{ summer in snapshots. week 3 }

 

{ week 3. }

 

 

 

It is time again for Summer in Snapshots, 

a fun and inspiring party hosted by Amber over at The {Starfish} Blog. 

I have said it every week, and I will say it again -

This has given me back my wings! I did not realize how deeply I had missed the 

view from behind the lens. I feel freer than I have in a long time!

Welcome to Week 3. Please join in and follow along!

 

{ this must be my lucky week ! }

  I can not believe my LUCK this week! First loads of treasures in the mail and secondly the proud and happy winner of a AWESOME SHABBY APPLE DRESS!

I am so excited! I was so happy to recently "meet"  Gretchen over at Mimi-Toria's Designs...and while there I entered her lovely contest! She and I share a great many thoughts and ideas on things, one of them being shells & rocks...she is super talented, and has the most gorgeous jewelry creations in her shop....of course I have a special love of them because they have NUMBERS on them!

 Please be sure to stop by and say hello!

{ Thank You Gretchen ! }

{ so proud of where i live...of who we are }

I wanted to take a moment to say how very proud of where I live and who we are a, as a Nation.

Once upon a time our pride as a Nation is what buoyed us...held us afloat in the face of all things, great or small. We did wait for a ship to sail into our harbor to wave our flag and proclaim our Patriotism.

I am teaching my children to be proud of who they are and the Nation they are so fortunate to call home. I am teaching them to wear their Patriotism with honor and to hold their Freedom in the highest regard. Cherish it. Honor it. Believe in it.

There should be no shades of grey when it comes to who we are...what we believe in...

Happy Independence Day!

{ I am sorry for the late posting...I was a little under the weather 

the last few days, but wanted to wish you all a safe and happy, happy holiday! }

{ summer in snapshots . week 2 }

It is time again for Summer in Snapshots, a fun and inspiring party hosted by The {Starfish} Blog. 

This has been the most uplifting idea that I have ensued upon so far this summer. I am finally strapping that camera on and hoisting that lens up again...a habit I had missed sorely.

Welcome to Week 2. Please join in and follow along!

  

{laminate to lovely}

I have the best neighbor ever - she is always bringing me little treasures she has picked up from odd garage sales or thrift stores...

...since she knows I have been on a furniture makeover kick,  it was no surprise a few days ago when she called across the yard saying she had something that I might be interested in... "surprise" is not the word to describe how I felt when I saw this piece of "furniture!" It was a laminate nightstand with plastic dinosaur plates glued to the front.

Well I sanded it down with the palm sander...some places the ancient press board, { or whatever the hek it was } was already showing, so I just took her all the way down...I mean how afraid could I be? She was already begging to be dumped. I peeled off the glossy dino sign and removed the drawer pulls, { which by the way crumbled in the process } and sanded a little bit more.

I reattached the back, repinned the drawer rail and said a prayer...

...two coats of heavenly blue { I know it is not the only color of paint on the earth, but this piece needed some divine intervention! } and two top coats of country white finished her off. She was beginning to look less like a monster and more like an old piece of furniture in need of some TLC.  The small pock marks left by the press board didn't look so pretty, but I knew I would be forced to heavily distress this piece to even have a chance of salvaging her.

 

Lo and behold...she looked adorable...SHABBY, but adorable. I heavily palm sanded her when the paint had cured. I used the scraper everywhere possible. I even peeled some of the paint off of the sides of the piece. Then I took a sanding block and evened out the rough edges and waxed the living hek out of her. Some new antique silver hardware and some awesome number plate from the talented and generous Roben-Marie. 

{ she knows I adore anything with numbers on it and this was a 

surprise treat in my mail box yesterday...

along with the most fabulous mixed media mail art! }

Be sure to check out her Art Goods Shop here for more goodies like this!

Super Sweet Organizer - on the Cheap!

I am a lover of containers of any kind...and an even bigger fan of organization. I recently stumbled across this "file" box at a local outlet store. It was a pretty enough blue color, not exactly what I wanted, but since it was only $7.00 I grabbed it up anyway. I loved the staggered tiers for files, papers, notes. AND it had one drawer as well. A keeper.

