We have a winner . . .

Hello all! Thank you for entering my Halloween give away. The winner is . . .  comment #2! Rebecca at Pink Pearl Studio! Check out her Halloween banner! It's sure to get you in the creating mood. :)

Rebecca - send me an email with your address so I can get your package in the mail right away!

I wish I had a project to share but I must admit that I've been very lazy lately! Isn't that awful? You sit around wishing you had more time and then you just sit around. Oy. So how about some projects I would LIKE to make?

From the last issue of Somerset Home:







I love all three of these projects! Especially that Shabby Union Jack pillow. Love the vintage measuring tape looking trim. The little bird in the wreath on the cover is cute, too, and wouldn't they be cute Christmas ornaments? And the tassel is just shear whimsy. Love it. Now if only my crafty mojo would return. If you find it hiding under your sofa, please tell it to come home immediately.

cheers ~ RR

FINALLY. Return to the Thrift Store

So I seriously haven't been to the Thrift Store in like 6 weeks. I. Know. Vacation, new job, cleaning (blech) all get in the way and disrupt my thrifting schedule. I've been trying to get to the Elephant's Trunk Flea for a few weekends now with no luck. I'm going to try (again) to go this Sunday if I can get everything else I need to do squared away first, of course.

This past Sunday I got up with the chickens and got a jump on my way over due housework. So by 10:30 I didn't feel too guilty about jumping in the car and heading out. While there was only one real stellar find, I am happy with my goods.



A small collection of vintage fabric and napkins. I love that blue rose print. There is a good amount and I already have an idea for it. The floral fabric in the center is a pair of pillow cases and those are TWELVE Vera napkins on the bottom. Cute, I know, but stellar? Not quite.



Some inexpensive scraps of new fabric. Sunday is half price on 4 colors so almost everything I picked up was 50% off. Still not stellar though.



I love to rescue handmade items, particularly cute baby blankets. I have to say, I love this color combo and it might be close to being my favorite find of the day but not number one . . .



Little aqua apron . . . adorable! I actually scored two of these and couldn't leave them behind. A future give away perhaps? Should they be decorated?



I love this shabby basket. The liner is a bit dirty and not very cute but I plan to use it as a pattern to make a new liner. I'm thinking of using that blue rose fabric. Then I'll pile up my vintage baby blankets in there.

And while I know you're expecting something like vintage table cloths or Pyrex so my stellar find MAY surprise you:



The corkscrew on the left is a vintage French Zig Zag. I believe it was made in 1953 and I found it in a bag for $1. I knew it was neat and I've been picking up vintage corkscrews here and there (the one on the right is a vintage Swiss design) but when I did some Googling on the Zig Zag it seems they are quite popular! One sold on Sunday on Ebay for $200. So a $1 true antique find? Stellar.

Stop by the Examiner for my latest article on making Halloween Cracker Favors. And remember to leave a comment HERE to win a little pack of Halloween goodies including Martha Stewart and K & Company items.

Give Away Time!

As promised, I went through a bunch of stuff in the craft room of doom and pulled out some Halloween goodies to give away.



Up for grabs is a Halloween Tricks and Treats magazine (from last year but still full of fun!), a K & Company sparkly "Happy Halloween" banner (the picture looks dark blue to me but it's really a royal purple. Some fun Halloween "crime scene" tape for decorating, Martha Stewart glitter stickers (they are sticky on both sides and you put glitter on top and they look very cute!) and a collection of Halloween greeting cards (all blank inside) with images of vintage ephemera on the front.

All you have to do is a leave a comment and tell me what you're working on right now. I love to hear everyone's projects (craft, decorating, organizing, you name it!) and get inspired! If you've blogged about it include a link so we can all check it out. I'll pick a winner on Thursday and get it out in the mail by Saturday so you'll have it to enjoy for the holiday.

Halloween Crown Swap

When Sarah at My So Called Junky Life announced a crown swap you KNOW I was right on it. I LOVE making crowns. In fact, I think I'll make myself a crown this weekend now that I've completed my crown for the swap. My partner is Samantha, one of the bloggers at Altered Junkies. I can't wait to see what she creates for me! My crown arrived to Samantha earlier this week and I've been dying to share so here we go . . .



I used black poster board (which is how I start all of my paper crowns) and cut out my crown shape.



I cut out grave stones from the Cricut Cartridge October 31st and glittered them with fine Martha Stewart glitter.



The moon graphic is from the ever fabulous Graphics Fairy and the sparkly letters are from Michaels. Do you know that I have an entire DRAWER of chip board glittered letters? Seriously.



I love how it turned out. I think when I make one for myself I'll call it "Scream Queen" what do you think?  Now that the "Wicked" crown is with it's new owner that white pumpkin looks a bit lonely.

