An Easter Project

Wishing everyone a blessed and happy Easter, and hope you are able to share this day with your friends and family.

A few weeks ago Bobbie taught this cute bunny basket class at Paper Crown. Please excuse the iPhone photo. I meant to take a better one yesterday but the light was gone by the time I thought about it. Also please excuse the fact that you can only see the ears on bunny #3.  You may see a much better photo on Bobbie's blog here. 

The basket is made from a lampshade, and decorated with lots of gathered crepe paper, coffee filters, and ribbon.  The basket is rather large at almost two feet tall. I'm not sure where I'll store it after today, but I do love it!

I also wanted to share this sunset photo taken as we were walking to our car after dinner one evening last week.  It had been a lovely spring-like day, and the beautiful sunset provided the perfect close.


Enjoy your day!

Finds Come and Finds Go

A couple of weeks ago I found an antique corset at a local estate sale, along with some other vintage clothing and lace bits.  I listed the corset the next day and it sold almost immediately. It was in good condition and I had priced it reasonably in the hope that it would sell quickly.

I always include a little something extra with my Esty packages. Usually it's a fun tag that I've stamped and tied with some seam binding, but when I was preparing the corset to mail, I decided I wanted to do something more specific to this special piece.  I looked on The Graphics Fairy and found a great vintage photo, then added some lace and a button. I think it turned out nicely, and hope the purchaser will enjoy it, along with her new (old) corset!

Rolodex Art

Cindy at Paper Cowgirl organized a Rolodex art card swap for past Paper Cowgirl attendees, so I had to "jump into the saddle" for that.  We're to make twenty-five cards, either all alike or different - our choice. They'll all go to Cindy, who will regroup them and we'll receive twenty-five cards back.  There are amazing artists in this group so I look forward to seeing what everyone else creates.

I'm in a use-it-up mode in preparation for clearing out my little space for new flooring and paint, so I decided to use my paper stash to cover all my cards.  Now I'm just letting the background paper on each card speak to me to see where it goes. I'm having a great time with it so far. Here are the first six.

I'll show more as I complete them, and the ones I receive when the exchange is over in May.

Spring Has Sprung Swap - Part Deux

I've been in tax time hell but finally got everything delivered to the CPA, so now I can do - and post about - artsy craftsy things.  You're going to love these little baskets from my Spring Has Sprung Swap partners. 

First up is my basket from Lisa.  We were able to swap in person, so that was fun.  We're both going to Karla Nathan's Birdsong III event in June, so there will be several more swaps in our immediate future.

Lisa packaged the little basket so nicely, but I opened it at class before I could take a photo so I've re-staged it here.  She distressed and gathered cream crepe paper, wrapped it with rick rack, and added a pink velvet bow and pearls.  Inside was a matching match box, two bouquets of the tiny little vintage posies I love so much, the cutest little bird on a spool - adorable - and a sweet fuzzy bunny face with a rhinestone crown pinned to one ear.

Of course, the matchbox was filled with more lovely things. I'm planning to make a charm bracelet using the ruler and tiny bottle charms she sent, plus a few others I've been collecting. 

My other basket is from Tabitha, who organized the swap.  She sent this lovely aqua creation.

Don't you love that tiny "nest" banner and that little glittered bird?  She included all of these little things to "feather the nest."

Thank you so much, ladies!  This was such an enjoyable swap, and just what I needed to tide me over until it actually feels like spring.

Note:  Click on any photo to see a larger version. You can see what I sent Lisa and Tabitha in my previous post here.

Spring Has Sprung Swap - Part I

The very imaginative Tabitha at Creative Wings Boutique recently hosted yet another fun swap. This was the "Spring Has Sprung Basket Swap" and each participant made and received two small decorated baskets filled with little gifts. I'll be showing the baskets I received soon, but since both of my swap partners have their baskets, today I'll show you what I created.  I used my newfound talent (learned in a recent class - see end of post) to make crepe paper festooning for both baskets, then filled them with fuzzy chicks, bits of lace, and other little surprises.  Oh my gosh, I had SO much fun making these! 
One partner was Lisa. We had a class together this week so we swapped baskets there (more on the class later.)  I used a mix of springy colors for her basket.

Lisa is a fellow dog lover, so I thought the child's hankie with the cute yellow and blue dogs was a perfect addition.

My other partner for this swap was Tabitha, who loves pink and aqua.  It looks a bit pink and baby blue here, but actually looked more aqua "in person."

In both baskets I included a little packet with pretty playing cards, letter cards, and some vintage Easter scrap.

Hope they liked their little bits of spring fun! Check back soon to see the lovelies Lisa and Tabitha made for me.

