''LET THEM EAT CAKE''

Hello Friends!I have been meaning to post for a long time now I  have just been so busy.I'm happy to say things are selling on my web site  and on ebay.I am happy some people are finding my blog.Thank you for your comments! I must confess I am the cave girl of blogging and online selling,thePC in general is just not my comfort zone but meeting kindred friends from around the world,WOW,cool! I work so hard to email my blogging friends back to little boxes popping up to say I can't. I just want to say Thank You to all who posted,I love your comments!       A while back in December I took a space at SuLaine's Antique Mall in Detroit Lakes ,Minnesota. Well  business was down for me on line and well what was I thinking???? I just thought well I'll try this! I had enough stuff to sell and I worked hard to make some new things and well many of those things I toted back home because my good intentions were to list them on my site. Well ,I'm still trying. I can't seem to get it done .I kinda wish I would have snapped some pics back in December but I did not. But these pics show my spot at the mall. I worked a whole day on the Marie  Antoinette and the castles behind the cake table. I need to get alot more things like signs painted  and I have lots of ideas  even though the sales have not come to me yet there.There is also a pic of me ,yes I am  the big happy lady there, that is me! I hope  there are some Marie Antoinette fans out there that might like my painting of her,she's not for sale I did think she made the spot kinda fun. What do you think? Thanks for looking,Rhonda

Look what I've been making!

Hello Dear Friends,I just thought I'd post a few pics tonight to show you what I've been making! I've been making lots and lots of heart shaped cakes! All of them are decorated with my own handmade clay roses.I sculpt them all by hand and use no tools just my fingers. If you look closely you can see my fingerprints. I've been sculpting roses for over 2 decades! I love making them! Love is in the air! I have a great wedding cake here and so many new pretty things! I love the wonderful hat,I used my handmade paper roses for it.I handmake my roses ,I dye all my papers and cut and form and curl the edges,just like real roses. They are so realistic & they are some of my favorite things to make! They bloom in my hands!s So should I add veil to the hat ? I bought some.Let me know! I'd love to hear what you think! Do you like the old pitchers I painted the one reminds me of roses falling from the sky,roses from heaven! I just loved the softness of the white and blue back ground.I love the flour ( Flower) sifter. Ahh ,Domestic Bliss at it's finest! I love old pieces redone they're the best! It has the most wonderful vibrant colors! How about my sweet sugar bowl pin cushions!  I love them! We listed one on eBay tonight too in a jadite colored sugar bowl  All these items will be for sale soon on my website Rhonda's Rose Cottage Designs  or on eBay my eBay store  also  named Rhonda's Rose Cottage Designs.

Hameau de la Reine (The Queen's Hamlet).

Last night I picked up a copy of Cottages and Bungalows magazine.There is a feature in the magazine ,Cottage Living,a la' Marie Antoinette.I purchased the magazine for the articles and; pictures in this feature +  on page 2 it has Story Book Cottage Plans and I love them!I think I know when I first fell in love with the cottage style. As a child I remember how I felt seeing the  Dwarf's  charming cottage nestled in the woods with a chattering brook winding its merry way past the humble cottage.I've always loved the thick cottage walls,diamond crossed windows with wood shutters and flower boxes . I love a cottage garden with a well worn  path lined with flowers that leads the way to porch  posts wearing  moon flowers welcoming me to an old wooden arched door with castle hinges and a strong iron handle. Such a door would surely creak upon opening as to speak come on in ,stay a bit.Each amazing detail would lead to the next and surely the inside would be as lovely as the outside. Thus is the case in fairy tale cottages.Well  as I made my way through fresh fallen snow  toteing atleast a dozen shopping bags and my new magazine  I entered to several cases of opened soda pop boxes , a family of 7 pairs of various boots and shoes  most mates scattered  feet from each other no human feet but mine to be found,  abondoned grocery bags of  items in need of a cupbord to call home.Two water jugs,a pair of coveralls limply colapsed on the floor after hard days work splitting wood with Master Dave.My plastic tote filled with melted snow for my plants and  all those handmade treasures on the table getting ready to go on eBay and the website ,good intentions that did not quite make it YET. Plus a few more empty boxes to use in shipping all those treasures I made to sell.Thank You husband for bringing them home!Smiles!He was good to think of me !.It all just looks like a heap of big mess ! Who if this were a fairy tale might live here ? Perchance the 7 little pigs?No, Oh no ,  just a family ,a regular family.In fairy tales even messes can be pretty. I think of Snow White with all her animal friends lending her a helping paw.In fairy tales the grass is always mowed, the brook never floods  and  they always live happily ever after! That is so sweet! In real life it's messy , unorganized. The quest for order is constant and always,always the conditions are deteriorating. Life is messy sometimes, a blog such as this one may show the fairy tale  but always remember this is the escape but we all have  to deal with the mess.So the Queen of her hamlet must  don her peasant clothes and play house for real ,clean  and; put away  and if she does not get it done she can visit her blog and escape it all  through the nice picture she posted when her home was clean ,inviting and  ever so charming! DOMESTIC BLISS AWAITS ME DEAR FRIENDS .Smiles,Rhonda

