Nature's Blessings Journal - My Book, Part One

It's a bit late, but I wanted to share the beautiful pages from the book I received from Karla Nathan's Nature's Blessings Journal Swap a few months ago. There are a quite a few pages so I'll show them in two posts.

Karla made the covers which all include a copy of her original angel drawing. She used vintage wallpaper, millinery flowers and lace to make each cover special and unique.

Each participant made six "signatures" with each consisting of four pages. Karla compiled them into sets of six that looked lovely together, then bound them into the cover with three blank signatures so that we can add to our books. I won't comment on each set of pages individually, but they are all beautiful as you'll see. I'll list the artist prior to each set. 

My first set of amazing pages is from Lorraine at Over the Rainbeau.

I'm not sure who made the second lovely set of pages, as it just lists the blog name and I've not been able to access the blog. The blog is somewouldevensayitglows.blogspot.com. If the artist sees this or if anyone reading is familiar with this blog, I'd love to know. I'll try to check with Karla, too.

The next wonderful pages are by Cheryl Stoneham, who I met at Silver Bella in 2010. I didn't find a blog for her.

So much talent and loveliness! I'll be sharing the pages from the other three artists in my next post, so be sure to check back. If you missed the pages I made, you can see them here.

White Christmas Button Book Swap 2014 - What I Received

My partner for the Button Floozies' White Christmas Button Book swap was Diane from Cottage Wishes. She used both paper and fabric to create a really special book for me. Click on any photo to see a larger version.

It came wrapped in a doily that Diane cleverly laced with ribbon to create a pouch. I've not seen anyone do this before but I love the technique.

The book inside was wrapped with a bit of tucked fabric with a pretty tag attached. "JOY" is written in buttons, and that's a tiny baby bootie in the upper right corner. So sweet!

The inside cover is collaged, and a pretty embellished hankie forms the first page.

A little burlap pocket holds a bundle of pretty buttons.

This page has an unusual metal and glass button and a pretty beaded spray.

Isn't this little felt mitten the cutest?

I love this little glove on a vintage postcard. There's even a button "ring" on one finger.

And here's a cute little button snowman!

The back cover has lace, vintage wallpaper, and a label - three of my favorite things.

These are just some of the pages in the wonderful book Diane made. You can see other pages and some close-ups of pretty details on her blog here. If you'd like to see more button books from this swap, check out the Button Floozies blog here or Laurie's Indulge Your Shelf blog. There are several posts on both blogs, so click on "Older Posts" on each blog to see the rest.

Button Floozies' White Christmas Button Book Swap - What I Made

I'm SO behind on blog posts! Our lemon of a PC went out (total monitor freak out) the day before Thanksgiving. HP sent a box and we shipped it to them on the 28th and just got it back yesterday. This time we didn't lose any files, thank goodness, but I'm behind on blogging, record keeping, and other important things like looking at Pinterest, Instagram and Bloglovin'!

Laurie organized a White Christmas Button Book Swap on the Button Floozies blog, so of course I had to join in. Today I'll show you the book I made. We had the option to make either a fabric or paper book, and since I do my best work in fabric that's what I chose.

I used a photo from Pinterest for the cover, and tried my best to find the original source but couldn't. It's a lovely photo, and I used buttons to line the snowy path between the trees. I added a few glittery rhinestones and a bit of sequined trim.

This quote seemed like a good fit for the inside cover. An old snowflake pin worked well.

This page has snowflake sequins and glitter under a layer of organza with a bit of lace and a rhinestone button.

I cut flowers from a few pieces of fabric and lace for this page.

This one is fairly simple. I used some antique embroidered eyelet edging that I found this past summer with MOP buttons.

Another simple page with some batting and a strip of crocheted lace.

This page featured a pocket made from a bit of vintage tablecloth. I inserted a little bag of additional buttons for my partner.

Another simple page with two laces over dotted Swiss fabric, and carved MOP buttons.

This tree was made from small bits of lace and accented with small buttons. A pretty iridescent rhinestone button acts as a tree topper.

Another lace pocket with a card of vintage buttons.

I added this page to commemorate the swap group and date, and added a bit of ruffled tulle along the edge.

And a bit more lace for the back cover.

