Artsy Fartsy

Newly listed to Etsy

2012-01-27T14:20:00.001-08:00

I've been trying my hardest to get decent photos of the necklaces and earrings that I've been making. I find it much easier making things than photographing the end results. Especially when I want to get fabulous close ups.... Ugh... no easy task. I think I'm going to have to actually google "how to take photos of necklaces & earrings" and actually read what they suggest. Nuts... I'm not a big fan of ~~following directions~~ reading~ Hmmm maybe I'll be lucky enough to hit upon a slide show of photos on "how to" do it.....I would like to have a light box, maybe even a tripod with it all set up ready to go.....

Hearts laying around...

2012-01-25T15:53:00.000-08:00

I've been working on making a few Valentine things recently. It is only 21 days away, its sneaking up on me just as fast as Christmas did. Here I've taken one of those plastic gold angels that were really popular once upon a time and turned it into a cupid. I spray painted the little cherub and distressed it then I added real fabric to cover the plastic molded fabric. Of course whats a cupid without fluffy white wings? I also made a quiver full of arrows that he has on his hip. I didn't make a bow for this cupid as he is very cunning and uses the strings on his mandolin to shoot off his arrows. Thats why you never see it coming... then *bam* an arrow right to the butt....er um~ heart.... and your in love~I also whipped up some valentine hearts.... you can never have to many hearts laying around. I've got a lot more hearts I've made over the years, stuffed in a drawer-- somewhere. I'll probably find them around halloween~For fifty cents I purchased a piece of red sequined/stitched fabric that I've been cutting into heart shapes and stitching them together.

Moving at sloth speed....

2012-01-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

Since my car accident that I got rear ended in 28 days ago and having suffered (and am STILL) a cervical spinal sprain... I've been moving at sloth speed. In the morning I'll start off slow, by the afternoon I've gotten slower and by evening... of course even slower... I go to physical therapy twice a week, and those two days along with the day after pretty much have me doing very little... so its like four days out of seven ruined..... total bummer.

I have managed to eek out a few productive hours and created some earrings. Oh.My.Goodness. Another thing to get easily addicted to making. I used new ear wires and new bead pins, but the rest is purely vintage.
I made these with Valentines day in mind. Red enameled beads with tubular red beads at the top.....A pink set, totally loving these ones......This red set is sweet, another set I'm loving....Here is all three pairs of earrings together. These will be listed for $5.00 each~ A winter storm is set to blow in any time now. I really enjoy cooking when it gets cold & rainy outside...Comfort food--- pun intended~

Shabby Chic Bedroom

2012-01-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

I've gotten one room in the barbie doll house close to being finished. Here it is in all its glory~The bed I made out of illustration board. I love how it has an old antique feel to it....The little white three tiered table next to the bed I made using illustration board as well. I distressed both the bed and table to give them both an old shabby feel....Whats a home without a cat?Here is the armoire that I added some shelves too, the standing bird cage I made to hang the metal bird cage I found....As the decorator of this house, I was just informed that Barbie wants the wall torn down between the two rooms to create a larger, more spacious bedroom.... I totally agree--- so down it came~Back to square one on "finishing up ONE room" in the barbie house.
I've linked to "Sew Many Way's" linky party & Beverly's "Pink Saturday" and Faded Charm's "White Wednesday"

Spoon Pendants

2012-01-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a lot of pendants finished but I haven't gotten around to posting any to my etsy site... work-work-work..... I've made some religious pendants *my favorites* There is one with a little fairy pictured at the bottom right...Some pendants I've made with vintage jewelry flowers....I really like this one...I've also created some thimble-pincushion necklaces, I'm keeping one of these for myself. *wink*I am hoping to get around to posting these to etsy today.... they sell pretty fast... that should be my motivation, but I get distracted by shiny things and have to go and play... *sigh* uh whats that catching my eye... glitter? gasp....focus, stay on task.....

The Neverland Pirates...

2012-01-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

I was unaware that Disney has a new cartoon/characters called "Jake and the Neverland Pirates".... I'm always the last to know. I thought they would make super cute pirate props.... I had just enough plywood left over from another project to create Izzy and Cubby. Here they stand in there first stage of creation, drawn, cut and ready for some paint. Once I've gotten these two painted, I have to make "Jake" the main pirate and a little parrot named "Skully"... arrrgh... and then there is a crocodile... etc~

Illustration Board

2012-01-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing I really love in my studio... it is a sheet of illustration board. I always buy a sheet when I have a 40% or 50% off coupon to the local craft store when there is nothing else to buy. When I was newly engaged to my husband we took a class together at our local college... "Theater set design" A must have class when you live in Fresno... *snort* We had to construct a small scale representation of what we would like to build life size on the stage.... We were shown how to construct such a miniature set using illustration board. I've been hooked ever since-- and that was over 30 years ago.
Here is the latest creation I've made using illustration board. A three tiered miniature table. I didn't make a precise pattern, I just kind of winged it~ You can see how I used the spindle legs I made with skewers and paper that I shared in the previous post. I made the detailed cut work using a paper punch. On the very last punch--- the paper punch broke. I guess that is a good thing since I tend to like things to match a little bit to much. I cut and glued together 4 pieces of card stock to create each side of the detailed work on this little table. Since this is going in a Barbie house for a three year old--- I stabilized the card stock piece with a small piece of illustration board. I saved the little flowers that were left over from the paper punch and created little daisies...I used pins for the stems of each daisy. I painted the tops of the pins yellow, once dried, I pushed them through the paper flowers. I used wire cutters to cut the sharp end off each pin and then wrapped the flowers stem with floral tape. My grandaughter loves to fuss with little things, so this bucket of flowers is going to be fun for her to dump out and rearrange over and over again.

Illustration board, if you've never tried using it, is very similar to chip board. The difference is that illustration board has a usable paper finish to both sides, ready to directly paint on. I use a sharp blade and a ruler to do most of the cuts... although I have used a paper cutter too. I've been using wood glue to glue the illustration board into these little mini's... I've been sanding the pieces smooth and wood glue is made to be sanded. For added strength you can even run a straight pin through the boards and glue them together as well.

I've got a few more sheets of illustration board waiting patiently to be used... and a few more ideas swirling around in my head~

Works in progress...

2012-01-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

I've been working towards a goal of finishing one bedroom in the Barbie house I've been puttering around on.... big reveal is going to be next Tuesday! Its time to stop "puttering" and actually start seeing results! Here you can see I've finished the "all important every home must have one"--- bird cage... with a newly made wicker stand. I used a dowel which I wrapped with two different gauges of wire to create the look of wicker. Here you can see the stand with its first coat of spray paint.... Here it is with a coat of acrylic paint applied to it. I'm happy with the results I think it turned out super cute.I also made a long narrow bed for the small bedroom. I used illustration board to create it.... here you can see the rough beginnings of it. I wanted an old antique- shabby chic bed... my first attempts were laughable.... so I thought I'd step it up a bit. I'll go over all the seams with some glue and add paper clay to the joints to give it a smoother appearance before it gets painted. I also want to add some decorative embellishments to the top of the head board and foot board.... maybe even add a finial to each post of the headboard. I am going to paint it white and antique it to finish it off... and of course make a mattress and bedding for it.
I found the fabulous white armoire for .50¢ at a thrift store. It didn't have a back to it or the shelves/cubbies in it when I bought it.... I again used illustration board to fix it up as shown in the previous photo.Here is a sneak peek at what I'm working on next.... I made some spindle legs using some wooden skewers and paper..... I'm hoping to turn this into a nice three tiered shabby chic table. I should be working on my own house.... that darn Barbie has everything--- even my time. *wink*

Can you feel it.....

2012-01-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

cool brisk winds are whipping up... dark sullen skies over head... pirate season is a'coming!.... and I'm stoked. A few weeks ago while hitting some garage sales I bought this beauticians make-up head for a quarter. What a deal huh? At first glance I immediately thought of making it into part of a ring toss game for this years upcoming pirate party. The face had some permanent pen marks on it, but they were in the general area where I would be adding more color so that wasn't a problem. Here is the "before"... Here is the "after".... I pulled out a pirate costume from my large stash of outfits and stitched it to fit the form. I used the black part of the dress to make a skull cap with. I added a scruffy beard with a stencil brush and different color inks...I also dirtied up his face a little by dragging the ink pads directly onto the face and rubbing it in a little bit. The eyes, eyebrows and lips I used regular markers. I need to find a large hoop earring and an eye patch to finish it up. But in the mean time....my grandkids are enjoying playing with it!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:21:00.001-08:00

A heart felt "Happy New Year" to all my bloggin' buddies!
It is my prayer that we all have a year of good health....
And plenty of hours in the day to get all the fun things we want to get done... done.
See you next year...
I always love saying that each year... so fifth grade, I know. *wink*

Wicker Barbie furniture

2011-12-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

I purchased some wicker Barbie doll furniture recently.... I'm sure you've seen these before. I plan on putting these in the Barbie house I'm working on. They looked a little to bulky to me...... so I made them over a little bit. I cut off the bulky loops that hung down on the side table, along with some of the decorative supports that were attached to each leg..... giving each piece a sleeker look. Here you can see the table which I've striped down.Once I had the pieces looking how I wanted them, I had to replace the missing "wicker." I wrapped raffia around the legs, attaching it with a tiny bit of hot glue to adhere each starting and ending piece. Here you can see where I've begun painting the wicker chairs with some regular house paint. You really need to give it a thick coat of paint to give the finished pieces a nicer real wicker look. Plus the paint acts as a glue to hold the pieces together.You can see the difference between spray paint and house/wall paint in this photo below. The spray paint just didn't cut it.... I used cardboard to fill in the pieces on the backs of each chair.I then added some pink felt and some fluffy white pipe cleaners as the trim. At a later date this chair will get a pillow and a lap blanket tossed over the back of the chair....probably even a foot stool!I also made some gold framed pictures to hang on the wall. I used some beautiful art work from ads in a magazine which I glued to some heavy chip board. I then pulled from my huge stash of dresden trim to use as the gold frames. Caute! Next I want to make some twin beds using these light switch plates..... can you visualize it?I was lucky to find a fridge, a stove and a bird cage at a thrift store, all this was a couple of bucks.... Barbie just informed me she wants all stainless steel appliances in her kitchen... hmmmm I think I might be able to pull that off! *fingers crossed*

Whiplash....

2011-12-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I sitting at a red light watching the cars come off of the free way thinking to myself " Wouldn't it be awful to be in an accident at Christmas time?" When BAM, I was hit from behind...... I couldn't believe it! Even though I was wearing my seat belt (lap belt... its an old car)--- I was twisted in my seat to the point my left leg was practically under the dash board and my right leg was practically in the drivers seat. My foot was forced off the gas pedal and I had to quickly readjust myself in the seat to quickly hit the break as I was traveling into traffic..... I turned off my car and got out and just gasped at the women like "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" There she was holding onto the steering wheel AND her cell phone. She told me, "I didn't even see you."...... You just know she was TEXTING........ snot nosed little kid.....
Anywho, I'm fine other than extremely sore down my back and my head feels like its going to wobble off my sore neck and who knows why my left knee is hurting me..... but other than that I'm fabulous. Praise God :-)
My beloved '66 Mustang is sitting in some cold, cramped, dingy, tow yard lot.... *sniffle-sniffle*..... its backside all pushed out of shape. She hit me so hard that I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she knocked the car off its chassis...... My husband drove me to my doctor and she saw me immediately and told me I was going to "live" ... whew, it was touch and go until she told me that :-P What they fall to tell you about whiplash is that it effects everything your wanting to do. Try getting out of bed or the bathtub--- and you'll soon find out you use your neck muscles for everything.Snot nosed kid....

