April 2008

Plucking some blooms

antiques/junking, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, swaps
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Millinery_368_2 Thanks for all of your kind birthday wishes!

I am soaking up all the birthday goodness I can get and enjoying every minute of it.

This cute card is from Robin, as if the clock/frame she made wasn’t enough?!

The picture is so cute. It reminds me of Sugarwings, I am teaching her how to cook,  and of course, the beaters are her favorite part of the process!Millinery_365

My suitcase is still sitting in my studio, filled with vintagey purchases from my trip. I am trying to focus on getting ready for Art in the Park on Sunday and ignoring the other stuff piling up around me.

But I just HAD to pull some of it out to play with.

All the photos and birds are from the Cottage and were only $1 each. The cute bird collage is from an artist there too, look at how she has used the snap for an eye!

Millinery_369 The hymn book was $2 from Lucketts and the old toy mirrors were $1 each at the thrift store Robin took me to.Millinery_349

The first three hats on the back left are from my trip to Virginia, but the rest are from a day out with Sugarwings yesterday. She and I did a bit of junking and I bought these four floral beauties for $30!

  Look at the load of red velvet roses on the middle one in the bottom row- jackpot!Millinery_360

And even though I know I need to get ready for the art show this weekend, I spent the hour I watched American Idol last night sorting flowers.

(Our local Kansas City boy, and my favorite, David Cook is still blowing them all away on Idol, and I think he has a good shot at winning)

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The blooms are sorted into boxes by color then I put them into my big storage box that is covered with old wallpaper.

I even made a separate box of an assortment of posies to keep by my worktable, ready to grab when needed.

Millinery_363  Getting ALL the flowers pulled off of hats and sorted felt like a major accomplishment, till I turned around and realized I still had a table top full of flowers I was using as a center piece.

I’m starting to think I might have a few too many. Maybe.Millinery_345

Lori and I had been talking about  a mini- swap like I did with Lili last week.

But since she sent me that sweet collage of my fairy grand baby, I told her that was already way too much.Millinery_348

So, I bundled up a few pretties and have them ready to send to her.Millinery_370

Still had more than I could use.  What to do with all these hats and flowers???

I put Twinkle in one, but she is a little too big. Unless I get some smaller dogs, this isn’t going to be a good use for my hats.Millinery_354

So, I made 5 packets of pink and white to sell on Etsy.  It isn’t even a drop in the bucket.  I think that once I get past this art show, and the rest of my upcoming 50th birthday parties, I will wrap up some more to list and sell. edit: only two left, these are selling fast

edit: oops, those sold too! I added more to the shop, thank you all so much for stopping by and snapping those flowers up so quickly!

Twinkle was relieved that I decided to sell some.

Today is the last day to enter my April Giveaway, but you still have  5 more days to enter my birthday giveaway.

Any comment, on any post gets entered. 

Sugarwing Themed gifts (the best kind of sweetness!)

antiques/junking, Books, Moving to DC, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art
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Millinery_340 I just got home from our East coast apartment, and look what was waiting for me in the giant, overflowing basket of mail that came while I was away!

Talented Miss Lori Karla sent this along with her Card for Caroline as a random act of kindness.

Isn’t it the cutest?  Such a perfect collage for this picture of my fairy grand baby.

Millinery_342 And lucky me, how scrumptious is this??? Millinery_324

My Centreville, VA blog pal, Robin made this frame from an old clock for my birthday.

We met up for coffee, the she offered to take me to own of her thrift store faves. (well, maybe I coerced her a bit)

I bought a cart load of goods for $13.90,  between that trip and my Leesburg shopping adventure, I completely filled an extra suitcase for the trip home.

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These two ladies’ creations sure are special to me.  Not only do they involve pictures of my sweet little Sugarwings, they are such thoughtful and talent filled works of art.

I just love ’em to pieces!Millinery_332   

Not everything is unpacked yet from my trip. Instead of putting away suitcases,   I went through the cards for Caroline that came in the mail, and I have to tell you, there are some beauties there!

I’ll get organized and photograph them soon, and have a whole post devoted to just that, along with the list of updated names.Millinery_334

For now, I’ll show you a couple of pictures of the book I made in Debbie Shue’s class on Saturday.

The flowers on the cover are from some of my souvenir hats I purchased on my shopping day with Debbie.

She furnished rub ons and stickers, but I ended up doing doodles and added glitter instead of using them.

Millinery_338 Debbie had a great kit with all the papers cut and ready to go. The whole book was assembled in the 2 hour class (that is impressive, that she can time it so perfectly and know just what to show everyone)

I changed mine a bit, and tried to make it part art journal/part scrapbook.  I also purchased some Glimmer Mist and tried that for the first time.

I have to tell you, that stuff is FUN!  I bought Robin’s Egg and Pineapple and plan on getting a lot more colors.Millinery_336

Don’t forget you can still enter my giveaway for this month.

EVERY COMMENT IS ENTERED for the entire month.

