bestill my heart

I don't know what I did to deserve such a gift from such a wonderful friend but just look at what Alicia made me.



Oh, it makes my heart sing. I love it. I love it. I love it.

I love all of the buttons, especially the one with the A monogram. I love the flowers and the swatches of fabric and the stamps and the wallpaper. I can't take my eyes off of this and I can't believe it is mine, all mine.

Thank you so very much, Alicia. I love it!

club little house

I've been working all morning on making my tiny little dollhouse. And the sweetest idea came to me. I'd read Jenny's blog post which showed lovely tiny gifts for her new dollhouse. How fun would it be to have a dollhouse club where we all make or find little sweet gifts for each other's dollhouse?



So that's my idea. I have lots of details to iron out but here's what I'm thinking.

You'll need to have a dollhouse. I'm making a really small one from a kit (just $12). Or you could find one that's already made (they have the sweetest little one room vintage one at The Cottage. There are lots of great vintage dollhouses on ebay. Think sweet and fun...not fussy and overdone. :) Or you could even make a dollhouse out of a box or a wall shelf.

The club will start out with 12 members (including me!) All 12 members will make or find 12 identical darling little somethings for a dollhouse. All 12 members will send their package of 12 identical darling little somethings to me. I will then prepare the 144 somethings so that each of us 12 members get a little parcel of 12 different and delightful things to outfit our dollhouses.

There will be a fee of $7 to cover the shipping of the final parcel to each "Club Little House" member.

blog illustrated

I have a backlog of random and delightful things to show you. Instead of spreading it out over several posts, I'm going to spread it on thick in one long, illustrated message.

1. my new baby brother

Don't you love it? This sweet little toy sewing machine came in its own sweet little case. It cost me dearly but I'm not going to think of that. I'm just going to love it.

2. on the newstands

Looky whose teapot is featured on the pages of Budget Decorating! Mine!


And I'm listed in the Bridal Guide as a source for good bridesmaid's gifts. They tell about the pink chocolate shop boxes found at Inspire Company.

3. more fun things

I found this fabulous doll's trunk which is lined in the most delightful circus paper. The little doll dresser was a gift from my friend Stephanie. It is the perfect size and I adore it.

4. at last

The Cottage's Ann and Linda gave me this oh-so-fabulous dress form for my birthday. I've been searching for one just like this for years. I love it so much! At the moment she's all dolled up in pink. I bought the frilly hat at the same place that I got the circus-lined doll trunk. The scarf and necklace were birthday presents from Rich. I found the vintage straw purse on ebay. Isn't it darling?

5. my sweet friend Marjorie


These wonderful treasures are gifts from my very talented and so dear friend Marjorie. And you should see how she decorated the outside of the box. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.

6. a trip to Londontown

Yesterday for a tiny escape from my hectic day, I ducked into The British Pantry for some delectables. How could I resist Mr. Kipling's Exceedingly Good Cakes French Fancies? How? With a billing like "Exceedingly good cakes"? I haven't tried the morning coffee biscuits. The tea is really good. On the package it says "Worth Paying a Little More For". Tee hee.

7. more gifts
I don't have a picture and it's such a shame but my best friend Debbie gave me the yummiest pajamas in hot pink toile. LOVE! I couldn't wait to put them on and then I couldn't bear to put them in the hamper so I wore them the next night too. :) And Debbie's Mom gave me such a sweet box full of loot...including an offer to stay at her beach house for a long weekend. Oh how I need that!

8. more birthdays
Tuesday was my niece Maggie's birthday. She's two. Here is my favorite picture of her taken last year with REAL chicks.

Last, but not least, my sister Jennifer turns 40 today. Lordy lordy, look who's forty! Isn't that what they say? Happy birthday, Jennifer! Can't wait to see you this weekend!

Quite obsessed

When I say that I am obsessed with my little room, I don't mean it casually or with undue levity. I mean that I think I am clinically obsessed. It's the only thing I think of and I think of it every minute of the day. And when I close my eyes at night, I see pink stripes. My dreams are full of things I can do in my room, to my room, for my room. Before the first hint of the sun's rising, both feet hit the floor and I'm ready to go, my mind like a leaking sieve trying to keep all of the silly ideas my dreams gave me.

