The Craft Show is Over.....

For three years, I hosted a Holiday Boutique in my home. It was usually held in October so that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas things could be included in the sale. Each year I would invite friends to participate and we would use the entire first floor (living room, dining room, family room, kitchen and entry) to display our art. Some of the artists changed over the years but there were always at least 4 of us participating. I thought that this year we might have to rent a space to hold the boutique. Several other friends expressed a desire to be a part of the event and I knew our house could only hold so much. As we started to move closer to Fall, two of the crafters, one who had been with me since the beginning, felt overwhelmed with other things taking up a lot of time in their lives and asked to be excluded. Maybe the time had come to let it go for a year. I decided not to have it my home, but instead, to share a table with my good friend Bethanie at a local church's Craft Show. It was a good idea for this year. It gave me a break from having to whip my house into shape, print invitations, make sure I had cookies and coffee or cider for the shoppers and then put the house back together, in addition to getting all of my things made for the sale.

The church, where the show was held, did a wonderful job of advertising the show in the community. We were told that 550 people visited on Saturday. The crafters were given free snacks all day and the committee at the church had everything very well organized. We were allowed to come in at 7:00 AM to set up. The show was open to the public from 9-2 (which was perfect-any longer and I would have passed out from exhaustion!) As I said, Bethanie & I shared a table and another good friend, Mimi, and her mom, Joni shared a table right next to us. The tables were all dressed in red tablecloths and Mimi and I also brought quilts for our tables. Joni is a quilter and she made beautiful handbags and jackets, baby quilts and cute pillowcases. Mimi had a lovely assortment of her soldered charms and her baby scrapbooks, cards and art boards. (I'm sure Mimi will be posting pictures on her blog, too) Bethanie and I are paper people. She had vintagestyle cards, flash card banners and beautiful gift sets for baby with decorated and filled suitcases of goodies. She also had magnetic notepads.

My big project is a set of cards called "The Girls". There are 7 cards (and envelopes) in the set and they are the kind of cards that women send to each other for no particular reason except to laugh. I happen to think everyone must laugh every day to keep their sanity. Anyhoo, the cards are done up in an acrylic box with a fancy label. Many people bought the cards with the intention of giving the set as a gift.I had them displayed in a basket and had samples of each of the cards so people could read them before they bought them. My happiest moment is when someone picks up a card to read it and starts laughing. Then I know I've succeeded in my goal!

These are the cards from this year's set.

Are you curious about what they say inside? I'll tell you at the end of this post. (I made 17 sets of cards with 7 cards each....paper pieced and decorated. You can do the math, it makes my head hurt)

I also had small decorated journals and collaged canvas art boards. The boards are one of my favorite things to do. I use vintage images of postcards or other pictures, ribbon, buttons, sheet music and whatever I can find in my vast collection of "stuff".

The journals are purchased inexpensively and then I decorate them with bits of music, scrapbook paper, vintage images or embossed dies and tie them in ribbon. We can never have too many journals to throw in our purse, right?

I even made new business cards. They have my blog address on them so I knew I better get blogging again.Also on our table, were some hand-sewn felt items made by my neice Wendi, who lives in New Jersey. I will show you pictures of her work in my next post and also some other things she has made. She is an exceptional woman!

Now for the phrases on the insides of the cards....

1. I'm not perfect............but I'm so close it's eerie!

2. Just how many Healthy Choice cookies can I eat before it's no longer a healthy choice?

3. Mid-life is when we no longer have upper arms...we have wing spans and look like flying squirrels in drag.

4. Girlfriends.......who else can we be ourselves with?

5. Elanore & Ruth were always a hit at the church choir picnic....they brought their Mixed Berry & Beefeater Jell-O Mold. There's always room for Jell-O.

6. I used to think I was indecisive.......now I'm not so sure!

7. My idea of housework.....is to sweep the room with a glance.

That's it for now. Did you laugh? Or at least smile? Good! That's my goal!

My fingers are aching and I'm sure you're tired of reading if you've even made it this far! I will post more very soon.

I will leave you with this because I always leave you with this....Charlie the dragon on Halloween!

And Papa (David) got to be there to see him. I was home doing the final crafting for the show! In less than two weeks we will be in Maryland for his First Birthday! Where did that year go?

Where have I been?

I have been swamped for the past several weeks working on projects with definite deadlines. I wish I could do frequent posts while I'm working on other projects but I haven't been able to squeeze everything in.

