ATC Valentine Suitcase

Today I Created | A Suitcase to hold Valentine ATCs.

This is a sneak peek at some of the new Sizzix dies that will be available in the next few months.

This suitcase by Eileen Hull is fantastic and so versatile. Here I used it as a little case to hold some ATC cards. The front is decorated with a vintage Hearts playing card, an embossed heart, a new Mini Movers and Shapers Crown and a rubber stamp.

The back is covered with a French postcard image from the Graphics Fairy, a Paper Rosette die, a ticket and a Prima Pebble.

ATCs fit nicely within the suitcase. This first card is an image from the Graphics Fairy. I also added some die cut leaves, a spiral paperclip and a heart brad.

This ATC is embossed with the new Tim Holtz Texture Trade Queen of Hearts card and Paper Tape.

The third card is a print from my vintage French dictionary. It is embellished with a satin fabric heart, an image of the Eiffel Tower from the Graphics Fairy and held together with a vintage pin that I found in a jar of buttons at an estate sale.

The suitcase die will be available in May. The Queen of Hearts Texture Trade embossing folder as well as a King and Jack card will be available in February.

This is linked to A Little Lovely, Between Naps on the Porch, Blue Cricket Design, Chic On a Shoestring, Common Ground, Craft Envy, Creative Everyday, Creative Juices, Graphics Fairy, I {Heart} Naptime, Keeping It Simple, Krafty Kat, Lovely Crafty Home, Making the World Cuter, Me and My Bucket, Paisley Passions, Passionately Artistic, Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest, Simply Designing, Someday Creative, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Wildflowers & Whimsy and  The Girl Creative

I'm thrilled to be featured at Krafty Kat. Thank you!

Last Minute Thrifting

We decided to visit a garage sale at the last minute today. Since it is a Sunday we didn't expect to find much. We were pleasantly surprised to find someone who had a garage full of stuff and it was just a matter of digging through boxes.

We found an old mirror that has beveled edges and a beautiful shape. It doesn't look like much now but I envision a nice art project created out of this.

We also found a silver plated cream and sugar bowl by Cavalier from around 1937.

It was a nice haul for such a last minute treasure hunt.

This linked to Apron Thrift Girl, Finding Fabulous, House of Grace, Vintage Thingie Thursday and Coastal Charm.

CHA Day 1

Today was the first day of the 2011 Winter Craft & Hobby Association trade show in Los Angeles, CA. I admit that I love seeing all of the new crafting products as well as meeting many of the crafting superstars. This year's show was extra special for me because I have met some new friends through participating in the Sizzix Triple Play Bloghop.

Here are a few of my favorite crafting superstars that I enjoy seeing at every CHA show.

Anyone who enjoys paper crafting has probably heard of Tim Holtz. He is such a talented and nice guy and always greets me with such a warm smile and giant hug.

I walked the show with Karen Burniston. She is another super talented artist and her die designs are so brilliant. She is such a cool person and I enjoyed spending the day with her.

Another super designer that I've met through Sizzix and the Triple Play Blog Hop is the wonderful Eileen Hull.

I found Julie Fei-Fan Balzer demonstrating at a booth. I was so excited to finally meet her. She is such a creative artist and so very nice.

Enough of the star gazing. Here are some sneak peeks at some of the new Sizzix dies and new samples created by Tim Holtz. Is this guy amazing or what!

These are the new ATC cards used together with some of Tim's Mini Movers and Shapers. The little shapes are actually cut out of the cards. 

A card using his new Jalopy die.

A tag using his new Sewing Room die and his birdcage die as a skirt.

Now there are three different sizes of Paper Rosette dies. Yay!

Notice the word "FRIENDS" below, that is actually die cut out of the photo. This is just one of the new Movers and Shapers word dies.

Finally, this is a set of Texture Trades. These are similar to his Texture Fades but at the size of an ATC card.

I will have more photos to share later. This was such an exciting day with so much to see and so many industry friends to reconnect with.

Chandelier Crystal Collection

This has been a very odd week for me. At work I've been preparing for the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) trade show. At home I've been dealing with the loss of my beloved dog. It has been a mix of super highs and extreme lows.

I am thankful that Selena at Apron Thrift Girl is hosting her Collect Share link party. It has given me something to enjoy working on by gathering photos of one of my collections.

Today I'm showcasing my collection of chandelier crystals. I started collecting these years ago mostly from the Rosebowl Swapmeet in Pasadena. The challenge was to try and find as many unique crystals as possible without duplications or overspending. It has been great fun to hunt for these.

Here is the majority of my collection. There are no duplicates but there are some very similar styles.