And all comments until May 5th are entered into my special 50th birthday celebration giveaway.

Is it a SMALL world? Or a GIANT blogosphere!?

antiques/junking, celebrations, Food and Drink, Moving to DC, parties, Silver Bella
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Shopping_2_2 How weird is this???

While I am here in Virginia, I spent a free afternoon in Leesburg to shop and check out The Cottage, a store I’d heard about but never been to,  its about 30 minutes from our apartment.

While I was chatting with the co-owner, Ann, Pam walked in and she recognized me.  Behind her was Debbie Shue who was in town from NY to teach classes at the scrapbook store where Pam works.Shopping

Now, what are the odds that we would run into each other? Pam and Debbie both went to Silver Bella last year, and I know them through that and through blogs. (sorry about the blurry picture, but also, what are the odds that we take dozens of photos and none of the ones with all of us are any good?)Sh3

I am from Kansas, Debbie is from New York, none of us were staying in Leesburg, we just all decided to go to a store there at the same time. 

If I had stopped for lunch first, or if they had gone to Lucketts before The Cottage, we’d never have met up.Sh5

Lucky that we did! Not only was this a cute and cottagey shop that I fell in love with and had a great time browsing through (I’ll post my beautiful bargain finds later), Pam, Debbie, and their pal, Kitty, invited me to hang out with them for the day.Sh6

We spent quite a while in The Cottage, and all found fun things to purchase. We visited with Ann, who was nice as could be and seemed to enjoy the coincidence of our meeting as much as we did. 

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Istn’t this store so pretty? I could have just moved into any of these cozy displays she has set up.Sh8

After the Cottage, the three gals asked me to go to lunch with them, and on to some other antiquing.

While out shopping, I came across some of the prettiest hats I’d ever seen, with tons of dainty flowers on each. But- they were a LOT more expensive than what I usually buy. ($15- $28, but LOADED with blossoms)

I decided that the rule about not spending more than $7 on a hat doesn’t apply on vacation or during my birthday week.  Class2

Not only did I find a new store I absolutely love and  3 flowery hats that I couldn’t resist, I had a fun day full of laughs, shopping, and lunch, PLUS, Debbie was able to squeeze me into the class she was teaching the next day.

And my new pal, Kitty offered to lend me supplies, since I didn’t have any with me. 

I thought I was borrowing scissors and glue, but she showed up with the fullest, most professional scrapbboking kit I’d ever seen.  It was a joy just to poke through it all.

  Shopping, crafting, great food, fun people, romantic dinners with my husband, I may never go back to Kansas! I love it here!!Dinner2

My husband surprised me with one of the fanciest schmanciest dinners ever at a private dining club. The Tower Club at Tyson’s Corner.

The service there is so outstanding and detailed, they even had our name on the mints at our place settings!Dinner_3

We were greeted with complimentary champagne for my birthday. I had the Maryland crab appetizer (you just have to order that when you are in this part of the country) and as gourmet-licious as the whole dinner was, my favorite part of the meal was the white chocolate and lemon surprise birthday cake.Dinner4

"Happy Birthday" was written in dark chocolate on a sheet of white chocolate and the whole cake was covered in curled bits of the white.

A tray of tiny desserts came out with the coffee along with a goodie assortment of coffee mix-ins.  Orange peels, cinnamon sticks, real whipped cream and shaved cocoa.

I was so impressed, I almost couldn’t eat it, it was just too lovely.  But I did. Dinner 

I have the BEST husband. 

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Last night, dinner on the 17th floor with a view over looking the capitol, tonight dinner at Piedmont Country Club with this view out the window.  Yep, not a bad kickoff to my birthday week.

I don’t think turning 50 years old is looking too bad at all. I have a pretty lucky life! I am looking forward to the next 50, I plan on living as long and as well as my Great Aunt Caroline that you are all making cards for!

The Hat Whisperer (or the crazy lady, you decide)

collections, Moving to DC
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Millinery_259 Do you ever come to my blog and think to yourself, "oh no, more flowers"  Or, "That Karla must be crazy. Why does she keep buying old smashed flowers, almost daily, and then showing them to us?" "What is wrong with that woman?"

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I do tend to fixate on things and make or buy TONS when I am on a roll.

Right now, I can’t seem to stop buying hats (and the flowers that bloom on them).  I am developing some sort of millinery ESP, where I am going about my business,  and out of the blue, I hear them call out to me.  I stop everything, and drive myself, in a dazed state to the store I feel the bonnets beckoning to me from.  Then, I walk right up to the hiding place of a floral bargain bonanza.Millinery_250

Of course, if I happen to come across a pile of rhinestone buttons for $1,  cabinet cards for 50 cents each, or rose postcards for 75 cents each, I am not too deep into my millinery stupor to scoop those up too.Millinery_260

After a day of running errands and playing with Sugarwings, I sat down to make another bracelet and get some work done for my much neglected inventory for the upcoming art show.Millinery_248_3

One bracelet was finished before I started to hear the silk and velvet’s siren song, calling me from Scranton and 4 Corners, (great little antiquing towns about an hour from here). I knew I shouldn’t go, I had a lot of reasons not to go: the stores would  be closing soon, I had work to do, and it was raining so hard I could barely see to drive.

