! And thanks, Tiffany! Fun Party!

Love,

Tammy

Better late than never? Totally!

I'm not a very patient person. But, y'know, there are times in your life when you are forced to wait for things. Like: When am I EVER going to get pregnant? Will this pregnancy EVER end? Is this baby EVER going to sleep?

But, as you all know very well, we can't control these things so, why be impatient about them...well, it's a good theory, but hard!

Any ways, I did a one on one swap with the amazingly talented Jenny Heid of Everyday is a Holiday, but, all of a sudden, life got in the way. She and her boyfriend ended up moving to a new place totally spur 'o the moment, and she was completely overwhelmed with packing/unpacking, painting, moving, cutting up couches and putting them back together....not to mention, trying to keep their business afloat. She wasn't able to do her part of the swap untill things got settled, and I was not about to pitch any kind of fit...I mean, what was I going to say? Ummm, Jenny, that'll all have to wait...

Noooo, of course not! Jenny truly is awesome, and sooooo sweeet, and was ever so apologetic and boy, did she make it up to me!!! Seriously! If this is the fruit of being late, honey, you can be late any old time!!! (and, really, you didn't have to make it up to me AT ALL!). Also, our original thought was for one peice 8x 10. So, I did a small 8x10 peice (which looked small to me at the time) and I put together a little packet of fun vintage goodies, and sent it all in a padded envelope. When I got Jenny's box today, well, it was a serious BOX!!! And STUFFED with goodies!!!!

So...(I'm breathless...) here it is....the totally amazing stuff from Jenny:

Everything was packaged GORGEOUSLY! Please notice the restraint I showed by photographing them BEFORE I ripped into them! Impressed? I know!!Just LOOK at this! How sweet! A bakery box tied up with the most beautiful vintage trims and the sweetest little tag!**sigh**And inside?tags, buttons, flowers, charms, ballerina darling little appliques...so fun!

Fabulous trims: velvet, pom pom, sequins, lace, rick rack, crochet...made me swoon...SO cute!!!Wallpaper!!! OHMYGOSH!!! Love it! little bits of lots of patterns...heaven!

Then, this...the actual swap piece: SO beautiful!!! And I make wedding cakes, so this now happily hangs in my kitchen.

I adore this sweet little bird with his outrageous pink tail feather:Look at the dots on the cake...silver glass glitter!

As if AAAALLLLL that FABULOUSNESS wasn't enough, a 11x14 of The Recital, which I have drooled over since they introduced it to their stores. **gulp** It's even more wonderful in person! It is now hanging in my pale pink hallway, above black framed pictures of my girls. It looks like it was made to go there! And then, as if THAT wasn't enough...So, so sweet! A tiny house similar to one she did a while ago, that I gushed all ove on her blog!!! I adore it! It found a home in a little niche in my kitchem that used to have an intercom in it.

Well, obviously, I'm a happy girl. Jenny...you are truly amazing. You Rock!!! Thank you so much for everything, I love it ALL!!! I will swap anytime with you...especially if you're gonna be late!

I finally got around to taking pictures of the Jewels of the Sea Swap pendants I got...a week later! So, here they are:

Picture 1, left to right: Michele at http://www.lifeonthisgoodday.blogspot.com/, Michelle at http://www.ginghamworld.blogspot.com/

picture 2, left to right: Heidi at http://lournals.aol.com/?hwoodred/everyday-cookies/, Jessi at http://www.srappyjessi.blogspot.com/

picture 3 left to right: Julie at http://shabby-jules.blogspot.com/ and Wanda at http://wandamoi.blogspot.com/. The ATC is by Jenny at http://fatedfolliesstudio.blogspot.com...she/ made one for everyone in the swap! Nice bonus, hey?

I love swapping! Thanks so much, Heather! You rock the swaps, girl! Can't wait for the next one!!!

Okay, let's see...Here's a little peice I made reflecting my current mood. It's entitled Disheartened and I made it in my creative journal. I love trying to match my mood to my art. It helps me process, you know? The words at the bottom of the cage say "She sometimes felt disheartened". At the top, in the corner, it says "His affection for her soon sunk into indifference". I'm feeling a little bit "trapped" these days. Powerless, I guess, in certain areas of my life.

