Hanging Hearts

Before I get into my swap goodies let me apologize for giving many of you heart attacks by suggesting I might cut up that chenille spread. Don't worry! I won't be cutting. :)

My hanging hearts swap partner is Wendy. This was her first swap and she recently started a blog. She. Is. Awesome. Seriously. We hit it off immediately and have exchanged many emails and pictures. I'm so glad to have met her! She sent an awesome package! It totally made my package to her look sad. ;)



BTW, Wendy, there is little heart glitter all over the place! LOL



Look at the Goodness! She made the awesome quilted bag and hanging heart and also included a cute monkey picture she found at the thrift store (a monkey holding a cupcake, how perfect for me!), a pink and brown Alaska hat, chocolates, Alaskan soap and lip balm, an altered match box, embroidery floss and the funniest nose shaped pencil sharpener that I had to hide from my husband.



Gorgeous! As you all know by now, I love pink and brown and this was the first time Wendy used the color combo and it turned out great! Look at that fancy pants stitching!



Thank you so much for such a wonderful swap! While my package was not so nearly full of Goodness I hope you liked the sweet Sophie I made for you:



I wanted to do something different and hope she makes you smile when you look at her. :)

*************************

I have more of my magical mail to share tomorrow but first I need to ask a favor. PLEASE send me some "finish what you started" jou-jou. I seem to have fallen into a creative slump this last week and can't seem to see anything through to the end. So send me your good vibes so I can get some stuff out of the WIP pile. :)

cheers

Thumbs Up for Thrifting

Yes that's me. I'm bringin' dorky back.

Mandi and I had a great visit! We went to see the New Jersey Devils take on the Anaheim Ducks on Friday:


(Mandi, her husband Ryan and my Louie at the game)

We also did some thrifting. I haven't been thrifting with her in awhile so it was fun and she was lucky for me! So what did I find?



This chenille bed spread was $7. It's in perfect shape! So perfect that I wonder at it's age. It doesn't seem new but there isn't a stain, rip or worn spot on it. It's very pretty and soft and it's at least a full sized spread. Do I cut it? *gulp*



These are two Laura Ashley curtain panels I snatched up at $7 for both. Is anyone familiar with the pattern name? I think it's lovely and I have already washed and hung them in my craft room. I like them much better than the red panels that were in there though I will have to rethink the Waverly Sweet Violets pattern I was planning to use. They really don't go LOL.



This vintage cloth was $4 and is also in good shape. There is a bit of staining but I can live with it even if Oxi can't get it out. I think this style is my favorite as far as vintage cloths go. I have two others that are similar. You can one here. Sarah, is this style called something specific?



And Mandi found this cute wooden egg dish for me. It's a nice heavy wood and will be so cute with my other dish on the table at Easter full of colorful eggs.

And oh my friends, there is more. But I won't make you picture crazy today. And also on deck . . . I received some great mail today from Jen, Shara and Wendy plus my order from One Hundred Wishes. I love happy mail days.

Until tomorrow . . .

R

Sleep Tight

So while I haven't been all that crafty this week (unless you count crocheting something and then ripping it out and then knitting something and then ripping it out, too) I haven't been a total schlub:



These sleep masks are so quick and easy! I need to work a bit on the top (you can see how I didn't fold it properly on both and the green fleece backing is visable) but I am still quite happy with them. The red one is mine and the blue one is for my weekend visitor. I've made about 5 of these now and I like them all. I think I'll whip up some extras to tuck in with gifts through out the year.

They are from a pattern in this book but I top stitch around the mask where as her pattern calls for handsewing that opening. I did that on my first one and it looked sloppy. I need some hand sewing lessons! (ahem, Anna.) The author also has a Christmas Crafts book (remember my snowman?) and this one:



There are quite a few things in here I'm hoping to try:



Terry cloth lambs



Cute bunny pot holders



Bunny hearts



Eggy Houses

and my personal favorite . .



A flock of sweet geese

I had better get busy.

Well I'll be off line while my sister is in town but hope to share some of our adventures next week!

ciao bellas!

Thrifty?

I think I need to put more thrifty into my thrifting. I spent $50 at the thrift on Saturday! Ack! In my defense, I bought two big 35 gallon bins to use for storage in our basement. They were cheaper there than at Target but I didn't think you guys wanted to see pictures of bins. I also bought something I really didn't need but couldn't resist. That's down stairs to be washed and I'll share it in a future post. Also in my cart that day was a stack of fabric. I cannot take interesting of fabric. I will tell you that I did find a yard of Waverly Sweet Violets that matches this set:



which I picked up in the fall. I'm planning to put this in my craft room. So what should I make with my scant yard of fabric? Maybe some drawstring storage bags? Hmmm. Anyway, I thought it was lucky to snag some matching material!