Christmas shopping

2011-12-20T10:40:00.000-08:00

I bought myself a present for Christmas. Okokok... I always buy myself presents year round--- but lets just call this one a Christmas present for sayin' sake. Here is my loot.... 160 spooooooooooooons! I know right! Happy-happy-joy-joy... I love me some spoooooooooooooons.For those of you less than impressed... I also got a new Olympus 3d camera :-)Now, I just have to read the instruction manual.... always something :-P

Tarnished Crown

2011-12-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

I bought this fabulous gold crown a few weeks ago at a yard sale for only $1. It had been broken and reglued rather crudely back together. The gal I purchased it from told me she originally bought it for $70 dollars.... *insert smile here* There was a few small chunks missing on the crown and a lot of glue which had dried in blobs.... Obviously not fixed by a crafty person ;-P I easily filled in the missing areas using paper clay. I used a sharp blade to cut off the glue blobs... In this photo below you can see some of the dried paper clay.I decided to spray paint the crown silver and then tarnish it. My etsy store is "The Tarnished Crown" After the silver spray paint dried, I used a watered wash of black paint to tarnish the crown.I adore it.... right now I have the crown in my throne room--- a.k.a. the bathroom :-)

Christmas cards

2011-12-11T18:28:00.000-08:00

I finished making my handmade photo cards that I mail out each year along with my Christmas cards. Whew. I always tell myself I'll start working on them sooner each year--- only to end up making them later and later each year. Funny how that works out~ Here they are in there "exploded" view.....Here they are all folded up nicely awaiting to be given out.I think they turned out super cute--- ok, I'm partial because it features my grandkids--- but they are super cute.... just sayin'

Its the most

2011-12-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

~~wonderful~~ busiest time of the year. I finally finished making the tags for the tag swap I joined. I had no real plan... I just winged it. I used flocking for the very first time. I love/hate it--- I used the flocking for the snow she is skating on plus on the snow flakes as well. I also made a dimensional box to ship the tags in. I had bigger plans for this box--- but thats as far as I got with it~ I cut apart a second image and glued that on top of the first and added glitter--- so 1970's :-P After months of searching, I finally found enough game boards to finish up a wall area in my playroom. I hung the boards up and dusted the gazillion wooden stacking toys and other things I had on the shelf~Then I messed around with my cat Pee Wee...

He wasn't to pleased with me after this photo shoot with the santa hat and had to retaliate by knocking things down....Happily busy-busy-busy...

Christmas swappin'

2011-12-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

I joined two swaps this holiday season.... One of the swaps was exchanging 9 Christmas ornaments. Once the ornaments were made we were to send them to three gals-- three ornaments each. The other Christmas swap was making 20 tags and getting an assortment of 20 tags back.
Here are the ornaments I've made... Here I've taken some vintage gold angels and painted & distressed them and added some plumage to their wings. Whimsical party hats finish those off....Next, I painted little signs that read, "A cupcake for Santa" I imagine he gets sick of eating cookies at every stop~Lastly, wire chandeliers. I wanted a chandelier to put into the Barbie house I'm working on--- while working on a prototype, I figured I could make them to hang on a Christmas tree too. I love how these turned out!I also began working on the 20 tags..... so far all I've done is finished fussy cutting the 20 vintage images to use on the tags. Of course, once I finished cutting those, I immediately wanted to do something else..... I'll just push those to the bottom of the ever growing list of things I'm working on. Closer to the mail out date, I'll appreciate those pre-cut images and use them happily :-p

I've been super busy working on some more pendants. These little bitties are going to be listed for $5 each (no chain, just the charm) The red on these charms is just a reflection from some red glass.I am over the moon with these little bitties.... I used copies of vintage & antique Holy cards. The old images are so beautiful! These little charms are going to be listed for $5 each as well. (no chain, just the charm)

Works In Progress

2011-11-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

I've got a lot of silverware to play around with thanks to my father who cut the silverware for me. I've previously cut all the silver pieces myself by hand--- no easy task and very slow going. I've been ~~hoarding~~ collecting silverware where ever I find it-- to make jewelry out of. They are selling rather well at my online store, "The Tarnished Crown" cheap plug, I know. He cut the handles off of spoons so I can make some more pendants... look at all those beautiful spoons! :-) Here is a couple that I've made using really big spoon bowls. These measure in at 3 to 3 1/2 inches long. These will be sold for $10 to $12 each.The bottom right one with the pearls is my favorite out of this batch :-)
The handles which were cut off are lovely. My dad bent the handles back onto themselves and made those into pendants and or key fobs. Aren't they beautiful? I've wire wrapped the tops and added some vintage beads to give them a little bit of pop. These will be sold for $5 each~ I've got lots & lots of pieces to work with.... These little darling vases are made from hollow knife handles. (I've big plans for those)The tiny souvenir spoons I recently purchased, I cut by hand myself. Twenty five in total-- not that I'm counting.Here is one I made into a pendant... these are tiny and measure from top to bottom at 1 & 1/4 an inch. These I'm selling for $5 each.I also used the other end of each spoon making a lot of cute blanks to add something to-to make little pendants. Shown in the photo above.
Those little decorative pieces with a medal will be sold for $5 as well. Is it just me? or is there seriously never enough time in the day to do all the things you want to do... along with those things you need to do? Oh bother..... I did manage to get my Christmas tree up. And yes, It is wedged into a corner behind a chair. (tethered to the mantel of course)I decided not to do anymore "Christmas" decorating other than the tree & stockings this year.... notice the cat under the tree. Nothings sacred....geeze. If I see one hair ball under that tree... someones going to get it!!! I did manage to wrap about 1/4 of the gifts I've already purchased.High on my list of things to seek out and purchase is a cute cash register for my 2 1/2 year old grandaughter Chloe. I have one at my house which she plays with for literally hours. She'll put money in it, close the drawer and then open the drawer and take money out. I gave her a lot of used gift cards which she likes to slide in the slot that is in between the drawer and the register itself. lol.... How does she know how to do that at this age? cute. Well, I've got a bazillion works in progress-- and I guess thats normal for me. I better get offline and try to finish at least one of those projects! I'll be posting things to my Etsy site in a couple of days unless something shiny & glittery distracts me.

Photo Tags

2011-11-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

This past summer I bought a large box of assorted goodies, amongst the treasures was a huge lot of old 3"x3" black and white photos. After looking through them several times, and no clear plan on what to use them for, I stashed them away. Finally, I had an idea. Photo tags! How cute are these?The photos are of a young newlywed couple. I've got photos of their friends & their wedding day, their honeymoon at Niagara Falls... their new car, their first child....all very sweet. Tucked along with those photos were some that are a little older... I made those into cute tags too.Now... what to do with all the photo tags I've made???.... well, I stamped a crown and the words "Thank you" on the backside of each one.... then I tuck these in with the purchases from my etsy store :-)

Gold Gilt Frame

2011-11-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

Look at this fabulous gold gilt frame I picked up awhile back for only $3. It is very heavy and extremely ornate with a light pink velvet mat (which is wet due to the fact I was trying to clean a dirty spot, I hope it comes clean) I love the gold on this frame--- but I just knew I'd love it even more if I painted it white. I slathered the frame willy-nilly with some crackle medium. Waited 25 minutes and painted it white. Once the paint dried, I aged it using some stain. I added 100 year old sheet music to some foam core to use in the opening of the frame....Here it is all finished. I added the glittered "Merry Christmas" sign which I bought at our local Dollar store. Cute. And yes..... that spot will get loaded up with stuff ;-P I've linked up to this holiday party.

Treasure hunting...

2011-11-13T13:12:00.001-08:00

I managed to find some treasures this weekend... I am on the constant look out for them....argggh. I just wish the best yard sales had big X's on them so I knew the ones to go to rather than waste my time at the duds! Anywho.... here is my loot~ I got a large lot of souvenir spoons... A tiny assortment of jewelry and a fabric hosiery/jewelry box. I bought two small wooden sorting cabinets. These are perfect for holding small trays of jewelry that I'm currently working on. At a outdoor swap meet--- I picked up this gem. A drill press. Love it. After this photo, I soaked it in a hot soapy sink to get it spic & span. Look at this fabulous table that I bought for only $5! ~~This adorable table almost didn't make it home with me. I seriously have no room for it in my home.~~ Isn't it dreamy.... *sigh*... it does need a little bit of gluing and a whole lot of white paint, but you surely see the potential don't you!! *woot-woot* The gal selling it told me... "You could toss a table cloth over it and you wouldn't even notice how it looks." Oh my goodness, that was the funniest thing I had heard in months. She actually went inside her house and brought out a table cloth she had used on it and covered it--- *that still makes me chuckle*

Pirate loot bags

2011-11-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Over the summer I was lucky enough to come across a bunch of black velvet bags. They were being sold for .10¢ each, I couldn't pass them up.... thats practically free!I used some maps to cover the labels on the bags cords. I'm going to write names on these at a later date. To cover up the embroidered area on each bag, I glued maps to a thin piece of cardboard and cut those out--- inked, embellished with a black spider and of course added some crepe paper trim....I simply hot glued that in place. Taaaaaa daaaaaaaa instant pirate loot bag!Keeping it real....there is always a cat close by lolEight more months to go until the next pirate party~

Playin' shop

2011-11-06T04:26:00.001-08:00

My etsy shoppe has been very successful so I've had to create more spoon pendants to list. I'm listing the following at $10 each. I've also lowered the prices on some of the items previously listed, it makes me nervous to have them there and not moving...lol... Here are the latest ones I've created:This pink one is my absolute favorite...A few seasonal ones....Some flowers...Some made using vintage Blessed Mother medals...I am also going to be pulling from my hoarded stash a lot of things that I just don't need anymore. You know, things you buy and haul home only to find you already have 20 of them..... ok, that might just be me. I've got vintage jello molds, antique photos, lace & embroidered pieces, dominoes, scrabble tile.... and I'm finally done holding onto the large lot of gold dresden foil trims... okokok, I'm keeping some of it! I'm crazy--- but not insane!
A big thank you to Tami for featuring me on her blog under the heading...."Awesome Artist Alert" How utterly flattering Tami, Thank you very much!!

New Wood floor

2011-11-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

I added some wood floors to the Barbie house I've been working on.I drew guidelines along the floor and used elmers glue to adhere thin wood strips to the floor of the barbie house. Once it was all glued in place, I sanded it and applied a stain to the wood. Once the stain was dry, I sanded the wood floor again giving the floor an old worn look. I then added a clear semi-gloss finish to the newly stained wood floor. I added two levels of wood floors, the bottom level is brick.Now, I'm working on making a fireplace.Barbie is hoping to move into her new home sometime in June...

