Announcement AND Giveaway!

Hello my blogging friends! 

I know, I said I'd be back but it took me a little longer to get here than I had anticipated ;-) However... it has been for good reason. I have been up to some really exciting things that I want to tell you about, AND I am going to be giving away a bunch of fun blog candy!

First of all I want to share some pics with you showing what I was doing for a big part of the Summer. (You'll get my reason for sharing things as we get closer to the giveaway details!)

If you've been following me at all, you know I LOVE antiques stores and flea markets. And it's "all about the hunt"! :-) So I went to as many flea markets, antiques stores, estate sales and even garage sales as I could over the Summer. And WOW did I find some awesome stuff! Here's just a small a sampling:

 This was one of several flea markets I attended in Southern California. The weather was great but boy the sun could get awfully hot. You have to be extra careful when picking up things like silver. Ouch! ;-) 

 And here's my oldest daughter. It was so great to have her join me on so many of my treasure hunts. She always makes it even more fun!

 Ooohh.... don't you just love this store? I could have been in there all day! I got lots of inspiration in this place!

 The ladies who do the displays in here are fabulously creative!

 Oh, how I love old perfume bottles. Can you tell ? ;-)

 Some more of my sweet and feminine finds

 Bottles for altering and repurposing!

 Another passion of mine: antique buttons!

 I love tiny glass ones, too. They are so great to use on cards. 

 And of course I found some wonderful lace!

Check this out: A fantastic old knife tray filled with various wood objects- mostly textile spools and bobbins. I love the rolling pin with different handles on each end. 

Okay, so there you have a sampling of where I went and the kinds of things I found. Now for the really cool part of all of this:

(A little background first) For as long as I can remember I have loved pretty things. Especially old things that have a history and tell a story.  And as I got older I even started to appreciate things maybe not quite so "pretty" but maybe rustic would be a good word for them. Still, the old vintage and antique things that have a great history are what I enjoy most- and what inspires me to create. 

And for years I have had a dream: To someday have my own little antiques store. I dream of buying an old barn and refurbishing it to house all sorts of wonderful treasures to sell to people who are passionate about antiques- and who love to hunt for them- like me ;-) My cousin and I used to say that one day we'd buy an old barn to live in- and from the rafters we'd hang wagon wheels made into chandeliers.  Well, I'll admit I love my home and don't really long to live in a barn anymore, lol, but to have one as an antique store would be a definite dream come true!

Yet as my Mom would often remind me, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride". And the truth is, I can't buy a barn to make into an antiques store right now. Not that I don't still hope for one some day, but for now I am going to settle for an alternate kind of store. (And here comes my announcement!)

I am opening an Etsy shop this weekend! I am also planning on selling at various local boutiques and some flea markets. Yes, "My Little Somethings" is now going to be my little business as well ;-) 

And I'll bet you can guess what kinds of things I will be selling, right?

Hand made cards, of course! But also other hand made items AND vintage treasures!! Also, I will be selling supplies in my Etsy shop- including vintage items like lace and buttons for you to use when creating your own projects!

So that's why I have not been posting much lately. I have been super busy hunting for things and getting things ready and made.

So to kick this all off, what better way to get started than with a blog candy giveaway?

 I have put together a group of items- lots of supplies (since I know most of you are crafters, too) and some fun vintage things, as well. Also I am including some things handmade by me ;-)

 Here are the supplies. Among this group of stash are things like rubber stamps, Tim Holtz distress ink, 2 wood frames for altering, a Stampin' Up! chipboard book, rub ons, Martha Stewart baker's twine, Sizzix die, eyelets, ribbon, Stickles, a bar punch, and embellishments

 And for the "made by me" items, I am including a boxed set of mini gift enclosure cards with envelopes. These will also be sold in my Etsy shop. 

And here are some really fun vintage treasures- and supplies, as well! 

There are 3 different laces: the beautiful yellow lace is wrapped around an old textile spool. I love them for adding a primitive look in my studio- or anywhere in my house, for that matter. There are 6 yards (yes YARDS- not feet!) of this gorgeous lace wrapped around the spool and secured with one of my hand made stick pins.

And then there is royal purple lace. Soooo pretty! 5 yards are wrapped around an old vintage bobbin and secured with another stick pin made by me.