But I also knew that it wouldn’t take long. I didn’t need an all day shopping trip, I could go right to those tempting trinkets, buy them and leave.  They were calling out to me, I had no choice, I knew they were there waiting for me.

I was right!! I bought $3 and $5 hats, plus a BAGFUL of flowers,  for only $10.

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Do I look crazy?  Or simply psychic?  As a matter of fact, I think I hear one now…… yes, there is a $4 hat in Leesburg calling me now. I think I will have to go to visit my husband in Virginia.

I am looking into plane tickets for tomorrow night, so if you don’t hear from me, I am on my way there.

Please continue to leave comments, each one is entered into BOTH giveaways (details in my previous post).  I’ll catch up as soon as I hunt down the source of that mesmerizing sound. The one whispering to me "I’m here… I’m waiting… I’m waiting for you here, with my lovely scrunched petals… you know you want to find me…. "

Oh, and please continue to send your cards for Caroline’s 100th birthday, Ryan will bring in the mail while I am gone and they will be safe.

If I have time, I’ll post from our apartment there.  But I could be pretty busy, hunting down that hat that is calling me  plus I am going to insist that my husband whisk me away to romantic dinners and nights out to celebrate my 50th birthday.  It is only 12 days away, I seriously need to start celebrating. I might start by finding the perfect hat and treating myself to it! 

 

Girls Day Out and a birthday giveaway

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, jewelry, Sugarwings
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Scraps_403 The sun was shining and today was about as springy as a day can be.

Sugarwings and I decided to have a girly day together.  We started with a little shopping spree.  She picked out glittery pink shoes at Target ( I wish they had them in my size!)

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And a stop at the antique mall turned up the perfect grandma hat for me. (only $6!!! And it has FIVE large pink roses on it) Of course, I wore it the rest of the day.Scraps_399

When we saw these matching dresses for toddlers and their dolls on sale for only $10 at TJMaxx, , we had to snap them up and find a dolly to fit the dress.

Those dresses simply couldn’t stay in the bag, not when they went so perfectly with the new shoes!  We changed "the girl’s" clothes in the car before going downtown to stroll in the springtime sunlight and show off our new finery.

Since it was Girls Day Out, the three of us treated ourselves to a ladies luncheon. Over our BBQ (hey, we are Midwesterners, not dainty girls- we like MEAT)  we tried to come up with a name for the new baby. 

"Baby" and "Good Girl" were the names Sugarwings suggested.Scraps_417

I voted for "Miss Daisy" because after our trip, we decided to go for a ride in the little pink car.  I drove Miss Sugarwings and Miss Daisy all over the neighborhood.Scraps_424

These two best friends wanted to make a stop in the park for a bit.Scraps_467

Twinkle was jealous of Sugarwing’s new friend and reminded her who her true best friend really was.

How can a day be more perfect than this???? Well it gets even better!Scraps_473_2

Ryan surprised us and had dinner cooked and ready when we came home from our spring fling! Chicken, rice and ice cream cones topped off our spring fling! And I didn’t have to cook.

Then, once the fairy grand baby went to bed for the night, I was able to make a little more jewelry.

This bracelet and matching earrings are assembled from vintage religious medallions.

Scraps_469 The necklace is a variety of chain sizes, beads and aqua rhinestones, with a pendant of old keys.

And is my day over yet? Nope, now  I get to go watch a tivo-ed American Idol featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber. (Don’t even ask me how many times I have been to see Phantom, you don’t want to hear me sing the whole thing either).

And not only that, Cloverfield is out on video, so Ryan and I are having a horror movie night.  What a perfect way to end a perfect  Girls Day Out!Scraps_409_2

You know, my birthday is just around the corner.  I can’t imagine any party I plan being more fun than today!

I’d like to share my special day with you guys and give away a piece of the jewelry I have been making on my 50th birthday, May 5th.

Any comment between now and Monday May 5th goes into the drawing. 

And don’t forget that ALL comments this month are entered into my monthly giveaway.

Hmmm, what will I be sending as a present for April???  hmmm, let me think.  I have been on an endless tag marathon lately, maybe a tag?

Or a tussie mussie! In time for May Day flowers?! 

I know, I will give the winner a choice!