Halloween Recipe Books

2011-11-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

I didn't do much in the way of anything "halloweenie" this year--- although I did get a custom order for three Halloween Recipe Spell books. I had a hard time finding large old books to convert into spell books this year. I come across very old small books all the time, but these ones needed to be able to hold large sheets of paper with recipes printed on them. Cute idea huh? I pulled out some vintage wrapping paper to line the inside of the books.... sometimes you've just got to use the good stuff.Here they are all ready to be shipped out....I hope the gals who received these love them :-)

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

This year I'm turning off the outdoor lights and playing like I'm not home. "No candy here kiddies, move along- move along"...... Half the time the kids are taller than me!
Inside the house I'll be sitting at my computer......oblivious to the madness outdoors.
I think I'll order a pizza for dinner... yum.My thoughts are already on Thanksgiving and Christmas....
Next year, I'm going to participate. Yep, I'll pass out those little tiny candy bars.... and of course greet them with a BIG smile wearing my Wonder Women costume.... If it still fits..... Happy Halloween everyone.

Repurposed Keys

2011-10-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

I've been repurposing old keys again. Fun times-fun times....
I've got these listed at my online store, "The Tarnished Crown" I'm happy to say, they are selling. I call them "latch keys" You can always tell the ones that I like best.... because I price them a littler higher. I love this one..... This latch key has an unusual shape to it, it kinda gives the whole thing an ultra modern look/feel to it....This key is so sweet with a little bee sitting beside a flower...I love the blue colored stone on this one... I love-love this one...fun times... fun times~

Treasure hunting

2011-10-23T16:09:00.001-07:00

Ah the yard sale'ing was great this past weekend. I picked up a lot of vintage jewelry..... drooling yet?Lets take a closer look at my treasure...six rhinestone necklaces~13 rhinestone bracelets~5 rhinestone earrings, or is that 10 lol~Two fabulous pins.....Along with all that treasure, I found 40 religious medals that a kind man GAVE to me. I told him I was on a mission that very day to get some religious medals and here he was with an over abundance of them and that he was giving them away for free. *goosebumps huh*
I also snagged this fabulous head with the super long neck for only $1. Along with an "ab-fab" crown that was also a dollar.While chit-chatting with the gal I asked her if she had any more "heads." To which she replied... "Well, I do have a mannequin, but its at my mothers house." She said she would take $8 for it. For eight bucks, I thought it would be worth a little lookie-lou. Couldn't hurt, and it was on my way back home. Soooooooooo I followed her to her mothers house where it was love at first sight. I have no clue what I am going to do with her.... so don't even ask! Just proves I'll buy anything. I googled "chrome mannequin" at it looks like this ranges in price from $200 to $400.Another fun-treasure-filled weekend! I've linked up to Charm Bracelet Diva's "G.W. Party"

Vintage suitcase

2011-10-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

I purchased this round suitcase at a yard sale a few years back for only $2.00. At first, I thought I'd make a pirate suitcase with it, but I never got around to doing anything with it. Even though it looks like leather, it is actually made of wood. Recently while looking for a container to hold my grandaughters play clothes.... I came across it again stuffed in a closet. (I knew I'd use it eventually!) With a little bit of spray paint and some fabulous labels, I ended up with this. A vintage suitcase!I was lucky enough to come across six boxes of suitcase labels--- 45 labels in each box. Quick calculation: 270 labels for which I paid $2.00. *big smile* I sanded and inked the edges to give it a well traveled look to it.....Here is the backside of the round suitcase~ Now, all I have to do is load it up with my grandaughters beautiful dress up clothing. I've linked up to Charm Bracelet Diva's "Club G.W."

Bronzed baby shoes...

2011-10-17T09:26:00.001-07:00

I have been ~~hoarding~~ collecting bronzed baby shoes for quite some time with the intention of making them into pincushions. Well, I finally got around to it. I've got a total of five pairs of bronzed shoes, but so far I've just made three into pincushions.This one I used embossed velvet....This sweet little shoe got some hot pink velvet....This very shiny bronzed baby shoe was probably wrapped up tightly in tissue paper and put away as a lovely memento... I chose a lovely shade of green velvet for this one.These are all for sale at my online store "The Tarnished Crown" for only $9.00 each plus $3.00 shipping/handling. Plus... new lowered prices on everything... come check it out :-)

Vintage jewelry

2011-10-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with some of my vintage jewelry again. I worked on making some more spoon pendant necklaces...I made over 20.....Its a lot of fun to use vintage jewelry in creating these one of a kind pieces....I added a few to my online store "The Tarnished Crown" These are two of my favorites.... The Blessed Virgin Mary..... Is there anything more beautiful than our own American flag? I think not..... "God Bless American" *woot-woot* :-)They are all listed at $12.00 each~

Cottage Door

2011-10-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

The barbie house I've been working on has two arched doorways on both sides just screaming for Cottage doors. So I obliged. I used two pieces of cardboard to make each door. After cutting the cardboard to fit each opening, I glued tissue paper onto the cardboard to give it some texture. I then coated the tissue paper with a generous amount of Mod Podge and ran the pointy side of a paint brush down the length of the door to create the look of wood planks.Once that was dry, I glued some plastic from a soda bottle to act as the glass in the doors window. I also glued a long piece of fabric to one side of the door, this is going to be the hinge. I glued the two pieces of the cardboard doors together, sandwiching in the plastic window and the fabric hinge. I painted the doors with a dark brown acrylic paint and highlighted the texture of the doors using some lighter paint which I applied with my finger. I used metal tape adhered to card stock to create some added metal work detail to the doors. For the doorknob, I used two pony beads and ran a piece of pipe cleaner through the cardboard-- and using hot glue attached the beads. I covered the open ends of the pony beads with paper clay to give it a more finished look. A little bit of gray paint and that finished it up nicely.I also added some greenery and small roses around the arch of the doorways.....
Here it is all finished~

Posted to Etsy

2011-10-05T16:56:00.001-07:00

I added some more of my spoon pendant necklaces and repurposed keys to my Etsy Store. I think I added something like fourteen things--- I am needing to soak my hands in some hot water for awhile--- they hurt! (even though I cut & paste a lot of it) Here are some of the ones I posted to my Etsy store.... I particularly love this spoon pendant. This one is a smaller spoon, only measuring at 1 & 1/4 inches tall. I think its nice to have a small shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary so close to your heart~Ahhhhhhhhhhhh pink loveliness...... A beautiful rhinestone cross on this one....
Here is one of the keys I posted on my etsy store. I have my keys under "Vintage Latch Key Kids" Just makes me laugh thinking about "latch key days"~

Outdoor antique fair

2011-10-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

My husband and I went to an outdoor street antique sale in the next town over... I bought this fabulous round bird cage that my husband spotted for me. It was only $40. I'll add some crochet pieces to this bird cage when I have some free time.I also bought this huge lot of silverware...and this tray full off odds & ends of jewelry for only $5.While yard sailing I picked up some small treasures.... tiny dominoes, a hammered aluminum tray, a silver flower vase, bronzed baby shoes and some linen with beautiful crocheted edges. I've got a lot of works in progress that I hope to be finishing up soon to share. I've been enjoying the cooler temperatures and spending a lot of time sitting on my new outdoor swing.... life is good~
A big thank you for all the encouraging words about my Etsy store. I've already sold three things out of four. *big grin* NOW, I'm having fun! lol

I did it...

2011-09-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

...I finally put something on my etsy site. Here is the link. It was time consuming and stressful not knowing if I was doing it right. .... I'm still not sure I did it right lol... but, in the end I guess it was easier than I feared it would be...... but I'm not listing anymore until I know for sure!

Do you Pin?

2011-09-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

Pinterest that is? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I fought it for as long as I could but....Seriously, its true! So many things to see that you start getting punching thinking..... I've just one thing to say..... There is no known cure except to just... At least stretch you legs once in awhile, you will be surprised how long you'll be sitting there looking at all the pretties. If your wanting to check it out-- come visit my bulletin boards. If you see something fabulous anywhere online you'd like to save a photo of---- pin it to one of your own bulletin boards. Ohhhhhhhh-m-geeeeeeeee your going to love & hate the hours and hours your going to be on it. Guaranteed! When you try to sign up, they put you on a waiting list of sorts. I know right? I can "friend" you in faster, I'll get you hooked up! *NOTE* I need your email address to invite you. Some of the comments left on my blog have a "no reply return email address-- so make sure I can get a hold of you if your wanting to be included in the fun!

Treasures

2011-09-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

I manged to find some treasures recently. Look at this pirate loot-- 50 silver spoons for .15¢ each. Sa-weeeeeeeeeeet~A lovely house shaped bird house.Linens and a vintage Virgin Mary wall plaque.Small figurines from tea boxes... to add to my collection.Also, a magnifier and one of those old repurposed glued open books (soon to be a halloween spell book)Also, this very heavy wooden antique mirror.... $1.
Lastly, some sewing things. All of this and some lace trim and an old tin for only ONE DOLLAR. *gasp* There are 3 pair of pinking shears and one pair of scalloped scissors---- all sharp as the day they were purchased! A jar full of super thick pins, sewing needles and small screw drivers.... and--- enough sewing needles to last me literally my entire lifetime... and I plan on living to be 100---

Drilling dominoes

2011-09-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

I used the handy dandy drill press I made, to drill some holes into some dominoes. Who knew it wouldn't be as easy as I thought it would be. *sigh* It did help in keeping the drill straight & steady-- but I did have to apply a lot of pressure to drill the holes into the dominoes. I don't know what made me think it was going to be easy-peasy, wishful thinking I guess! I think I drilled about 30 of these big dominoes--- only 5 didn't come out perfectly--- the holes being offset just a smidge~ Here are some smaller dominoes all finished, you can see the size difference between the two.
I like how they turned out... I need more ;-)

Faux stone

2011-09-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

I've got so many works in progress right now, happily I can say this one is finished. I created some faux stone work for the outside of the barbie house I'm working on. I used cardboard, tissue paper and mod podge to create the look. I cut the cardboard into 1"x1 1/2" pieces and used Elmers glue to hold it in place. Once the glue dried, I painted on some Mod Podge and layered some crumpled tissue paper over the pieces. I kept adding tissue paper until the area was covered. Here it is all painted to look like faux stone on the outside of the Barbie house. The pink window frame will be put on later-- once I've decided what kind of curtains I'm going to use.
Here is the before picture:I did the same treatment for the sides of the house as well.
1.) added cardboard.2.) Added tissue paper...
3.) Painted everything~Next, I'm going to be working on creating a wood floor for the second floor of the house. I was lucky to come across a bag full of thin wood strips that measure 7"x1/4".... immediately I thought of a wood floor for a dollhouse.Stay tuned for that :-)

Faux Bricks

2011-09-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

I made some faux bricks for the barbie house I'm working on for my grandaughter Chloe Rose. Since these bricks are going in a Barbie house, they are made bigger than the ones I've previously made for the miniature doll house that I have yet to finish... Firstly, I cut a piece of illustration board to fit completely in the space I was making the bricks for. (You can purchase illustration board at any art supply store-- runs about $6 a sheet) I drew lines every one inch and cut those out using my paper cutter.... then I cut those inch long strips into 1/4 inch length to create the small bricks, again using my paper cutter. So the actual brick size is 1' x 1/4 inch in size. With a large pile of pieces cut to size, I ran several long lines of glue down some paper and glued the "brick" down so that I could easily paint them. Once the glue dried, I used terra cotta, black and white paint which I pounched onto the bricks using a stencil brush. The final step is to seal the newly painted illustration board. You can use a spray gloss or you can paint on a glossy finish. This step is important because when you grout the brick, using real grout, it keeps the cardboard from falling apart.Then I just glued the brick into place on the floor of the barbie house. I haven't grouted the brick into place yet. I am wanting to make some kind of planter for both sides of the door way. So I'm going to wait until I figure it out :-)

Happy Birthday to me....