And there is some dainty white lace, too. That is wrapped around an old wooden Coats & Clark spool and has a little stick pin- made by me, naturally ;-) There are 3 yards of the lovely white lace.

Besides all that lace, there are a ton of vintage buttons. A whole pile of fun plastic, wood, mother of pearl, etc. And finally, I am including some fun vintage costume jewelry. Did you know brooches are coming back in style? Yep- they sure are! And according to Nordstrom's Department store, vintage style brooches are among the top ten fashion items for Fall. So here you have a chance to win a couple of vintage brooches- and 2 pairs of cluster earrings. Wear them OR repurpose them like I do! They are great to use in all sorts of crafting :-)

Okay so how do you win all this yummy stuff?

It's EASY to enter my giveaway! And I am going to give you multiple ways to increase your chances!

All you have to do is go to my new FaceBook page here 

http://www.facebook.com/MyLittleSomethings

and just hit the "like" button on the page! It's as simple as that!

(Note: If you already have liked my page, you have an entry.)

And tell all your friends about it. If a friend also likes my page and mentions your name saying you sent them there, you will get TWO additional entries! And there's no limit to the number of friends you can refer- each getting you two more chances! And finally, if you have a blog and post this to your sidebar, with a link to this giveaway, you will get FIVE extra entries. Just let me know in the comment section  here on this blog post that you have done so. (Then I can visit your blog, too!)

So there you have it- lots of ways you can get entries to my giveaway! The winner will be chosen one week from today, Wednesday September 19th. Thanks so much for visiting me today. I hope to see on FaceBook. Also, please stop by my Etsy store this weekend! Good Luck!

And as always, I wish you many blessings,

Sarah

Using Brads For Scrap Your Crap!

The Summer is flying by and already it's time for another challenge from Scrap Your Crap!

This month we are using brads and/or eyelets- and I chose brads :-)

Here is the card I made, and I found the rhinestone brads to be the perfect finishing touch:

The two patterned papers I used are some of my very favorite prints I think Stampin' Up! has ever made. They are both from the (retired) Parisian Breeze Specialty collection. Matched with SU! Chocolate Chip and PTI white card stock, it's really a gorgeous combination. Both patterned papers are textured, and I also used an embossing plate for my top white layer. With the beautiful combination of colors, patterns and textures, I am really pleased with how this card came out. 

So now it's your turn! Head on over to the Scrap Your Crap blog and check out all the other cards and scrapbook pages our design team has made to inspire you, and then create something of your own! And please be sure to share it with us! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I know I have not been posting much as the Summer is keeping me super busy with school out for all these fabulous, fun weeks! But before long, school will be back in session and you'll be seeing a LOT more of me here! And really soon I will be sharing more about all that I have planned for my crafting future.... I have a lot I have been working on and am getting ready to share all the details with you very soon. I am so excited and can hardly tell you all about it :-)

Until then, I wish you a wonderful remainder of the Summer with many blessings!

~Sarah

Items used to make this card include:

Stampin' Up! Parisian Breeze Specialty papers

Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake card stock

PTI white card stock

Stampin' Up!/Sizzix Texturz embossing plate

Cheery Lyn Design dies: Fanciful Flourish and Exotic Butterfly small #2

Spellbinders Nestabilities Fleur De Lis rectangles die

Stampin' Up! tiny tag punch

Stampin' Up! hand held hole punch

Beige lace and thread

Handmade stick pin

Rhinestone brads from the Stampin' Up! Pretties kit

Stampin' Up dimensionals

Summer Antique Finds

I know many of you are either getting ready to send your kids- or even yourself- back to school, and are about to get started with "Fall". I actually have about one more month before school starts here. So, I am still feeling as if I am pretty much in the middle of vacation. I will admit that my "normal everyday routine" has pretty much stopped. Vacation mode is in full swing; I try to just concentrate on having as much fun as I can with my family while we have time. We'll all be back to the grind soon enough ;-)

With that being said, vacation does not mean I take a break from my love of antiques hunting! My husband and I still continue to do that pretty much every chance we get. Sometimes I will go off either on my own or with my oldest daughter if it happens to be a day she is off from work. And this Summer has actually proven to be a very good one for me, "hunt wise"! Let me show you just a few things I recently acquired when Mike and I were out and about:

Isn't this cool? Okay- I admit, I don't know much about real country living, so other than knowing that this used to be on a farm, I can't tell you anything about it, lol. Nonetheless, I was crazy about this old rustic can as soon as I saw it and just had to splurge on it. I don't even know if the price was fair, but given the prices on everything else where I found it, I think I must have done well. And if not, so what. I was happy to pay what I did for it and I am loving how it looks by my front door ;-) 

So... if you happen to know what this was once used for I'd love it if you can leave a comment here to tell me!! :-)

Next we come to this really special find....

