Pink-a-Boo

One Brave Chick and Happy Birthday Mom!

I wanted to share something that I made for my mom's birthday, which was this last Saturday.  My mom has been a wonderful inspiration to me and she is the most corageous and faith-filled person I know.  She's had to go through a lot of hardships in her life, and yet she maintains such an amazing spirit and such an inspiring belief in God's purpose.  It just astounds me!

Anyway, she and my dad live in a smaller space, and the last thing either of them need is more stuff!  I wanted to give my mom something meaningful in honor of her birthday (which she still gets sooo excited about!), so I decided to share with her something that has been a great inspiration to me recently.

One of my co-workers has recently embarked upon a wonderful side business with five of her friends.  It's called One Brave Chick and is a company born upon hardships and cemented with courage.  Please check out their website - www.onebravechick.com.  What a hearfelt and genuine enterprise this has turned out to be.  Each of these ladies are so very brave to share with everyone their stories and design their space to be somewhere everyone can share their "Brave Chick" tales.  I applaud them and wish them the best of success.

On their site, they sell these great "Bravery Kits."  Each kit consists of a great tee, and inspirational card, and a "bravery bead" bracelet.  However, I knew that my mom is not a fan of graphic tees, so I wanted to bring the "brave chick" mantra to her in the form of art.  She loved it!

My Take on Vintage

I wanted desperately to find a great vintage hat for my Kentucky Derby Hat Swap partner PinkieDenise, or at least find some great vintage items to use in its construction.  However, I unfortunately live in an area that used to be a mecca for antique-hunters but - due to the construction of a major highway that re-routed all tourist traffice (think the plotline of the movie "Cars") - all local antique stores have now closed :-(  How sad is that?

Anyway, since I couldn't find a vintage great for PinkieDenise, I did my best to re-create one for her.  I really hope she likes it.  I'm a little nervous after receiving the wonderful crown she made for me (see post below) - it is just sooo artistic and creative.  I'm afraid my Kentucky Derby Hat may be a bit too literal. Oh, well.

What I love is that we both used pinks and greens as our main colors.  And after reading Pinkie's blog and learning a little more about her, I knew I was on the right track.  And I hope my hat reminds her of some of the lovely vintage hats she used to decorate above her window.  I hope you love it, Denise!

I feel like a Queen!

So guess what arrived at my doorstep yesterday?  My partner in the Kentucky Derby Hat Swap - PinkieDenise from Pink Pomegranates - sent me the lovliest crown I've ever seen!  It's so perfect - I just love the green and pink - and the velvet flowers are delicious.  I've posted some pictures below, but you must visit her site - the pictures she's posted of the crown are soooo much better than the ones I've taken (mine don't do the crown near enough justice!).

Thank you PinkieDenise for all the effort, care and creativity you put in to my crown - I just love it!

I deserve a demerit for being this tardy!

I feel awful for having been so tardy with my thank you to Tammie at craftytammie.  She got my name as part of the Flirty Apron Swap.  I received the best little apron in the whole wide world from her!  It's pink and green - a favorite color combo of mine!  And it has a flirty little ruffle at the bottom.  And it's made out of this great retro-look fabric.  And - it's reversible.

The apron came with a hand-made discloth, a hot pink hot pad, and two yummy recipes!

Thank you so, so, so much, Tammie!  I love everything you sent my way!!