Petite Inspiration Box Swap

Petite Inspiration Box Swap

Birthday Edition

 I absolutely love these swaps.  You get 2 partners and you fill up a large size matchbox with all kinds of lovingly chosen themed vintage goodies.  I have missed several of these swaps as of late so I was really excited to be able to participate this time.  I designed my boxes to look like (my version) of a cake. I might have been inspired by my recent trip to Marie Antoinettes hamlet and Petite Trianon, just saying. lol They are a little frilly.

 My partners have received their boxes so it's ok for me to give you a peek at the goodies I put into the boxes.  I love the vintage pink, yellow, and blue flower candle holders and just happened to find some wonderful vintage birthday cards and labels and even some vintage birthday sheet music. Then I made some goodies like a rustic petite pennant banner with some vintage pink chenille and vintage pink fabric. I thought that they turned out so cute that I might make a few for my shop.

Here are all of the goodies packaged up and ready to ship out.  I sure hope that my partners really liked their goodies. I had such fun creating again, I've been so busy and sure have missed being creative. 

Hopefully I'll be back with more posts soon, my oldest is back in NYC working at a french summer camp this summer so things have slowed down a bit here. 

xoxo

Cari 

Flower Swap

Marie Antoinette Flower Swap Reveal

A while back I was in a flower swap with my Marie Antoinette art group.(link on the right side of my blog). These are the flowers I made. It was really fun learning the new technique of melting fabric and layering the petals. Super Easy too!!
Most of my fellow swappers used the same technique. Amazingly, they all look soooooo different.
I love to see the different ways that people use the same techniques.

I am sorry though that I lost the labels with "who made what" on them.All of these ladies are super talented. You should hope over to the Marie site and check out all of the artists work.

Here they are all together. Yummy!! Have a wonderful Saturday.

xoxo

cari

A Very Vintage Christmas Swap Reveal

I know I'm late but I still wanted to show you all of the amazing goodies I received from my Christmas swaps. So, today I'll show you my goodies from A Very Vintage Christmas Ephemera Swap and tomorrow I'll show you some fabulous ornaments from my ornament swap.

First of all, Cristina sweetpeaink our hostess with some help from her momma put together these fabulous sewn bags to hold everything. WOW!! Now, I'll just show you the pictures and list the participants. The pictures do not necessarily coincide with the links.

Amy Powers, Catherine Aguilera, Cerri littlepinkstudio, Gina embraceyourbliss, Lynn createbreath

Look at how lovingly packaged everything is!

Kristen sweetdreamsartstudio, Jessica Rodarte, Marilee rose-brier, Sara Blagg, Trina thepaperfleamarket

I truly believe that bloggers are the most generous people in the world!

Michelle Geller, Karla Steele, Heidi Wallingfond, Kerry k8tykat, Yvonne Welty, Vicki texasscrapaddict Deborah debsvintagesoul, Teresa foxhollowtales, Pamela keravuori, Aimee Kruse-Ross, Kelly Deal

These two gigantic Santa seals are absolutely fabulous, I don't even know how anyone could part with them. I'm sure glad they did though! lol!!

Lori myvintagewhimsy, Kana Conger, and Hope Karney

Well, that's it for this swap. Totally yummy right!??!!

I hope you all had an absolutely amazing Christmas and that your upcoming New Years Eve is safe and full of love and family.

xoxo

Cari

Re-Organizing

Just a little crafty re-organizing. Here is a peek at my newly (almost finished) craft space. My work space is wedged between the second fridge and the furnace in the garage. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do! right?!

Anyway, I couldn't take the yucky garage walls so I cracked open a can of "Ballet slipper Pink" paint. (I love that name don't you?)
And, what a difference a can of paint and a little re-organizing can do. Unfortunately, I've got lots of stuff piled behind these pictures still to be put away. I haven't put it all away yet because it looks so pretty, I don't want to mess it up.

Here's a close up of the shelf. Don't you love that antique German Prayer book. My daughter threatened to kill me if i cut it up. LOL

O.K. so back to the mess behind me. My husband is getting a little impatient so I thought I better hurry up and get some pictures of the niceness before it becomes messiness again.

It's fun to look at these pictures and see all of the neat little goodies I've gotten in swaps or the beauties I've created with the fabulous kits I've ordered.

(This, well..........ahhhhhh!!! right?

nothing else to say about this.)

Alright, so even my organized desk is still a bit unorganized but still inspiring!!

I've got a couple of post ideas brewing, I've got 2 swaps to show you and a little something else. I've got to work on them now because the kiddos are off for 9 days in 3 days. I better hurry!!!

xoxo

Cari

Second Petite Inspiration Box Swap Reveal

A Happy Mistake!!
By some happy mistake I was put into two swap groups. My first group had been in contact, we'd talked a lot, we'd even sent and received our swaps when I received an email from Heather, our lovely hostess, telling me that my partners hadn't heard from me?????????

Well, all's well that ends well. I was put into two groups and of course agreed, who wouldn't? So, this is what my first partner Jayme sent me. I love the colors.Look at all of the amazing goodies. I love the little tin and all of the brass jewelry components. Yummy!!! I can't wait to start creating. I'm so inspired.
So, my second partner Sharon Jankowicz sent me this amazing package. It's definitely not a matchbox. LOL. I'm sooooooo glad I decided to stay in the second group.
Here's a side view of this intricately detailed wooden cigar box. Sharon hammered the velvet ribbon along the bottom and finished the box off with my initials.
This is a shot of the inside lid of the box. WOW!!
O.K, so this is what I see when I open the box. Hey, there's the Matchbox. ha ha. Sharon does embroidery, to say the least, check out her book on embroidered cards.So, here it is after all of that lovliness, the actual matchbox. Stunning!!! Take a look at all the beauty inside, see the fleur de lyse pin, that was her grandmothers!! Can you believe it?! Rhinestones, ribbon and even french soap.
But wait..... inside the matchbox was a little matchbox (of course there was!!) Look at all of the lovely vintage buttons and french franc. There is even a sterling silver vintage "forget me not" heart charm. I feel like I must have some pretty good kharma. Lol!!

