Do Not We All Dream of Such Things?

As you all know me so well...

I'm the cutsie girly girl with quirky style and a childish aesthetic

From my obsession to vintage children's toys

too my bubble gum taste in colors

Sometimes even I forget that I am no longer a child

and even more that I'm actually a woman.

I'm not sure when it happened but it did

I grew up... although that is debatable somedays!

So in honor of being a woman, and tapping into being

sexy, beautiful, graceful, romantic, elegant

and all those other wonderfully over the top 

descriptions of womanhood

I thought I would show you my more grown-up style.

this is a new item in my shop

I sold two others like it at the Crafty Wonderland sale.

Find out more about it by visiting my Keepsake Cakes shop.

I've shown you so much of my little home in the last two years

 however my old camera could just not capture the magic in 

our whimsical master sweet

Do you remember when I turned my room into a nursery!?

(by accident)

Oh what sweet, adorable, perfectly Chelsea Ann world it was!

But as much as my hubby loves me he did not like living in my pink bubble

I was quite desperate of finding away to change the room without painting

first I tried bringing in black to contrast the pink

ick~ that was a terrible idea.

So one day it just clicked...

with 7 dollars worth of old sewing patterns and some Elmers glue

I started covering every square inch of the room.

I added my own collage work from years back

one says bird and this one nest

and pages from old books of romantic scenes

I filled my little sweet with all my "grown-up" treasures

New items are always being added

whether their is really the room for them or not

The floral tin from an estate sale earlier this year in Idaho

The beautiful print I just purchased from Kelly of A Poppy Tree

and the two disneyesque fawns 

my mother-in-law purchased for my last weekend in Idaho

All treasures that make me so wonderfully happy

including our beautiful wedding picture and the candles from our reception

This vintage dresser was also purchased in Idaho

it was the first piece of furniture I ever bought for our home

My side on the bed...

quite honestly there isn't another side as the room is so very small

I store my library books and family photos here

As well as a pretty little bowl to place my hair bands and bobby pins each night

1. whisper baby pink, 2. Designer View:, 3. DSC 0005, 4. A field of flowers..., 5. Some stitching for the journal, 6. Mad Hatter Tea Party, 7. Heather & Stephenie Apron Swap, 8. Cute Pink Shoes, 9. Day 3: BloomIn Lovely!, 10. 4 black and white with some paint, 11. Mini Crown, 12. candy2, 13. Madame la marquise de pompadour, 14. Chantilly Cake Tier, 15. Anastasia, 16. A box with...

With the short 4 day week I wasn't able to do a post last friday

so I also put together a romantic inspired mosaic

Also if you need just a tad more romantic inspiration 

check out this beautiful video of 

Love Story by Tailer Swift

I hope you have enjoyed this more grown up side of me

LOL although back to my regular stuff for next Friday!

PAPER DOLLS! I promise this time! Pinkie swear!

Have a great week!

Hugs~

Who said Idaho was Boring?

I can't tell you how much I have missed you all. 

While our long Memorial weekend was full of amazing adventures

I missed the humm of my computer monitor, the constant stream of eye candy

and ALL of YOU! 

Now hop on my giant steed 

(if you can) 

and I will share with you my adventures.

We found the Clydesdale in Wishram Washington.

Jim's mother spoils us rotten when we come to town. 

Baking cookies, pies, and anything and everything

 we can dream up - for breakfast, lunch and dinner

But there is nothing better than a 2 pound hamburger 

from Effie's in Lewiston, Idaho

My favorite thing to do when I visit is SHOP!

Antique and thrift stores only of coarse

I found so many amazing finds this trip 

I can't wait to share them!

A young lad at an auto supply store told us about

Lily Bee's Consignment Shop

in Pullman Washington

The store is full of the most unique and well cared for items both old and new

Including the most amazing collection of vintage prom dress and wedding gowns.

The young lady above was trying on dresses for her very own prom I believe.

She was such a beautiful model!!!

Remember this filter?

I couldn't help but try it out on this photo

What I love most about visiting my mother-in -law in Idaho

is the country and the beautiful landscape of the Palouse 

When I was a young girl I dreamed of living in the city

now I dream of living in the country

I often wonder if I know myself more now 

or if I am simply incapable of being happy and content with what I have

and where I am in my life?

I love my beautiful little house but Portland has never felt like home

Perhaps there is no one who loves the country more than my two pups

I have been trying very hard to change my lazy ways

and get outside to move my legs and breath in the fresh spring air

I've had my pink hello kitty cruiser bike for longer than I would like to admit

It was about time we went on a good long ride

okay so it was only 6 miles but with no speeds I was feeling the burn

There is a nice little bike path connecting Moscow to Pullman.

The dividing line from the Idaho Vandals and Washington State Cougars

My Freshman dorm mate and her husband had us over for dinner Saturday evening

and we all rode together that Sunday.

Her bike was much easier to ride I have to admit.

But poor Jimmy had the worse ride of all

his bike from 5th grade with no handle grips and the hardest seat one could possible imagine.

LOL I think he kinda wished he had gotten a bike 

when my parents offered him one for his birthday this year

But he will never ever ever admit that!

I snapped this shot while on our ride

The rusty skeleton of a automobile from yester-years.

Maybe a model T?

All adventures must come to an end and so with our new Airstream hitched behind

we made our was back to Oregon

I promise to get picture of the air stream as soon as its painted all shiny red!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

My heart goes out to all of you who have lost loved ones!

HUGS!

P.S. This was my submission to a Martha Stewart contest 

I did it up quickly... and I don't have any graphic design background

and so Sadly I didn't get picked for the top 5 :(

but you can vote for your number one if you want to support other talented artist. 

