Friday, March 30, 2012

Come Sail Away Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday to everyone. Today I’m sharing the pages I’ve made for Kay Ellen’s Travel by Sea Circle Journal. This is the second round for the ten blog friends who are creating pages in each other’s journals. It was Beverly who started the ball rolling for this project. The pages that have been done are amazing…I will certainly be getting the best of this deal…Nine talented ladies contributing  unique sets of pages in each journal. Kay Ellen is using a vintage ledger for her book and it is already bulging with treasures.

First Kay Ellen invited us to leave our autographs…

circle journal march 004

I included a cute Mary E. quote that fits the theme. I also added a map of the California coastline to celebrate Kay Ellen’s home state.  Then I found  an antique reproduction map of the Caribbean Sea…

circle journal march 018 And tags with quotes about travel and voyages…

circle journal march 017

Each of the pages holds tags in special pockets…The left side has a travel poster for a Trans-Atlantic French ocean liner and a bit of travel ephemera .

circle journal march 014

The tags fit into this embellished pocket…

circle journal march 027

The words from Come Sail Away by Styx are written around the borders…Feel free to sing along…The right side has a lovely picture of a woman looking out at the horizon…and a quotation about crossing the sea.

circle journal march 011

There is also a pocket with a sporty young sailing lass at the shore. She also seems to be dreaming of her own Travels by Sea .

circle journal march 013

And there it is…ready to mail.

circle journal march 019

Next I will be working on a journal from Dana and The Stone Rabbit. 

Hope your Saturday is Pink and your week is wonderful. Hubby and I splurged on two Mega Millions lottery tickets.  If our numbers come up in tonight’s ridiculously large lottery, I may be creating jewel encrusted pages covered with gold leaf and pearls…If not, I’ll continue using bits and pieces from my scrapbooking stash. Right now I’m off to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see who is posting for Pink Saturday.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Luck of the Irish to You

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! If I had a pint of Irish whiskey, I’d put a shot in my coffee and toast to us all with a lovely Irish Blessing. Instead, I’ll show pictures of my St. Paddy’s Day celebration  tree.

St. Patrick's Day tree 003

It’s hung with Victorian cones (even though the Brits and the Irish didn’t always see eye to eye…remember the words to “The Wearing of the Green”)…but the rest is pure Irish in sentiment…Lovely Irish lasses dance around the base…

St. Patrick's Day tree 004 A nutcracker stands guard over the green and gold…

St. Patrick's Day tree 002

We celebrate the day not because there’s a drop of  Irish  anywhere in our bloodlines, but because it is Michael’s mother’s birthday. She passed away in 1993, but the tradition of having a celebration to mark the holiday is part of our family. One of her little gnomes joins us every year…

St. Patrick's Day tree 011

The picture is a bit fuzzy since gnomes are so elusive and hard to capture…the same is true of her felt leprechaun. He has a pinback and was made by one of her friends so that she would have green to wear on her special day.

St. Patrick's Day tree 014 He has a little pipe cleaner body and holds a shamrock balloon…the fact that he’s handmade by one of her friends makes it easy to see why he’s my favorite… Several years ago I made pins for a St. Patrick’s Day program in my Beta Sigma Phi chapter. I tried to incorporate as many Irish traditions as possible into the round disk…the Claddagh, the Celtic cross, the leprechaun, the shamrock, and a musical note.

St. Patrick's Day tree 022

Lots of the members still pull their pins out each year…maybe someday far in the future a daughter or grand daughter will still be wearing one of them because one of her Oma’s friends made it…or not…We are lucky to spend the day with our friends in blogland…drop by Beverly’s How Sweet the Sound to see who is posting for Pink Saturday on this special Green Pink Saturday.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Circle journals left and right…lots of Pink

A Circle of Friends circle journal being hosted by Beverly is starting the third of ten exchanges…After Nancy created her  book titled Wise Words, she sent it to me. I completed two pages and sent it on to Sheila. I took advantage of being the first one in the circle to add to  Nancy’s journal. Since we have been friends since high school, I used an old high school yearbook quote…

nancy's book 002 

Then I added a snip of vintage lace that I had dyed with a natural vegetable dye…well, actually it’s a fruit dye…

nancy's book 001

it’s made from avocado peels!!! That’s right, avocado peels…when boiled for a while, a deep pink dye is produced…each time I’ve done it, the color varied a bit. This batch is more peach than pink, but the process is fun. I’ve dyed burlap that turned out much “pinker”. I read about how to do it while making Pink Saturday rounds, but since I didn’t “pin it”, I can’t remember where the method was posted . If you can remember, refresh my memory, please. I’d like to credit the creator. Nancy’s two page spread is loaded with Pink, but I’m not showing pictures til the Big Reveal  in October.  Here is a tiny scrap of vintage wallpaper that fits the tones she has selected…nancy's book 003

While we’re in the circle journal mode, look at a smaller version based on the color blue.

nancy's book 012

I’m working with another group on a music theme book. There are five of us making books based on songs with “Blue” in the title. Mine is Lavender Blue, Barbara’s book uses Elvis’s Blue Suede Shoes for its inspiration. Patty picked Blue Hawaii;  Judy went with Blue Bayou and Nancy’s book is Blue Moon. We met in January at my house to work on our covers then Nancy hosted for Valentine’s week to finish our first set of pages. I used lots of pink in my pages.

nancy's book 014

nancy's book 016

This spread has some vintage pink trim with some bead work added.

nancy's book 017

I colored a picture of a French villa and added a bit of a map of France because Lavender reminds me of France. It’s funny that the city of “Nancy” is shown on the map!

nancy's book 018

I tried my hand at a watercolor of a lavender plant. Let’s just consider this like a “before” in my watercolor career…

nancy's book 019

We do have fun doing our Craft-therapy…another fun thing is visiting Beverly every Saturday to put our attitudes “ in the Pink”. Thanks for stopping by. Leave a comment and I’ll try to return the visit. It may be a while, we are heading south for our spring vacation and I’ll be away from the Internet. Have a Pink Week.



Limping Deer and the Twins

Limping Deer and the Twins
They are still spotted at this time.

Show and Tell Sunday June 15

Flea Market Finds...sounds like my whole house and yard...

Milk Glass Collection

Milk Glass Collection
Who knew that a 25 cent flea market find would unleash such a collecting frenzy? I never pay more than a dollar unless it's a really nice piece. They are great grouped with a single daisy in each.

These used to be inexpensive florist vases in the 50's and 60's. Everyone's Grandmother had bunches.

Mexicana Dishes

Mexicana Dishes
My sister found these for me at Bussy's Flea Market in San Antonio, Texas. I had seen pictures in her Fiesta reference book. Mexicana was also made by Homer Laughlin in the 30's. I had been looking for several years without ever finding even a single piece when she found the set...with a promise to hold it for us, she came running to find me and I bought the entire set...60+ pieces for $50.

Mexicana

Mexicana
I've added to the set over the years, but the price and experience will never match that first amazing find.

Vintage Kitchen Hutch

Vintage Kitchen Hutch
When my hubby found this hutch it was Pepto pink and I was not 100% sure about it. But with a new red back and fresh white paint and refurbished hardware, it became one of my favorite pieces.

Nancy made me save the vine

Nancy made me save the vine
The vine and flowers painted on the inside were in such bad shape that I was ready to remove it all. Nancy -My Crafty Little Page convinced me to keep it and after some touch-up work, I'm glad I listened to her. My husband restores vintage Cushman motorscooters and he tries to make everything "mint" condition again. The Shabby Chic movement came along just in time to keep me from making some terrible mistakes.