Sunday, September 12, 2010

BLOG CANDY WINNER & MORE ANTIQUE FAIRE FINDS

Okay- no reason to prolong the suspense! The name my daughter pulled from the basket tonight was "CASS"! So, she is the winner of last Sunday's wedding themed blog candy! I'll be in touch with you soon to get your mailing address, Cass. Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone for being such faithful readers and leaving me the comments that mean so much to me!

I have rally enjoyed sending happy mail out to my winners and really don't want this to end. So... keep popping on over here because I have another group of things I am putting together to give away before long. And this time it will be (in my opinion) the best blog candy from me yet. It's going to be filled with lots of the things that I use and consider to be my favorites. (Think vintage inspired!) So, keep an eye out for that to come soon!

Now for a few things I want to share with you.

Stamp storage is such an issue for me! Despite the fact that I have weeded out tons of stamp sets and have my miscellaneous individual stamps all neatly stored in baskets, it's still a constant challenge. I know that organization is important, yet I must say, to me stamps are fun to look at, too, lol. (Would anyone except a fellow stamper understand this?) So, here is a neat thing I found- or shall I say my sweet husband found- to keep some of my many small miscellaneous stamps stored in while also looking great on display.


Isn't it great? It's an old printer's type tray. Mike used to have one that was nicer and even a bit bigger than this and we used to put little knick knacks on it. At Christmas time I'd load it up with tiny Christmas decorations and ornaments. (Why we ended up selling it at a tag sale I do not know!)
Anyway, Mike found this one when we went on one of our fun antiques hunting trips. He brought it over to show me and I immediately thought it would be an awesome way to display some stamps. And I think I was right! Cool, huh?

And next are the things I found last weekend. I actually found another printer's type tray, but much smaller. I will take a pic when I have it hung up and filled with stamps.

As for the things shown below: Here is some of the lace I purchased. The first picture is some of what I bought from the lovely British woman who also sold me the perfume bottle. It's all so pretty!


In this next picture is some I got from another lady. Included is some much older lace. Oh, it is just gorgeous up close and in person!


And next are buttons. I just love old buttons! I have been collecting buttons since I was a kid. My grandmother was quite the seamstress (she made lots of things including her own clothes and hats- and even doll clothes for my Barbie dolls including a wedding dress made from left over lace from her own wedding dress!). I have a large box full of buttons that were hers, but also many that I have collected on my own. Some day I will have to post about them, too ;-)


Here are a few of the buttons from the rather unusual assortment I ended up with. They were all from the same seller. She had tons of buttons! I had to buy a lot more that I didn't care about to get these, though. She had them in baggies of assorted buttons and so you "got what you got". Although, she was nice enough to let me pull a couple out and gave me a price just for those.

I love using old buttons on my cards. I am actually having buyer's remorse over all the PTI buttons I have purchased, as I really hardly ever use them. I so much prefer "real" vintage and antique buttons! :-)

And next are the three pieces of jewelry I splurged on.



I have a ton of old stick pins, but could not resist this sweet cameo. The color is so much prettier than the picture shows. And speaking of color- OMW! The dangling blue stone in this bar pin is so, so pretty! The photo totally does not do it justice!

And isn't the little silver and rhinestone heart pendant pretty? I got that one first. The lady was packing up to leave and gave me a really good price on it.
So then, as I was on the way out and heading to my car, thinking I had done all my shopping for the day, I saw one vendor I did not notice on my way in. She had sooo much beautiful jewelry! There were so many lovely pieces from which to choose that I had a really hard time deciding. But I really don't think I could have left without the blue stone bar pin!

So... there are some of my latest antiques faire finds. Being on the West Coast, it's a lot harder to find things like we used to get when we lived in New England, that's for sure. But the potential still exists, and I think it's the hunt that's what is really fun anyway.
So... I'd love to hear- how do you think I made out?

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Antiques.... What's Lovelier Than Perfume Bottles?

