Thursday, May 31, 2007

It's the little things...

These little books are part of the spring round robin I'm in with some very lovely ladies. This treasure chest (literally) began with Cassondra. She did the bottom book. Julie did the middle book and I did the top book. It will then move on to Lilia and Melissa to do books of their own. Finally ending up in Cassondra's hands again filled with delightful goodies of all sorts!

Inside my book box, I decorated with vintage wallpaper and German die cut images. I then made a little accordian book. Love this button card I got from Donna.

This is the little book I made for the inside. Such a challenge for me to work so small and had never made a book accordian style from scratch. I kept it simple and used lots of romantic girly stuff like flocked vintage wallpaper and these gorgeous cards (also from Donna) and some vintage jewelry. What a fun challenge this was!
I received this wonderful book in the mail to review called Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori. It's absolutely darling! It reads as a simple story of two friends, Billy the glove dog and his pal Marcus the sock monkey and all the new friends they meet made from cast-off socks and gloves. These critters are adorable and the second half of the book contains step-by-step instructions with pictures for making each of the 14 creatures. Everything is clear and precise with lots of color how-to photos. What a joy this simple little book is! Can't wait to try one for myself:)

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

{Re}Connecting...

My husband returned home from Japan yesterday safe and sound. Thanks for all the kind comments. It's so wonderful to have him back! Loved seeing his pictures. Quite a trip.Today I posted my last interview of May for the Create a Connection blog. It was with the wonderfully talented Lori Marie. The blog is associated with the justBe...connected: A gathering of creative bloggers in Cape Cod this October. I will be teaching 3 altered art classes with Lia (aka ArtJunk Girl). Getting really excited for this event! I enjoyed finding creative bloggers to interview this month and had a blast getting to know them a bit better.
Here are my interviews:





Jennifer PaganelliThese pictures are sneak peeks of my swap items going to Heidi for the Scavenger Hunt swap that Brieanne hosted over at For Love of Vintage. Hope she likes everything.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

In anticipation.....


The peonies in my yard are about to burst open with their gorgeous blooms. Looking at this one the anticipation is almost palpable. I love getting excited about things. Right now I have something to be very excited about. Tomorrow my hubby comes home after being gone for 11 days in Japan. I cannot wait to hear all about his journey!

There seems to be some really fun surprises in blogland right now. Lilli keeps teasing us with gorgeous pictures of amazing items she's been busy as a bee making for her etsy shop grand openeing. We're all anxiously awaiting, any day now!! Last week Andrea said she has a big surprise and left us hangin'. Ooohhh the anticipation! Now Heather has something up her sleeve too. Can't wait!! Melissa spilled a tiny bit about the Marie Antoinette project that Pam has also teased about on her blog. Even the cover looks fabulous! The biggest anticipation for me is that this week the classes that will be offered this year at Silver Bella will be announced. Registration starts June 1st. I went last year and it was absolutely amazing. This year looks to be even better. Soooo excited! Stay tuned here.

Another thing I love to get excited about is people receiving their items from my etsy shop. I love to hear that they've made it safely to their new home and (hopefully) people are pleased. Yesterday I went through all my delivery confirmation notices for this round of sales and it looks like everyone has received their goodies. Yay! I've had several people ask me what I think people do with the goodies they buy. So what do you do with them? I think it's neat how many scrapbooking kit clubs have a gallery area that members show their work that was done with the contents of the kit they get each month. If any of you that have bought from me at any time would like to share what you have made with some of the supplies or the outcome of the kits, I would love to see or hear about it and I'm sure others would too. Post on your blog and send me a link.
Thanks so much!

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Pic-me-ups!