Click here to see my album of crowns at Flickr!

I've also been busy at the Examiner and think I've written one of my favorite articles to date! I was able to interview Marlo from Contain Ya Crafts and it was a great experience! She is fun and interesting and really KNOWS what crafters are looking for in their storage needs. Please click HERE to read the interview. I also posted some fabulous Halloween crafts from Jen at Lipstick and Laundry. Check out the article HERE and make sure to stop by to visit her. She makes the most beautiful things from everyday materials! Thank you so much for your support with the Examiner. I'm enjoying finding new inspiration and meeting new people and hope you're enjoying them as well!

cheers ~ R

Stop looking amnd start doing . . .

I really wanted to go to the flea market this weekend. But when Sunday rolled around I just wanted to stay home. I'd been out most of the day on Saturday and really want to spend some time on the sofa. Then I thought I'd just head to the thrift but I couldn't seem to motivate myself to do that either. So I fretted about for awhile, thinking about what I was missing. Wondering if there were some fabulous craft supplies out there with my name on them. Then it hit me. I have PLENTY of supplies right here from countless trips. Why not just use what I have?

When I cleaned my sun porch this weekend (which was sadly over due) I found two cloches I picked up at the thrift YEARS ago. They aren't really cloches, I believe they are meant to hold candles in some sort of holder thing. Hard to explain but I thought they were cute and planned to use them to cover a few seedlings back when I was trying to cultivate a green thumb. Looking at them on Saturday I was struck with a different idea.



I have purchased several ornaments that are small glass cloches or jars that have little scenes inside and thought I could turn my little containers into something just as cute.



This project turned out even better then I thought it would! I only used things I had (which isn't much of a feat considering my hoarding tendencies) and am very happy with the results.



I had a huge pack of bottle brush trees picked up at an after Christmas sale for pennies and a big jar of Martha Stewart mica type glitter.

 

I used some beads I cut from picks that I thrifted earlier this year plus some other little odds and ends in my scrapbook supply bin. I piled up glue around the bottom of the trees to make it look like snow drifts and poured on the glitter. Then I glued down the cloche and added a sparky pipe cleaner hanger and tag with the year on it.



I love them! And now I want to make more Christmas things even though I have all of my fall and Halloween stuff out on the desk to work on. :) I'm very easily distracted.

Stop by the my page at The Examiner for my latest articles. If you click HERE you can read about  CricutSearch.com, a free online tool that has a searchable data base of ALL Cricut cartridges. A fabulous tool when you are looking for a certain shape and aren't sure which cartridge you saw it on. You can click HERE and see a great holiday DIY gift idea on making a stylish cuff from an old belt. It's clever and quick and will give you a great head start on your holiday gift crafting. Thank you so much for your support! Don't forget to send me your projects and ideas.

I'll also be having a give away this week. When going through my supplies this weekend I found a lot of Halloween items that I'd like to share. Come back soon!

Hat Time

I love making hats for gifts. I've already made a few with a long list still to go. I hate that I don't have as much time to knit and crochet now that I'm working full time but hats are pretty easy and portable for when I can take them with me to sneak in a little work here and there.

I recently finished up this beauty:



I really need a foam head or something to show off my hats! I remember seeing them in abundance at the thrift "back in the day" but I don't recall having seen any lately. This hat is from the winter issue of Knitscene magazine (I think) and is made with Paton's silk angora. It came out a bit too big for both my head and the friend I made it for so I need to adjust it or start a new one and give this to a big headed friend. ;) (Actually, my friend and I have peanut sized heads.)



I know that looks like a silly black circle on the right there but I swear that is a hat, too. Sort of a newsboy style, it's a pattern from a vintage crochet book called "IN Crochets" which is pretty funny don't you think? You see the lady in the snazzy big glasses? She's wearing this hat.



I received it in the mail along with a few other books from Vallen, her majesty of all things good. It was a fabulous surprise! Very fun funky 70s patterns. I tried to get a few good shots of me wearing the hat (it really is cute) but no luck. I am so not a hat person. This was a gift for my sister so maybe she'll take a photo of her wearing it. (HINT HINT MANDI)



This is a puff stitch crocheted beret that is my own pattern. It's cute but a little heavy so I'm trying to incorporate a wide knit band to make it stay in place better. Trial and error!

In other news, remember Ms. Felicity Foxity?



I've entered her in a contest to be a part of the Interweave Crochet Amigurumi 2012 calendar. Wish her luck! I'll need to write out her pattern and if she doesn't win I'll publish it here for everyone to enjoy. She's one of my favorite toys to date.


Please visit me at the Examiner. I have two articles up about getting ready for Halloween Crafting. You can find them HERE and HERE. I'll be featuring some fun Halloween crafts, including my cracker party favors, so please subscribe to get all the fun updates and projects.

