Thursday, December 30, 2010

Raise a Cup of Kindness to Auld Lang Syne

Thank you to all of my
Blogland friends
You have made my
Life richer
Wishing you all a year of
Leaning forward with
An open heart
Releasing old sorrows
Making room for new joys
Looking everyday
For the positive that is
All around you.

And some really great scores
At the thrift stores wouldn’t
Hurt either!
Happy New Year!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Happy Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

All the best wishes for a joyful Christmas and a bright New Year.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

A New Collection Begun

I have mentioned my new fascination with vintage Christmas ornaments so thought I better post some of my finds before the season ends. I have been having a ball searching the local thrift stores. I love the hunt no matter what I'm collecting! As Christmas grows closer they began marking down the Christmas stock so they don't have to store it for next year. Even better! I did hang quite a few on the blank spots I left on the living room tree and they are hard to photograph once they are on the tree so this is just what is sitting on the table in my art room.
This is the extent of the pink ones I have managed to accumulate toward that pink theme I had in mind. Something to aspire to for next year! I was at my hairdresser yesterday and she had the sweetest modern pink feather tree. It was tiny so if I find one of those in white I think it would be perfect for my tiny pink collection. A vintage-style white one would be even better!
I think these teeny tiny bells and the smallest indent I have ever seen are my favorite finds after that very first ornament I blogged about here. I put a quarter in the picture so you can see just how tiny they are. Adorable.
I don't know quite what to make of these. They are marked Shiny Brite and I have learned from Oodles and Oodles post here that they are called "unsilvered". I loved that post, by the way. I am wondering if they were intended to be Easter decorations. I MUST visit Amazon and see if there is a good book on vintage Christmas ornaments.
I couldn't get a close picture with these in the glass jar that is in the first picture so I poured them out in this dish so you can see them better. I added a quarter to this picture for scale as well..I hope to glue these tiny balls to some bottle-brush trees, just as soon as I find some of those - LOL! I got about half of these today. They were in a bag that included so much junk I didn't want that I asked the clerk if I could pay the full price and just take these out and donate the rest back. I don't think they are ever going to sell that sack.
The silver is worn off (I think it's on the inside so where does it GO??) most of these but I thought they were interesting because none of them are really round so I think they must be hand-blown. They are just marked Japan. I keep hearing the term "mercury glass" for these old ornaments but I question if they were really mirrored with mercury. I know if they are and I tell my geologist son I am hanging mercury all over the Christmas tree he will probably freak out and refuse to come over for Christmas.
I picked up this pair of ceramic candlesticks because of the unusual colors and the pink theme. It seemed like a good idea at the time but now I'm kind of rethinking that.
So there you have it. I am hooked. I will continue to search the estate sales and hope to know more about what I'm looking at by next Christmas.
I didn't think there would be a Show and Tell Friday since it's Christmas time but it looks like it's ON so I am IN!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Look What the Mailman Brought!

I mentioned in this post last summer that I was going to be published in SEW Somerset and showed a sneak peek of something I was submitting to Somerset Studio, as well. This is the advance comp copy I just received. My piece "The Poppy" in on page 114 in the Expressions section. They did a nice job with it. It is pretty large so they had to reduce it a lot but it is still clear. Those folks know what they are doing! I don't have the original back yet to show you. My SEW Somerset article was postponed until Spring. I was happy about that decision since it has a springtime theme and I kind of wondered why they would publish it in the Winter issue. That will be a fun one because it will include the technique article I submitted with it.
Gotta love those Stampington folks!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Last Tree is Up!