I have wanted a nice old wagon wheel for many years! As a matter of fact, when we were teenagers (many, many years ago!) one of my dearest cousins and I used to dream about owning an old barn some day. We also decided that inside we'd hang old wagon wheels that we would make into chandeliers. Well, although that dream of mine did not come to fruition (well, not yet anyway), at least I now have an old wagon wheel! 
It's bigger than it looks in the picture, and I'm so happy with the way it looks here where Mike set it up against our fence in the front yard among the tall flowers. Doesn't it look great?


And next is another very fun "find"~

Pretty, huh? Obviously it has been restored, but it was restored very well. It's such a lovely old trunk, and looks really great in my upstairs hallway. 

Can you believe that we purchased all three of these wonderful items from a garage sale?! Well, the man who was selling them was downsizing. His wife had passed away and he just had way too many things. He even let me go into his house just to see his late wife's cookbook collection. There were hundreds and hundreds of wonderful books and he was hoping to sell all of them to one person. Needless to say I passed on them, but I did see that he had a lot of other items he needed to sell as well. The trunk I bought was one of three beauties- all of which had me tempted. Seriously, if I had the room for them, I'd have bought them all! But of the three I chose this one due to the pretty shape and color of the wood. It is definitely more unusual than most old trunks I tend to see for sale. 
I also bought some other fun things from him- all smaller items. I'll try to get some pictures of those to share at some point, too. 

Finally, I would like to share with you one last item for today. This was found in an antiques store in Old Orange, CA by my husband when we were there on a hunt a last month. I can not believe I missed it, and am so very glad he saw it and showed it to me! Let me tell you about my "connection" to this awesome piece:

Okay, so it's a milk crate from a dairy, right? So what could be so special about that? Well, this dairy was in Connecticut- about as far away from here as you can get without leaving the Country. It made it all the way to California. Just like me; I came all the way from Connecticut too. And THIS very same dairy was the one where I used to get ice cream cones EVERY Summer of my childhood!!! Seriously- what are the odds of finding something like this? I don't remember exactly when, but I believe they went out of business when I was in my late teens or maybe early 20's. But from the time I was a very small child until then I would have ice ream many days and nights every Summer from Maple Shade. I have so many awesome memories of that place. And I just can not tell you how cool it is to have this. And now I am on a mission: To find some milk bottles from there! I actually did find one on eBay. But, it was a really large one and would not fit in the crate due to the metal dividers. But I am hopeful that at some point I will be able to locate at least one. 

OKay... there you have it for now. I know a lot of you are like me and love antiques and the fun of the hunt. These are just some of the many cool and interesting things my husband and I have found this Summer; there lots more to share so I'll try to post more pics soon. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'll be back later today with my next project for the Scrap Your Crap blog so please check back real soon! 

I'm hoping you'll leave a comment, as I always love hearing from you :-)

Wishing you many blessings as always~
Sarah

Floss Or Twine

It's time again for another challenge from Scrap Your Crap!

  Challenge # 67: Floss or twine.

I decided to use baker's twine. I'll have to admit that although I own a bit of the stuff, I very rarely use it. One reason I LOVE designing for SYC: it gets me USING much of my "stagnant" stash! :-)

Anyway, I had a little bit of brain freeze on this. Yep- at times I too suffer from a lack of mojo in card making ;-) But thankfully, I am blessed by a very dear- and super creative- friend Maureen, who inspired me to make my card this time! 

As you can see, this is a bit more on The "whimsical" side than I typically create. That's thanks to Maureen! She had made a darling card which really inspired me to make this one; and where she put baker's twine in buttons like this.

