The perfect gift!

I love when I come across a website or shop that I'm really excited about~ I think I'll add this one to my list.

How cool is this? The shop DearSukie lets you design your own wallet. It's made from paper that's been covered in a heavy, clear vinyl and sewn together. You choose the paper(from a variety of awesome prints) and snap color too.
What a great gift this would make. Since my Birthday is around the corner, I think I just might get it for myself :)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Great find, new purchase :)

Recently I found a cool Etsy shop: Mirrorgirl where you can find mouse pads and mirrors with artwork from some of your favorite Etsy Artists. One of my favorite artists is Seamripper(Kathleen Habbley), her illustrations are so cute & happy~ I love her work!
My son was sitting at the computer when I replaced our old mouse pad with the new one, he looked at it and said, "We don't even have a cat!" How funny, because I remember thinking the same thing when I bought it(they were out of the girl with a dog), but since I was so excited about finding a Seamripper illustration I figured Cat? Dog? who cares, it's cute!

French Inspired Jewelry.... a favorite book.

After a long weekend of dealing with a computer virus, I was so happy when this book arrived!



This is the second time I've bought this book. I gave my first copy to someone who I knew would love it too. Kaari Meng is great~ her book is full of helpful information, techniques and inspirations. I love how she gives so much detail from the different names & types of beads, to exactly what you would need to complete any necklace or bracelet.
Lately I've been wanting to try making a necklace or bracelet using vintage jewelry that I've collected. I have necklaces, pins, earrings, chains, beads etc.. and just stored them away thinking I would find a use for them someday.
This September, all of my kids will be in School(for the first time in 5 years), so with all my new free time I think I'll work on making some Jewelry :)

Artwork: new and old

Next to Etsy, I think I've found the most amazing web-site! For those of you who love prints of amazing & affordable artwork I think you'll agree. I could wander through Thumbtack Press for hours! I'm so excited about finding it, if you haven't seen it yet~ it's definitely worth checking out.
I'm not sure where my obsession with Artwork and wanting to fill my walls with prints is coming from. Maybe it's because I can't draw or paint to save my life.

This is me and my brother. He's an artist, and knew ever since he was little that that's what he wanted to be. The artist gene definitely skipped over me, hopefully one of my kids gets it. He graduated from Pasadena Art Center years ago, and is probably the best artist I know.
When we were younger I'd ask him to draw paper dolls for me that I'd cut out & play with for hours. I also had an obsession with Chastity Bono(it was the 70's) so he drew her a lot for me too.
I've saved this next picture for probably over 30 years. One day, after bugging him to draw a picture of me, he finally agreed.
It took him about thirty minutes: sitting across from me, looking at me, drawing, looking at me, drawing, looking at me, drawing some more.... and this is what he came up with:


I laugh at that picture every time I see it!
It never gets old :)
The funniest thing about the picture is that I remember the amount of time he took~ I really believed he was drawing an amazing portrait.

Craft shows, art festivals & fairs across the country...

While I was looking for local craft shows to check out this month, I came across an Amazing site that will be helpful to everyone(not just local California crafters). Whether you are looking to sell, advertise or just shop~ you can find it ALL here.
There truly is a wealth of information on this site, they even have a list of suppliers, craft show success secrets, Art & Design contests and competitions(perfect opportunity for all you amazing Etsy Artists).
For music lovers, you can find local Music festivals too!

**I love blogs with pictures & didn't want to post without one~ I found the above Mutation icon promoting an upcoming craft show, so all of you lucky enough to live in or near Savannah Ga., make sure to check it out!

Sayings & positive messages....

It all started with this screen print. I was looking around Etsy for affordable artwork with sayings or inspirational messages. These are only a few of many great illustrations, Gocco & screen prints I found.






1~ Print on canvas by: identity5
2~ Gocco prints by:Jessdonacha
3~ Print of an original painting by:
Scatteredmomentos
4~ Signed and numbered print from an original
illustration by:DazeyChic
5~ Fine Art Photography print by: Lauri
6~ Digital print by: Threetrees

Trip to the Beach & some really really good mail!

I love this beach, no matter what time of year there will always be only a handful of people. This is where I grew up(Belmont Shores), spending weekends & summers with my Dad~the pink arrow is about where we lived.
Sometimes I can get pretty caught up with Working/Crafting/Etsying/Blogging/Cleaning that I forget it's summer and the kids need to get out of the house, so today we headed to the beach. I'm glad we did, everyone had a great time and I finally got some sun!

