A Dreamy Reality

People who have spent a good few hours with me (outside of work mind you ;)) normally have a sense that I'm a bit of a dreamer. I have this world in my head that's full of castles, prairies, forests, doilies, flora & fauna, cottages and tree houses. Where people get together, have coffee or tea, swing on their tree swings, embroider or knit while donned in ruffled & lacy dresses. Groups of women get together to talk about how their family members are doing. Where kids say their prayers before bed and then nestle under a handmade quilt or afghan  that's been loved on so much it's edges are worn and have the sweetest of dreams.

Where women do the laundry, hang it out to dry & lovingly cook meals for their family with vegetables she's grown from her own garden. 

*****

This of course is a pipe dream - there aren't many who live in this kind of a world unless they are stuck in a century long ago and they would probably not be as comfortable as we are today with our washing machines, our air conditioners, our televisions, etc. But its a reality I play in my head nonetheless.

 It's also the kind of beauty I am attracted to and tend to decorate with in my home.

 It's eclectic but lovely at the same time :) I assure you ;). 

Today while on facebook I was reminded of this reality by the status of Flutterbydaisy, who was sharing a few recent listings... This number caught my eye: 

This would be one of the outfits I would rock while frolicking through my dream world. ^-^ 

The ruffles, the bows, the lace, the long hair... the hearts on the tights. I love it all! 

I enjoy the styling of FlutterbyDaisy's shop and decided I'd share them with you, to show you some of my world. :) 

I hope to share posts like this more often in the future. 

A fun way to paint my world and show it to you!

*****

What is your dream world like? 

Coffee with Abe..

I'm having coffee with Abe this morning. Abraham Lincoln that is.

 He's got his shades on looking pretty cool so I call him Abe for short... 

because that's casual, you know ;).

Seriously cool Abe... 

Great way to start a day I tell you! Coffee with Abe since the mister was called into work today :( and since I couldn't have coffee with him I was glad to use his cup while he's gone ^-^
.. then I'll be wrapping up this trivet to ship out to Iowa..

There's a set of two smaller trivets with this same color scheme available in the shop if you're interested.

Later we plan to hang out with some friends for a bbq and since I've been enjoying taking pictures of just about everything these days hopefully I'll come back with some fun things to share with you! :)

Who are you having coffee with these days? 

♫♪ A Window Shopping We Will Go! ♪♫

To World Market and HomeGoods!

 I like these shops... they offer some fun and unique items... 

whether I decide to get the items or not is of course a different story. ;) 

I normally leave with a bunch of ideas...

 where these items might be used, by what kind of a people and in a setting that maybe doesn't really exist.
But this is why I like window shopping :) ;) 

I hope you like a few of my finds from early last week in World Market!

               Not that I'm a truffle or an oil connoisseur but when I saw this I just had to snap a pic!

 I love the marketing, the colors, the picture. I imagine gray stone counters in an elegant kitchen... 

I love this throwback look. Bringing back the mason jars are we? :) I realize this has been going on for some time. :) This specific one makes me think of gingham in red and white - picnic time!
An idea of times gone by..Ahhh... cookout anyone?

I did get this candle... it smelled delicious! Though I'm trying to cut back on my candle and yarn purchases ;) this one I thought I'd get for a friend. I purchased the candle, found out they didn't use candles and decided to keep it lol. 

Here is my sister agreeing with the me - no need to return it. 
The tahitian vanilla smell makes you instantly happy! ^-^

Later that same week while in HomeGoods with a friend of mine. I spotted this lovely horse head... it reminds me of the Trojan horse story or what a roman horse might look like in a chess game.



I also spotted this painting... after walking around the store a bit, coming back to it, picking it up and walking around with it, periodically glancing down to see if I still liked it... I bought it! lol


Here it is on our wall in the basement...

..and a close up. I love the colors and the dandelions! ^-^

We spotted an adorable notebook too!

 Just look at this wide-eyed owl and all the details around him! :D ;)

For a backdrop I took advantage of my fall colored blanket (in the making). Talk about cozy! No? ;)

I want to eat him he's *so* cute! ^-^

And each page has him looking at you too as you write! AS YOU WRITE! 

You'd think I would have already used all the pages by now with that incentive ;). tee hee

*gazes at owls eyes*

......

