Swaps! Destash! Yellow!

Hello Friends!

I have a wee bit of catching up to do,

as I have received some lovely things from my swap partners this month.

This beautiful tag is from Marti,

made for a fabric and lace tag swap in the

Marie Antoinette MailArt Group:

 Isn't it lovely?
Thank you Marti!!

My swap partners from the monthly  A Swap for All Seasons swaps
continue to delight me!

This lovely card and tag for February's RED swap
is from Linda:

And her sweet red destash items:

 March's swap had a yellow/Spring theme.
My lovely card and tag from May:

And look at all the fun goodies from May's yellow destash:
Thank you so much, ladies, what fun!!

I will post my March creations once my partner,
who just happens to be Marti ;) receives them!


These next three ATCs I made for a swap hosted by
Kimberly of artJOYstuff.
The challenge was to use ONLY vintage materials.
Sooo these were made with vintage photographs,
vintage postcard and flowers cut from vintage greeting cards.
The backgrounds are made with vintage ledger paper (1850!),
vintage letters and music paper.
Buttons, vintage tatted lace, seals, millinery flowers
and random bits were used to embellish the cards.
I really had a lot of fun dipping into my stash to create these:

Since I have been working with yellow this month,
here are some sunshine-y yellow images for you:

 
Click to enlarge, right click and save!

More Friday fun to be had at Fabulously Creative Friday!  

Lots of great ideas at Show and Tell Friday!  

Lovely blues at Anything Blue Friday!

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday!

Creative living, decorating, and craft ideas at Inspired Sunday!

Lovely tablescapes at Seasonal Sundays!

Cute and crafty stuff at Make it Monday!

Vintage creativity at Knick of Time Tuesday!

Be inspired by Inspire Me Tuesday!

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday!

Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

  ♥♥♥ Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great weekend!

It's April! Fairy Jar! Freebies!

 Hello Friends!

It's April!



Yes!
 And my across-the-street neighbor's front yard looks like this:

Flowers everywhere!

Even window shopping at the mall:

 

Yes, I have been doing a little creating as well as window shopping.  :)

Spring is peak season for fairies, as they are out and about in the garden.

I have always wanted to capture one and keep her forever in a jar. 

But that wouldn't be nice.

So I made this little fairy in a jar to keep me company:

 I used a mix of mosses, papery flowers, mushrooms, butterfly wings
and a Dresden pink crown.  And lots of fairy dust!
I covered the jar lid with some burlap trim to keep the woodsy look.
Added more moss and a nest and little birdie on top.

Here are a few freebies with an April Showers theme:

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday!

♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great weekend!

Thrifty Finds and Tulips and Bees!

Hello Friends!  I so want to get this post out to you all.But I also want to play with my baby girl who's visiting from NYC!So here's a little post of what I've been up to: I had one of those "stars in alignment" weekswhere I found some wonderful things at the thrift stores/estates sale,some of which I actually needed!OK, really wanted, anyway!

Do you even see that 25 cent price tag on those lovely linens and handkerchiefs?!

 OK, if there's silver, even silverplate, and I have some dollars in my pocket, I'm buying it!

And, oh, I do love those little mirrored trays:

Is this not the sweetest little...um...OK, it's a little pocket with a flap, in perfect condition

with some sweet little embroidery on it...I'm thinking maybe a rosary pocket?  Anyone?

Love this little Marie Antoinette style demi-tasse:

I always need serveware, and these are silverplate and especially pretty, I think:

I also got a bag of lace, some of which is handmade,

no picture, but it is lovely.  I really do treasure women's handiwork.Also found some lovely china, which is to be a gift,so no pic on that yet.  ;) OK.  So, that brings me to....I needed a little thank you gift,and found a lovely Spring-y tin of tulips at Trader Joe's.I wanted to make it a little more special,so I added a little whimsical scallop around the top,  

and embellished with a burlap handmade flower with rhinestone,

and added a little "merci" pennant.

I think it bumps it up a little from"I just stopped at Trader Joe's on the way here and got you this plant!"  :)  I hope.And so easy-peasy! Since there are bees swarming in my neighborhood this week--and I'm not complaining...because I respect bees and the work they do :)--here's a couple of  beehive freebies for you: 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!  You may like to stop by Pink Saturday for links to some pink lovelies!
Have a great weekend! 

Easter Tags, Freebies, and Altered Egg Cartons!

Hello Friends!

I'm late!  I'm late!  For a very important date! :)

I do have some Easter projects to share with you.
First up are the altered egg cartons I made for my partners in Cassandra's Easter Egg Carton Swap.
We had the choice of neutral, natural tones or pastels;
My partner Heather chose naturals, and this is the carton I made for her:

And inside the carton she will find... 

Paula, my other partner, chose pastel colors, so I made this for her:

 

And inside... 

This was such a fun swap, I've never altered an egg carton before!
But I loved the creamy look of paint on the carton,
even though it did suck up the paint and require two coats!

But that's what gave it the creamy look. I also made some Easter tags at a mini-crafting session with friends Marti and Rosa: 

I just love those little chickies!

Also embellished with tissue paper garland and german scrap.

 Here are some freebie images,

perhaps you'd like to make your own Easter tags:

Click to enlarge, right click and save! You may like to stop by White Wednesday for more chippy white pretties!
Thanks for stopping by...Have a great weekend!

Spring Inspiration Matchbox Swap

Hmmph! I scheduled this post way back,
as you can tell from the Mother's Day reference.

For some reason it did not post as scheduled,
and I didn't catch it.

But I'm still lovin' the matchboxes!!
And a they make for a lovely post for Pink Saturday!



What a Mother's Day treat it was, as I received BOTH of my matchboxes from Heather's Spring Inspiration Matchbox Swap this weekend! On the same day!

I received this box from Tabitha:



How cute is that little shoe?!



And this lovely box from Heather:



Look at that adorable china doll head and the little cherub:



Thank you Heather and Tabitha so much, I love everything!
Can't wait til the next swap, I am hooked on trading matchboxes!

Head on over to Pink Saturday
for more pink loveliness!

Asheville!

A long time ago, I lived in North Carolina--
how did I never make it to Asheville?!
Coming now from California,
where we have had a wet Winter and Spring,
and we think everything's nice and green here...
Ha! I now see how green Spring can really be!
Most of North Carolina looks like this:

But in Asheville, NC, there is a thriving, artsy little haven,
with lots of arts and crafts galleries, unique shops,
where the food in restaurants is grown locally...and organically,
and many of the items in stores are handcrafted,
and even some of the clothes in the little boutiques are handmade!

Let's take a little stroll:

Cute outdoor cafes:

Cute alleyways:

Library:

My daughter and son-in-law, the lovebirds,
and some of many public works of art:

Let's windowshop:

Paper flowers!

Chocolate stilettos!

Butterfly dress!

Let's go inside:

Paper dress!

How cute is this:


And the food was wonderful!

Breakfast, southern style, at Tupelo Honey:



Yes. Grits. But these were goat cheese grits, and so yummy!

And some random pics around town:




We loved our stay in Asheville...it wasn't long enough,
we didn't get to do everything we wanted...
but we'll be back!!!