Parasols & Mary Janes

Sweater Bag

2010-04-09T10:30:00.002-05:00

Here is a little pouch I made to hold a gift card for a Birthday present.
Super super easy and look down to see why!

Yes, it is a sweater sleeve. I found this wonderful sweater at the Goodwill store.
I was just overcome by the possibilities of making things with this sweater. I have had it for several months, when I was looking around for some holder to make for the gift card.
--Why, of course,--the sleeve!

I just cut it off and sewed it in-side- out and threaded a ribbon in the top to bring it together. So now, what ideas are there for the pockets and other trim, I wonder??
Elizabeth

Wishing you Easter Joy

2010-04-03T17:57:00.003-05:00

Easter Bonnets

2010-04-01T12:49:00.012-05:00

Easter Parade

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,

You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.

I'll be all in clover and when they look you over,

I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.

On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, the photographers will snap us,

And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.

Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,

And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade.

Irving Berlin

Elizabeth Shea

New stamped cards

2010-03-23T10:32:00.013-05:00

Here are some samples made for the Oxford Impressions gallery for new stamps she had available in February.
The above sample has a border done with a new Martha Stewart edge punch- looks like a trellis. The cups above and below are embossed with metallic embossing powder and then water colored.

This card below is cut out of an original vintage greeting card. I cut out the front of the card, added the stamped girl, a flower made from vintage velvet ribbon, and silver glass glitter.

thanks for looking

Elizabeth

Is it really?

2010-03-09T16:04:00.007-06:00

Exactly one month ago, everything (in my front yard) was covered with snow.
Here in Arkansas, that's a big deal.
It was beautiful, we looked at it long and lovingly, and pretty soon, it was gone.

And then.................what's this?

Wait for it................................

Something is coming!!!..............

Oh my gosh..........................................IT'S SPRING.

And today, March 9, 2010, it is as beautiful a day as I have ever seen: the sky is so blue, one could almost hear a bell, the breeze is blowing through the pine trees, and the temperature is 75 degrees. Yes, it is really Spring.

Thanks for this day.

Carol

Mannequin Cafe

2010-01-28T16:57:00.018-06:00

Here are a couple of cards made from new stamps from Character Constructions . These stamps are so versatile and an absolute must for stamp and paper doll lovers. I have been stamping with Character Constructions stamps by Catherine Moore for several years. I still remember exactly when and where I purchased my very first Character Constructions stamp- at the Red Lead store in Saint Louis in 2002, while I was on a business trip. The face on this first card is from Paper Whimsy.

Here are the actual stamps I ordered. Check out her site for many more images in this new line and all of her other wonderful lines.
Elizabeth

Happy Birthday Carol

2010-01-27T11:38:00.011-06:00

So glad you are having a wonderful day filled with sweet friends and lots of Birthday wishes!

Here is an on-line Birthday card made from an image I found at Second Chance when we went together last fall! I added some pink color to her.

Love you,
Elizabeth

Oh Dear,

2010-01-11T19:27:00.001-06:00

While you are waiting for us to show you something wonderful we have created, ( and we are waiting for that too...) let me show you some pictures I took from inside my house. ( I am not getting out in that stuff!) The deer are not enjoying this any more than we are. In fact, they are quite hungry and can't find much grass or vegetation. They lay down in back of the house a lot, and come right up to the front to try and find grass--but to no avail. My husband says they have to move slowly to conserve energy now too. If we startle them and they run off, it is not good for them. We are due for a warm up this week- that means maybe one day over 33degrees. It will take a lot more than that to melt this - probably will be March.

Elizabeth

Saint Elizabeth

2010-01-04T17:34:00.009-06:00

For Christmas, Carol made me this "Saint Elizabeth" hanging. It also includes a St Elizabeth medal as well. I really love it and was quite surprised. She picked up the prayer card and medal from a little church she visited during a recent visit with her son and daughter-in-law.

...- Well, here...., I will let her tell you where she found it. I wish I could have also been there. It sounds quite delightful.

Elizabeth

******************************************************

During a Thanksgiving visit with my son and his family, we drove to Eureka Spring, Arkansas for a little day trip. My first trip there, and it is a fascinating little town, amazing that people can build such quaint houses, buildings, hotels, and churches just hanging off the hillsides.

An especially beautiful example was the Catholic Church built into the hill behind and under the Hotel Crescent. Very old and tiny--probably only has 5 seating rows on each side--but from the circular dome in the ceiling, marble in the floor, stained glass in the windows to the stations of the Cross all along the walkway, one is surrounded by an old European feeling--something very old and very peaceful.

And then, under the church was a little shop selling the prayer cards and medals, and this is where I found the one perfect for my sister, Elizabeth. She has been there for me when I needed her and truly became my St. Elizabeth of Hungary--patron of widows.

Carol

Best New Year Wishes

2009-12-31T10:39:00.006-06:00

Carol and Elizabeth wish a Very Happy New Year to all of our blog visitors.

We hope 2010 brings happiness and good health to you and your families.

Thank you so much for visiting us here.

Kiss the Snow GOODBYE!

2009-12-29T16:48:00.008-06:00

Please, good Spring Fairy, come and kiss the snow goodbye.
Although it is not even January yet, we have had ENOUGH snow! There is not even any weather predicted in the near future that could possibly melt any of it--only more predicted. Where will they even plow what comes next?- the piles on the side of the streets are too high for any more.

So, I just say to you, Mother Nature, ENOUGH ALREADY!!

Thanks for letting me vent- I am so "over" the snow!
Elizabeth

Christmas Images

2009-12-23T12:30:00.000-06:00

As Christmas is upon us, I want to post a few Christmas photos in some places throughout my house.

This first is in the entryway.

Then, turning into the dining room....I have a little tree with a lot of swaps from Silver Bella in years past.

This tray holds the banner made in Pam Garrison's class.

And this was the inspiration for the whole room--my new favorite color--tarnished Sterling. I am appreciating the patina in a way my mother would not have understood. No stress over the tarnish!

Included here is a project from Silver Bella 2007 and an Amy Powers sparkly house.

My Bella Holiday Fabric Fatbook blended right in with its colors--

In the kitchen area, a couple of little trees on the counter have pretty much the same colors--

Thanks for taking a wee tour with me.

All my good wishes for a warm and wonderful Christmas to you all.

Carol

Arrival of Angels

2009-12-20T15:15:00.001-06:00

The Angels have arrived at my house!

Danielle Muller, of The Vintage Dragonfly, hosted The Angel Paper Doll Swap. It was a pleasure creating this angel. She started out as a turn of the century painting by the American Illustrator, Jessie Willcox Smith. I altered the sitting mother and child to a standing angel with the Child and embellished her with feathers, pearls, fabrics, and antique lace.

Is this a choir of angels? Looks like it to me.

When the swap angels arrived, I attached them to a length of lace and hung them from my mantle. Perfect for Christmas!!

I had just finished assembling all the "stuff" on the mantle.....lots of my favorite things...hmmm, sounds like a song....

Of course, the photos don't do them justice. The angels are treasures, obviously carefully crafted, each one a beautiful piece of art.

Below--from the left--by Jamie Vowell http://rem-nants.blogspot.com/

in the middle--mine

on the right--Susie Bieker

Below--on the left--Susie Bieker

on the right--Danielle Muller http://www.thevintagedragonfly.typepad.com/

Below--on the left--by Robin Sanchez

middle--Pamela Keravuori http://pamelajanes.blogspot.com/

on the right--Jamie Vowell's

Pardon if my photography skills don't exist, but I liked these with no flash--the lighting is very peaceful to me.