On  Wed. April 30th, I’ll draw a winner for a choice of one of these prizes:

1- a pair of earrings

2- a May Day tussie mussie

3- a Birds and Bonnets Vintage Workshop images tag

4- a Cottage Collage Kit with vintage wallpaper and  millinery flowers

Vintage Bling- Day Two and the pliers are flying through the pile of scrap

jewelry, swaps, vintage paper/collage art
By /

Scraps_388 Spring might actually be here! It hit 70 today and I worked with the studio doors open. I love this time of year before the flies come, when there is a slight breeze to open the house up to have all the winter blahs blown out the doors.  Scraps_389

While enjoying the fresh air and listening to Twinkle run in and out of the house to chase bunnies, I worked my way through a desktop of jewels and made quite a bit for "Art in the Park" on May 4th.Scraps_396

Lots of charm bracelets and earrings today, and a one necklace (the cameo one pictured).  Scraps_383

Then, the mail lady knocked on my door with an arm load of bundled mail and I was done being productive, it was time to play!

Lili sent a package filled with delight from The Netherlands, for our mini swap.  All I sent to her was millinery flowers and a few post cards.  She went wild and filled a bag with wonderful European goodies for me!

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Look at these book pages, won’t they be fantastic collage backgrounds? and these teeny little aqua bows are so dainty and sweet, they remind me of baby butterflies.

Did I mention Rose Wallpaper?????

Everything, every single thing, was delicious and fun and I can’t wait to dig in and create lots of somethings with it all!

Thanks, Lili!

Scraps_380 Cards for Caroline’s 100th birthday arrived in the giant bundle of mail too. Cindy sent this cute as a bug one.  I like the way she layers and embellishes, don’t you?Scraps_372

Jessica created this iris card, and I wish you could see the detail in person, this little purple flower should be framed.  My mom always called iris "flags." I don’t hear that any more.  Its a nice, old fashioned term. 

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Soon, the swap screens will be coming in too.  Of course, they are going to Beth’s house, but I will run over to visit and check them all out. I can’t wait!

You can still join if you hurry.  Lots of free download images to use, door prizes (well kind of, I guess that is what you’d call them) and great artists in the swap  already!

I’m off to flickr to post photos of the cards. Come by and look if you get a chance. http://www.flickr.com/groups/679216@N25/

Artists have been loading their cards there as they make them too, so I always get a surprise when  I go to check out the site, new things are added daily.

We have Extended the Deadline for the Swap, I wish I could extend the Deadline for my upcoming art show so I could have more time to goof off, since I can’t, I’ll just whine about it.

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), jewelry, show and tell, swaps, vintage paper/collage art
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Scraps_360 Its show and tell time again, and the subject is a timely one for me.  Vintage jewels!

Twinkle has agreed to model this pink jeweled bracelet, and doesn’t seem to be too embarrassed by her choppy haircut, although she isn’t looking at the camera like she usually does.

I have an art show to get ready for and one of the things I take to shows is my redesigned old jewelry. 

Scraps_349 Thing is, it has been a while since I organized my sparklies and made anything from them, so I had an hour or so of prep work to do to even get started.Scraps_345

Just because I hadn’t been making jewelry, doesn’t mean I wasn’t buying stuff to use as supplies for the last year!

Scraps_343 The pieces needed sorted out so I could find what I wanted to put together.  I sort by era, style, color and lots of different criteria that mostly boils down to a made up system that doesn’t work anyway.  I end up looking through each of the 8 or 9 plastic containers sitting on the desk for that perfect bead that I knew was just there a minute ago…..

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So, what did I make today?

A charm bracelet first.Scraps_356

A few necklaces next.Scraps_358

A couple more necklaces, then moved on to earrings.   I prefer making earrings, they just fly through my pliers and almost make themselves.  Necklaces and bracelets take a lot of time and trying on, measuring the weight of the charms to be sure they hang straight.

  Balance is so important when making jewelry.  Both visually and weight wise.Scraps_359 

I only use sterling or 14kt gf French hooks for the earrings and buy them wholesale through Fire Mountain, for the best prices.

The rest of the pieces are all vintage, including the beads.  Sometimes I do use some new semi-precious beads, but I prefer older things.

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To tell the truth, it was not a fun transition from my tag marathon to jewels today. 

I know I have to make the jewelry for the art show I am going to on May 4th, that is what my clientele expects there (along with hand painted things) and luckily I always sell it well there.

Scraps_340 But I am still feeling like making more tags!  I did a few this morning and was zipping along, humming to myself and having a great time.

When I got the jewelry out to work on in the afternoon, that is what it felt like- WORK!Scraps_338

Probably, I should shut up and not complain. Poor Karla, had to stop gluing her endless parade of tags and put aside her Vintage Workshop papers to play with sparkly jewels instead.

That isn’t going to get me much sympathy!

Scraps_336 So, the papers are on hold, while I put together old jewelry for a few days, then make price tags for it. If you think I am complaining now, wait till you hear me whine about pricing items!Scraps_333

But in the meantime, I will play hooky from all of it and go blog surfing and see what everyone else has for Show and Tell.

2378873363_d8f30e13f1_o Its always a treat to visit other bloggers and see their collections. Hopefully, I won’t run into anyone else who complains and whines about it like I did today.