Below are images of some of my favorite pieces.

I used to hang these in my sunniest window so my room would be filled with rainbows like in the Disney movie, Pollyanna. I've since redecorated but I still enjoy my crystals.

Truly Vintage Valentine Tag

Today I Created | A truly vintage Valentine Tag

For this tag I used several vintage pieces. My favorite piece is the actual Valentine card given to me by my "boyfriend" in fourth grade. It was extra special because, printed on the card, it said "I love you" and to a nine year old girl that meant true love. At one point I had used cellophane tape to hold this card in one of my first scrapbooks. You can see the discoloration on her feet.

Behind the card I used bits of my daisy lace that I bought at a garage sale. The old red and white sticker is something that I had in my stash. The button is a recent find from an estate sale. The only pieces that are new are the ribbons and the black cardstock.

This is linked to Kard Krazy.

Farewell Haley

I adopted Haley almost 14 years ago. At the time the shelter estimated that she was already two years old. Her name had been Chinook, like the cold northern winds. She looked like a Golden Retriever but all black. It was during the period that the Hale-Bopp comet was passing the Earth so I named her Haley because she had a tail like a comet. She became my velvet shadow, always close by and velvety soft.

She was to be an outside dog. Well, an outside and just a downstairs dog. Okay, an outside, downstairs and upstairs dog. Eventually she was allowed on my bed and was my warmth on cold nights.

I firmly believe that she scared off an intruder once. I heard the window being rattled and she barked, then silence. She was also at my side when we watched coyotes hunting in the park one night. She watched them silently as if she knew what was happening.

She never asked much of me except for tummy rubs and food. Always patient when I needed a hug and a good cry in her fur. She was my Wonder Dog.

She would not leave my side as I would not leave hers during this last journey she was about to take. She finally communicated that she was ready to pass and I had to let her go with terrible sadness. In her passing I wanted to share something that was written by an unknown dog owner and sent to me years ago. I believe that Haley will have a journey to the other place for the next four days. I will do my best to guide her passage.

"...This morning he had seizures and I rushed him to the vet but there was nothing to do but make him comfortable, he was beginning his last journey to the other place. He was my friend and faithful companion. My heart is sad and the shadows today are long. Under the full moon tonight I walked in the pasture and said goodbye, I could feel him at my side. It’s a four-day journey to the other place. I made marks in the dirt so he could find his way. I made loud noises so he would know he was not alone. I threw out some dog biscuits so he’d not go hungry. I let smoke drift in the wind to hide his spirit from evil along the way. I’ll see in four days a sign, maybe the rustle of the leaves, or the splatter of rain in the dirt, or an image in a cloud and I’ll know he arrived."


Good bye Haley. I will always try to be as good a human as you thought I was. Safe journey my dear companion. I will see you at the Rainbow Bridge.

Garage Sales and old Friends

I had lunch plans with an old friend that I hadn't seen in years. Visiting with her was the main plan for the day but since it was a lunch date and I had the morning free I thought I would hit a few sales on the way.

This took me to some cities that I would not usually go for thrifting. After two hours of driving around and stopping at three estate sales, I had found nothing. I was resigned to the fact that I would not find anything and that was okay because the lunch date was going to be the highlight of my weekend.

After a few more random garage sale stops I saw one last sign and stopped. I found this silver-plated vase that I plan to fill with silk or dried hydrangeas.

I am totally against smoking but I found these two ash trays from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. I like that this is another bit of California history. I may not be able to afford spending a night there but at least I can afford their thrifted ash trays.

The last two items I bought for purely nostalgic reasons. I remember playing with these little Disney figurines called Disneykins. I still have my old Donald Duck Disneykin somewhere. I think I broke all of the other characters. I found these two Disneykins and just had to have them. Sweet childhood memories.

It was a beautiful weekend reconnecting with a dear friend and I also found some nice treasures. What a great weekend!

As a followup to my post titled Four Estate Sales, I finally had a chance to look at all of the buttons that were in the jar I bought. I found two buttons that are either Bakelite (passed the chemical smell and 409 tests) or Vegetable Ivory. I also found one large and several small Lucite buttons. The large Lucite button has a black carved rose in the center. There are several vintage shell buttons and two glass vials. It was truly a treasure hunt looking through the old button jar.

This is linked to Apron Thrift Girl, Coastal Charm, The Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest and Vintage Thingie Thursday.

I am thrilled to be featured on Coastal Charm.

