Spring Is Here........

Hey there girls..

I'm a bit late in getting around to acknowledging the arrival of Spring, but I'm here now.  I guess beings the weather has been so wonderful here in Minnesota, it had felt like Spring for so long that it's hard to believe it didn't officially arrive till this week.

I haven't been up to much lately so haven't had much to share.  I just realized though that I never showed that third item that I had earlier told I would show you.  It was another crafty thing I made for a girlfriend of mine of her birthday.

In addition to the altered spool and altered bingo card I made for her, I also made this little altered birdhouse for her.

I used some newer scrapbook papers in the prettiest and shabbiest of colors and I think it turned out very sweet.  And, my friend loved it, so I was very happy about that.

I'll definately be making more of these in the future.  I'll create a little town full of charming little birdhouses.

Well, time for me to head off to work.  I'll be back again soon so show you the latest projects I've been working on.  Just waiting for the sunshine to return so I can get some decent pictures.

Until then, enjoy your days!!

Pretty Trims And A Big Mess....

Hey there girls..

The weekend is upon us and I am so glad.  It's going to be a gorgeous day here in the Minneapolis area with sunny skies and temps around 60 degrees.  Crazy for mid-March for sure, but I am definitely not going to complain about this kind of weather.

Something else that is gorgeous is my vintage sewing box drawer full of pretty trims that I've been collecting to use in my crafting projects.   Aren't they pretty?

While they may be, the reality of my crafting endeavors usually leaves my crafting table looking like this..

I should be embarrassed to show this picture, but I think all of you crafters out there probably live with the same kind of mess so I'm not going to feel guilty over it.  One has to make a mess to create something pretty.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the day, hopefully with a stop at Archiver's scrapbook store to check and see if they may have any pretty new scrapbooking papers just waiting for me to bring them home to add to my mess of crafting stuff.

See you soon!!

My New Rubber Dress Form Stamp...

Hi Girls..

I recently added another beautiful dress form rubber stamp to my collection.  I just couldn't pass this one up.

I purchased this from Cerri who has one of the best online shops for crafters like me who are looking for scrappy kind of stuff.  Please check out Cerri's shop The Litte Pink Studio  to see all of the wonderful goodies she has for sale. 

I have to say, I've become a frequent shopper at The Little Pink Studio shop.  You won't be disappointed with the products or with the quick service that Cerri provides. 

More Altered Spools..

Hi Girls..

I'm back today to share with you a few more of the altered wooden spools I recently made.   These are such a simple thing to make that you all should give it a try..

All you need to start with is some of these unfinished wooden spools that you can purchase at JoAnne's craft store.  Michael's may also have them as well.

Then just paint them whatever color you choose using some inexpensive craft paint and a sponge brush and then modge podge some pretty scrapbook papers to them and add some embellishments and turn them into something like this..

With all the pretty scrapbook papers and paint colors to choose from, the possibilities are endless.

From shabby...

 

To not quite so shabby...

The best thing is, you can customize each one to fit your taste just perfectly..

Give them a try and see what you can come up with.

See you again soon!!

I've Got To Quit Hoarding All Of My Creations...

Yep... That's what I've told myself and I've come to the conclusion that it's time to start giving some of them away so that others can enjoy them to.  I just have to stop keeping them all for myself.

Three of my recent creations have recently been given to a friend of mine for her birthday.  Sweet and simple handmade gifts for her on her special day.

Someone asked me once in one of my older posts how I planned on using these vintage Bingo cards that I purchased at last Falls Junk Bonanza in my crafting projects. 

Well, here's one way I've used one of them.  I used it to make a sweet collage for my friend using a pretty image of a Victorian lady and other odds and ends.  The vintage game card letter "Y" that I used just happens to be the first initial of my friends name. 

I chose to use the floral scrapbook paper behind the image to coordinate with a new altered wooden spool that I also made for her.

I also tried to keep the color theme the same in both items so they have a coordinated look if my friend chooses to display them together.

These are just two of the three items I made for her and I hope she likes them just as much as I do. The third item wasn't finished quite yet when I was taking pictures so you'll have to wait for another time to see that one.

Next time, I'll share a few more of the altered spools that I made with you.  Be sure and come back to see those..

What I've Been Up To....

Hey there girls...

I've returned once again from the land of the lost where I've been busy creating away.  Boy, when that crafting bug takes hold, it doesn't want to let go..

I've got lots of goodies to show and I'll be breaking it up into a few separate posts so as not to bore you too much all at once.

First up is a couple more of my altered chipboard wall hangings.  You'll see that I took a bit of a leap on these two and threw some browns into my creation, something I haven't done very much of in the past.

The next wall hanging also has some brown scraps added to it as well..

I'm not sure if all you other crafters out there are like me, but I tend to keep even the smallest pieces of scrap paper as long as they are still usable and can be worked into later crafting projects.  I just hate to throw anything away when I think it may be used sometime down the road.  Besides, that scrapbook paper isn't always cheap and I want to make sure I use as much of it as I can to get my monies worth out of it.

I keep the larger scraps in a pretty floral paper covered box I purchased at Home Goods about 2 years ago.  You can find similar ones at Michael's.  They work great for keeping all those bits of paper in a somewhat organized manner.

The smaller scraps I keep handy in this vintage  covered powder container.  I just love the pale yellow color of this and the embellished knob..

  

Well, that's all for today.  I'll be back again soon to share some more of my creations with you.

See you soon!!

What Blogging Has Caused Me To Want....

Hi Girls..

Has blogging made you want things you never would have even thought about wanting before?

Well, it sure has for me and luckily for me, I was able to satisfy one of those wants with an item I found at last years Junk Bonanza show here in the Minneapolis area.  I've shared it with you before, but I'm gonna share it here with you again today.

I had been seeing vintage doll heads all over blogland and fell in love with their sweet charm so had been on the hunt for some time for one or two of my own.  So imagine my delight when I found this lovely doll head sitting on a shelf in a dealers booth at last falls Junk Bonanza just waiting for me to bring it home.

It was the best find of the day for me and I love it so much even with all of its chippy faults.  It puts a smile on my face all the time.

And hopefully it will put a smile on yours today too..

See you again soon.

Stuff In My Craft Room...

Just some of the stuff in my craft room..

And I think that maybe I should get in there and play with some of that stuff this weekend.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Have a great weekend everyone !!

Crafting With A Heart....

Well hey there girls..  It's me.. The total blog slacker who lately just can't seem to get her act together enough to put up a new blog post more than once a week. 

I made it back today though to show off a few more of my altered chipboard hearts that I finished over the weekend. 

Is it OK if I brag just a little bit and say that I think they turned out pretty darned good??

  

Two hearts are better than one don't you think???

And on to something totally unrelated, how cute are these little clothespins that I found in $1.50 bins at Michael's craft store?

They are just part of the wonderful collection of Rachel Ashwell Simply Shabby Chic stationary items that you can find at your local Michael's store.  They have the best stuff there sometimes and being the shabby chic loving kind of gal I am, I simply adore all the pretty notebook pads, pens, clothespins. etc that I've been lucky enough to find there lately.  And oh my goodness, lets not even get me started on the aisle with all the new fabulous springtime pinkalishous french inspired girly girl seasonal decor.  A girly girls paradise.

Until next time...