Mermaid Treasure

I made this treasure box for a friend's birthday. Since she's received it, I can finally share it with you.

I started with a paper mache box that I layered in crackle paint, paint daubers, doodles, and pearl paint. I adhered a seafoam-y piece of patterned paper to the box lid. I gave my au natural mermaid a sparkly top and then added more sparkle to her luxurious tail.

Here's a closer look at some of the treasures that surround her: fluffy flowers, sparkly beads and gems, and of course, sea pearls.

The real treasure is waiting inside. I wanted it to look like the inside of a pearl oyster, so I painted it in pale pink, silver, and pearl paints.

Here's a look at some of the treasures: handmade flowers, vintage trims and findings, a few crafty supplies, and a whole lot of fun!



Country Treasures

We took a drive way out in the country to Hico, TX to Homestead's Spring Antique Fair. I found a few treasures just waiting for me to bring them home. And since we had to drive past a junk shop and a resale store, I stopped in there, too.

Old school books, player piano rolls, and other odds and ends. I also bought the crochet blanket everything is resting on. It looks perfect on my sofa.

An old Christmas book, old letters, stamped fabric ribbon, old trim, and millinery flower. The petals are for making millinery flowers. I found stacks and stacks of them, so I chose a few to come home with me.

One of my favorite finds was a big bag full of old photos. There were more than 60 photos in the bag ~ here are just a few of them.

Strawberry Goodness

I love strawberry pincushions. When I saw more lovelies posted on The Feathered Nest blog, I had to make some of my own.

I used a scrap of chenille and pieces from a vintage tablecloth and added French knots.

For the toppers, I added white seam binding and little flowers and leaves. I also added a little ribbon hanger, just in case I decide to add these to another project later.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Mini Book

I'm participating in an altered domino mini book swap. I've never made one of these before, but have seen some beautiful examples online. Terri Gordon has a few beauties on her blog right now. I made mine with a spring fairy theme and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Here is the front:

A peek inside:

Now I finally have something to do with the dominoes I've been hoarding!



For You

I was inspired by the snippet of a project I saw on Teresa McFayden's blog to create a birthday card for our Little Brother. He turned 15 last week and we took him to Six Flags to celebrate. We've been matched with him through Big Brothers/Big Sisters for the past 5 years. It's been such a rewarding experience for all of us.

Anyway, here is the card I made for him. I started with vintage sheet music and patterned paper from My Mind's Eye. I stitched a border on the papers and then stamped randomly using a Crafty Secrets stamp and black ink.

I added the scallop-punched border and made the flower by cutting circles with a circle punch and folding each circle into a petal. I cut a tag shape from the reverse of the My Mind's Eye paper, inked the edges, and made the sentiment with my Dymo label maker.
 

Vintage Treasures

I found some sweet additions to add to my collections. Here are some treasures I picked up during my recent travels.

Old ledger book, millinery blooms, baby dress, and honeycomb. The dress will be hung in my bedroom, the flowers are going to a friend, and the honeycomb is for my dining table's nature display.

Old photos, baby shoes, and vintage wedding cake topper. It was such a steal that I couldn't pass it up.

Old school books for my stash.

 
I hope to find more treasures this weekend!

Thanks Sew Much

My "Thanks Sew Much" card was published in the April Cards magazine. This is my first "real" magazine publication, and I was so excited. I used patterned paper scraps for the layered background. I stitched each layer and then added a Crafty Secrets tag. The dress form and thread tag are Crafty Secrets stamps that I stamped onto patterned paper and then cut out.

I wrapped pink thread around the thread tag and added a sewing needle. After adhering my stamped images to the card, I added a label sticker and then made a title with alpha stickers and my old typewriter.
 

More Garden Fairies

I completed my pages in Julie's art journal, and I still have garden fairies on the brain. We were doing magazine collages this time, but I didn't have any ideas. Then I came across this little lady's image and knew she'd make a perfect fairy. I paired her with a modern chair from a catalog and a spring garden backdrop.

