Gathering Dust

Fun with Flickr- Favorite Pink & Pretties

  1. Flocked Paper Dress, 2. Handmade gift tags, 3. Tags, tags everywhere!, 4. Je me sens tres papillon, 5. Wonderful package from Jen Duncan!!, 6. Nostaglic Hearts Swap, 7. 100 Tokens of Gratitude, 8. Silk Ribbons & Bits, 9. kitchen cupboard doors., 10. Buttons, 11. Bird Collage, 12. My finds this weekend........., 13. Vintage finds......, 14. Large Collaged Playing Cards..., 15. Birdie Tag, 16. Vintage Scrapbook page2, 17. Suitcase full of Memories, 18. Whimsy shadowbox, 19. Business Card Box, 20. My little finds......... Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Just figured out how to make picture mosaics with Flickr!

One Shrine, Three Looks, Endless Entertainment

I bought this piece of architectural salvage at auction last night.  I'm not sure what its original purpose was.  My first thought was that it came from an old country church, but it could also be a telephone nook from a 1930's-40's house. 

I've been having fun "playing" with it, creating different vignettes.  In honor of the 4th of July: And here it is with some of my favorite bright colors and folksy looking stuff.  One shrine, many looks, endless entertainment for a treasure hunter.

  And another favorite find- a well worn child's chair.

Hot Water Bottles- An old way to get cozy

As I've been cleaning out my craft room, I'm coming across "treasures" I had forgotten about- like my hot water bottle collection.  My collection started when I was working at an estate sale and mentioned that I had trouble falling asleep in the winter because my feet were cold.  Someone suggested a hot water bottle.  I had never used a hot water bottle- we were always "heating pad people".  It was easy to find UNUSED, still in the box hot water bottles at estate sales, so I started buying them.   The fact that they were so many, still in the box, should have told me something- they really don't work that well.  I'd fill them with hot water, and usually end up with wet feet.  I did manage to find a couple of cute ones- this little flannel hot water bottle cover on the left and the jungle themed child's bottle on the right.  Check out the crabby scary baby on the top of the bottle. 

Once I decided the hot water bottle wasn't going to work, I switched to a corn pillow- have you heard of them?  It's a small pillow filled with corn that you put in the microwave for a few minutes and then plop in your bed- it stays warm for hours and smells wonderful.

I have managed to rearrange a couple of built in shelves in my craft room.  

Meet My New Friends- Head Vases & German Dolls

This post if for my wonderful mother in law, Leota- who is a faithful reader of my blog, and complained (not really complained, maybe just mentioned) to my husband, that she was disappointed that I hadn't posted in three days. She's  80+ years old and treats the internet and her laptop like a brand new toy!

Some gals I picked up this weekend, but I don't think we'll stay friends for too long- they might be just a tad too high maintenance- I'm more of a jeans and no makeup girl and the last time I wore a hat, it was because it was 10 degrees.

The next group are German half dolls- two pin cushions and a clothes brush.  Don't worry, I probably paid too much for all of them!

If you look in the background of the pictures, you can see the new color (blue) in my craft room, and new floor (vinyl, sort of looks like wood). I did the painting, and my darling husband was on his knees all day Saturday installing the new floor.  I told him I would help, but about all I did was take the trash out and pick up the backing from the floor.

I haven't been able to work on any craft room projects because the room has been "under construction".  It took me three weeks to get everything out of there and will probably take all summer to get it back in- because, of course, I want it to be all sorted and organized as it goes back in. I have to figure out how to get all this plus furniture into a 10' x 10' room.     I plan on selling a lot of vintage project paraphernalia in my Etsy Shop- SugarPinkMoon!

Here's some of my Sat estate sale finds from a cool estate that had very 50's furniture and fun  vintage clothes- including these shabby hats, beaded trims & a great print scarf with courting couples.  

All Keyed Up

A couple of good "scores" from yesterday's estate sales- a HUGE collection of old hotel keys- from the days before the key card and your room number was actually on the key fob.  Lots of the keys were the kind I was familiar with, but there were some really different ones, too. How'd you like to keep one of those in your pocket or purse?  Hmmm...maybe I should open my own hotel.....all I'd have to do is get the beds, the sheets, the towels, the glasses, the little soaps & shampoos (on no, I've got a ton of those that I've TAKEN from hotels)....

Last week,  Betty of She's So Pretty showed some beautiful lace wrapped around clothes pins- it really caught my eye and I told her I was going to copy her idea when I came upon some lace- and I was lucky enough to find a couple of bags of old handmade lace at another sale.  I've started to wind some of it.   Besides trim lace, there were some old collars, baby bonnets and runners- and these stockings.  They are thigh high- but I cut 'em off at the calf so you could see the pretty details.