I feel lucky to have been able to participate in this swap with such talented ladies.

Carol

Silver Bella Needlework Sampler Swap

2009-12-07T08:55:00.005-06:00

Each participating Bella was to make 3 needlework samplers, measuring 4"X5". The clever hostess, Chantal Johnson, assembled them and put the three into a lovely hand embroidered needle book. She filled it with needles, sweet scissors, and graceful touches of her talents. We did not get back our own sampler, and the whole swap was a wonderful surprise at Swap Night at Silver Bella.
Look closely at Chantal's delicate crown on the cover--

The first page--with it's cute little pins...

Then, the first of the 3 samplers--This one below by Rebecca Gawryl (please, if I have them switched, let me know, and I'll correct the post)

Next, is from Jana Perenchio--

And the third-below- is Vicki Flinchum's.

Aren't they precious? Such nice touches on each one. When I look at them, I think about all the time each creative seamstress spent--and what she must have been thinking about all the while.

The next to last page had this little heart pocket with the gold scissors.

Such a nice touch!

And then, the last page had a tag with the names of those who did the pieces.

So nice,Chantal, Rebecca, Jana, and Vicki, you did yourselves proud.

I'll treasure this little jewel always.

The following was included also, from Chantal--with her thoughts.

You will have to enlarge to read it.

The redwork girl below was my offering. We didn't receive one of our own in our booklets.

Carol

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-04T08:46:00.010-06:00

Since I am feverishly working on my Christmas cards, here are some decorations made previously.
Above is one of my most favorite ornaments made a year or so ago. It is on a small black book cover and features an image by Hope of Paper Relics.

These are a set of festive glittery tags. I made about 40 or so last year and gave them away- Wish I had them this year.

Elizabeth

Scrappi Jessi's 3rd Annual Cookie Exchange

2009-12-03T00:24:00.015-06:00

Today's the day--December 3, 2009. Do you have your receipe cards ready? Be sure to visit all of the blogs for delicious cookie recipes.

Elizabeth and Carol are ready for their first "cookie party" - It is hosted by Jessi. They have scoured the cook books to find their favorite.

They have their bowl and spoons ready!

The have found the cookie cutters but think they make great chairs!

They have collected the cooking supplies- roller,cutter,cookie board, frosting and sprinkles.
No, wait!!- those are their art supplies,-- back to the kitchen!

In the "old" new cookbook, is where my favorite cookie recipe resides. The recipe is a little different in the "newer" new cookbook, and I prefer the original one.

This is the recipe that our mother made for us and we have made ourselves through the years. I make it every Christmas. --Sometimes, I don't even eat them all myself, but not often. I always make the "fingers" - I think they are flakier and very "short" as in "like a shortbread cookie"

Elizabeth

For Jessi's Cooky Swap, I am using an old fashioned cooky--Chocolate Crinkles.

Have you noticed there are two ways to spell cooky/cookie?

I looked it up and found both ways are acceptable.

Now, as for the recipe.........

From this book, First Edition 1963,

I found they are best cooked shortly before eating. They need airtight storage, or they dry out quickly.

Enjoy.

Carol

Inspiration Apron Swap

2009-11-30T20:32:00.001-06:00

Here is the apron from a Silver Bella swap. Each of the participants made a 3x5 piece of fabric art. We mailed them to Valita and she made this apron for each of us. It was inspired by the apron that Rebecca Sower created in the magazine, Art Quilting Studio by Stampington & Co. The waistband and ties were made with coordinating fabrics that we sent to her.

Thank you Valita for this work of art that we will each cherish.

Holiday Fabric Book

2009-11-28T09:00:00.007-06:00

This is the lovely fabric book that Michelle Geller put together for Silver Bella Swap participants. There were 30 girls in the swap and Michelle made 3 different books of 10 pages each. We sent her 11 6x6 inch holiday fabric pages and she made the covers and put them together.

Here are the pages that were in our books.

above page by Julie Baxley

Rita Blanks

Kana Conger

Michelle Geller

Sharon Giordano

Jemellia Hilfiger

Jen Kershner

Carol

Sabrina Sane

Elizabeth

Thank you Michelle for all of your hard work.
This book is more than fabric pages sewn together - It is a work of art.

Give Thanks

2009-11-25T17:01:00.000-06:00

"Happy Thanksgiving"
from Carol and Elizabeth

Silver Bella Paper Doll Swap

2009-11-23T15:50:00.002-06:00

Here are some of the paper dolls from our swap. We do not have pictures of all of them, I am sorry to say. They came to us already in packaging and were delivered to the recipients unopened. We requested pictures but not everyone sent pictures. All of the dolls were wonderful and in beautiful packaging.
This will give you an idea of the variety we received.

above created by Robin Sanchez

Lori Oles

Jana Perenchio

Danielle Muller

Alisa Noble

Kara Ward

Andra Hepler

Joanna Lewis

Valerie Jones

Kathy Jacobson

Below are the dolls Carol and I made. They have been shown on this blog previously, as well.

Vintage Rosary Necklace

2009-11-21T01:30:00.001-06:00

Another class at Silver Bella was the Vintage Rosary Necklace class with Kaari Meng of French General. All the pieces to make the necklace were included in the class kit. We jumped right in and started learning all about vintage pearls, twisting wire, making loops, and afixing teensy bits to our new necklaces. It was 3 hours of concentration, but we came out with a stunning necklace and enough knowledge to make us dangerous in a bead store.
The closeup shows all the lovely pieces we had with which to create our piecs.
There was a similar class we did not take-- one to make a bracelet.
See all those tiny pearls? On the inner strand, we had to make little loops after EACH ONE. Very tedious work, but we were so proud at the completion.
Carol

Silver Bella Vintage Paper Swap

2009-11-18T13:15:00.009-06:00

We are back from Silver Bella! It was a wonderful, magical event. Carol visited with me for some days ahead and after the event. It was so much fun to visit with friends and meet new ones. We have many creative and hopefully, inspiring things to show you.
There are swap items and classes to come in the next week or so. Our heads are so full of sparkly ideas for decorating and gift giving, we can hardly stand it!!

We will begin with this swap. The participants mailed vintage papers to our hostess, Lori Oles.
Lori's beautiful blog is -Vintage Flair. At Silver Bella, she presented us with this folder full of vintage papers.

The folder is made of vintage wallpaper and tied with a cheesecloth bow. There is a crepe paper rosette and a gorgeous sewn tag. I just love this beautiful girl on the tag.

Here are the papers inside. All were different, of course. These are the ones I received- a really nice selection.

These papers will probably go into a plastic bag, ready to use in projects. This folder needs to hold special items and be displayed someway.

Thanks for looking and please stop by for more creative ideas to come from Silver Bella.
Elizabeth

Silver Bella Bound

2009-11-10T18:56:00.004-06:00

We are off to Silver Bella for four days full of glitter, creativity, friends, and laughter.

See you soon with lots of photos.

