Art Print Giveaway Winner & Bonus!

Thanks to all who entered my art print giveaway!! Your sweet inspiring comments were such a treat to read! What a neat bunch - I wish we were meeting together today for a yummy breakfast gathering and winner announcement so I could meet you all in person!

The winner of the print of her choice from my Etsy store is

"abigail" who wrote: "LOVE your prints!! My friend would do anything for the elephant one...Thanks for the chance :) "
So ... perhaps we know which print she'll be picking for her prize?! :-)

BONUS OFFER: I so appreciate each of you who entered! If you commented on my giveaway post, you may order any 8x10 print (or my book) for $6 off! Please write in the message part of the order process "Giveaway Bonus" and order by Wednesday. Thanks all! I'll be back tomorrow with some fun things I've been doing!

New Personalized Baby/Kid Art GIVEAWAY

Vintage style, personalized art for your baby or child's bedroom is here! I've finally completed a few of my retro designs and put them up on my Etsy store:The "Bless this child" prayer is available in three colors:
And each one is PERSONALIZED with your child's name and first initial:
There's also a "Heaven Sent - Handle With Care" retro painting available in pink or blue:
It, too can be personalized for that new granddaughter, son, niece, or second cousin's friend's daughter-in-law's little boy!
And now for the Giveaway!!
I'd love to give away one art print of your choice from my Etsy shop - select one of these new child art prints or any of my other retro inspirational prints. TO ENTER: please leave 2 "inspiring" comments - one on this post and one on ANY other previous blog post of mine. Thanks bunches!! :-) UPDATE: thanks for all your truly inspirational words in the comments - I didn't intend for a literal response but am loving the neat thoughts you're sharing! New visitors, feel free to comment however you see fit! :-)
(Don't forget your email address! You have until Saturday midnight MT 8/29 to enter. US mailing address only.)

A Little Boy's Big Party!

Oh for the love of a little boy ...
Spiderman, Spiderman, Spiderman. That name comes out of my little guy's mouth about 562 times a day!!! As much as I loathe most licensed characters, naturally, when my baby turned 3 this week I had to produce! First the Superhero cake:I simply searched Google's Images for "Spiderman cake" and chose one I thought I could do with my limited cake decorating skills. It's a 2-layer red velvet cake with red-tinted frosting for Spidey's mask, white eyes and "brownie" piped frosting for his webs. The cupcakes were mini-versions of the same:On to the party favors. Bottles of bubbles and treat bags on a custom Spiderman 3 tray:I love all my customizable trays!! I used them in my book, Inspirational Home, and worked with DaySpring on one you can get for yourself. The back comes off, so you can design all sorts of fun inserts for any special occasion or season or decor. You scrapbookers should be all over that!! I modified an image from the 3rd Spiderman movie, to add a Happy Birthday message:
Since there are 1.2 million other moms of little Spidey-wanna-bes out there, Spiderman junk abounds! Spiderman mini frisbees, fruit snacks & suckers filled the little favor bags:
I added a "C" tag to the treat bags for my little Superhero - enhanced, of course, with yet another COOL picture of Spidey himself!:
Lastly, Spidey thanked all his little fans for celebrating with him!!And, as always, thank YOU for visiting!

California Flea Markets & Vintage Score!

Let me ask a question of all you fans of flea markets, vintage chic and treasure hunting: Have you ever been to the Rose Bowl Flea Market???

Yes? No? Well, I haven't, but last week I was THIS close!!! :-) It's such a legend it's something I've wanted to do forever and last Sunday we were road trippin' to the beaches in California RIGHT through Pasadena exactly while this monthly event was taking place ...

... and we didn't stop.

Well, it wasn't exactly the best place for stretching your legs with 2 toddlers on a hot, steamy August day, right? But, guess what?? The next day I hit it big with two major scores at an antique shop!! We had spent the morning on the beaches of Carpinteria, and then when Daddy had to make his Starbuck's run, I dodged into this place:Angel's Antiques where my babes were entertained by Zelda Plume and her fascinating children's stories: And the funny thing is ... when I was lamenting missing the Rose Bowl flea with three friends before we left, one asked "Well, is there something you really want to get - what are you looking for?"

My very real thoughts - "S-T-O-P the bus! Who IS this person and why does she think I need a reason to go to a flea market? Has she never experienced the joy of the hunt??? Has she never gone garage sale-ing Just For Fun??? Is she a Man??"

My very real words - "A surfboard."

Here's what I found:
The PERFECT vintage surfboard!!!!!!! I was giddy with delight as I hauled it all the way from the back of the yard up to the front, concealing my enthusiasm until after I got "the best price" from Mr. Zelda Plume. This is for my little dude's bedroom and something I'd been looking for online for ages. Truly perfect for our purposes AND truly an unbelievable price!!! And Mr. Zelda Plume had actually been selling down at the Rose Bowl the day before!!! Ha! Had he even brought these two items I KNOW they would have been priced quadruple!! Score!! Thanks, God!!

The other thing one often hunts for is that treasure you just have to have, but didn't know it existed 5 minutes ago, right??? Am I right? Are you feelin' me? This is just that thing:A fabulous old sign dug out from behind loads of junk. I'll show better pics and what I do with them down the road!! Now, go hunt with wild abandon!!! :-)

Patio Tablescape & Bucket Centerpiece

This is one of my favorite ideas from my book, Inspirational Home:OK, mostly because I LOVE LOVE LOVE peonies, but the stenciled bucket turned out pretty cute, too ... right? :-)

I picked up a hardware store plain galvanized bucket to use as a patio table centerpiece "vase." I stenciled "Faith Hope Peace Love Joy" in white using craft DecoArt metal paint - an indoor/outdoor paint. I've had many buckets that are actually not sealed good and leak water, so check yours first - you may need to add a liner.
Here's the whole tablescape at our old house. We had amazing climbing roses that had been planted decades before me and they bloomed for months every summer! Made for a lovely garden gatherings despite my two black thumbs!

If you'd like to see loads of gorgeous tablescapes from other bloggers, please visit Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. If you'd like to see loads of fun DIY ideas, please visit Kimba at A Soft Place to Land. Happy Summer!!

Sweet Summer Berry Treat

Dessert at our house often looks like this:Assorted berries of the season (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) and bananas ... topped with whipped cream ... one big bowl ... FOUR forks ... ready ... dig in!!!!!!
When Daddy makes it, we also add cashews and melted dark chocolate. Our kids love sitting together at the kitchen island & sharing, so it's healthy, fun and easy peasy!
Going, going, GONE!
What's your favorite "healthy" family dessert/treat?