Retro-Vintage-Kitsch

I like things that are nostaligic...but sometimes just as much or more than I like things that are actually nostalgic because they are old, I like things that are nostaligic because they look old. So, for the long weekend, I've composed a list of just a few of the places I like to look for this type of thing...just happy little corners of the web with things you could describe as retro, vintage, or kitsch-y!

Christmas Traditions is one of my favorite places. They feature holiday decorations (not just Christmas, but all the other ones, too) by a number of talented artisans and often there's stuff on sale. You can find a wide variety of garlands, trees, ornaments, post cards, etc...all with a sweet vintage flair! The following pics are from Christmas Traditions: Bethany Lowe feather tree, hat by Glitterville, houses by Cody Foster.Victorian Trading often carries things that are just too formal or maybe just too "victorian" for my home, but what they sell is beautiful and some of their holiday decor is great! (Case-in-point: the reproduction hat boxes and this darling music box!) Plus, they often have good sales. Nana Lulu's Linens and Handkerchiefs actually has some actual vintage linens and decor as well as some vintage reproductions. All are lovely...like this cute vintage pink strawberry table cloth.Enchanted Decor reminds me a bit of Christmas Traditions in that they have lots of great vintage-style holiday decor! Tinsel, mercury glass, bottle brush trees...and much more! Retro Planet offers both authentic and reproduction items as well. The trick is telling which is which! They have a nice selection of tin signs. If the tin signage you seek is not at Retro Planet, however- pop over to Jack and Friends. Signs aren't all they have, but they sure are cute! Here you can shop by categories such as 50s Retro Kitchen and Old General Store!

Well, happy browsing! Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi

An Award for Randi

Look at me! I am so very proud, my friend Amelia from sweetbfolkart (I've mentioned and linked to her several times so if you haven't been there yet GO! Her art's wonderful...and there's a great Halloween piece on there right now.) anyway- she bestowed on me this award...which is not just a flattering award, it's also comes with an adorable button. It may be the cutest button I've ever seen as blog award buttons go! It just made my day...or perhaps my week. Yes, I think my week- and probably longer than that. And I was having an amazing week so that's saying a lot. So thank you very much, Amelia...way to perpetuate the happiness of this, my aforementioned birthday week! Okay, enough about me. I'll stop gloating (but did I mention I'm super proud of my first blog award and it means so much to me? :) Well I am...and it does.

Now- the second best thing about this award is that I, in turn, get to pass it on! So here are my award recipients. I wanted to give it to people who didn't already receive it, but on the chance you are one of these people and already got this award once upon a time, it's okay...you're just doubly-loved! I don't know how many I could award, but Karen the Bling Queen (a new swap partner I just met) also won this award from someone else (or I'd have bestowed it on her myself) and her instructions say to pick 7 so I chose seven...drum roll please...

Recipient #1: Monica of Art, Design, Life She was one of my first blog friends. She's not just a talented artist in very many artforms (there's a mixed-media piece on her blog right now that incorporates a chocolate chip cookie...and we all know how I feel about food art!), she's a writer, too. Even the shortest of blogposts is well worded and incredibly entertaining!

Recipient #2: Jenny of The Polka Dot Pixie- I've mentioned her before...her stuff's just too, too cute. And if you haven't visited her site and blog yet...what are you waiting for!?!

Recipient #3: Angela of yourangil.blogspot.com She's a swap partner, too and her sweet, vintage tastes seem perfectly to coincide with mine. She makes all manner of pretty (okay, beautiful) little things...and she does it all with three small children. So she's a real inspiration to me!

Recipient #4: Susan chickenfoot.typepad.com She's hosting and my partner for the strawberry swap. Strawberries are just one of several things it seems we have in common. Not only is she crafty and creative, she gardens and sews...neither of which I, um, excel at...and that's an understatement! So I totally admire her! Her blog is just fun, inspirational and informative so go visit.

Recipient #5: Genevieve at Bella-Enchanted There's always something funny, fun, inspirational, or creative going on there, you totally wouldn't want to miss! She's my partner and host for a magic wand swap...that says something, right?

