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!

Baby! Vintage Marketplace! Altered Peat Pots!

Hello Friends! 

Life has been very exciting around here!

The much awaited, anticipated Baby Colton is here!

Not without some drama and scares,

but Baby and Mama are now doing great!

They live about 1 1/2 hrs. from me,

so I have been going up about twice a week

to feed the parents, tidy up and revel in my new grandson!

Boys are new territory for me,

having had two girly girls,

but my heart is so full when I'm with him:

I know!!

He is a such a good baby as well!

Loving the whole Grandmother thing.

The fabulous Vintage Marketplace in Southern California

was held the first weekend in March.

I love it, it's so inspiring, a great shopping opportunity,

and a chance to catch up with some favorite vendors.

Here's a brief tour:

A closer look at the lovely ladies:

Fairy garden magic:

And of course it was a lovely day.
Looking forward to the June show!

I have been involved in a number of swaps lately, as well!
Here is an altered peat pot I made for my Paper Soiree group:

Covered the pot in a little French text papers, a little lace and a little burlap.
The bird is a wood shape which I covered in text,
on a wood birdcage, which was stamped in brown ink with a text stamp.
I was not able to attend the meeting, but I was delighted to receive
this adorable peat pot created by Michelle:

I love the fabric wrapped wire, and the twig with the birdie on it,
thanks so much Michelle!
I have another peat pot to share,
but I want to wait til my partner receives it,
plus more swap fun to share with you,
so please check back soon :)

Hope Spring is making its way to you,
especially to those of you who have suffered a harsh winter!

Some cute Spring-y images for you:

Click to enlarge, right click and save!
 
Thanks for stopping by,
wishing you all a lovely week!

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!

Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

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

Surprise! Baby Shower! Valentines! Freebies!

Hello Friends!

Hope you all are thawing out out there in the East and Midwest!
We have been having some embarrassingly warm HOT weather here,
I feel like we've been stealing the sunshine!
But things are getting a bit more normal.
Which is to say, 70 degrees and sunny :)

I had the most wonderful surprise last week!

You may know that I am in a local craft group...

Our meeting last week was supposed to be our

yearly Valentine's party, 

which is always a fun one, with pink and red and hearts, etc.

So I made my item for the swap,

which was to be a Valentine's Day banner:

And a sweet treat,
pink Rice Krispies hearts with an arrow:

And just cuz it looked so cute,

Caprese Salad with heart shaped mozzarella cheese: 

 BUT, when I arrived.
instead of pinks and reds,
I was met with BLUE!!

SURPRISE!!!

My wonderful friends surprised me with a lovely

Grandma's Baby Shower!!

I hadn't suspected a thing,

although it was more than a month in the making!

Look at the wonderful decorations by Marti and Pam!

These adorable pinwheels:

 

This lovely banner which says "Welcome Grandson":

Look at these adorbs little boats:

Marti even enlisted the help of her husband and daughter

 in the making of the banner and boats :)

There was champagne...well, to be honest, there's always champagne ;)

and the food was marvelous!

Chicken pot pies:

Cupcakes:

 More cupcakes, pasta and cheese, ceviche, salad, fruit, cheeses and more!

I am sorry that I didn't take more pictures,

but I was quite overwhelmed!

Ooooh, and there were gifties!!

A Grandma's brag book, and all the most adorable papers and embellishments 

I could ever want!

And...

how adorable are these little baby shoes 

that they made for me:

Crafted with paper and embellishments,

aren't they the cutest!!

It was a wonderful evening, 

♥♥♥ thank you, lovely Ladies, so much! ♥♥♥

Baby is threatening to make an appearance any minute,

so my daughter is on bed rest.  

This is my first grandchild,

who has been eagerly awaited for several years.

Very exciting!!

Here's some freebies for your crafting pleasure :)

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.!  

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday!

Creative living, decorating, and craft ideas at Inspired Sunday!
Seasonal tablescapes at Seasonal Sundays! 

Cute and crafty stuff at Make it Monday!
Amazing things at Amaze Me Monday!

Vintage creativity at Knick of Time Tuesday!

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

Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

Sweet and Simple links at Sweet and Simple Friday!

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

August!! Kitty!! Dolls!! Pastries!!

Hello Friends!

OMG!!  It's August!!

This does not mean I post only in months that start in A, LOL!
 But I have been a real slacker-blogger lately!
It's been a little of this, a little of that...
Out of town guests, a little vacation,
computer eye issues, PINTEREST,
and a little bit of Summertime laziness thrown in for good measure!  ;)

But the real culprit is my
NEW KITTY
who has been keeping me very busy playing with her!!

She always wants to be doing what I'm doing!

Here she is helping me craft...

 

Getting a little shut-eye...

 

She's one year old and was apparently left behind

when her owners moved.  :O

But she was only at the shelter for two weeks,

and I scooped her up the first day she was available!

She is such a super sweetie and a real joy!!

 

I was in a swap last month where we swapped

"clothespin/peg dolls mounted on a box"!

I had so much fun making mine,

I used a vintage hankie and rhinestone button,

and painted her hair pink!!

 

 

Here are some more dolls from the swap,

there's a Marie Antoinette, a couple of French girls,

a garden girl and a couple of other cuties!! 

We also took a little mini-vacation to Las Vegas.
I really do love Las Vegas,
I love to go to the celebrity chef restaurants,
see a great show,
(the Cirque de Soleil Michael Jackson is fantastic!)
hang out by the pool, shop...
And we always stop in at the Bellagio,
there is a fabulous chocolate shop there, Jean Phillipe.
Look at these cakes (Yes, the woman in chocolate is also a cake!):

 And look at these beautiful pastries:

There is a conservatory in Bellagio that they redecorate seasonally,
and they're always amazing.
For summer, they have a summer/Americana theme:

These birds and snails are made entirely of seeds and dried flowers,
Rose Parade style:

I love the kites hanging from the ceiling.

There's always a water feature.
I love this little pond with the bridge and waterfall:

I do have more swaps and projects to share,
but I'll save that for next time ;)
 

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.

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

 

And for all things lovely and vintage, visit Knick of Time!

♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Hope it's not too hot where you are!  Have a great weekend!