It was difficult to pack this one up to send away. I really loved how it turned out, and it was fun to make. Hope my partner is enjoying it! In my next post I'll share the very creative book she sent to me.

Fall 2014 Glitter Market Recap

In spite of heavy rain most of the day, Glitter Market this past Saturday was a great success! The weather was perfect on Friday for set up, and I did manage to get my last few things inside on Saturday morning during a lull in the showers. Lots of people drove miles Saturday in the downpour to be there, and a line was waiting at the door at 10am.

I got a few not-so-great photos of my table before the doors opened, but none after my friend Chris arrived to help. I appreciate her so much, as there were times when both of us were adding and bagging as fast as we could. There were also times when we were able to visit a bit and I was happy for that, too. Thank you, Chris!

The frames on the wall and the stars are Paper Crown decor that was already in place. They make a perfect backdrop. Another wall has vintage wallpaper, and another is papered in old book pages. There are also chandeliers hanging throughout this space that make it seem a little bit magical.

To see more photos of the other vendors and wonderful items that were on offer, check out the Paper Crown blog here.

A big thank you to all the enthusiastic and appreciative shoppers, to Cindy Winter at Paper Crown and her able and friendly assistants, to Jackie Peters, to the other vendors (who were great customers, too!) and to my DH who helps me shop for vintage most weekends, carts my finds, helps me paint and refurbish those finds when needed, and is just a good sport about having a house full of other peoples old stuff!

I have photos from three recent swaps to share in my next few posts. Hope you'll stop by to see!

Glitter Market in OKC this Weekend

Here are a just a few of the things I'll have at Glitter Market in OKC this weekend.

Well, minus that pretty little angel. She sold on Etsy this week.

I'm looking forward to it - the selling and maybe even more, the SHOPPING! Visit the Paper Crown blog here to see some of the wonderful art and jewelry that will be available at this fun sale. Cindy has been featuring various artists on the blog this week. If you're in the OKC area and are in the mood for some unique shopping Paper Crown is the place to be, and of course, you can find lots of fun paper arts supplies while you're there!

Estate Sale Finds - Part Two

Here are a few more finds from recent estate sales.

Lots of wonderful lace...

including pretty vintage collars and a few doilies.

A really wonderful quilt top that's in great condition.

Some perfect-for-Christmas trim that already sold in my Etsy shop.

Some larger crocheted lace pieces that would be ideal for trimming the hem of a top or jacket.

 Another collar, a pretty hankie and a pair of earrings that I may not be able to part with.

I bought a tin of buttons plus a baggie of buttons. There were lots of throw aways, but here are a few that I kept. The double strand of rhinestones is about twenty-three inches long and to me was worth the price of the entire tin.

Nothing really special, but there were at least some interesting black and brown buttons in the baggie. Most that I find are fairly plain.

A few whites and pastels, plus one odd red button.

 And last but not least, this chartreuse server. It's much prettier in real life. I just could not get a good shot of that green! I wanted to keep it but since I have a really large chartreuse and dark green one this one will go to Glitter Market.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my most recent finds. I still need to post the pages from my Nature's Blessings journal and did finally get photos so those will be coming soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Estate Sales Have Been Very Very Good To Me (Lately)

After a rather long dry spell, I've found some wonderful things lately at local estate sales. Remember that I like shabby, so keep that in mind when you look at these photos.

This old photo album is worn and missing the celluloid layer that covered this kraft underlayer, but I think I like it better this way. The illustration is lovely, as is the patina-encrusted clasp.

Here you can see a bit of the yellow celluloid that used to be on the front. The article and baby photo were tucked inside the cover.

The frame pages are aqua with gold, and it has quite a few cabinet cards inside. This chubby baby makes me laugh.

The back is a rather wild embossed velvet. Imagine it with that bright yellow celluloid cover. Very vibrant!

The composition book and these photos came from the same sale as the album.

The ornate embossing on old photo folders is so interesting. I thought these were particularly pretty.

I haven't decided yet just what I'll do with the album. It was a bit of a splurge for me. I'd like to keep some of those pretty pages, especially since a few are already loose, but I know someone else could make a beautiful journal from that cover. It may go to Glitter Market this month.

I have many more finds to share in the next few days, and still need to share the pages I received in my Nature's Blessings swap journal. Please stay tuned!