2011-09-08T05:08:00.000-07:00

* sung with extreme enthusiasm and jazz hands.....

Happy birthday to me,
happy birthday to me,
hand me a fork,
pass me my cake,
happy birthday to-to-to-to....
me-me-me-me-me-EEEEEEEEE!

Well, well, well....seems another year has come and gone, where does the time go? I've made some sugar cookies to take with me this evening to our local quilters guild meeting. (recipe can be found here) Since the meeting falls on my birthday (today)--- I just had to do a little sumthin'-sumthin' extra whimsical right? I took the birthday card my parents gave me and cut it out and glued on a frilly tutu....

This lil' monkey will blast out the calories of each cookie you take :-)
At the monthly meeting I attend, every member has to wear a name badge, this is the one I've made to wear this evening.... I'm going to make a different name badge for each meeting. We meet once a month... I can do 12.... I think. Here is last months name badge.
Ahhhhhhhh sugar cookies....
Please feel free to grab yourself a virtual handful.....

Spoon pendants

2011-09-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

These are addictive....This one is my favorite out of this batch~here are some more~and another...and another...

Sailing treasures~

2011-09-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

I picked up this cute as can be pink light for only $3. Isn't it darling? The photographers paper cutter was only $1. I think when something is super dirty--- it tends to be a whole lot cheaper than if it were clean. The guy I bought the paper cutter from told me it was his fathers and that he had used it in his dark room. It is surprisingly small and has a long bar that you can set to cut the exact size over and over without checking each time :-) Me likey~
I also came across some buttons that had been- for the most part- presorted by color, this pile of buttons was only $2. There was a huge handful of mother of pearl buttons in the white button bag.
Today is the start of my birthday month. Let the fun begin!! *woot-woot* To start it off right, this Saturday there is a huge-huge block sale that is going to be held on the Boulevard, and I'm feeling lucky!

A new roof!

2011-08-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

I started working on the bookcase/doll house that I recently bought at a yard sale for only $5..... I started at the top-- making a roof okokok, shingles for the roof. I used cardboard that I cut into 1-1/2 x 1 inch pieces gluing them to the dollhouse with regular household glue. Once that was finished I painted the shingles black and dry brushed some brown and tan over that creating old weathered shingles. As the dollhouse comes together I may lighten the shingles even more by dry brushing a lighter color on top of whats there already. I would love for it to look like an sweet old cottage--- but what I would like and what I can pull off are two totally different things altogether! But I'll try~~On my wish list of things to make for this house: a brick floor, a wood floor..... lace curtains, two wooden doors with windows... a planter, a tree (don't ask-- still thinking this through lol) wallpaper, molding etc...etc...etc...........

Crocheted Strawberries

2011-08-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about making some presents for Christmas this year. My 2 year old grandaughter really enjoys playing with the Melissa & Dougs wooden food sets. But at $20 bucks a set, and seeing how I want to get her every single one... I thought I would try to divert my attention from buying all of them--- by making some things myself. Soooooooooooooo, I whipped up some adorable crocheted strawberries. Now, strawberries are not what I would consider "fun" to play with--- but these ones you can pull off the green part from the strawberry! (which is called a calyx)Here is the crochet pattern if you would like to make your own crocheted strawberries. They are extremely easy to make. If you don't know how to crochet, you can look on you tube for an instructional video.

This strawberry is worked in continuous rounds. You can either mark the first st of every round, or just keep count as you do each stitch of each round.
Using red worsted weight yarn and an "F" hook, crochet 2ch.
1st round Skip 1ch, 6sc in next ch.
2nd round [1sc in next sc, 2sc in next sc] 3 times= 9 sts.
3rd round [1sc in each of next 2sc, 2sc in next sc] 3 times. = 12 sts.
4th round 1sc in each sc, which will equal 12 sc stitches.
5th round [1sc in each of next 3sc, 2sc in next sc] 3 times. =15 sts.
6th round [1sc in each of next 4sc, 2sc in next sc] 3 times. =18 sts.
7th round 1sc in each sc, which will equal 18 stitches.
8th round [1sc in each of next 5sc, 2sc in next sc] 3 times. =21 sts.
9th round [1sc in each of next 6sc, 2sc in next sc] 3 times. =24 sts.
10th round 1sc in each sc, which will equal 24 stitches.
11th round [2-st sc decrease] to end of round. =12 sts.
At this point, I took out my crochet hook and held the loop in place with a safety pin. I then stuffed the strawberry rather firmly. Next, I used a double length of yellow thread to attach yellow/gold beads onto the strawberry randomly across the surface. I purchased the beads at Walmart, I didn't have to use a bead needle with these. I fastened off the thread securely by attaching it to the stuffing that was on the top of the strawberry.I pulled out the safety pin that held the loop open and continued to crochet the next round.
12th round [2-st sc decrease] to end. =6 sts. Fasten off.
Stitch from side to side of the strawberry to close the opening, tightening each stitch before making the next one. You now have a finished strawberry.
CALYX Using green worsted weight yarn and an"H" hook, I chained 3 and skipping one chain stitch I then sc in remaining two stitches. Continue with that pattern of chaining 3, skip one chain stitch, sc in remaining 2 chains until you have five completed "leaves" in a row. Then you slip stitch to the beginning chain stitch, and crochet around the opening of the green calyx pulling it tightly until the circle closes. However many single crochet or slip stitches you need to use to close the opening. For the strawberry stem, work your green yarn into the middle of the circle of leaves/calyx and chain 5, skip one chain, and sl stitch down the remaining 4 chains. Fasten off, leaving a long tail to work back under the existing stitches. Thats it... easy peasy.At this point, you can either stitch the calyx to the top of the strawberry, or add velcro to make them into something you can pull apart. I chose the latter. I used green and red permanent markers to color the white velcro circles that I was going to use for my strawberries.Next, I simply used hot glue and glued the round red velcro on the strawberry and the green velcro circle on the calyx of the strawberry.
Then I just pushed the two together, to create a "toy" Easy peasy! I'm going to modify this strawberry pattern to make some crocheted eggs next.

Spoon pendants

2011-08-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

I finished a few spoon pendants. I really like how they turned out. This one is my favorite....This next one is a close second. I may have to keep this one as I love fairies and that blue sapphire is my birthstone.This one is sweet~This pendant/spoon is larger and rounder than most...It is my goal to eventually sell these on my Etsy site--
The Tarnished Crown, (which is empty) so with that in mind, I went so far as to place them onto some cards. Baby steps.... I'm having fun and isn't that the most important part? I've linked up to the following linky parties: Making the World Cuter
Made by you Monday, and also My Blue Monday.

Works in progress...

2011-08-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've been playing with some of my jewelry stash recently. I've started off slowly, not trying to burn myself out before even starting. I began by making these three fairy brooches. They are still works in progress~ Here is another...This little cutie is just screaming for a party hat....Thats as far as I got with those...I got bored.
Then I turned my attention to making some spoon charms. Firstly, I had to bend them...Then I had to cut them and bend a loop to create a hanger so they could be turned into charms. Thats as far as I got with those... yep, I got bored with making those as well.Next, I turned my attention to making some dominoe pendants. I've wanted to make some dominoe pendants for-eva.... I looked at several images of finished dominoes... and noticing most had one hole at the top and anywhere from one to three holes at the bottom to hang charms or crystals... I was in need of a drill press to create precise holes in the dominoes. Trying to hold a big drill and drill a teeny-tiny hole into something small isn't easy. I've seen table top drill presses on other blogs, but never paid to much attention to really looking at them, or even better yet... asking the blogger where they got them. So, I was on a mission to acquire one! Firstly, I googled the following words: drill press, small drill press, mini drill press. Nothing that showed up that was even remotely close to what I wanted. Next, I searched local hardware stores online to see if they carried small drill presses. Nope. I did however spot something that is called a drill holder. Cool. I bought this at Harbor Freight for only $20. It can be free standing or you can mount it to something to keep it steady. I had my husband cut some thick plywood for me so I could screw the drill press to it. I decided to spruce it up a smidge seeing how I plan on keeping this for. ever. Since this is essentially a tool, I decided to give the base an old-old metal look. Of course metal tape is a super easy way to create some metal-magic in a snap. First thing I did was to cover the entire base with metal tape wrapping around the edges with a little attached to the backside. For fun, I glued some thin wooden flowers and some chipboard dots, that I punched with a hole puncher, around the edge of the board.Once the glue set on the flowers & dots, I added some more metal tape to cover the embellishments. Then at every overlap of the metal tape, I used a rotary marking wheel to create little holes like rivet marks. I then used acrylic paint to age the metal.... taaaaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaaaaa. Instant drill press. Isn't she a beaut? *sigh* Thats as far as I got.... I got bored with that. I couldn't even bring myself to dig out some dominoes and give it a try.
I think tomorrow I'll drag out my sewing machine~

Sunday Sailing

2011-08-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

We took a drive to San Juan Batista for the yearly antique street fair they host every year in August. The houses that are surrounding the event have your usual yard sale things for sale-- which is where I purchased all of that things I bought! I made a new fabric shopping cart insert for the occasion, my other one was plum worn out! I used a floral shower curtain that I cut apart and repurposed as the liner. I updated my "Artsy Fartsy" sign as well--- bigger than ev-va! There was some fabulous antique and vintage things to look at-- This lovely dress form was $500.00.... LOVE IT!Isn't this a cute way to sell vintage buttons?Look at this over-the-top-cute dog bed made using an old vintage piece of luggage...This van was something that immediately caught my attention. It is covered with aluminum foil!! LOVE-LOVE IT!and its for sale!! I just love the texture on it, I could see my '66 Mustang covered in foil..... I'm just sayin'...
I did manage to find some treasures to haul home. I bought this jewelry for $5 and the three spoons for $1. The rocks were $2, I always buy rocks whenever I see them being sold so cheaply-- I have them in my yard so my grandkids can find them. If they are going to collect rocks, for even sakes, they are going to collect cute ones!My husband bought his clock for only a $1-- it works, so now I guess I have to clean it!This step stool chair was $2, I'm going to paint the metal and cover the step and seat part with something cute... I was wanting/needing a higher seat/stool in my studio, so hopefully this one will work. (I've yet to try it out because its so dirty!)These odds and ends were only $3..... the teeny-tiny flower frog is something I've never seen before.Here is a slideshow of some random pictures from the antique fair.