Recipient #6: Linda of A Swap For All Seasons (Linda also blogs at Grace Filled Moments) and they're both equally wonderful so I don't think I can pick just one). She's another one of those super bloggers/crafters/moms I am endlessly impressed with. You cannot help but be inspired by her blogs- they're really just incredible so go on...have a look-see!

And last, but not certainly not least, I nominate my new friend, Annie of divaundertaker.blogspot.com as Recipient #7: Annie's blog is entitled "Journal of an Undertaker" and I'll explain: Well, she's an undertaker...no really- Annie works for a funeral home (and yes, that's the 6 Feet Under theme song playing in the background of her blog!) but don't let that scare you away. Just read the About Me column and spend some time archive- perusing on her blog- you'll be so glad to make her acquaintance! Doing what she does for a living gives her such a unique perspective on life and she has an amazing sense of humour and respect for her work. You'll find she's far from all about all things sad and morbid- she's got an adorable family, she collects vintage children's books and she's tres creative. She makes precious collages and mixed-media pieces I adore! She's also starting a new blog that focuses more on her art and crafting so when that's up I'll let you know...because I can only imagine that it will be award-worthy as well!

So thanks again to Amelia and congrats to all you wonderful ladies-thank you for inspiring me...and, well, thanks for being my friends!

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi

La Vie En Rose

As promised, here are pics of the rose garden in Tyler! Lovely, aren't they?

I created this composition of photographs I took that day all of one color rose. I call it "Life Of A Rose". I'm impressed it all came out looking right! I did a similar piece with dandelions I photographed in Vancouver...but it only consists of three pics...so this is far bigger in scale!
The title is also appropriate as it's my third wedding anniversary! Another fabulous year gone by...my how time flies! La Vie En Rose is one of the songs on our wedding DVD! :)

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi

Mary Kay Cupcakes

"Cosmetics are like cupcakes...even on bad hair days they make us feel good."

Sooo... today I mailed off some of my favorite paintings to date and I just had to share them with you! They were a set of four commissioned by a client-turned friend-turned Mary Kay consultant, Jennifer! She, too, is a cupcake fan (she's commissioned cupcake art from me before) and it was her idea to combine Mary Kay make-up and cupcakes. The result was this adorable set of paintings. Jenn suggested we include some inspirational words, so I spent several days thinking up "quotes" that incorporated the themes of beauty and sweetness! They were just so much fun to work on!(I had a close up of the fourth in the series that I would have inserted here, but it kept uploading sideways and I just couldn't fix it...you can see all four in the picture below.)
AND- since Jennifer is now a Mary Kay consultant, she sent a link to her MK site and I picked out a new blush and lip color for fall! They have this great virtual make-over tool available where you upload your picture and you can try all the colors on your own face. It was extremely easy and I was very impressed at how well it worked. The colors I picked using it are absolutely perfect for my complexion! Appropriately enough (for autumn) they're called Sparkling Cider (the blush) and Gingerbread (the lipstick)! It has been awhile since I've used Mary Kay and, like I said, I've been very pleased with my purchase. There's lot of new stuff...like this line of mineral wear make-up! You should check it out...and if you need a consultant, please, use mine! She's really great- super nice and very diligent! Click here for her site: Jennifer's Mary Kay Site. *FYI: When I asked if I could link to her site from here, she said if you place an order with her and mention my name in the comments field I'll receive credit toward future purchases and the same would be true if you, in turn, recommend her to someone who mentions your name- fabulous, no?! So here are the colors I bought: *sideways picture alert...if anyone knows how to remedy this...PLEASE let me know. It drives me absolutely crazy! ...and here's me with them on. (So if your complexion's similar to mine, you can imagine these colors on your face!)When I'm not sporting my new vintage-chic look with the scarlet lip fusion, this will be my toned-down fall face!

Well, have a sweet evening!

I'm hoping to post some pretty rose pics tomorrow. 'Til then...

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi

Flowers in the Window

I saw these flowers today and they were so beautiful I had to buy them. They came in a bouquet of six and every single one was perfect! Since it's my birthday week, I decided flowers in the window was appropriate.

