Did I mention how wonderful it was to be home with little Agnes Rosebud? She is the sweetest pup, ever. Cuddly, devoted, and always right next to me. Here she is only a few months old, and calm enough to be a model for my pictures. She is helping me out with selling this vintage pillow. I've been getting photos ready to do a major list-a-thon of new products in my Boutique.
I'll let you know when I get them up for sale. In the meantime, there is too much other excitement going on.
Beth is coming over today with Button for a play date with Aggie Rose. Which means that Beth and I get a play date too.
We are going to foof around with our Romantic Gothic Ghost projects and come up with some ideas for Halloween decor that is moody but won't scare the socks off of you when you see your lovely home all decked out in garish orange. That's right, we are lobbying for an Orange Free Halloween this year.
As part of our online tutorial, we want to offer decor tips and little videos too. We'll be posting a few between classes.
As well as a few giveaways. I thought it would be nice to offer some of my favorite supplies to participants. For the Banner class, I'm giving away my extreme fave, these Stardust Gelly Roll clear sparkle pens.
Next, a selection of old velvets and blooms that would be great to use in any of the projects we are doing.
After that, I'll probably do some rhinestoney things. None are big giveaways, but just little sweet treats to aid in finishing the projects. I figured it would be more fun for the people who have signed up to have lots of little door prizes, instead of one big one. Beth has plans for goodies too.
And while I am on the subject of goodies- here are some extra good ones! My pal, Heather whipped up this bracelet and hand stitched the bag for it, especially for me before our lunch last week.
She has recently opened an Etsy shop if you are wishing you had one of these… she makes the prettiest jewelry.
What a wonderful trip! Its good to be home and we're exhausted from cramming so much into less than a week, but wow. It was the best. And not just because I return home with a bounty of blooms, it was all around, just a nice experience. We flew out to DC to pick up the car that my husband has had out there for a couple of years and drove it back, visiting friends and family along the way while my husband did some business here and there.
The states between Kansas and Virginia are so durned packed with pink and white hat bargains, that I had to be really picky about what I was buying or there wouldn't have been space in the car. There are BILLIONS of floral hat deals in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
By the time I stopped in Missouri at an antique mall along I70, I was plain old burnt out and not even looking at hats any more. At one little shop in Akron, I found boxes full of corsages. They were marked more per piece than I sell flowers for myself. So, I politely asked the store owner what her best price on a dozen would be and I was flabbergasted when she quoted me a little over a dollar each. I picked out some of the prettiest pink and white roses, some that still have the original tags on them.
While my husband worked a bit in each state we visited, I killed time at nearby antique malls, unless we were already checked into a hotel. If so, I sat in the room and glittered my Dorothy tags.
I also got in a lot of high quality nap time, plus got to visit my buddy, Heather while in the Pittsburgh area.
Since I had a few days to shop, I had to be really cheap to make my $150 last all week. And that part of the country seems to be THE place for stretching a dollar, I found some lovely things beyond the hats too.
For me, there is no better vacation than one where I get to visit people I care about, score deals on beautiful things, take naps, eat gourmet foods, PLUS get a load of work done. Ideal! Of course, I didn't get to turn on the TV at all this week and am wondering what happened on Top Chef and Runway, but hey, life was pretty close to perfect, so I am not complaining.
The highlight of the trip was our romantic dinner on Lake Eerie at the Shoreby Club. This Victorian stone mansion has been renovated and is now a dinner club with a spectacular view of the lake at sunset.
While sipping our wine and watching the sun sink into the lake, we misquoted Gordon Lightfoot and sang the Edmund Fitzgerald song. We didn't realize until afterward that the song was about Lake Superior, not Eerie.
We also discussed how much we missed Sugarwings. That is one of the reasons why we cut our trip short a day. No matter how great time away is, its still time away from Sugarwings too.
We are pathetic. We are so smitten by this little one, we couldn't stand to be away any longer.
So, bright and early on Sunday morning we scooped her up, and had a boating picnic on the lake.
There's no place like home….
Work was a secondary reason for getting back. Romantic Gothic Ghosts starts at midnight Sunday! I wanted to tweak some things and make it just right for you.
The first lesson is for 2 collages of my banner. The finish on this lady's portrait is one of the tips I'll be giving out on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be finishing the banner, and then Beth does one of her projects later in the week.
She and I are planning some extras too. A few giveaways of vintage supplies, some videos, etc.
We'll be working on some unique Halloween decor ideas, and ways to display some of the art you'll be making in our class.
The classes are $25 and will be left up as long as I have a Typepad blog. And I don't see an end to blogging anytime soon…
And don't forget- you can still enter the August Giveaway for one of my completed Romantic Ghost projects.