I've had an interesting day. We had a really bad storm here yesterday, we lost our power and a bunch of trees in the area went down- luckily none in our yard. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but I have an Autistic son that has to have things "how they're supposed to be". So when we had no power he totally freaked out. Couldn't turn on his ceiling fan, the lights, or the tv. Not good. So we spent the night at my parents. So glad they had power! The kids did great, but I didn't get much sleep. Came home today to power restored (yay!) and then the garage door broke. Ugh! Needless to say, it's been a bit of a stressful 24 hours. I was more than giddy when the mailman showed up with some *major* pick-me-ups from some of my blogger friends. As you will see, there's no way this wouldn't put a smile on my face! This book is a collaboration I did with Lilia and Marilyn. Lilia was kind enough to start another book for me when we thought mine was lost. Then it showed up, so now I have two books with her gorgeous work. Marilyn also participated in it and her work is always stellar and so awe-inspiring. Could I be any luckier?! First is my work, then Lilia's, then Marilyn's. They each have two books as well. Now my two are home and I'm estatic to show this to you. Enjoy!
But just wait...THEN I got a package from my new blogger friend Donna. I discovered her blog Under the Red Roof when she left a comment here. I love it when people leave a comment and I link to their blog and find a whole new world of inspiration! This was the case with Donna. Her work with vintage elements is absolutely stunning! Check out this collage she sent me below. She is such a sweetie. Thank you, Donna!
I would love to shop with her. She has the best stuff. But now we can all get in on it too. She just opened up her etsy shop. Yay!! Check it out here. She sent me some of her vintage wallpaper and tons of other goodies and the prints and colors are amazing. She even has a bunch of flocked wallpaper. Yum! Run over over and get some for yourself!!

Well, blogger friends...you always manage to turn my frown upside down! hehe. I hope you're all doing well.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Summer {art} reading...

I posted my interview with fabulous Betz White over on the Create a Connection blog. Check it out here. Did you know she has a book coming out this coming Decemeber? I can hardly wait!

Speaking of books, as many of your know, I'm a librarian. The funny thing is, I don't read fiction. I've pretty much always read non-fiction. I love memoirs, especially travel memoirs (loved the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert), books on spirituality (esp. Buddhism), the creative process and of course mixed media/altered art craft books. So here is my summer reading list with a bunch of fun art books coming out soon:

Secrets of Rutsy Things: Transforming Found Objects into Art by Michael Demeng.







In This House: A Collection of Altered Art Imagery and Collage Techniques by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn.


Here's a few more that look interesting: 1000 Artists Trading Cards by Patricia Bolton.


Found Art Mosaics by Suzan Germond.


Mixed Media Mosaics by Laurie Mika.


Of course I'm chompin' at the bit for Miz Teresa McFayden's book Foof-a-Life published by Autumn Leaves. It looks absolutely fabulous. Just look at the cover! It should be coming out literally any day!!!

Andrea just mentioned on her blog that Kaari Meng of French General has a new book coming out this fall. Check it out on the web site. Ooh la la!! Her first book The French Inspired Home is one of my faves.

Right now I'm reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's all about her family's "experiment" to grow their own food for a year. I love it!

What's on your summer reading list? I'd love to hear!

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Etsy buzz...

WOOOW...the half hour that it took to load my stuff onto etsy, I sold 3/4 of it. However, there's still some great stuff left...so hop on over.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for your support!!
My head is spinning!!

Vintage Kitchen Bazaar...

Hope you're having a great weekend! I've been dreaming up vintage kitchen themed crafts for the last week and cannot wait any longer to show you the goodies I have planned for my etsy shop. I've been working hard and am thrilled with how everything turned out. I will be listing it all in my shop TONIGHT (Sunday) about 9 pm (Central Daylight Time)...basically as soon as the kids go to bed and I can list them!! A bit of a take-off on the dresses I sold last time, I made these vintage inspired aprons with Amy Butler patterned paper and vintage crepe paper. LOVE how they turned out!
I will also offer these retro containers filled with notions and other treasures. They include various vintage aprons and other kitchen goodies as well.

This vintage cake pan (is that what it is?!) is filled with rolled up vintage crepe paper in a rainbow of colors. I was beyond thrilled when I found this crepe paper. Vintage crepe paper is not like what we have now. It's more elastic and can be used to make great rosettes, trims or other embellishements on your projects.

I also have KITS!!! I have 4 different kits. Some come with an adorable mini pink collander with the supplies, others with these neat retro ice cream cups. So cute! They're filled with pom pom trim, vintage seam binding, crepe paper, flowers, velvet leaves, vintage wallpaper, 2 sheets of patterned paper, a template and instructions to make 2 aprons. You will love them!!