Carol and Elizabeth

Vintage Autumn Images

2009-11-07T00:20:00.001-06:00

A magazine cover and a postcard from my collection. Hope you enjoy them!
elizabeth

Silver Bella Feltie ornament swap

2009-11-04T23:30:00.003-06:00

These are for another silver Bella Swap - a felt ornament - I used felted wool from a thrifted sweater. The wool has some silver sparkle in it. I used more felted wool for the cream band and the heart. The mittens are open at the top and can hold small items. There is mica on the leaves and vintage trim at the cuff. These are really fun to make and I would like to make more in other colors before Christmas.

Elizabeth

Paper doll Brides for Silver Bella

2009-10-31T22:00:00.004-05:00

Carol and I are hosting a Paper doll swap for Silver Bella. This bride doll is my contribution. Carol showed you the one she made here. I thought I would show you how this paper doll came together.

The above fashion plate came from my copy of a November 1897 Delineator. I made several copies. I cut the bodice and arms from the Bride and glued them to cardboard.

Then they were cut out with a little point below the waist on which to sew the skirt.
Below are the various skirts I made with vintage laces and a satin underskirt.
I glued the skirts behind the waist and added more trim and some satin to cover the point. Narrow lace was glued on the bodice with some glitter in the printed folds of the bodice. Some dolls have lace veils and some have tulle.

Each doll was given a bouquet of white flowers and pearl stems. - oh, yes, a bow on the back, some pearl bracelets and a pearl heart brooch. They will stand up over a long neck bottle, since they have a narrow satin underskirt.
And finally here is the bride all wrapped up and ready for giving in a clear bag with lots of lace and tulle trims.
Thanks for looking.
Elizabeth

Happy Halloween

2009-10-29T23:00:00.002-05:00

Have fun this weekend-
Hope you get lots of treats and no tricks!

Elizabeth and Carol

Vestiges of Fall

2009-10-27T16:50:00.031-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, I took my camera and walked around the house finding some beautiful images of Fall. In the late afternoon, the sun's angle causes a glittery light through the leaves. I think it is the most beautiful time of day in the Autumn.

And we cannot leave out these guys. They are also a common sign at this time of year.
At least they are appropriately colored for Fall.

Elizabeth

Sweet and Sinister Swap

2009-10-26T17:11:00.001-05:00

Here are just some of the wonderful things I received from my swap partner, Kathy. None of my pictures due them justice. Everything was wrapped in a large piece of burlap. the "BOO" garland is made of 3 triangles of "designer" burlap. It has wavy stitched patterns in the burlap.
The "cupcake" looking things are another garland with card stock triangles covered with pattern tissue and various trims, and grunge board with chalkpaint and attached with Velcro, so it can be changed. Very cool !

This glittery candy corn cone was filled with homemade chocolate bat pops, a candy corn pen, orange wooden fruit, and a bat mask.

She did an "Alice" theme and covered a tin can above with book pages and a fine covering of glitter. the handle is darling french ribbon printed with "Alice" phrases. Below is a transfer panel she made.

She created the button bundles above with vintage text.

There was lots of trim. She is a quilter and fabric artist. the bag above was filled with beige bows and you can see some of the trims below. You cannot see how lovely some of the velvet ribbons were, however.
Now, these below are my favorites - tiny wool pin cushions. She used bottle caps for the bottoms - One is a spider web with spider and the other is a "starry night" theme.

She painted the head below and wrapped it with more french ribbon.

I had a wonderful talented partner. Thank you very much, Kathy.

Elizabeth

A birthday gift

2009-10-24T01:30:00.000-05:00

My sweet Daughter-In-Law had a birthday several days ago, and she said she would like to have something I made. Oh, my Dear, what treasured words to a crafter's ears!!

I suggested one of my little hearts sewed in some favorite colors. How about black and pink?

And she loves butterflies; so, the silver one in the middle.

And this is the backside.

I made it for her to hang from her car's rear view mirror. It will sparkle in the light.

I haven't mailed it off to her as yet.

This is letting the cat out of the bag. Oh well...

Carol

Prayers for Blakie

2009-10-21T18:07:00.016-05:00

Here is my grandson who turned 2 last Saturday, Oct 10th. He will be having kidney surgery on Friday morning. If you want to send any prayers or healing thoughts his way, we would welcome them. His surgery is at Children's hospital and will last about 4 hours.

Blake is a very sweet little boy. The picture above was taken Wednesday morning, just before we headed to the mall to let him get a bear at Build-a- Bear. Below he is handing back his bear for its final stitching. We then took him for a photo setting and we got some very good pictures.
Below he is in his Halloween costume of a Dino.

Below, he is playing with his older brother's fireman stuff.

Thanks for reading this and thank you very much for any prayers and well wishes.
Elizabeth

Swap #4

2009-10-20T01:30:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the swap my sister, Elizabeth and I are hosting.

The Bella Paper Doll Swap. One would have thought I would have had a better handle on what I wanted to do--beings that it was our own swap; however, I did not have a clue. I fretted the whole time, discarding one idea after another, until I had finished all the other swaps. Finally, I had to get a grip and make a decision.

These are the little missys that were the final products.

The assignment didn't have any parameters as to size or type of paper doll. We could dress and embellish our paper dolls as we wished.

I used the Lottie stamp from Pink Persimmon. She spoke to me with such a sweet personality.

The layers of apricot/salmon fabric were from a formal dress that I thrifted.

The lace is a dark brown color--it looks black, but it's brown.

I strung dark brown wooden beads for her "brown pearl"necklace.

And her little headband was made from the spaghetti straps on the original evening dress.

By the time I finish with these swaps, I've become quite fond of each one.

Lottie seems happy to being all dressed up for Silver Bella.

I added a little shawl of glittered tulle, and a few glass beads sewn along the bottom front....

And then, there is the packaging.

I wanted her to be seen through the finished gift wrap, so, I stitched the cello on top on the kraft paper, and made the closure with a little matching yo-yo and tulle at the top with my Moo card.

She's all ready for her trip to the Swap Night.

Now, to gather all the "stuff" we will need for our exciting classes of Silver Bella.

Carol

Next up--Swap #3

2009-10-18T01:30:00.002-05:00

Now, this swap is a little different. While it looks like I did 14 fabric ATC's, that is not the case.

These will go to the hostess who will combine 14 different little art pieces on an apron front--presenting each participant with a finished apron on Swap Night. Pretty sweet, right?

This is called the Inspiration Apron Swap:

I incorporated wool felt, sweater felt, pieces of brocade, vintage lace, old pearls, beads, buttons, and a whole lot of free form embroidery.

Carol

Silver Bella Swap #2

2009-10-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

These little redwork embroidery panels are for the Needlework Samplers Swap:

My sweet friend, Becky, did the original drawings of the curly headed child, and I transferred them to the fabric panel and did stem and outline stitches for the needlework.

Our assignment for this swap was for 3--4X5" samplers.

The hostess will surprise us with her completion efforts at Swap Night at Silver Bella.

I became quite fond of her happy little self, standing among the flowers.

We don't know how these will be completed by the hostess. It will be a fun surprise on Swap Night at Silver Bella.

Carol

Silver Bella Swaps

2009-10-14T01:30:00.001-05:00

A summer of preparing for Silver Bella has come to a close. The Silver Bella Yahoo group entertained lots (and I mean LOTS) of swaps. Each one sounded so interesting and fun, and the finished projects filled our imaginations so full that signing up for 5 or 6 didn't make us pause.

I jumped right in and got busy, knowing how slow I work, how much more thinking and visualizing goes on in my head, rather than productive work.