The Good Life

Jim and I have been dreaming of owning an Airstream for just about 5 years.

After months of research and scouring our options and our pocket book

we are picking up our very own Airstream this weekend!

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.

After reading into each individual trailers features we decided

to purchase a Argosy. This is the white painted version

The upkeep on the tradition Airstream was just too much for us to bear

so we are very happy with our decision 

and what is more exciting is that we are going to have it painted

bright fire engine red!

I just love this picture.

I have wanted a large family from girlhood.

5 children if possible! LOL

I can't wait for family camping trips.

Although I'm not much for camping

I love the idea of throwing the kids outside in the tent

 and having my trailer all to myself~

So selfish I know!

But Jimmy loves to camp and fish

and while I may not fully appreciate such pas times

I enjoy being with him and sharing the adventures 

With a trailer I can retreat into the air-conditioning 

and enjoy the comforts of home anywhere Jim drags me along to.

I'm also so excited that we will now be able to take weekend trips up to the coast 

or down to California to visit family, drive through the red wood forest, 

and maybe even Disney Land

and our puppies can come along!

Oh ~

Life is SO SO SO Good!

Have a happy, healthy and fun holiday weekend everyone!

Hugs~

Chelsea Ann

P.S. Click on the pictures to visit the owners of these beautiful pictures!

YoYo

 

I'm really excited about these YoYo Hair clips

I sold half of what I made at last weekends craft fair 

including all the head bands

Vintage fabric and fun whimsical embellishments

make these too sweet to pass up

Take a peak in my shop if any these tickle your fancy

Happy Monday Everyone!

 ~ and don't forget to check out paper*cakefinds Monday 

for beautifully sewn items from handbags to house slippers

****I really really need to learn to sew!****

P.S.

Thank You Thank You Thank You

for all your really sweet comment on my Self Help post!

I will keep you updated!

Self Help

For the last several months I have been working towards a healthier, happier me.

From my mental health to my physical

(less of the physical I have to admit because I refuse to exercise or eat better!)

But I have been looking into natural and alternative forms of medicine to balance out and gain control of my hormones and to give me a sense of energy I have perhaps never felts.

At my work we have been discussing this idea of a frog in boiling water.

If you put the frog in a pot of cold water and slowly turn up the heat 

he wont jump out.

but if you threw him in the hot scolding pot he would jump. 

For so many of us women this is how we react to the changes in our bodies.

We learn to accept the hormones, the unwanted weight gain, the restlessness,

and so on... and from what I hear it just gets worse. uggg.

So I have decided to jump!

I am tired of the ups and downs of my moods, the constant irritability, and the lack of energy.

I've spoken with my doctor a little bit about these issues but have never really felt like she was listening. If I'm not anemic, why am I tired?

I'm going to try some natural products from Secrets of Mother Nature

If you are interested I'll be more than happy to share with you all how and if these products help me. But I'm very excited to try ANYTHING at this point.

Also I've decided to go the natural route because as many of you know 

motherhood is getting closer for me (not pregnant yet!)

and I want to be as health as I can be to carry a happy healthy baby into this world. 

As I said I am also working on my mental life too.

I've been reading self help books about marriage, self esteem and many other issues that are important to me to work on.

But most importantly I have been opening up to my friends and family 

I have such a small view of life. 

It's so comforting to talk to others who are on my same path or up ahead

 about the issues I'm having

from the challenges of marriage, self acceptance, copping with everyday stresses, 

or letting go of the past. 

Life is hard... but it's wonderful!

In blogland and we tend to show just the happy go lucky side of things

and thats fine - I love that about blogging

but what I also love about blogging is the community of woman

the bonds we have and the wisdom we share

All of you effect my life in such a positive way! 

On a lighter side of things

I haven't made  friday Mosaic in a while.

I love putting these together! 

This one really makes me over the top happy.

Such happy cheerful colors.

This last week you have all left such lovely comments

 on my blog and in flickr land!

Thank you... 

Many of you are really excited about my paper dolls! YEAH!

But unfortunately I'm going to sadly make you all wait one week more.

I know, that's not very nice but I have a few more ideas...

and I think you will conclude they were worth the wait.

This weekend sadly wont be a creative time for me.

It's spring cleaning time

UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

We are cleaning our garage which is scary beyond belief.

And today I am starting to paint our now guest room and future nursery

to look a little something like this.

Thanks Jenny for the inspiration!

Have a lovely weekend Gals~

Chelsea Ann

4 x 4 Candyland

 

How much sugary goodness can you fit into a 4' x 4' space?

It was quite a challenge but I managed to fit almost all my keepsake shop

 onto one little table and a coat rack.

 Craft Wonderland was really fun

 and a great learning experience.

I met so many wonderful people

but it was a little amusing being the "odd" table...

seems Portland folks are not that accustomed to pink

it was as if I had a invisible pink bubble in front of my booth.

But those who dared to enter my little candyland

made my day! 

Especially the little children who especially loved my free lollipops.

For the last two weeks I've been working on new inventory

Wearable artwork and finishing my paper dolls

The funny thing about the sale was this was pretty much all I sold too.

Makes the last crazy two weeks worth while

I will be adding the remaining inventory to my shop soon

I just need to work out some packaging details.

Pink Pink Pink!

The night before the show I made this over the top hairpiece.

I wish I had a better picture

At dinner later last night a semi-professional photographer

asked to take my picture

perhaps he will send a more detailed shot?

but if you can't tell its a tea cup with whip cream

a spool of thread and of coarse an ittybittybirdy.

It was really fun to wear despite the weight

I've defiantly have plans to make more of these!

Well I better get off to work... have great week!

~Chelsea Ann