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Before I go, I wanted to announce that "due to popular demand" Beth and I extended the deadline for our swap.  So, if you haven’t joined yet, hurry up and come play with paper with us!!Scraps_334

The curse of “I CAN DO IT MYSELF”

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), swaps, vintage paper/collage art
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Aunt_caroline_063_2 Why do I always think I can "do it myself" no matter what it is?  Poor Twinkle is the latest example.

I cut her hair today.  She looks awful. I doubt if there are two hairs on her entire body that are the same length.

The other day I dug a thorn out of my husband’s knee with an exacto blade craft knife. His knee didn’t look much better than Twinkle’s hair style.

A few weeks ago, when Ry’s truck broke down, and he was late to work, I figured I would handle it myself after dropping him off at his job.  I had a big old four wheel drive truck and a rope, I’d just haul it home instead of calling a tow truck.

Well, I had some trouble trying to figure out how to hook the rope under the truck, I knew that it had to be hooked to the frame, but how can you tell what is frame and what is just random truck parts? So I called my brother-in-law for advice, and he was there within minutes, telling me that you cannot pull a vehicle alone, you need someone in the pulled vehicle to steer and brake.  I had been worrying a bit about the hill on the way home. Being a do-it-yourselfer leads me into trouble sometimes.Scraps_320

I’ve been known to try to carry a large dresser up the stairs alone and get stuck halfway with it balanced on my shoulders yelling for help.

Its a rare thing for me to think a task through before starting in on it, I just always figure I can do it. 

So, I am extremely proud and surprised at myself for not trying to do a birthday party here at the cottage for my 50th on May 5th. (the same week of a major flea market I HAVE to go to, and an art show I am a part of) I am having it at a restaurant!! That is not like me at all. Letting professionals handle something I could DO MYSELF??!! never!! 

Last year, we had my 49th here, and invited 60 some people, and I cooked goodies for it, cleaned, fixed up the yard, etc, etc.

Maybe at 50, I am grown up enough to let someone else take over a job? Or am I just tired???

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For now, I will stick to making tags for our swap, and getting ready for my art show (the day before the party).

This tag is made with the downloads for the swap from Vintage Workshop, that I edited to be in sepia tone. Then- I used some pastels to add color and glued dark pink roses from an old greeting card onto it for another splash of color.

For our swap, we have 3 collections to use from Vintage Workshop, and I think you can see from my last few posts that you can do a lot of different things using the same images.  I am excited to see what all the other artists come up with.

Adding other elements, like the greeting card roses, and the pastels, or ribbons and jewels adds variety too.Scraps_324_2

Besides butchering Twinkle’s fur and making what seemed like a thousand more tags today, I doctored up this old photo with paints and pastels, then added ribbons, old wallpaper, and flowers to it.  I plan on sending it to Pam.

Her sis is ill, and there is a fund raiser coming up. Pam is needing handmade items to fill a basket for the raffle.

I want to send three things, a gift for Pam, something for her sis and something for the raffle.   This is my first item, tomorrow I will make some more things for the box I am sending.

More items are needed, and  if you would like Pam’s address to send her something, let me know. Aunt_caroline_070

I know how generous you all are!

Cards for my great aunt’s 100th birthday are pouring in!

Aunt_caroline_073 Colleen Cavanaugh sent these two pretty pinky ones, and they showed up wrapped so lovely, along with an Eiffel Tower card for me too!

Aunt_caroline_076 Three more came from Heidi Woodruff, Phyllis Covington, and Pam Warden. (blog addresses available on my previous post)

See what I mean about generous? Pam has health issues herself as well as ill family members, and she took time to make a card for my aunt!Scraps_325_2

OK, it is 2am and I need to get to bed, but first a little Earth Day reminder to be kind to the planet!  Today is Earth Day, well, actually, I am up so late  that yesterday was Earth Day.

I went to a fashion show tonight where vintage and recycled clothing were the highlights on the stage.

I try to redo and reuse as much as I can, personally,with antiques, furniture and art supplies, but I never thought of remaking clothes from old prom dresses and men’s ties like this gown. Hmm, I think I could do this myself….. 

Count down to the big birthday bash, but Oh-Oh, what bash?????

antiques/junking, celebrations, Etsy Goodies, parties, swaps, vintage paper/collage art
By /

Scraps_313 Once again, I got very little done today. Sugarwings and I snuck out for lunch and a trip to the nature center to look at snakes and fishies.

Scraps_308 Before I left, I did make a few tags, I wanted to try something new, I kind of made a big collage sheet, glued tags to the back of it and cut them out, so that they were parts of a crazy quilt type pattern.Aunt_caroline_038

The first step was to print my Vintage Workshop images for the swap Beth and I are co-hosting, after editing them in sepia tones.

Since I use an ink jet printer, I always spray my copies with matt finish clear coat before I work with them, so the ink doesn’t run.Aunt_caroline_040

I made multiple copies of the same images in various sizes and cut off the white edges so they wouldn’t show in the collage.Aunt_caroline_044

Here is my collage sheet, everything is glued to one of the wallpaper patterns printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Aunt_caroline_043

And if you think my odd collection of tags that I glued to the back is kind of unusual, you are right.