Are you signed up to play along with our Dorothy Tag Book Swap? 6 tags need to be made by Sept. 30th and sent to me. I'll make up a book with 6 tags sent in, plus a cover by me and an Ozzish charm of some kind on it.
Details can be found by clicking on the swap button on the side bar of my blog. The one with Sugarwings' ruby slippers and my witchy socks.
I've pre-written this post to pop up while I'm away and my suitcase is filled with tags to work on while I'm gone. I'll be traveling with my husband, who will be on a business trip. So, while he's working, I'll be back at the hotel sprinkling ruby red glitter everywhere.
I'd better plan on tipping the house keepers.
All of my swap tags are finished, but I still have to complete the book covers by the end of September.
That shouldn't be a problem. I plan on getting them all done this week on the road. The swap is still open, I'm making up lots of covers, there should be plenty.
If you want to join us, please email me. I'll add you to the list and send a confirmation after my trip.
I'm still not done with the charms to tie on the books, though. I had a good start on the lollipops I was making, but then someone tried to help me with them…..
My husband was in the backyard when Sugarwings got dropped off to stay for a bit. He thought I was in the studio and sent her in to surprise me. But, nope! I'd gone through the front door of the house and was in the kitchen. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that I came outside and he asked me where Sugarwings was.
That kid has spent her entire life waiting for the moment when she is turned loose in my studio without me watching her. She thinks MY stuff is so much more interesting than HER stuff. She dreams of delving into my supplies with no supervision.
She got her wish. Not for long, but 10 minutes was long enough for her to repaint all my lollipops bright red.
I might be switching to magic wands on the tags instead of repainting the lollies.
Usually, when I host a swap, I excitedly open each and every package the minute the mail lady drops it off. But this time, I can't, due to space. I'm stacking up all the boxes to inventory and open after September 18th. That weekend, I have other hostess duties and will need every inch of my studio, so I can't have three tables covered in tags the way I like to pile them up to play with.
I've invited all the local Bellas to come over for a get acquainted- get inspired- get ready for Silver Bella play date. If you are attending Silver Bella, and are kind of local to the Kansas City area and have not heard from me, please contact me. I hope to get a studio full of fun going on that day.
In the meantime, its going to just kill me to see all those swap packages coming in and piling up without opening them!! But I have a feeling that Sept. 19th is going to feel like the biggest Christmas morning, ever! I'll be ripping into them with pent up anticipation.
Hopefully, the swappers will add their photos to the Flickr group, so I can get a glimpse of the goodness coming my way. Please check it out, there are already some nice ones up!
Also, I'd love to have you join Beth and I in our online classes. We're doing step by step instructions with all images provided to print and use to create a series of "Romantic Gothic Ghosts".
Recently, I posted a picture of this hutch that got repainted. A reader asked me for close ups to see how it was decorated inside. Well, its a bit of a jumble inside, no real decorating plan went into it, I'm afraid.
Since it is in the studio, its more storage than anything else. It holds things that I've made, or stuff that I want to make into something else.
It houses my Sugarwings Themed Art Obsession Collection too.
As well as all things Dorky. I like vintage dog things, and Yorkies are hard to find, so there are a few Scotties in the collection that I pretend are little Dorkies.
There is a large section that is crown related too. Mostly just stuff i like. Things that make me smile.
This cabinet is also in my studio, its my newest piece. I got it pretty cheap, and just love to have glass doors on a cabinet. If I don't see what I have, I forget its there. Especially with supplies in the studio.
Its important to me that my studio is pretty, a place I want to visit, not just to work, but just to be happy in. I'm always adding and changing things here and there. And decorating for the seasons, too. Here is the banner I made for "Romantic Gothic Ghosts".
If you'd like to make one yourself, (all images and directions are provided) please check out the class!
Beth and I are hosting an online class to teach you a number of projects, all with a dark and mysterious Halloween theme. A romantically beautiful Halloween filled with broken hearted ghosts. All done in sepia, neutrals, black, and white. Not a bit of orange to be seen.
These will be subtle Halloween decorations. Like this burlap tote made by Beth. The image is of Edgar Allen Poe's sister, not a ghoul with fangs, or a cheery orange pumpkin. We are going for a Halloween season filled with the kind of images we remember from watching Dark Shadows and reading Jane Eyre.
I even found sheet music for a song called "Dark Shadows" and used it as a background for this Gothic arch that is part of a banner.
All of our projects come with step by step instructions, photos, and ALL of the images that we used, for you to print and use yourself. Plus many, many more images, all with a romantic, dark theme.
After sifting through my collection of vintage images, I found a good selection of ladies to scan for you. Each is presented two ways, one is as she appears in the ephemera. A second way, has been edited for a more glowing, ghostly look.
