owls, totes and a tutorial

yay! i finally finished my newest tutorial. it is a sweet owl tote bag created from a store bought canvas tote and lots of fantastic mayarts ribbon. this is my second entry into their design team challenge and i have loved working on this project. they will be posting the finalists soon for voting, so hopefully you guys can help me out a bit - i will keep you updated:)

i love looking at things different ways, so even though these suede leaves come in the form of ribbon, i couldn't help but see them as feathers. with that in mind, i was fixated on making a feathery owl. summer break is quickly on the horizon and i know i will be taking my munchkins to the library quite often, so what better thing to make than a fun library tote. don't need another tote? this owl could easily be applied to an apron or even used as a wall hanging.

want to make? click here to download - happy sewing :)

and another plate makes 3

i have brought one more cake plate into the house, so now with 3, i definitely have a collection!

i spent a friday a few weeks back stopping by some yard sales and when i came upon this cake stand, i couldn't resist. there is a large festival in my neck of the woods twice a year, where dealers and homeowners set up tents along the way to sell their goods. this one particular glass booth is run by a very knowledgeable man and most of his prices are right on, which is pretty disappointing. when you are in an antique store, i think you can command market prices, but when you are set up on the side of the road, not so much, people want bargains!

anyway, i saw this sweet pink 10" pink cake plate and even though the $25 price tag was more than i would usually spend, i had to have it. i love the harp detail along the bottom and the little circles of glass that line the plate edge.

driving home, my friend started researching it on her phone, and holy smokes, did i get a deal. it is a "jeanette pink harp" cake stand and is actually pretty rare to find. the one site we found had a chipped one listed for $145. jeanette is for the town in pennsylvania where it was made which is actually very close to where i grew up - double cool.

the moral of the story is that there are still deals out there. even though someone seems very knowledgeable, they can't know everything about everything :)


oh, and the cake shown above is courtesy of my 2 sweet little munchins on mother's day. they tried so hard to make me a beautiful cake and i think it turned out just perfect!

wows and double wows

wow, that was a very long and very unexpected blog break. really a break from everything online :) but i'm back now, back for regularly scheduled postings!

some things i have been up to:

• having a quick out patient surgery that was supposed to be one day of recovery, but completely knocked me out for 13 days. WOW - completely unprepared for that!
• trying to keep my house in order during this very crazy month of may. why is it that things are always so hectic surround the start of summer break???
• escaping for a one night get away to celebrate 10 years of marriage. double wow - it really does go so fast :) we had the most amazing anniversary dinner sitting in adirondack chairs at the edge of a lake with our own personal butler (for lack of better word) and a very warm and cozy chiminea.

some things on my to-do list:

• relish my last 4 days of peace and quiet before the munchins invade full time for 9 weeks of summer break
• finish this sweet sampler that i started a few weeks back
• write up my 2nd tutorial for the mayarts challenge i have been participating in. i can't wait to show you all what i have dreamed up.
• start on this vintage sheet wreath. absolutely love, love!!!

that's about all the goings on around here. just so happy that i am back on my feet again and daydreaming about the start of swim season!

chandeliers and a collective decision

a few months back, i took a poll on what color my next chandelier should be. the result? you guessed it - gray.

on a side note, i never know if gray is spelled "grey" or "gray". it gets me every time :)

anyways, there is something i absolutely LOVE about the understated grandness of this piece. it is crazy heavy and sports 5 full sized bulb sockets, not the standard flame bulb sized ones. what does this mean? maximum light, like twice as much of a normal chandelier.

this specific fixture was scored for me by an ohio friend. she found it at a yard sale and thought it would be perfect for me which i definitely can't argue with. we vacation together every other year, so i picked it up from her in north carolina this past summer and back to atlanta it came. in it's original form, it had crazy chains flowing off the center column. but the really strange part were the huge railroad sized nails that were attached to the chain. i immediately removed the crazy embellishments (after researching the piece to make sure it wasn't a valuable one of a kind), painted it and love the transformation.

i have not ever listed chandeliers in the shop because i know the shipping cost will be through the roof, but i might make an exception for this fixture. i really, really want it to find the perfect home.

hoops and hankies - round 2

i am hooked and obsessively searching every thrift store in town for more miniature embroidery hoops! seriously guys, this project is so fun and quick, but gives you huge satisfaction. i'll whip up a tutorial sometime in the next few months, but really, grab a vintage hanky, a hoop and some embroidery floss and go crazy. for the hoop above, i stamped "remember the little moments" around the edge and love the sweetness of how it all turned out.