I save all tags that come on stuff I buy, and cover them in paper.  Yep, there is a tag from a garden trowel, a file box, and a pair of jeans, among typical shipping tags.

After they are glued into place, I cut around them with an exacto knife.Scraps_314_2

This was a pretty quick process, I did a whole passel of tags in one swoop!

After cutting them out, I darkened the edges with  a walnut ink pad, and started to embellish the tags with millinery flowers, crystals, velvet ribbons, jewels,  and some complimentary wallpaper.

Beth had shown me some brown and blue things she was working on and I loved it so much, I wanted to try to keep my palette simple, with just these colors too.

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This one is done with the same collections of images, but printed in color instead of sepia. I’ve really had a good time with the printer and changing settings to try new tricks.

If you want to play with Vintage Workshop images too, you can join our swap.  Everyone gets the pictures from the 3 collections we are working with for the Birds and Bonnets screes, plus one free download of your choice for signing up!

Did I mention there were also lots of prizes? I’ll be giving out some of these tags, there are purses, and gift certificates, and who knows what all we’ll be giving away.  We like presents!

Join up fast, the clock is ticking!!Scraps_315

Here is what the backs of the tags look like.  Some were done with the left over patch work pieces cut to fit, others are of a single pattern. Mostly, I was using what ever scraps were on the table.

The blue velvet is from the bow on an old hat.Scraps_301

I stopped to visit a friend’s shop today after taking the fairy grand baby home, and look at the goodies I found!  For $24 I bought these photos, 4 rolls of old ribbon, and a bagful of blooms!Aunt_caroline_053

And these are perfect blossoms, I love working with the tiny ones.Aunt_caroline_058

Since I had way too much ribbon (well, honestly I have to admit that it does happen, I keep buying more than I will ever use!)- I made up some packets of it to sell on Etsy.

I listed 5 of them, if you are interested.Scraps_303

I made one more stop at an antique shop where I had a fascinating discussion about flocked wallpaper with the store owner. He thinks he knows where he can score some for me.

I feel like an addict with a new dealer.

He sold me this grab bag of jewels for $12, as a "taste".  I’ll be going back, I can’t stop myself. 

Scraps_305  Yesterday’s post was my 300th and I didn’t even realize it! Blogging has become such an everyday part of my life, I don’t even notice the landmarks anymore. 

Another landmark coming up for me is my 50th birthday. I am throwing myself a party, but have no details yet.  I should have planned it sooner.

It will be a hectic week, I have to pick my husband up at the airport, go to the best flea market in the area,  participate in an art show, have a family birthday celebration and throw a big party for myself too.

I’ve been making calls to various places to figure out where I want to have the party, because I just don’t think I want to try to fit in cleaning my house to the rest of that schedule.

I’d like to do something special and unique, but the fact that I forgot to plan anything till 2 weeks before, kind of puts a dent into that idea.

Here are some suggestions from Beth for the event. Do you have any ideas?

Ps- most of these are private jokes, that probably won’t even make any sense to you, but hey, it is my birthday and they entertained me, so I am showing them!!!

  • Chuck E Cheese
  • Skateland
  • Cruise the Kaw
  • Rent Saturday Night Fever
  • Build a Bear party at the mall
  • Dairy Queen
  • Rent a red convertible
  • BBQ party catered by Vermont St BBQ
  • kegger & a bonfire
  • grown up sophisticated cocktail party
  • party with ballon animal man
  • rent a stretch hummer and party while cruising the Flint Hills
  • antiquing in Texas
  • OK, antiquing in Sparks
  • all you can eat desserts at Andres
  • call yourself queen for a day and make everyone curtsy before you
  • glamour shots
  • paint ball party
  • Outward Bound experience (don’t invite me!)
  • ask Padma and Tom if the Top Chef crew can cater your party
  • fly to Paris on the Concorde
  • change your name to Karkie
  • ok, just change your blog name to Karkie
  • rent an inflatable bounce house for a party
  • do whatever Oprah did- I think she devoted a whole magazine to it
  • have a party and make everyone wear bunny ears
  • put you business card in 500 helium balloons with a message that tells the finders that if they comment on your blog, you’ll enter there name in a drawing
  • start training for a triathlon
  • rent a chocolate fountain
  • paint your house pink
  • OK, just help your friend paint her booth
  • square dancing party in your barn—oops, too late
  • snipe all the good wallpaper auctions ending about 10 days before your birthday, so you get a butt load of wallpaper on your birthday
  • Weiner roast with marshmallows

Granny Panties full of Rocks

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Etsy Goodies, Sugarwings, swaps, vintage paper/collage art
By /

Rock_pile_001  I’ve had a fun couple of Sugarwings days this week.  We had some gravel delivered and before I get out the shovel and start spreading it, the fairy grandbaby and I decided to play a little king of the hill.Rock_pile_008_2

Or "princesses" of the hill.  Sugarwings and Twinkle had a blast in the rocks. So did I. We climbed, rolled, slid, dug, and fell all over them. And I may never get all the gravel out of my socks and clothes. I was downright crunchy by the time we were done.

