Birthday Goodies & Miscellaneous

It's been a busy and fun weekend, and the weather here along the Wasatch Front in Northern Utah has been glorious. Today it even got up to 74 degrees. Of course, I don't believe for a second that it will last - we know that even though Spring is around the corner, Mother Nature always has a surprise or two in store for us. The Ute Indians called the inevitable spring snowtorm Dewina; and even though Spring hasn't officially even started (by the calendar), I think it's certainly here meterologically. For now.

I wore t-shirts all weekend, worked in the yard (and got scratched up by my rose bushes, so THAT'S IT!! I'm ordering those gardening gloves that Allie talked about last month here.

And then to make the weekend even more wonderful, Saturday was my birthday. DH took me out to my favorite antique store, which I'm going to blog about next week. We were looking for the perfect gift, and my friend Joan, who owns the store (you will meet her) has a whole store (and house and three storage units) of yummy things. She and DH Les (whom we've known for about 25 years, since Les coached my son Ryan in Little League) are having a Big Sale next weekend........ and we're going! That is, I'm going with my camera (and wallet) and will share her fabulous shop with you. Joan is THE undisputed queen of vintage linens and laces (high end) in Utah. Some of her recent acquisitions (and I only saw a portion of these) are vintage mannequins (9 of them) clothed in old Victorian and Edwardian dresses. Never worn! French tassles and trims that came from a local historic Victorian mansion - The Walker Mansion.

I'm personally looking for some wonderful piece with vintage ribbonwork to add to my collection. I bought one piece from her years ago (hmmm..... I'll have to photograph it and share) that Helen Gibb fell in love with when I brought it along to a retreat at her home a couple years ago.


But I did get some wonderful goodies in the mail (above). My dear friend Judy remembered me with a lovely piece of rose fabric. It matches a scrap I had last year that I used in a rose-themed block I pieced and had embellished by some very talented ladies in a round robin last year. With this fabric, I can add a border and back it. And then Judy included a lovely felt floral brooch that she'd made. I've been noticing in catalogs and blogs that floral brooches are quite the accessory item this year! I'm anxious to wear it! And finally, Judy included two lovely skeins of pearle threads, in lovely bright colors that I adore. Thank you so much, Judy!!

And in the same day, as if it had been timed that way, a package came from my friend Heather in Canada. Heather is the sweetheart who redesigned my blog header and signature for me. The gifted me with a sweet lavender-filled hanging sachet in beautiful, soothing colors. The little friendship plaque she included has touches of bronze in it, and matches the bronze accents in my kitchen perfectly. I will treasure this every time I see it hanging there! And then, to give me a reason to be IN the kitchen, Heather included some wild rice and her recipe for fixing it.l DH and I are big rice fans, and I have the ingredients on hand, so we'll be fixing her recipe this week! Thanks for your thoughts and gifts, Heather, you are so sweet and generous!

Lastly, iff you're thinking of opening an online shop, you NEED to check out ArtFire. They're offering a $7/month lifetime rate to the next approximately 500 sellers. After that, it will be $20/month. The good news is that they take NO commission, regardless of how many items you list or sell. You can check out ArtFire here. If you sign up, you may use my name as a referral (with 10 referrals, I get a free account).

Well, I'm closing for now. Tomorrow (Monday) is a non-working day for me, and my DD Megan is taking me to lunch for my birthday. And then I'm going to Curves to join up. Other than that, I plan to stitch all day (will have progress pictures later this week) and load some things into my new ArtFire shop.

Hugs,