Glittered Greeting Cards

Mom & I have been busy!  We've been making greeting cards with lots of glitter! 

We love anything vintage so mom and I use a lot of vintage greeting cards and then make them into new cards.  It gives us a the opportunity to use lots of sparkly glitter which you know, we love!

We've decided to go a little more specialized with our boutique.  Since our expertise is in sewing and stitching, mom and I are going to focus more on that.  Needlework, sewing, holiday ornaments and our blank notecards.  We've put some pretty things on sale so please visit our store and see what we have to offer.  It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas shopping!

Crazy Garden Quilt is now Complete!!!

Here is my Crazy Garden Quilt:





As my long time readers know, I deal with Seasonal Affective Disorder Syndrome, among other things, and I decided that I needed a nice Winter project to help me get through the dreadfully cold, gray Winter days.  What would be more helpful than to make a crazy quilt with a garden theme!

I started this back in October (I think) and my timing was perfect!  I finished stitching the last block in March and yesterday, completed the quilt!  I used a vintage machine-embroidered handkerchief as the focal point for each of the 9 blocks.

I'm so pleased with this quilt and it very much suits my "shabby chic" tastes and "cottage style" decor.  Heaven knows I love pink!  If you would like to see close-ups of all 9 blocks you can find them here.

So now that my Crazy Garden Quilt is done, what's next?  Well, I have tons of projects planned.  Art dolls, mixed media projects, more re-purposed items, more CQ cat dolls....the list is endless.

I'll leave you today with my latest Etsy additions.  First, this gorgeous original by Mom:



And another project by Mom, a re-purposed perfume bottle:



Last but not least, my latest birdbath, created from a vintage sundae dish:

Crazy Garden Quilt Blocks And More!

Grab a cup of tea and a snack, sit back, relax and enjoy!  I have loads of things to share today with lots of eye-candy pictures!

First, I finished up the stitching on Block #9 of my Crazy Garden Quilt:

I added the second Hummingbird a vintage bee pin that I bought at a flea market awhile back.

And here are all 9 blocks together:

I just have to find some elegant pink fabric that I like and I can put it together.  I'm really looking forward to hanging this in my Living Room.  As much as I love my Lucky quilt, it's time to look at something new for awhile.

I'll let you know when I find the perfect pink fabric.  Ya'll know, the border has to be pink!  I must say, this project certainly helped me to get through the Winter months.  Now that it's Spring, I'm looking forward to making a few new purses and some other fun projects.  And since this project helped to get through this past Winter, I already have a project picked out to help me get through next Winter.  But I'll share that one when we get to October.

For now, I thought I'd share today's Flea Market treasures with you.  Scott and I picked Mom up at 8:00 am and we headed out to Grayslake for the Flea Market & Antique Show.  Dad isn't into junkin' like we are.  He's usually bored there but Mom loves it and always seems to have a good time.

Anyway, first I found this big chunky tassels:

Wait until you see what I'm going to do with these!  And yes, glitter will be involved!

Next, I found this great glittery dress piece:

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to use as is or if I'm going to take the beads and rhinestones off and just use them.  I have to think about it some more yet.  It was so sparkly I just couldn't pass it by.

I also found a doll head & hands, 2 embroidered napkins and a really pretty and unusual applique.  I'm sure you know those napkins will be cut up and used in something.  They were only $1 each and I thought they were so pretty!

Then I found 2 really pretty vintage hankies.  One has roses on it (I love pink) and the other one has flowers on it that made me think of the 4th of July:

I haven't decided on what I'll do with these yet.  Just add them to my stash for now.  I have a beautiful collection of vintage hankies but it just doesn't stop me from buying more when I see ones that I like.

I also found a beautiful vintage crocheted doily that I only paid 25 cents for but it needed a good washing so it's currently drying and needs to be pressed.  I think I'll just use that somewhere in my house.  It has those little roses crocheted on it but they're not quite pink.  More of a salmon color.  Quite antique looking and I couldn't pass that by for only 25 cents!

A now, for the latest creations from Mom and I!

These beautiful floral boxes, based on those little Victorian images of gift boxes, filled with flowers and doves sitting on top were lovingly made by Mom:

I just think these are so pretty!  And of course they have glitter on them!

Next, my Cherub Trinket Box:

I love making these!  What a lovely gift this would make along with a pretty piece of jewelry.  

I also did some gift tags yesterday at Mom's:

These are fun to make too.  The flowers came from a vintage greeting card.  The gold mesh is vintage too.  Scott's step mom found it for me at a garage sale.  She also picked up a roll of silver vintage mesh.

Last but not least, my Piece De Resistance:

A birdbath made from a vintage green glass candy dish!  It's one of a kind.  I picked up the candy dish awhile back and have been looking at it for a few weeks.  Suddenly, it looked like a birdbath to me so that's what I created with it.  

I can't tell you much fun it is to play with vintage items, thrift shop finds and yard sale do-dads.  I love to transform ordinary objects into new things and I love to re-purpose items.

For so many years, I wanted to work more with my hands.  I've always said, give me a pile of craft supplies and I will make something incredible with it.  Sitting behind the computer for so many hours a day didn't leave me with much time for doing crafts or art.  I was lucky to have time to stitch for myself.  Well, this past year has kind of taught me that you really have to do what you love and this is what I love doing.

These creations and more can be found here.

Have a great evening everyone!

Angel Brooches

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels, unawares."  Anonymous

I've always loved that quote!  It reminds me that there are angels everywhere!

I finished up on my little angel brooches:

 

The background is velveteen & antique lace.  I did SRE around the angels (which I hand-painted and glittered) and the tatting around the edges is vintage tatting.  I can do tatting, but I really prefer to use vintage whenever I can.  I just love these!

I also finished up the stitching my Cherub CQ Trinket Box:

I hope to have the time tomorrow to put it together.  I've already painted the box and I think this will be so pretty when I get it all put together.

Before I head out for today, I received another package in the mail from Gina in Australia:

 

I have the sweetest blog friends!  Thank you so much Gina!

Well, I'm off to put an order together and then I'm done for the day.

Fuzzy Chicks

Can you tell that mom and I just love these sweet little peeps? 

 

Oh, I just love anything Spring!  These little chicky's were made by mom.  They're available here.

Suddenly, projects that we've been working on for awhile are getting wrapped up.  I'm almost done with an altered purse that I've been playing with for a few weeks.  Wait until you see that.  It'll be my flea market bag.  I just finished up my little angel brooches.  I only have to glue the pinbacks onto them.  I'm about 1/2 way done with the tax crap stuff.  I want to get my little St. Patrick's Day things and put them out but I need to sit and relax for awhile.  I guess I'm finally learning when to stop pushing myself and when to take a break.

Before I start on my final block for my Crazy Garden Quilt, I'm going to stitch up another CQ Trinket Box top.  I sewed this piece up this morning:

That sweet little cherub will be the focal point for this piece.  I'll be starting on this shortly.  First I have to make a cup of tea.