Okay - enough of that for now lol :) ;) 

I hope you liked a few of my finds! I had so much fun sharing them with you! 

Do you have a favorite? I'd love to know! ^-^ 

♥ ~Dawn

Lucketts Annual Spring Market 2013 Finds!

With the family visiting from Iowa we took in a few local fun things. Okay so Lucketts is a bit of a drive for us - well worth it though.

I found a few great items for our study...

Tin pieced together "P" by Faulkenberrys

And another tin ceiling piece along with a candlestick - both picked up at the Lucketts Fair.

...and a few others to share just because they were so endearing or inspiring I had to snap a pick to pass them on.

Here is a quick gallery for your viewing pleasure :)

Styrofoam Sunflowers - so poetic!

More Sunflowers! :) 

Tin Heart! 

Crocheted Basket

Another Crochet Basket 

Forever 21 Finds

Okay I've been on kind of a shopping spree lately (I promise mom I've found awesome deals! ☺). We had so much work done on the house last year I didn't feel right about getting new things for myself. So, year over, 2013 well on its way commence the shopping ;). Okay really, I'm not mission shopping, I never find what I'm looking for when I mission shop. Case and point... Friday I went out to forever 21 to find some shorts for my dance class. One of the girls in class had the cutest shorts and she told me I could find them there. In the end I did find a pair of shorts (not the ones I was looking for either lol ;)).

     

 Look at my finds though... ☺ Just look at them! ;)

...super classy (slightly sassy?? ;)) and retroy (nope, not a word) cat cardigan (!) no, I'm not a cat lady ;) 

...and a floral button top that screams feminine delicateness ess.. ess lol ;)

 I also scored some super cheap cotton tops for pj and workout time! Only $2.80 a piece. Yes, mom would be proud. ;)

Though while in the checkout line... I was wooed by those bags grocery stores and supermarkets alike sell to cut down on the use of plastic bags, only this one has a heart and french words on it.

I'm going to use it! :) Ah ha! I've already stashed some color coordinated yarn in it! :D How clever! Come time for the beach, (though we don't have it on the calendar yet ;)) I'll be pulling this baby out! :D

Oh! The polka dotted bag with a zipper - another checkout line find. I love the color & the versatility of its size, the glitter and latexy plastic finish that makes it fun and kind of sexy in my book :) I can use it for make up or small knitting projects for the road - this baby is getting used! :D

Lastly, the scarf. True, true I can make one myself... but this one was on sale $6.99(!), the color was beautiful, the fiber very soft and cheaper than what I could make it for, or the time I'd spend on it.

...from forever 21 back to worldmarket... I decided a set of 3 hand towels would do for the kitchen. So here we go! :)

I hope you liked my finds! :) I love sharing them with you!! Happy Easter and Egg hunting everyone!

♥ Dawn

World Market Finds Worth Sharing

Every month or so I get together with a girlfriend of mine whom I've known for several years and had the pleasure to work with as well. ☺ I appreciate her company and her worldview and she's said a time or two that she enjoys my blog! ☺ I'd say she's a keeper ;). When we get together in the spring we go out for dinner and then walk around the area, sometimes we just walk around parking lots to get some fresh air and move our legs a bit ☺. Fall and winter temps send us moseying to coffee shops or wandering around stores to window shop. One of our favorite places to go is World Market they have so many fun items and designs it seems every time we go we find something new there.

Our recent visit had me taking pictures and I decided to share some of my finds with you.

Victorian Photo Lumbar Throw Pillow

The flowers caught my eye but not until my friend pulled the pillow off the shelf to look at it did we realize it was rectangular (not just a square throw) and it had a lovely picture of a lady in it :). The edging was crocheted and I had read somewhere (pretty sure it was Michael's website) that crocheting can only be done by hand... the tag did not say handmade though... so the jury is out on that one. Either way, the picture was beautiful, the detailing was nice but the fabric was some kind of burlap that shed all over our winter coats. No bueno. But I had to take a picture of her - lol :) And my friend was kind enough to hold it until I did. I think I'd call the lady on the pillow Charlotte. Or... maybe Lanelle... that's Old French ;).

