Shabby Chic Home Decor

Do ya'll remember the beautiful birdcage that Bubba bought me for Valentine's Day this year?  It was green:



He painted it white for me and now it looks like this:



It still needs 1 more mini rose garland.  I bought this one at Hobby Lobby so I just have to wait until I go there again and then I'll pick up another one.  I added a string of white lights (thank you for the idea Pat Winter) and I found 2 bunches of beautiful roses, with the tags still on them, at a garage sale for 25 cents each!  I just cut the stems off, put a few on the bottom of the inside of the birdcage and then added a couple here and there on the outside.  I found the bird at Michael's.  It was on sale for $2.50!  Talk about decorating on a budget!  Decorating this birdcage cost less than $10.00!

I have it sitting on the top of my antique school desk on an antique doily.  I'll get a photo of the school desk soon. 

I never have been one for things to all match.  I much prefer a collection of mis-matched do-dads that hold meaning for me.  I love old things.  Always have.  My sister always says, "oh you and that moldy/oldy stuff!"  She teases me about it but I truly do love my flea market and garage sale treasures.  Some of my very most special things are do-dads that I didn't pay much for at all.  I think I'll start going through my house and photographing some of my treasures to share here with you.

In other news, I have decided to invite a "Guest Blogger" to blog here twice a month.  I've met so many gifted and interesting bloggers over the years and lately as well.  I think it will be fun to introduce my readers to them.  There's just so much talent out there!  So many pretty things to see and so many new ideas!  I hope you'll enjoy this new addition to my blog.

I'm finishing up on Part 2 of my Art Quilting 101 Tutorial.  I've been so busy with my Etsy shop, I got a little behind on things but it's almost ready and will have it posted here for you soon.  Part 3 will be on how to finish an Art Quilt.

Finally for today, I'll leave you with our newest pretties:









More photos can be found here.

Oh, I almost forgot!  I changed my Avatar again!  I know I just it the other day but it needed to be more pink!  So here is my new one:



If you would like to add my Blog Button to your blog, you can find it in my sidebar.

Mixed Media Moon Face Art Brooches

Just a quick little post for today everyone!  It's been a cloudy, dreary day here.  I've playing with polymer clay, doing laundry, straightening up....ya'll know what it's like, trying to squeeze in fun stuff between the chores!

Anyway, I finished up these brooches the other day:



These little brooches are fun to make!  It's a great way to use bits of yarn, sequins, beads and anything else that's laying around!

Oh, another thing I did was to rework my little black kitty Avatar:



I've been trying to remember everywhere I use this little guy online so I can change it!  What do you all think?  After using the black and white version, I thought it was time to give him some color!

Teacup Tragedy

About 4 weeks ago, I was awaken at about 9:00 pm to the sound of a loud crash and glass breaking.  I flew out of bed, having no idea what happened and ran into the living room where the sound came from.  Bubba (Scott - I call him Bubba), was sitting on the sofa, looking up at the wall, almost in a daze.  He was looking at the wall where my quilt shelf hangs.  This is what it used to look like:



The shelf had fallen from the wall, bringing my teacups, my anniversary clock and my peacocks from Galena, Illinois (our special little get-away place) to nothing but shards.

I asked Bubba what happened and he said it was like slow motion.  It had been there for years.

Somehow, probably by the grace of God, it spared my prize treasure, my green vintage Fenton lamp that I bought at a garage sale years ago for only $3.00.  And it spared my 2 little white kitties with the roses on them.  I just found those at a flea market back in October.  And my sweet little music box with the doves which my mom had on top of our wedding cake.  Thank goodness that survived!

But my teacups...one had belonged to my grandmother.  I remember it sitting in her curio cabinet when I was little.  My sister and I loved to look at the treasures in grandma's curio cabinet.  Sometimes grandma would sit on the floor with us and one by one, take things out and let us hold them.  She would tell us where they came from and the stories that went with them.  Well, that one is just plain gone.

Then there was the one that I bought with the little flowers on it.  I just thought it was pretty.  Nothing special really, but pretty. 

I did have one survive but not without a reminder of what happened.  There's a chip in the saucer now but it's not visible sitting on the shelf.  It's one my mom bought me at an antique shop. 


I like it because it's unusual.

And then there's this one:



This is not the original. This is a replacement.  My sister bought me this for my birthday years ago, maybe the first or second year that Scott and I were married.  My long time readers know that I don't care much for Christmas but I always thought this was so pretty.  It's the Royal Dalton December cup & saucer. 

I don't know why, but I felt the worst over losing this one.  I think because I've had it longest or because my sister gave it to me.

Well, my sister was here for coffee the day after it happened and she felt really bad about it.  Two days later, I get a package in the mail.  She hunted one down online and replaced it for me.

Anyway, this is what it looks like now:



I have three new teacups now.  My photo of this one didn't come out but here's the saucer:



Isn't it pretty?  Kathi found this one for me.  She knows I love anything "cottage"!

And Bubba bought this one for me:



I love the unusual shape of it!

And then I picked this one up:



This one has an unusual shape as well.

Apparently, what we think happened, is that first, Scott didn't have strong enough anchors in the wall to hold it up.  We had an earthquake a few months back and we think it was strong enough to loosen things up.  Time took care of the rest.

