Thursday, August 30, 2007

Back in the Saddle

I'm feeling much better after taking a little break and am looking forward to getting back into the blogging groove. Made a quick pop-in to a local antique store and scored a few fun finds. A spool of vintage twill, vintage doll clothes, a Victorian ornament made with cotton batting, 1950's birthday candle holders, vintage gold sequins, and a bit of eyelet trim.

The husband and I are beginning to house hunt, so that has been an exciting adventure. We've been taking long walks in different neighborhoods trying to get a feel for where we might like to live. After we married, he moved into my single girl house and it's been a bit cramped, so it will be nice to have a new place we can share as a couple. Because I married late in life, I wasn't prepared to give up half of my closet space. Poor guy...he's been using the hall coat closet as his primary closet. But you know how guys are...they're so easy going.

I'll leave you with a little sneak peak of what I've been working on lately.


Thursday, August 23, 2007

Gifts From Jessi

Jessi has officially paid me back. Good grief girl...do ya think ya sent me enough stuff?! I knew that Jessi made these cute miniature sugar coated houses...and yippee.....I got one! Just love it!! It will be so fun to create a festive Christmas scene around this sweet little house. And, would you look at all the other goodies she sent: vintage glass angel hair, vintage shiny red ornaments (so fun), a mini vintage Christmas book, stamp sets, ink, a JOY garland to decorate, all kind of ribbons, buttons, paper elements, stickers, patterned papers, and a vintage New York postcard just to name a few.
She also included some of her own handmade tags and some custom tags created by Kris Hurst. They really came out beautiful and I love how she incorporated the Silver Bella theme. A wonderful and thoughtful idea! Thank you, Jessi! You did way too much.



Sunday, August 19, 2007

More Holiday Frames

I made a few more holiday frames last week. Kind of obsessed with these now. I think I'm kind of like my Italian grandmother - she would get interested in one thing or another like gardening or cooking and just sort of obsess over that one thing until she got tired of it and moved on to something else. I seem to have a lot going on in my life right now and am feeling like I'm not staying on top of things. So, I'm going to take a little blog break for a week or two. Time to turn my full attention on finishing a swap for a super special cupcake of a girl. Happy week to all and be back soon!


Saturday, August 18, 2007

Nice Matters

The fabulously creative, Princess of All Things Pretty - Jenny Heid nominated me for the Nice Matters Award. Wow! She sure knows how to make a girl glow on the inside. I am very honored to even be on her radar much less be noticed for something! I have often read that this particular community of artists is giving, supportive, and just plain fun...the kind of girls you want to hang out with during recess and have over for a slumber party. Although we are all unique, we share a common love of creative expression and we sort of just get each other. We don't question each other's bizarre collections of vintage items, the compulsion to stay up and create late into the night, the excitement we get when a new magazine or book hits the stand, the sheer delight in acquiring new art supplies, or the vicarious thrill when one of our blog sisters hits the estate sale jackpot. We are each on our own path, making our own artistic mark on the world, but our shared interests, support, friendships, and love for this journey are the glue that bonds us together. And, that is really nice.


A Gift from Natalea


Natalea Kandefer of Kandeland recently had a give-away on her blog and I was one of the lucky recipients. A box loaded with all sorts of treasures arrived. Take a look at this haul. Vintage rose print fabric, pink and cream ribbons, a puffy metal heart (that's so cool), tulle with pink flocked hearts, a cute tag that she made, Victorian notecards, sparkly jewels, tiny pink show ribbon buttons (love those!), an alphabet stamp set (will be put to immediate use), yards of vintage lace and beaded trim, pretty pink ribbon, a yellow rose (for Texas?), vintage buttons in creme, white, and beige, and a cute white basket to hold it all. Thank you, Natalea!! What a nice treat this was.
You really made my day!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Christmas Frame

Made this kitschy Christmas frame with vintage ornaments last night. These are fun to make. I just wish I had more vintage ornaments to work with! Anyway, this one will be shipped off to its new home soon. We had a high of 105 today so it certainly doesn't feel like Christmas or even fall around here. I think I'm subconsciously trying to cool off by making these frames. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Heatwave

Oh my goodness, it was blazing hot today. The temperature rose to 104! The heat has zapped my energy and I find myself just wanting to sit on the couch and read magazines instead of actually doing something productive. My husband and I both like to work in the yard, but sometimes find it challenging to grow pretty flowers in Dallas. Our yard gets little to no shade and everything gets cooked to a crisp. Still, my husband managed to capture a couple of photos of a few blooms in our front flower bed. The lantanas really attract butterflies. Hope you are staying cool wherever you are.