Nonetheless, I have accomplished all my tasks. All 6 are done, finished, completed, and either sent off to the hostesses or tucked safely away for the trip to Omaha. Whew!

This first one is the Bella Holiday Fat Book: assignment.....

Eleven 6 X 6" fabric pages, showing a holiday color palette with emblishments.
The hostess will bind into books with covers.

I can hardly wait to see the finished project!

This is a closeup of the front (on the left) and the back of the page (on the right)The front side: Each page is a little different. Impossible for me to duplicate exactly, but it's OK.
The background is a grey wool, with pieces of ribbon, felt, and felted wool, beading, and trim.
Carol

Birthday boys and a snowy day

2009-10-11T00:05:00.003-05:00

Saturday Morning we woke to this out our windows.
We got a total of 4 inches before it was over.

It was sunny by afternoon in time for my Grandsons' Birthday Party.
Blake was two on Saturday and Brady will be 5 soon, so a combined party was in order.

The afternoon was full of family, friends, fun, balloons, presents, and cake.
And two very happy little boys...

The 5 year old has been loving Geo Trax since he was two, and I found him a "Cars" Geo Trax.

Blake really like his new retro cash register - you remember the one with the big plastic coins and hand crank to open the drawer. -no lights, music, or batteries..., but lots of fun for busy little fingers.

Their mom made this adorable car cake for Brady

Here Blake is waiting patiently for his cake ( I did not get a picture of it, in all the hassle. It was a 2 layer chocolate cake.

A fun day with two very special boys.

Elizabeth

Haunted

2009-10-06T17:34:00.015-05:00

Here are three pieces made for the new Halloween stamps from Oxford Impressions called "Haunted" Check here to see the entire plate.
This first one is on a chipboard hanging moon. - lots of black glitter and hangs with a black wire.

The following piece is on heavy chipboard. It has lots of texture. It is kind of hard to see the black on it. She is holding black roses and there is a black glittered spider in the top left corner and more roses in the right corner with wrinkled black ribbons also and a wire hanger.

The last piece is a necklace and was made in the style of Lisa Guerin. I loved her little girl necklaces from her blog and then saw them again in the current "Life" magazine by Stampington. So, I decided to try my hand at a Bat girl style for Halloween. She has lace top and black velvet skirt.

Thanks for looking.

Elizabeth

More Halloween

2009-10-03T22:00:00.003-05:00

Above is a Halloween advertisement from one of my old magazines

and below are some more decorations.

Elizabeth

Family Halloween projects & a Winner

2009-10-01T01:34:00.012-05:00

The winner of the stamps from Oxford Impressions, shown below, is-

"TxScrapAddict"

I will be emailing for your address and this package will be out to you right away.

Thanks to all that commented. We appreciate it very much.

And now for some Halloween decorations. I made these for my daughter with her children's pictures. They are last year's costumes. They don't all have their costumes for this year yet.
This is a garland with a section for each child.

This one below hangs by itself. It is about 9" across.

This one is made in a little box spray painted black and decorated.

My daughter had a picture of Brady after having eaten some blue candy. I cut it out, decorated it and put it on a magnet for the frig. He loves it and I do too!

Brady was a bat so I cut his picture out and attached it to the bones and it hangs upside down - like a bat!

Elizabeth

Give-a-way for Alice in Wonderland Stamps

2009-09-26T18:38:00.006-05:00

Free Grab bag of stamps-Post a comment below

Here are cards and projects that I made for Oxford Impressions with two of her new Alice in Wonderland stamp plates.

I have some extras of the individual stamps from the "Wonderland" plate. You can see a picture of the entire sheet here. I will be giving away just some of the stamps on this plate. Here is a picture of the "grab bag" to be given away. I have trimmed all of the stamps and they are ready to stamp, just by attaching them with a piece of double stick tape to an acrylic block.

If you will leave a comment on this post from now until Wednesday night Sept 30, at midnight central time, we will announce a winner on Oct. 1. Please be sure we have your e-mail address.
Thanks for playing along with us.

Elizabeth

Fabric Book Pages

2009-09-25T00:05:00.001-05:00

These are pages from a Silver Bella fabric book swap that I have been working on. They are all a little different because of the crazy quilt fabric. The little girl image is on a fabric sheet that I purchased from Paper Whimsey. -- Lots of trim and beads added on top.

Below is the back of the page. The image here is on my "Moo" cards that I have hand sewn on the back. You can flip it over to see the contact info.

Thanks for looking.
Elizabeth

Dance among the Shadows

2009-09-23T00:13:00.001-05:00

Here are some Halloween pieces that are all made with stamps from Oxford Impressions. Check out all her Halloween stamps here.

This is a vintage bottle on which I adhered stamped papers. Then I sealed them with wax. The back has some rub-ons. Then some tiny black beads were placed inside. A metal piece was used as a stopper and sealed with more wax.

The skull below was stamped and embossed with white powder onto vellum and then cut out and placed on the round stamped dial piece. It was placed onto a black crepe paper round ruffle with silver glitter on the edges. Then it was placed on scalloped black glitter paper.
A couple of cards below

And finally, a simple bookmark - just right for the season.
You can click on any of these images for a closer look.
Lots more Halloween ideas to come
Elizabeth

Sisterhood

2009-09-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

Last week was filled with days of remembering--the 17th was the one year date of my precious husband's death. The year since has been filled with many things that God has showed me, helped me through, and with which is refilling my life.

One of His blessings is a gift of friends who have come alongside me in this walk--new Sisters--kind and caring, teaching, making me laugh, sharing tears, leading, helping me to think outside myself.

Not wanting me to be alone on that day, these girls treated me to lunch at Ya Ya's.

What bright and shining faces welcome me to share their day and their lives.

As little mementos, I made some small embroidered hearts nestled in little sandwich glass hearts and tucked into these beady bags.

They seem to be my colors and style lately...

But mostly, it's because these sweet women have my heart.

And we all shared a fabulous decadent dessert--A puff pastry covered baked brownie. Hot chocolate lava poured out upon cutting, topped with ice cream swizzled with raspberry sauce.
I should have snapped earlier, before the digging in began, but couldn't get the camera up fast enough.

It didn't last long!!

Since we were eating in YaYa's Restaurant, we thought we could rightfully be called YaYa Sisters. I think we can. So, we are.

Sisters, truly, as children of God.

Carol

Christmas Planner

2009-09-19T01:30:00.000-05:00

A holiday planner seems to be a good idea for keeping things altogether. This is one I made from a Mead composition book.
The cover was layered with Christmas paper, the Bigz die cut letters in the Twang font.

The different sections tabs were inked shipping tags inbetween the glued together pages.

Include a calendar for scheduling...

A place for decorations. It's surprisingly easy to forget something you really liked when the next holiday arrives.

And the food! Don't forget the food, the recipes, the menus you liked.

Write the recipes on cards and include them so you don't have to look them up every year.

Have pages for photos of past decorations. Make a list for each year.

And all your favorite Christmas traditions--You will enjoy reading them from year to year, and they will be a treasure for your children.

Your book will become more important to you every year--more like a journal of the best of times!

Don't wait to put one together. You'll want to use it THIS year!

Carol

First Dollars

2009-09-17T01:30:00.001-05:00

Evan, my grandson, has done several photo shoots for magazines, and when he received his first check, we wanted to capture the moment. He really was tickled.

