Valentine Heart Both Sweet and Tart

Today I Created | A Valentine heart tartlet that is both sweet and tart to go with my other heart tartlets.

I started off using the Sizzix Angel Wings die and cutting two matching wings out of Grunge Paper. Next, I embossed them with the Tropical Paisley Textured Impressions.

I used Barn Door, Distress Ink to color the wings. While they were still damp I used a brayer and rolled white acrylic paint over the surface which turned pink. When the wings were dry I applied Mod Podge and clear glitter.

Meanwhile I found a large red button and tied embroidery floss in the center. I glued lace around the edges and then hot glued it to the center of one of the Swedish Tartlet pans that I bought at an estate sale. This made the heart look very sweet.

The final part was to adhere the wings to the back of the tartlet pan. As I was deciding where to glue the wings I noticed that at this angle they have a little piece that shows near the bottom sides of the heart. This gave it a bit of a goth appearance. Maybe painted black and silver would make these look perfect for Halloween decorations. A Valentine heart both sweet and tart!

This is linked to Lovely Crafty Home.

Vintage Bookcover

Today I Created | A vintage-looking bookcover

I saw an awesome notebook at PB that had a collage of vintage images and was inspired to create something similar. I began by creating a collage of several images from the Graphics Fairy and decided to use it to create my own vintage looking bookcover.

I only have an 8.5" x 11" printer so the paper size was limited. I was able to select the option of having the image print to the edge of the paper so the finished piece was truly 8.5" x 11". This was important because this creates a very small bookcover at best.

I grabbed every small hardback book I had but all of them were too large to be covered by one sheet of paper. As a last resort I pulled out an old paperback and decided to just cover that if it would fit.

Luckily it fit perfectly. And not only that, it gave the paperback book a vintage look. Eventually I would love to cover different sized books but until then I can enjoy some inexpensive paperbacks that just look expensive.

All of the images are from the Graphics Fairy except for the postage stamps and the postcard of the Tower Bridge which are from my personal collection.

This is linked to The Graphics Fairy, Lovely Crafty Home, Under the Table and Dreaming and The Shabby Nest.

Valentine Heart Tartlet Assemblage

Today I Created | A Heart Tartlet Assemblage

I bought these Swedish Tartlet pans at an estate sale yesterday. I envisioned Valentine projects with the heart-shaped tins.

My first project was to use Cranberry colored Alcohol Ink in the center since this one particular tin had a flawed finish and the color would hide some of the scratches. I placed three drops of the ink in the center and tipped the tin to allow the ink to flow up each of the side grooves. I liked how this looks like rays emanating from the heart.

I embellished it simply by adding a smaller distressed banner with a stamped sentiment.

For this second Tartlet Assemblage I found this adorable image from the Graphics Fairy blog. I sized it to fit the tartlet tin, printed it on cardstock, trimmed it and edged it with tinsel ribbon. The last step was to adhered it to the center of the tartlet tin.

This is linked to the Graphics Fairy, Apron Thrift Girl, Creative Every Day, Keeping It Simple, Making the World Cuter, House of Grace, Someday Crafts, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Trendy Treehouse, FaveCrafts and Between Naps on the Porch.

Addendum: I have posted a third Valentine Heart Tartlet Assemblage.

First 2011 Estate Sale

We discovered a resale estate sale. I thought the new year would start off slowly but I found some really nice treasures.

There is nothing like a lime green aluminum pitcher to immediately attract your attention. I have seen aluminum cups in bright colors but I've never seen a pitcher. The photo does not convey the true green color. This is a Norben Ware pitcher which I hope does not get me started collecting matching cups.

This is an interesting 1962 atlas that states "Space Age World Atlas" and "Earth... as seen by the astronauts". I loved the image of the astronaut in the bright neon colors of the 60s. The "Space Age" began approximately five years before this atlas was printed. In 1962 only about 22 United States astronauts had ever been in space and it wasn't until seven years later that man first walked on the Moon. Space exploration was very new and exciting when this atlas was printed.

I was attracted to these copper/brass measuring cups because of their color and their heavy weight. They seemed old because newer copper measuring cups wouldn't weigh as much as this set. The copper finished just looked pretty. I seem to be starting a collection of measuring cups since this is an addition to my previous treasure find.

This Federal Star glass juice pitcher looked so cute with its petite size and the star on the bottom.

I found quite a few of these Swedish tartlet molds. I liked their shape and saw a lot of crafting potential in them. I plan to use the heart-shaped molds for some Valentine projects. Click here to see some finished projects using the Heart Tartlet pans.

One can always find a use for red floral picks. These will be set aside for future Christmas projects.

And then there were the old Christmas ornaments. Oh how I love old ornaments! These first two have a unique round shape protruding at the bottom. The pink ornament also has three indented shapes around it.

These gold deer ornaments have a concave side with a plastic deer and snow set inside. The ornament is marked "Japan".

The gold ornament below is a teardrop shape and is marked "Poland".

This last photo is of tiny Shiny Brite ornaments. These are perfect for my vintage plastic Christmas tree.

Sorry, I forgot to reveal the best part that made this such a fun and thrifty treasure hunt. Everything was at half-price so I got all of this for about $25 which also included sales tax.

2011 has started off with some very good thrifty treasure hunting.

This is linked to Vintage Thingie Thursday, Coastal Charm and Apron Thrift Girl.

Sharing Collections

Today I'm sharing a photo of one of the many things I have collected over the years. I'm a big fan of Selena at Apron Thrift Girl and she has started a Collect Share link. Well, it didn't take much to convince me to share photos of things I love to collect.

This is my favorite collection, old world globes. I love finding globes or maps with old political boundaries that no longer exist. I bought most of these over ten years ago.

The large globe on the right is actually a lamp. I love the scene in the movie "While You Were Sleeping" when the father is reading to the young Sandra Bullock character and in the background is this world globe light. Warm, fuzzy memories.

The smallest globe is a pencil sharpener that I bought recently at a garage sale. The two medium globes are coin banks.

This is just a small part of all of the vintage things I love to collect. Let's hope Apron Thrift Girl does a lot more of these Collect Share link parties.