Cottage Charm Giveaway

I just learned about the Cottage Charm Giveaway from visiting Lori's blog. (Run over there and enter!) There are several other bloggers hosting giveaways with a "cottage" style theme. You can see all of the participating blogs by clicking here, then visit each blog to enter.
But, you need to hurry... it ends this weekend!

I know it is really last minute, but I wanted to join in too!
So here is my giveaway:

A sweet vintage Avon bottle
Some vintage wallpaper
Pretty pink forget-me-nots
A lovely white starfish (I love these... have them all over the house!!!)
A set of vintage costume earrings
Vintage lace and ribbon

And this great crafty book full of pretty projects.

Plus, a few little surprises that I will tuck in for the winner.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post.
Be sure to include an email address, so I can get a hold of you if you win!
Most of the other giveaways end tomorrow, but since I jumped on board so late, I will pick a winner on Sunday evening instead (hope that's ok!). You have until then to enter.



Have fun! And, be sure to visit the other participating blogs.
Gorgeous blogs... and some really fabulous giveaways!

Summer Swap Invitation

(EDIT: This swap is now FULL! I've sent out confirmations to all of the players who I've received emails from. If you didn't get one, please let me know. I've received a lot of messages for this swap, and definitely could have missed one! Thanks. :)

I'm happy to announce a new swap to celebrate the start of SUMMER!

For this swap, you will create 6 wearable PENDANTS, and receive 6 back!
The theme is "JEWELS OF THE SEA"... think seashells, pearls, beautiful ocean colors, etc.
The pendants should all be similar and have a VINTAGE feel.
How you choose to CREATE the pendants is up to you... they can be soldered glass, made of recycled vintage jewelry, or maybe use a seashell as a base?!?!
Just do your BEST work, and make something you LOVE.
Pendants should NOT be too large, probably no bigger than 2" x 2".
Also, you are NOT required to send chains or necklaces for your pendants, unless you choose to.

Pendants will be DUE to me by July 1st.
Please include $5 for return Priority POSTAGE.
All players will also receive a Speckled Egg GOODIE BAG.

SWAP NOW CLOSED.

(Digi frame by H. McCraig)

Forget me nots

I just love these sweet little posies...

I've been carrying them for a long time, and they are always super popular.
I just added a bunch of fabulous new colors to the website this weekend.
You can see them all here.
There were some requests to sell them individually, instead of in sets.
So, I changed them for you.
Now they are sold by single bunches, so you can mix and match colors.
Have fun!

All of the other new products for this weekend's update can be seen here (or just click on What's New on the Speckled Egg website.)

So Stinkin' Cute!

I just finished a big shop update! There are 36 new items and lots of re-stocks!

How stinkin' cute are these??
(My new neighbor says that allll the time.... she's from Florida. Maybe it's a Southern thing???:)

Forget me nots in 4 new colors, including these beauties! Also listed are purple, blue and a pink/blue mix! These are very limited... not sure if I will be able to get more!

Vintage ceramic roses in sherbert colors! Soooo fabulous. Very hard to share!
I also added some more of the ceramic carnations!!!

Lots of cute plastic doo-dads, including these lovely ballerinas...

And these fun pink cameos.

Large satin wings... plus other fabric embellishments.

I'm loving these vintage brass buckles!!!

Some re-stocks: velvet strawberries, tinsel garlands, vintage mushrooms
Click HERE to see all the new!

I hope that everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend! It is absolutely goreous here!! I'm off to do some gardening and then to a BBQ!
Have a great day! :)
(P.S. A new swap announcement will be coming soon!)

Breakfast for Dinner

(Please tell me we aren't the only ones who do this.)

My family loves to have breakfast for dinner.
Not all the time, maybe just once or twice each month.
There are soooo many really yummy breakfast and brunch recipes out there that require a little more time to prepare than a busy weekend morning allows.
So we make them for dinner instead.


Tonight I'm trying this Caramel French Toast Recipe from a Pillsbury cookbook.
I made it earlier today and it is sitting in the fridge right now... I can't wait to pop it in the oven.
I had to "sample" the caramel sauce when I made it... OMG... delicious!
If you click on the picture, it should enlarge for you, if you'd like the recipe.
(Just don't look at the nutritional info!!!)
We've got some fruit salad, homefries, and ham to go with it.
Mmmmmm....

(EDIT: These were ok. They were REALLY sweet and rich. Almost *too* sweet and rich. I said that I probably wouldn't make them again, but my husband said he loved them... go fig.
The caramel sauce is really yummy by itself. Would be great on ice cream!)


The Little One and I just finished making gifts for her teachers.
She picked out these mosaic teacup planters from a local store.
We just added some miniature roses and dusty miller.
They look really sweet.
We also saw our first snake of the year in the yard.
Eeeeeek.
Let's just say that neither of us likes critters too much.
I think that little snake is probably deaf now... or pretty close.

Journals, Tags, and Stuff

Long time, no see. I miss you guys! Things here have been crazy! Crazy in a good way, though. Busy with orders, busy with end of the year activities, birthdays, barbecues... My Little One has her last day of preschool celebration on Friday, and her ballet recital in the evening. Our week is full of practices, dress rehearsals, and parties. Things should slow down after this weekend for a while, and I will be back in the swing of things next week.

We had a lovely Mother's Day! We went on a little day trip to the shore. The beach was beautiful, but soooo cold! We also visited a flea market that I had been dying to check out, unfortunately we got there pretty late in the day and left empty-handed. I will definitely be returning though! My Little One made this basket for me. How cute (and crafty) is she!?!? She put it together all by her self... the pipe-cleaner flowers, the card, and even decorated the basket. I love the little set of ribbon watches! Perfect summer colors. They are from here.