I also found this:



It's a washcloth. Isn't it ODD? I mean cutsy but odd none the less. My guess is that it's Japanese as I found another small washcloth that has a minature dachshund on the front and it still had the tags in Japanese. (NOTE: If anyone out there has or loves minature dachshunds please send me your address and I'll pop that cute washcloth in the mail to you!)

So enough of that. Here is my favorite find:



An amber hobnail glass egg dish. I paid more than I normally would for this at thrift, $9, but I just couldn't leave it behind. I never see hobnail glass! I think it looks nice there on my hutch, too.




I really love the rich color! While I know it's an egg dish I think it fits right in with my oyster plate collection as well.

So I did get some nice things but that was an extravagant trip for me. I guess that is what happens when one does not thrift for a month!

On a different note, go see The Wizard Helmets in action! Mandi posted about her fun Fairytale party from last summer. And guess who made the magical crepe paper bean stalk? Hmm? Yours truly!

cheers
R

Superbowl :)

I promised my husband a blog post dedicated to the Superbowl and the world champion Giants. So here you go:



Can't have a party without balloons, right? (For the record, I'm kind of afraid of balloons.)

And what did Luis eat?



Oh boy, tummy ache city! (and yes those are Giants plates.) I had 97% fat free hotdogs with ketchup on wheat buns to stick to my diet. Not bad! I also made fresh guacamole and wings with blue cheese dressing using a Weight Watchers recipe. They came out great.



Throw in some dollar store pom-poms and you've got yourself a party. :)

Needless to say L. is VERY excited that his team won and is all ready for tomorrow's ticker tape parade. I'll be back tomorrow to show you how you can spend $50 at the thrift store and only have two pictures to share. Hmmm . . .

cheers!
Rebecca

Welcome Wendy! and gettin' o'ganized

So my Hanging Hearts Swap partner has done it, she took the plunge and started her very own blog! Visit Wendy at Something for Sophie and welcome her to our happy bloggy family!

So . . . now that you've all visited Wendy let's talk about me. Ahem.



Look at my neatly organized craft desk! Now don't get too excited, the desk is currently covered in Valentine crafty things but still looks pretty good. The simple addition of that over the sink shelf from my kitchen really made a difference! I still need to go through all of that paper on the right there but let's not get crazy.



I also did some work on the ribbon drawer. I had so many scraps and half spools and I could never find anything I was looking for.




It was time consuming to rap all the ribbon around cardboard but I am happy with the result. Easy to see and find whatever I am looking for!

Next up, fabric! Wish me luck!

cheers
Rebecca

On air in five . . . four . . .

Well kids, I'm back! We had a wonderful vacation and I wish I were still floatin' in the lazy river sipping my pina co-lava! ;) Here are some shots of our fun times:


So you know I did some shopping in WDW right?



Man I'm a sucker for stuffed toys! How old am I?? But aren't they adorable? I couldn't resist. And hello? They are wearing pink and brown! My favorite. Also picked up these:



It's a box of 24 Valentines also pink and brown. Again, too cute. (and as always, sorry for the glare, I only thought to snap this pick this morning before I ripped into my Valentines!)

I also spent a mint at the Japanese store, Mitsukoshi, in Epcot. One of the girls working there said she worked for the store in Tokyo and they sent her to work in Disney for a year. When I asked if she liked the United States all she said was "it's different." I'm sure it is.

In the United Kingdom Pavilion I found this display:



Aren't they so cool? You can go here and see a picture of the entire display. I was so fascinated by this and took tons of pictures so I can make my own wooden royals. Now if only I can figure out a good source for wooden doll bodies that won't run me a fortune . . .

Here is a shot of the fabulous pool at our resort, The Beach Club:



It was really a fun place to stay!

And last but not least, a picture of my DH picking a monkey's nose:



Glad you stuck around for that one, huh?

So I'm ready to get back to crafting and fun now that vacation has passed and my brain is flowing with ideas! Wish I had something to show you now but the last thing I made is for the Hanging Hearts swap and I don't want to blow the surprise for my swap partner Wendy! Wendy doesn't have a blog but she's thinking about startingone. I hope she decides to take the plunge. She works mostly with fabric and you should see some of her creations! And did I mention she lives in the Land of the Midnight Sun? That just fascinates me to no end!