...I found some paint in the garage....a shade of white...and I started painting. The first coat showed thick brush strokes, so after it dried I added a second coat that I applied with a soft cloth, rubbing it on in a smoother coat. Once the second coat dried, I used coarse sand paper and heavily distressed the edges and the drawer pull. Once I was happy with the level of distressing I took a finer sanding block and rubbed over the entire box to smooth things out. A final coat of minwax, in clear and it was finished. I LOVE IT.

A Talented Design Team Lets Me Join In!

It is such a joy to be a part of something you love. To spend time creating things you adore. To work alongside of the people you admire...

...I am so fortunate to know the beautiful owner, Stacey, of The Scrappy Boutique . I am proud to call her my friend. She is talented, funny, kindhearted. She is hard working, encouraging, brave. I adore her Boutique, an upscale scrapbook store offering the best of all the most popular lines. I have long since been a fan of her classes and crops and retreats...

...so when Stacey recently approached me about helping her with her new online store, Scrappy Boutique, I gladly accepted! It has been such a delight to get to know her team on yet another level. They are, as a whole, a deeply creative, dynamic and talented group of individuals. I have loved all they have offered to teach me and I am truly grateful for all of their encouragement and support as I learn the proverbial 'ropes!'

I was even more delighted this past week when these wonderful gals allowed me to become a part of

their fantastic Design Team! The amount of creativity and inspiration that you will find in this store is over the top. I continue to be amazed each and every time I see one of their new projects!

Please take a moment to stop by and check out all of the dynamite inspiration you will find both at Shop Scrappy Boutique . com  and at Scrappy Boutique ...and if you are local to central Florida, please hop over to The Scrappy Boutique...you will be so happy that you did!

 

{ I was not paid to do this little "plug"

for my brave & beautiful friend.

I did it because I love her and she 

works hard and deserves the recognition.}

A Little Bit of Love & A Whole Lot of Faith

When I first start writing this blog, well, there was no writing. I just didn't see what I could share, about my little life, in my little part of the world, that would make someone want to stop and read...

...and then I met Jami at Freckled Laundry .

She scooped me up and brought me under her "blogging" wing, picking twigs from her own freckled nest and sharing them with me. Helping me to build my own little safe haven. My own sweet sanctuary. My own place to share.

Not long into our "friendship" did I realize that we shared the same affinity for hearts. It is always nice to find a common ground, but a sweet, secret surprise to find that once you reach that conjoint arena, you feel and know so much more about each other. Each and every time we "speak" to one another we chance upon yet another kinship between us...

...and so I mailed her some bitty treasures. Treasures of the heart. 

And with them arrived a bit more of my story. A tiny twig of my own. Gently shaken free from my haven, my safe house, my heart...

...read more about it here,  {Hearts & The Sweetest Story}, at Freckled Laundry...and please tell Jami you stopped by.

You won't meet a lovelier soul.

 

Interview with Sandi Keene at Secret Lake Diaries

It isn't very often that  one soul will stumble across another and the past comes rushing up behind them with a tornadic urgency - catching them up for all time. I am one of those fortunate souls. In the not so distant past I was introduced to someone who is now a driving force in my life. The constant zephyr that is relentless in it's task. Sandi Keene- soul two.

She was tender at first. Making suggestions, pointing out directions, every faithful with the encouraging words. But the winds were shifting. Bigger things were brewing for me in her mind. And so a tender breeze grew into sturdy and constant wind. Inspiration flooded my inbox. Steady encouragement blossomed into steadfast reassurance. Bits and pieces of wonderfully creative debris filtered into my life through this new and lovely soul. It is something like the sunshine after a storm to find yourself surrounded by such a presence.

Read the interview here:

Interview with Rae Missigman

Please stop by Secret Lake Diaries and meet Sandi Keene 

for even more encouragement, inspiration & love.