It also seemed like a flowers in the window kind of week because the last few days have been so wonderful I can't imagine this week could be at all bad!

It started last Thursday when my dad and brother flew home from NYC into the airport in Shreveport (which is just an hour from me). Ross (aforementioned little brother and super-talented photographer- check out his work here) was hired to do a photo shoot there...and he lives in Louisiana, so that's a long way! Anyway, my Dad met him there after the photoshoot and spent a couple of days seeing the sites as well. Since they were flying home together (Shreveport's right in the middle of all three of us- an hour from me, an hour from Mom and Dad and an hour from Ross...and, yes, we all live in different towns!) I met Mom and we spent the afternoon shopping, then met their flight and we all went out to dinner (Josh had to work :( so he missed out). Anyway it was a really, really nice day...like a one day vacation for me! The day was made even better by the fact that Ross, my best and most favorite brother (okay, he's the only one I have...but he's awesome nonetheless) brought me all sorts of goodies from New York!! It was like Christmas! He's really great at picking out stuff I'd like so it was like having a personal shopper in NYC shopping just for me! I simply must boast- here's what he brought me:

* this oh so sweet book from Anthropologie full of recipes and gorgeous pics of cupcakes...

* also from Anthropologie, this darling apron which, as it happens, perfectly matches my favorite yellow shoes and my brand new yellow pan! * this Dior mascara Ross said was recommended by the bride he went to NYC to take pictures of so he brought me some and it's amazing! I highly recommend it. Plus he also brought this lipfusion lip color he said some woman at Sephora suggested I'd like...and she was right! It's a deep scarlet (which I'm told is the new look these days...very simple make-up except for an uplay of the eyes and lips).It feels very vintage-chic...I feel I should don my black dress and pearls every time I wear it! Here's a self- portrait of yours truly in said mascara and lipshine...this will definitely just be my special occasion look! * at my request he made a trip to Tinsel Trading. He brought back lots of this beautiful glass glitter and these amazing vintage cut-outs- I can't wait to use them! Aren't they wonderful?* I fully intend to devote an entire post one day to lomography, but here's a pic of just the camera...this is definitely one of the most exciting souvenirs...I dropped off the first roll I took today so I'll post some of the pics when they come in. * This yummy strawberry lipgloss came in such a sweet vintage-looking little tin! See the strawberry vine detail?*And, finally, this adorable lollipop from F.A.O Shwartz- Ross picked it up because it's my favorite color combination! I also got a copy of Marie Claire Maison...which was awesome. I love the Marie Claire publications, especially Marie Claire Idees, but you can't just pick one up around here...so I have to put in special requests with the travellers in my life! :)So- a BIG THANKS and a BIG HUG to my most favorite little brother.

Then starting Friday, Josh and I went to Dallas for an early Anniversary getaway! We had a fabulous time! It was really nice to have a little mini-vacation! While we were there, I got to shop some of my favorite places...among them Ikea where I got these play pretties among other things...(how precious is this crewel lamp shade? I'd seen it in a magazine, though for the life of me I can't remember which one...and was super-excited to find it in store!) Here's a detail:...and these jumbo juice boxes I just had to try. (Both were delicious, by the way!)And Anthropologie (which may, in fact, be my favorite store ever) where I scored these two adorable tea-towels:

We even made the drive home part of the vacation...we stopped in Tyler and visited the big rose garden there (Tyler's known for their roses). Those pics are lovely, but I'll save them for another post. We also stopped at the Russell Stover factory in Terrell and went to their outlet store. It's a great place to get gifts because they have chocolate extra-cheap. You can also buy bags or boxes of "bloopers"- chocolates that weren't quite perfect enough for gift-boxes...but still taste just as good! Here's a close up of a little box I bought for me:So early Happy Anniversary and thanks for such a happy weekend to my best-in-the-whole-world husband!

And I suppose for now that's all there is...there isn't anymore. (But really, I couldn't ask for any more! :)

Here's wishing you a flowers-in-the-window week as well!

sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi