"And he perceived that her little foot slid in without trouble." - Perrault

And so the story goes, "Cinderella was as good as she was beautiful..." It is striking that a delicate little glass shoe deemed the maiden fit for her destiny and that we are still charmed by the notion of being donned with such an honor. I am very flattered to say that I was recently dubbed "A Princess" TWICE with the Bubblin' Over Award by the very kind Deborah at www.picturespotspens.blogspot.com along with Vanessa of Vanilla Lavender and the magically gifted Dutchess from www.thegardenofthedutchess.blogspot.com. This award was started by Claudie from Bubblin' over and I so appreciate the honor! You are queens worthy of the Royal Treament! Then, to my great delight, I received the award again yesterday from my dear angel Sherry at Edie Marie's Attic! At this time, I would like to mention three people who are princesses in my book any day of the week for their exquisite talents, keen eye for beauty and their gentle spirits, the stuff that makes a woman "as good as she is beautiful." Therefore, "if the shoe fits wear it" title goes to:

Nancy from Fête et Fleur, cordonnière extraordinaire for her 'take your breathe away' photographs, gorgeous paper shoes and inspiration.

Julie from Gilded Moons for her professional flair, posh decorating style and cherished friendship.

Barb from French Elements for her thoughtful and enduring spirit.

May you wear this honor in peace ladies, and may your glass slipper take you down beautiful verdant paths unimagined!

I was fortunate to find the following golden Cinderella coach at Julie's little vintage shop one beautiful summer day. She had great finds from Europe and luscious ribbon of all colors and styles. I placed a glittered Barbie shoe and crown on the inside. Isn't it sweet?


Nancy from Fête et Fleur started fashioning paper shoes a while back and boldly went where I always wanted to go, and that is to become the Queen's cobbler! She took her nimble hands and has created a devoted following of her paper souliers. If you are not familiar with her work, please stop in her workshop and try on a pair! Unlike her medium of delicate papers, I have created a couple of pairs of Marie Antoinette "wannabes" out of vintage shoes. Nancy's art woke up my passion for shoes and here are three pairs that I transformed. The first pair on the left started as a black silk; I just painted them gold and attached a pink silk bow and buttons. The middle shoe is a cheap mule that I decorated with a French ribbon ruffle and the third vintage pair endured a layer of gold paint as well. Barb from French Elements has a marvelous shop for Francophiles and I picked up this great tea light crown that completes the royal treatment. Merci bien, Barb! The following photo is of a little "glass theatre" I created. I painted the wooden frame gold, cut out some text from an old French play appropriately entitled, La Mort de la Reine, and glued in a rhinestone crown pin and a pair of glittered china shoes. There are many more shoe creations around my little cottage, all inspired by artists such as Nancy, Julie and Barb. We leave a little bit of ourselves with others and I hold that dear. Thank you for your awards, friendship and shared love for creating and making us all feel like queens.