ittybittybirdy-2008

1. Inspiration Board, 2. Hello Ginger, 3. Cakes!, 4. interior designer robot, 5. "Can We Keep Her?" Keepsake Cake, 6. Fisher Price TV-Radio, 7. The Happiest Corner, 8. *New* Lollipop Lane Gingerbread Houses, 9. peachdress2, 10. Birthday Party, 11. Icing on the Cake Keepsake Pin, 12. Painting the perfect street, 13. Miller Wants To See The Pictures, 14. 1st Sewing Project, 15. Pretties In A Blue Bowl, 16. Sweet Pink Cake I, 17. Graduation Day, 18. 7' Robot, 19. Ginger & JIll, 20. Tin Tim's Tail, 21. Dancing Ballerina Cake, 22. Little gingham blouse, 23. Where My Little Treasures Live, 24. Dreaming of the great outdoors, 25. My Studio

This year has had its ups and downs

 but I honesty wouldn't have changed a thing! 

I grew so much as a person...

I felt myself healing from past wounds, 

becoming braver and more independent.

 Throughout this year I have struggled to find who I am- 

but each day I find myself more and more happy

 with the young woman I am.

 Sure, I wish a few things had gone differently this year, 

but I am determined to learn and grow from every mistake and blunder. 

My life is wonderful! 

I have so many things to be thankful for in 2008 

and so many things to look forward to in 2009!

I wish you all a most wonderful

 and magical New Year! 

Christmas Day...

Another Christmas day has come and gone. 

Our tree is dead and my tummy hurts from too much candy. 

It was a wonderful day! 

EVERYBODY was home this christmas- 

which is the best gift of all. 

We will be leaving tomorrow morning for Idaho to visit Jim's family. 

So I will catch up with you all next week

.

P.S. Today I downloaded all the scanned pictures my dad did for us for our wedding. I look forward to sharing our childhood pictures with you all throughout the year.

There were just so many cute Christmas pictures but I loved these two -

 we are about the same age and we look so happy in our new christmas outfits!

Hope you all had a happy and safe Christmas!

 

♥ Chelsea Ann

Merry Christmas-Friday Mosaic

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(links)

Friendship is a priceless gift

That can't be bought or sold,

But its value is far greater

Than a mountain made of gold.

For gold is cold and lifeless,

It cannot see nor hear,

And in your times of trouble,

It is powerless to cheer.

It has no ears to listen,

No heart to understand.

It cannot bring you comfort

Or reach out a helping hand.

So when you ask God for a gift,

Be thankful that he sends,

Not diamonds, pearls, or riches,

But the love of a real, true friend.

by- Helen Steiner Rice

It is that wonderful time of year when we all get too busy for blogging- 

So before we draw any nearer to our holiday festivities, I would like to say Thank you for all your friendship and love this year and I wish you all a very enchanting holiday season!

♥

Just a few of the things that put a smile on my face :)

I wasn't going to share this until it was absolutely final but given its already on their website I figure why not. I have been approached by the Australian Children's boutique - Kounia Bella to have my Lollipop Lane collection available both in their store and online! This is a really excited opportunity and I am crossing my figures that it is a success. The only sad part is that the house structure I use has been discontinued so I will only be able to make about 20 houses. So if anyone want to check the stock of their local Michael's for me I would really really appreciate it. But I was only able to track down 2 in probably a 100 miles radius from where I live. Perhaps if this product is a hit I will contact an international company to reproduce the item for me... but until then we will wait in see how things go. 

Also did you notice anything else familiar on their site? Yupp, they are also talking to Chelsea of Paper*Cakes my very dear friend from Canada! How fun is that! 

I had a pretty ruff morning... 

I had to go to the dentist for a cavity, and it didn't go too well! 

And I have more cavities and more visits in the weeks to come.

But before I left I took these picture of my bedroom. 

The Snow was just so pretty!

My poor rod-iron bed broke and now my bed sits on the floor! How sad!

I also wanted to share a picture of my little set up on my dresser. The Scotty dogs are a new gift from my wonderful friend Elizabeth from Creative breathing. I love them sooooo much and they make me smile every-time I go in my room! Thanks Again E!

Opening Up... to write my own chapter

My mother use to make me talk to her. She would know when something was wrong and she would not leave me alone until I told her everything. As you can image I hated this in my teenage years. I would scream, "I don't have to tell you anything!". She would not relent, she was my mother she had a right to know was her motto. The worse part was that I usually had no idea what was "really" wrong. I would brood over the small issues in my life all the while the real issue(s) was buried deep deep within me. I would talk in circles until at last I felt I understood what I was hiding from. 

Most of my childhood seems like a blurr, I remember happy times, and sad times... but there are things I have blocked all together. It wasn't that anything horribly awful ever happened to me as a child- but I was sensitive and utterly confused about so much that was going on around me. 

Luckily I was stronger than I was sensitive and I came into adulthood with minor scrapes and bruises. 