So now I have some new teacups.  I'm still looking for another anniversary clock.  My parents bought us the one we had for our 1st anniversary.  Hard to believe that Scott & I will be married 23 years in September!

So, that's my teacup tragedy.  It's all but bolted to the outside of the house so it isn't going anywhere now!

I'll leave you with some photos of Kathi's Fuzzy, Funky, Fun, Crocheted Flip-flops:

Ding Dong! Avon Lady Calling!

Does anyone remember this?  If you were or knew an Avon lady back in the 70's, you should know that this was the Avon Lady's Sample case!  My mom sold Avon in the 70's and this was her case.  She was thinking of getting rid of it.  I was like, devastated!  How could mom even think about parting with something that had such happy memories attached to it?

Mom had 3 territories for awhile and my sister Kathi and I would help mom unpack her order shipments, package them up and deliver them to her customers.  Honestly, I don't know why those are such happy memories for me but they are.  It was fun to unpack the shipments and see all those wonderful, colorful and good smelling items sitting out on the kitchen table.

Well, since mom was contemplating getting rid of her Avon "suitcase", I asked her if I could have it and she said yes!  So guess what I use it for now:



It's my new little Art & Craft supply case!  I have some supplies that I like to have here and at mom's.  I was using a totebag to carry them back and forth but I feel like this is a little neater and definitely more fun since I've always loved mom's Avon suitcase!

I thought you'd enjoy seeing that!

Now, some of you may want to go and grab some paper towels because I know you'll be drooling all over your keyboards!  Scott and I went to a flea market this morning and look what I found:



2 shoe-boxes filled to the brim with vintage, "made in Japan" millinery flowers!  I was blown away!  I only paid $10.00 for the lot!  They are so beautiful, I almost hate to use them!  Of course, what good is having them if I don't use them!  But I will just enjoy looking at them for a little while before I use them!

That was my deal of the day!  I found a few other cool craft supplies but nothing you've never seen before.  It was the vintage flowers that I thought you would enjoy.

In other news, I had to turn the Comment Moderation option on.  I was getting so much spam and no one needed to read some of that, esp. since I like my blog to be a happy place for all of us.  I hope no one minds and I hope it doesn't discourage anyone from leaving me comments.  I love hearing from my readers.  I just want it all to be pleasant.

I also wanted to ask ya'll a question.  How do you feel about "Guest Bloggers"?  I was reading an article somewhere about bloggers inviting other bloggers to blog on their blog.  Say that a few times in a row!  I thought it might be fun maybe every other week to invite one of my favorite bloggers to write an article for mine.  What do you think of that idea?  Would you find it interesting?  I have so many blogs that I just love and I think it would be nice for me to introduce some of them to my readers.  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Oh, I promised you I'd fill you in on what my new Dr. had to say.  I saw her last week and I really like her!  And she did indeed let me drop my medication to 75 mgs.  It's been a week now and on one hand, I feel a little better and on the other hand, I don't.  I have to say, this has been the most difficult thing to describe to anyone!  Can some please remind me again that the day will eventually come when I wake up and say, "oh my gosh, I think it's gone!"  I really need to hear that again!

Finally for today, I'll leave with you a few new pretties!  Kitty earrings & one of my Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls!





Have a good night everyone!

Fiber Art Brooches And More!

I have been trying to get to blogging since Friday!  I feel like I'm in slow motion and can't seem to get to anything.  It was a rather crazy week but I think things are starting to settle down.  I had to have the power supply replaced in my big computer yesterday.  That's the one I do everything on.  This laptop is my fun computer.  I really only use to look around online, read my blogs and so on.

Anyway, enough of that.  I'll share a few things that mom, Kathi & have been making lately.

First, are some more of Kathi's sweet little needle felted kitties:



I just love these little sweeties!  They are so precious and each has a personality of it's own.  Just like real kitties!

Mom has made some pretty pillows to sit or hang.  The first is with Strawberries:



This one is with violets:



I have a ton of these little pillows with the ribbons sewn into top.  I have them hanging on doorknobs and on my antique dresser.  I like to change them with the seasons & holidays but I do have some "anytime" ones.  They're a nice little homey touch!

I finished up my Marie Antoinette Brooches:



The little faces are done with Polymer Clay and a push mold.  Once baked, I painted them.  The background is a heart shaped Yo-Yo made of Brocade and behind that, some gathered tulle.  Of course I embellished as I always do!  Porcelain flowers and vintage rhinestones that I took out of some broken old jewelry are attached the feather.

I've been playing with Polymer Clay quite a bit lately.  I'm working my pieces into some interesting art jewelry.  Will have photos of those soon.  In the meantime, here are my Fiber Art Brooches:









I can't  throw even the tiniest of scraps away!  I save everything!  So that's what these are all about.  Using some of my little bits and pieces.  I love fuzzy yarn and worked some of that into these pieces and added some vintage Mother Of Pearl Buttons to each brooch.  I think they're really interesting!

Well, I picked up the new Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine and the new Sew Somerset.  Beautiful things to see in these issues.  I haven't read through them yet, just looked at the photos.  I will enjoy paging through them after dinner.  Taco Salad tonight!

Quick question:  Does anyone else read their magazines from the back to the front?  I noticed today that I do that and was wondering if I'm the only one!  I do a lot of things backwards but so I guess I never noticed before!