Bags and Tags

I spent a bit of time yesterday putting the final touches on the bags and tags. Now to package them and get them out into the mail. I have one more to do for my friend, Becky. I want to finish that before we meet to crop again. Thanks for looking! Yeah...a project finished!

Too late for Valentine Gifts...how about Easter?

I bought these tiny canvas totes at a craft store about three weeks ago and spent the day dying them and some tulle and tags to match. I worked on them for a bit and then life (and other commitments) got in the way. As usual, I cam home from yoga practice recharged and invigorated and tackled the tiny totes once again. I have finished four...and here three of them.



I used the dyed tulle for the third tote and pearls and paper flowers for the second and stamped on the first using painted on inks and a Krylon pen to enhance the stamping. I used a photo transfer iron on the 4th. and am saving the best for last, the one for my friend, Becky who loved the yellow-y green one so much she went through her stash hunting for the perfect embellishments for it!

Thanks for looking!

Inspired by...

the cost of the darling little bird's nest and eggs we saw in a shop this past week. While the originals (last photo here) were hinged wooden boxes with glass windows, ours were cardboard jewelry display boxes with glass windows but no hinges. We did use some 1924 sheet music I bought and some MME's papers. We turned our corners down and found frames on sale to glue to the tops of the box lids. These took Linda and I about 30 minutes to make and about 1/4 the cost. It is a shame when items are so overpriced, that it is cheaper to make them oneself. The originals were priced at $35 and up.

So many lovelies, so little time...

We hit the antique stores here in Tarpon Springs today and I found some lovely things to add to my ever growing ephemera collection: a tall, vintage green glass bottle, a darling tin sign that says, HOPE (won't this be sweet on an album cover?) and a hook for my work room for hanging all sorts of things. I think I may have to add a touch or two of gilding to this hook.

I sorted out my ephemera drawer not too long ago as I could not shut it. Looks like I need to do the same for my 'whatever' basket and the shelf of old books, aged sheet music and pretty tissue papers. My fingers are twitching to dig into the new goodies and introduce them to the other 'collectibles'.

It's all about the color

and there was so many lovely colors at Cedar Key...these are just a few that had me entranced. I want to create pretty things with these colors! Vintage doesn't have to be all browns, creams and taupes!

Vintage Groupings

In my opinion, lots can be learned from visiting vintage shops and mostly from the way the items are arranged. I come home inspired, not just by the aged sheet music, the laces and retro fabrics, the mink hats and stoles and the yellowed white ladies evening gloves and the delicate but deserted jewelery but by how the items are grouped. The color contrasts, the sizes juxtaposed one against another, the casual draping of cloth over table tops and chairs,the hanging of necklace of onyx beads over the dented frame of a hand mirror...amazing.

I come home wanting to arrange all my shelves but especially the one over my supplies closet. I want to 'present' my creations in a way that one showcases the next and that they are not fighting for space. Perhaps it is time for some of these things that overcrowd my shelf to find a new home or become recycled.

While the vintage stores have an incredible amount of goods on display, what might appear as clutter is actually, in most cases, an artistic arrangement. I have a new friend in Tenn. who may be able to offer me some guidance in this regard. The pictures of her store display this talent for groupings that I love.

Here are a few shots from some of the stores in Dunedin I took yesterday. Enjoy...I did.

A different kind of Valentine (ACOT reveal)

I made this Valentine for a friend and the papers and embellishments in SEI's Juliette line were perfect. I like the contrast of the kraft paper background of the multi fold card and the pretty glittery papers. This is for a friend and I plan to put snippets of some of our wild and crazy times together on each page...Forget Me Not!