Note: For festooning, sew eight layers of crepe paper streamers together down the center. I used about five feet and it was relatively easy to work with. After sewing, clip along both edges every 1/8" to 1/4" inch, being careful to not cut the center thread.  Martha Stewart five-blade scissors are great for this project and make it much easier.  After making the cuts, fold along the center thread line and glue the festooning along the fold to your project, then fluff.  It's really fun and easy!  I learned this technique from Bobbie in her Valentine banner class.

Oh, the Beauty!

Terry and I recently exchanged swap gifts, for our originally fall, then holiday, then early March swap! I so love that we're both so bad about putting this off, but still want to keep it up. She's always busy, and I'm usually lacking inspiration or just creative zeal, so it all works out.

She truly spoiled me this round. She always does, but oh my - my eyes watered when I opened this package.  I won't have adequate adjectives, I know.  First was the pretty box, topped by lace and a beautiful angel she purchased at a Vintage Marketplace show in California.  Isn't this a lovely presentation?

Inside was a vintage photo of an adorable Basset Hound pup - the perfect thing - and lots of pretty packages, including one tied in the Tiffany one-pull fashion with double-face satin ribbon.

There was a fabulous scented candle, and this pretty dish and a gorgeous bracelet that she made in one of  the many fun classes she takes.

This is the most amazing banner, also from a class. The embellishments are wonderful. Look at that rhinestone and velvet trim!  There really are an amazing number and variety of classes in California and all along the West Coast, and I know from taking classes with Terry at French General last year that she has an eye for selecting the perfect embellishments from the options provided in a class.

As if all this weren't enough, she sent the most darling, fabulous and lovely doll!  Oh me. This one was from a class with Joanna Perotti. It is just the most perfect little thing.

She tucked in some sweet treats inside a bag she decorated for Valentine's Day.  Love it!

I am in awe of her sweet generosity and all her talents, and feel blessed to know her.  Just wish we lived closer! Thank you, thank you, my sweet friend!

As you can imagine, I could go on endlessly about all these lovely things I was so fortunate to receive, but I'll show you what I sent her.  It was a rather meager package this time, but overall our exchanges do even out (I hope!)

These little pixie boxes are such fun to make, so I made this one in her favorite colors - black and cream.  I tried several trims around the hat, but this bit of vintage mink worked perfectly.

Inside I packed a few vintage bits and embellishments - some lace, ribbon, a tiny pillbox, a few of those crazy rosettes that I am so obsessed with right now.

The little Valentine's banner I made in a recent class was included, too. I made another similar one for myself. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing the many pretty things, and that they provided some inspiration.  Just click on any photo to see a larger version.

Enjoy your week!

Estate Sale and Thrift Store Finds

There were at least a couple of estate sales every weekend in February, and four this past weekend.  I've not found a lot, but thought I'd best share a few things since that's what this blog is all about!

Last weekend we went to one of the oddest sales we've ever attended.  There was no sign in the yard or on the house, but people were going in and so did I.  The sale was apparently conducted by the family, as they were in the kitchen making signs to put outside.  At 1 PM.  The sale started at 9 AM. There was a strange mix of items and hardly anything was priced. Lots of smalls had been thrown together in big boxes with no rhyme or reason, and though I bravely dug through the mess in search of treasure, there was none to be found.  As I was about to leave empty handed, I spotted a plastic bag of buttons.  Many looked newer but if the price was right, I was willing to take a chance. $3. Sold!  In addition to about twenty cards of pretty high-quality 1960s-1980s buttons on cards, there were all of these lovelies. Click on any of the photos for a better view.

These are my favorites in the photo below - MOP, rhinestones, bakelite, glass and more.

I'm not sure, but I believe these two are celluloid.  They're hollow and very lightweight.

I have no idea what this is, but it's sparkly so I like it. If you know what it is, please leave a comment and let us know.

At the second sale that day I found a vintage 1940s bridal headpiece, labeled "Miss Lillian for Vogue Bridals." I've listed it in my Etsy shop, along with a few other nice things from the same sale.

I went to two sales and a local antique/vintage mall Friday and bought nothing. The DH was with me on Saturday and must have been my good luck charm because I found a wonderful necklace and earrings, two rhinestone buckles, a couple of flower frogs, and an old sprinkler attachment. The DH found seven Craftsman screwdrivers for $1 each.  Sorry, no photos of those.  I know you're disappointed!

After recently trashing our two local thrift stores because they never seem to have anything but "new junk," I found the doily above and these two pieces.  The little McCoy pot and the Oven Serve dish are both cracked so they'll be staying with me, but at around a dollar each, cracks don't bother me. They'll still hold buttons or pencils and look lovely doing it.

I haven't been posting much lately but will try to do better.  I found several interesting things at a sale north of here a few weeks ago, but as some of them are going to be gifts I need to wait to post about those.  My friend Terry and I just had another one-on-one swap and she sent me amazing things.  I'll be sharing those soon, along with what I sent her.

Thanks for reading!