The most challenging aspect of being an adult thus far has been trying to figure out who I am. Sure, I know that takes a lifetime if not more, but for the first time in my life I am exploring who I am not as my mother's child or Jim's wife- 

But who is Chelsea Ann?

As of late I feel like a girl lost in transit. 

Feet no where near the ground and no place to land for miles and miles. 

I've always wanted to be a mother. 

And while that dream is so close it still feels so far away.

The problem has been trying to figure out what to do with myself in the meanwhile.

And also what if having children doesn't fulfill me like I dream it will

I want to be happy with being just me, not a a wife, a daughter, a mother...

just Chelsea Ann

So who is Chelsea Ann?

That is my golden question of late. 

This is the issue I have been trying to bury.

I don't usually write posts like this... in fact as soon as a push Publish Post I will regret it. But my mother was right, it feels so good to talk about what's bothering you. No matter how trivial it may seem, if its bothering you enough that it shows on your face- its time to talk. 

Please let me know if you have gone through periods like this and how you got through. I'm just wanting to feel more comfortable in my own shoes. When I first started blogging I stated, "I'm a girl just trying to fit in her mother's shoes."

For so long I was guided and inspired by my mother. I'm finding now that it is time I learn to walk on my own-Hop, skip, jump, or fall- I must learn to do it on my own!

 

It's time I take my book off the shelf and start to fill the pages!

As the saying goes-

"Life Happens while you're making plans."

I Want, I love, I heart mucho big time!

Sadie asked us Lolli's to blog about one item 

we LOVE currently listed in Lollishop land.

So I stared my search... I've been very careful not to get too attached to anyones sweet items because of my current economic problem... but it didn't take long to find something I wanted soooo badly I could cry! (Through a keyword search-dolls)

As of late I have been collecting vintage baby cloths. As soon as Sadie figures out how to get us Lolli's a second shop I will open ittybittybirdy. A swell little vintage baby shop full of baby cloths and fun little toys and accessories. 

Melissa Madison is the lovely lolli who made these amazing cards! 

Wouldn't they be oh so sweet matted and framed for a baby girls room. 

Oh I want, I want, I WANT!

Visit Melissa's Lollishop and blog to see more of her work

 and what this talented crafter is up too!

Happy Holidays- From Me & My Family!

Happy Holiday!

From My Family to yours...

This year I decided we needed to have our "family" photo taken.

However, we couldn't just take the little kiddies 

to the nearest holiday photo kiosk in the mall...

Oh NO, we had to hire a professional!

But then that wouldn't due either...

It takes a special kind of person 

to have the patience to deal with my family.

They bark and play and never sit steal. 

They knock over the tripod and bring down the lighting.

Yup... getting our family photo was no easy task. 

Yet here it is! The perfect family picture! 

Thank you Alissa!

You are a wonderful friend!

Today Allisa and I went to Portland's 

Christmas crafty Wonderland  Fair.

We met fellow bloggers and even people we had favorite-d on etsy! 

We plan on being there next year-with a booth of our own!

P.S. Did anyone notice my hubbies republican red tie! I love when he wears it!

He is just the best man in the world for MOI!

I Love you Jimmy!

Lollilove- Friday Mosaic

“Taste is nothing but an enlarged capacity 

for receiving pleasure from works of imagination.”

-William Hazlitt

Just a little L♥VE

For my fellow 

Lollishop

friends.

Rosette Keepsake Pins

Have you ever lost an entire day working and or playing on the computer. 

 Between twitter, flickr, e-mails, job applications, downloading, photo editing, and catching up with some blogs... I have been sitting at this silly computer all day long!

But... 

I have gotten quite a bit done, 

except make much of any leeway on finding a job!

But...

must not think of that too much or I will have another

 mental breakdown and honestly no one wants to see that! 

I actually have a lot I want to share with you today! 

First is that I will have NEW items in my Lollishop very very soon.

Yupp- I made Rosette Keepsake pins. 

Perfect for all those seriously silly occasions!

So I did a little photo-shoot to properly display them.

There are many many more pictures on my flickr if you want to check them out.

I really need to get a tripod. I took all these photos myself by reaching my arm out in different directions and snap, snap, snapping away. Honestly, I think I easily took 600 shots!

I really might be the biggest dork ever!

Last weekend I had all my Keepsake Cake items at the Art Institute of Portland. 

I wish I could say it was a success but really it was quite the opposite! 

But I had some friends and family come and see what I have been working on and they all said they loved what I was doing!

Moi and my new friend Alissa at the Craft Show

So I have been really blessed in Blog world as of late. 

I am making new friends left and right and 

I have flickr, twitter and Lollishops to thank for that!

One new friend is Sweetina 

who awarded me with the Kreativ Blogger Award!

She said some incredible sweet things about me- really shocked me honestly! 

Thank You again Sweetina!

Also 

Today I found out that Sadie Lou Who

gave me an honorary mention and award for my gingerbread house!