This is one that was done for Bargain Style (Better Homes & Gardens)Fall 2005.

He was a good little model. The hours can be long and tedious, but the work interesting, and the crew was sweet to him.

Carol

Halloween Inspiration

2009-09-15T07:30:00.004-05:00

It's time to get out all the Fall decorations, and that means the Halloween pieces. We've only about 6 weeks to display all the fun things that the season brings.
This is a hanger, about 5 X 7"--using vintage images and embellishments.

There are so many visual inspirations out there--
This one is my daughter's, from a BH&G spread...

More hangers (from Elizabeth). So many ways to portray the season....

Find your favorite image, combine with varied papers, and there you are.

Another color inspiration--knitted dish cloths....

This is a super simple, but effective, pennant. I used the painted woodies from Michael's and placed them onto the huge paint chips (should say, paint chunks!) from Better Homes & Gardens. Thanks, BH&G, for making such luscious colors available; not just for my projects, but for warming up the walls of our homes.

These are closeups of the project's beginnings--

I think this cat is a hoot!

This is fabric--so precious--from Hobby Lobby (not sure about availability this year).

Fall gives us so much with which to work.

Hope your craft tables are full of fun projects.

Carol

Fall Signs

2009-09-13T07:30:00.000-05:00

We had a cool snap, it's warm again now, but the plants must know it is getting closer to Fall. The dogwood in the back yard is always the harbinger with it's lovely red colors.

And those red berries--so shiny.

The morning dew shows off the spider webs.

And this is the last of the spring volunteers, a sweet little pink "thing". Anyone know? They reseed and return every year.....all over the place.

And these pods......anyone know here? The answer is below....

The last of my meager little container garden, those banana peppers and bell peppers. Mine would never have made the grade for the grocery store. Look how tiny.

This Doublefile Vibernum. What's up with this? It's putting out a bloom, and it is one of the earliest bloomers in the Spring. Silly bush.

And these little red cuties--more volunteers (I haven't planted them in years). They give something for the hummingbirds in the late fall.

Beautiful hydrangea, very interesting with it's Fall outfit.

Onions, gone to flower, and then, seed.

And the Lace Cap Hydrangea. This one looks a bit depressing.

I should have ended with a cheerier photo.

Oh, and the answer to the above question....about the pods? Wisteria seed pods. I've never tried to plant them. My wisteria send up runners and new plants all over the yard. I have to mow them down, but if anyone wants these, let me know, and I'll mail them to you.

Enjoy your Fall.

Carol

Pictures of the Heart

2009-09-12T01:00:00.001-05:00

This is a card I did a while back for PaperWhimsy - painted background and collage elements -It was a specific challenge to use all these separate elements into one collage - Lots of fun.
Elizabeth

Let us not forget

2009-09-11T00:15:00.001-05:00

Memories of Mother

2009-09-10T00:13:00.001-05:00

This is a "hangie" I made for Carol a couple of years ago. It is our Mother's picture with other items on it that belonged to her.

The buttons and black braid were from some of her sewing supplies.

The spoon is from her collection of travel spoons she bought from different places in Europe, when they lived in Germany. The dangle is one of her silver earrings.

The paper is her handwriting from a journal page of hers. Her picture is in an extra large bottle cap (hammered open) and covered with diamond glaze.

Elizabeth

Memory Jar

2009-09-08T01:22:00.002-05:00

This is a memory jar that I made for Carol several years ago. It is an antique mason jar filled with tags. I made our family members into fairies on these tags. They all have beads on the yarn ties so that they can be hung over the top of the jar from the inside or outside. They can then be removed easily from the inside of the jar.

Carol - Great grandmother -Father - Grandmother

Both of these are our mother

Mother and Father

Mother and fraternal grandparents

Father and Carol

Elizabeth and Carol

this is Carol and one of my favorite pictures. She was so cute!

The backs all had a quote on them.

Thanks for letting me share them with you.

Elizabeth

Boys at the Zoo

2009-09-07T00:05:00.004-05:00

Here they are ready to head out the door.

The Butterfly House is one of Brady's favorites

Mine too!

This little guy loves the animals.

Boys always love the water.

And you just can't beat a beautiful carousel !

They love to climb on all the stone animals.

Last Friday, the weather was cool and the zoo was empty. My daughter brought a picnic lunch and we were home by nap time. Great Time!

Elizabeth

Filling Time

2009-09-05T06:00:00.001-05:00

After finishing other projects, one always has leftover pieces of felt, the trims are all spread out, the yarns and threads are right there on top. Why not just make something else with what's there?
As for filling time, well, I really should have been working on swaps for Silver Bella, but until the idea becomes clear for me for my last swap, I end up procrastinating.
A wee scissors case--in the same felted sweater pieces, but covered with embroidered cotton, lots of seed beads, baguettes, bits of lace, and sequins.
I just drew a pencil line around the scissors, enlarged it a bit, and cut it out.

The next one will be tweaked a bit--the little top part will be enlarged enough to fold over and fasten on the button--which will have to be moved up. That will keep the scissors from falling out in the sewing box.

Carol

Bookshelves

2009-09-03T01:30:00.002-05:00

I was looking around my house the other day. There are a LOT of bookcases. Lots of shelves. Places everywhere for books. And I love books. But the shelves certainly aren't loaded with books.
They seem to have everything else.....
Memories for me from all over the world, but not a book here....Oh, wait, there's one acting like a little shelf.
More treasures in book spaces.
Lots of room for cubbies...... but no, not a book here either.....

A few here for this and that.....

Really packed, could use a cleaning out, you say? But, each item holds a little memory for me--a history, a story of its own.

I'm just not ready to clean out, to put decorating style over life's moments.

Yet, I'm still looking for those books.......

Found buttons, hmmmm, lots of those--

And albums, pictures,

Oh, wait, here they are......

And a whole pile of vintage books,

And some classics....

I'm glad they have a good home.

We'll think about cleaning out for another day.

Carol

Block Party

2009-09-01T01:30:00.004-05:00

Elizabeth of Creative Breathing hosted a Block Party Swap a few weeks ago. It was a "one on one"--she made one for each of us who signed up, and we each created one for her.

What a sweet and precious treasure she did.

This is the front--personalized for our blog!!!

This is the back--although how can one tell the front from the back? Both are delightful.

Be sure to click on her blog to see the others that were sent during this swap; also, how she displayed them in her room.

---And the one I made to send, to her, ....this is the front side,

and this is the back-- of the piece I made for Creative Breathing.

posted by Carol.

A View of Venice

2009-08-30T05:30:00.002-05:00

When my daughter and husband returned from Venice with striking and vibrant photos, and especially of doorways and windows, I knew the images called for their own book.

I made the pages of kraft grocery bags, and the book measures about 9" tall.

The cover has a little window that actually opens.

I've seen this image before. I love how it photographs.

Even the pigeons are helpful in staging a shot.

Kelly even caught Mark walking by a doorway.

I've not been to Italy, but I love gazing at the pictures and can almost transport myself to that beautiful city.

posted by Carol

vintage magazine advertisements

2009-08-29T01:46:00.002-05:00

McCall's June 1921
This would be really beautiful in color.

McCall's June 1921
I love the kids in the envelope!

Ladies' Home Journal - April 1909
I wonder if anyone has heard of Siegel-Cooper department store in NY. It must have been pretty nice in its day.

