A Bit of Crafting

Here are a few things I've made lately.

This was for display in our entry on Thanksgiving Day.  The graphic is from The Creative Patch blog here. I glittered the orange mums, but it's hard to tell in the photo. The ribbon was from my friend Chris, and the tatted circles were from a table runner I purchased at a recent estate sale.  The paper tape is Tim Holtz. This still needs something, but I'm not sure what. By next Thanksgiving, it may look a bit different.

This is the display I had on our black hutch. I just recently got the footed dish from my parents. It belonged to my dad's mom. The platter is from a yard sale, and the pumpkin is from Marshall's.  The sweet silver spoon at the base of the platter was made by Robin Thomas.

I made one more tag for my version of the 7 Gypsies Junk Drawer Advent Calendar.  If I put up a tag each day starting tomorrow, I just have seven days to get more made.  Better get busy!

I'll be back later to show some things from recent swaps and to share some fun news.  Here's a sneak peak at what I made for one of the swaps.

Junk Drawer Advent Calendar Tag Marathon

My friends and I are long-time admirers of the 7 Gypsies Junk Drawer Advent Calendar - well, at least since 2009 when it debuted.  This year we decided we had to do this project, and it's a big one! 

Photo from One Lucky Day

We gathered at my house yesterday morning at 10:00 and after a bit of conversing, playing with the dogs, etc., we dug in.  Kerry and Chris brought lunch and homemade Whoopie Pies (all yummy!) along with bags, boxes -  and in Kerry's case, a huge suitcase - full of goodies to use in making tags.  I had a big basket full of things I'd been gathering from my craft room, some tags prepped with backgrounds, rosettes made from tea-dyed cheesecloth, old millinary flowers, beads, and other things.  Chris had fabulous trims found at Canton that Kerry and I couldn't bring ourselves to cut (they are really amazing - beaded and jeweled and perfect for making bracelets) and her Sizzix plus other trims and doo dads, and Kerry had dies, grunge board, lots of little metal embellishments, and much more.

Eight hours later - yes, eight - we each had six tags completed.  That may not sound like much, but we felt we'd accomplished a lot.  There was a lot of digging through things to find just the items we wanted to use on each tag, and while we stayed fairly true to the original versions because they're so lovely, there were little bits and pieces used to make each tag our own.

I forgot to charge my camera battery beforehand so all photos are from my iPhone and taken in poor lighting - and with tired eyes - but here are the tags we completed, in all their glory:

At the end of the day we were exhausted but happy.  I'm not sure if any of us will finish all our tags in time for this Christmas, but I know mine will be displayed no matter the number completed.

Thanks, ladies, for a lovely day!

Kerry and Chris at the end of the day, amid all our "supplies" and the obligatory Sonic cup. 

We're Still Standing

Here's today's big headline from our local on-line news service:
"Governor declares state of emergency - The declaration is for 20 counties that have experienced earthquakes, tornadoes, severe storms and flooding since Saturday."

Yep, Oklahoma has had all that.  Since Saturday.  Four earthquakes, including the strongest one ever recorded here.  We're all pretty used to the tornadoes, or were until May 3, 1999, when there was an outbreak of tornadoes including an F5 - again, the strongest recorded here. We're a little more serious about them now. 

But earthquakes are a whole new thing.  We're told Oklahoma has always had earthquakes, but they were small and most of us had never felt one. The first I ever felt was last year, and then I didn't feel another until about three weeks ago.  I've lost count of how many there have been since then. 

One thing people here are learning is that their homeowners insurance doesn't cover earthquakes.  Our household was fortunate this weekend and didn't sustain damage, at least not that we've discovered.  Our hearts go out to those who did have damage, whether it be from earthquakes, tornadoes, storms or flooding, and especially to those who won't be able to file an insurance claim to get their lives back in order.

After spending the weekend plotting to move elsewhere, I'm sure we'll be staying here where we've spent most of our lives, and before long we'll probably be saying, "Oh, it's just an earthquake." 

Saturday's Junque

I'm reversing a little bit to last Saturday.  Because of the heat this summer and just being busy, we hadn't been to Shawnee in a while and I could just feel that there was something there I needed. I checked for Shawnee estate sales on Friday night with no luck, but did find a huge sale at an antique store we weren't even aware existed, and a big barn sale that was likened to the Junk Market sales.

At the antique store, I found this tiny colorful yo-yo quilt.  It's about 16" square and all hand sewn. It looks great from the front. Not so much from the back, but I'm amazed that anyone took the time to make all those teeny yo-yos and sew them together.  It's already on display on my grandmother's chest of drawers in our entryway.

This 1950s paper partyware is still in the packages.  It has some discoloration, but I just couldn't resist.   

And THESE!  I love paper doilies - always have - but I've never seen any like these.  They're from the 1950s, I believe, and are so ornate and detailed.  There were probably thirty packages, but several young ladies pounced on them just as I was walking up. They were nice enough to leave several for me, and it was good to see younger people with a real appreciation of their beauty.  I'll be listing some of these on Etsy in combo and inspiration packets. 

The DH found a couple of hunks of metal he needed for his garage, and we moved on to downtown Shawnee.  We stopped to snap a photo of the historic Santa Fe Depot and the row of Cyprus trees planted along the tracks. We've still not been inside, but plan to do that sometime soon.

We made several other stops and found quite a few small items, including this sheet music and very old - probably 20s or 30s - velvet hat.  The hat is ripped and the velvet is bare in spots, but the pleats and bow are so pretty. It will make a perfect pocket in a journal.

Don't you just love the chiffon ruffle on the one hat, and the other is totally covered in wonderful flowers.  The two little white pots came from the barn sale and were just $1 each!  We got there late in the day so there wasn't much left, but I was able to find a few things and came home with some cute ideas.

It's always best to follow your instincts.  When a place is calling to you, GO!  I've found that it almost always pays off. 

Hope your most recent junquing was successful!