Before I show you some of my treasured favorites, I have an announcement to make:
I have decided to change my blog a bit.

When I first decided to delve into the world of blogging, I chose this name because I felt it described what I was planning to blog about.
Well... I am afraid I got so wrapped up in the card making/ stamping part that I really neglected the other "little somethings" that I originally wanted to share with you. Not only did I honestly get side tracked, but I think I was afraid that no one would really care to see the little somethings I love to surround myself with and make part of my life.

Well... I am re-thinking things now. After spending many hours blog hopping myself, I have come to find there are so many amazingly awesome blogs (with many, many dedicated followers) that are just filled with the very kinds of things I had in mind to share with you here!
There are many other people out there that love the same kinds of somethings that I love!
So... starting today, I will be adding posts about my little somethings. I hope you will enjoy them, and I also hope this will inspire you to share some of your little somethings as well!

These are some of my favorite old antique/ vintage perfume bottles.



The first one I ever owned is the crystal one with the silver band around the neck. It belonged to my grandmother, and my mother told me it had been my great grandmother's before that. It was kept in the guest room that I usually slept in when I visited my grandmother. (When my brother and I would spend the night there together, I slept in a different room that had twin beds so we could be together.) Anyway, I loved that room. It was a fairy tale kind of room to me. It was beautifully decorated and in it was an antique 4 poster bed that my grandmother was born in in 1892. And a lovely dresser across from it. And a sweet little boudoir chair. But my favorite was the dressing table! It had a sweet dotted swiss skirt. On it was a mirrored top and a 3-paneled standing mirror. On the table she kept a pretty silver hair pin box, a very small dainty flowered porcelain vase, and this crystal perfume bottle. I used to sit at that table for hours! I'd go into the closet and take out her beautiful pale salmon colored satin high heels that each had a big satin rose on them and sit at that table and pretend I was a princess. I would take the stopper out of the bottle and hold it to the light to look through it to see the prism effects. I would dream that I was beautiful... like a princess. I have so many memories of being there. And, after my dear grandmother passed, every item I mentioned (except the shoes, lol) was brought to my childhood home and put in my bedroom. And now all of these things are here with me in my home. My youngest daughter sleeps in the four poster bed, but all the other items are in my bedroom. I love having these things that hold so many wonderful, cherished memories of times spent at my grandmother's house. Oh, how I adored that woman!


Here is a close up of another special bottle. This one caught my eye a few years ago while my husband and I were at one of our favorite antique stores. I fell in love with this hand painted beauty! But there was just no way I was going to seriously consider such an extravagant splurge. I did, however, keep thinking about it and I guess I must have mentioned it a time or two, because Mike made a little trip back there without my ever suspecting and bought it for me to give to me on my next birthday. Isn't it pretty?


And then there is this pair of lovlies. They actually had been on my dressing table years before I ever sat at it. The table had actually been in my mother's bedroom when she was a young girl. And this pair of perfume bottles were hers. She sent them to me as a gift several years ago and I love them.


And here is a picture of that stopper. It also makes me think of the (original) Pollyanna movie. Remember Pollyanna and Jimmy and the prisms in the "mean old man's" house? :-)


And here is my latest addition! I found this sweet cut glass bottle at an outdoor antique faire I went to last weekend. I was purchasing some gorgeous antique lace from a lovely British woman and just before I turned to leave, I spotted this. She and I had been chatting quite a while and I felt like we were "kindred spirits", lol. She was delightful! Her darling grand daughter was there with her, too (seemed to be about 18 or so). They were both so sweet. And her accent was simply wonderful! Anyway, I went right to the bottle as it reminded me of the one of my grandmother's (although quite a bit smaller), and picked it up. She said it was one of her favorites and when I asked how much it was, she hesitated for a moment and then told me she could "let it go" at a price way below what I had been expecting. So... splurge I did!
And since it is a bit smaller than my others I think it actually fits in beautifully with them. I also have a collection of lots of tiny perfume bottles- the "sample" size. I wonder.... is there anything more feminine or lovelier than old perfume bottles?