The Delineator - June 1900

This bow could not get any bigger and still stay in the ad. I wonder if you could get through doorways. I guess it was a steal for $1.99

These are more from my personal collection of vintage magazines.

Elizabeth

Hidden Fairies

2009-08-27T01:00:00.001-05:00

Carol gave me this book for my birthday last month. It is a beautiful pop-up book for adults. Here are some parts of the pop-up pages. There are lots of hidden fairies everywhere.

I guess my family knows me well, because several years ago, my daughter gave me the book below, which is by the same author.

Here is a peek inside.

During my visit with Carol a couple of week ago, I took a few pictures around the outside of her house. They could be fairies hidden here too.

Water Babes

2009-08-25T01:00:00.001-05:00

Before summer is over, I wanted to share these summer bathing beauties. The girl second from the right in the white suit is our Mother. She is with her best friends. They had fun at a lake each summer in central Florida. They were friends all their lives. They are all now deceased. But I did not want to forget this picture and how much fun they had together.

Here is another vintage picture of some bathing beauties.

Elizabeth

And the Winner Is...

2009-08-24T07:05:00.001-05:00

Heidi Ann

of Gold County Girls

Congratulations!!!
She is the winner of our give-a-way during the "OZ" event below.

She will receive this hand sewn and embroidered wool tag handmade by Carol.

Elizabeth is also a "Winner"
A couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth received this package of vintage items, shown below. She won it from Wanda's blog - The Rat's Pajamas . It included lovely vintage lace and buttons and a tiny bird on a branch charm.
Thank You, Wanda

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Gala and a give-a-way

2009-08-22T00:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks for joining us today. We will start with another sweet and continuing story of Carol and Elizabeth and their many adventures.... ( not a single witch was harmed during the filming of this story)

One bright sunny day, "Carol of the East" and "Elizabeth of the West" were having a very cozy chat in the meadow. They were sipping on their "Emerald-itas" and sponge cakes. YUM!

When suddenly they heard a small cry of despair and a little girl came running into the meadow asking for help. She said her name was Dorothy and she had lost her inspiration for ART. She could not seem to paint, draw, or sew a single thing that truly made her happy. She had heard on one of her many art blogs, that the Wonderful Wizard of Oz would be able to give her the creativity she so desired. She asked our help in finding the elusive Wizard.

We took Dorothy in hand and we all started down the yellow brick road to find Emerald City, the Wizard and hopefully Dorothy's lost creativity.

Soon we spotted Emerald City and there he was!

This Wizard was a real "Cutey." Oh, my, our hearts began to beat just a little faster.

He gave us an audience and Dorothy asked for his help. He told her that everything she needed was "inside" her. If she would just close her eyes, click her heels together, and feel the creativity flow through her fingers. Ideas would form, colors would blend, and glitter would cover everything.

Dorothy was now ready to go home and make art. "Carol of the East" had crocheted a beautiful blue magic carpet. We took Dorothy home on it. It felt just like a roller coaster so we all raised our hands and flew though the sky.
The END

Here is the VCR tape I have had since the 80s - Love this movie!!

And now for our give-a-way.

Carol has hand sewn a lovely tag full of embroidery and beading.

If you make a comment today and through Sunday night at midnight central time, we will draw on Monday. Please be sure we can access your e-mail address. If you are the winner, we will e-mail you on Monday to ask for your snail mail address.

Thank you for stopping by and thanks to Twyla and Lindsey for hosting this party.

Carol and Elizabeth

Anniversary Plaque

2009-08-19T01:30:00.001-05:00

For the 25th anniversary of the florist shop of my friend, there was an open house. One could not go without creating a tribute of some kind.

Here, I used a wooden base/tag shape (from Michael's), covered with my favorite paper from foof-a-la ; and then, layered on top an embroidered heart.

I'm loving to do these right now.

Fair warning, if I'm doing any projects in the near future, they will probably have some sort of embroidery like this.

The backside is covered with a vintage catalog page and a cut out Mary Englebreit calendar image.
Then, wrapped it up (my favorite part) with this embossed kraft paper, white paper lace, and buttons strung onto yarn.

Carol

Vintage Hosiery Advertisements

2009-08-17T01:15:00.002-05:00

Metropolitan November 1920

Ladies' Home Journal 1931

McCall's December 1924

McCall's November 1959

McCall's December 1924

McCall's November 1959

Enjoy more magazine advertisements

Becky's Bags

2009-08-15T01:30:00.001-05:00

Our friend, Becky Mitchum http://www.beckymitchum.com ( also see Gretel ), has created for Elizabeth and me these fabulous tote bags.

Not only were these her own original designs, she hand painted them, adding vibrant colors, glitter, jewels, and bells.

Aren't they treasures?

Check out my shopping list........"more crap".

Check out the lace right above those pink beribboned ankles!

We are so in love with our gorgeous, whimsical bags.

If you are as enchanted with these bags as we are, you may inquire about them to Becky at
originalaartvark@yahoo.com

posted by Elizabeth & Carol

Thrift Finds

2009-08-14T10:46:00.011-05:00

Carol and Elizabeth are together for 2 weeks and keeping busy with sewing and crafting on our Silver Bella swaps. We did make some time to visit thrift shops and a couple church sales.
Here are some of our finds-

The following is the clothing we found at a local thrift shop. They were all 99cents each. We love to find beautiful fabrics and buttons and trims on these dresses and tops. Sometimes we will get home with something we cannot cut up and may even fit. That is a find indeed for a dollar.

Elizabeth and Carol

School Begins

2009-08-12T00:59:00.015-05:00

Drum roll, Please.

A new school year starts today for my oldest grandchild.
She will be in second grade.

I wave my hand and the years just fly from my fingertips!
I don't know how that happens and I don't know where they go?
I just know they are gone.

Gone as fast as the water shoots from their water guns on a hot summer day..
. As fast as their little eyes close riding in the back seat after a fun-filled day...
As fast as they can ride their big wheel down the sidewalk...
As fast as they can make a chocolate cupcake disappear...

Oh, these treasured years of youth!
I love them so and I miss them as they are happening
because I know what a short time they last.

Even the bears are going to school!

Whenever your little ones go back to school, I hope they have a Great Year!

Elizabeth

Gretel's Portrait

2009-08-10T01:30:00.001-05:00

My dear friend, Becky, has painted a portrait (16"X20") for my kitty, Gretel.

Becky intended for me to hang it near Gretel's litter box, so that she could gaze upon it while using the facilities. While that is a sweet intention, there is just NO WAY I was going to do that! It hangs in my family room, and Gretel can just admire it there.

My photography skills are non existant so I'm not showing Becky's talents to their best advantage. Be sure to click the photo to enlarge.

The words, which are hard to capture in the light, say, "PUSSYCAT, PUSSYCAT, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" and are raised. You can feel them.

Oh, and the little mouse on her head? He's playing a violin.

The violin is another one of Becky's amazing list of talents, along with being an artist, calligrapher, handpainted art on jeans-- http://www.beckymitchum.com/category_7/Hand-Painted-Jeans.htm , her new (not even finished yet) website, and an amazing and original sense of humor.

Carol

Vintage Car Advertisements

2009-08-08T06:15:00.000-05:00

How about a car ride in one of these Lovelies?

More images from my vintage magazine collection.