Inspiration & Patchwork Board

I've heard a lot about artists having an "inspiration board"- a group of clippings, pictures, scraps, trims, favorites that inspire them with new ideas- so "inspired" by that and the Bits & Pieces Swap hosted by Jenny at Everyday is Holiday,  I took a (used) canvas I had in the garage, gessoed it, and divided it into nine (more or less) square sections- and then glued & pinned on some of my favorite things.   I don't have it hanging yet, I'm working on moving everything out of my craft room so I can put down a new floor- incredible how much can fit in one little 10" x 10" bedroom.   One of the hardest parts of moving everything out is trying to leave a few supplies so I can still work on a few projects.  Here are a couple of tags I made with old wrapping paper.  

For Natasha Burns Shabby Chic Matchbox Swap, I have an actual Shabby Chic matchbox that I got from Karla of Karla's Cottage. I've added some lace to the outside and lined the inside and started to fill it with all things shabby for my swap partner Alison of Rags to Riches. 

An interesting note- the "shabby" matches that were originally inside had a lovely mint green tip instead of the usual orange tip.  After Karla gave them to me, I asked her if she liked the pink flame or mint green flame better- it took her a minute to realize that I was just goofing on her, and the matches light yellow orange just like any old match.

And, in something completely unrelated- does anyone else think edamame is a strange and wonderful vegetable?  I can eat a whole bowl standing over the sink, shelling as I go.

Arty Dogs & Red White & Blue

            

Yesterday was my birthday- we don't make a big deal out of birthday's at my house, but my best buddy Karla of Karla's Cottage won't allow that.  She always makes sure we celebrate with a fun day.  We started out the day with presents- she gave me a fun gift bag adorned with handmade charms and and tags, and inside was this darling watercolor portrait of my Golden Retriever Maddie.  It's a companion to the one she did of my other dog, Milo last year for my birthday.  She does them from photos- if you'd like a special way to remember a special friend, I'm sure she's available for commissions.  You can get ahold of her via her blog. 

We went off to the antique mall, where Karla rearranged, reverved and refluffed my booth.  We used to share several booths together, and always had fun redecorating them.  It's great to get a professional stylist to give your old stuff a new look! In honor of Independence Day, I had gathered together some red white & blue goodies and Karla verved them into some eye catching displays.  

Celluloid Dresser Boxes & a Tiara Peek

I got a couple of pretty celluloid dresser boxes over the weekend.  I really like this one with the pretty girls dancing to the piano music- kind of reminds me of Jane Austen meets Marie Antoinette.  The other box is a sweet & peaceful cottage scene.  The box is atop my favorite woven Victorian paisley- not only is it my favorite- it's my ONLY woven Victorian paisley.  I've had it for over a year, which is a long time for me to keep anything with a value of over $50 that I could easily resell.  I'm all about the cash flow, baby.

Here are some sneak peeks at my crown for Holly Doodle's Crown and Tiara Swap.  It's not quite done- I've got a base of textured wall paper and vintage wallpaper flowers with lots of glitter and rhinestone centers- courtesy of Martha Stewart's new craft collection at Michaels.   You can see more tiaras from the swap here on the Flickr group for the swap.

This Morning's Estate Sale Finds

Of course, I didn't need anything, of course, I have way too much stuff already, but heck, going to estate sales is just plain fun - so I'm going to keep on going.  And except for a bundle of cool fabric scraps- everything fit in a little lunch bag. An old deco Cutex manicure set, a pretty old milk glass shaker, some mother of pearl buckles, and of course some SPARKLY jewelry- a couple pair of rhinestone earrings, some marcasite buckles from FRANCE (which means they are FRENCH, and of course, FRENCH is GOOD), and the sterling and abalone bangle bracelet- a STEAL at $4.50!

And, then I found all this funky print craft fabrics- most of it is scrap size, but since I don't really sew, I just glue- this should be good for some projects.

Books in a Bag

I've been working on two "books in a bag"- one is a romantic floral paper bag book.   I love some of the vintage postcards and wallpaper in it, but I'm still working on pulling it all together.  The pockets of the paper bags are used to hold papers, pictures, postcards, corsages, love notes, peanut butter M & M's...whatever. I found the Junior Senior Banquet Program in a box of ephemera I got at the estate auction of a 95 year old woman.  She attended teacher's college in the 1920's and then went on to be a high school teacher.  The box was full of school programs, invitations & letters- and a lot of them had really sweet graphics, like the watercolor on this program.

Want to know what was on the menu for the banquet back in 1927?

• Fruit Cocktail
• Creamed Chicken in Patties
• Peas in Potato Nests
• Escalloped Corn
• Parker House Rolls
• Butter
• Olives
• Butterfly Salad
• Cheese Sticks
• Ice Cream
• Wafers
• Coffee
• Salted Nuts

My second book in a bag is a group of collaged pages that I've been keeping in this little satin purse that looks like a travel jewelry bag.  I'd like to finish it by doing something to the bag, but I'm not much of a seamstress, so I don't quite know where to start!