Nature's Artistry-- My Spring Giveaway! (My Biggest Giveaway ever!)

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul,
       and paints his own nature into his pictures~
                                     Henry Ward Beecher





 this beautiful little booklet of quotes and sketches

was a gift from my dear friend Patricia Eaton
~

I thought this lovely verse was the perfect

choice to begin this post~

 Spring is here!
a time for rejuvenating our spirits
 and renewing our
energies~ 

Spring is the season of

new beginnings~



fresh buds bloom,

and animals awaken~

the earth seems to come to life again.



farmers and gardeners plant their seeds~

temperatures slowly rise

as the sun's warmth

brings us all

outside once again~

simply stated --

 this has been a long and miserable winter.
~

I am so happy to once again

feel the warmth of the sun on my face~



some things I love most about spring~

~~

bird songs

the smell of fresh cut grass

tender blooms on shrubs and flowers

longer days~

and the chance to play in the dirt!

~

growing up,

I used to love to make mud pies with my sisters.

we would decorate them with flowers

and set them in the sun to dry.

~

even now --

I am always happiest,

when at the end of the day

I have had the chance to play in the dirt.

spring cleaning~

throwing open the doors and windows
~

the chance to refresh our home

after this long, long winter

flip flops~

and brightly painted toes! 

watching our kitties basking in the rays

 from the sun~

driving down the road in my

brand new car (!!)

the wind blowing on my face

(the radio turned up loud!)

~

(after 10 years, I finally gave in and bought myself a brand new Subaru Outback.

  It was about time -- my Subaru Forester had almost 250,000 miles on it!) 

all the different shades of green

in the fields, and the forests,

and the farms~

green is my favorite spring color!

and my most favorite thing about spring~
~~

this opportunity to thank you all for

the love and support

that you send my

way~

xoxo

my "thank-you" giveaway is all about

spring,

and nests

and beautiful things~

A very special celebration
 just for
YOU!

Listed below are all the wonderful things

that are to be gifted in this giveaway~

~

to enter --

simply leave a comment

on this post,

and perhaps share

something that you love most about

 Spring.
~
if you would like to share this giveaway
with you friends
(on your own blog or on your facebook page)
~
you can leave another comment here
telling me that you have
shared the love!
~
this contest is open to all of my
readers and followers
regardless of where you live!
~
the winners will be announced 
at the bottom of this post
on June 21,
the summer solstice.

one lucky winner will receive one of my

Woodland nests~

these nests are made every winter

for those on the waiting list~

~

this year I made an extra one

to share with you!

My friend Sidney Hanner

makes gorgeous jewelry~

Sidney's unique nest necklace designs

are simply stunning.

In addition to her beautifully crafted nest,

she adds vintage buttons and beads to the chain

making this a necklace like no other! 

this beautiful necklace

was created by Sidney just for this giveaway!

~

you can find my friend at her beautiful blog
Howmyartbeats

 your necklace will arrive in this
beautiful crafted special
 gift bag
~~
if you would like to contact Sidney
about your own custom made
necklace~
you can email her here-
howmyartbeats@yahoo.com

(for the period of this contest- until June 21-
Sidney will be offering a 10 % discount
on her custom made nest necklaces)
(just mention in your email that you saw her creations on my blog)

you will love this
"Anthropologie" inspired handbag
that I found just for you~
~~
This beautiful vintage handbag was made by Margaret Smith, Gardiner Maine. These handbags are highly collectible, known for their quality and lively designs of nature and florals.

Margaret Smith first began making beach bags and totes that were sold in specialty stores in the 1940's. By the 1950's and '60's she added handbags and was selling out of Bonwit Teller of NYC, where her line was highly sought after.

this lovely little "mini-book"
of garden verses and quotes
was specifically designed for this giveaway
by my friend
Sue Kosec

each page
has it's own special design
and garden verse
~
you can email Sue here-
kosec@sbcglobal.net

my dear friend Marsha,
hand painted her special nest design
on this
 beautiful teapot
and cups
~
one of you will win this
beautiful set!

 
Marsha's talent is amazing!
I love her beautiful nest design!!
~~
you can find some of Marsha's other lovely
hand painted designs
for sale in her new ETSY shop. 

~~

To help you celebrate the arrival of Spring -

she is offering FREE SHIPPING

in the US on her hand painted

creations!