Green Acres

Last weekend, my husband and I drove to visit my parents in their small town (pop: approx. 5,000.) My parents used to own a chemical fertilizer business where they sold and applied liquid fertilizer to all of the farmers' and ranchers' land in the area. My dad is now semi-"retired", which means he only goes to work five days a week instead of seven. I love to go out to the country to his place of business and just see all of the projects he has going on. Could be anything from getting the hay baled, feeding, doctoring, and looking after cows, mending fences, fixing a
leak in a tank, repairing a tractor, attending a gin meeting (as in cotton gin), looking after the pecan orchard, and the list goes on and on. One of my favorite things is to feed the cows range cubes. Those things are like Snickers bars to them and they can get quite aggressive when they see you have them. Several of the cows are quite tame and will let daddy (no one else though) pet them. One time, a cow stuck her head in the cab of the pick-up truck and let out a moo. Good grief, was it ever loud!!!
My husband and I are both country mice at heart, and while we live in the city, we both yearn for a wide open space of our own one day. Here's a pic of me pretending to drive a tractor and another of my dad and my brother's dog, Pez. Daddy is a true animal whisperer. All of our (my siblings) animals recognize him as the alpha male and want to follow him wherever he goes. Even his barn cats, Squeaky and Fat Cat, meet him at the gate every morning. No matter what kind of problems I have or stress I am under, I always feel better when I visit my parents and take a trip to the country side. For now, we
live in the city and life is good, but we will continue to appreciate cows, trains, small towns, and greener pastures.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Happy Artful Blogging!

Happy Artful Blogging, everyone! May this premiere issue be the first of many. I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to our lovely hostess Kari Ramstrom, Artsy Mama. I don't know how she does it! This girl has a husband, two little children, a part-time job and still manages to create all kinds of lovely artwork and blog on a daily basis, and she has a knack for finding the yummiest stuff ever at estate sales. Thanks, Kari for being such a artful inspiration to all of us in blogland and for bringing us all together for a well-deserved celebration!
I would also like to tip my hat to everyone who has a blog and shares their creative journey. Thanks for taking the time and for taking the risk of baring your souls and sharing your lives. I know it's not always easy to come up with new posts or to share a certain project you may be working on, but really, we all so appreciate your energy and hard work. Reading your blogs is a huge source of inspiration and joy for me! (I bet others feel the same.) The energy is contagious and I think we all feel a sort of sisterhood among us. That's pretty dang cool when you think about it.



My artful blogging project is not so much a tutorial as it is an idea for you to try. It's easy peasy lemon squeezy easy. Take a simple frame and hot glue tinsel around the border. Then take your vintage Christmas (or any other theme) tchotchkes and glue directly on the tinsel. A fun project to add a little holiday floof and sass to your home decor. Now, if I could just figure out how not to burn my fingers!

Friday, August 3, 2007

Inspiration Swap

Time to share my Silver Bella Inspiration swaps. My giftor was Beth Quinn and my giftee was Lilli Beck. Both talented ladies have their own etsy shoppes which you can see here and here.



Beth's bundle of inspiration arrived at my house tied up with a pretty vintage ribbon. Inside were all kinds of fun things: buttons, ribbons, a crochet doily, a gingerbread game piece, white fairy wings, French vocabulary cards, an assortment of math flash cards, vintage papers, wallpaper samples, game board papers (is it Wheel of Fortune? Concentration?), vintage sewing hooks, and other assorted goodies. There were so many wonderful things; it will be great fun to create with this new supply. Isn't it great how someone else's stash can really stoke the creative fires?
It seems we all find different objects depending on where we live in the country, and it's fun to see (and receive) things that we may not so readily see in our own neck of the woods. Well, there's one more thing that Ms. Quinn sent my way. Get a load of her hand-made collage. Is that the cutest thing, or what?! A little fairy doll with the word "Believe" at the bottom. I love how she added different textures (a piece of lace, turquoise button, and tiny sequin) and how she added her own little scribbles and markings. So cute! I love it, Beth! Thank you so much!

And here is what I put together for Ms. Lilli. For the three things that I've had for a while and never used: a photo album/scrapbook, a board book, a vintage child's book, and some silk cocoons that I recently ordered from etsy because I thought they were kind of cool but have no idea what to do with. I'm hoping Lilli will pave the way to enlightenment!
The three things that have been inspiring me lately are: sheets of vintage wallpaper, a jar of vintage creme, white, and neutral buttons, and an altered horse ribbon (a Christmas theme in honor of Silver Bella).



Three things that I hope will inspire her are: a vintage pitcher (for her markers and pencils), a vintage bowl with purple and green flowers (her favorite colors), a wire hanging that says "A Time To Keep" to hang in her art studio, and a little soap to make the package smell good.
And for the handmade item, I fashioned her a collage to celebrate her wonderful blog, Make Mine Blissful.

A fun swap...looking forward to meeting both of these girls (and everyone else) in November!