Ann & Andy~

The Faerie Wysperer is hosting a birthday party for Raggedy Ann. Hop on over to her blog for some birthday festivites and giveaways as well.
Here is my Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls..... I've been working on them in the evenings after working out in my yard all day long-- needless to say I'm pooped!I obviously didn't go with the traditional red/white & blue colors. Shabby chic is more my style! I gave them both blue eyes and blonde hair~I drew the faces in pencil then embroidered them. Ann has cute pouty lips...Andy has a sullen look to him as he isn't so happy to be wearing such girlie colors. He also doesn't appreciate his hair being smoothed out, he would much rather it be messy~Ann has an embroidered red heart on her chest with the words "I love you Chloe xoxo Nana" and in Andy's heart the words "I love you Jonathan xoxo Nana" It is much easier for me to actually finish something if I have it in my mind that I'm making it for someone other than myself! So, the grandkids will have these added to the huge stash of toys they have already.
Here are the two standing together, arm in arm. I made Ann's pinafore out of a vintage appliqued piece I picked up for .45cents. Her dress is really pretty, but the pinafore is so wide it hides it.This is the first time I have ever finished a doll from making the actual doll to making its clothing as well. I must say, it is a lot of work. Very time consuming!!!

Vaaaaaaaacaaaaaa~

I'll be out in my yard for the next 4 days working on getting things finished-- (like... the deck, laying down weed barrier & bark, laying brick, hanging bamboo, enlarging the gazebo, etc...) I'll hopefully have my Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls finished by then as well. I'll work on those when it gets to dark to work outside! I'm anxious to show those two off as these are truely the only dolls I've ever completed and I must say they turned out better than I expected--- like someone else made them! I think the next doll I attempt, will be one made with paper clay. I'll share the linkie to the blog of this fabulous artist that is a true inspiration when I come back online next week. For some reason my computer is acting all wonky and won't let me do anything other than type~ Taaaaaa taaaaaaaa for now all you sweet gals that read my bloggie and make me feel all warm and fuzzy...
or is that menopause?
...hmmm I am turning 45 on Tuesday....

Tuesday Treasures~

I went to an estate sale recently and I picked up this huge box of (used) greeting cards for $3. I know crazy huh? Those are all cards baby, no envelopes! I also got some old, fabulous upholstery fabric and all this old seam binding ribbon for a total of $2. I was giddy I tell ya~ I have never gotten seam binding on a roll before.

I also got this dress form. I pulled up to a block sale at 6:30ish in the a.m. and I got soooooooooo excited to see this as I pulled up. The price tag? $30 bucks ...eh gawds...... to pricey for me... so I razzle dazzled him and got it for $20. Who lowers the price on things for the first customer? crazy-crazy-crazy.... I am needing to cover her with something a little more "shabby chic" rather than just shabby!

Head on over to Diane's blog to see more Tuesday Treasures on her linky for "2nd Time Around Tuesday" Also.... if your wanting to see even more treasures stop over at Rhoda's blog "Southern Hospitality" If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more.... you can click here.

I've got the feva'

I've been working feverishly in my backyard lately...well, it sure does feel like I've got a fever working in this 100+ degree temperature! I finally got the cement foundation poured in the area that I'm wanting to place the little tikes cottage that I picked up last month (at a yard sale).... now I've just got to let the cement set up. Ugh, I hate to wait. I've got to still clean up the mess from that....Then I get the fun task of placing all this object de'art in amongst the newly planted plants... that along with putting away all the tools....I've just got one more board to cut & screw in place on my deck, then build a small step into the garden area, lay some more brick along the curved walkway.... then...then... ehhhhhhh gawds, its never ending I tell ya!! Here is what this area looked like about 2 months ago. A lot of work went into this area so far.... I'll complain brag about that in another blog post when I'm all finished with it! I am nearing completion though so thats exciting!I have also been working on my Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls. I embroidered the faces on each one...and I proclaimed in embroidery "I love you Chloe xox Nana" on Ann's chest and "I love you Jonathan xox Nana" on the chest of Andy. Who knew making dolls was soooooo time consuming? Here is armless Ann.... Andy is in pieces laughing....literally, as he isn't stitched together yet! I know, its a stretch to see a Raggedy Ann in this doll....so squint your eyes...maybe you'll see the resemblance?