See you in a few hours in the shop!

Friday, May 18, 2007

Keepin' busy....

No time for loungin' here. I've been busy making stuff for my store and scrounging the estate sales for fabulous finds!

This gem (to the left) came from some friends of mine that bought a box of stuff at an auction and found this scrapbook inside. It's full of retro pictures of women and children from old magazines. I love it! This is my favorite picture (above). Thanks so much, Lisa and Brent!!! It's so fun to have friends that know what I like and also love to junk:) hehe.



This vintage white metal basket came from a garage sale nearby of a woman who is a florist. She had some fabulous stuff, including these little nests and eggs and birch bark cones that I put inside. Not sure what I'll have in the basket permanently, but I thought it housed the eggs well for now. The book you see on the table next to it was a grand find. It's a Victorian photo album in good condition. The greens and golds on the cover with the birds are just perfection. It also also happens to match my blog banner perfectly! The pages inside are pretty amazing (see below) and each one has a wonderful illustration around the photo frame. Lovely!

Hope you all have a great weekend! See you here on Sunday night:)

P.S. Hop on over to Bonnie's blog for a fun giveaway!!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Kitchen creations...

Just so we're all on the same page, I'm letting you know that I'll be having an update to my etsy shop on Sunday night at 9 pm CST. The theme for this group is Vintage Kitchen. I'm all about themes. Once I get going on something like this, there's no stopping me. I'm excited about what I'll be offering and hope you will be too! Here's a sneak peek of a few things I'm working on...

In the meantime, yesterday I posted an interview with the amazing Charlotte Lyons over on the Create A Connection blog. Check it out here!Also, I love the Curious Sofa blog. Wish I lived close enough to visit the store. Check out these amazing pics of the owner, Debbie Dusenberry's actual home (see pic above). Gorgeous!

Monday, May 14, 2007

The motherload....

Hope you all of you mother's out there had a fantastic Mother's Day yesterday! I'm one that feels that mother's should keep on being appreciated long after mother's day is over, so I've put together something tailored just for you! If you feel that the pampering needs to continue, you have hit the motherload here (pun intended!). This is a vintage Victorian photo album. It's very puffy red velvet with the word "Album" on the front in metal. I attached some gorgeous velvet leaves to the front clasp. I then "altered" the inside. I took out all the pages and replaced them with lovely cardstock weight double-sided scrapbook paper. These papers are vintage looking and they are exquisite. They are bound to the book in two chunks of 6 pages each, so you have 12 pages inside, each double-sided, so you could make 24 pages! This book is ready to go! You could use it for anything from a family album to an altered book, scrapbook, or whatever you want! Wait, there's more.. THEN I've put together some of my very favorite vintage papers, sheet music, pictures, ribbon, lace, fabric, wallpaper, ric rac, cards, birds, flowers, Paris stickers, pages from my vintage Raggedy Ann book and others, journaling tags and much much more all coordinating to the style and colors of the album. These are things that I've gathered for a long time, including flocked wallpaper from Pam, fabric from LK Ludwig. This is the good stuff! I have a pretty little box to put it all in and it's ready to go. If you want to see some close-up pictures of the goodies, check it out here. This whole "kit" is for sale in my etsy shop. This was so much fun to put together and you are going to have such a blast making your own book. Wow!!

Speaking of altered books, the spring round robin I'm doing has begun. I receive Julie's gorgeous book first! She asked us each to make a flower to sign in with on this page (above). Mine is on the left. Below are my pages in her book.

Last, but certainly not least, this is a large altered canvas I made for my mom for Mother's Day!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Glorious springtime...

Remember this book?
I started it when there was snow on the ground and I was dreaming about springtime. It returned today, gorgeous and 70 degrees outside, springtime in full bloom. Lilia and I exchanged books. I did the first seven pages and Lilia did the last seven. Love how it looks together, simply overflowing with amazing art. Sit down and enjoy...



Of course she wrapped it up so pretty with a little birdie and a tag. Love every bit of it Lilia!

Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!