I really shouldn't say the last tree is "up", it's more like it's "out" since I never actually take the decorations off. This has been my office tree for 15 or 16 years and I decided to bring it home this Christmas.
I love these little vintage plastic figurines and always display them under this tree. The tiny manger has been part of my Christmas since before I can remember. My mother used to put it in the tree even though it doesn't look like it ever had a hanger. I picked up the flying Santa and sleigh at an estate sale several years ago. I love the way they depict both kinds of Christmas celebrations.
It is hard to see in the picture {try double-clicking} but the tree is just loaded with miniature ornaments I have collected over the years. Many were gifts since folks in my office all knew about my little tree and contributed here and there over the years.
I am not really using it in the kitchen but the living room was way to dark for a picture. I brought it home thinking I would try and find some tiny lights to add but haven't gotten around to it for this year. There's always next year and those after Christmas sales!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Another Tree Up and a Little Old Fashion Paper Crafting

The living room tree is up and I am so, so happy with how it turned out. Not because of the ornaments {I didn't put them all up}, not because I pulled off my imaginary pink theme {didn't happen this year}, no, not for any of those reasons. I love it because it FITS. Not only does it fit in this corner but the room actually looks bigger than before! I was amazed because normally my already small living room turns downright claustrophobic with the tree up. Love this new tree! I might even have to move some furniture around when it's gone so the room stays "big".
I kept the ornaments pretty simple this year. I just put up my very favorites, plus the vintage ones and simple bead garland. I skipped the tinsel garland completely this year and I think I like it. The tree isn't filled so I thought I would be fun to leave room to displays my "finds" during the season since I have this new fascination with vintage Christmas.
In the meantime, I have been playing around with some very basic paper crafting. If you haven't picked up the inaugural holiday issue of Cloth.Paper.Scissors Gifts I highly recommend it. There are SO many fun little project I want to try. This is one of those times when you feel like you really got your money's worth from a $15 magazine. Seriously. Go and buy it.
This project is by Michelle Spaw. They are little pinwheel-type things and mine are made from old Christmas Cards. I thought they would make fun little package tie-ons. Making them is kind of addictive! I plan on trying some two-sides ones from vintage sheet music and covered with {what else!} pink glitter!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

So What Became of Those Little Vintage Deer...

...you might wonder... Well, maybe not, but I'll tell you anyway! I told you about my new-found fascination with vintage Christmas and a few recent finds in this post. I leaned in to that pink theme I had in mind and this is what I came up with. For some reason it doesn't show up as sparkly in the photo as it does in real life but let me just say there is a LOT of glitter!
I have been obsessed with glitter since the Granddaughter was here and I'll just say I have made a MUCH bigger mess with it than she ever did. If anyone has any advice on how you actually clean it all up, bring it on! It seems to be like Easter grass and once you have it in your house you never really get it back out.
I added glitter to the antlers and the spots on the sweet little deer. I bought the adorable pink bottle brush trees from bleueclectic on Etsy. The picks are from Michaels. I added a little lot more glitter to both. I needed some sort of platform so I used a dinner plate as my pattern and cut three pieces of foam core and glued them together. Then I cut strips of vintage sheet music and glued around the edges plus round pieces for the top. Once they were all glued on and dry I painted them with white Golden Acrylic thinned with matte medium so it would be semi-transparent. Once that dried I brushed on another coat of matte medium and the glitter storm began. Sprinkle, shake, sprinkle, shake... I hot glued all the pieces in place and Waa Laa!
I have been so busy around here that I haven't hooked up with any blog parties in a while so I am joining this one up with Show and Tell Friday over at My Romantic Home. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is doing to get ready for Christmas!

Monday, December 6, 2010

It's a start!

We brought the Christmas boxes down from the attic yesterday and I put up what is my favorite and always the first decoration of the season - my kitchen Christmas tree.
It is one of those alpine style trees and I decorated it in a bird theme. You know how I love the birdies so any wonder this tree is my favorite? It is small so I don't remove the decorations. I just put a bag over it and carry it back up to the attic each year. Sometimes I'm tempted to just leave it up year around.
Obviously I have a ways to go on the decorating. It still looks a little bare underneath. I am sorry I couldn't get a better picture. Maybe someday I will learn how to compensate for low light, but apparently not today!
This one is a little closer so you might try double-clicking to make it bigger so you can see the birdies. Tweet. Tweet. 8+)