Flea Market Treaures!

Scott & I went to the Flea Market in Grayslake, Illinois yesterday.  It's only about a 35 minute drive for us.  It was so nice!  Lots of new vendors, lots of vintage Christmas things....so many pretties to see!

I found some nice things to add to my collections.  First are these 2 vintage hats with silk and velvet flowers:

I sat here last night for about 30 minutes taking the flowers off to use on other things.  I think I'm going to start collecting a few really nice vintage floral hats to display in my Guest Room when I get it re-painted.  It's going to be pink (are you surprised?) with stenciled roses and lots of shabby cottage charm.  Some old floral hats would be a perfect addition!  But these are for crafting.  If you'd like to see how to take the flowers off these old hats, click here.

I also found a few pieces of old jewelry that I intend to use in my crazy quilting:

I've decided to use that little heart on my current Marie Antoinette quilt block:

This block is ready for some Silk Ribbon Embroidery and beading!

My final treasure is this wonderful old apron:

Bubba found this piece and thought I could cut it up and make it into something else.  No way can I cut this one up!  It's in very good condition.

This was a pre-printed, pre-tinted apron kit by Vogart.  Whoever made it, did a very nice job stitching and sewing it together.  And although it looks like it's been washed quite a few times, it's held up very well over the years!

I'm going to hand wash it and press it and find some way to display it.  I only paid $5.00 for it.  That's a steal! 

Glitter Houses Are Here!

Just a quick little update for this evening everyone.  I managed to list all of our Glitter Houses in the shop today:

And here's my latest video:

New Additions To The Shop & Quick Newsbrief

As much as I love blogging and love to blog everyday, there are days when I just can't squeeze one more thing in!  I'm in the process of getting caught up on adding our newest Christmas items to the shop.  I expect to have everything we have at the moment in there by the end of the weekend.  It's an extremely time consuming and tedious process.  Anyway, I'll start by sharing our latest additions.

These are mom's Gift Card Or Money Pockets:

Are these beautiful or what!  I can't believe how awesome my mom is at Mixed Media art.  She's always been so traditional but she really has a knack for this!

And here are Mom's Mixed Media Art Gift Tags:

Again, I'm so taken with how great Mom is at Mixed Media art.  These are so beautiful in person and seeing them, makes me want to make some!

This is my newest addition to the shop:

I have 2 of these little Gingerbread Man brooches in the shop.

I doubt I have to give anyone the link to our shop as I'm always shoving it down everyone's throat but just in case, here it is again:  Kitty & Me Designs.

I certainly hope I don't bore anyone with my "shop talk" but it's a huge part of what I do and I really, really enjoy it so much.  It's given my mom a sense of purpose and over all, I can see where it's helped keep her Bi Polar Disorder at a tolerable level.  For the most part, I can see that the ups & downs are not as extreme as they were.

For Kathi, it gives her an outlet for her creativity.  She has a stressful job as an insurance agent and making things for the shop helps to relieve her stress.

For me, it keeps my ADD mind occupied.  I always say, when the hands are occupied, the mind is occupied.  It helps to take my mind off the depression which I know is still there although I have noticed another twinge of improvement but the Seasonal Affective Disorder is loud and clear at the moment and may I say that hormone changes do not help!!!  I can really live without the night sweats!

Ok, so enough of all that.  I plug my shop constantly and I don't care.  I love making things and I love being able to give my mom and my sister an outlet for their creativity.

And speaking of my sister Kathi, I have a treat coming for you all!  She shared an original recipe with me and she wrote up a nice blog post to go with it.  I'll be making her recipe either later today or tomorrow, taking photos and sharing Kathi's post with you here.

In other news, I've been stitching on block #2 of my Marie Antoinette quilt.  I made some changes to the lace that I chose.  Just decided to go with something else.  I'll share an update on that in the next day or so.

For now, I'll leave you with a sneak peek of what's coming to the shop next:

Yes, Mom and I made some Putz style Glitter Houses!  These are not the actual houses that I'll be listing.  These photos are of the ones that Mom and I made last year.  I'll be adding 6 traditional glitter houses and 4 gingerbread glitter houses to the shop this weekend.  I'd like to get them all in the shop today but that's quite a bit of work so I may have to break it down and do some today and some tomorrow.

I don't think mom and I will be able to do anymore this season if any one wants them, keep your eye on the shop.  I've been asked several times if we'll be doing some this year so get them while you can.

On a final note, I am still planning on writing more Crazy Quilt tutorials and my article on Creatively Coping with the Holidays.  Lots of new things coming to the blog so please stop by often!

Crazy Quilt Mystery Announced!

Are you ready ladies?  Here it is:

Yes, it's a tree!  And my photos just don't do it justice!  As good as I've gotten with my camera, I haven't gotten good enough to capture the true beauty of crazy quilting.

The first thing I did was to make a template from the cone.  Then I pieced my block the same way I do all my blocks, with a 1 inch allowance border.  I stitched the block, cut the piece "inside" lines and using my glue gun, glued it to the cone.  I added a piece of cardstock to the bottom of the cone and glued trim over the seam and around the bottom.  I added a glittered glass Christmas ornament to the top and then glued trim over the edge.  Voila!  It looks like a blizzard doesn't it?  As I said, it's much prettier in person than it looks in the photos.  It's very glittery and was fun to do!

So before I do anything else, I need to do something for myself.  I will be starting on Block 2 of my Winter project, my Marie Antoinette quilt:

I'll be starting on this later today.  I need to add some new things to the shop first.  Well, after I run and get some groceries.

As a quick refresher, here is Block #1:

There will be 9 blocks altogether.  My goal is to have all 9 blocks stitched by March and then I will put the quilt together and hang it in my living room.

Before I head out for now, I thought I would ask my crazy quilt followers if there are any techniques that I do that you would like to learn?  Please leave a message for me here or send me an email and I will gladly write up tutorials on how I do things.  I just need to know what you would like to learn.

Update On CQ Mystery Project - Stitching Complete!

I finished up the stitching and beading on my mystery project yesterday.  Before I assemble it, I thought you'd like to see an update:

I'm heading over to mom's today, after I go to WalMart, and I'll get it put together then.  The mystery will be revealed tomorrow!

Keep guessing ladies!  I've enjoyed reading about what you think this will be!