Latest Edition - Terry/Terri Swap

After a few delays due to Terry's busy life and my procrastination, we've recently completed our latest swap.  We didn't decide in advance on a theme.  I went with Paris because she and her sweet husband went there for their 10th Anniversary earlier this year.  She chose a pink theme for me, which was perfect as I've been into all things pink lately (and I hadn't even told her!)

Just after her trip she sent me the cutest tote bag from Paris, adorned by a sweet little pink pig, along with some lovely French candy.  Ooh la la!  Then this month she sent me a beautiful canvas she created in a Julie Nutting class.  It's lovely.  She says it's me.  I say, "In my dreams!"

She also sent this lovely vintage lingerie box, which is in pristine condition.  It was packed full of  the most beautiful pink trims, blingy buttons, velvet ribbon, silk-covered snaps and other treasures.  I especially love the vintage pin cushion, crocheted, woven with ribbon and topped with a tiny rosebud.

 

Don't you love every little thing?  Each one is more lovely than the last.  I have several ideas for all trims and buttons, and that little bar of soap is making my craft room smell wonderful!

Terry had posted a photo on Facebook that was taken from the window of their Paris hotel room.  I used that photo to make a little canvas and matching tag for her.

I found some Paris-related ads and images in some old magazines and used those plus a lot of other ephemera and images from The Graphics Fairy to make her a little book. I tried to leave a few spaces so she could add some things from her trip.

I rounded up a few little goodies to include, either Paris-related or her favorite colors - black, cream and white.



We haven't decided yet on our next swap date, but I'm working on some ideas!  I'll bet she is, too!

Oops! Almost forgot.  I also sent Terry this dress form I bought and "foofed" up a bit with some lace and a glass finial. The starfish and driftwood have nothing to do with the dress form. It was just the best spot to take a quick pic!

A Most Wonderful Surprise

When my friend Laurie told me to be on the lookout for a package from her, I assumed it was something to do with a swap project she's hosting or that she was sharing a little packet of goodies.  When the package arrived, I was overjoyed to find that she'd sent me one of her beautiful fabric books! 

Of course, I have to share every page, because each one is more wonderful than the last.  The cover is a beautiful 70s print with a sheer overlay.  It's trimmed with the loveliest shade of seam binding. The little pink daisy ball is a darling addition.

The second page has a pocket made from a beret label from French General and trimmed with beautiful vintage tassel fringe.  Tucked inside is an ornate vintage initial form.  The third page has lovely embroidery and is trimmed with crocheted lace and flowers.

Pages four and five feature lovely flowers, buttons and lace trim.  I love the cottage print, and the flowers on the opposite page tie in nicely. 

Page six has a delicate fringed doily with tiny flowers embroidered in the center.  The opposite page has beautiful pink trim (sorry you can't see it better in the photo) over a pretty floral print, topped with a gorgeous vintage millinery flower.  Love!

Just look at this beautiful varigated peach doily. I love how Laurie filled the spaces with buttons.  The next page is patchwork with lace, buttons and even a tiny steamboat - so cute!  She also tucked in a card of pretty buttons.

 The back cover may be my favorite.  I love the combination of the delicate daisy lace, the melon-color plaid with the tiny embroidery, and the blue and white rick rack trim. 



You can see better photos on Laurie's blog, Indulge Your Shelf. 

I've only made one fabric book (for a swap, seen here.) I had intended to make more but other things came up.  Now that I have this beauty in front of me for inspiration, I'm anxious to pull out my stash of linens and get to work! 

Paper Cowgirl Summer Travel Postcard Swap

Paper Cowgirl alums are exchanging "faux" travel postcards this summer.  Our first destination was Africa, circa 1914.  If you're on Pinterest, you can see all the loveliness by viewing the pinboard here.  Cindy's collecting one of each to create a book that will be auctioned off at a future event.

Here's my creation.  This lovely lady in the rattan chair is so versatile.  I last used her for a secret garden-themed tag swap. 

Can hardly wait to learn our next destination!

Estate Sale Finds

In looking back at my blog, I realize I haven't posted about any finds recently.  We haven't found many good estate sales the last few months, and some of the things I've found went straight to my Etsy shop and right back out again - a good thing.  I did find a few things this past weekend, and still have some things on hand from earlier this month. 

