In My Mail Recently...Tinkered Treasures, Toms and World Market

It's been a long time since I've posted (again!) but I wanted to share some things that have come in the mail over the past 2 months.

I have written several times about my blogging friend Elyse Major.

She has a delightful blog and Etsy store both named Tinkered Treasures.

She has had numerous magazine articles published in Romantic Homes, French Country Homes, 

Flea Market Decor and Cottages & Bungalows, just to name a few.

Elyse is a tinkerer. 

After selling her creations on Etsy for a number of years, she decided to write a book...a cuter than cute book with....well, uh, tinkered treasures! Easy to do projects with very clear, illustrated instructions. Charming, totally charming! As soon as it was available to pre-reserve a copy at Amazon, I did so. In March, I received my copy. This is the book and some of the treasures I have received from Elyse over the years.

There are instructions for these and many more (35 in all) projects in the book. 

These are the only peeks I can show you right now...but trust me, this book is lots of fun. I don't think it's available at Barnes & Noble but you can find it at Amazon or in Elyse's Etsy store.

Another item that showed up in my mail are these adorable shoes from Toms Shoes.

Do you know about Toms shoes? For every pair of shoes purchased from their company, they will give a new pair of shoes to a child in one of 50 countries. That's a pretty neat policy. The link to the classic shoes is here, but I don't see the pair I ordered...maybe they sold out. It wouldn't surprise me. They are beautiful! Anyway, I have to thank my friend Heidi for pinning a picture of these shoes on Pinterest. I couldn't fly over to Toms website fast enough. What do you think? Now I just have to find some protective spray for them so they don't get dirty.

Another friend posted a picture of a French glass drying rack on Facebook and I fell in love with it. The only problem was that it was very large and very expensive...Pottery Barn maybe. My dear friend Marie pointed me toward World Market where they have a smaller version for EEK! $14.99. When I went to order it, I was given a 15% discount because it was my first order. Can't beat that! (You can find it here)

Thanks Heidi and Marie for your enabling  advice and guidance!

Now I've passed it on to you, my readers.

XOXO

joyce

512 Lake Street Spoolie Swap...do you know what a Spoolie is?

I'm late with my post about the swap that was hosted by sweet Sandy of

512 Lake Street.  This was an Easter/Spring Spoolie Swap and I was lucky enough to be partnered with 

Carolynn of Chenille Cottage. Carolynn is a super talented lady who does many things well.

We were to create a "Spoolie" for our partner and then include some other treats that we thought our partner might enjoy. 

A spoolie is an art piece composed on top of a spool of some type (sewing thread or ribbon spools being the most popular) This was an interesting challenge but a fun project to execute.

For my spoolie I used a vintage spool of cotton sewing thread that was in my ancient sewing box and probably belonged to my Mother.

I attached the wooden spool to a vintage Jell-O mold for height. A strip of patterned paper was wound around the spool and at its base, some crepe paper fringe.

I printed and cut an image of a little girl and her duck and mounted her atop the spool. I cut a second identical image and made the figure dimensional.

I die cut a sun circle to back her with and then attached little yellow roses around her feet.

For the rest of the treats, I decorated a small red polka dotted notebook with sewing theme images, 

some fun straws and cupcake papers (Carolynn really loves red)

A chicken (or it might be a rooster) from a collection that my Mother had. (At this point it would be considered vintage I think as my Mom has been gone  34 years)

 a small Easter banner and 2 polka dotted egg cups...

and as always, I include some yummy local chocolate...

Everything ready for wrapping...

and after the wrapping...

NOW for the wonderful gifts I received from Carolynn in return...

An adorable spoolie made with a felted chick!!! (Carolynn said this was her first attempt  but it looks so perfect it's hard to believe)

I had to show all the views of this cutie...even the face has personality. Love the party hat!
This is the beautiful fabric covered box she came in...

Now if the felted chick wasn't enough, how about some felted eggs...in a cute little egg box!

You did notice that the eggs are polka dotted....we're both polka dot lovers!

One of Carolynn's many talents is sewing. She made coasters...

and a darling banner using Easter fabric

and then the chocolate....

This was a super fun swap and I truly feel blessed to have made a new friend!
Thank you Carolynn, for all of your wonderful gifts to me and
thanks to Sandy for hosting this swap.

xoxo
Joyce

Forced Blog Break

There is something wrong with my main computer.

We have a laptop, iPad and Kindle but

all of my photos and creative "stuff" is on that main computer.

I am very annoyed by this fact but I sure can't correct it....my 

brain is not techno oriented.

I was going to call a friend to help me but his wife wrote on Facebook

today that they are both sick.

I hope I can straightened out soon....

I received the most awesome swap package that I want you to see from Carolynn of

Chenille Cottage, who was my partner in Sandy's Easter Swap.

I hope that I'm operational soon!

I love my iPad but it's just not the same.

XOXO

Joyce

Before I get to Easter...backtracking a bit

Before I get into Easter decorating, I need to backtrack just a bit to catch up on this year.