If you are asking yourself why Karla has a dress hanging out the window of her chicken coop, well, good question.  I really should clean that building out, it hasn’t been used since an antique sale TWO YEARS AGO! The other day,there was a big wind storm (yes this is Kansas), the window blew open and a vintage dress blew out.

For all of you who think I get so much accomplished, this is proof that a lot of things just go by the wayside and never get done! That shed sure could use a cleaning out.Rock_pile_008_3   

Anyone want an old dress or should I haul it to Goodwill?

I could save it for Sugarwing’s dress up parties, she can be a fairy and I can wear that ugly old thing and be  Auntie Em! Scraps_293 

Beside playing with the baby, and picking rocks out of my granny panties, I did make time to do a few tags for the Birds and Bonnets Vintage Workshop Swap that Beth and I are co-hosting.

We will be having a drawing for presents for the participants. So far, we have:

2 clutches with a set of pearl beads, one from Beth, one from me

6 $25 gift certificates from Vintage Workshop for free downloads

Some tags from me

And now, here is  a new one!!Scraps_296

Not only is Vintage Workshop providing all these cool images from 3 of their collections for us to use in the swap, plus the 6 gift certificates, everyone who enters will also receive a free download collection of their choice!Scraps_297

I thought that was a nice little bonus!

I made all of these tags from the wallpaper backgrounds collection that we have available for the swap.

Scraps_298

To the backgrounds (various wallpaper patterns that I printed in different sizes then glued down in a crazy quilt way) I added some roses cut from my stash of wallpaper, some ladies from the Vintage Workshop collections, old seam binding ribbons, buttons and jewels.Scraps_299

And of course- millinery flowers!! My projects don’t feel ‘done’ until I add a flower.

Scraps_287 Speaking of my vintage wallpaper stash, I just added a bunch for sale on Etsy.  And it is flying out of there! If you are needing wallpaper, this is a good time to check out the shop, before it all flies away.Aunt_caroline_026

And what is flying in to me? CARDS! CARDS! AND MORE CARDS!

This is from Shawn Behrends and her daughter Bethany (3 yrs old)

(Shawn do I have you on the list??)Aunt_caroline_023

And this is from my pal, Scrappi Jessi, one of the liveliest people in blogworld.  Using one of her terms, "you rock, girl!"Aunt_caroline_022

This tasty cake is from Kathy Algonzzine

Aunt_caroline_029 Pretty pink roses from Betty Bates.

Aunt_caroline_030 Lovely faded flowers and portrait embellished with Caroline’s initial from Debbie Doughty.

Aunt_caroline_034 Old fashioned romantic style from Kathy
Maximo.Birthday_card_131 

Here is a photo I received of a card on its way from Nancy Burns. Ooo La la!Caroline_card

And this one is being sent in by my East coast buddy, Robin (Thrifty Miss Priss).

I am so excited about the beauty and generosity pouring into my mail box!

But, I do need to warn all you nice people that are sending in cards. I tend to screw things up. Bad lists, mixed up piles.  So, if I make a mistake on saying who sent what as I post the 100 cards or so that are coming in, please don’t be offended, and please correct me!

I already accidentally deleted half the flickr file and am going back to reload it after I do this.

Please check it out when you get a chance, but give me a few minutes to correct my screw ups.

Curious_sofa_025

Here is the updated list of contributors. If you are not on it and should be, please tell me, because this is the list that I am drawing names from for prizes.

The clutch is one prize.  Maybe some vintage wallpaper and millinery flowers?  A card kit to make some more cards?

You are doing me a big favor and a sweet thing for my aunt. What would you like to get as a gift for helping out?