This past weekend I bought this HUGE lampshade for my friend Kerry, who is planning a mobile for her baby's nursery.  She hasn't seen this in person yet.  At over 20" high, it may be too big.  Maybe she could put the baby IN it.

I also got a small lamp shade that wasn't nice enough to use but did yield this lovely trim.  I bought another one a couple of weeks ago, but the trim from that one has already vanished into the black hole that is my craft room.

I think I'm going to keep these prints, although I'm not sure yet where they'll hang.  I love the gray-blue frames and backgrounds.

I love all these vintage photos.  One of the smaller ones has been hand-tinted.  I can never resist bird linens, and even though I have hundreds of  hankies (yes, it's true) I can never pass up a pretty one at a good price.  I'm particularly fond of the one with the embroidered T.  The ballet lamps will be reworked and listed on Etsy soon. I'll also be listing the beaded collars.

A few weeks ago I found a sale where they claimed that Grandma didn't save old things, but after digging through a couple of piles, I found boxes of vintage Shiny Brites and a set of Christmas village ornaments (minus one, but oh, did I ever dig to try to find that missing one!)  At another sale I found a couple of boxes of vintage American Legion Christmas cards, unused and in perfect condition.  I'm ready to list holiday goodies!  Christmas in July, anyone?

The DH talked me into a mink stole at one sale.  I was hesitant because of the price - very reasonable but more than I wanted to be out if it doesn't sell.  It's listed on Etsy and has generated some interest, so we'll see.

That's all for now!  Thanks for reading! 

My Blue Heaven

We had our house built eighteen and a half years ago. I had no problem picking the paint I wanted - Croissant by Sherwin Williams.  It was the perfect golden tan neutral - not too dark, not too light.  I loved it.  For the last few years before I retired my office was basically the same color, so I was surrounded by it almost all day, every day. 

At some point a few years ago, I decided I'd looked at that color long enough.  I wanted blue. A watery, hint-of-aqua blue.  NO baby-boy blue. I searched and searched. After two years of samples and painting stripes and spots on the walls and asking friends and family for their blue preferences, I finally settled on a color - Winter in Paris by Valspar. It looked perfect. It's a kind of greenish, grayish blue. I painted three large areas in three separate places. We lived with it for a couple of months, and it still looked wonderful.

We bought paint.  We taped and edged. We opened the cans. The color looked perfect.  We painted.  I suppose in the excitement of finally getting it done and also painting in the evening when there wasn't as much natural light, I didn't notice that it didn't really look the same on the walls as it had when I painted my samples.  But after having enough of it done that we weren't willing to re-do, I realized that what I had ended up with looked exactly like what I didn't want.  Baby-boy blue. 

Not sure how it happened. When the light is right, it occasionally does look perfect.  But by golly, we're going to live with it and love it!  Now I just have to pick colors for the bedrooms.  That should take another couple of years!

My 100th Sale on Etsy!

Thank you so much to each and every one of my Etsy customers, to all those who encouraged me to open my little on-line shop, to those who often inquire about it, and to anyone who takes the time to take a look.  I opened my shop in October of 2011, and reached 100 sales on May 19, 2012.  Not an earth-shattering accomplishment, but I'm very pleased.  A special thank you to my friend Wanda for being sale #100, and #101!

Our favorite pasttime is "junqueing" and my two goals with the Etsy shop are to have an outlet for those things I feel are too special to pass up but don't have a use for myself, and to hopefully offset the expense of our forays.  I've been pleasantly surprised.  I'm especially thrilled when I list something and it sells within hours - or even minutes in a couple of cases!

To anyone thinking of opening an Etsy shop, I highly recommend it.  They make it very easy to list and sell your items, and provide tons of tutorials.  You can be as involved as you want to be. 

Thank you again, and I hope you'll keep shopping!

A Couple of Classes

OKC's Paper Crown offers so many great classes. Unfortunately, I've missed out on quite a few lately because of scheduling and other issues, but I was very pleased to have classes with Jackie and Medeah recently.

Jackie taught a dress banner class - darling as usual, with the cutest name tags and delicious treats.  I didn't get a good shot of the entire banner together and have already given it to a friend, but here are the five little dresses.

Medeah's canvas class was called Brave Bird. Like so many people, I'm very into birds right now and also the ocean/beach vibe, so this was perfect.  It was a small class and we had a wonderful time and learned a few new techniques.

It looks nice on our newly-painted blue walls - more on that later.