All of this hubbub is taking a toll on a few areas in my life. For instance, my house. It is a disaster. Everywhere I look. And if you were to see the pile of dishes at my sink I'm sure you would wonder how anyone who could allow such a thing could ever make or do anything pretty. Rich has been vaccuuming almost daily although there is barely a pathway wide enough for the machine to get through. And the vaccuum coughs with buttons and beads and other lovelies which had escaped onto the floor.

And my body aches. All of it. My ribs when I breathe. My feet. My knees. There's a bruise, I do believe, on my hineyparts. I do not know how such a bruise came to be and the whole thing (hiney) aches. Which brings me to a funny story that I'd like to share. It's been such a while since I've told a funny story and this one is (I think) one of my funniest.

I used to treat myself to massages regularly. The place that I usually went to was a sprawling golf resort. On this particular time that I went to the resort there was a lot of construction going on. Everything looked different and it looked like they'd changed their name from "Lansdowne" to "Leisure World". Before I knew it I was at a gate with an attendent. I thought to myself (probably much like Hyacinth Bucket would think) "Oh how exclusive! They have a gate with an attendent." Said attendent had a clipboard with presumably a list of approved visitors. He asked me my name which I gave. With a finger guiding his search he studied his list thoroughly and asked my name again. He then asked who I was there to see. I replied that I did not know the name of the person I was seeing but that I had an appointment for a massage. He looked at me again. Looked through his list again. I was growing impatient of this new level of security. I said to him that I thought if he called someone he could find out who I was there to see and that I had an appointment. He looked over the list again and then the thought must have come to him. He said to me "Lady, do you know that you're at the old folks home?"

Now I think it was the same visit to this resort (which I did eventually find) where I got my famous (and last!) butt massage. A few weeks earlier my friend who was studying to be a massage therapist insisted that one should remove ones underpanties when getting a massage. So on this visit to get a massage to not be thought of as a prude (which I do think I might be since I felt so uncomfortable) I removed all of my clothes, including all undergarments, and covered myself with the sheet they provide. The massage therapist was a man, which I thought I could be okay with (again wanting not to be thought of as a prude), but let me continue. After about 15 minutes of my massage, the therapist must have noted my bareness and took that as an invitation to "work" that area. I was truly uncomfortable with this but remained mute. More to the point, I clenched the muscles there. He must have thought "Wow these muscles need a lot of work...look how tight they are" because he took the rest of the time (45 minutes) to thoroughly work this area. I felt utterly molested and the opposite of relaxed. That was my last massage. I'm long overdue.

this is what has been keeping me up nights

I have been so busy getting my little room at The Cottage ready. Here are lots of pictures of how it looks. Sorry they didn't all turn out very well but hopefully you'll get the idea...

Here's the view from the doorway...




This little room is really a bathroom. Hopefully you couldn't tell. :) Here are some shots of how I solved the problem of having a vanity sink in the room. I put two wooden drawers over the sink, one leaning on a diagonal behind the other...



To camouflage the toilet, I built a tiered wedding cake inspired thingy.


I hung greeting cards by mini clothes pins...



I made the letters that spell out "Inspire Me" (which is what I decided to call this mini location of Inspire Company)


More views...



And here's the fun thing that I made for the floor covering.

what a birthday!

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. It was just about the happiest birthday a girl could ask for. My birthday surprise?...a room at The Cottage! The happiest and prettiest room you could ever imagine. I could not sleep even a wink tonight for thoughts of the pink striped walls and the sweet little chandelier and all of the wonderful things I can do in there. When I saw it I just sat on the floor and cried.

Inside the room was another gift from Linda and Ann...an old French dress form exactly like the one I've been wanting forever. I am going to decorate her for the seasons...that's my plan. That's what my friend Nicol Sayre does...I'll try to find the picture of it to show you.

Rich showered me with gifts too...I got dinner and a movie on Saturday. We went to the Iron Chef's restaurant. Mmmm. mmmm. And I got a dvd of the original British version of The Office. I'm so excited to start watching this. I've heard such wonderful things and I really love our new American version which comes on Thursday nights on NBC. I also got the most luscious scarf that reminds me of cotton candy (LOVE!) and a necklace and a bracelet. Oh, and tonight he took me to a restaurant I love where I ordered sturgeon.

I have so much more to tell you...and show (including the most wonderful birthday charm bracelet that my friend Melissa sent me!) but there's another reason I'm up at this ungodly hour other than that my dreams are keeping me awake. :) I am going to an auction today. Yes. Me. Trying again at an auction. Details later. I have to go now...I can't be late.

