Paper Dolls

Do you remember playing with paper dolls as a child? I loved the Betsy McCall dolls that used to come inside my mother's McCall's Magazine (no longer in publication). I would play with them for hours and even added to Betsy's wardobe by designing my own clothes for her out of leftover paper scraps. Later after my daughter was born, Mary Englebreight began publishing her Home Companion Magazine (also no longer in publication...hmmm) and including her Anne Estelle and friends paper dolls in the back and boy, did that bring back fond memories for me.

Lately, I've started playing with paper dolls once again and have been working on these little dolls for a swap in my Marie Antoinette Art Group. They were so much fun to make. I found the chipboard base for the paper dolls at the dollar store and painted over the entire doll to make them more "Marie-ish looking" Then I added lots of pretty papers, glitter, jewels, layers of tulle and crepe paper, etc to create the three different looks. Sent them off in the mail yesterday. Can't wait to see what I get back in return!

I have had a headache for the past two days straight. I think it is either the rainy weather or allergies that is causing it. It is always surprising to me how much a headache (or any pain for that matter) can slow you down. Yesterday I felt a little nauseous and I panicked, thinking I was getting that awful flu that's been on the news. But today it is just my head that's bothering me so I am grateful for that. Better go pop some Excedrine for migraines before the pain gets any worse, although I should have done that yesterday. Hopefully it is not too late now to get the pain to go away.

Home

Remember this from an earlier post? Well, I can finally reveal the project. I had to wait until the Lolli Shops ad came out in the June issue of Romantic Homes magazine. If you like it, it's available for purchase here.
Also, I've been working on an update for my Etsy Shop which I'm planning for later this week. I'll keep you posted on the particulars right here.

I was honored to receive this sweet award from two of my blogging friends. Connie at Constantly Vintage and Natalea at Kandeland. All you have to do is post a list of "7 things you love" and then pass the award onto 7 other blogs you love and leave them a comment telling them about it. Easy-peasy, right? Here's my list of 7 loves:

1. Family & Friends

2. Birdies

3. Vintage Papers of All Kinds

4. Old rhinestone jewelry

5. Glitter

6. Tiramisu

7. Springtime

Now the hard part.....choosing 7 people to pass this award on to. As you all know, there are SO many to choose from! I think I'll put a bunch of names in a hat and randomly draw 7 of them. And here they are:

My Faerie Window, Maija, Treats & Treasures, A Thing For Roses, Random Things, Scrapologie, Make Everyday Magic

Marie Antoinette Swap

I'm off to the post office to mail this collage out to my swap partner Maija. I hope she likes it!

Lollishop News

I just received the May/June issue of Somerset Studio magazine and look what I found on the last page!

And there's another ad in the latest issue of Where Women Create, although I haven't seen that one on the newstands around here yet.

Both of these collages are available in My Lollishop right now!

Have a great day!

Crafting:Needle Felting

It seems like everywhere you look people are falling in love with needle felting. I first was introduced to this lovely craft when I purchased this felted cupcake from Betz White at the very first Country Living Fair held in Illinois three years ago.

And this felted fall purse by another artist at another craft fair.

Then there is Julie Collings, whose sweet and simple felting projects make you want one of everything she makes. You can find my favorite books on this craft here and here and here.

So I thought I should try it out for myself and decided to make these little felted charms. They are easy and fun to make in the evening while watching TV. Just be careful you don't stab yourself with the felting needle when you're watching your favorite show!

When I was done, I attached the charms along with some wire-wrapped beads to a chain to make this necklace. I think I'm going to make a charm bracelet next.

52Q - Weeks 13 & 14

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We had some lovely, sunny weather here for the Easter weekend. But easy come-easy go because it's cold, wet and dreary again. Will spring ever get here? I'm really beginning to wonder now.
Thought I would spend the icky weather playing catch-up with my 52Q tag journal. This is week 13.

Yikes! Don't look too closely at that awful hair-do pictured above.

And here is week 14. I used some Amy Butler paper on both of these tags. I like her designs as they have a fresh modern feel.

What is the last good book YOU have read?

Easter Greetings

Have a wonderful day!

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!