My friend Jill makes the most

exquisite needle books

~

beautifully embroidered and felted-

with amazing details

such as her gorgeous beaded flowers

and stunning designs

One of you will win a gift certificate

allowing Jill to custom design

your own beautiful 

needle book.

~~

You can find my friend Jill

at her blog

Fiberluscious

~

and at her ETSY shop

here

Are you starting to feel the love?

~

my sincere and heartfelt gratitude

for all the kindness and love

you send my way!

~

more special surprises

for you--

keep scrolling!

This gorgeous little pitcher

was created specially for this giveaway

by my friend

Cynthia Crane.

One of you will win

this beautiful and unique piece of pottery~

Cynthia's own design,

embellished by her special

whimsical painted flowers, birds, and butterflies. 

Isn't it gorgeous?

~

you can find Cynthia at her blog

"The Crane's nest"

~

you can find her pottery ETSY shop here 

and her ETSY shop for

paintings here

 Also from Cynthia's creative artistry-

a collection of bluebird items

~

these beautiful note cards

and~

a little bluebird book marker

 bluebird button

petite flower buttons

~

someone will win this entire collection of

bluebird items created by

Cynthia Crane.

(the little bluebird figurine is not included in the giveaway)

and lastly~

my friend Marsha created these precious little

hand painted nest tags

~these precious tea stained gift tags

are accented with a variety of beautiful

ribbons and trims

 someone will win a set of 10

little hand painted

nest gift tags

~

you can find more of Marsha's

nest tags in her etsy shop

here

~

(free shipping too!)

NOW do you feel loved?

xoxo

to summarize-

the following items will be

given away to lucky winners on

June 21

~

(the names of the winners will be noted below by their prize on June 21)

please make sure in your comments that your email address

is available

~

6/21/14--Update -- winners announced 

This contest is now closed.

Woodland nest

 #1 Deb -- Just Cats

Nest Necklace

#216 Julie -- My Threadbare Life

Vintage Margaret Smith purse

#36 Kim -- Picking Poppies

Mini-book of garden verses

#200 Pam - Nana Pam's Rambles

Hand painted tea pot and mugs

 #48  Bonnie Larson

Coupon for custom designed Needle book

 #110  Audrey ?

Bluebird and flowers hand painted pitcher

#159 Terri Gordan- Designs by Terri Gordan

Bluebird collection-

(notecards, book marker, buttons)