Thank you so much for your birthday wishes!

happy happy happy birthday...

Tomorrow, March 21, I turn 35. Yay! I will be at the cottage. Linda and Ann are cooking up some sort of wonderful surprise. I'm imagining maybe a circus in the backyard complete with an elephant balancing on a ball. :)

I love my birthday. It's my own personal holiday. A day to celebrate my sweet life.

If there's time between all the celebrating, I'll peek in and tell you about my surprises.

lucky me...

My friend Kim sent me these AMAZING pajamas. I am filled up like a balloon with happiness. A happy birthday balloon!



And as if that pretty nighty wasn't enough to ensure the sweetest of dreams...





Can you believe your eyes? I am so smitten with these pajamas.

So go now and fill up your computer screen with all of the lovely things at Soul of the Rose. And you should get yourself something special just for you. You deserve it.

do me a favor, will ya?

Would you please send me an email? I'm having email problems and they can't fix it unless they can 1. replicate the problem or 2. see a bounced message. If you send me an email to either amy@inspirecompany.com or amykpowers@yahoo.com and it bounces or you get an error message, please forward the error message to amy@inspireco.com. If that bounces, Lord help me!

shiny and new...

Firstly, I want to thank all of your for your nice words and your concern. I'm definitely much better than I was on Monday. Thankfully, my blue mood was short-lived. I'm back to my ol' pink self again.

And do I have somethings to show you!

Looky here:













And look at these vintage humpty dumpty things:







Don't miss this wonderful new teapot...



How much fun is this toy farm set?



And aren't these the most color frames ever? Find them in the Cupcakes and Cartwheels Section...



Oh, and for sweet Anastasia and all of my other friends on the other side of the pond(s), I'm hoping to open up the ordering system to accept international orders. How's that?

I think that's everything new. Go to Inspire Company to shop for them.

blue day

Despite the beauty of this 85-degree day I am feeling uncharacteristically blue. In fact I feel a lot like



I'm going to try a few things to cheer myself up, including a trip to the fancy grocery store and maybe, if there's time, Nordstrom Rack. I feel like a new pair of expensive jeans that I get for a song would really go far to turn me from blue back to my happy shade of pink. Let's hope.

festoon!

I made this today. Don't ya just love? It's hanging above my kitchen window and it makes me awfully happy.

Don't you want to make one too? Teresa makes it oh so simple and fun to do. To get your hands on your own, click here.

happy home...

Did you catch Jenny B's dollhouse makeover? Mama mia! I love it.



I am so inspired to make a little pink house of my own. So today I found this sweet tiny cottage for only $12!



It's just a kit but I think since it is so small I should be able to handle it. I am so taken with the idea of creating such a sweet little house. It's not going to be fussy and "don't touch!"...do you know what I mean?

It will be pink, no doubt. And will have a picket fence and window boxes like Jenny's.

Inside the walls will be covered with something like this:



I'm so excited. When I was little I had an issue of Holly Hobbie's magazine (I can't find anything about this magazine anywhere but it was wonderful. I remember that it had a picture of a little girl in a tree swing with long pigtails.) There was an article in the magazine about making a real miniature garden. It was wonderful with tiny little baby lettuces. I can see it now in my mind's eye. Oh, I wish I could find that magazine. Wouldn't it be fun to have a real garden with a real miniature harvest? Isn't it scary how carried away I'm getting? :)

good news

I think the bird got out!

At around 3:30 I noticed that the noises stopped and I feared the worst. I couldn't reach the bird guys and they just plain didn't show up. When Rich got home, he took apart the duct and cleaned it. No bird. Then he hooked the leaf blower up to the exhaust tubing (which is about 30 feet long). It looked like a mushroom cloud coming out of the vent! He installed the vent bird shield and there should be no more bird problems. Yay!

Today is going to be so beautiful...temps are going to reach the 70s! I'm going to get some orders out this morning and then I'm going to head out to do something fun.

poor bird

I am still waiting for the rescue team to show up and take care of this poor little bird. He hasn't made any noise for a long while. How long can a panicky little bird survive like that? I wish they would hurry up and get here. I will update you when there's news to report. Let's hope for the best.

In the meantime, I have some pretties to show you. I still need to put descriptions and measurements and such up but I thought you'd like to see all the new things from my friends Little Melfred and Doojies...