Spring Banner

Recently I participated in the "One String At A Time" banner swap that Kari hosted on her A Year of Color Blog. My partner was Susie (who doesn't yet have a blog) and through emailing back and forth we discovered that we both like the same colors and vintage-looking things. (Isn't it fun when that happens?) Susie just wrote and told me she just received the banner I made her, so it is now safe to post a picture of it for you all to see. As soon as my banner arrives from her, I'll share that with you too. Happy Spring! (Our blanket of snow that fell on Saturday night should be all gone by tomorrow when the temperature is supposed to go up to 54 degrees ~ woo-hoo!)

Etsy Treasury

Another Treasury on Etsy put together by Daffy at abbasgirl. Daffy you're a sweetheart for including me in this celebration of "pinkness." You can click on all these Cottage Style Street Team links here.

Speaking of Etsy, these French Laundry Hangers have been hard to find lately. So if you need any, I just listed some in my Etsy Shop.

Easter Egg Hunt

Vivian hosted a fun little swap called Easter Egg Hunt Swap where we each made two eggs and sent them out anonymously. So today, we are all posting pics of the eggs we made and the eggs we received and everyone goes blog-hopping to find out who made all the eggs.
I made two of these eggs to send out:

The eggs are paper mache and I covered them with paint, rick-rack trim, text from a vintage book, flocked paper, seam binding, and lots and lots of glitter.

Inside, the eggs were filled with ultra fine easter grass and a tiny fluffy chick wearing a vintage paper crown.

I hope whoever received my eggs liked them!

In return, I received this happy little acrylic egg filled with a vintage Easter bunny image accompanied by a couple of sweet little tags from Mystery Artist #1:

And Mystery Artist #2 sent this adorable half-egg, covered in sheet music and beaded hanger, filled with Miss Chickie all decked out in her Easter finery. Looks like she's on her way to the Easter Parade!

And included in the box was this darling little collage and glittery bunny....don't you love them both?

So now I'm off to "hunt" for eggs. All the links will be posted on Viv's blog so you can join in on the fun too! Happy Hunting!

Odds & Ends Saturday

I just listed this little collaged Springtime Birdy in my Etsy Shop.

This is a sneek peek of a little something I made for Susie for a swap hosted by Artsymama - I'll reveal the entire project next week.

My new issue of Kraft Food & Family magazine arrived this week and I tried out the recipe for "Creamy Pasta" on page 8. Did you know you can get a quarterly subscription to Food & Family for Free?

Easter Favors

Here's my easy-peasy Easter favors for this year. Everything was bought at Hobby Lobby....with the exception of the little chick and "Happy Spring" ribbon, which I got at Michael's.

You will find all the supplies in the Easter decor aisle. If it's not there in your store, then look in the cake and candy making aisle. The chocolate egss were made using an egg shapped candy mold and dark chocolate candy melts. I did make some of mine with a peanut butter filling - totally not necessary, unless you love peanut butter cups like I do. (And if you do, they have a peanut butter cup shaped mold as well!) Melt the chocolate in the microwave, pour it into the molds and refrigerate just until set and ta-da. . .chocolate candy eggs! You could put Mr. Easter Bunny right out of business it's so easy! After they are cooled, wrap each egg in a candy foil, place in a paper candy paper and set three eggs into a 1/4 lb candy box filled with Easter Grass.
Cut a scalloped oval out of pretty paper and attach to the top of the box. Tie with Easter ribbon and add a cute little Easter chick on top and you are ready to fill up those Easter baskets!

Here is my Week 11 addition to my 52Q tag journal ~ What are you grateful for right now? I tried out Tim Holtz's Distress Crackle Paint in Tattered Rose for the base color. I don't usually have very goof luck with crackle paints, but this one-step, one-coat type worked very well.

Yesterday's winter wonderland is slowly disappearing. Even though I am completely ready for Spring-like weather to arrive, I must admit our picture postcard scene was beautiful. Even our kitty Midnight, who is definitely NOT an outdoor cat, couldn't resist venturing outside to check out the snow.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like. . . Christmas?

This is the scene from our back door this morning! Crazy, huh? And just when the tulips were beginning to push their way up from the soil. This is the way it is living in the Midwest, but it's never easy to get used to these little surprises. I think we can safely say that March is certainly going "out like a lion" around here! Surely it must be springtime somewhere!