April! Airline Destroys Shadowbox! Fabric Collage! Snippets! Freebies!

Hello Friends!

April showers!!
Well, not really here, it is San Diego, after all!

This next piece is something I've wanted to blog about for awhile,
but wanted to make sure it got safely in the hands of it's recipients first!
My nephew married a delightful young woman last December,
they had a beautiful Christmas themed wedding,
and I wanted to make something special for them--
a shadowbox using bits of their wedding invitation along with
pictures of them during their engagement,
leading up to the wedding.
And I wanted to hand deliver it to them
at their rehearsal dinner.
I should mention that we live on opposite coasts.
I thought I would be safe in hand carrying it in
my onboard luggage.
Well.
Our connecting flight was on a smaller regional jet,
and hand luggage is stowed in the baggage compartment as you board the plane.
Well.
They unload the baggage compartment,
and send it up in a little elevator to the gate for you to pick up.
Somehow, some way, lucky me,
my bag got caught between the elevator and the shaft,
it wouldn't open, it wouldn't close,
the only way to dislodge it was to send it back down
and let it drop 30 FEET!
They claimed they tried to catch it...

I wish I had a picture of the suitcase...
But I do have this...
This is what the shadowbox looked like when I packed it:

This is what I received when I finally got my baggage:

They (the airline personnel) were very apologetic,

but I had worked long and hard on it,

and I had so wanted to give it to them in person at the RD...  :(

But...

there is a happy ending!

After begging for bits of the invitation from various relatives,

I pulled myself together to to try recreate it,

which was a bit tricky, 

now that they are married,

and I needed to work the wedding in.

 Well, I did,

and the happy couple just happened to come to San Diego last week,

and I was able to give them this:

 in person!!
They loved it,
and we had a lovely time together!

Catching up on some other projects...
I was in a snippet roll swap earlier this year.
I had wanted to do one of those for a long time,
and had so much fun making them!
They are quite addictive!
I love the idea that you can take bits and pieces of fabric and lace
and add to it and make something so lovely!

 

This next is a 4 x 6 fabric collage sampler

which I made for my partner in

Swap for All Season's monthly fabric sampler swap.

I made this very vintage lace butterfly the focal point,

not realizing but delighted to find out my partner loves butterflies!

 

Some Spring-y freebies for you:

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

More Friday fun to be had at Fabulously Creative Friday!  

Lots of great ideas at Show and Tell Friday!  

Lovely blues at Anything Blue Friday!

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday!

Creative living, decorating, and craft ideas at Inspired Sunday!

Lovely tablescapes at Seasonal Sundays!

Be inspired by Inspire Me Tuesday!

Vintage creativity at Vintage Inspiration Wednesday!

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday!

Beautiful greys at Grey Dey Thursdeys.

Lovely things to be found at

French cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

 

♥♥♥ Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great weekend!

Peat Pots! Nests! Freebies!

Hello Friends!
Flowers are blooming, birds are singing...
Yes, it's Spring!!
Actually there have been some days here lately when it's been more like Summer!
I'm not complaining...but okay, I am a little.
  I am not ready yet to start wearing summer clothes!

I have been busy this Spring, creating and swapping. I created this peat pot for a swap I was in at Vintage Dragonfly.

 My partner was Mercedes, who makes such beautiful and feminine things,

and I wanted to make something I knew she would love, 

using beautiful lace, vintage flowers and a vintage rhinestone button.  

And, as the fates would have it,

we were on the same wavelength,

as Mercedes also had the idea to make a bird topiary!

I love the soft colors, vintagey materials,

and the adorable little felt birdie which she created from felt and vintage fabric:

 

Thank you Mercedes, I love it!

I joined a card and tag swap at

Wendy's Blissful Arts group,

and the theme was "Spring Nest". 

This litttle fairy image is one of my faves,

and when I saw this Nest and Eggs graphic,

I knew what I wanted to do with it:

 I stitched it onto a fabric piece and onto the card, with a few vintage flowers, lace and moss.

This nest is made with some fine kraft paper shred 

which came in a gift basket I received long ago...attached to a 

branch cut from a die that I've had for years
and I think this is the first timeI've used it, lol:

 I like the fresh look this touch of moss lends to them:

 They went to my partner Kimberly, whose work I love also.

In return Kimberly sent me these lovely cards and goodies:

Very sweet and Spring-y!