We later came across the candy section filled with treats that reminded me of my childhood and the candy we'd get from the dollar store. We eventually stumbled up a Licorice Pipe! :) How fun is that? My hubs enjoys a good smoke from time to time and I thought to get it for him but it was $.79 he doesn't like licorice (neither do I ;)) and I was not about to take it to the register and pay with it with credit card since that's all I had - so I took a picture of it and told the mister I thought of him and had to show him the licorice pipe! ^-^ the manufacturers did a good job shaping this!

Lastly when looking through the kitchen items I spotted this set of hand towels and wondered how they might look in my kitchen. I like them but passed on this outing, still I wanted to share them with you! The pattern is simple and charming :). Wonderful floral touch!

About the time we found some rustic earthy looking salad bowls complete with tree bark on the edges one of the employees came around to us and said the registers were closing which was our queue to head out ☺. Neither one of us bought anything but "window" shopping like this gets my creative juices flowing. It's good to be inspired. :)

Is there any place you enjoy visiting just to browse? Actually, you know if I could figure out a place for that pillow of Lanelle I might just go back.. pretty sure I could find a coupon too.. ;) We'll see - lol.

Thank you for reading! ☺ I hope you were inspired, if even a little ;). ♥ Dawn

Newest Center Piece For Our Table!

Something about the  way a sphere looks is so pleasing to me. :) When we were looking at houses years ago I remember seeing a rubberband ball in one of the downstairs bedrooms and thought (even that) was pretty cool! I've seen a few pretty temari balls on Etsy in the past as well and appreciated how they are each a wonderful work of art!

Before Christmas I picked up a bunch of kitchen items from a freecycler. In the mix of items was this amazing aluminum (?) colander. The colander has holes that make up stars adorning the sides, they arent' perfectly placed either adding to its charm! I decided I wasn't going to use it for its original purpose because its so ornate, lets put it on the table! :) 

A few months after receiving the colander I was browsing etsy and stumbled across a shop called BinkyLoveCat that has a wonderful mix of items, home decor, vintage items, knits, etc. Well nestled in her shop I spotted two wooden balls with stud decorating and HAD to have them :). It was such a pleasure working with Liz and I was elated to receive the balls! :) I plan to add a few more treasures as I find them but wanted to share what I have so far! :) 

This is currently our table center piece! I hope you like it! :) 

Francesca

...is a new boutique store I visited on black Friday and while I was looking for gifts for other people that day I found I gravitated to stores that had no lines versus those I'd be standing in for nearly an hour just to check out... um, no thank you. :) Of course this resulted in me wandering into a few shops I wouldn't have if I'd been sticking to my list. ;)

Francesca is a lovely lil shop I was happy to have found in the mall because it reminded me of etsy artisan creations. :) birds perched on circular mirrors, pearl beaded jewelry, mustache ladened items and chalkboard pieces to add a whimsical touch to any decor. Their scarves are lovely as well but I gravitated to the jewelry stands and these two beauties jumped out at me (oooh shiny! :)). There was practically no line (yes!) allowing me to check out and be on my way in next to no time... onto my next adventure!

Come Saturday I was getting ready to go out with the mister and some friends, I was trying on my new earrings to see how they looked (though at the store I held up the card  in front of my ear to give myself an idea without really trying them on). I then thought of the many bloggers who share their new found purchases and decided I'd snap a few pictures & share my finds here as well. While I can't say it'll be a permanent consistent thing (historically I don't go shopping for things other than groceries and yarn :)) I love sharing these items! I see clothing as a way of self expression and reflecting to the world the way we see it or how we wish it would be. I'm an artist. I love to create and dream. I realize not everyone is like this and at times I will be misunderstood. For some reason I used to think once I was older people would understand me better but I also realize I need to stop caring if that will ever happen or not, people will not always see eye to eye and agree on everything, but differences don't have to separate us. I still say we can learn a lot from others and each other.

I suppose that's enough philosophy for a day :)

Beautiful flowers... for casual or for business adding a feminine touch.

This is the pair I decided on for the evening.

I do like accessories and pretty things, thanks to Francesca's designers I was feeling like a queen about the time I left the house with my husband  (which is also partially his fault ;)). I think I all the more enjoyed sharing the night with him because of it. :0)

I hope you like the earrings! :)

Tell me - what makes you feel like a queen?