100 cards

  1. Karin http://madrekarin.blogspot.com
  2. Michelle http://www.ginghamworld.blogspot.com
  3. Pam http://blogcabinfever.typepad.com
  4. Lesa Farmer
  5. Robin~ thrifty_misspriss@yahoo.com
  6. Robin Foster
  7. Lori http://faeriewindow.blogspot.com
  8. Kathy http://www.kathyscottage.blogspot.com:80/
  9. http://oodlesandoodles.typepad.com/
  10. Carol Spinsky RaisedInCotton@aol.com
  11. http://soinspired.blogspot.com
  12. Lori http://pinkfadedroses.blogspot.com:80/ 
  13. Janine http://angelgurl.wordpress.com/
  14. http://emmaspaperpatch.blogspot.com:80/
  15. Liane Tatum
  16. http://bluemuf.blogspot.com:80/ Karen
  17. http://simplysage.blogspot.com Mahala
  18. Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com:80/
  19. Debbie Doughty http://queendebbee.blogspot.com/
  20. Alice Wingerden http://www.paintedwhite.com:80/
  21. Karoline http://www.cherishedvintage.blogspot.com
  22. Joyce Rodli
  23. Lili http://lilimsadventures.blogspot.com:80/
  24. Mandy Blake
  25. *Heidi* http://journals.aol.com/hwoodred/everyday-cookies/
  26. http://www.bonoramamama.blogspot.com:80/
  27. Kirstie http://adelinecountrycottage.blogspot.com
  28. Phyllis http://shabbyinthecity.blogspot.com
  29. Sherry (Edie Marie’s Attic)
  30. Pinkie Denise
  31. Marilyn http://marilynbutler.blogspot.com:80/
  32. Melissa http://melissaburford.typepad.com:80/burford_designs/
  33. Lisa Russell http://www.violetsandsnapdragons.blogspot.com/
  34. Crystal http://www.fariebees.blogspot.com
  35. Janice Rehmeyer
  36. Meredith http://www.thevictorianlady.blogspot.com
  37. Nancy ~ Fete et Fleur http://feteetfleur.blogspot.com
  38. Jessi http://www.scrappyjessi.blogspot.com:80/
  39. Donell
  40. Jenn~ http://whinenroses.blogspot.com/
  41. Lolly http://lollysnestegg.blogspot.com
  42. Gail   Sell
  43. Kathy http://www.vintagesnapsandscraps.com
  44. Barbara http://smith411.typepad.com
  45. crchaffee@cox.net
  46. Edie Marie http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com
  47. María Elena
  48. Kelley  http://www.junqueygal.blogspot.com/
  49. Kelley: http://teacupmosaics.blogspot.com
  50. Carlene http://carlenefederer.blogspot.com/
  51. Barb http://www.123lavenderlollipoplane.blogspot.com:80/
  52. Louisa http://beachyscapecodcupboard.blogspot.com

  1. Jen http://Sanctuaryarts.blogspot.com
  2. Sandy Babb
  3. Colleen Cavanaugh http://cc-creativeramblings.blogspot.com
  4. Rachael http://theroseroomnz.blogspot.com/
  5. Valerie http://Queenschocolate.blogspot.com
  6. Joy http://www.thejoyof.blogspot.com
  7. Sheri Ingrande http://www.pawshpoodle.com
  8. Mary Isabella  http://daisybouquet.blogspot.com
  9. Natasha Burns http://www.natashaburns.blogspot.com
  10. Di Ann Sheps
  11. Pat
  12. Cami http://www.camillefano.typepad.com
  13. 3rdEyeMuse http://3rdEyeMuse.blogspot.com
  14. M.Kate http://www.melialissa.blogspot.com
  15. DELIA  http://brooksidecottage.blogspot.com/
  16. Kathy
  17. Samantha 
  18. Karen http://karenharveycox.blogspot.com:80/
  19. Sarah Lee (Adelaide’s Country  Cottage)
  20. Louise http://pinkgate.blogspot.com/
  21. Betty http://shessewpretty.typepad.com/
  22. Amy Wald
  23. Tera http://Stampqueen.blogspot.com
  24. Kari and Kijsa http://www.kariandkijsa.blogspot.com
  25. Kathy Jacobson  kathyjacobson.typepad.com
  26. Vickie http://www.whisperofinspiration.blogspot.net
  27. Amy P http://www.rubymoonart.blogspot.com
  28. Shannon J  http://www.faithandchocolate.blogspot.com:80/
  29. Gail http://boutiqueginabeana.blogspot.com/
  30. Cindy http://yappingcatstudio.typepad.com/my_weblog
  31. Rhonda http://rhondamum.blogspot.com
  32. Irma http://irmasrosecottage.blogspot.com
  33. Rhonda RhondaMum.blogspot.com
  34. Alison Gibbs
  35. Paula Kay
  36. Jeanette http://scrapnchick-keepmeinstitches.blogspot.com/
  37. Lisa http://reflectionsinagazingball.blogspot.com/
  38. Jeanie http://www.themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com
  39. Whitney Johnson http://www.kindredjoy.blogspot.com
  40. Corina http://corinaj.wordpress.com
  41. Lisa Lee l-lee@sbcglobal.net
  42. Sammy  don@stafney.com http://sammystuff.blogspot.com/
  43. Rachael’s Princess
  44. Rachael’s Mum
  45. Sissy
  46. sonya http://www.loveofyellowroses.blogspot.com
  47. Beverly http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/
  48. Holly Abston >http://www.hollydoodledesigns.com
  49. Adla http://www.vintagedelights.blogspot.com
  50. Anja http://newclassichome.blogspot.com
  51. Angelina http://beautifulcards.typepad.com/angelinascards/
  52. Maxine v.maxlie@charter.net
  53. Jennifer 
  54. Heather R. Kowalski http://www.prettypetalsboutique.blogspot.com/
  55. Barbara York http://panhandlesuequiltingspot.blogspot.com

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