Easter blessings were definitely sent my way by Patti, my partner for an Easter tag swap I participated in! The swap was hosted by Sandy at 521 Lake Street.

Wrapped in two vintage embroidered tea towels were these fabulous little cards...

Sweet vintage Easter illustrations cut out delicately and layered upon a pretty combination of scrapbook papers...



...layered with ribbon and trims, and touches of glitter {love glitter}. I can tell that each little detail was chosen with care, enhancing the beauty of the original illustration.


 She used punches to craft some of her accents, I recognize the little bird covered in glitter and flowers as punched shapes.


Each one is truly a work of art and I will treasure them always. I was thinking of how I could clip them to the vintage window frame that's on my mantel, or perhaps make a garland banner out of them.


Right now they're displayed like pretty candies in a tiered serving dish. I showed them off at Easter and have picked them up each day to admire their beauty and Patti's artistry.

She also included this beautiful card that is hanging on my bulletin board in my office...


I must be the luckiest girl at the swap! Don't you agree? Stop by Patti's blog at http://paintinpatti.typepad.com/ and see all of her beautiful creations!

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up last week. I'm going to highlight last week's link later in the week since this post is sooooo long! Okay, let's get this week's party started! A few reminders...

• Link to one specific post you want to feature, not your whole blog (to do this, click on the title of the post you want to link and it will open on it's own page, then copy that url). Any post will work--no theme!
• Please link back to the party so that others can find it. Grab my cute button (code is on my sidebar)  to include in your post or somewhere on your blog; text links are fine too.
• If you have clicked around my blog and like what you see, consider being follower!
• Try to visit a few other links if you can. Everybody loves comments and encouragement!

 

I'm linking this post to:
Time Travel Thursday at Brambleberry Cottage
Vintage Thingy Thursday at the Colorado Lady
All things Merry & Bright 
Savvy Southern Style 
Tea Rose Home
Blue Cricket Design 

Check out these Easter goodies on sale at JoAnn Fabrics for 70% off! A pretty pastel door wreath...

A sweet chick and egg sprinkled with glitter {love glitter} that ended up being $1.49 on clearance! I'm wondering what other pieces they may have had earlier in the season that went with this collection.


This last find has nothing to do with Easter, but they were a great price and on my way to the checkout line I passed their dollar section featuring some great colors of glitter glue--I really like the turquoise.


I like to find holiday decorations on clearance at the end of a season. Besides the great prices, I have just had all my other Easter decorations {you can see them by clicking here} out and know what I might like for the next year and what I don't need.

Linking this post to
Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
Running With Glitter

Linking this post to:
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Under the Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase
Good Life Wedensdays at A Beach Cottage
Elements Interiors
White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Weekend Wrap Up
Show & Tell Friday 
Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground 
House  In The Roses
Between Naps on the Porch 
Amaze Me Monday @ Dittle Dattle 

I found this lamb at an antique mall in southern Wisconsin. I wasn't looking for anything special, but when I saw his cute little face, I picked him up.

It's a little bank, complete with stopper. It looks like a souvenir of sorts from the Shepherds Ministries in Union Grove, Wisconsin. It's a little cracked & crazed in the finish.



I think he's perfect for Easter and cute enough to have out every day.

Although this group of vintage cards isn't specifically themed Easter, they each feature familiar spring characters; a bunny and a cute duck.

I'll post the original of each, but I've also removed the wording on them in case you want to add your own text for crafting.


Enjoy!

This little Easter egg die kit caught my eye first off by the name in the upper right hand corner  {mine}.
After that, I was tickled by the price. The egg dye kits I've been seeing on the store shelves are at least $1 these days.




I love the illustrations on the back cover; the little round heads of the characters were too cute.




Inside, there was another surprise. Mr. Jack Rabbit and Mrs. Happy Duckling are even cuter! I actually didn't know this was even inside until I went to scan the cover images. I always love a little surprise!

What's been up with you this week? Link up the best of your blog below and show us what you've got at the Share the Love Wednesday Blog party!

My favorite linky last week were these repurposed vintage silver lids from Lynda at Something Created Every Day. 



Such a neat idea and most definitely the most elegant picture holders I've seen lately! The St. Patrick's Day Rosettes are pretty cute, too! Lynda has a great tutorial on the rosettes and has made a banner out of them as well. Hope you'll visit her for all the details--but before you go... Link up below!

Check out these other fabulous PARTIES where I link up too!



Please include a link back to this blog somewhere in your post or party list (button at top left or text link)... thanks!

I was searching for vintage Easter images online to use in making some cards and tags for Easter, and came across a nice collection on Flickr.

via Flickr user Zero Discipline

The person who posted them has the user name of Zero Discipline (I can relate to that!) and she has a nice collection of Easter and other retro cards. My favorites are those from the 50s and 60s.

via Flickr user Zero Discipline

The images in this blog post are all low res for your artistic enjoyment. If you visit her on Flickr you can see her entire collection and view her images in higher resolution.

via Flickr user Zero Discipline

I have to be on the lookout for some vintage Easter cards at the next flea market--I only have one! I did find a some neat images on a vintage box of Easter egg dye that I think you'll enjoy. I'll post them tomorrow night when the 3rd Share the Love Wednesday link party goes up!