Cricut Goodness

Hello all, enjoying the on set of Fall? I am! :) So I was wondering if anyone out there has a Cricut machine and what types of projects they've made. I'm going to start a series at the Examiner on Cricut projects and would love to feature some of yours. I make mostly paper crafts but I know you can cut vinyl and make cake decor and I'd love to see some of the different options. So if you or someone you know is using Cricut (or even if you see it on a blog somewhere) let me know!

I just won these two cartridges on Ebay:





I got From my Kitchen for $22 and Pagoda for $15 both with free shipping! If you know anything about Cricut cartridge prices you know these are really good! They are brand new and I can't wait to use them. Check out Mom's Home Made Crafts on Ebay, she lists loads of Cricut items and often has free shipping.

What would you make with these two cartridges? 

So please, get in touch! I'll be cranking up the machine this weekend for some fun crafting with my friend Nine. Can't wait!

OBX

Hello all! Where did the summer go? As you know, I'm sooo ready for fall but it was nice to spend a week in the Outer Banks soaking up the sun. Now it's back to reality and already I feel overwhelmed. Don't you hate that? All that relaxation just washed away but the rigors of day to day life. Sigh . . . so let's reminisce, shall we?



The Currituck Beach Lighthouse was just half a mile from our beach house. It's located in a lovely little park with a gorgeous view of the Currituck Sound and some sweet little shops. Luis climbed up the 216 steps to the observation deck. I stayed safely on the ground once I heard you had a sign a waiver that the light house wasn't a sound structure!



We also went to Kill Devil Hills to see the spot where the Wright Brothers made the first flight.



We climbed up to the monument where you can see the sound and the ocean plus the field with markers of the flights.

On our last day of the trip we rented a jeep and went on a tour of Swan Beach.



Luis was very excited to try his hand at 4 wheeling in the sand. :)



Oh how I love the self portrait! :) The beach houses a wildlife preserve which is home to a herd of wild horses. They are not shy and come right up to the cars!



There were a few new members and we were lucky to get to see two of the colts up close. So cute!

Ahh . . . vacation. Now it's back to real life and work. At least until our trip to Los Angeles in October. :) In the mean time I'll try to get some crafting going on. I joined the Halloween Crown swap at My So Called Junky Life. My partner is Samantha from Altered Art Junkies. I can't wait to get started!

Stop by and read my latest article at the Examiner. You can find it HERE. It features one of my favorite crafting authors, Tone Finnanger, who has a new Christmas book coming out next month. I'm so ready to start on my holiday projects, how about you?

My Fair Ladies

I've been wanting to have the chance to spend some time in the clean craft room but the new job and house work has kept me busy. I managed to get up super early yesterday and drag out a few supplies and start on a heritage album:



I spent most of my time sitting there "thinking" about what to do and not really doing! (Don't you ahet that?) But at least I got some creative time in. I also remembered that I haven't shared the latest Victorian Lady I finished up a few weeks ago and quickly snapped some pictures:



It really is much cuter then this photo lets on! I used a fan ornament I found at the thrift store, some vintage photos I printed from here and some great silver leaves that Shara sent me some time ago. I actually started it back when I made this ornament I made two years ago:



You can see the original post here. Oh yes, TWO YEARS it's been sitting in pieces waiting to be finished. Oh how I procrastinate lol. However, I'm glad the pair is done! I think they are so cute and I keep them in little shadow boxes I found on clearance forever ago:



Cute, right? So as you can imagine I put the heritage album stuff away and drug out my files of Victorian ladies and started on some Halloween witches. Hopefully they will be finished by October 2012. ;) I'll share those soon! Has any one else started on fall crafts yet?

Please stop by and read my latest article on refinishing flea market furniture. I have an expert guest who gives great tips on stripping off and repainting the pieces. This is the first post where I feature that expert who happens to be my dad! So please visit and see what he has to say. You won't be sorry! :)

Kokeshi

I love collecting things. It adds to the "thrill of the hunt." I have many little collections that I've shared here but I don't think I've ever showed my small collection of Kokeshi dolls:



The two in the center are thrift store finds. The tall one on the left is from a "junk" antique store (and I say that fondly!) and it's really a set of three nesting dolls. The big fella on the right was a gift from my friend Nina when she recently visited Japan. He is new, as opposed to the vintage ones, and a bit bigger. I think the four of them might a lovely team and I hope to find more in my travels.

Nina also brought me other fun goodies from her trip like little silk squares and those adorable tiny erasers! It was like Christmas. :)

If you really want to see some amazing collections visit Laurie at Magpie Ethel. She does a a collection challenge each week and you can see them all here. Prepare to be amazed! Maybe we can convince Laurie to host a collection blog party where everyone can post their collections for sharing.