It was a fun afternoon even though it was really H-O-T. It was a real eye opener at how much all the "blingy" jewelry sells for. I guess from now on I won't wrinkle my nose and PASS up all the "blingy" jewelry I find at yard sales that they are only asking a buck each for. I've linked up with Freckled Laundry's "Air your Laundry" linky party.

Crazy quilt

2011-08-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

My friend Ann gave me a quilt that had been given to her mother years & years ago and was in her estate after she passed away. When she came across these quilt squares, knowing how much I love things like this... she asked me if I wanted them. *goose-pimply-gasp* It is so hard to come off as being gracefully thankful, when your head is telling you to jump for joy and squeal with delight! The writing on the brown paper it was wrapped in said, "From the late 1890's" Look at all the fabulous fabric that is pieced together.... All in all, there is 13 squares of this crazy quilt, with a handful of cut pieces in the mix. I am thinking about making some tote bags with these squares, but for now, I'm just enjoying having them as they are! What a wonderful gift I was given! Thank you very much Ann, how extremely generous you are!

Better than Roses

2011-08-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our 29th wedding anniversary. *gasp* I know right?-- We started off the day sailing--- okokok, yard sailing to be exact. When we first got married my husband was an avid real sailor -- he sold his sailboat when we got married so we could have a large sum of money to get started in life... sweet huh? Here is a few pictures of what I got for my anniversary, and yes-- all from yard sales :-) I picked up another champagne bucket for only $2. (now I have three) I spotted a huge amount of what I thought at first to be old cardboard photo frames by the way they were just tossed inside a bag on a table--- but pleasantly surprised to find the old photos still inside them. I bought the stack of 21 old photos for only $10. I picked up this tub of crafting supplies for only $3. I know, like I NEED anymore supplies. But come on, the tub alone new would cost at least $3. So, essentially I got the bottles of glue, unopened paint, glitter, needle nosed pilers, new paint brushes & neat foam brushes, wire, sponges, gold leaf, fimo clay for fa-reeeeeeeeeee~Then I found this little beaut of a Barbie dollhouse/bookcase for only $5 buckeroos. Since my grandaughter is only 2 1/2 right now, I thought I would take my time fixing it up and give it to her on her next birthday. This is going to be one caute barbie house once I'm finished with it! Wallpaper, lace curtains, wood floors... can you see it? Fabulous!
I also bought this..... *swoon* A Brother sewing machine that has a computer thingie that makes fancy stitches for only $20 bucks. It even came with a case! I am not a big time sewer, but I've been wanting to start sewing more. I have even joined our local quilters guild. I've had my Singer sewing machine for about -gosh- fourteen years now. Its just a straight line/zig zag machine that runs like a hay-horse, always up to do anything I attempt to do on it. But I was wanting to try my hand at a throughbred. You know what I'm talking about! Today's treasures were way better than a bouquet of roses~

What did my husband get? Why to spend the day with me of course *wink*

That Darn Cat...

2011-08-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

I bought a Disney bracelet from the movie "That Darn Cat" recently, for the huge sum of .25 ¢. The bracelet had seen a lot of wear. I googled trying to find what the original paint would like like on the charms, but everything that popped up was shown to be in the same exact condition as these.... these are about the size of a penny So, I just went with it and painted the siamese cats white. I touched up the black paint as well, and I freshed up the blue eye color too.There was a total of 4 charms on this bracelet. One of the running cat charms is missing, but for .25¢.... I won't complain--- to much. Here is the after.I used regular acrylic paint for each charm. I had to give each charm about 5 coats of each color letting it dry in between coats obviously. To finish them off, I painted on some diamond glaze to act as a sealer. If you come across some painted jewelry that is missing some of the paint, don't let that stop you from buying it and fixing it up!

Garage sign

2011-08-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

I painted this garage sign recently.... the hardest part was when I had to sand the heck out of it to give it the appearance of being very old. After all that work... to scuff it up....eeek..... Don't even get me started on the palpatations I felt while painting over the whole thing with some dark-dark stain..... I am happy to say I love-love-love the end results though!Another day, another project completed~

Summer fun...

2011-07-31T10:13:00.001-07:00

My two grandkids enjoying their time over at my house riding their scooter. Waving hello to "Papa" as they drive past. This is the area that we are adding the slate to our yard that we bought at a yard sale recently. Look at those natural ringlets.... All to soon these little ones will be driving around in real cars, my-my-my how time does fly~

The Villa

2011-07-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I made this pink flowery sign for my bestest-buddy in the whole wide world who unfortunately for me, is moving to the coast. She stated she needed a sign outside her door to tell everyone her name, unlike me--- I have a "no soliciting" sign :-P.... Here you go sweetie pie, I made this totally with you in mind.... happy, sparkly, joyous, fun, whimsical and beautiful... just like you.Nellrene has been my personal cheer leader for many-many years. You know the type, always upbeat-happy and encouraging you on no matter what... What a true gift she has been to me and my family. She is my total inspiration for being a fabulous Nana! I love you Nellrene, you are and will forever be my bestest-buddy in the whole wide world!! We'll be up to visit you soon, pinky swear.

Metal tag

2011-07-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Having bought 3 rolls of metal tape a long time ago, I sometimes find a need to play with it. I didn't want a huge project, so I made a simple tag. I cut a tag shape out of chipboard to which I simply glued chipboard letters to. While the glue was drying, I used my paper cutter, to cut the metal tape into random size squares. I then just willy-nilly started sticking the metal tape onto the tag covering the tag and chipboard letters completely. I even covered the backside of the tag as well. Next, I burnished the metal tape around each letter being careful not to break through the tape. I used nail polish remover to remove the red logo on the metal tape. Once that was finished, I took a regular ol' pen and started poking holes along each edge of the squares of metal tape giving it the appearance of being riveted together.
Lastly, I painted black paint onto the tag and using a facecloth, rubbed it into the crevices to give it a time worn appearance. I used gray vintage seam binding to finish off the tag. Easy peasy~

Would you tumble for me?

2011-07-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

I'd tumble for you!!..... My daughter is trying to win a free party for her two children at our local Swim America & Tumble America club. If you have a face book account and you've got a spare moment... could you pretty please "like" the club at this link: Swim America & Tumble America and then click on the photo section.... once there, click on "cutest kid contest" and of course, my two grandchildren are the cutest there... But.... if your eyes are not what they used to be.... here is some help. This is Chloe only two precious years old...and this happy soul is Jonathan who is four-happy-years old. If you could click on "Like" on both Chloe and Jonathan's photos that'd sure be a huge help in getting to her goal of "WINNING" a party for her two little love bugs. Thank you-thank you-thank you!

Bird tags

2011-07-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

I made seven tags for a bird themed swap I joined recently. I made my tags to look like actual bird houses. I think they turned out pretty cute. This is the very first time I have ever been successful using a crackle medium. I had to resort to actually reading the instructions--- and *gasp* following them. What'da know.... it worked. Here is what the backsides of my tags looked like. I also made a bird themed box that I mailed the tags in. I enlarged and printed a copy of a vintage postcard which I then cut out with scalloped scissors. Glitter, crepe paper, flowers, sheet music...
vintage silver doilies and more vintage images adorn the inside....Lastly, I added shredded sheet music and its ready to be mailed. That was fun~

Cloche Party

2011-07-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my cloche party! Here we have a shabby chic cloche...The next two I loosely called cloches. This one is made from a lamp. I bought this full of seashells for only $5. I used E6000 glue to adhere the base and the crystal knob at the top. This glass & silver container I picked up for $1 at a yard sale. I couldn't get my money out fast enough...All three of these cloches are on a dresser in a hallway by my front door. Here is a small cloche in my bathroom. I love the look of my cleaned brushes in the blue container in my bathroom, I think they look beautiful! Most times my bathroom sink shows of the colors I've recently been painting with-- I don't care :-P.....The next set of cloches are the ones I made using glass domes and glass knobs and clear beads. This one holds an old-old--- ok, you could probably call it vintage-- photo of me when I was a toddler. The handmade dress had a lot of fabric in the skirt, it looks like a fun dress to twirl in!Here is the largest glass dome I turned into a cloche. It is housing my bronzed baby shoe collection. I just love them!Another cloche I made houses my trophy I won for first prize in a top hat party I joined. Here is another one I made, this one I stuffed full of antique photo frames. I bought five of these for $20. Here are some cloches that I made using some chicken wire. After shaping them, I spray painted them with copper colored spray paint, then I used green embossing ink and powders to make it appear to have an old patina. Here is two more way up high on a shelf....This tiny little masterpiece I picked up for $1. It is made out of a small chickens egg.Here is a close-up of the inside of the egg. Thanks for stopping in for a visit, if you'd like to view other cloches please head on over to "A Stroll Thru Life" linky cloche party.

My Studio 2011

2011-07-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well its that time of the year again when we all swing open the doors and share our studio spaces. My studio is packed from the floor- to literally the ceiling, come on in and have a poke around. There are two slideshows at the end of this post that show every angle of my studio :-0.... eek, probably showing off some dust too!!!
Here is my table/workspace in the foreground of this picture. It is never this clean-- in fact, I totally took everything off of it for this photo. Its a long-long table that sits in the center of the room, this temporary workspace I've now been using for about 3 years. I have a vintage bookcase on top of my worktable which has several spinning caddies of tools that I use everyday. Scissors, paintbrushes, pens etc.. There is a closet behind those curtains.
I have one comfy chair in my studio that I sit at to jot down ideas and work on small projects while watching t.v.Here is a bookcase which holds very old books ranging from the late 1700's thur the 1920's. Most of these books ranged in price from .25cents to $1. The jars on top are full of my mother of pearl buttons that I collect ;-)
Here are two slideshows showing my studio space in its entirety.... you can stop the slideshow and view each one as a snapshot if you'd like.
Artsy Fartsy Studio 2011 Part 1

Artsy Fartsy Studio 2011 Part 2

Next year I am hoping to have my workspace updated along with addressing the wall where my t.v. is now. I would love-LOVE a wall-to-wall unit over there too! If you'd like to see more spaces of where bloggers create, please visit Karen at "My Desert Cottage" Thanks for stopping by :-)

Inspiration board...