Isn't that just the sweetest treat! Truly I am a lucky girl!

Also Effunia tagged me ... 

but I am always doing these and am honestly running out of things to say

but I thought of a couple ...

1. I sold my first Keepsake Cake awhile back to a lovely girl in Gremany.

But the first one got destroyed and the second one is lost. 

So I think I have a bad shipping bug at the moment. 

I really don't want to be scared of international shipping

 so if any one you have advise I would really appreciate it!

(update: I just found out it finally arrived!)

2. I want a 1954 Chevrolet

Yupp its parked just a couple blocks down the road and it is possible I could trade my VW Bug straight across! How cute would I be!

3. I'm currently trying to teach myself how to play the piano. My mother just bought herself a beautiful baby grand and so I thought I should learn. It actually really fun, although I'm not good at it at all. My mom seems to have just picked it up! But if I could just learn to play a few Christmas melodies I would be pretty pleased with myself.

Hope you are all having a lovely week!

My Home This Holiday Season

Yesterday morning I woke up to the best surprise ever. In many ways it was like Christmas.

I finally got my parents handy down sofa, chair, and two ottomans! I wanted this set so badly that I painted my living room and dining room colors to match the set in hopes that they would one day be mine. The set works beautifully in our little house, giving us lots of extra comfy places to sit and finally a put together look. We will have to have everything covered most of the time because of the dogs but it is so worth it. I am also trying to teach the dogs not to sit on the chair. Wish me luck with that!

We picked up our tree today. The tree place we went to is run by volunteers, and all the proceeds go to youth programs in our area. So even if the needles fall off early we can feel good about having a real tree for Christmas. 

I was hoping that I could go buy Christmas ornaments the day after christmas this year

 but I haven't really seen any I'm crazy about.

 I personally think Target has been a bit of a let down this year.

In the mean time I bought a box of old glass ornaments at the flea market for $1, four packages of ice cream cone shaped bubble containers at the dollar store, and some crate paper and whaa-laa I have a 7' decorated tree for just around 7 dollars. What a bargain!

I love decorating my home for the holidays. It's the perfect excuse to go over the top!

I hope you are all having as much fun decorating you own homes. 

I look forward to seeing how you decorate and celebrate the holidays! 

It all starts out with an idea and a sketch...

If you fallow me on Twitter

you may recall my panic attacks concerning an up-come window display project.

It's true- I'm a worry wort. Always have been, no doubt always will be. 

...

In any-case the project turned out splendid. 

The project was for Posh Baby, in downtown Portland.

Without meeting the owners or seeing the space I was asked to come up with a number of concept to present at our first meet up. 

I spent days researching Christmas themes and formulating ideas.

It is not enough to just have an idea- you must formulate how it will come together too.

Many, many of my ideas were simply not conceivable, 

at-least not to a small timeline and budget.

"Jack Frost" was my first design concept. 

It was simple, and that is always a plus I have learned.

But I couldn't stop with just one good idea...

I tinkered with many many ideas such as the 

Nutcracker, Sugar Plum Fairies, Partridges in a Pear Tree, and a Candy Christmas. 

In the end...

They Chose Jack Frost!

I couldn't be more happy with the way it turned out. 

I learn so much from these projects.

Like how to run power tools, research a purchase the appropriate materials, creating and managing a budget, time management, and how much help you can really expect from your husband. Honestly, I couldn't have done it with out my darling husband! 

Banana Mush

Usually a quote finds me... but not this week~

Anyways... 

did I ever tell you that Elephants are my favorite animals. In close second is the moose.

I love to go to the zoo and watch the elephants. I could sit there all day and not visit another creature, except if there happened to be a moose. And on my way out I would no doubt visit the penguins. But the elephants are by far the most amusing creatures to watch. 

Not sure where this post was going... no quote. no point.

Fridays are sometimes like that...

as if an elephant stepped on my banana and there is nothing left but mush!

*New* The Lollipop Lane Collection

It is a busy and exciting time for me right now.

As many of you know Lolli Shops is now open

& while there are still many bugs to work out the site is super cute and I am very excited and thrilled to be a part of it from the very beginning. 

Tomorrow will be the big day for many of us at Lolli Shops because it will be the day that our gingerbread houses will be voted on! I am not normally a competitive person but this challenge really got me in the spirit. It was a rocky start, with a number of flops but once I decided to try and use the same method as my Keepsake Cakes there was no stopping me. In fact I not only made 1 but think 6 houses.

The hardest part was deciding what house to enter in the contest! But I finally decided I should enter the first house I made. (which is the house at the top of this post)

Each gingerbread house is super unique... 

& there are many, many more pictures to see.

Please stop by my new shop - Keepsake Cakes! 

I will be adding more and more items next week.

Until then, my items and I will be at the Art Institute of Portland from the 4-6th.

If your in the area I would love it if you would stop by!

P.S. Please let me know if your interested in any of my items in this post or the one below... I am more than happy to list an item or two before the craft fair. :)