The Spring Journal Swap has wrapped up, and here are the AMAZING journals I received from my partners. I had 3 lovely partners (as sometimes happens when you are the host:) . These journals are so fun and easy peasy to put together. Just cover a composition book with pretty papers and add embellishments. You can see even more fabulous journals here.


The first one is from Tiffany. It is soooo pretty! I love the soft colors and sweet embellishments (especially the painted corners... and the bling!).


The one above is from Deena. Simple and elegant. I am a huge fan of toile.... especially in black and white.
This final one is from Lori. I really love the collaged look of this journal... and the bird theme!!!

Three beautiful and unique journals just for me! Thank you all so much! I can't wait to fill them up!

Here are the journals that I made. I had so much fun making these. I even broke out the dremel! I need to get back into actually making things, not just dreaming stuff up... I really miss that!


This one is for Tiffany. She said that she liked soft colors and the shabby-vintage look. I used vintage wall paper, an old flower greeting card, vintage trims and ribbons, crepe paper, and velvet ric rac on hers. I love how it turned out. I think this one was my favorite of the bunch.


The one above was sent to Deena. I covered the book in vintage sheet music and added flocked wallpaper to the spine. The bird is from an old book. I glued it onto the frame of an antique photograph. I added some vintage fabric, pom pom fringe and a ribbon slide. This journal was hard to part with!!!

And finally this last one went to Lori. She likes black, red, and green. This one was really fun to make... I rarely use these colors together, but I really LOVE how it turned out. It's always fun to step out and try something new!

And finally.... my sweet friend Barb celebrated a special birthday earlier this month. I was invited to make a tag for a special book that being put together for her. Fifty beautiful tas from 50 different artists to celebrate the years of her life.

I made the above tag for her. I even sewed it! (It was actually kind of fun! Yikes! :)


And my artsy Little One wanted to get involved too! This is what she made using scraps of stuff from my work area. Not bad for a 5-year old!!!!

Faraway Friends

I met Melissa of Little Melfie's Studio several years ago when I first discovered online groups for artists. We swapped and emailed one another and became friends. I was thrilled to finally get to meet her in person at Silver Bella last year. She was as every bit as sweet, kind, and funny as I imagined she'd be. We spent a lot of time together that weekend and I so wish that we lived closer to one another to get together more regularly.

I'm sure that many of you know that our sweet friend Mel recently had brain surgery. She's doing well and is now back at home recovering with her family. I've spent a lot of time thinking about her these last few months. Thinking about how something like this shouldn't happen to her... or to anyone else, for that matter. You are just going along in life and *wham* you are hit with something like this. It really puts things into perspective. You really do need to make the most out of each day. Take every opportunity to be kind to one another and show love to the people you care about.

I wanted to do something special for Mel. I knew there were many others out there in blogland who would like to do something too. I sent an invitation out to some fellow bloggers and artists who I thought knew Mel asking them to make a tag for her. The response was fantastic... and the results were beautiful and full of love and good wishes..

Photo Above:
Back Row, Left to Right:
Jennifer Paganelli, Mendy Mitrani, Sarah, Natalea Kandefer, Heidi Woodruff
Front, Left to Right:
Julie Baxley, Barb Burkard, Connie Senyitko, Michelle Geller

Photo Above:
Back Row, Left to Right:
Jessi Nagy, Lilli, Heather Bluhm (2 tags), Karin Aquirre
Front Row, Left to Right:
Danielle Muller, Charlotte Lyons, Karla Natale, Sadie Lou, Amy Powers, Sarah Keith


Above Phote:
Back Row, Left to Right:
Jeanne S, Maija Lepore, me, Michele Witchell, Donna Layton, Kari Ramstrom, Colleen H
Front Row, Left to Right:
Shosh Jennings, Jenny Hernandez, Lori Karla, Paula Dion, Jenny Heid

Back Row, Left to Right:
Donna Layton (tag & gift), Dale McLain (box and tag)
Front:
Beth Quinn (necklace)


Above Photo:
Diva Box by Sandra Evertson

We were (somehow) able to keep all of this a surpise! :)
I mailed all of these amazing goodies to Stephanie, who is a very good friend of Melissa. She hand-delivered the basket to Mel when she returned home from the hospital. I really think that this meant so much to her. She called me shortly after receiving the gift and was just so thankful to everyone for being so kind and generous. Stephanie has photos and a wonderful recap of Melissa opening the gift on her blog.

Thank you to everyone who participated... it really was an amazing gift. And keep those thoughts and prayers for Melissa coming as she recovers. You can never have too many of those. :)

Vintage Party Swap Loot: Part Two

Remember when I said that Jenn spoiled me with gifts for the Vintage Party Swap? I think "spoiled" may have been an understatement! She sent everything for a fabulous party. So much stuff that it actually all arrived in a U-Haul box! No joke!!!

Jenn is so sweet and so talented! I am thrilled to have one of her yummy creations all of my very own! (It's actually in the Little One's room now.... you should have seen her face as we opened all these treats!)

Jenn decorated 10 party favor bags! Can't wait to use these cuties!

These have got to be my most favorite thing ever! How cute are these?!?!! She cleaned out bear shaped honey jars and filled them with candy. 10 of them!!! We brought some to a friend's 3oth (for the 4th time...) birthday party and they were a HUGE hit!

More bear jars... this time filled with sprinkles!

All the loot! Even cake mix and frosting!
Thank you sooooo much Jenn! Everything is beyond fabulous!