Princess Chloe~

My grandaughter (Princess) Chloe Rose is going to make her debut into this world on February the 13th~ I've begun getting things ready for her to have on hand for her big debut.

Her mothers royal robe and hat that she wore when she was a baby.Her small white-gold grown and star scepter is ready as well. Although she will hold no authority while holding this scepter, a child can never start to early in life in using those tools around her.... in any case, she can use it to smack her brother who refuses to be "Prince" Jonathan opting to be Pirate Jonathan instead~

Altered Tins~

Well....here is my altered tin all finished for my swap partner Marilyn whose blog is called "Unshelved Words". The second tin I made is similar to this one-- I think I'll hold onto that one for the upcoming One world/one heart event on January the 19th.It is a winter wonderland swap. Here is a close up of the inside. I have never made an altered tin before.... it was fun and I like how it turned out~

Declutter & Organize Party!!

Sarah at "Thrifty Chick Decor" is hosting a "Declutter & Organize" party filled with great ideas from fellow crafters and the like for storage and organizing ideas :-) I have been busy redoing my studio from THIS cluttered unorganized mess....











to this streamlined everything out in the open (mess?) I know, I've got a lot of art supplies/stuff and some plain ol' junk-- and its not 100% organized but I've had a terrible flu to deal with so bear with me! What to do when you NEED all your supplies? lol

I put in floor to ceiling shelves and purchased clear bins to house various objects. The bins will be labeled eventually once I've streamlined the contents a little more~ The bins hold contents like glitter, glue, beads, trims, vintage items, paint, feathers, sewing supplies-- you name it, I've got it and its in a bin!

I've even got hat boxes on top my t.v. unit in the studio filled to the brim with vintage finds...(labels to come soon)






This vintage bookcase sits on top of my work table for added storage. I love the look of it filled with the white boxes. On the bottom shelf there is a mini drying rack (that pink thing...) that holds tiny pieces while they dry~ neat huh. I think it once was for holding mail? I had to cut the top of it off so it would fit on that shelf-- and of course, I had to paint it pink! lol

Here is a bookcase filled with antique books, some dating from the 1800's all waiting for me to get my hands on them! Its nice not to have them mixed in with my art & craft books finally!













Here is a view from the doorway leading into my studio....
I've got a dress form standing guard at the door....
around her neck she has long necklaces that rattle when anyone passes by her.
I've got loads of things under my work desk--- which will be put into plastic bins soooooooooooon I hope~

The studio closet....I know, Do I really need all this stuff? Yep-- I do. I did toss out a lot of things, which I will probably have to rebuy lol...but its a "work in progress" and with Sarah's ever constant great tips for keeping organized and making things "Cauute", I am inspired to continue!!

Upcoming posts....

I will hopefully be posting the photos of my studio "declutter & organization redo" on January the 12th...until then, I'm in bed sick! blah~ I've got all these things to do--darn inconvenient being sick! My grandson was the first to get sick and he has passed it all around.... I've got him coming over today...what am I going to do with him?
ahhhhhhhhhhhh what a great idea!!!

Valentine swap~

Well, I've signed up for 3 swaps--- 1.) Altered tin swap 2.) Mitten swap 3.) Very Vintage Valentine swap..... now you would think thats enough swappin'-- but nooooooooo I'm thinking of entering "Birds of Change" Sounds fun, you make 5 birds and send them along with return postage to the host and she sends you back 5 birds... still thinking on that one. I think the sign up date ends on January the 9th if anyone out there is interested~
My little love bug grandson has been staying with us since Sunday night-- he is sick and I didn't want his Mommy (with child) & Daddy getting sick. Well, that didn't work out to well, both Mommy & Daddy ended up getting SICK! I'm not getting anything done like I had planned to do... but I tell ya, helping those you love is so much more important :-) Even though my grandson is sick, I'm enjoying every second of it!

Glittery life~

I've been feverishly working on organizing and decluttering my studio-- in part because it was sorely needing to be done and also because Sarah at "The Thrifty Chick" is hosting a "Declutter & organize" party on January 12th. So you would think with that deadline looming over my head (I work best under pressure) that I would be working hard on my studio clean-up... it is such an unorganized mess......things everywhere.....but noooooooooo...

I've been shopping. *woot-woot* Everything I've come across has been 75% off! Practically free! Look at all the Martha Stewart glitter I picked up for $2.20 each, the regular price was $8.97 each!!!!

I know, thats probably more glitter than I'll use in my lifetime..so I had better put glitter on EVERYTHING from now on! I got some killer Christmas ornaments for next year...Disney car stuff for my grandson, girlie things for my grandaughter (yet to be born) and finally.... ornaments from the movie "The Christmas Story" I just LOVE that movie :-) even a matching tree skirt! Heavens to Betsy! What a fun shopping day!!

Old tin tree~

I was asked by my mother-in-law to repaint this tin tree she got years ago. I couldn't find any paint that was to be used on tin at our local craft store...so I purchased air drying iridescent glass paint. It came with 8 small containers of paint and it seemed to work just fine. It comes with a little bottle of rubbing alcohol to clean the piece that is to be painted... then you just apply coats. I remember this piece having a translucent appearance in the paint, this glass paint once painted on the tin gives it the same look it had all those years ago.....

Here it is all finished. I had to guess at most of the colors. It has been years since the color was this vivid. I tried my best to recreate the color with what little paint remained on the piece. I hope she is happy with how it turned out :-)