Before I show you what has been occupying my time, I want to mention that the beautiful paper-pieced picture shown in my last post, made by Elizabeth (based on a vintage postcard in my collection), is now in my possession. I was so touched when she wrote that she was inspired by seeing the postcard on my blog and created her depiction of the image. When it came to me in the mail.....I was a screaming banshee!!!!!! You cannot see in any picture the fine detail in this piece. When you hold it in your hands, you notice immediately that this was not done with punches and dies. It is all cut and trimmed by hand. I need to get just the right frame for it and then it will be displayed in my craft room. I love it! Thank you again Elizabeth. Go to her blog and view her Flickr pictures and you will be in awe of the art that she creates...and, she is a gifted writer as well.

On to the projects! I was asked to make a framed layout using a wedding invitation. This would be given to the bride and groom by a friend who was in the wedding party. I've only done a few of these but I agreed to take the assignment. When I was given the invitation, I was surprised that it was black. I had never seen a black wedding invitation before . This project was a challenge to find just the right paper and embellishment as to not take away from the drama of the invitation itself. I agonized over it for weeks and finally decided on this.

I hope the bridal couple is pleased.

I also put two gift baskets together for my former employer to be used as prizes for two local schools at fundraisers.
Gift bags for a wedding tea.
While working on the previous projects, I have also been amassing items for 2 one-on-one swaps with blogging friends. The first one is with Marie ,who I have come to discover, shares many common interests with me. She asked that we do a swap based on what we know about each other. This was so much fun! I received my package from Marie on Friday and am enjoying everything she sent. Everything from vintage cotton gloves to a darling jar of buttons, a sweet bear in a lace collar, a fat white birdie, one of Marie's lovely ATC cards and many other goodies, was packed in a shabby chic white wire basket. I took a picture of the basket before I dismantled it so you could see how cute it looked. Thank you Marie for choosing just the right items that I will treasure for a long time. Here's a peek at the packages I sent to Marie.
The other swap is with Viv. We too, share some common interests and she makes the most beautiful cards and layouts. Viv is on the Design Team for Crafty Secrets, a company whose products I love!!!

On November 1st, three other friends and I are participating in a Craft Show at a local church. That's 2 weeks away friends, and I hardly have anything made yet. YIKES!!! I'll try to post pictures of some things as I get them made but I have to really put my nose to the grindstone. (boy, that phrase shows my age!!)
Have a good week!

I haven't gotten any new pictures of Charlie in a few weeks so today, I will leave you with a picture of my husband's "other" girl.....Edith! She comes when he calls and he's so well trained he immediately gives her what she wants...peanuts!!!!

What a sweet surprise!

We all do it. You're reading someone's blog and they show a fabulous picture from someone else's blog and you click on that link and before you know it, it's 27 degrees of seperation from where you started, but you've stumbled on some really amazing bloggers. That happened to me (for the 100th time) last week. I was on a blog and that blogger was showing things that Elizabeth, at Creative Breathing, had made. They were so cute, so I went to Elizabeth's blog and from there to her Flickr site. What a treat to see the art that Elizabeth creates. Small pieces, for the most part, intricately detailed and flawlessly executed. I've sent her two messages begging her to sell her things somewhere. I guess all the begging sent her to my blog (to see if I was some kind of crazed lunatic) and my Flickr site where she found the following.

A while ago I posted a picture of a vintage postcard I purchased on one of my excursions with my firend, Mimi. This is the postcard.

The postcard is cute enough but now look and see the paper piecing that Elizabeth did. Isn't it lovely? Take some time to skip over and check out Elizabeth's blog and the pictures on her Flickr site. It will be like a little breath of fresh air today. And you might find yourself a few degrees from here.

Enjoy your Friday!

Don't be confused....

I can't manage to get Part I of these posts to upload before Part II. Sorry about the confusion. Read them in whatever order you choose.