While you're out there on the world wide web please stop by HERE and see my new Examiner page. I would love it if you subscribed to receive my arts and crafts articles. You'll see many of my favorite bloggers and new friends featured plus fun and affordable craft projects to try. The first national article is posted there and is about using paint to freshen up flea market furniture. You can read it HERE. Thank you again for all of your support! Ideas for articles and projects are always welcome. And if you have discovered any fantastic new crafting and DIY blogs out there please let me know!

Fondly ~ Rebecca

Putting the Goodness back in Thrifting

Pickings have been slim in the thrifts around here lately. Most trips result in nothing exciting and are hardly worth the gas money. Today I decided to take a drive out to one of the bigger stores and was finally glad I made the trip!

This was my very first find in the door:



Did you see the article in the current issue of Country Living about the State Souvenir glasses? This one is different from the one they featured from Vermont but I think it's cuter! And now, of course, I'll be searching for more. 1 down, 49 to go! lol



I LOVE Salty and Peppy. I promised myself I wouldn't buy salt and pepper shakers as I just donated a bunch but COME ON. Could you have left them behind? And that guy on the left? I'd love to find his mate. I looked all over the store but no luck. Hopefully she'll turn up in time. (Do you think of salt as female and pepper as male or is it just me? ha!)



Someone donated a huge amount of fabric scraps as there were piles to go through. Most were patterns I didn't love and as I already have that giant load of fabric brewing I figured I shouldn't add to it too much. The pieces for 99 cents and about a yard each. I scooped up these four pieces. Loving those pink and blue damask designs.



And one Shabby Chic pillow sham. (awful photo!) Again, I wish it were a pair but perhaps it, too, will appear in a future trip.

So now everyone do the thrifty karma dance so I may reunite my shaker and sham! :) It's nice to finally find some things that I couldn't wait to inspect when I got home.

Ready for Autumn

I'm so over summer. I hate the hot. Oh and the bugs, too. Don't get me wrong. I love the beach and swimming in the ocean but I'm ready for the cool, crisp fall air, the cold weather fashions and all the crafting and fun that comes along with the big holidays.

I finished my first week at my new job and I'm exhausted! It's hard to get back into the routine of working 40 plus hours a week and still being able to get everything else done. I'm sure I'll acclimate soon though. :)

In other news, I am now the official Arts & Crafts writer for the National Edition of the Examiner! My previous articles were featured on the New York local page while my new articles will appear on the national page. My page will be available HERE but it is currently not publishing. Hopefully it will be up soon and I'll be able to get started! I'm looking to highlight crafters across the country plus online shops, products and tools. I also plan to continue the trash to treasure and budget crafting themes as well as DIY home projects. I'll be visiting your blogs and contacting you about being featured! I'm hoping to create a nationwide network of crafters who share ideas, inspiration and info. The only thing I'll need from you is permission to link to your site and use your photos which will be credited to you. And if you could link to the article and help drive readership that would be great! The more readers, the more sponsors and the more opportunities to have some fabulous give aways.

Now back to Autumnal dreaming . . .



Arthur is ready for Halloween!



He has donned his super suit and can't wait to hit the streets.



I created him based on pictures in "Arthur's Halloween" which I found at the thrift.



His cuteness is ridiculous. :) He's renewed my love of toy making and I expect to make him a few friends soon. Perhaps another character from the same book? If you have any suggestions for softies that can be based on childrens book pictures/characters, let me know!

Oh and a giveaway is coming soon. More fun Martha Stewart Crafts items! Toodles!

Craft Room Reorganization

I'm sure you've heard this before. "I'm going to work on cleaning up the craft room." Um yeah. I know. I say it often but do it infrequently. But this time, I delivered.



I. KNOW. I can actually WORK in there. Who would have thought?



I've added a few new pieces like the two tiered basket above and some paper storage cubes I picked up at Michaels this weekend. I took the photos before I put them together but they make it even nicer.



One of the problems with this room is that there is no closet so everything has to be out.



Trying to keep everything neat is also an issue for me. Why? Because I tend to drag out everything and then figure I'll put it away later.



Plus I love displaying not only my creations but those I've received from others. I'll be doing a post soon on my favorite treasures but you can see a few of them in the photos if you look carefully.



There are still problem areas like this fabric pile. I swear it grows on it's own like Gremlins. Sigh . . .

So now the challenge is to keep it nice and neat. I actually did some scrap booking yesterday and YES the paper and other supplies are still out on the desk but I promise I'll put them away later. No, really.

My first day at my new job is tomorrow. I'm nervous and excited and dreading it. Oy. Wish me luck!