Many of the backgrounds I am providing are offered to you in sepia, or black and white. There will be extra images and options so that you can branch out and make the creations just your own, or detailed instructions are included if you want to recreate them just as they are. Either way, you'll have plenty of extra images to play with and use in other projects too!
We will offer a variety of projects, with 12 days of instructions, lots of pictures, a few quick videos, short cuts, tips and tricks. What's Halloween without a few tricks? But don't worry, these projects will be a real treat to the eyes.
This week, I'll be taking a little road trip with my honey. But before I go, Beth and I are going to get the class description for "Romantic Gothic Ghosts" open and ready for you to see. I'll also write some posts ahead of time, so I won't be gone a week with no postings. You can still leave a comment to enter the August Giveaway for one of my completed Gothic Ghost projects too.
EDIT- Registration is open now!! Check out the class info here.
My projects are done, and I've got my instructions ready to go. Its that durn pixel thing that is getting me, I don't have the scans of the images loaded yet. I want to get them just right, so that when you print them, you will smile. Not curse at me. To free my mind from all the pixel problems, I played with pretties. Here are some things listed in the Boutique. See what I mean? Really pretty! But since I will be out of town for most of the week, I can't fill your orders till I get back. All packages will ship out on Tuesday, August 31. Please, shop away! I'll get your new goodies to you as soon as I can. There are lots of fall colored flowers in the Boutique right now. Agnes Rosebud and I had a hat plucking frenzy going on in the studio today.
As soon as all the blooms were pulled off, Agnes got the naked hats to wrestle to the ground and fight with. She was so worn out, that she curled up in one to take a nap.
I don't think she realizes just how much she has grown.
She might be needing a bigger hat.
Our "Romantic Gothic Ghost" tutorials will be all tone on tone, neutrals and sepia and I just love that look.
But, as much as I've been making anti-orange and purple Halloween statements lately, I have to admit, that when it comes to millinery, any color can look good!
The way I see it, if you are going to be making Halloween colored things, you should be using beautiful supplies to do it with. Take at look at these and tell me if you agree!
I've started a new category in the Boutique too, "Halloween" is filled up with stuff you might need for fall swaps, scrapbooks, and other projects. Its not too soon to start. Especially swaps….
Getting ready for this online tutorial has kept me hoppin! But between counting pixels and trying learn how to make pdfs, I took some time off to make a pixie too.
This one is on its way to Somerset, but in it, you can see two tricks that will be taught in my Romantic Gothic Ghost class…. Actually, there are 4 separate things in this picture that I will be giving how-to's for.
The technique I used in this Sugarwings creation is one of them.
She is also going to Somerset Life today. I'm always honored to hear from them.
All of my projects for the class involve a Gothic arch, moody colors, and NO ORANGE! Oh, what a pretty Halloween it will be this year!
Okay, now back to the hard part. I can make things like crazy, I actually made a book, a tag book with 6 original tags, a wall hanging, and a banner with five 8-1/2 x 11 collages for the classes yesterday. Plus two collages to send to Somerset Life.
When I'm on a roll, I can whip stuff out.
Its the pixels that kill me. Everything I used in all the projects has to be available to the students to click on and print to use themselves. Now, that is a spooky Halloween for me.
Beth came over yesterday for a craft day, and brought Button.
He and Agnes Rosebud were thrilled to see each other, and it was wrestle mania for most of the day. They had some ferocious growling too. Well at least, they thought they sounded pretty fierce, I kind of thought they sounded like a sewing machine.
Beth also brought her projects for our upcoming classes for me to photograph. Yep, we have decided to do some online tutorials!
Romantic Gothic Ghosts, for all of us who would love to decorate our homes for Halloween but don't want to put up with orange, purple and black! We will focus on the moody, flowing, dark style of old Gothic romance novels. Think Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and did I mention, moody?
Details coming- I hope you'll join us. I've been BUSY scanning and editing tons of illustrations, backgrounds and portraits that we'll provide for you to copy and print to use in our projects. And I have a feeling that you'll find lots of uses for all these images!
Now, I just need to get busy and come up with some projects myself. I'm behind! Beth had a boxful of great stuff she'd been doing, and all I've done is prep work so far. Now that Sugarwings' birthday bash is behind me, I can get to work on my dark and dreamy creations for the classes.
Can you take one more mermaid from me? I've been on a siren of the sea kick for months, haven't I? But this is something special for my pal, Majia.
Its her 50th, and Jessi gathered up 50 artists to each do a page in a scrap book as a gift for her. My page is a watercolor of her as a mermaid "holding court" in the lounge of the hotel we stayed at during Kim's event last month. Happy Birthday, Majia!!
Now, I'd better go brainstorm and make some stuff for our upcoming classes. I have some ideas brewing and my fingers are itching to get started.
