Cute... Cute... Cute...

Look at this darling Valentine I received from my friend Holly. Thanks Holly! She knows my colors so well that one of the cute cards she sent me is framed in my house. Thanks Holly! I love this one!

Darling Dolly...

This lovely little dolly was made by my good friend Michelle and will be appearing in the Love Boxes Ebay shop at 9 A.M. PST... Isn't she a cutie???

Hospitality...

Hospitality should have no other nature than love.

Henrietta Mears.

See it here.

Bridge to Terabithia... Little Manhatten...

Josh Hutcherson in Little Manhatten

Bridge to Terabithia

I loved this book when I was younger and I can't wait to see it this weekend. I am so pleased that Josh Hutcherson was chosen to play the lead in this film. I love his performance in Little Manhatten, which if you haven't seen it, see it soon. It is darling...

My Little Bluebird of Happiness...

I will paint some as soon as I get a chance...

My Valentine from C...

I love you tons & tons!!!

Love Box Storage...

Shelese asked how I store my boxes. This is my answer. Because I keep the best example of almost every design that I paint, I have over 100 Love Boxes in my personal collection, therefore, they are everywhere. These are two of my favorite ways to display parts of my collection. Also, because Love Boxes are waxed, they clean up well from sticky fingers. They do not clean up well after being dropped on tile, or bitten, which I have sadly seen, but sticky can be removed.

My New Studio Mascot...

Sometimes when you wish for something, it ends up on your doorstep. Michelle made me this beautiful doll with pink hair. I once had a friend with pink hair when I lived in SLC. She was a really nice and facinating person who was studying criminology at the University of Utah. Her hair was a pleasant pink, if you can imagine, a paleish, strawberry pink. I loved it. But, I digress. Anyway, I adore this doll so much. She is destined to be my new studio mascot. I was going to name her Paris, because she is so fashionable, but then I want her to have a nice girl name and that is no longer a nice girl name. So, I want to name her a New York name because New York is a very fashionable city and she is wearing a lot of black. So Jenni, Linds or Liz, maybe you could offer a bit of help? Brooklyn is a bit over used and I can't very well name her The Upper East Side. So, What do you think? I am not doing a contest this time, just asking for a bit of help.

Michelle, I love everything you make and this doll will be a treasure. Forever thanks!!!

Watch for Chickies... Coming Soon...

Wedding Beads...

These Lampwork beads are too large for me to figure how to make jewelry out of them. However, I would love to tie the wedding cake and flowers from a cellophane gift bag. See them here.

Flower Power Scrubber...

Cute. If anyone sees where to buy this. Let me know. This would make such a fun welcome to the neighborhood gift.

Beehive Bowls...

Cute! See them here.

Pink Easter Bunnies...

Available here.

Sharpies...

I adore Sharpies and I have the rainbow pack of the fine point. These new micros look fun too. I love Sharpie for making hot pink, turquoise and lime! Fun!

Pen Name Winner!!!!

Vanessa Valencia Cola Pestilencia...

should totally write books about mystery and intrigue

Thanks so much for playing! Everyone had a fun entry. It was so hard to determine the winner that I will be having another contest in March, but I think I will make it a drawing instead! Be watching!

Vanessa...

Do not miss Liz' post today. It is a must read as her posts often are....

A Tragedy In Our Beautiful City...

I don't like to post about sad things. This blog is meant to be just for happy and lovely ideas and things. However, I am so sad and sorry about this tragedy and like always when these sorts of things happen feel completely useless to help.

I am amazed and grateful for the courage of many of the officers in the SLC police. They came to our rescue on several occasions putting themselves in harms way when we were dealing with a drug ring in our building downtown.

Our hearts are broken for every victim of this tragedy and our prayers are with them.

New Kokeshi Dolls...

New Kokeshi dolls... Available here...

Don't forget about the Pen Name contest which ends tonight at midnight PST.

Baby Carriages...

The inside of the lid reads...

Miracles happen to those who believe in them.. Bernard Berenson

I will be making a few of these next week and then not for quite awile. Let me know if you would like one.

My Lovely Michelle Valentine...

Michelle may make some of her designs available soon...

I will let you know...

Easter Egg Designs Coming Soon...

Mom's Valentine's Day Party...

Wasn't it beautiful?!?! Thank you Mom! I love you!!!

Hug Snug... My New Favorite Thing...

