The Girls

Here's a collage I made a little while ago which was inspired by my mother and her two sisters. I remember my grandpa always saying he was so fortunate to have three beautiful girls. Most men want to have a son to carry on the family name. Come to think of it, years ago when we were expecting our only child, my husband told me he was secretly hoping we would have a girl. And lucky for us that's exactly what we had! {Vintage image from Lisa's Altered Art and some of the background papers are from Cathe Holden.}

Rainy Day

It's been crummy here the past few days. Rain, rain, go away! I really shouldn't complain, as the plants and grass have needed some rain for a long time. But it always makes everything seem so gloomy and I seem to move a little slower too. So I decided to whip up a few of these cheery goodies to brighten things up around here.

I just listed them in my shop. They are fun to use to embellish your needlework or scrapbook pages or whatever your imagination can think of. 

I also added a few more of these popular hangers to the shop too.

Watch for my Halloween update in the shop coming soon!

After reading this post, I just had to try French Press coffee for myself. I can't tell you how different (and oh, so much better) it is from regular drip brewed coffee. I am totally hooked! Hope your day is sunny and bright wherever you are!

Swap Arrival!

In the previous post I told you about the swap I was in - One String At A Time. I showed you the banner I made and..... guess what? My partner, Susie's banner arrived yesterday! Yipee!!! Don't you love it? I can keep it out all year. RIght now it's hanging from the plate rack in my dining room.

Here's a close up of the detail. On one side she used a variety of pink buttons...all different ones. These are a few of my favorites.

The garland is held together by this crocheted string of little flowers. I think she made them. I'd love to learn how to do this. Does anyone have any instructions they want to share?

But until I can figure out how to do it myself, Susie sent me this darling card with some of my own to play with! Thank you so much Susie...you're a doll!

Saturday @ 3

I'm spending the afternoon working on a special project for a friend. I cleaned off my work table in the morning and now it is completely covered again! The good news is the supplies that are out right now are only from ONE project and not layers of stuff from a bunch of projects like is usually the case! Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

Look What I Got!!!!!

When I got home from work today, I found those most GIGANTIC box by my front door. I couldn't remember ordering anything that large, but when I got closer I discovered it was from my Junque in my Trunk swap partner Angelina of Angelina's Beautiful Cards. Still in awe of the size of the parcel, I couldn't wait to rip it open to see what was inside. And when I did, I found the most beautiful rose covered suitcase filled with A TON of goodies. I couldn't believe my eyes! Everything is so beautiful and perfectly suited to my taste. Angelina really took a great deal of effort to select such lovely items for me. How lucky am I to have had her as my swap partner? Thank you so much Angelina for such a wonderful gift. I can't wait to dig in and start using it all.

Angelina doesn't know this, but I have two smaller suitcases like the large suitcase she gave me. Now I have a complete set of stacked rose covered luggage to store my collage supplies in.

Saturday is my 2 year Blog Anniversary so I think it's only fitting to have a little GIVEAWAY to celebrate. Be sure to check back here for all the details!

Button, Button - Who's Got The Button?

I used to play that "Button-Button" game when I spent the night at my grandmother's house. She had a large candy tin that she used to keep all of her buttons in. I loved looking through that button box and so is it any wonder that I am still attracted to them today?

Analise (Sugar-Sugar) is having a Virtual Button Swap Party today. Well, actually it was yesterday, but I didn't pay very good attention to the date when she told me about it. No matter though, because you can still check it out by clicking right here. She has the most beautiful pics of colored buttons, plus she has a ton of links to look at other blogger's buttons. Fun, huh?


My favorite (and most used) combination of colored buttons are the ones pictured below. There is something about how they look together that pleases me. Below are some vintage carded buttons that I look for when I go to the flea market or antique mall. I love the illustrations on the cards as much as the buttons themselves. These are some of my Lucky Lady's. . .
And some sweet pale blue buttons. . .
And I call these my Bluebird Button Cards. . .
And my favorite greenish-blue Vogue buttons along with some lovely rose colored buttons. . .
These teeny-tiny buttons were from sweaters and clothing that I wore when I was a baby. My mother always clipped off the buttons and saved them. And I'm glad she did!
I know I said I use those pink, blue and green buttons, at the beginning of this post the most. But I forgot about my collection of white buttons. Maybe I use these the most? Hmmm...it's a toss up, I guess. But I always have a large jar-full of white buttons, including mother-of pearl buttons, on hand. Sometimes you just need a touch of that pristine white or creamy or pearly white to accent something you are creating. I'm sure you know what I mean! And finally, this is my bin of clear buttons. Clear buttons are the greatest (especially flat ones) because they allow whatever is underneath to show through. You can make some neat embellished buttons to go with whatever you are creating, just by gluing the clear button down on a piece of decorative paper or fabric with Diamond Glaze. Let it dry and then trim around the edge and you end up with something like the French text button in the box below. Try it - it's fun!
So those are my buttons! I hope you enjoyed seeing them. If you have time, go read my previous post because I am having giveaway drawing tomorrow night for a darling illustrated cookbook. You must leave a comment on this post to enter.