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Few Oldies While My Studio Undergoes Some Changes

I am sorry to say I have decided I must reach into my "old stash" to share some cards with you today.
I am on "studio renovation overload"!

It's not that I am doing a major overhaul or anything big, but it's still a bit mind boggling and a little physically draining as well.

It also has not given me much time for creating.

I will be posting about it before long, but basically I have done some furniture changing and am doing a lot of weeding out! It's difficult, but I am selling and giving away tons of stuff. It has become just too jam packed in here!

I also need some better lighting. I had my wonderful contractor put in some under cabinet lights which are great for when I am working, but I really need some more general over-all lighting in here. There is no wired lighting in this room- only lamps. I decided a ceiling fan would be nice in here as well, and I think that will be nicer then canned lights or something like that. I am really excited about it. Plus, the other things I am doing are making my whole studio take on a new look and feel. I'll share it all with you when it is done.

Okay, so on to my cards.

I have 3 cards that I did together. While in one of my Victorian/ Vintage/ Nostalgic moods, I came up with them. It was actually my first try at this "style"- done a couple of years ago. I really had fun with them and liked how they came out. Since then, I have just drifted more and more towards the "vintage look" and really come to find the "style" of card making that I enjoy best. And although I'd like to think I have progressed and gotten better since I made these, I still keep them on a shelf in my room, as I not only like how they turned out, but it's fun to look back at them to remind me where I started.

It's funny, looking at them now, I can see a lot of little changes or additions I would make if I were doing them today. But I have to remember these were my first of this type of card, so I will cut myself a little slack, lol. Hope you like them anyway!



I love all the texture in these cards. And the embossed bird on the vellum card stock looks so much better in real life!



This card is quite similar, but I like the metal findings on here. I also think the rhinestones in the flower centers was a good addition.




And I just love this stamp! Isn't she great? Again, I embossed the image on vellum.


I think this was the first time I put lots of little details on my cards. Now, if you ask me, it "all about details"! And texture. I just love texture. And a little dimension is always a good thing. Yep- this was indeed a stamping project that got me going in the direction I really love most.
I think if I stamped nothing but vintage/ victorian/ antique/ heritage inspired cards for the next 30 years (God willing I am still stamping then!) I would be happy with that :-)


Thanks so much for stopping by today. I have lots more I want to share with you in the next few days, but as "back to school" for my kids quickly approaches, I am busy with last minute preparations for that. Hopefully I'll get a couple of posts in over the next few days anyway.
Hope you are having a great week!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

NEW WINNER AND FINAL BLOG CANDY.....

... Well, not really! I will explain more about that in a bit.
But first- this week's winner of blog candy is maureendb!
I'll be contacting you on Monday, so I can get your package to you, Maureen. Thanks so much for being such a faithful follower and commenter on my blog! Congrats!!!

And now on to this week's candy.
Remember I said I was going to do a wedding theme? Well, here is what I have come up with:


It is really late at night and I need to get this post up, so I apologize for the fact that the pictures may not come out too well. The lighting was very challenging, but it's the best I could do. And again, it's hard to fit it all in in one shot, so in addition to this pic with everything together, I have taken a couple with it divided up, as well.


I think you'll agree that I have a wedding theme going here, but there's plenty of goodies here that you could use for various occasions, too.



These are the things you have a chance to win:
Marcella By K clear set of 11 wedding stamps
Marcella By K clear stampin block
Box of 50 Invitation size ivory envelopes
Stampin' Up! "Occasionally" stamp set
Cuttlebug "Animals" set of 4 embossing folders
Coluzzle Nested Window template
3 boxes of assorted pink and red shades of ribbon
5 rolls of various ribbons
Tall glass bottle of Prima flowers in blue shades
Shorter glass bottle of Prima flowers in purple shades
Large purple flower embellishment
Pastel colored satin flower applique
Package of silver tone heart charms
Wood mounted "Hugs & Kisses" stamp by Rubber Stampede

NOTE: As I am looking at these things to list them, I see the little bride stamp is damaged. I am going to try to return it to the store this week. If I can get another, I will. If not, I will substitute something in it's place.