Elizabeth

Sneak Peek of Block Party

2009-08-05T01:30:00.004-05:00

Elizabeth of Creative Breathing is having a Block Party
She's doing a "one on one" sort of swap. We make one for her, and she makes one for us. She will have all the blocks hanging (as pennants?) in her kitchen at the finish. What a show that will be!

This is a sneak peek of what I have done for her. The heart on the 5X5" is felted wool, stuffed, and hand embroidered, beaded, and glittered. Just didn't know when to stop. It was so much fun. The background paper is a Daisy D's piece (alas, another discontinued company).

This blue side is the back. We didn't HAVE to finish it out like this, but you know, once the train starts moving, it's hard to stop. My little miniMoo card pivots to show the back of the card with my information.

More than anything, I am excited to have one of her amazing pieces. Her Creative Breathing shows so beautifully in all of her tender and sweet pieces.

Carol

Silver Bella Projects

2009-08-03T01:30:00.000-05:00

Looking forward to Silver Bella in November, I'm in the midst of creating, designing, and creating favors, gifts, and swaps. It's a real mess around here. Threads, pins, and needles dropped into carpets, felts, fabrics, bags of this, that, and the other cover every available surface.

Last night, Gretel, my cat, came flying around the corner of my chair and crashed into a pile of "stuff" I had just put down on the floor so that I could get up. Ha! She just sat there with the most confused expression. Then, started to lick herself furiously in case I misunderstood and thought she had made a mistake.

Trays of cut out felted wools and embroidery threads, seam binding ribbons--

And always, lots of buttons--

And these are some of the results....I'll post some swap completions later on (I guess they should be surprises.) These little bitsys are just for favors--to give to friends at Silver Bella.

These are not large--maybe 8" to 10". They made me happy as I was making them, using all kinds of buttons and trims. There is no pressure when designing for oneself, just pleasure

thinking about the recipiant's reaction.

Anyway, I hope everyone likes them.

Carol

Sewing Ephemera

2009-07-31T23:26:00.010-05:00

When I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law last week, they gave me these sewing notions. They had recently gone to help out at her grandmother's estate sale. They found these goodies for me and brought them back. My son really "gets" my hobby and what it means to me. They were both very sweet to be thinking of me and bring these things back with them. These items are very special since they are from family.

Vintage Magazine Images

2009-07-31T00:10:00.005-05:00

The Delineator October 1920

McCall's June 1921

Ladies' Home Journal August 1932

Ladies' Home Journal May 1931

Hope you enjoy these images from my vintage magazine collection.
I will be posting more of these for you to use as you wish.

Elizabeth

Texas Summer Vacation

2009-07-29T01:00:00.001-05:00

The pilots on our flight to Texas appeared to be fairly new to the job.

I am sure their enthusiasm made up for any lack of skill.

My daughter, her two oldest children and I

went to see my son and his wife and their "kids".

We went to Sea World in San Antonio.
I imagine a lot of you know what that was like in July in Texas.

One day my son took us on a little train ride.

It was a nice morning in the shade waiting for the train.

Teri made ice cream with lots of help- especially for eating it.

Even Buster was cooling off in his pool.

We ate out

and we ate in

The neighborhood pool was a big hit on an 107 degree day.

It was a very fun and busy 5 days.

Elizabeth

Birthday Drawing Results

2009-07-28T00:05:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to me
and cake to you and
presents to our winners!

and our winners are......

Heather and Loretta

Congratulations!

Heather will receive the hanging felted wool heart
and Loretta will receive the 20 squares of felted wool.

Thanks to all of you who played along with us.
We appreciate you and hope to do more give-a-ways soon.

Sweater Felting

2009-07-26T01:30:00.001-05:00

This delicious rainbow of colors is a row of felted sweater arms.

For a bunting banner I made, with inspiration from here (I'm bedazzled by her projects), I cut lots of little pieces in my favorite pastels.

Added just a few buttons and bits of lace and trim,

and attatched to some vintage wool lace.

And voila....Easy to do and makes a good sampler of the colors and textures one has available.

Carol

Funny Image

2009-07-25T01:30:00.005-05:00

I found this image while searching for little girl images, and can't stop laughing everytime I look at it. Must think of the perfect project for her. She looks like she just "gave out"....too much posing. Maybe you can thing of something special for her. Any ideas?

Remember to leave a comment. We will enter all comments until Sunday night.

Carol

Summer's Yield

2009-07-24T01:30:00.003-05:00

I would love to have a giant garden of summer and fall vegetables, but point of fact, I don't want to spend the time, don't like the hottest parts of the day, and if there are red bugs/chiggers out there, they will find me for sure!

So---I optimistically plant a few things in pots on the patio. My favorites, because they never fail to produce, are Sweet Banana Peppers.

I have one Sweet Bell Pepper planted in the middle, but I've only harvested 2 little babes so far.

The Banana Peppers are so prolific. My favorite recipe is to mix up a good albacore/tune salad; cut off just the top of the pepper, take out the core; and fill with the tuna salad. It's so perfect to mix up a bunch for a picnic (wrap each one in plastic wrap for no muss) to eat out of hand.

I sprinkled a bit of Salad Supreme on top for color and flavor. Chill.

Neat, huh?

Nice and crunchy and good for a pot luck summer supper.

Don't forget to leave a comment for the drawing.

Carol

Countdown to Birthday give-a-way

2009-07-22T01:00:00.001-05:00

Presents? Yes, presents. We are having a birthday give-away.

Pictured below are the two items for the give-away.

Carol made the first out of felted wool, stitched layers together with some padding in the center, and embroidered a die cut flower on top.

The heart measures 6 1/2" from top to bottom.

Elizabeth's gift is a set of sweater felted pieces:

These 20 felted wool sweater pieces are a little over 4x5 inches each.
The four felt flowers are 2 inches each
These are all cut up from wool sweaters
that have been washed in hot water to felt.

The plan is: Make a comment on any post from this one (July 22) through Sunday (July 26), and we will draw 2 numbers on Monday. We will post the winners on Tuesday (July 28). Please be sure your email is available so that we can contact you.

Elizabeth and Carol

A Grandson's Visit

2009-07-20T01:00:00.003-05:00

My sweet grandson, Evan, came for a 9 day visit.

A grandmother is obliged to provide a certain amount of special sweets.....cupcakes.....

And sherbet, his favorite....

After all the sugar, we need to get a little outside exercise.

How about a walk across the Arkansas River? This is the longest bridge in the world built just for walkers and bicycles. It's really interesting as it goes right over the Murry Lock and Dam, and often, barges and boats are going through the lock.

Nothing like a cool dip on a hot Arkansas summer day.

Legos are the favorite and cover any and all horizontal surfaces.

We attended the Central Arkansas Book Sale, and Evan found lots of good stuff. Who could go wrong with $1 for hard backs and 50 cents on paperbacks?

Halfway through Evan's visit, Mommy (my daughter) arrived.

Woohoo. She's a terrific cook, and we dined on a higher level than when I was doing the menu planning.

One evening's fare included fish tacos. I never knew there was such. My loss all this time. They are fabulous--especially done with Talapia.

Mimi (that's me) was trying to help Evan with his knitting.

My competition was a Sponge Bob marathon on tv. Doesn't help with concentration. We finally gave it up.

Evan and Tuffley going to bed on the last night.....

The Indiana fedora was decided to be the perfect headcovering for the trip home.