Thank you, Kimberly!

Here's some Spring Birdie freebies for you:

 

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!   More Friday fun to be had at Fabulously Creative Friday!   Lots of great ideas at Show and Tell Friday!   Lovely blues at Anything Blue Friday! Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday! Creative living, decorating, and craft ideas at Inspired Sunday! Lovely tablescapes at Seasonal Sundays! Cute and crafty stuff at Make it Monday! Vintage creativity at Knick of Time Tuesday! Be inspired by Inspire Me Tuesday! For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday! Beautiful greys at Grey Dey Thursdeys. Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!  
♥♥♥ Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great weekend!

It's April! Fairy Jar! Freebies!

 Hello Friends!

It's April!



Yes!
 And my across-the-street neighbor's front yard looks like this:

Flowers everywhere!

Even window shopping at the mall:

 

Yes, I have been doing a little creating as well as window shopping.  :)

Spring is peak season for fairies, as they are out and about in the garden.

I have always wanted to capture one and keep her forever in a jar. 

But that wouldn't be nice.

So I made this little fairy in a jar to keep me company:

 I used a mix of mosses, papery flowers, mushrooms, butterfly wings
and a Dresden pink crown.  And lots of fairy dust!
I covered the jar lid with some burlap trim to keep the woodsy look.
Added more moss and a nest and little birdie on top.

Here are a few freebies with an April Showers theme:

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday!

♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great weekend!

Christmas Crafting and Freebies!!

Hello Friends!

Oh, my, my!! Has it really been a MONTH since I've posted? :O

Well, it is that time of year when we are pulled in all directions.
I have had lots of crafty projects, which I'd love to share with you.
I knew once December came all I'd want to do is bake cookies
and shop ;) ...oh, yeah, and eat the cookies.
So I revved my engines and did my creating in November. Whew!

First up is this cute little box filled with handmade tags for my Paper Soiree group.

and here are the tags:

 

For our make and take we made these little bags and origami trees

to embellish the bags:

 

Here are my samples:

 

I really wish I had a template to give you, but I don't.
I do have a link to the origami tree video, which you can see here.
You could add them to any bag, it is easy to adjust the size.
They're so cute on cards. 

Wendy of BlissAngels had a Christmas Cake Box swap,
and if you have been following this blog,
you know I love me my cake boxes :)
And she happened to be my partner!
Now I know that Wendy loves her fairies, so I made her a
SugarPlum Fairy:

 I do have several other projects to show you,
but I think I'll save them to provide the impetus for me
to post later this week :)

Now I shall shower you with images for your own
Christmas crafting:

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!
 

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.

You will find links to lovely teacups at Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations!

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by White Wednesday!

Lovely, feminine things at Pearls and Lace Thursday!

Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Next Friday!

Party on at a very pinteresting party at Tutus and Tea Parties!And for all things lovely and vintage, visit Knick of Time!

♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great weekend!

Vignettes Summer Fete

Hello Friends!

Yes, I admit it, I took last week off, played hooky, lazed around...
But I've been taking my responsibilities as kitty care-giver very seriously...
It's a full time job just trying to keep up with her...
Or at least trying to find her latest sleeping places :)

Oh well, I guess at 21 (102 in cat years) it's respectable to sleep 23 hours a day!
And anywhere you happen to find yourself!

I am so behind with pics and freebies;
right now I would like to share with you the photos from
Vignette's fabulous Seaside Summer Fete!
Heather Bullard was there
signing copies of her new magazine, Souvenir. The name Vignettes truly describes this store, as everything is so beautifully displayed in vignettes throughout the store.  For this fete the store was decked out in coastal/boho/shabby/french chic!  :)Roll camera:





Oooh.....





Aaaah...


  And it was at this point that the battery in my camera was "exhausted".I did take some pictures with my phone which I have not downloaded yet,I will do that next week and if "blog-worthy", I will post them :)
It was truly a lovely day which I got to share with my BFF Brenda,
who was visiting in San Diego from Tucson that weekend.
Hopefully the lovely times we had together
will spur a return visit soon!
 Freebies!!Ooh, and I've got some good ones!!


 Click to enlarge, right click and save! Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.   For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by White Wednesday! Have a great holiday!  

But wait...how cute is this July 4th craft, courtesy of Country Living? 

Make it yourself with this clipart:

 Have fun!   Happy Fourth!!