Hope to be back this week with something crafty to share!

xoxoxo
R

Until the next time . . .

I'm off to see Mickey Mouse bright and early tomorrow morning. I'll be back and ready to kick some crafty butt on a week.

big hugs!
R

Tutorial: Crepe Paper Pin Wheels

I've never done a tutorial before but as it's on my January List to try to add more to the blog I thought I'd start small.

I use crepe paper pin wheels in a number of different crafts. I have quite a few ideas brewing that I hope to incorporate them into and share with you in the month of February. So let's begin, shall we? :)

note: The crepe paper used in this tutorial is from the dollar store.

Materials:

crepe paper (no need to cut a length from the roll, you can just start from the end and cut later)
needle and thread
glitter (optional)
glue (optional)

Thread your needle with about 24 inches of thread and tie in a secure knot. Weave your thread in and out along the bottom of the crepe paper:



Gather crepe paper onto thread:



Continue until you have enough gathered to make a circle:



Cut the crepe paper just beyond the last stitch:



Your piece should look like this:



Secure the two ends together with a few stitches in the middle:



At this point you can add a dab of glue to secure but it should stay just as it is. Knot the thread and cut. Want to add glitter?

Prepare by making a row of glitter on a piece of scrap paper. Put glue on the edges of your pin wheel with a paint brush:



Dip your glued edge in the glitter a few times to coat:



Shake off excess and let dry. Viola!:



I used this one here:



I love the way this came out! The fan is a Christmas ornament originally from Pier One. I found three in a bag at the thrift store for 99 cents. I've already started a second ornament:



I just need to make another crepe paper pin wheel and add some feathers. :)

Please let me know how you enjoyed my first tutorial and it's clear and easy to understand.

Cheers!
Rebecca

I'm just going to look, I don't need a cart . . . .

That was my attitude heading into the Northern Thrift on Sunday with my friend Lizzy. I really just wanted to drop off my donations and have a quick spin around. No need for a cart. Well as we all know that never works. While I didn't get a ton I did buy a large wicker basket to use in reorganizing the craft room and ended up needing that cart after all.

A few other things I found . . .



Two tea towels, one is cotton and has a picture of Italy and the other is Irish Linen (by order of Her Royal Majesty according to the tag) and has a lovely alphabet on it. The striped fabric is a yard of Laura Ashley "Old English" and was a steal at 69 cents. I think I'll make myself some shoe bags with that. And the big rolls of crepe paper are the nice stuff, not the cheapy dollar store crap. I'm picturing Halloween crafts for some reason. ;)



My favorite find was this small enamelware dish. It's about 9 X 6 and is quite heavy. I love the aqua color! The bottom is slightly darker. Funny how a small dish can make me so happy LOL.

A pretty good thrifting trip in all with most items being small ticket and only a few dollars more for the large basket and the dish. Lizzy did well, too. She cleaned up on nice wool sweaters! I've got the junkin' itch and just chatted with Breanna today about planning a spring trip to the Elephant's Trunk Flea Market.

So I'm way over due in showing you the lovely wedding gift VaxGirl made for me. She gave it to me when we went to the rummage sale in November and I thought I posted about it but couldn't find it!



She crocheted me this lovely cotton bathroom set! The picture really doesn't do it justice at all. You should see that bath mat! Hopefully soon my bathroom will be clean enough for me to use it in there. ;) She also gave me a set of Pyrex mixing bowls and a jar of her home made pickles. Thanks again, Catherine, and so so sorry I didn't post about this long ago!

Until the next . . .

Rebecca

PS - My sister is back blogging! Visit her here!

Sew What

I decided to face my fears and blew the dust off the old sewing monster this weekend. As many of you know I get really frustrated sewing. Thanks to my DH I have a lovely new machine that doesn't get a lot of attention. I promised myself I'd get over it and dive right in. So of course I'm starting small.



Lovely picture, yes I know. I probably should have stuffed them for a more attractive shot but I was just so happy they turned out that I wanted to document it quickly. Two drawstring shoe bags for Luis to use on our trip next week. The fabric is a lovely scrap of Waverly decorator cotton I've had forever and have been afraid to cut into. (If someone can explain to me why we crafters HATE using craft supplies please do.) I pretty much used this tutorial (which I found here on Roxanne's blog) but as I was going from memory I'm sure my method was a wee bit different. Simple, I know, but oh so handy and some serious instant gratification. Does it matter that Luis can only fit one shoe in each bag instead of two? No.