Because of illness and injury, Valentine's Day was postponed this year until David came home from the hospital. I decorated the mantel but took no pictures. The only crafting I did were the 2 cards I made for him. (yes, he is "handmade card worthy" because he really does appreciate the effort and besides, they will always be here)

There are many people who sell vintage photos on Etsy and I've used several but I found a new person this year whose work I just love!! Miss Ali's Emporium Digital Images found here. Her images, some of them softly colored, are among the sweetest I've seen. I purchased 4 of her images and when I printed them out, I fell in love again. David loves cards made with images of little children and I knew this would be the perfect image to use on an art board for him...

The little red metal mailbox held some sugar-free chocolate treats and a gift card.

(For my friend Sims-I used some of the handmade lace you gave me...it was a lovely addition)
I also made a card for David using some images from friends...
Julie at Old Design Shop has a wonderful Etsy store selling great vintage images here,
I used her seed packet images for an banner last year.

Julie is also a very generous woman, often sharing free images. As soon as I saw the floor plan images, I knew I had to use them for something. You can find the images on this post.
Now I know the cute couple either came from Elizabeth of Creative Breathing or Renee of My Vintage Mending but I don't remember which one. They seemed to fit with the time-frame of the floor plans.

inside the card...

These cards will be added to the collection of Valentines I have made for my sweetie over the years..

One more thing to show you that just happened yesterday. I showed photos of the beautiful table runner I won in a giveaway from Donna of Brynwood Needleworks. I knew I wanted to hang it and I knew where I wanted to hang it, it was a matter of figuring out how to hang it. I went to Joann's and bought a $ .99 length of 1/2" dowel and a package of ball end caps. (The kind used for clothespin doll heads) I also bought 1/2' drapery rings which were on sale for 50% off. I came home and David cut the dowel and painted it and the ball caps in the same blue as our dining room. We (WE meaning David) just hung it up using nails to support the dowel rod. It hangs on a narrow strip of wall as you enter the kitchen. The project came out just I had imagined it.  Thanks sweetie!

OK, that's all for right now. See what happens when you don't blog often? You end up with a post that takes 2 cups of coffee to read. Yikes!

xoxo
Joyce

Thank you and.....I WON!

First and most importantly, I want to thank you for all of your prayers, words of support and comments and emails during this past month. David & I have read every one and we both appreciate your words. I am happy to report that David is doing quite nicely with his physical therapy. He has gentle exercises that he does every day and  twice a week his Physical Therapist comes to the house and works with him. He has graduated to using a cane most of the time. She advised using the walker if he was around a lot of people, like at the Mall, and since David would rather have a root canal without anesthetic than go to the Mall, he is pretty much walker free. This has been a challenging Winter for both of us this year and we are looking forward to Spring and the promise of renewed health and strength. OK-so much for that personal update.

On a much happier and exciting note...I have won the most fabulous giveaway!!!

Back in January, I saw a giveaway on a blog that I've followed for a long time, Brynwood Needleworks.

Donna Liljegren is a quilter and knitter and at one time owned her own cross stitch business. She must never sleep because she is always working on one project or another. Anyway, she posted a picture of a quilt block she made using the Dresden plate design and a Michelle Palmer hand-drawn cardinal in the center. I love quilts and I love Michelle Palmer's work (I own and have given many pieces) so I decided to take a chance. I still have the picture and link on my right sidebar. The prize was (and there were to be 3 winners) a quilt block made into (winner's choice) a tote bag, pillow or table runner. I decided on a table runner so that I could hang it on the wall. I have quilts hanging in many of the rooms of our home..I think they are true art pieces and should be seen.

On Friday evening, February 15, I came home from the hospital exhausted and worried about David and what he was going through. When I finally got a chance to sit down and read my emails, there was one from Donna telling me I was one of the winners. I cried...this was a bright spot in an otherwise murky time.

Yesterday the mailman knocked on the door and delivered the package. When I opened the box and pulled out the package, neatly wrapped in tissue and tied with seam binding, my heart skipped a beat.

 

My pictures do not do justice to the colors in this beautiful piece. They are all  the colors that I love. (I have many more photos but Blogger is not cooperating today...why can I upload some but not all that I choose?) I think the hardest part of quilting is the fabric...choosing which ones to blend together. Donna is a Master of color. The freeform quilting enhances the piecing. The whole thing is gorgeous! Yes, this goes on the wall.

This photo is from Donna's blog. I couldn't get the whole runner in my picture without losing something but here, you can see both runners and the tote bag. Click here to go to Donna's post. Please take some time and visit Donna's blog and see the beauty there. If you're not a quilter, maybe you're a dog lover....you can meet Taggart, Donna's Corgi.

Now if you're a quilter and a Corgi lover...you will spend lots of time at Brynwood Needleworks. I know someone who will love Donna's blog for sure. (This photo is also borrowed from Donna's blog)

Blessings abound even in the midst of chaos. I am truly grateful.

Thank you Donna, for bringing this joy into our home. I will cherish it always!

OK-I promise not to be a once a month blogger....even though it has looked that way so far!

I have lots more to share with you...soon, I promise!

xoxo

Joyce