2011-07-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

Or should I say "Inspiration bored"... I seem to get a lot of things done when I feel bored! I took a bulletin board that my husband picked up at a yard sale for $1--- he never got around to using it, so I took it. Here you can partially see what the before of the bulletin board looked like. Of course, being that I can never leave anything alone. I used some Mod Podge and glued some vintage sheet music to cover the black frame. I distressed the paper with some ink pads.Then I stapled two layers of muslin fabric to cover the blueish/gray fabric....Then I glued some vintage dresden trim to cover the fabrics edge and the staples. (this is part of my dresden stash that I picked up for only $3!!)Next I glued and used thumb tacks to hold some ribbon in place so I can tuck some photos onto the board.... All finished and hung in place! (those jars are full of mother of pearl buttons!)
Taaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaaa inspiration board completed!
Now, I've got to find things to inspire me ;-P

Cloches

2011-07-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Did you know there is a cloche party this month? *gasp* I'm always the last to know! I love cloches. Little micro vignettes totally protected by a glass dust covering..... sweet. I have one glass cloche. I know, I know..... so whats a girl to do right? Why make some of course. I don't know about you, but I come across these glass domes all the time. I see at least 4 a month, and they are always under $2. I've had these three in my stash for about 2 years. Finally I'm motivated to do something with them! A little windex to clean them up a bit.... A smidge of E6000 glue, glass knobs, and several clear round faceted beads to cover the hole at the top each glass knob. Taaaa daaaaaaa 3 cloches ready for a party~

Measuring UP

2011-07-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

I hung up the "Artsy Fartsy" banner I made a while back over my window, and I'm happy to announce I love it there. While admiring it, I noticed a huge empty space above the window that was crying out to be filled.... so.... fill it I did. I printed out sections of an old ruler, 7 sheets in total. After cutting out each section of the ruler, I taped the sheets together on the backside. Once joined together, I laid them onto foam core and traced the exact width of the ruler onto the board. I cut the foam core with a sharp blade and painted the edges black to give the ruler a more finished appearance once it was all put together. I had to cut 3 pieces of foam core to fit the length of the six foot long ruler. I joined the sections together using some toothpicks and glue. Once the paint and glue dried, I used Mod Podge to adhere the images to the foam core. I used a brayer to aide in getting it nice and smooth. Here it is completed and hanging above my window. I have it hanging at an angle above my window and from where I stood to take this photo, it makes it appear bowed... but its not.I love it :-) I've got it hanging next to my large scissors and my large paint brush..... I'd like to hang a large pencil or color crayon up there as well... and a large bottle of glue!

Fourth of July weekend...

2011-07-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to fixing up this antique oak shelf I picked up about two years ago at a yard sale for $5 bucks. The shelf is meant to hang on the wall, so it doesn't have a back on it.... well I fixed that.I am going to use this as a free standing shelf, so I wanted the shelves to have a back on them so nothing would fall off the backside when I start to overload them with fun vintage stuff. I cut pieces of foam core and wedged that between each shelf. I then added some hundred year old sheet music and distressed the edges with a brown ink pad. I also made the curvy bit at the top of the shelf and covered that with sheet music as well. I really like how it turned out, now I have a nice little shelf to place some fun vignettes on. The only down side to adding fun/cute things to my studio is, I live in the last remaining dust bowl of the world ---- Fresno. Talcum powder dust coating eVeRyThInG. And don't suggest I dust more often to combat the dust build up.... 'cause I just won't believe you.

I also came across this bird cage that needed some attention, a "floor" to be exact. So while I had the foam core out I cut a bit to fit the bottom. Then of course, I had to spray paint the cage and add a cutie-pie fairy inside it and then and only then could I place it back upon my shelf.I also hung some lace curtains.... and... and... Oh nuts.... I'll be honest, I'm just trying to get out of painting a bookcase. I'm getting sick of paintin'.... I've linked up to Very Merry Vintage Style-- "Share the Love" linky party.

Organizing....

2011-06-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

Work, work, work... makes for a dull day. I've gotten about half way to my goal of going through everything in my studio. The next big project is working on recovering my long work desk, and attacking the mess underneath it. Shhhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone, but I've been goofing off rather than organizing my studio. I've tried hard to keep myself focused.... But then I come across some scissors, then some paper, and then its just a free for all with bits and bobs flying every which way. Cutting, gluing, inking...
punching, gluing....more cutting, inking & gluing.... Ahhhhhhhhh that was fun~ I made a banner saying "Artsy Fartsy" I hung it up... and hated it. Isn't that how it goes sometimes? I'll try hanging it over my window next. I'd better stick to getting things organized.

Mad Hatters tea party.....

2011-06-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

The invitation to the Mad Hatters tea party was delivered by the fancy white rabbit right to the very door of Miss Chloe and her brother Jonathan's little play cottage. Chloe was happy to be invited to this years party once again... Miss Chloe felt the large hat was a bit much for her brother to wear to the party.... She tried her very best to convince him that it wasn't a good look for him, but it fell on deaf ears....Miss Chloe, being the resourceful girl that she is, grabbed the hat and plunked it on her very own head to show him just how funny it looked.Jonathan grabbed it back and forcefully put it back on his head... "Drat," said Miss Chloe, "foiled again." While walking to the party on the very-very narrow path... Miss Chloe came across a sign pointing the way to the very place she was wanting to go. GASP... The signs were in French! Miss Chloe and Jonathan can't read French.... or English for that matter. The cat who was sitting on top of the sign post wasn't any help at all. What to do? What to do? "Lets just go home and play with our bubbles," said Jonathan. Which was perfectly fine for Miss Chloe as her brother did all the work making the bubbles, and she got to play~ Jonathan was not amused. On that note, Miss Chloe grabbed her brothers hat and ran off, all the while laughing hysterically saying, "I'm the evil Doctor Porkchop."After wrestling his hat back from his sister and placing it back on his head.... Miss Chloe, in her sweetest voice said, "You gotta love me, I'm da baby." Which was met with a cold shoulder from her brother....Hmmmmm, I got an idea!..."Watch brud-da, I'm going to eat this bubble just for you."Bubbles sure don't taste as good as they look.... While laughing at his sisters puckered up face, Jonathan noticed the time. "My heavens! My cartoons are on," exclaimed Jonathan. "I'm outta here!" "Wait for me brudda!" yelled Miss Chloe.
Cartoons, animal cookies and a drink box and all is right with the world once again~
You can find more Mad Hatter Madness at "A Fanciful Twist"

Works in progress.....

2011-06-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yes PROGRESS! *woot-woot* Project #1... I finally finished painting my wall to wall cabinet in my studio. Here is a sneak peek of what I've been working on. After painting the entire thing, I added wood trim to cover each area where two pieces came together. Here you can see where the last piece of trim will go. It was floor to ceiling bins, so to force myself to display things, I added vintage sheet music to the top area. I am working hard on giving my studio an cuter look for an open house of sorts being held next month. Better late than never on getting started! Isn't that sheet music divine? Its from the early 1900's. Project #2.... I've also been working on another Alice in Wonderland prop for this years Mad Hatter tea party--- being held this Saturday. In previous years I made props using foam core, this year I used a piece of plywood. Here it is with the first coat of every color...... This past Sunday while sailing... yard-sailing of course. I came across a couple who were moving and selling everything in their house and yard. I bought a fabulous wheel barrow for only $10--- and after drooling over their flagstone patio.... I asked if it was for sale. "Sure, $20 was the reply.".... SOLD! my new wheel barrow and I got to work. Kismet? You betcha! All of this pictured below, plus a truck load more! These are the small pieces, the bigger pieces are still on the truck ;-P I guess this is Project #3. Like I need another project...

Paintin'

2011-06-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

I am up to my elbows in paint as I paint my studio cabinets white. The first brush stroke was fabulous, as was the second, third and fourth. The fifth brush stroke-- is when I thought to myself "Why did I start this?" You know exactly what I'm talking about don't ya~ To keep my sanity, I just HAD to do something fun, so I painted a small standing cabinet that I bought at a yard sale years ago for only $10--- The picture makes it looks small... but it actually stands four feet high. To give it a little character, I dirtied up the edges with black and brown ink pads instead of sanding the edges. I used double sided sticky tape and adhered some pages from a Sears catalog to the backs of each cubbie. I think it turned out cute. It was a NICE release from some of the angst I was feeling while taking on the HUGE project of painting my wall-to-wall cabinets. Tomorrow I'm going to the hardware store to buy some trim to add to my cabinets a.k.a. bookcases... to make them appear to be a built in unit across the back wall of my studio.... a.k.a. my daughters old room. The only upside to this huge painting project is I get to set up little vignettes when the paints all dry on the shelves. Hooray for happy stuffed shelves full of stuff I love. Nuts, I guess I better get back to painting or its never going to get finished. Oh..... I thought I'd share this funny.... at the hardware store where I bought the paint, the clerk said, "Looks like you've got everything you need. you've got the paint, brushes and "him" to paint for you." Hysterical! I laughed as I corrected him that I was going to do the painting. Do men paint?
I've linked up to "Very Merry Vintage Style" share the love linky party.

Sailing~

2011-06-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Ah, life is good. I got a new computer--- although its a big pain in the ol' butt trying to figure it out--- I am a happy girl none the less.

Anywho, I did get to some killer yard sales this morning. Here are a few photos of the treasures I found. I met an antique dealer who is getting rid of all of her things super cheap, (I'm going back tomorrow, it was just to hot to shop today!) I picked up several hammered aluminum pieces for only $1 each. The wooden key was only $2... the photos were pricey at $5 (her sisters stuff) I got two free sodas in the deal and so that had the money flying out my hand. The milk glass card holder and the little scotty dog were both fifty cents each. She had TONS of neat things, but you have to be practical when you don't resell things. I picked up the blue perfume bottle, the vintage magnify glass and the stack of vintage sheet music for fifty cents each. The gold and glass relish tray was $1 and the Virgin Mary alter was only ten cents. Here is a photo of where I house my tin collection. I'm going to start filling up those tins with vintage jewelry for my grandaughter who really likes "Nana's pretties" She is such a love~ Well, I am currently working on painting the massive wall of shelves in my studio-- which I pinky swore last year -- to do-- for this year. Ugh. It is such a HUGE undertaking, thats why I'm blogging instead! I am also wanting to create some large wooden Mad hatter pieces for next Saturday's Mad hatters tea party, plus make a baby blue dress for Alice a.k.a. Miss Chloe~ Then and only then, will I start to work on the 7 tags I am needing to make for a tag swap. Hmmm.... I may need some chocolate to get me through this~

Ahoy....

2011-06-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

maties! Here are some photos of my grandchildrens Pirate party. I took over 200 pictures during the party. I know- I know..... no wonder my computers main disk is "full." I still haven't gotten that taken care of, so for now here are some photos to razzle-dazzle you with.
It was so much FUN... although, packing up after wards isn't so much fun. I still have huge bins in my living room that haven't made it out to the garage yet.... sigh. More pirate slide shows to come once I get my computer sorted out.... its always something! :-P

Fab.u.lous

2011-06-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

My grandkids pirate party was fabulous..... I've been trying for hours to upload some photos of the fun event, but evidently my computer doesn't have any more room to hold any more photos. Hmmmm..... what-ever. Hopefully things will get fixed and or resolved so I can post some photos SOON :-) Off to enjoy day 2 of our pirate party, a pirate b.b.q. :-) Monday is a pirate potluck... and well Tuesday is ummmm "start your diet" day. *snort*

Somethings missing...

