Indulge Your Shelf

 I love to create these miniature fabric collages -- snippet rolls!  They look beautiful cascading off from the top of a vase, or can be pinned open to a curtain or swag. My favorite thing is to just roll it open and gaze at all of the details!  I never tire of having something like this in my hands! Now in my Etsy shop here !

Corned beef and cabbage is in the crock pot for my family, and frosted bakery shamrock cookies await them, too...the best I can do on a day that I work! Here are a few images from St. Patrick's Days past for you. And some links to St. Patrick's Day crafts in my past: A fabulous swap I participated in for St. Patrick's Day in 2012 I hope you remember to wear a little green and enjoy your day!

This is not the snippet roll I made for my swap partner; instead, I decided to make one just for me in honor of my big birthday this week: In case you've never tried, I have to tell you that photographing a snippet roll is almost as difficult as photographing a banner!  Here it is (above), all unfurled. The inspiration for this roll is my baby photo -- copied onto a piece of fabric paper in miniature. Here it is all rolled up and tied with tulle. This is what the spool looks like at the start... I finally had a chance to use this pretty clothing tag I've been saving...I love that it has two of my favorite cities sewn into it, as well as a name with my initials from my maiden name (LA). A tiny tatted doily and some French laundry tape with my married initials (LJ), then my photo with a border in red -- because that reminds me a lot of clothes my mom dressed me in when I was small. The base of the fabric was from Rachel Ashwell's shabby chic line; I alm...

I had so much fun yesterday at an auction out on a country estate of a well-known Colorado resident. It was without a doubt one of the more pleasant auction -- and junking -- experiences I've had in a long time.  There was so much to see that I'm going to have to take a couple of posts to show you all the photos.  First, I'm going to show you the pictures I took while walking through the beautiful old, turn-of-the-century house: Everything you see in all of the photos was for sale... They were a ranching family on the wife's side, and merchants on the husband's side. A view from an upstairs window out onto the "barn" where another auction was taking place simultaneously.  Oh, to have been able to be in two places at once! This little white cabinet/dresser was child-sized! It was such a treat to walk around the home and admire just what was picked/leftover as this was the second weekend of the auction.   I cann...

I have visited a few estate sales lately and found them mostly crowded and thin on the stuff I love. Does that affect you the way it does me?  It makes me more determined than ever to uncover a treasure! At one sale, I liked these blingy little buttons; they are sewn onto a piece of velvet and then the velvet has a snap on the other side.  So, I guess it was an embellishment.   But to me, just two pretty vintage buttons! Check out these beaded poinsettias -- hand made by someone long ago.  I love finding little boxes of Christmas kitsch!   I haven't decided yet to keep or sell them.   They are listed in my shop now ! A little made-in-Japan spun cotton girl doll -- or is it an elf?  Look at those big eyes. I thought she was cute and she's in great condition, so she's going in my shop  for sure. Something unusual: a little girl's hat.  It is made of a kind of shiny terry cloth, in pale blue, and lined with satin... then it hol...