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Friday, May 27, 2011

Birthday Art

 As promised, here is the piece of art I did for my birthday this year.  There is meaning to a lot of the parts, but mostly it's about how this past year, I've been working on finding harmony between various parts of my life.  I love the colors, and am still enjoying exploring the contrast between organic shapes and more geometric shapes.



  To see some of my past birthday pieces, look here or here or here or here.

I haven't shot photos of my birthday presents yet, but there is definitely some eye candy there once I get to it, so stay tuned!

(Blogger's not allowing me to comment on other blogs for some reason today, so here's info for those of you who inquired about Avery's shoes from my last post.  They are from a company called "Angel", which appears to be a modern company (not vintage).  But I got them at the consignment shop, so don't know where to get more.  I love them though, and would welcome any info about where to purchase more of them!) 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, yesterday I turned the big 39, and as you can see, I am celebrating with a new blog design!  Don't ask me why it has taken me so long to do this-that old Blogger template was just not cutting it for sure!  Erika at The Fairy Blogmother worked with me to come up with the design, and I love it!

For my birthday, I got some really nice goodies, which I haven't had a chance to display yet.  But above is a sneak peek of them all piled in a box!  I also had a chance to work on a piece of artwork.  Every year on my birthday, I do a piece of art- it's become an annual tradition.  I wasn't able to quite finish it though, so I'll post photos once I'm done.

Since I was so busy being pampered and catered to (ha ha- reality check- I've got three kids, so birthdays aren't what they used to be!), but anyway, I didn't have a chance to post my Little Vintage Style photos yesterday. (I'm also linking up with Small Style)  So here ya go!

 Avery had a chance to wear her new (vintage) bubble romper, and it is so adorable!

After we played outside, she decided she wanted to make some tea for us!


 YUM!

And just so you see how our whole life isn't beautiful vintage backdrops, here's the reality of what she looked like most of the day- Buzz Lightyear and Big Brother's Crocs!


I'll share photos soon of my birthday goodies and birthday painting!


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Sweetest Dress Ever!

If you read my last post, you saw that I really hit the jackpot last week at the thrift store with vintage dresses.  I decided to go back the next day, in the hopes that maybe they had put more out, or that I had missed some.  I'm so glad I did!  Although I only found one, this may be the sweetest little dress that has ever been made!

 It has got the prettiest smocking, sweetest ruffles, and the cutest little bow print all over.  It's by Kiddiz & Co., and I couldn't find much about them online, other than that they're from Paris.  So I'm not even sure of the age, although it is in pristine condition!


The dress is actually a 3 month size, and here's Avery, who's a large 21 month old, wearing it! Although it won't last long with her, as it was pretty tight around the neck. How I wish I had found this dress a year ago!



Since it was a little short, I paired it with tan shorts, and the sweetest little tan shoes.

And here she is showing off her shoes (this girl LOVES shoes!).  I found them on clearance at Old Navy, and now I wish I had bought them in every size, they're so cute!

I'm again linking up with Hart & Sew's Little Vintage Style.  Hop on over and check out the other cuties!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Jackpot!!!

My heart always flutters when I see the photo Rachel uses for her "Vintage Here, Vintage There" segments. I think it's so pretty to see all the little vintage dresses lined up!

Well, as you can see, I now have my own photo of pretty little vintage dresses, thanks to Friday's trip to my favorite thrift store!

Let me preface this by saying how amazing this store is-it's the sort of place you can literally stay all day, because by the time you've made your way through the store, they're bringing out new stuff where you started.  But, with that said, I've never really had much luck with vintage clothes there. 

Friday, however, was a different story!  As I was going through the toddler clothes, I came across one after another, after another, after another,....all sized between 18m and 3T- exactly the size Avery's wearing right now!  Frankly, I kind of wish the sizes were all different, because she's going to have a hard time wearing them all before she outgrows them! 

They are all so adorable-take a look:




 These long-sleeved ones are Polly Flinders- I hope they still fit her when cooler weather comes...



 Oh, I love this little striped pinafore...!

 And this one has a removeable topper- so that it can be worn with or without the duckies!


 Sigh... this pink smocked one is so sweet...!

This bubble romper actually wasn't from the thrift store, but it came in the mail (from Etsy) the same day as my big score, so I thought I'd include it, just for the sheer adorable-ness!!

And just because this photo's so pretty, I'll put it up again!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Favorite Finds & Favorite Girl

I'm linking up again today with Hart & Sew's Little Vintage Style.  But since I've shown so many photos of Avery lately, I thought I'd show you a couple of my favorite recent finds, just for some fun eye candy.

I suppose these pieces of doll furniture can't actually be considered "finds", since I got them both off Ebay (I sort of think of a "find" as something I find at a thrift store), but I still love them so!  I found the high chair a couple years ago, and just couldn't pass up the matching doll bed when it popped up a few weeks ago.  I have got such an obsession with vintage doll furniture, seriously! 

Currently, I don't have them out where Avery can get to them, because they're a little delicate, but I still have high hopes she'll share my love for these sorts of things one day!

 And so here she is for this week's Little Vintage Style

She's wearing a little hand-smocked Polly Flinders top that is actually made to go over a red dress.

But the dress is long-sleeved, and we are definitely not having the weather for that here in Florida!!

 
 Red shoes would have completed the outfit perfectly, but alas, she doesn't have any that fit right now...

It's fun to share her little vintage outfits here.  Nobody in my "real life" understands this sort of thing!!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Kid's Art

I am completely fascinated by kid's artwork- I love the looks of it, and strive to recreate that same unabandoned quality in my own artwork.  I have a master's degree in Art Therapy, so I learned a lot about the subject in school, and have always looked forward to watching my children develop artistically. 

Until recently, neither of my boys were very interested in art though, to my chagrin.  But lately, Noah (4 yrs) has been showing an interest, which I love! 

The above was sort of his first real "person" schema.  He drew these guys every day for a couple months- always with the pointy neck and a belly button!

 And now he's progressed to these sorts of characters.  He's trying to figure out hands, so sometimes they're the scribbles like on the right drawing, and sometimes they're the huge claw-like appendages like on the left drawing.  Personally, I love the claws, because I think they look like wings!

One thing he likes to do is have me print out a picture from the computer, which he tries to draw.  Above is his version of Spiderman.

 And his latest art projects are these intricately-folded pieces of paper, which are then taped together with about fifty pieces of tape!  Here's one I found taped to the wall in my bedroom!

Here you can see all the delicate craftsmanship that goes into one- ha ha!

And, so as not to leave Riley (5yrs) out, here are a couple of his drawings.  He's becoming a good little artist as well, although he's not nearly as interested in it as Noah is. Most of Riley's drawings are a result of my bribing him to draw!
  
But Riley's very good at looking at something and drawing it.  The above is Mac and Lightning McQueen, which he drew by looking at his toys.

I know that my kids aren't necessarily great artists compared to other 4 and 5 year-olds, but it's the process I love so much- watching their skills develop, and the way their brains work while they're working.  I learn new things all the time while watching them create- it helps me with my own artwork!