Indulge Your Shelf

I couldn't believe that I found a fish image that inspired me for Tag Tuesday!  In this case, Un poisson d'Avril .  Isn't she adorable?  You can read about it over at Tag Tuesday ! Today's my buddy Rebecca's birthday and I'm surprising her with a piece of architectural salvage I found at a friend's sale downtown yesterday; I added a very simple burlap tag I made in place of a birthday card.  I couldn't get a photo of the whole thing, but it's quite a bit taller than I am.  I can't wait to see what she does with it! Tomorrow we're remembering the 11th birthday of the child we sponsor through Compassion International; he lives in Peru and is getting so big!  Little boys have a way of doing that. Of course, this birthday made me very happy this week as well.  The emotion I felt was unexpected, but they are young and their lives as a family of 3 are just beginning; it brought back many, many happy memories of when Dennis and I were...

I'm having a BIG SALE in my Etsy shop.  As you know, after beginning work with shopgoodwill.com , I have to liquidate my vintage shop . It's hard to part with some of the stuff, but it would be SO MUCH EASIER if I knew it was going to friends! And friends of friends!  So tell everyone!  I am close to 600 sales -- wouldn't it be great to hit that and liquidate the shop before I become "permanent" at Discover Goodwill?  That's my hope.

I thought you'd like to see the progress I've made on a couple of recent projects: You may recall the holder I fashioned a while back from old architectural trim and fencing; here it is, with a few tags hanging from it; I decided to add the wreath I made at Birdsong III in the center.  I really like the look of the two projects together! Here's  that trunk I bought a few weeks ago, chalk painted.  It's a work in progress, but I am liking it so far! If you get chance, please visit the Tag Tuesday blog ; I'm playing along with many other contributors with a different theme each week.  This past week:  The Roaring Twenties I must admit I'm having a bit of difficulty being inspired by the most recent tag themes; but, that might just be because I'm not doing as much creating these days so it takes me a while to find my muse.  Especially with this week's theme: Fish.   Fish?   I'm sure I'll be blown away with what everyone else com...

A few weeks ago I went on a little shopping trip with Rebecca; first, we hit an antique sale in Black Forest.  I think the gal who was having it had just closed her booth at a local antique co-op.  There wasn't much to tempt me except a little table she had: everything on it was 3/$1. I chose these three goodies. I thought this vase had lovely lines.  Of course, at that price it had one chip -- but only one and it's not noticeable. How cute is this little china doll?  I love the way the previous owner sewed a little dress for her. Speaking of antiques in Black Forest: I am so sad to tell you that I learned last week that Deanne,  an antique vendor I have long enjoyed visiting , has lost everything in the fire last month.  It's not just the beautiful antiques that filled her barn but all the family pieces she had and used everyday in her home.  My heart weeps for her. Later that same day, Rebecca and I headed to Castle Rock to visit T...

Remember when I said I don't get to pick what I list on shopgoodwill.com ?  Here's a good example: This is Chokin' Charlie.  If you've ever used a dummy to learn the Heimlich maneuver you might have met him already.  Funny thing is, the day he sat on the cart waiting to be listed he kept freaking me out...in that I-see-someone-behind-me-out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye kind of way.  It wasn't funny, even. I didn't get to him the first day, so then the next morning when I got to work, he had a sheet draped over him.  'Turns out I wasn't the only one who kept getting startled by Charlie! Much to everyone's relief, I finally got him listed and put away  (still covered.) I have now worked at my new job long enough (6 weeks) that I have begun to dream about it.  Do you have work dreams?  I always have had.  My work dreams are usually produced by anxiety, and they usually make me wake up laughing. The most vivid work dream I ever had was when I...

Have you ever made a snippet?  There's a great tutorial here .  I had a blast making ten of them to take with me to Kansas in June.  (Yeah, I'm still on June...leave me alone...I'll get caught up!) I really enjoyed working on them.  There was so much freedom in assembling these pretty little rolls... using bits and pieces of pretty supplies that, though tiny, are still full of prettiness!  I love them, anyway! Here's what they look like before they're rolled up. And here are the Tiffany ones I made; there's one left in my shop . I'm going to make more.  Are you making anything these days?  

When I went to Birdsong III last month, it was my fourth visit to enjoy Karla's hospitality for an art event, so I wanted to bring something special for her to let her know how much I appreciate all she does. You know how I love making these fabric books; this time, I had the "base" of a book I'd made a few months ago, and I started adding to it to personalize it for Karla. \ I included some images I printed on fabric that Karla has shown on her blog or on Facebook, of her sweet little grand daughters. I tied in a bird tag (of course), and finally "signed" it with some black French laundry tape with my initials on it. Here's the back cover... then, I packaged it all in a cloth envelope that I embellished with burlap and ribbon. She seemed to really enjoy it; I know I loved making it for her!