Because I wanted my fairy to stand out from the bacground, I first sealed the background paper with gel medium and then dry brushed on some paint. I wiped most of the paint off with a baby wipe, which made the garden image muted and ethereal.

I gave my fairy butterfly wings and a flower hat.

I wrote the title on vintage ledger paper and then cut out the words.

I typed a "specimen" label using my old typewriter and aged it with distress ink. My garden fairies are resting up for next spring!
 

Girl/Boy/Girl

Those are our nieces and nephew's birthdays we'll be celebrating in the next month. My guest bedroom is currently filled with toys and cute little outfits waiting to be wrapped.

Here are the cards I made for the first set of birthdays. I wanted to use a similar layout so I could get them done quickly, but have a unique style since one is for a girl and one is for a boy. I started by embossing cardstock using my new Spellbinders Grand Calibur.

For my niece's girlie girl card, I stitched a border around all the paper scraps before layering them with a chipboard flourish, lace trim, butterfly, and sentiment.

For my nephew's card, I layered on blue and green patterned papers, a vintage notepaper scrap, and yellow rick-rack. I typed the sentiment on my old typewriter then used my new EK photo labels punch to punch it out. A Sassafras flower unifies the colors and adds some dimension.

I'll be celebrating with my other niece next month when she turns 4! Here is the card I made for her. She loves strawberries and wants a strawberry birthday cake, so I wanted to use that as my theme. I layered some paper scraps in her favorite color, added some lace trim, a chipboard strawberry, and created the sentiment with my Dymo label maker. I used pink ink to make the embossed dots stand out.

I know we'll have fun celebrating with them!

Believing

I made another altered hanging. This one was purely by accident. I started by painting a piece of watercolor paper that I intended to cut up and use in an altered book I've been working on. Once the piece was dry, I couldn't bring myself to cut it up, so I decided to use it as the background to something. It looked perfect for a fairyland sky, so that's what I dreamed up.

First, I distressed and painted a piece of cardboard and mounted the watercolor paper to this to give it a sturdy background.

I went through my scraps of paper and made a little house for the fairies. I cut the fairies from Graphic 45 paper. Then I started layering on the embellishments.

I tucked a flower here, a stamped bird there, and a flutter of butterflies that look like they're leaving the chimney.

I added a layer of paper and trim to the top-right as a background for the Tim Holtz Ornate Plate that frames the title "Home Sweet Home."



I added a couple of sticks to the top along with a dyed seam binding hanger and scrap of tulle. I had so much fun with my watercolors; I am definitely going to paint some more!

Thrifty Treasures

My parents have a great little thrift store in their town. When I visited recently, I made sure I had time to stop in and see what new treasures I could find. I brought home a load of my favorites! Vintage hankies, lace trim, old buttons, and fabric!

My understanding husband kept our 3-year-old niece occupied while I scoured the store. She was so well-behaved that I just had to buy her some flexible stuffed flowers she wanted (why these were ever produced is beyond me). Here she is modeling her new treasure:

Visiting DC

While we were visiting our family for Easter, we took a day trip down to the Manassas Battlefield in VA and to Washington, DC. Here are just a few of my favorite pics of the day.

On the battlefield:

Eventhough we just missed the cherry blossoms, the city was still blooming.

I especially enjoyed the First Ladies exhibit in the Smithsonian's American History Museum.

This dress was worn by First Lady Helen Taft to her husband's inauguration.

And this dress was worn by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Who knew she had such a tiny waist!

Julia Child's kitchen:

THE ruby slippers:

We visited the Jefferson Memorial, but I didn't manage to get any good photos of it. Here is the view of the Washington Monument from the Jefferson.

The Capitol Building from the mall:



We're hoping to go back for a weekend sometime soon to search the Archives for ancestry information. We did manage to get into the Rotunda to see the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.