Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Pumpkin Class and Swap


This cute Miss Pumpkin Head was made in one of Jackie's classes at Paper Crown. She's found a home with my swap sister Terry in California, just in time for Halloween. 

There are more photos from class on Jackie's blog here.

Paper Crown hosted a pumpkin swap earlier this month. I had recently found a porcelain doll head and, as tempted as I was to keep it, once I got the idea in my head for this pumpkin queen nothing else would do. 
































I learned to make the wool felt crown in a class at Paper Cowgirl several years ago. The one I made in class inspired this one, which was perfect for this project.

The pumpkin I received was made by Becky Bullard, and I absolutely love everything about it!  



All the swap pumpkins were really wonderful. You can see some of them here.

There are sooooo many great classes coming up at Paper Crown! It would be lovely to be able to take them all, but I will be taking a Boro and Sashiko stitching class with Kaari Meng from French General later this month, and my friend Chris is teaching a paper marbling class in November. Both are things I've always wanted to try. 

Also in November, Terri Brush will be here for three classes. I'll be taking two - one right before and one the day after Glitter Market. It's going to be a busy month!

I have so many finds piled all over my house. I'll try to get some photographed soon. My Etsy shop needs new listings desperately, and some things will go to Glitter Market. More on that soon!

Friday, October 9, 2015

Vacation Finds

After a looooong dry spell, the past two weekends pretty much made up for it by rewarding me with lots of great finds.  But first, now that the PC is working again and I've finally reloaded all my software, music, and other necessities, here are a few photos from vacation!

We try to go to Florida every other year - so relaxing! Day 1 was all about the beach - morning to night.






































On Day 2 we drove to Apalachicola for lunch at Boss Oyster. We like sitting on the back deck and watching the fishing boats go by. 


























The rest of the trip was basically the same every day - beach by 10am, up to our room for lunch, and back to the beach until mid to late afternoon. Then we clean up, go shop a bit or just drive around, and then go out for a nice dinner. It's our idea of a great vacation!

The Florida panhandle is not a haven for great vintage finds but I did manage to gather a few things on the way home. 



The black buttons are newer but made in Italy and I like the shape, and I'll always grab any buttons with rhinestones.



The needlepoint bird is particularly appealing. There's only about a yard of the pom pom trim, so I'll be keeping it for a project. 



We were sad to find that one of our favorite places - Mr. Bill's Antiques in Mobile, Alabama - has closed permanently. We've been stopping there for years and will miss visiting with them. 

I have more finds for future posts, as well as a class and a fun swap. Happy fall! I'm a little late, but my pumpkins and mums will be going out tomorrow.