For years I heard Martha Stewart talking about using a wonderful and inexpensive seam binding in place of ribbon. However, all the seam binding I ever saw came in those small cellophane wrapped packages in the notions section. It was not really inexpensive purchased that way. Last week, I came across the Hug Snug product on Ebay and I ordered four rolls. Each roll is 100 yards. The colors are beautiful and the rolls sell for $6.95 each. This stuff must be what Martha is talking about. Seam binding is very thin and fine and so it ties a beautiful bow and the stuff is washable so that you can easily make a craft that requires some kind of vintage application. I had a great experience with Zipperstop, the Ebay vendor that I purchased from. This is one of my new favorite things.

Hats off to the Turnipseed Family... and a Pen Name Contest

A couple of days ago Emily had a fun contest on her blog to see who could come up with the most fun name. As she put it, the contest was completely subjective and the winner was simply her favorite. However, there were over 400 entries and I enjoyed reading through quite a few of them. My entry was Rhiannon Nullig, which is an Irish name.

I love Irish names. Rhiannon means little king and Nullig is the Irish word for Noel, so I meant it to be... The Little King of Christmas. Lovely.

Some people want to give their children really unusual and interesting names,like the one above. However, I always think that you should consider the fact that your child may grow up and want to be a Supreme Court Justice and so they should be named appropriately.

However, having anything that is really fun about your name is pretty great. I have a some friends named White and they live in a white house. That is kind of fun. I have some friends named Valentine and some friends named Hartley, now that would be super handy about now. If that were me, I would leave my Valentine decorations up all year! My dad once had a secretary named Holly and when she married, she married a guy named Jolley. If I were her, I would have Holly bushes all around my house and I would use Christmas dishes with holly on them and serve egg nog at every party I hosted.

I love fun names. I always think of what kind of books people should write when they have a great name. I know a great guy named Sam Winchester. He should definitely grow up to write Westerns. I knew a guy in college named Austin Gray and I thought he should write romantic novels about wind swept moors and distraught women who pine for Heathcliff, but that guy went into elder care or something noble like that instead, which is all fine and good, but couldn't he have written novels on the side?

Anyway, I cannot help myself. I have to copy Emily a little. My contest will go through Teusday and it will be completely subjective, just like Emily's. I will simply pick my favorite name. The winner will be the person who thinks up the most fun pen name and posts it in the comments below. I will buy the name from the winner for the price of a Valentines package from Hand Painted Love Boxes... I am expecting quite a few less than 400 entries, so family members are eligible. Have fun! :)

The Reception...

It was a beautiful day yesterday. My neice had a lovely wedding and a beautiful reception. It looked like a garden under the stars.

Pictures of Winter...

Notice the leaf buds... Soon... Spring...

Consider Love...

This book is so cute and remains one of my favorite Valentines. Now there is a small gift edition available. See here.

Emily's Jewelry Week...

I have been having so much fun following EmilyStyle's Jewelry Week on her blog. There are still a few days left I think....

Bunnies...

I made a sketch of the feel that I wanted for the pink Easter bunnies that I had in mind to paint. This is how it's going... I hope they produce like little bunnies... I need about 50.

Joan Walsh Anglund...

I love the art of Joan Walsh Anglund. I love how she puts beautiful words and beautiful art together. This little book, Love is Forever, is one of my favorites. It is currently kind of hard to come by. I wish that they would make another printing sometime soon.

Love is the center of every dream ... and the beginning of all our happiness. Joan Walsh Anglund

My LOVE collection...

The red love was made for me by Michelle and I liked it so much that I put it up for Valentine's Day that year and never took it down. The silvery one, I just bought at Target and I like it, but I have a lot of gold in my house and I wish very much that it was brass and not aluminum so I don't know if I will keep it. The pink one is one that I made myself and just finished yesterday. I have seen those cute block letter for years, but they never have had them in my colors so I painted some. And, I was pleased with the blocks they had available at the craft store because they were nice and solid and I thought blocks should have some weight to them. They would make a good craft party/ church project because the blocks were only around $1 each.

Cineraria...

Primroses were not in the greenhouse in time for my party. So I chose several colors of these cineraria which were not exactly the conversation heart pastels that I was going for, but they have the added benefit of a lovely scent. They are two weeks old in the house and they are starting to fade, but all together they cost less than the price of one small bouqet and I was able to have lots of flower power at my party.
I love the little white wicker baskets, these were available at the greenhouse for $2 and $3. They are lined with plastic, so great for watering and now I have a full collection so I will be ready next time I need a lot of flowers.