Artsy Autumn Swap-Part II

Here are the things I included in Susie's bag of goodies.Susie has named the crow Edgar-fitting, isn't it? I found him at Michael's and thought he needed some dressing up. I free-hand cut the crown from vintage sheet music and then pinned it on his head to hold it in place. A bow around his neck and he's ready for the Halloween party. The paper mache box was covered in papers from Melissa Frances and vintage sheet music (because I can't seem to make anything without it!) and embellished with a giant layered flower and a quote card from My Mind's Eye. It was filled with newspaper shreds using my super duper mini shredder from Target! I thought Susie might like a super-duper mini shredder of her own so she gets a pink one to match the journal I covered in Melissa Frances (flowered) and Making Memories (checkered) paper. I did the quote on the computer and the fairy girl is from Lisa's Altered Art (see my sidebar) Twill ribbon from Martha Stewart and diecut initials using Quickutz cookie cutter Cosmopolitan font finishes it off. Some of the other items were an altered mini notebook, a squirrely bag of acorns, socks, Halloween stamps and some copies of ephemera. Oh yes, those layered paper flower are made using the font I got from ScrapNfonts here. If you sign up for their free newsletter, you can get 3 free fonts.There are additional pictures on my flickr site here.



We are really missing Charlie and his parents! We haven't seen them since August....too long between visits. Charlie will be 11 months old this month and is growing like a weed and learning so many new "skills", as his Daddy likes to say. These pictures are from their vacation at Cape Hatteras in September. We love you kids-big kisses from Gram!

Artsy Autumn Swap Part I

The Artsy Autumn Swap is over and I can now write about it knowing that Susie has received her package from me. The swap was very well organized by Linda Smith and from what I've read, all had a good time participating. I will start by showing the goodies that Susie sent me.

First of all, the box that everything came in is fun. Plastered all over it are reproduction coffee labels.

Upon opening the box, I saw all of these packages individually wrapped in tan tissue paper and tied with hemp string. (Brown paper packages, tied up with string...these are a few of my favorite things! Sing along now.)
I took my time opening each one and marveling at what Susie figured out about me from reading my blog. Her choices of treats were perfect for me and I love everything she sent.

The painted and altered canvas featuring the dress form is going right up on the wall in my scrap studio. Don't you love the tape measure and vintage earring trim? (You can click on the pictures to make them larger)
Candles and hand cream that smell good, chai tea mix that tastes wonderful with a square mug to drink it in. Trims, buttons, lace and twine to embellish with. Candy corn towels and a crocheted hot pad. Ephemera and the dearest little pixie stamp to use in my art projects. Two sweet handkerchiefs, a great book of quotes and a wonderful CD that I've listened to many times already.
I'm a pretty lucky lady, don't you think?

Susie is a gifted crafter and I'd gladly be partnered with her again in a minute!

Linda is getting ready to post information about the next seasonal swap. Check the updates here. thank you to Susie for all of the wonderful treats and to Linda for organizing and coordinating this Swap.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story.....

Out the door again....

This will be the fastest post ever.....we're leaving this afternoon for Florida and will be back on Monday. I have so much to post and haven't had time since coming home from Chicago. I just couldn't leave with out this though...a sneak peek for sweet Susie. Can you guess???? Know that I'm thinking about you right now and sending mental hugs!

And also take a look at the first Bellaween project. The link is on my sidebar to the left...just click on the picture. This was so much fun and know what? It's a battery candle...no fires and no burning down. I took the picture in the scariest room of our home...my studio! It's a disaster right now!

OK kiddos, that 's all I have time for. Talk to you next week.

Kisses & Hugs!

Just a few things today....

Hello my friends~


September has been a very busy month already and I can't believe it's almost half-way over. Last week, David & I went to see this! It was my second time but his first. If you ever have the chance-GO! It is so much fun! The music is wonderful and the sets and costumes are awesome!


I am getting ready to fly away again this week. I leave on Thursday to fly to Chicago and meet up with this beautiful woman, my daughter Michelle. (Here with her favorite nephew, Charlie) She will be coming from NYC and I from Pittsburgh and we'll meet in Chicago. Michelle has some business to conduct on Friday morning but the rest of the weekend is ours! Love the chance for some Mother/Daughter time!


Anyhoo, I wanted to show you a few things before I took off.

I don't know about you but I can never go to Target without stopping at the $1 Spot....do you think they know that? Do you think it's an intentional ploy to get us to load up on things we would never think about if they were at the back of the store on the aisle over from car polishes?

Last week when I glided in to buy some hair color....for a uh, friend, yeah that's right....I stopped to see what was new. This is what I found.......a tiny little paper shredder for $2.50. Why would anyone need a paper shredder so small? To shred newspaper to fill birds' nests and use as filler for little gift packages. It is so cute and it works great!