Paper Roses!

Hello Friends, these are just some of the beautiful paper rose clips I have been making this week. I had them stored in a plastic tub and thought I would take a picture. I thought they looked so pretty! I will be listing over a dozen of my paper rose clips tonight or tommorrow in my eBay Store. I hope you will check them out. Sincerely, Rhonda.

WHAT IS YOUR PRAYER TODAY ?

This is a chalkware statue. Isn't it pretty? I purchased it on eBay. It has been repaired. It was broken in half and the person who sold it repaired it. Aren't you glad she didn't throw it away? She painted the veil a glossy black which was just too dark for me, I thought that this pink fabric looked so pretty on it. The top head piece is one that my daughter Katie made. The open roses on the head piece are made out of paper and we dyed stamens for the centers. I thought That Mary looked so pretty in this. The roses around the statue are my own handmade paper roses. They are german-glass-glittered and in real life they sparkle so much. I left this display on my mantle because it is so frosty and snowy looking. I think I will leave it up until Easter. You can find more of my paper roses in my eBay Store Rhonda's Rose Cottage Designs and also on my website. http://www.rhondasrosecottagedesigns.com/

I was married young,I remember tough times.We were short on money.Even though  we think these are hard times , the market place now is so different than 20 years ago.I can say though even if there would have been e Bay  and  online selling we could have never been able to purchase a PC.Where I live summers are sweet ,winters are hard for many.I remember my prayer,''' God give me oppertunity."" I was open,I was willing. I almost instantly got a call it was an order for alot of baskets decorated with my clay roses.The money from the 25 baskets helped. I always  have remembered that simple prayer and how God gave me  work. It started me on my venture of making & selling.In these tough times I've had a few years of  good sales and NO sales but oppertunity is there and best of all God is there. It would be easy to say forget it .I force myself most days to get a small quota of items finished each day. If you are creative fly now & even if you store it for now store it. I encourage you to keep creating! The day will come. Oh ,I do have stories folks! Do not give up.Do not forget to pray! Keep working ,keep praying & keep thanking God for  his blessings!

Welcome to my BLOG

Dear Friends,
 Welcome to my rose cottage blog. My name is Rhonda. I'm 45 years old. I am married to my best friend and have the wonderful oppertunity of a lifetime spent with my favorite people and friends of all-time. (my family sweet family). !           I love my life! I am thankful to God for each day I have! A perfect life is one lived and enjoyed for the moments in it. The joy given or received by others or ones self. A good life is finding the beauty in it and taking the time to celebrate it. My rose cottage blog will be about me, my roses and our home sweet home. This blog will be filled with pictures of what I consider lovely. I hope it to be a peaceful place to visit. If you were at my home, I'd seat you in a comfy chair, fill you with baked goods, and coffee, so much you could stay for hours and hours as I gabbed and gabbed about my God, my Family, my Roses and my WORK! I'd show you all I've been working on and I'd sneak in the kids' work, my favorite old pieces and all their stories. So ... Welcome to the wonderful world of Rhonda! I hope you enjoy my little world and my long stories! :-). I hope this blog will make you smile, inspire you to take joy in what you have and show you the deepest part of my heart which is not just roses and cottage finery but my innermost joys. The joy of the Lord ,he is the source of all to me.He has blessed me so ! You may enter this blog as a stranger but may you leave as a friend.I hope to meet many kindred friends.Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will check out my blog frequently. Most Sincerely,Rhonda