Okay- I think by now many of you know my rules to be entered into the drawing for all this, but here you go again (hopefully we'll have some newbies this week!):

1) Become a follower of my blog, if you have not already done so.
2) Post a comment to THIS post! I love comments on all my posts, but this is the one you must post a comment on to be eligible for the drawing!
3) Put this on your blog, if you have one. Otherwise, just help spread the word any way you like. By word of mouth, email, FaceBook, etc. As long as you tell at least one person somehow.

Thanks!!!

Okay- now for my explanation of "not really" as stated in my first line in this post.

I have decided that with all the fun I have been having giving things away to my AWESOME readers, I want to continue. However, I can not afford to do this every week, lol, but I will try to do it as often as possible. With that said, I will just tell you that I plan to offer blog candy again before too long. Certainly before the year is out! Probably a couple of times or more in the next few months. I have already started to put aside some really special things for you. I want to do a give-away of items that I especially love and often use myself. (Yes, you can start thinking "vintage", lol!) and there may be some non- stamping related things in there, too- you just never know what! I just love shopping for other people, so who better to shop for than you? I am so thanking for all my readers and I thank each of you so much for the lovely- and often funny- comments you write here!

So, again I congratulate Maureen and wish you all luck for next Sunday's drawing.

I hope you have a fun and safe Labor Day!




Wednesday, September 1, 2010

YAY! I FOUND IT! Lollipop flowers tutorial

I am so happy I found it! This is the one I was hoping to find! This gal is my flower making idol, lol! She makes THE most gorgeous flowers I have seen yet! She's super creative and does her tutorials really well, so you can actually understand what she is doing- even if you are new to it.
I just love what she has come up with and my goal is to be able to make flowers just half as nice as hers.

So there you go. Lots of great video tutorials to watch and learn from.

I'd love it if you'd let me know if you make any fabric flowers yourself. Please share with us what you create, okay?
Have fun!!

Heated Big Shot Flowers

Oooohhhh.... these are sooo purdy! I have a feeling I may be staying up really late tonight making more flowers, lol!

How to make lollipop flowers out of fabric

Okay- this one is by cute little Paisley's mother. It's a really good one, too. But there's one more I am still searching for. In the mean time, I hope you are enjoying these videos as much as I did!

Well, I am off to keep searching for more for you...


lets make fabric mini rose blooms and curly lollipop flowers tutorial

Well, I had not seen this one before, but I came across it just now looking for the others I am hoping to find to share with you. I really like it so I am going to share this, too. I love the idea of using organza. And it's great to learn that the cheaper the fabric, the better! :-)
So, enjoy it! (And don't you just love this lady's accent?! )

Vintage Lollipop Flower Tutorial Mar 20, 2010


Here is the video I first learned from. See- I told you I copied, lol!
So, enjoy this one in addition to the last one I posted, and I am going to try to find some of the other ones I found to be really good.

I'll be back as soon as I can! :-)

scallop circle fabric flowers by Paisley


You are in for a treat! I want to share with you some of the wonderful tutorials I have found that helped me to learn how to make the flowers I have been making and posting.
Just wait til you see this precious little girl! Paisley is clearly a demo in the making! ;-) I just love this video and I have no doubt you will, too.
I have not made any flowers exactly like this yet, but I sure plan on it. And I love the idea of putting them on hair bands. I just bought a few and some hair clips and bobbi pins as well. I can not wail to find some time for this next flower phase.
So, grab a beverage and maybe a pad and paper to take notes, and get ready to learn a great way to make beautiful fabric flowers from one of the best little teachers I have ever seen!

I'll be back later to share some more of the tutorials I have found to be really helpful as well.
Enjoy!