 

Vintage Music Wreath

Today I Created | A wreath using vintage sheet music

Now that Christmas is behind us, I was looking for something that hinted of Spring. I was inspired by this Winter wreath. It is beautiful and looked fairly simple. And if you scroll down to the bottom of this previous post you will see that I found almost all of the supplies at estate sales for about $3.

I noticed that the instructions said to use a 14" wreath but mine was larger so I had to make a few adjustments. I had a lot of wreath to cover. I used almost a full bag of Spanish Moss to cover the straw wreath. Luckily I had lots of sheet music and I even used pages from an old book. These were die cut into strips using the Create-a-Bow die by Eileen Hull for Sizzix.

I die cut several Flourish #2 shapes in green and adhered them with straight pins.

I liked the inspiration wreath but I wanted to include some soft Spring colors so I added silk flowers. I love how the vintage sheet music adds a nice texture to the paper.

Here is a closeup of the beautiful sheet music.

This is linked to Blue Cricket Design, Chic on a Shoestring, Common Ground, Creative Everyday, Finding Fabulous, Hey What's For Dinner Mom, House of Grace, Lovely Crafty Home, Me and My Bucket, My Romantic Home, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Somewhat Simple, These Creative Juices, Under the Table and Dreaming, Wildflowers & Whimsy and The Shabby Nest.

I'm very honored to be featured at Under the Table and Dreaming.

  

Valentine Tag

Today I Created | A Valentine tag with a bit of fabric.

This is for the tag challenge at the KardKrazy blog. The challenge was to use a bit of fabric on a tag. Since I wanted to create a Valentine tag anyway, this worked out perfectly.

I started off by scanning a page from a vintage French dictionary that I recently thrifted from the library used bookstore. I scanned the page at 200% so I could use it at various sizes later on. I printed this on cardstock and then die cut it using the Sizzix Tag and Bookplate die.

I inked the edges with Worn Lipstick, Distress ink. I stamped the saying on a ticket and attached it to the tag. I added some die cut leaves that I had from a previous project.

Next, I hand-cut and hand-sewed the heart, adding the lace as I went. This was the most difficult part. I lightly stuffed the heart before closing the seam. I attached it to the tag with hot glue.

As a final touch I added some die cut flowers also from the same previous project.

I am linking this to Apron Thrift Girl, Between Naps on the Porch, Keeping it Simple, Blue Cricket Design, Creative Every Day, Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple and Kard Krazy.

Four Estate Sales

I was on my own today so I was able to race through four estate sales. At one, I was one of the first people in. Another, I was one of the last people in. And the other two were just crowded but I had a lot of fun and found some nice treasures.

My absolute favorite find is this cocktail shaker. I just love the retro look. The rooster is such a great design element but there are also drink recipes on all sides. Love it!

Here is a closeup of the Rooster. What a great illustration.

At this same sale I found a jar of buttons. I like using vintage buttons in my projects so I knew I could use them. It was a little more than I wanted to pay but I liked the jar as well.

The next sale had very reasonable prices so it balanced out the cost of the buttons.
I found a Polaroid camera which was just too inexpensive to pass up.

I found this cute vintage box filled with old wooden spools and cardboard bobbins. I liked the box as much as I liked the spools.

I also found several books of sheet music and an old book with a beautiful Art Nouveau cover.

At the third sale I found some adorable baby ephemera. Most of these are from the late 1950s. The two bright cards on the right are printed with fluorescent inks so they must be from the 1960s.

My favorite pieces are the wrapping papers and baby cards.

I also found a Junior Fire Manual supplied by the California Division of Forestry, copyrighted 1953 and revised in 1967. I liked it because it had a map of Orange County, California and when it was drawn, most of Orange County is described as "Forest, Range and Watershed Land" (most of it is now large cities). It also does not show one of the major freeways that was completed a little later in 1969. This is a nice bit of Orange County history.

The last sale had some beautiful vintage tablecloths and tea towels. I couldn't resist picking up a few of these.

I picked up a couple of embroidered tea towels.

This is just one of several vintage printed tea towels I found. I love the retro colors.

I also found this adorable baby dish. The writing is a little worn off but the images are beautiful.

There was also a little, mismatched bowl but it had a serious chip. The seller ended up giving me both the dish and chipped bowl for free. Thank you!

There are even more items that I did not include here. Some items are things that I will use for future craft projects and some just seemed redundant (more tea towels).

Finally, by some strange bit of luck I found all of the elements I need to do a project I had planned. Here are the pieces. You'll just have to wait to see the final project. {Click here to see the finished project}

The total price for everything posted plus some items not shown came out to $45. I consider that a very inexpensive and enjoyable way to spend a beautiful California morning.

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