Now that I know that Viv has received her package from my drawing, I can show you a little something I made to send to her with her prizes. By the way, take a moment to visit Viv here. She was recently selected to be on the Crafty Secrets/Heartwarming Vintage Design Team. Her cards are delightful and she is a sweet lady! These are so much fun to make. I used paper from Graphic45 available here, and the little fairy image is from Patty at Lisa's Altered Art here. The French page behind the fairy was downloaded from The Feathered Nest's blog here and the ribbon is vintage seam binding. Added some Stickles for sparkle and she's finished. I couldn't stop there, I made the other little notebook as well.




She's a little girl with a big sparkly pink heart that she would wear on her sleeve but her sleeves are too small so she has it smack in the middle of her chest!

Another thing that I finally finished for my very special grand-niece Fiona is this....

When your name is Fiona, you can't find many cute personalized items with your name on them, so I decided to make her a name banner. The letters are from Joann's....$1 in the check-out aisle. (Do you sense a $1 theme going on here?) I strung them together with sheer ribbon and then made little tags for each letter with a descriptive word about Fi. Fun, Intelligent, Outstanding, Athletic.......N......ever since Fiona was a little tiny person she has always professed to being "Not a doll girl but a dog girl" so there you have it! Her favorite color is purple (could you tell that?) and she loves a Boston Terrier named Chet Baker. (her own dog is a golden retriever) I was so happy to find this purple gift tote with a "Chet Baker" in the pocket!!! Made for Fi! Hope you like it sweetie.
Have a wonderful week. We have finally had a bit of rain here in Pittsburgh. The leaves are falling already because it's been so dry. I'm ready for some cooler temps....love sweater weather!
Blessings,
~Joyce

Antique shopping and a great mail day...

On Labor Day, four of us piled in my car and headed to a local antique store, The Wexford General Store. We spent several hours poking around, looking for treasures and this is what I came away with.

One of my favorite blogs to read first thing in the morning is The Feathered Nest. Dawn repurposes some of the most interesting vintage items into beautiful art pieces. One of things she has featured many times is worn baby shoes repurposed into pin cushions. She trims them with vintage buttons and makes a sweet tag to hang from the laces. Darling! So I've been keeping my eyes open for the "right" (meaning suitably aged) shoes. Well, on Sunday I found them. I keep looking at them and wondering about the little feet that wore these shoes. The toes are scuffed so I'm assuming that some climbing was done in them. When I think that babies now don't wear those high-topped walkers like my children did....will we be making pin cushions 25-30 years from now out of Crocs? or Baby Nikes? I'm glad I found this pair of soft leather walkers. When I get to repurposing them, I'll show them to you again.


I also found these sweet little buttons and some cabinet cards. I love looking at old pictures and wondering about the people pictured. (I really need to stop spending so much time thinking about the former owners of shoes and pictures and get some crafting done!)



My daughter always talks about it being a good "mag & cat day" if she gets her magazines or new catalogs in the mail. Well, today was a good mag & cat day PLUS some other wonderful goodies!

I have been lucky recently and have had my name pulled in two different blog drawings. I wrote previously about my book prize and yesterday in the mail came two beautiful ACEO/ATC cards from Marie of Spun By Me. After reading Marie's blog for a while, we discovered that we have a lot of things in common...adorable grandchildren/child for one. Her blog is filled with wonderful stories and recollections and is a witness to Marie's strong faith. I opened the envelope with the 2 cards in it and there's a nice hand-written note from Marie. The card she wrote the note on has a drawing by Patience Brewster on the front. She's one of my favorite artists. One more thing I guess we have in common, Marie! LOL!



This beautiful fairy arrived on my doorstep (well, actually in my mailbox) today. I won her on ebay...I've been watching several sellers offering these fairies and I finally won one! She's a beauty, don't you think?




Now on to the magazines and catalogs......a bounty today! Country Living, Somerset Holidays, Lang and Gooseberry Patch. I'm in heaven! Now all I need is Romantic Homes & Country Home. I have a "thing" for magazines...it's almost as much fun as traveling, you know, wandering around in other people's homes or visiting other cities. (Oh my, more day dreaming!!!)




The last package I received was from Rocky Mountain Hobbies. I had pre-ordered some My Mind's Eye Christmas paper and it came in. Oh my stars! Talk about cute!!!! I ordered papers from 2 different lines. (I have a "thing" for scrapbook paper too-maybe I should think about talking to somebody about this!)


That's all for my great mail day. Except for this little face that came to me in an email today.
See Charlie's new tooth? I have a "thing" for this sweet boy, too! I miss you sweetie!

Until next time friends...