Breakfast at the airport.

And now, accompanied by Mommy, he's on his way home.

Daddy is happily waiting, but a grandmother is sad.....and a bit weepy.But summer vacations contain so much joy, the sad endings just have to be endured.

Thinking about the next visit does keep one's chin up.

Carol

Mosaic labels

2009-07-17T05:00:00.004-05:00

These little price label sheets make very fun and easy backgrounds. Simply rub ink over the entire sheet, using several colors, if desired. Then rub off the color from the lines in between. The ink won't stick to the glossy lines.

Here are more sheets colored this way, ready to be used.

The card below was printed in a previous Stamper' Sampler magazine for their challenge to use these price labels. I used a sticky note as a mask around the squares to stamp on them individually. All the stamps used on this card are from Oxford Impressions.

And here is one more example...
The lady was stamped on a transparency and glued to the label sheet and the flower lines are rub-ons with some white gel pen dots.

If you are still reading this post and would like the blue card on top of this post, be the first to comment that you would like the card, and I will mail it to you. I will e-mail you for your address and off it will go to you. The beach beauty on that card is a copy from one of my vintage fashion magazines.

Elizabeth

Colors of Glass

2009-07-15T22:40:00.002-05:00

Here is another collection. I have quite a fondness for colored glass and for bottles.
Here are some of my pieces.

Any blue glass collection is not complete without the lovely "Evening in Paris" bottle.

these are just a few of the vintage clear bottles- not as pretty as colored, but certainly have their own appeal.

I also have a collection of colored wine glasses. These are just the blue and green ones. They do get used now and then on a pretty table. I like the mixed look of using different goblets at each place setting.

Thanks for letting me share them with you,

Elizabeth

HOOKS, EYES & LOOPS

2009-07-14T23:15:00.008-05:00

One of my favorite sewing ephemera is hook and eye cards. Just this week, when I purchased a bag of miscellaneous sewing stuff from a thrift shop, I realized that I had a collection of these cards. These cards are usually found in the "mystery'' sewing bag or box of stuff you might find at a thrift store or estate sale. At an estate sale this spring, in the basement on the floor was a cardboard box full of lots of sewing "stuff" with a sign that said $3.00 for the whole box. It was so big, I had to have help carrying it up the stairs. I did not even spend time checking out all that was in it. I mean, half the fun is getting home with such a treasure and checking out all the surprises in the box. You may also be so lucky, as to have your grandmother's sewing box, with many treasures. Well, anyway, I gathered up all these cards and discovered I had a nice variety.
These are my favorites and this one below is my most favorite. It is probably the oldest, just because the price of 4 cents is the lowest price of the lot.

I just love the way they are usually folded and have all those wonderful holes and strings attached. It is such a tactile item. Can't you just imagine years ago, the ladies carefully taking these out and sewing with them. The most common brand name by far is Clinton with the lovely bright navy and gold colors. Then there are DeLong, Boye, Newey's Imperial, Atlas, Alice, and Penimaid. If you have lots of vintage sewing stuff, maybe you want to look through your stash to see how many you have.

I probably want to keep my originals and make copies to use on projects. So I have made some copies above you may want to use in your artwork. Enjoy!

There are many other kinds of sewing ephemera besides these hook and eye cards. Buttons and button cards are every one's favorites, along with needle packages, snap cards, wooden thread spools, patterns, and buckles. Maybe you have a collection of some of these. I would love to hear about your favorite sewing collection.

Elizabeth

Ice Cream Social

2009-07-12T22:41:00.004-05:00

Carol and Elizabeth were having a perfectly lovely ice cream party with a couple of friends, when Elizabeth remarked that she had heard of a wondrous place where a Giant Ice Cream Sunday resided. So off they went to look for it. Never let it be said that they would be satisfied with a little ice cream when they could have a lot.

Here they are - having found the magical enormous ice cream.

"Wait, Elizabeth, what are you doing?"

"Hurry on up, Carol, this is yummy"

And so, our story ends, as Carol and Elizabeth enjoy endless spoonfuls of strawberry surprise, thinking not of the spoonfuls of Mylanta that may come later this evening.

If we cannot eat all the ice cream we want, how about paper ice cream cones. Then we can have as much as we want. These cones were stamped 3 times each. The bottom cone part was colored with watercolor pencils and the ice cream was stamped on patterned paper and glued to the original cone.

This is Elizabeth's grandson, Blakie, who is 20 months. I babysat him this past Saturday and we played in his backyard. Papa came over with homemade ice cream ( leftover from the 4th) and you can see that Blakie is very fond of ice cream. Oh, yeah!

"More, please"
It was nice that the hose and his little pool were handy for clean-up.

This is Carol's grandson enjoying an ice cream at Snookies in Des Moines. Looks yummy!

Hard to beat freckles and ice cream on a summer's day.

I think he would like to have one as big as the one in the corner.

This is the ice cream bowl and spoon that I gave my husband in 1986. From then on, everytime he had ice cream, he used this bowl and spoon.

Carol and Elizabeth

Thank you for coming to our ice cream social and please check out other parties found on .............

"Eye Candy Creations"

Life - Be Ready!

2009-07-11T00:40:00.002-05:00

Some cards that were made using 100 Proof Press stamps

Do you Believe?

2009-07-10T00:07:00.005-05:00

Wool Felt Needle Folder

2009-07-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

All of the sewing I've been doing for Silver Bella swaps, have necessitated a needle holder I can carry around, moving from one working place to another. I've got supplies all over the place and want to feel more organized. Anyway, I've seen so many cute little felt folders and wanted to make one for myself.

The cover for this project was an actual pocket from a wool jacket I cut apart and washed/felted.

I wanted to use it as is; so cut it off the jacket with pinking shears. Then, I hand stitched on all the other pieces--tiny pockets and pages.

I've customized it to have room for some little tools I use--a little needle threader, a seam ripper, pockets inside the front and back covers, and labels on the pages to help me remember exactly what type of needle to use.

More needle threaders....

Now, that's out of my system, it's forward to the actual sewing/embroidery.

Carol

Handcrafted Fantastic Foto Cards

2009-07-06T00:23:00.002-05:00

Some of my cards have shown up in this lovely magazine. When the magazine arrived I was quite surprised to see these cards inside. They originally appeared in the winter 2007 of Take Ten Magazine. "Handcrafted" magazine contains articles that have preciously appeared in another one of Stampington and Company's magazines. I have been very fortunate to have had articles in 3 Handcrafted issues due to previous cards and artwork in either Stampers' Sampler or Take Ten.

I submitted the card above to Stampers' Sampler. The editor called me and requested more cards of the same style ( cut-out kids with quotes) I quickly made more and submitted them. They were published in a 2007 Take Ten. I used to think I always needed smiling pictures of the grand kids, but I so loved this rather pouty picture of Alexa and when I found the quote in a favorite poem book, I knew they needed to go together. Alexa always did "stare'' a lot.

I love taking pictures of my grand kids and for 6 years I have been taking pictures like this- that I could cut out. The kids all know where the "picture" wall is and will go stand by it so that I can get the best shot without lots of "background" stuff that is difficult to cut out- especially around their hair and fingers.

Humor me while I show you close ups of these favorite cards of my grand kids. The picture in the magazine above of the cowboy is of Carol's precious grandson.

And finally two more - You can click on these for a closer look.

thanks so much for looking,
elizabeth