That done I decided to push my luck and try something similar but a bit more difficult. I found this tutorial through Sara's blog (you can see her version here) and decided to give it a go:



Not bad for my first piece of patchwork! The rooster fabric is again something I've had for awhile but have been loathe to cut into but I'm glad I did. I've been wanting to use it for a kitchen project forever and really did need a place to store those pesky grocery bags I still end up with even though I try to always take my own bags to the store. Now if only I had enough of that fabric left for curtains!



I hung it in the basement way with my favorite aprons which includes that sweet orange and green bird apron Jen was kind enough to make me for a swap. I really need to work on my picture taking LOL.

Anyway, it was quite a productive weekend for me with all the sewing, crafting, and patting myself on the back. I'll have a few things to share this week including some thrifts and a tutorial. :)

hugs
RR

Seven Somethings

So I was tagged by Tamy and Michelle to tell 7 somethings about me. So in no particular order . . .


1) In a creative writing class in college we had to choose a pen name and would be called that for the semester but our odd but fairly likable teacher. I chose Rebecca Dusquesne. We had just studied Fort Duquesne in another class and I thought it sounded so exotic! I changed the spelling a bit and voila! I had a pen name. Those of you who have seen my email address will notice that I still use Dusquesne to this very day. :)

2) I am a certified massage therapist. I specialized in sports massage (rotation disorder) and had wonderful day dreams of working with the US Olympic speed skating team in Torino in 2006. Instead of furthering my career in Utah where the team practices I moved to New York City where I met my future husband 6 weeks after I got here. Sometimes I still think about being a therapist but I'm happy with the decision I made. Now if Major League Baseball calls and needs my services we'll just have to see what happens . . .

3) I took classical voice lessons for many years. I am known to burst out into "Nel Cor Pia Non Mi Sento**" after too many glasses of wine.

4) My husband calls me "squab head" anytime I wear a hood. He says my head is way too small for my body. That's only because his head is the size of a medicine ball.

5) I almost moved to Auckland, New Zealand and while researching working abroad made friends with a man who worked for the NZ visa department. He told me to learn Japanese so I could prove I had a marketable skill in the tourist areas. He also sent me pictures of him and his dog running in a field. Hmmm.

6) If you Google me I'm a make up artist, an insurance broker and a woman who owns a Welsh Corgi with degenerative bone disease.

7) I worked in the music industry for 9 years. I ranged from record store employee to advertising manager. After that I was so sick of "popular" music that I turned on the oldies station and never looked back. To this day I have no idea what music is "in" unless I hear it on a commercial.

So there you go. Still want to read my blog? LOL

I think everyone has been tagged so I'll skip that. :)

Have a wonderful weekend my friends! I hope to share some crafty goodies next week!

~ Rebecca

** - Nel Cor Pia Non Mi Sento basically translates to "pity me because I'm so very sad" LOL

Out.Of.Con.Trol

Seriously. I said I wasn't going to spend money this year and well . . . the clearance section at the Michaels got me again. In my defense I used a gift card which still has some funds on it.



Oh Martha, you slay me! Seriously. But what a wonderful palette, no? The rolls of paper are glassine, wrapping, vellum and tissue from the bottom up. Either $2.00 or $1.50. On the right: the recipes cards were $1 (I sent these in red to Breanna for the Sister Swap. I like that they fold over as I always run out of room when writing out a recipe!), the package behind that are memorabilia pockets for a scrapbook and were not on clearance but well, you know, I NEEDED them. Only $3 so okay. ;) The "specimen" boxes were $2 each, originally $9.99. They are hinged boxes with padded fabric inside and specimen pins to attach some thing. Not sure what I'm going to do but perhaps something from my wedding as they are pink and brown. And wouldn't that be a neat gift for someone? Ideas welcome! What would you make? The ribbon is actually ribbon tape (sticky back) and I can think of many uses for it, $2, and the kit is to make 3 lovely frames and was $5. I will probably frame photos for gits with these. So this was all under $20 and like I said, I used a gift card.

I'm very into these colors right now. Especially the soft pink. I about drooled all over the February Country Living that arrived in my box yesterday:



There's my combo of pink and brown! And hello, I want a cupcake. :) Love the little basket handle, too. Might have to steal that idea. So did I read the magazine? Um no. I haven't finished with January yet and like Leigh Ann I like to read things in order.

I'll share my seven random/strange facts tomorrow as I can't come up with any as I'm so very normal. ;) Off to a long day of CPR and first aid training!

cheers
Rebecca