i didn't get a good side shot of this hoop, but i finished off the outside with some thin grey and red ribbon attached with alene's tacky glue.

if you are wondering how i embroider text onto my pieces, i will let you in on the secret - a disappearing ink pen found in the sewing section of your local craft store. they are fantastic! you can doodle on your fabric as much as you want til you get it right, then stitch on the lines you like. then, give it a little time and all your doodle lines will eventually disappear.

have you made some of these? i wold love to see what you came up with :)

festivals, fun and friends

my big festival weekend has come and gone and i am pooped! but i did want to stop by and show you all what i was up to. it is stressful work prepping and getting set up for a festival, but once the crowds trickle in, you can't help getting swept up in the fun of it all.

first i would like to introduce you to scarlet. you have seen my assistant before, but not all dressed up in her sunday best. i found the crinoline during a yard sale shopping spree on friday and fell in love instantly. let me tell you, she was the hit of the weekend, especially with the little girls. one sweetie in particular gave her a huge bear huge while begging her daddy to buy it for her. priceless!

looking in, this is the back wall of the tent complete with prints, bookmarks and my felt wares. a favorite part of my booth are the pricing signs which are old barrister cabinet doors. i learned early on that it was a pain in the behind to individually price items, so i devised a chalkboard sign reminiscent of turn of the century shop signage.

another piece you have seen before, but this time, my blue bookcase was revitalized with new LA branding. i designed a banner, had it printed/laminated at the local office supply shop, and with a little double stick tape, it turned into a perfect display.

finally here is a shot of how i displayed my new framed canvases. old wooden screen doors lined with hardware cloth, then zip tied to the tent frame. i was most happy about all the love i received on these new pieces. really, warm the heart, huge smile on my face kind of love. two of them will now reside in the room of a brand new baby girl. perfect!!!

white and bright

happy mother's day to all! as oprah says, "it is the hardest job on earth" - but the sweet little things like breakfast in bed and fresh cut flowers held by a smiling face with chubby cheeks make it all worth it.

if you live in atlanta and haven't picked something special up for your mom yet, head on over to the dunwoody art festival, i will be set up from 12:30 - 6.

festivals and favorites

my favorite festival of the year is coming up... the dunwoody art festival in atlanta, georgia. in the past, festivals were always iffy sales for me. i would get lots of love, but few purchases. sometimes i think it is easier for jewelry artists at shows because someone can always add another necklace to their collection. but lamps, shades??? you really need to have a specific spot for one of those. anyhow, that all changed when i set up in dunwoody last year. i had a record 2 days and really felt like i found my customer niche. i have tons of new products this year and even some new spring yellow tablecloths that i whipped up last week, so fingers crossed that i will have another great weekend.

if you are in the atlanta area, you can go here for time and directions. and if you are hoping to see me again, my booth has been changed to an undisclosed location (a bit frustrating), but i will be there, i promise!

cakes and plates

i am on such a little thrifting/collection binge lately - i don't know what is wrong with me. it must be the spring temperatures, i think i can literally smell yard sales in the air!

on to cake plates... i have decided they are to become my newest obsession. i swear, anything looks prettier if it is placed on a cake stand. cakes, cookies, even freshly made panini sandwiches look amazing. 

so far i own two, the fenton hobnail one i mentioned in my previous post and a smaller pressed glass one tipped in gold. two's a collection, right?

cabinets and glass

i received a lot of comments about my milk glass collection after this post. but the truth is, that isn't even my real collection :)

what was included in that post was just my $1-$4 thrift store purchases. i admit that i have quite a compulsion for milk glass, but my real love lies with a very specific type of glass. whenever i am thrifting, i really have my eye out for fenton hobnail milk glass. it is characterised by a rich milky color (think whole milk versus skim milk), and it typically sports a ruffled edge. it is pretty easy to spot although most pieces were never marked.

my dining room has a beautiful cabinet filled with my collection which i pull out and use every opportunity i can. the cabinet has 5 shelves packed with what you see above. my mom began collecting these in her 20's, so half of my collection was gifted to me from her, and the other half i have found here and there. besides their obvious beauty, i love collecting this because the price point is not typically very high. any given piece usually costs under $20 dollars, so it isn't breaking the bank. i do splurge every once in a while and buy pieces like the cake plate peeking out of the bottom of the above photo which was $60. this piece has been on my wish list for years, but for some reason, i have never splurged - maybe i need to put it on my birthday wish list :)

what things do you collect? was your love of that specific item passed on to you by a parent?