Please leave a comment if you'd like to enter my August Giveaway. I'll be giving away one of those upcoming projects. One that is still in my head, so I can't show you any photos yet!
The birthday girl had a great time at her party. Probably almost as much fun as I did!
At a glance, the party might have seemed over the top, but really, it was pretty simple.
I gathered up all the small tables and chairs I could find and set them up under my pop up tent that I have for art shows.
We decorated it all with the Little Mermaid stuff I got at the flea market, a huge bag full of mermaid paraphernalia for only 20 bucks. Including all the napkins, plates and table cloths. That was a giant cost saver there!
I hung up the disco ball that Beth gave to me for my birthday and pinned Ariel doodads from the never ending bag of Mermaid goodies to it.
Each table got a couple colors of glitter glue, a pile of sea shells to paint, hats and horns to decorate, and a few of my old, beat up paint brushes.
Foam and sparkly Princess crowns for the little girls were $4 a 6 pack, but pirate hats for the boys were that much a piece! So, I found black foam visors on sale for 66 cents at Michaels, turned them upside down, and cut them into pirate hat shapes.
There was a wading pool with floaty toys, and lots of bikes and trikes sitting in the yard for the little kids. The big kids played water balloons and football in the field.
Everywhere I shopped, summer things were on clearance. I was able to get 3 bags full of water balloons for a dollar each.
And they are biodegradable! I didn't even know there was such a thing.
The festive leis were on clearance too, 5 for a dollar.
To make the little sand box seem more special, I sat it in the gazebo and draped it in tropical fabric (that I had in my stash).
It was Sugarwings' idea to add water to the sand box to turn it into a "beach". I buried pirate treasure (from the dollar store) in the sand for kids to dig up.
Side walk chalk is always a hit with Sugarwings, and we had plenty of that on hand to set out.
We made a slip and slide from a big sheet of plastic drop cloth, and anchored it with sand bags. We had sand bags around for throwing in the back of the truck in the winter, and I'll reuse the plastic.
Sugarwings' Hippy Chick Mommy baked her an amazing mermaid cake! She found My Little Ponies that were mermaids. I think that makes them seahorses….
The paper clay mermaids that I made at Kim's event were ideal for table decor. And now, they will be gifts for my two sisters. I guess those clay sirens were the most expensive part of the day, I spent $500 on Kim's classes!! But I got all sorts of pretties to use all over the house and yard. Every gift that we got in our hostess bags and the door prize of some of Kim's shell art were all just great to have for this. Kim even gave me the bags of shells she had left over, and I used them for the kids to paint on.
One thing I always have here at the cottage is sprinkles and icing, so I made up a tray of pretties and I brought out some plain cupcakes for kids to decorate how ever they liked. (the cute little blue baskets are from the dollar store too, what a deal!)
This foam core board was about $5, and I painted it in about an hour. We used it to play "Pin the Shell on the Mermaid's Necklace". Every kid got to pick a prize from my bottomless bag of Little Mermaid treasures that I only paid $20 for at the flea market.
After our hats were decorated, we took the horns down the fairy trail for a birthday parade.
You might be able to tell that I was enjoying the day…
This little video shows just how much fun my little fairy grand baby was having. She decided to climb on the "stage" and put on a Birthday Show.
What joy on her face!
Here are my tips for saving money on a kid's birthday party:
1-Use what you have on hand- that is the big one. Look around your house to see what you can use.
2- Save your old paint brushes after they look like they aren't worth using any more, kids don't care!
3- For an outdoor party, sprinklers and water games go great with messy paint projects! Buy glitter glues at the dollar store, and shop around for clearance items. Kids love to glob paint and glitter onto stuff.
4- Make an area look special by draping fabric over it. You can use a light fixture, or tree branch to create a magical little area. Little ones love tents! Try using sheets, old fabric, or if you have to buy something, tulle is pretty cheap.
5- Have fun yourself! If you are playing along and enjoying the games, that makes it fun for the kids. They'd much rather have someone pay attention to them than have you rent them a jump house.
6- Parades are free. Get a conga line going, and have everyone sing. Or march and blow horns. Being encouraged to be loud is not something kids get everyday and they eat it up!
7- Bright leis can usually be found pretty cheap and add a lot of color to the area, and kids feel festive wearing them.
8- Shop around! Try a flea market or outlet clearance store for supplies.
9- Think about what kids like, not what adults think is pretty. Put your money where it counts and don't waste it on things that don't matter to the little ones. This party is for THEM!
We've had the best Mermaid Day for Sugarwing's birthday! I'm as tired as can be, but had to take a peek at my pictures from the day before I go and collapse in front of the TV and see how Sookie is doing this week.
This is my favorite, look at the amount of glitter that child poured onto her crown! I wonder where she gets that from?