2011-06-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

I felt my pirate ship needed a little something-something...... so I whipped up a Tinkerbell to sit upon one of the masts. Now everything is right with the world once again... Uh, scratch that, my 4 year old grandson suggested I make a Peter Pan for the other mast. lol..... I am in full get 'er done mode right now, so I also stitched up a brown fabric cover to shade the pirate ships cabin. Another suggestion from my grandson....Next, I stitched together a fabric false ceiling for both gazebos and hung some faux ships sails to shade our outdoor buffet table. I bought these two talking skulls at a yard sale for only $2--- a little fabric and a felt eye patch and they are two spiffy pirates!...I also hung up the "Peg legs made while you wait sign" that I made. I've got quite a large selection of peg legs to choose from.... Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgh... Lastly, some random shots of my yard. I'll spare you the photos of the really messy parts. Our pool.... The dock where our pirate ship is moored.... and the grandkids play yard that actually got played in today :-)

Felt pirate hooks

2011-06-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

I previously made some felt pirate hats... blogged about here. I had some left over black felt that I knew I could use to make something piratey. Of course, immediately, eye patches came to mind. But how fun would it be running around with one eye covered? Not to fun I imagine. So... the next best thing? Pirate hooks.These were super easy to make. Here is a square of felt that I cut to make into a pirate hat. See the long center piece? Thats the scrap piece of felt I used to make each pirate hook. One square of black felt yielded one pirate hat and one pirate hook.... not to shabby for .25¢! Here is a tutorial on how I made the pirate hooks if anyone is interested.
I folded each scrap pieces of felt in half, stitching down the center with about a 1/4 inch seam allowance... Next, I opened up each one and stitched two together to make the cuff of each hook. By stitching the center seam on each scrap, when you turn it inside out it gives it a nice puffy appearance to each pirate hook. The pointy bit at the bottom of this picture will be where you will be adding the hook. Do not cut this opening to big, start by cutting away just tiny bits until you get the right size opening.
Next, I used the plastic from a two liter bottle to create the hooks for each pirate hook. I cut the top and bottom off of each bottle, then I cut the middle section in half taping the two together using double sided sticky tape. So, your left with two pieces of rounded plastic stuck together. Next, I drew with a sharpie marking each hook I needed to cut out. You can get four to five hooks out of each two liter bottle depending on how wide you make each hook. Once each hook shape was cut out, I used masking tape and taped the plastic to a wooden handle. (all craft stores have these) Then I simply hand stitched some gray felt covering the plastic hook and tape.The final step is to hot glue the gray hook to the black cuff. The stitching will be on the inside of each hook. You need to cut an opening in the small pointy side to slide the hook into the black cuff. Slide the hook through until it looks like the hook at the bottom of this next photo. Using a generous amount of hot glue (where the gray felt meets the wooden stick) glue down the black felt. Once the glue has time to cool and set up, peel the black cuff part of the hook down.... seams inside remember.... and taaaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaa PIRATE HOOKS!...Before you know it you've got yourself a bunch of pirate hooks!
Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh! Easy-peasy! I've linked up to "Very Merry Vintage Style" linky love post. Also, I've linked up to Seven thirty three's "What are little boys made of" linky.

So much to do...

2011-06-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

sooooooooooooo little time. I'm still busting my hinny working on all things piratey. The first of three parties is on the 11th.... eeeek. Anywho, the invitations are all finished and passed out-- no backing out now ;-P I made the invitations using small soda bottles. I filled up each bottle with gold coins, some pirate bling, seashells and of course a map to my house. Once the inside was filled, I hot glued the invitation to the outside of each bottle and then added a fabric band around each bottle with a hand written note saying "You Arrrrrr invited". I finished them up with a burlap lid, a compass and a name tag. I then turned my attention to some much needed signs. "Recycle".... "Trash"... and of course "Peg legs made while you wait"Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgh... I must get back to work~

Paintin' signs....

2011-05-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

I made this happy birthday sign for my grandson 4 years ago using a gold plastic frame that once held a mirror. With the mirror missing, I purchased the frame for only $1. I used acrylic paint to highlight some of the features on the plastic frame. I was only able to use it twice since I didn't have one for his sister....Well, I finally found a frame to paint a happy birthday sign for my grand daughter. This gold plastic frame (minus the mirror) was $2.... with a little bit of paint, an old map, glitter and a lot of time I had a finished sign! These will get hung somewhere at our pirate party~This next frame was a .50¢ yard sale find, this is an important sign for any pirate party. Its kinda hard to read in this photo... but it reads "Beatings will continue until morale improves" truer words never spoken~

Pinkity-dinkity...

2011-05-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pinks around my home.... Some pink silk flowers in a vintage basket sitting on my dresser in my bedroom.A vignette on top of my refabed pie safe with shabby chic fabric covering the tin panels.
A pink vintage dress...
I like to buy old yard lights-- working or not, and turn them into fairy houses and place them in my grandkids play yard. These four lights below were .25¢ each. Here are two little cutie-pies....and two more little pixies....
I've linked up to "How Sweet the Sounds" pink Saturday's linky party. Congratulations Beverly on celebrating your third year hosting "Pink Saturdays" thats a lot of pink!

Car-land Game

2011-05-25T19:01:00.001-07:00

My grandson's preschool class gave him a homework assignment-- create a game along the lines of the game "Candyland" He was given an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock to build his game on.... Cardstock? seriously, if we're putting in time & effort into this, its getting a bona-fide GAME BOARD....mumble-mumble..... Here is Jonathan painting his game board... I drew three identical cars onto some shrinky dink plastic, which I had him color. He loved watching them shrink into tiny plastic "cars" Here is the game board completed. I printed and cut out all the street signs for him and he glued them in place. We talked about what each sign meant as he was picking them out. We also picked out a lot of small car related toys to use as decorations for the game board. Bails of hay, tires, orange cones and two small figures... one holding a flag to tell them to "go" and one holding a trophy at the finish line. Here are my two grandkids playing with the "Car-land game" Jonathan made. Look at the camera you guys... ah, much better. Hmmm is that Jonathan cheating while Chloe is looking at the camera??? After working with him on his project, I finally got around to planting the six rose bushes I bought recently. I love buying plants... but then you have to come home and plant them! Always a catch. I thought I'd share a photo of my sweet cat "Puss-puss" laying in the bird bath I have in my front yard. She really likes water. If I squirt the hose on the lawn, she chases the water stream all the while getting soaked. She's a love~

Yo-ho-ho....

2011-05-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

ho..... pirate bunting for me~ Red & white polka dot bunting to be exact. I love how these turned out. I'm thinking about leaving this up all summer long~I also finished turning the "Woody" pinata into a Pirate pinata.Then I made two purple people eaters... one fat, one skinny-- don't ask.... Back to pirate stuff... I then painted a sign that reads, "Absolutely No Swashbuckling" Which for you land lovers means "no fighting" It took a bazillion coats of white paint. The board is extremely textured, with long grooves and ridges, so the paint didn't flow easily. Although, I do like the end result :-) I'm glad I didn't chuck it out when I realized just how much work it would take to finish it! This is just a smidgen of the things I've been working on lately, only 20 more days left until our big yearly 3-day pirate party. Eeeeeeeeeeeeek..... I better get offline and get busy!!! Yo-ho-ho me hearties!

Favicon

2011-05-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

Have you seen those little tiny pictures next to blog links? Well, I don't know if you can see mine or not.... but I added a rose "Favicon" to my link. So easy to do..... wanna know how I did it? Good.... lets get started. Go to www.iconj.com and on the top right hand side you'll see a box that says "Free Favicon Hosting" Browse for a picture... I used one of a rose that I had saved previously from a free image source. Once I chose my image, I sharpened mine +2. Next you just click on the "upload now" button. Thats it. For blogspot blogs.... you have to use the second LINK they give you--- not the top link. Now comes the tricky part. Putting this link into your html code. Yikes right? Easy-peasy.
Here we go.... Click on "design" then click on "edit html" Approximately 10 lines down from the top, you'll find the word < head >You will want to paste your code underneath the word head. Hit enter to bring it down another line, then paste it one more time, BUT the second time deleat the word "shortcut" from the second link only. Now.... copy the entire code once again and search throughout your html code and find what looks like this, ]] > < / b : s kin > paste your html under that and before < / head >. Its way down towards the bottom of the page... This will allow your picture to show up in the search bar next to your blogs link. Thats it. You can preview this-- I did and didn't see a blasted thing. But, once I hit "save template" it appeared like magic. Although, now I see its gone again....lol... Possibly it has something to do with the internet at this time, but I'm hopeful it will be back soon!

Sailing...

2011-05-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ah, the weather was perfect for yard sailing this past weekend. I had a super-fun time hitting some long-long-long block sales..... prices were great, the weather was fabulous and everyone was super friendly :-) Here are just a few things that I picked up... I found some jewelry along with a large faceted glass paper weight-- all of this for $2.A silver champagne bucket for $1....A large fabulous yellow bird cage for only $3....Two pirate chests for $3....Some pirate treasure, a pink & white box and some wooden paint samples, all of this for only $2.I also found three containers that I am going to use to hold some of my jewelry for $3-- I have never heard of "trollbeads" before... I googled the name... and up popped this link. WOW! They are selling the very same 3 containers for FIFTY DOLLARS. Crazy-crazy. I have these in my vintage dresser holding my earrings. They work perfectly! Fifty dollars... have you ever in your life?...... Lastly, this clock. I can't remember if I shared this already or not. I bought it a while ago---- for only $1. It works too!A fun-fun-fun treasure filled weekend, coupled with a gift card to HOME DEPOT from my lovely daughter... and it made for a perfect Mothers day weekend. I've linked up with "Thrift Share Monday" and "Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays"

Ohhhhhhh man...

2011-05-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I got a bad cold.....I'll be back.... *sniff-cough-sneeze*

Painting, pruning, pixies...

2011-04-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

and puttering too..... I have been very busy around the homestead lately, getting the yard ready for summer. The other day, after my two year old grandaughter left a perfect FULL set dental impression on my grandson's arm.... I thought it was befitting that I finally get around to painting on this huge frame I picked up at a yard sale for only $3. The Mod Podged paper was already in place. Loving the colors on this...My first thought was to make it into a chalk board, but I don't think that would hold up to being rained on. Its been kept outdoors for over a year already! What to paint? hmmmm... Why a very popular mantra of course, "Keep calm and carry on" I purposely put it side ways--- to further remind everyone (myself included) to keep calm-- crooked things bother me lolThen on to pruning.... I've got a lot of rose bushes on my property, and I'm always on the look out for more roses whenever I go to the hardware store or garden nursery. Last count I took, I had 35, and I've added more since then. I love 'em. This one is as big as a dinner plate. Everyone of the rose bushes has to have the dead heads cut off periodically. My most favorite thing to do in the yard is to prune, so its all good. I pull off the full spent heads of rose petals and toss them over my grandkids, its wonderful until they start grabbing them themselves..... I also have a collection of miniature rose bushes. I have 26 of them, so far. I've been lucky to find some mini roses at one of our local dollar stores-- next time I see them, I'm going to buy at least 30 more so I can have them lined up like little soldiers along the side of my house. Here is a photo of my gardening buddy "Puss-Puss". I stole her from my neighbor. Well, I guess those of you who know cats, know.... you can't really steal a cat now can you. No one owns a cat.... anywho, this once ferrel cat hangs out with me and is my constant outdoor companion when I'm working. I lurve her~
Lastly, pixies.... I've added some pixies inside cages that I've got hanging in various places in my grandkids play yard.... I added about 6 more to the area, here are just a few~ This little purple doll was a 10 cent yard sale find, a little hot glue to keep her curls in place, a smidge of wire to keep the wings that came off a broken butterfly in place and taaaaaa daaaaaaa instant fairy in a cage.Its adorable to watch them find the pixies and get really close to the cages and peek inside. The get so happy, its adorable I tell you!Well, now I'm off to go work on transforming this pinata of "Woody" into a Pirate pinata!Always having fun~

Thrifted Treasures...