Independence Day Flower Card Tutorial

Independence Day is fast approaching and it is one of my favorite holidays! I love the vibrant and patriotic feel that buzzes through the air like a static current. My little heart leaps to see all of the bunting and flags flying everywhere...

...so of course I have to make something...and patriotic note cards seemed a perfect idea & something that I could share with all of my special pals.  I am a truly horrible tutorial person...but these are really pretty easy so I am going to do my best to share the process with you...

...the end result is, of course, SWEET & SIMPLE.

So I gathered up all of my supplies. You will need a ruler, scissors, adhesives of choice, patterned cardstock & paper, vintage style buttons( the ones with the single eye on the back work best), paper piercer, string, needle, scotch tape...and a base for your card.

I like to use Cold Press Watercolor Paper. It is super heavy weight and textured and gives the feel of an expensive paper. You will need a bone folder to fold this paper. Make sure to cut and fold the paper to the size of envelope you wish to use.

Gather the paper you are going to use for your flowers. I chose several red, white and blue patterned cardstocks. I cut them into 3 x 3 squares and ran them through a die cut machine using a floral die I had on hand. You could very easily hand cut some scallopy floral shapes too! 

You will need three floral shapes for each flower you plan to make.

 For my three I chose 2 patterned pieces and a dictionary page flower, (these old book pages tear pretty easily, but if you're careful you can make them work) . GENTLY crumble and wrinkle them a bit, being especially careful if you are using regular weight paper or vintage book pages, like I did. Decide which way you want to stack your patterned paper.

Next, gently crease the flower you wish to be on top the three tiered flower.

Tack in place with a bit of adhesive. Now crease the opposite direction & tack again, making the flower a tad bit smaller than the other pieces. Take the flower that you want to be the second layer and gently crease in one direction only. Tack in place.

Next stack the bottom two layers of your flower (the bottom piece that is not creased, followed by the flower with just one crease.) Using just a bit of adhesive (so your needle doesn't stick later) tack.

Take your top layer flower and using a self healing mat, gently pierce through the center, making sure to grab some of each crease. Thread your needle with fine gauge string or heavy duty thread and come up through the back of the flower, through the pierced hole.

Holding onto the thread & needle, gently pierce a second hole just a smidgen away from the first one, and thread your needle back through this hole. (if you are using a really sharp needle you can probably eliminate this piercing stuff, but I like the clean hole it makes.) Come back up once more, through your original hole and loop your needle through this stitch to make a secure center.

Next you want to grab your button ( I had some great vintage looking anchor buttons ) and thread your needle & string through the eye. Pull tight, but gently, and feed the needle back through the second pierced hole. Secure on the back with a pass through stitch or two. (Don't cut yet!)

Now we want to stack our layers. Gently pierce your tacked bottom two layers, creating a nice clean hole. Feed the needle with the top layer flower still attached through this hole.

Gently ( I know I keep saying this, but the paper tends to get a bit fragile by this stage, and while I LOVE the semi shabby time worn look, rips are a different story!)  secure on the back with a pass through stitch or two. Cut string leaving a one inch tail. Secure to back of the flower with a bit of scotch tape. 

Now you can adorn your card with just this simple patriotic flower or you can add some ribbon or other embellishments...whatever your liking. I have added a last few photos showing a few finished cards. I used some scraps of ribbon & lace & burlap as a band behind my flowers.

For my bands behind my flowers, I use the random ruffle & staple technique. This is my favorite technique (is it even a technique) and I use it for everything. Randomness always seems to make the prettiest end result for these things. 

Once I had the band in place I placed my flower where I wanted it and adhered it with three extra large glue dots. You can staple the bottom layer to the card too, for extra strength. 

I love the staple showing. This whole card is sort of vintage style in it's theme, and so the look of the metal on the front of the card is appealing to me. You always choose to adhere your band with something that doesn't show if you prefer a cleaner look.

I used some reproduction vintage red lace and some burlap for these last two cards.

Enjoy celebrating your Freedom!