Enchanted Hearts Studio

Etsy Finds...

Here's today's Etsy:  Thursday's Etsy Valentine's Showcase  and a few of my faves:

Dangling Earrings

Pearl Earrings











Love Banner










And I decided to rework the Photo Box cover...yeah, I'm bored.  A bad back and boredom seem to go hand in hand...but it's all good. I was rummaging through my stash and found a few things that I liked much better...

Okey-doke. Gotta run and feed the sick (yes, they're still sick!) kiddos...xoxo

Feeling much better today so I decided to play with my new Fancy Pants and Sandra Evertson stamps...

Patterned paper is by Webster's Design. I hope you all are enjoying your day. I'm going to hang out with my girls tonight and watch my favorite Jane Austen movie.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving your sweet comments. xoxo

Down for the Count

I don't know about you, but I can't concentrate on anything when my house is in disarray. It doesn't matter where the mess is...It could be on top of me or a several feet away...the mere fact that it's there will be enough to throw me in a tizzy.  So image my state of mind this past weekend when every room of the house looked like "Dorothy after the Tornado". I mean every...single... room!  I was surrounded by mass chaos...piles of books, magazines, clean laundry, dirty laundry, coats, toys, my husband's work papers, blueprints (he's an engineer) and boxes and boxes of art stuff (I don't have a dedicated space, actually I do; I should say I don't have a dining room). So what do you think I did? That's right! I started cleaning.

First stop was the basement; and that ended up being my last stop because after two hours of emptying and moving boxes I bent over to grab my tea and couldn't straighten up!!  Every time I tried to right myself I felt a searing pain from my rear end to my tippy toes, and I knew I was in trouble. Yep, I threw my back out... but my basement looks awesome! The only problem is I can't sit or stand for very long. A minor detail, I know...so I've taken to pacing from room to room glaring at the mess. Maybe I can talk it into disappearing.

Thank God I have a great chiropractor. He's definitely worth every dime my insurance pays him! And Sean gave me this yummy fruit juice that works like an anti-inflammatory, and best of all, my girls give me lots of hugs, so it isn't all that bad!

Hopefully I'll be back soon...:-)

A Handmade Pledge...

I LOVE making cards, but lately I just haven't had the time. I didn't even send out Christmas cards last year because the task just seemed too big compared to all the other things I had to do.  So, in the interest of time, I went to Hallmark and bought a few cards that had a "handmade" look. You've seen them, they have a pretty bow, perhaps some glitter...a little "something" that makes them LOOK handmade...even though they're not.  Now I have nothing against Hallmark, as a matter of fact, I LOVE Hallmark, but boy did I feel guilty buying these cards (even though they were very pretty!)! I figured, "Hey, I'm crafty! I should be (1) making these myself or (2) buying these from other crafty people. If I'm going to spend my hard-earned money, I'd rather give it to another craftsman than to the Hallmark store.   

So, this year I made a promise to myself to buy handmade whenever possible. I realize I may not always be able to do this, but like I said, I will whenever possible. I've been checking out the "stores" on Etsy, and am enamored with the creativity and ingenuity of some of the artists I have met there.  So I've included in today's post a link to the Valentine's Showcase on Etsy (which is updated daily), along with pics of a few of my faves...check these out when you have a moment.

ETSY VALENTINE'S DAY SHOWCASE - Friday 1/24/08
 

Pretty Neckwarmer

Fillable Fabric Cone with Roses

Set of 3 Tissue Holders

Photo Greeting Cards

Heart Necklace

And look at this sweet collage from my friend Karin's Etsy Shop:

 

Here are links to a few of my friends' Etsy shops:

Nicole - Small Treasures

Shannon - Paper Eclectiques

Ann - Digital Paperie

Candice - Polka Dot Parlor

Have fun shopping! xoxo

A Little Sneakie-Peekie...

I'm working on a photo project for 2008.

I bought this Creative Imaginations Bare Elements set:

It's so sweet -- a large heavy-duty box with 12 small chipboard books. I'm going to use one book for each month of the year and fill it with our favorite pictures from that month.

So far, I have the outside cover for the box finished:

   

and hope to be finished with January's book this weekend. Lots of collaged Daisy D's Modern Romance papers, a few vintage wallpapers, Hambly overlay, my favorite flourish stamps (I have WAY too many of these) and a bit of gesso for good luck:-)...more to come.

RUN...don't walk...and GET THIS MAGAZINE!