Thank you ladies for such a superb swap. Tomorrow I'll show you the pink and silver charm swap that I did with my Marie Antoinette group.

xoxo

Cari

Petite Inspiration Box Swap Reveal #1

The amazing Heather at speckled-egg hosted another of her fabulous

"Petite Inspiration Box Swaps"

The theme this time was "Paris" yeah, my favorite!!

This sophisticated stunner is from Marsha at sassyminidolls my first partner. She did a fabulous job, so elegant. You should check out her blog.Look at all of the goodies that she packed into that little box. Yummy!!! Can you see the hand stamped ribbon and the rusty old key?

This beauty is from the lovely JoAnne at vintagedragonfly my second partner. So frilly and fabulous. Her blog is filled with just as much loveliness.

She made a lavender sachet that now resides in my pillow so that I sleep wonderfully. I love the little posy bouquet. Well, I really love everything.

But, there's more......

I accidentally got put into two groups (yay!!!!)

So, tomorrow I will show you the goodies I got from my second group.

Hope you all had a safe and patriotic 4th.

xoxo

Cari

Pretty In Pink

I'm feeling Pink again!! I recently made a bunch of Pink and Silver charms for a swap that I am in.

I don't usually use silver metal because I always used Sterling and I got tired of polishing it.

I do love the way it looks though. These were so fun to make, I can't wait to see the charms I receive and assemble my charm bracelet. I might just be hooked (again!!) That does seem to happen to me quite a bit. LOL
While I was feeling pink I made these little cuties too. I have to admit, I do love all colors, I even love bright primary colors and everything. But, I keep coming back to pastel pink, I can't help myself. I even read once that I like pastels because of my Zodiac sign. Well, who knows!? I'll just keep making what makes me happy.

Have a lovely Fathers' Day tomorrow, in case I don't make it back.

xoxo

Cari

I found my camera charger!! Yay!!

So, here's a peek at what I made for my very first press kit.

It's for an "ocean" themed event. I must say I was quite nervous putting my little kits together. Does anyone else get nervous when they are sending their creations out into the world? Maybe it's just me. I made these tiny flowers with pearls for the kits too.

These were fun so, I made extras for my shop.

I will show you pictures of the "Petite Inspiration Boxes" that I received soon.

Have a wonderful day

xoxo

Cari

100th Post

Here's a Sneak Peek at my Petite Inspiration Box Swap box.

This time it had a Paris Theme. Yeah!! My favorite.

I know I haven't been around much lately but I had big plans to change that. Yes, I said had. I've got lots of things to show you, the contents of these fun little swap boxes, some pictures of my first ever press kit, the super neat inspiration boxes I received, some new items I'm working on, etc.........

Well, of course, my camera battery went dead as I took a picture of the contents of these little boxes. I thought I got the picture though, so I packed them up and shipped them out. Lo and behold, (who says that? I guess I do!!) I didn't get the picture. Ugh.

Now, I can't even find the charger! I've got family in town and obligations to them so........ I am going to search the house the first chance I get, snap a bunch of cool pictures, and share them with all of you soon. Promise!!!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful relaxing summer so far.

xoxo

cari

I Love Swaps (Part 2)

I Love Swaps

part 2

This is the last of the swaps that I signed up for this season. This one is ArtsyMamas May Basket Swap. My partner was the lovely Ellen from Ellasedge. The picture above is a detail shot of the front of my basket. WOW!

These are (some) of the amazing goodies packed lovingly inside. Look at the little handmade pouch Ellen made me. (It's on the right hand side). She is going to start selling them soon on etsy. When she does, I'll post about it. I know you are all going to want to grab them up.

This is how it looks all together. Yummy!!!

Thanks for such a lovely swap Ellen and thank you Kari for hosting. Wonderful as usual.

xoxo

Cari

Petite Inspiration Nesting Box Swap Revealed

I Love Swaps!!!And, the Petite Inspiration Boxes are probably my favorite swaps. I love getting creative little goodies. I think it's a fun challenge to use things that are different from the ones you would normally purchase. Kind of broadening your artistic horizons... The box above is the one I sent out to my three wonderful partners. Here is what I filled them with. The theme was "feathering the nest" I couldn't help throwing in those adorable little umbrella.
This is the first box I received. We must have been on a blue and brown wavelength. LOL!! Isn't it absolutely stunning. The wonderful Maggie filled my little box with so many inspirational little items. It's all so sweet!!! The super creative partner Number 2 Lonnie must have been on the same wavelength too. The funny thing is that I almost put a nest on top of mine too. Love, love, love the flowers and especially the little birdie pin. Thank you!! Gwen must have been on a different wavelength, an equally fabulous wavelength though!!! Her box is so different but so absolutely amazing as well. I think that Peach is going to be the color this Summer. Well, at least for me.

So, that's It. Thanks for playing ladies, I hope you liked your goodies as much as i loved mine.

xoxo

Cari

P.S.

New items will be coming to my goods shop soon!!