2011-04-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

I always come across the bestest stuff.... this metal childs patio furniture was being sold for $20, I got it for $10!This absolutely fabulous lamp-- that still works, I bought for only $5. The round metal mirror was $1 and the green beaded tree was $1. Here is a close-up of my lovely new lamp! *swoon*This pile of embroidered and crocheted items was only $2. I've never seen this crocheted edging before... this crocheting was done using ric rac and gives it a lovely scalloped edge. This pile of old photographs, greeting cards, boxes and an old book was only $2.Lastly, this signed water color painting painted by the artist N. Taylor Stonington. My husband bought this for $3... online they sell for around $300 to over a$1, 000 buckeroos. Sweetie... I still don't like it! I've linked to Apron Thrift Girl's "Thrift Share Monday" and "Her Library Adventures "Flea Market Finds" linky parties.

Happy Easter Everyone

2011-04-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Textiles

2011-04-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

I seriously must single handedly have the largest collection of crocheted trims, table cloths & embroidered pieces ever amassed. Even more so, because I hardly ever use any of it! I did make a cover for this bird cage awhile back.... I think it turned out rather cute. The chippy bird cage and stand I picked up at a yard sale for $15.
This next bird cage was needing a cover as well... I just stitched the edges of a long rectangle piece of fabric which I added vintage crocheted trim to the edges of. Easy peasy...I have one of my beloved images that I simply treasure that I've made into a fairy inside the cage... I call him "Sweet Pete" I have him sitting on the swing inside the cage. I have over 30 bird cages of different sizes and shapes through out my home.... I know right?.... I think a few more cages might be getting some crocheted trim added to them as well.
I've linked up to Freckled Laundries textile linky party, and Beverly's Pink Saturday linky party.

Swappin' fun

2011-04-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

I recently received a couple of boxes of goodies in the mail. The first box of goodies was sent to me from Betty Villalobos. Who doesn't have a blog... just yet. I love-love-love the tag she sent along with a box full of goodies. I simply adore cats, so this is absolutely perfect for me. Honestly, the photo does not do justice to the workmanship that went into this tag. It is 3 dimensional and exquisite~ She also sent along some yummy chocolate, two bundles of to-die-for fabric, an adorable cup and a Tim Holtz metal book thingie. Thank you so much Betty for your generousity, now get off your hinny and start a BLOG!! I would love to see more of your creations as I'm sure others would too! I was invited to join in on Vivian's Easter ornament swap. Vivian Neroni of vivs-whimsy, the swap hostess, made these two ornaments... A felt egg, and a felted chick hatching out of an egg. Super cute huh? This ornament was made by Valeria Kraft of Glittery Daze and Nights. Simply darling!Theresa Whitmore of Sycamore Moon Studios felted this whimsical bunny. Charming little bunny isn't it? Rebekah Conklin from Full of Bliss Creations made this felted bunny. The attention to detail is amazing.
This bunny head ornament was made by Cyndi LaChance from Holiday Sparkle. Super cute!
I haven't brought out anything "Eastery" this Easter--- so I've just got all of these beauties tucked inside a crystal bowlie for my family and friends to admire~
I did hang this beautiful cross in front of a mirror, recently bought for only $1.50.... isn't it beautiful. I guess thats the best "Easter" decoration isn't it~

Clubbin'

2011-04-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a little trip to Disneyland and California Adventures amusement parks. The weather was divine, the lines not that long... and lunch at club Club 33 was as fabulous as always~You would never know that this restaurant existed unless you knew of it ahead of time because it is a well hidden, well kept secret. A lot of the staff that work at Disneyland don't even know about it. The entrance is in the New Orleans area of Disneyland. The door is located right beside the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Just a door.... with the number "33" on it, knock and your in. Okokok... you must have a membership to the club to get in... and you must call a few months ahead for a reservation, but after that-- you just knock and the door opens. I always like to start off with a dessert appetizer.... lol.... if you are what you eat... then EAT SOMETHING CUTE! right? Gold signet rings.... this is new to the gift shop. New on my list to Santa too~Chloe was very stylish at Disneyland, she was ultra modern in her politically correct red polka-dot ensemble, and of course a sweet-sweet pixie in lavender,and super sweet in a little Snow White outfit~
Jonathan was a plumber, um... I mean a pirate....Ohhhhhhhhhhh the embarr.ass.ment....We hung out with Tinkerbell for quite some time... Chloe and Tinkerbell have the same personality... So bad at trying to be so good.... you know how those little pixie's can be!They played hide & seek for a while... Tink kept hiding behind Chloe so she never could find her! Thats Tink for you-- so bad at trying to be good!Once they were done playing they got down to serious business and began sharing all kinds of pixie secrets with each other... Jonathan was left out of the loop~ Jonathan didn't waste a second and made a B-line over to Tink & Chloe's good friend Rosetta... He was smitten~ Jonathan was a little annoyed that Chloe was cutting in on his quality time with Rosetta. You can see Chloe clutching at her lavender roses on the front of her dress. Well, Rosetta is a garden fairy, and she would have plucked those off her dress and stuck them in her garden! Those pixie's are tricky like that~After leaving Pixie Hollow, we came across one of Jonathan's pirate buddies. He was searching all over Disneyland to give Jonathan one of his gold coins for his 4th birthday, that made him forget all about Rosetta...The next day, while having breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen Jonathan was dressed like ~~Benjamin~~ ~~Franklin~~ Captain Hook, Peter Pan of course had to come over and pester him. Jonathan did his very best to ignore him~Peter and Chloe have been friends for years & years... as they both are mutual friends with Tink~Even with Chloe dressed in a Snow White outfit that I altered for her, Peter recognized her right away. Normally Snow White doesn't wear a mini skirt..... *wink* Out of the blue, wouldn't you know it--- Tink showed up! What a sweetie, adding some glitter to her little shoes~ Here are my grand kids riding in their sit and stand stroller, they were both passed out. Both of them would have slide on the ground still fast asleep had they not been strapped in. Jonathan has his head in the mesh carry bag that is hooked on the handles of the stroller~It was a very fun mini-vacation :-)

Treasure Hunting

2011-04-09T17:42:00.001-07:00

I had a lot of fun on my treasure hunt this morning.... the weather was fabulous and everyone I came across was happy, so it made for a fun-fun day. I found five lace-scalloped metal tin pieces, the likes of which I've never seen before. I paid $4 for all of them.... caute huh? You should have seen the people trying to buy them off me, it was so funny.... I could have made a hefty profit, but I'm greedy and I wanted them for myself--- although, I don't have a clue what I'm going to do with them just yet! Some jewelry, all of this for $1... A huge lot of necklaces, these were .50¢ each. Just look at these beauts.... Lastly, this fabulous wooden magazine holder. This was $6. I am going to paint it white (of course) and put my grandkids coloring books and crayons in it. It is actually quite tall, it stands almost two feet. I also bought 8 pairs of lace curtain panels for .50¢ a panel. Eight bucks for a trunk load of curtains... my-my-my... I also got several wooden curtain rods with all the hardware for only $4. I am anxious to wash the lace curtains and hang them up....but.... I've got to hit the sheets as we are going to Disneyland in the morning. *woot-woot*
Toodles!!

Glittered eggs

2011-04-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

I made some glittered egg ornaments for an Easter ornament swap I joined. I cut an opening into each plastic egg-- Next, I added a flat platform to the bottom of each egg. After glittering inside and out of each egg.... I then created a little vignette inside each one. Look at this little pixie... I adore the puzzled look on his face, so funny~ I was to make six, but ended up making seven... so I could keep one myself. Don't you find you never make yourself anything? I think the vintage pearls and seam binding finish them off nicely. I'm keeping this one....I like the look of boredom he has to his stance, the little cutie-pie~

Salvaged Treasures

2011-04-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend I thought was going to be a total bust on finding any treasures... due to the fact that I was HAVING a yard sale instead of going to yard sales. Well, after about an hour of putting my stuff out onto the driveway, and selling things for about another hour.... I was done, done... done. I sold the ALL the remaining contents left on the driveway for $20. It took us about another forty-five minutes to bag everything up and stick it in the ladies van. Whew...work-out!

With money burning a hole in my pocket..... FLAMES I tell ya! We headed out to find some treasures. I found this wooden headboard and foot board for $20, asking price was $35... This 1942 vintage game was only $1. Look at the fabulous graphics on the money. Caute huh? Next yard sale.... was a DREAM. Shabby chic everything. *swoon-sigh-get busy grabbing stuff yard sale* I bought this fabulous table and chairs set for only $125. Already painted white-- hooray! It came with a fitted glass top and it has THREE leaves to extend it to a ginormous size.... Look at the cute as can be chairs. If you can even fathom the thought, this table that you see pictured here even has drop down sides to make it even smaller if you need it to be. I love it! I also bought all this china for $5. A couple of books and a German glitter glass ornament, all this for $4. A super heavy fireplace pit for only $20. Its going to be a beaut once its newly painted! *woot-woot* This small table and chair set was only $10. With the addition of these two chairs, I now have 31 chairs in my backyard..... A huge bag full of scrapbook items and books for only $4. The 3 piece pen set alone online sells for $25.... Now, I'm off to buy some paint for my new headboard and fireplace pit. Happy-happy-joy-joy.... Its starting to feel like Spring ;-P or maybe I should say I've got a "spring" in my step over my newly acquired stuff!
I've linked up to "Thrift Share Monday"

Hallelujah...

2011-04-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

The weather has finally decided to stop messing around and become spring-like. Hall-e-lu-jah! Lately, I've been spending my days outdoors trying to get my backyard under control.... leaves, sticks, WEEDS, yucky grime all over everything..... yuck. I just don't understand how everything is covered with a layer of dirt-- you would think that everything would be so darn clean after having spent all that time being rained on.... dusty, dusty, dusty.... all of this is going to be painted white.... soon.I did manage to have some fun even while doing some outdoor cleaning. I took some metal curvy bits that we took off of two gazebos... spray painted them hot pink.... next, I hammered them into the ground behind some plants so I could use them as plant stakes. Topped them off with some plastic balls and taaaaa daaaaaaa whimsical plant stakes! This is in my play yard. Next ~~big~~ HUGE project is breaking through some cement to put two posts to hold this beauty. I was ~~wanting~~ needing a gate to keep my dog from strategically placing ~~land mines~~ poop in my grandkids play area. I'm using the fireplace screen (painted pink) to keep the dog out of the area for now. Last summer while tossing things out on the curb for our yearly city wide garbage pick up, a metal scrapper was going through our pile pulling out metal bits--- when I spied this beautiful gate with the two posts that it hung from ON HIS TRUCK. I bought it right on the spot. I think I paid him either $10 or $20 for it... it was all a blur.... I was giddy! Hmmm door to door junk salesman..... not a bad idea! We are going to cut out the "R & L" in the
center of the gate, sand it, paint it, hang it-- LOVE it!