The second best part of the day was coming home to these!

I was so excited to see that they arrived today. I found this amazing seller, (I think through Timemachine 2 on Etsy). The shop is Porkchopshow you'll have to check out his unique & really cool items.
Earlier in the week I had gone through my vintage jewelry~ cleaning and organizing it, and thought about making some necklaces or brooches... then I saw these! I can't wait to get started on putting something together :)

I have more exciting mail coming this week, or maybe next... I'll share them too once they're here.

Work space and working on being organized

First of all let me just say Yes, I've been spending some time on Picnik again... I'm a fan of the boost effect, I love how it makes the colors so bright and vivid.
So, this is where I spend most of my time(above) and this(below) is where I try and camouflage my craft/work supplies. Since I don't have my own studio or office, I do most of my work in my dinning room(these pictures show about a 1/4 of the room). When I'm not in the middle of a project I try and keep everything hidden away so my dinning room can be functional~ thanks to my old pullout and China Cabinet/Hutch- which holds everything but china!



I need to get in there and organize all that fabric!

Flea Market Finds

I only had about an hour to run through one of my favorite local Flea Markets this a.m., so I only found a few things. I love collecting other peoples art work and was sooooo excited when I came across these portraits. I didn't even realize how much the man & woman looked like my Grandparents until my son asked me if it was them? How cool is that!
I also found:
a vintage frame(that I'll paint and use for an Inspiration Board), two 1960's patterns, pink & silver rick rack, vintage floral screen print fabric and a beautiful brooch.




I'm off to find a place to hang my new pictures :)

New FAVORITE show!

This is absolutely one of my new favorite shows. "Bikini or Bust", Ashley Paige is a broke famous fashion designer... you wouldn't think they'd go hand in hand.
She's scattered, unorganized & totally down to earth(you'll LOVE her Mother too). I loved watching her creative process and being able to see inside her studio. It airs Friday nights, so check it out!

Finished quilt pillow

I finally finished one of the pillows I was working on for my Etsy shop(I posted last week about starting it). I love the combo of the two prints together, they're different but go really well together. I still have plenty of the quilt left to make a few more, so I think that's what I'll be working on this weekend.

Fun with pictures~

I'm loving the photo editing sites that I've recently come across. The effects you can put on your photo's are amazing! These are just some random pictures I took of different areas of my house, then tried out different types of effects. They were all done on Picnik a super easy to use(and Free) photo editor.

And the Pouch goes to........

Whimsical Creations, of melaniescrafts.etsy.com
Thanks so much to all of you who posted a comment for the giveaway.
I love sewing/crafting & creating, but love giving them away even more~ so I'll have another one sometime soon.

Prints I ♥

As much as I've been excited about Etsy as a seller, I equally LOVE it for ALL of the amazing things I've found there. I have found so many prints that I'd love to own, to display in my work area for inspiration. So, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites:

~Helen Dardik by: Monkeypowered

~Kitchyhippo

~mikiep

~Jaimers

~Underneathmytree

Giveaway, Who needs a Pouch??

This is a follow-up to my Repurposed post. I completed one of my two pouches that I was working on. I had fun making this ... and it almost had a zipper, but became too difficult so I decided to add a vintage button & rick rack loop. It measures 5.5" x 6", perfect for holding small things: phone, keys, compact, Lip balm, etc..

Now it just needs a home :)

I'd love to give this to someone who'd like it, so... I'm having a giveaway! Just leave a comment in this post sometime before Wednesday evening(the 9th) and I'll post who the winner is Thursday morning.

Learned something new...

I just found this site Big Huge Labs, I created this(using my pictures)with their Mosaic Maker. LOVE it!!!

Repurposed... from housecoat to pouches

This is what's left of an amazing fruit/floral print vintage housecoat. Since I knew wearing it was never going to be an option, most of the usable fabric was sold in bundles in my Etsy shop.
So this is what's left of it, plus two pockets. I've held onto it with the thought of turning the pockets into coin purses/pouches.

I've just recently started sewing again, I've been working on pillows... so I thought I'd get started on these too. I'm not sure which fabric I'll use to line them or of the design.
I'm not a pattern kind of girl, I think the last time I used one was in Home Economics(10th grade)~ the thought of them stresses me out! I wish I had the patience for them, but I don't.


Once I'm done, I'll post my finished work.