Raggedy Ann & Andy~

I recently picked up these fun fabrics to get me motivated to start sewing on the Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls I'm wanting to make for.... my grandkids/ to enter into the fair/ and to show on the blog "The Faerie Wysperer" you can read about that here. I know- I know, not the traditional colors for the pair, but I'm not a traditional kinda gal~ sooooo I'm making a "shabby chic" Raggedy Ann & Andy. I've already made the arms as you can see, I opted not to sew in the finger lines-- giving each hand a bigger fuller area to be chewed on! These are going to be baby friendly dolls.

I've also been super busy building on my new deck, hopefully that will be completed soon! I am anxious to show off my hard work in my new side yard!

Transformation Thursday

I picked up this neat old soda box for $1 last summer at a yard sale. It has been kicking around my garage & backyard until I saw the cuteness of it once again. It had orange, lime green & brown felt glued in each box. Soooooo 1970's--- but for a buck, I couldn't pass it up. I'm pretty sure it held those gawd-awful owls in its hay-day~ I was going to stick skeins of yarn in it, or store paint cans in it..... Then I got a phone call from a gal I had met up at one of our local antique shows (I just happened to give her one of my business cards)... well, long story short, she invited me to share a table with her at an upcoming show in November. I've got time to get back to her while I ponder the idea.... just incase I decide to do it, I'm going to need staging items to contain all that neat small stuff.... So, I took this box and I painted the box with some watered down acrylic white paint... Then, I lined each small cubbie with old pages from a Sears robuck catalog. I used Mod podge to adhere each piece of paper, as well as one coat of Mod podge on top of each sheet as well. Once that was all dry, I went over each piece with clear varnish so that it wouldn't be sticky. When Mod podge dries it is tacky to the touch, sticky even!!-- and things will stick to it. Once the inside was finished...I tackled the outside. I painted a pink ovalish shape on each side then proceeded to paint a design on the box.GASP-- I am not a painter! but hey, that didn't stop me. I figured I'd give it a try and if it didn't turn out caute I'd paint over it. No biggy~ I drew a design on paper so that each side would match...I am soooooo matchy-matchy... I then used some dress makers transfer paper and copied the design onto the two larger sides and then made a smaller design for the two smaller sides. Then I just filled in the areas-- I picked out light colors so it wouldn't be sooooooooo noticeable if it looked really bad! Smart thinking huh? Then of course, I got nervous about the whole darn thing-- seeing how there are true talented painters out there that would laugh at my attempts at painting (pretty postive they would laugh!) sooooooooooo I went over the newly painted area with some sandpaper! Gosh darn it.... would you ever have guessed? I love it! You can view more transformations over at "Shabby Chic Cottage" and also over at "A Soft Place to Land" Kimba is hosting a "do it yourself" linky party. The Coloradolady is also hosting a Vintage Thingie Thursday. And last, but not least...Leigh over at "Tales From Bloggeritaville" is hosting a Thrifty Thursday linky party~

Works for meeeee Wednesday~

I fell in love with these two new-but-old-looking chippy frames at a thrift store. I came right home and hung them in my bathroom over my toilet throne. I didn't even care that one print was vertical and the other one was horizontal-- the frames matched, and they are shabbish and I lourve them~ I've had them hanging in the lou now for about 4 months, I couldn't for the life of me find anything to place in those frames, until I realized DUH.... look online and print your own.I found a really neat vintage printable site and found two lovely prints and just printed those suckers out. I picked out this fabulous nest... and this one....Here they are in my frames....Taaaaaaaaa daaaaa instant caute! Sooooooo easy-peasy! Here is the link to the webpage I got these off of. Prepare to go buy somemore color ink for your printers girlies as your going to be in pig heaven! It is kinda a "messy" website... everything seems to be layed upon everything else. Once you get past that you'll find fabulous pictures to print out for your personal use. Seriously, go check it out!

You can see more neat ideas over at the blog "We are That Family" who is hosting a weekly linky party~ If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more... you can click this link to have yourself a little lookie-lou~