I thought they would look really cute on a birthday card. Since I had a stamp set of cute, whimsical images which includes a stack of presents, I had the idea of "wrapping" some twine around those as well. So, I stamped the image and cut it out. Then I stamped it again 3 times- each time on a different piece of patterned paper. I cut them out and paper-pieced them onto the original stamped image and tied the pink and white twine around them. Then I pop-dotted them onto the scalloped circle layer. Aren't they cute? 

For the buttons, I used different colors of twine: brown and white in two of the buttons, and green and white in the other. 

And there you have it: baker's twine! :-)

So head on over to Scrap Your Crap and see all the fabulous designs by the team. They have really come up with some awesome cards and scrapbook pages for this challenge!! 

Then, share YOUR creation using baker's twine or floss with us!

As always, I thank you for stopping by today. And as you know, I still LOVE reading your comments. I hope you'll leave one for me :-) 

I'll be back soon with more fun stuff from my "antique adventure hunts" to share with you. Until then, I wish you blessings as always!

Sarah

Items used to make this card include:

SU! Happy Moments stamp set

SU! Picture This stamp set 

SU! So Saffron and Pink Pirouette textured c/s; 

SU! Cajun Craze; Groovy Guava; and Certainly Celery c/s

PTI white c/s
Patterned papers from Authentique 6x6 bundle Collection: Delightful

Martha Stewart brown&white baker's twine; pink&white baker's twine (unknown brand)

SU! buttons: Designer Brights Collection
Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder
Scallop circle punch
Black Archival Ink

Summer Treasure Hunts... And Some News!

Wow.... I hardly know where to begin! It's been a while since I last posted, as I've been so busy doing the things I have been excited to tell you about! I have tons of pictures to go along with some of the "news" I had mentioned in my last post. 

First of all, I'll start with my "announcement". Well, believe it or not, I love to make things other than just cards ;-) There are so many things that I have in my brain that I really want to create and get working on. And for some time now, I have had many friends and people I have met tell me over and over that I should sell my hand made things. But I always felt funny about it. I didn't feel right taking money from my friends, but so many of them really pushed me saying that they really want to buy them and yet they couldn't just take them. So I have decided to take the plunge and start selling! 

Well, you know how it goes.... one thing leads to another and once the brainstorming began, it became more than just selling cards to friends! My plan is to make lots of different things and to start an Etsy shop as well as sell at various boutiques and craft fairs.

I have been busy boing not so fun "business stuff" going places like City Hall and registering my business name, getting my seller's permit, obtaining a tax I.D., etc., etc. 

But some things I needed to get done were really fun. Such as.....

The fact that I will need inventory! And that means lots of supplies for creating things. That's where some of the best fun comes in! I plan to continue to create mostly a style with a "vintage flair" so to speak, and many of the things I will make will have some antique or vintage item incorporated into it.  

And as you probably know if you are a follower of mine I LOVE antiques hunting! So this part of my "work" is really a blast for me. Originally from New England, it wasn't hard to find places to go rummaging through old things to buy when living there. But since moving to Southern California, it's been a little more challenging. But thats not to say I have not found some great places to go looking. And here is one of my husband and my favorite areas. It's a town known as "Olde Orange". It's got a great old town feel to it- and absolutely filled with many places to buy antiques. 

As I headed over to one of my favorite stores, I saw this car coming down the road

I wanted to chase it down the street and jump right in, but I just didn't have the nerve. So I turned and walked into this awesome store- fully in the mood for a "vintage" experience ;-)

Check out some of the dealer's displays:

I love how light and bright this area is with the delicate pink and white and all the wicker.
There's just something about old children's clothes, baby items, pretty dishes and the other things here that I absolutely can't get enough of.

Seriously- my dream is to own my own antiques store some day!!!

Bird cages and old kitchen wares are so popular now.

And old photographs. But I find it so sad that there are so many that have no names or information on them. Yet the mystery about who those people were and what their lives were all about is certainly intriguing.