I almost cried when I found this at my local bookstore. It totally made my day! Forget the laundry, forget the dishes...dinner?  What dinner???  It ain't happenin' today. I'm going to soak these pages in one at a time as slowly as I can. Yes, it's THAT beautiful. You must see this for yourself. I'm totally in love...



 

 

 

How Sweet is This???

Can you stand this?? How creative is that? I haven't a clue who these people are or who took this photo, but those little baby feet are soooo adorable!!

I was stalking Etsy this morning in search of Valentine's Day treasures and found a few "Good Things" (yeah, I'm still in Martha mode) I'm totally drooling over this and these. 

And then there's a ton of goodness at my friend Ann's store, Digital Paperie. 

And how cute is this idea?  And how about tucking these cuties into a card for someone special.

Would you look at what that sweet girl Nicole has in her shop. Everything she does is soooo pretty!

Moth To A Flame studio always catches my eye. Look at this old-fashioned Tussie!

Here's some Sweetheart Tinsel  and sweet images to use in your projects.

Although she's not on Etsy, Trish's idea of a Valentine's Day tree (or two) is giving me a ton of inspiration for my home next month. I just wish she would show us pictures of the whole tree!

OK..I better take care of those dirty dishes in my sink.  Let me know if I missed any of your etsy favorites. I'm always on the lookout for great shops! xoxo...

Guess Who I Met Yesterday!!

My friend Jennifer and I were part of the studio audience at the Martha Stewart Show! And guess what? There's an "Ask Martha" segment at the beginning of the show and I was one of the five people chosen to ask her a question on camera!  I was shaking in my boots but thank God she was very gracious and did not embarass me (I almost forgot to say my name!).   

Let me tell you, this place ROCKS. When we walked up the stairs and into the studio, it was electric. I can't describe it any other way. A million lights above us, lots of people scurrying to and fro moving props, setting things up, checking camera angles.  It was unbelievable.  There was so much going on and I was trying my best to take it all in! You see the people sitting on the floor? They are part of the audience and we were on the risers behind them.

This is Joey -- it's his job to keep the audience entertained, and believe me, he's very good at it! He coached us on what to do and when to do it...and he was really, really funny. I think he mentioned that he's a stand-up comedian, and has opened for a few other shows.  He was so funny -- and he kept cracking jokes and throwing free items into the audience during commercial breaks. It got to the point where we were chanting his name and clapping to get his attention during breaks! I didn't catch anything, but we still received some awesome goodie bags for attending.

After the show Jen and I had lunch at Saks, visted American Girl Place (it was right across the street!) and then went shopping in the garment district for some trims and ribbon. Oh my sweet goodness!!! I've never seen so many rolls, and rolls, AND ROLLS of ribbon,trim and fabric in my life....I was going ga-ga over this stuff...tomorrow I'll post a pic of everything I bought. Very cool stuff..

OK, now it's back to reality...I'm trying to finish a few sewing projects (yes, you heard me...SEWING! Can you stand it? I haven't looked at my machine in years!) and I need to start my Valentine's Day items for our boutique next month! First the laundry, then dinner, then a meeting at my daughter's school....oh, and I forgot about that closet with all the boxes falling out of it...I'll catch you later!...xoxo

This ATC is for Danielle's Itty Bitty White Book project.  White is such a cool theme. The possibilities are endless.  When I sat down to make this ATC I had so many ideas floating around in my head...but when it came down to executing the plan, I couldn't make any of them happen! This was definitely a lot harder than I thought it would be. It''s a real balancing act -- how much color should I add?...do I add any at all?   It was mind boggling!!!  Anyways, here's the final result. I'm happy with how it turned out, and I actually loved the challenge! I used Basic Grey background paper from the Scarlet's Letter colection, an image from my stash (I think this was from Lunagirl -- she's an Ebay seller), rub-ons, Swarovski crystals, gesso and oil pastels. Now I'm off to make 26 color copies!! That's a whole other challenge...Thanks for visiting...xoxo

Bonne Annee..Happy New Year!

Well, here we are. A brand new year...a brand new start. I don't know about you, but I've resisted the temptation to make a list of resolutions and goals, well...almost. I keep thinking I'd still like to drop a few pounds, learn how to sew, and finally pursue a few art-related projects I've put on the back burner.  At the moment none of that really matters (I guess because I've been cooking, cleaning and wrapping non-stop for the past week!). I'm counting my blessings and am content taking this year one day at a time. I hope you all take time to enjoy the new year and all it has to offer. My best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008!!!