Soooo, enough moping, already!

On a more positive note...I have some of the BEST friends! Seriously! One of my dearest girlfriends just LOVES to give things to me. She's the one who gave me the red dogwood tree I blogged about a while ago. Just GAVE it to me! Well, she's gone and outdone herself! She has this wonderful husband who bought her a new camera for her birthday. An upgrade. She takes GORGEOUS photos of anyone that will let her, and even some who won't. So, she's got this new awesome camera, and guess what? She GAVE me her old one! Wouldn't let me pay her one penny for it!!! Actually, she is going to let me bake a cake for her son's dedication ceremony. Good deal, right? A camera for a cake!! Here it is:

LOVE IT!!! Well, I know I will when I figure it out! I don't know how to use the darn thing, so these pictures were actually taken with my faithful old Kodak. I've definitely gotta take some lessons from her. Thanks Cassandra! You are such a beautiful person and great friend! I am blessed by you...

Well, that's it for now. Have a great day!

Love,

Tammy

New projects and a new Bathroom

Heres a quick peek of a few projects I will hopefully be getting to this week. I thought you all might like an early look, since I usually forget to do before pictures. :)

So, the first is another house. Can you say fixation? Yes, I admit it. But, theres just something about that shape that speaks to me of, well, home! I got this at Goodwill, I think. And paid just a couple of dollars for it.

LOVE it!! As you can see, it's a shadow box, but it doesnt have the dividers they usually do.

Next, is a hotair balloon i have had for, probably, 6 months or more. I hadn't quite decided what to do with it. Do you do that? Buy something, or aquire it in some other crafty way, like digging it out of a FREE BIN. Gotta love the free bin. Anyway, I got it at a little independant thrift store and paid $8 for it!!!! I know, that's a veritable fortune!! So, I didn't know what to do with it, then I was inspired by Miss Jenn at Sweet Eye Candy Creations. She made some darling ones. Seriously...sooooo stinking cute!!! Go check them out! She blogged about them on June 30. But, while you are there, check out the post she did of the Whimsical Children's Room Blog Party. Dang, that girl can decorate!

Here's mine pre-decorating:

It was metal colored, with a natural basket, but I sprayed it off white, and we'll see where it goes from there! I think both of these items will be headed for Etsy, though! I'd like to have a few really adorable handmade things to put up when I open. And that will be...??? As soon as I can. Ugh! I've been sooooo busy this summer! Doing what, you might ask? Well....

for example, doing this:

Oh, I wish you could see how pretty it is...and how UGLY it was before! It is really hard to take pictures in a small bathroom! The vanity and mirror are definitely on the dark side for me, but, 1. my husband likes dark wood and 2. that was the only one they had at Sam's Club. It was waaaaayyyy cheaper there, so we went for it. I haven't actually gotten around to decorating yet, but, I do love it! And that tub is FAB! Thanks for looking with me!!!

Love,

Tammy

Who, me?
Li'l ol' me?
Oh my goodness...It seems as though I've been given an award. Gasp! I've never gotten one, never been tagged, or anything! So, please pardon my gushing from the microphone, here. I'd like to thank Margo at dningroomstudio for making this happen...(imagine me blowing kisses....)
Alright, alright. I'm done now. Seriously, I'm so thrilled. So, here it is...the Arte y Pico:

Here are the rules:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.
4. The award winner and one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

Okay. So. The five I have chosen are:

1.Tiffany at shabbyscraps

2. Melissa at littlemelfie'sstudio

3. Karin at creativechaos

4. Beth at wordsandwhimsies

5. Donna at undertheredroof

whew! That was tougher than I thought it would be! I do hope you will check outall these wonderful blogs! I'm off to bed-- I really need to get out of this sequined gown...this strapless bra is killing me...not to mention these 3" heels...

BTW, does anyone know what the heck pico means?

Cutie Patootie

Here he is...my favorite boy in the whole wide world.

Sweet, sweet boy

Hang in there, moms...all that hard work will pay off someday...in the form of a sweet, lovable, oh-so-returnable grandchild! Love this little guy so much!