So much of this was considered "junk" not long ago. Ahhhh..... if we'd only saved more of it lol! ;-)

Okay, so although I didn't happen to buy anything there for crafting, I did come home with an awesome old milk crate! My husband actually spotted it first. And believe it or not, it was from the very same dairy where as a child I would get ice cream cones in the Summer back in Connecticut! Imagine- an old wooden box from a small family owned dairy on the North East Coast ending up here in Southern California- and Mike finding it for me all these years later! I just had to have it! I can not tell you how many memories I have of my Mom taking all us kids in her station wagon there- me and my brothers and sister, lots of friends and cousins- out for a Summer treat; usually dessert on a hot July evening.
Now I am on a quest to find some old milk bottles to go in it. But I am determined to find them from that particular dairy. It may take a while, but I am hoping some Ebay seller will come through for me at some point ;-)

Okay.... now on to my next jaunt: and this is where I really scored on some awesome things for my crafting endeavors ;-)

My daughter Katie and I got up super early on a Sunday morning to go to a wonderful flea market/ antiques fair. It happens once a month and is held out by the fields of Irvine CA by where the old El Toro Marine bases once were.

It started out cool, with a good amount of marine layer, just right for walking around and checking out all the fun things the dealers had to offer.

But it was a good thing Katie and I wore hats, because that layer didn't last too long and before we knew it the Southern California sun was shining hot!!!

Not that I need another chandelier, but I did spot a PINK one that I was super tempted to buy for my youngest daughter's bedroom. However, we had recently had a ceiling fan installed in there, so the only place it could go would be her closet. I decided to pass.

Katie had a little trip down Memory Lane, finding one of her favorite childhood toys.

She also found something one of her brothers once played with. Certainly not "antiques", but I guess even the early Ninja Turtles are now considered "vintage/ collectible".

Although I was finding (and buying) things left and right, we were having a hard time finding something for Katie. She is a photographer, and had a few things in mind she hoped to get for photo shoot props. There were a few that would have worked wonderfully, but the prices on them were just too high. Finally.... we came across this great frame! And the seller let us have it for just $5.00! SCORE!

And see that little white wooden child's toy hutch behind Katie? We we just loved it and thought it would be a darling way to display some hand made things at a craft fair. Sold! And the sweet lady let us use her dolly to get it to the car (It was a bit heavier than I had thought it would be).

We decided to take a little break from the hunt and walk over the the Farmer's Market they also have going on each month right next to tall the antiques.

There's nothing like fresh California fruit...

.... especially strawberries!

 There was so much to chose from: lots of beautiful organically grown produce

And for some people an adventurous balloon ride!

No way Katie.... you can continue to ask me until the cows come home, but I will NOT be getting myself into that thing!!!


I had sooooo much fun! And in the end, I went home with LOTS of treasures:

The cute white hutch, a darling magazine rack, small shutters I can clip some cards onto, a tall narrow shelp that my PTI stamp sets fit perfectly in, a cute desk organizer for letters, another desk organizer I plan to display cards in and an old sewing machine cabinet drawer. I have seen a lot of these painted and "repurposed" but I think I will keep this one as it is. Maybe I'll use it to pit tiny notecards in when I sell them at a craft fair or boutique.

And here are the "little treasures" I acquired- all ready to be incorporated into my creations:

Antique buttons and small prisms- so pretty! Oh- and I found something I'd been looking for for a while: over on the far right is a lovely old glass door knob. Perfect for my craft room door!

Lace and trims! And lots of them :-)

And not that I "needed" this, but I just thought it was so sweet. I found this little old hand stitched sampler which a lady had put into one of her old painted and distressed picture frames and I just loved it. However, it was the end of the day and I had run out of money. But my dear husband joined us after he got out of church and purchased it for me :-) Isn't it darling?

And at one point when buying several things from one dealer, I picked up this big jar of buttons. There are tons in there- mostly commons, but some good "special" ones too- and LOTS of buttons on cards. She sold the whole thing to me for just $5.00! Haha, I said it would be worth $5 just for the fun of sifting through them all.... and it was true :-)

More prisms, too.

And finally, lots of lovely old bottles! I can hardly wait to pretty these up!

So there you have it: an update on what I have been thinking, doing and planning.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I have been up to. I have lots more to share with you in the coming weeks. More pics and stories of my Summer treasure hunting, as well as details to come about my Etsy shop, which I will be opening soon.

I'll also be back in a few days with my latest card creation.

I'd love it if you'd take a moment to leave me a comment. I always so enjoy hearing from you!

Wishing you many blessings and lots of Summer fun!
~Sarah