#55 Emma Elliott- Bubsiekins

Hand painted nest gift tags

#23 Meredith -- Mereknits

~~~~~

I'll be back in a few weeks with some lovely spring photos of the Biltmore Estate -- we visited there a few days ago while the tulips were brilliantly in bloom~

Love,

Vicki

Introducing the "Vintage Spring" nest

Spring is here!

"The little Woodland creatures 

have made it through the long winter

 and are preparing for the celebration of Spring."

Thornton Burgess

"Forest Babies"

After what seems like the longest winter 

that I can ever remember~

Spring is finally here!

vintage millinery, a little bird nest, and beautiful blooms-

all to welcome the new

"Vintage Spring"

 nest

Over a year in the making ~

each little nest is a unique interpretation

of all that Spring means

 to us.

 my inspiration for this nest

was the "traditional" festive spring

Maypole dance~

~

beautiful blooms, ribbons, greenery

all intertwined to symbolize

the glorious arrival of

 Spring!

for over two years,

I collected some of the most beautiful

pieces of vintage millinery

that I could find.

~

(you can click here to visit that Vintage Millinery post.)

my favorite pieces of millinery 

are the stunning large velvet mauve 

blooms~

~

this newest Designer nest was created

around the use of those beautiful

mauve flowers

 a stunning Maypole bouquet

is clustered around one side of the nest~

~

added to that festive arrangement

are the adornments of vintage flower brooches

in a variety of designs and colors

~

while each nest is alike in design~

they are each different and

beautifully unique.

each and every one of my Designer nests 

are made more special by the 

contributing artists

who donate their time and talents

to these little nest 

creations~

~

my beautiful and dear friend Deb

created these embroidered muslin strips

as tie on embellishments.

(you can find Deb at her beautiful blog Mosaic Magpie)

~

this little embroidered 

grape hyacinth

accents each of the nests and

is truly a reminder of one of spring's

most beloved flowers.

~

thank you dear Deb

for all that you do to support me in my little projects,

and for always, always, always,

being here for me

xoxo

  

 what is spring 
without a butterfly?

~

Karen's lovely crochet darlings

are the most perfect 

accent to these Spring nests!

(you can find Karen at her beautiful blog Todolwen)

~

Thank you dear Karen for all the love

and talent you put into your lovely little "flutter-by"

creations

xoxo

~

my friend Mary added a little

glitter and some bling 

(because that's what she does!)

~

these are the happiest little butterflies

now that they have a new home

for the Spring!

who doesn't love a festive little
spring bunting?

These precious and colorful little buntings

were created by my friend Suzy

using a variety of laces and

 embellishments.

(You can find Suzy at her beautiful blog Suziqu's Threadworks)

~

Thank you dearest Suzy for

the love and attentions

that you gave to the making 

of these tiny little

 buntings~

xoxo

~

you'll find them peeking out amongst the fibers--

see if you can pick out Suzy's 

adorable little buntings 

in some of the following

 photos~

tiny little birdnests,

nestled between the flowers~ 

love, love, love,

I love this vintage plastic flower brooch~

this nest is one of my most favorites

(but actually, I love them all!)

do you see the little bunting

 and the lovely vintage

 brooch?

a variety of beautiful laces and textures 

encircle this intricate little

nest~

some of the vintage millinery used in these nests

 were found in their original packaging~

for me to be the first to bring these

beautiful pieces to an artistic life

was truly a blessing

My grateful thanks

to all of you who waited

so very long for this nest to be created.

xoxo

Thank you for trusting me

to make this nest not only beautiful for you~

but worthy of your patience

and waiting~

those of you on the Reserved list

for this special charitable

Designer nest~

can find your nest waiting for you

here in my ETSY shop.

~

(the nests are listed according to your

first initial and last name)

each nest will arrive

wearing a little tag that I have

signed and dated~

these precious little tags

were created by my dear friend

Sue Kosec

(kosec@sbcglobal.net) 

 your nest will arrive

beautifully wrapped  in tissue

and wearing one of these

adorable lilac bird tags.

~

these tags were also created by my friend

Sue Kosec

~

I'm proud to say that Sue is the exclusive

designer for my tissue, tags, and paper

embellishments. 

(you know I love you girlfriend!~xoxo)

the charitable proceeds for these nests

will be donated to

Lily's Place

~ 

Our new Pediatric Addiction recovery center

is the first in the nation.

~

Our infants will receive the highest standard of care

in their recovery resulting from

their birth to a drug addicted Mother.

to those of you who so willingly

support this little thing I do~

thank you for allowing me the ability

to support this charity

which is so dear to my heart.

~

and ~
another huge thank you

to my friend Deb -

who made me the adorable little nest jar 

in the photo above and below~

(I told you I loved it!)

Although Spring is here -

and the trees in our yard are starting to bud --

today, the day of my photo shoot-

it is freezing!

~

the wind is blowing 

and as I finish the last of the photos, 

it starts to rain.

(the wind blowing actually helped me to take some lovely photos of the fibers!)

I captured the photos

in the midst of the fibers blowing in the breeze~

a happy little butterfly~

Spring is finally

 here!

Thank you to my dear friend,

 my best friend,

Mary~

~

you are the most special part

of these nests.

Without you, 

they would not be~

while I have truly loved 

every nest that I have created~

this~

is my most favorite
design

xoxo

Just keepin' it real~

Some updates~

To the over 200 of you who emailed me after the release of the 

"Woodland Bling" nest --(a few weeks ago)~

 I think I have finally finished the last of those emails and replied to you all.  I had NO idea that this nest would create so much attention.  While it is my practice to never repeat a design, I think I do have to backtrack a little since only 6 of those were made ---- so~ there will be more "Woodland Bling" nests (with the dragonfly) in the future.  While I do not have a date -- and it will be at least another year yet -- you may email me now if you wish to be placed on the Reserved list for that nest. vboster1@windstream.net

(And, I'm truly so very sorry -- I will never make just 6 nests again!) xoxo

Coming up next~

my biggest giveaway

EVER!!

~

it's all about Spring

and all about

nests~
(in oh so many wonderful ways!)

 

xoxo

Vicki