Vintage Holy Cards for you

Hello, friends! I wanted to share a few of my vintage holy cards with you.  The first few are French and from 1919. Here's the back -

 

 This last one is Spanish. I believe it translates loosely to "Communion is the wonderful union with the soul of God."

I hope you enjoy these.  You can double click to enlarge then right click and save the image to your computer. Hope you are having a great week. We are preparing to take a few days off and head to the beach with the kids. School starts here in two weeks! Yikes.  xoxo

My Artful Gathering project - Grandmom Lena

I've started one of my projects from my Artful Gathering classes.  This little frame made from vintage book board and book paper will be the centerpiece of a fabric collage I'm making in Joanna Pierotti's class. 

She's far from done. There are plans to add some eyelets and rusty wire to the bottom. I may add a bit more book paper there too.  I enjoyed distressing this frame and just love all the texture. 

Here's a closer look. Feel free to double click too. The beauty in the picture is my husband's grandmother, Lena.  Lena is 101 years old this year and still full of life and quite independent.  I love this picture of her. I think she was about 19 at the time. Here's a picture of us helping her celebrate her 100th birthday last year.

I'm looking forward to working on this over the next few weeks. I'll be sure to share the finished piece.  How about you? Working on anything special this week? I would love to hear about it. Leave us a link in your comment if you like.  Until next time...xoxo

Warning - This is Cute

I interrupt my latest project post to bring you the details on one of Kara's favorite Etsy purchases.  If you have little girls in your life, you should read on.  We found these cute chalkboard wrist cuffs at Thread Bare Stitcher on Etsy.  Kara was actually looking for eco friendly snack bags for school like this -

These are lined with waterproof fabric and can be rinsed out daily. Great alternative to zip locs.  While searching Thread Bare Stitcher for snack bags, we found these fun cuffs in great fabrics with the chalkboard square you can write on. They even have a piece of elastic to hold your chalk.

Cute, huh? Kara and Sydney have had some fun with these.  Wrist cuffs are really in right now. These make great birthday gifts and stocking stuffers so I had to share! Hope you are having a great week. xoxo

Edith's red dress

My grandmother Edith had three sisters - Lillian, Gertrude and Violet.  Aunt Lil would tell me stories about their childhood when I was a little girl. One of her favorite stories to tell was about a red dress my grandmother had bought or made and wore against her father's wishes.  I think she slipped out of the house with the red dress hidden under her coat.  Their father did not allow them to wear red.  He didn't want any of his daughters, who were growing up in the 1920s, dressing like "flappers." 

This is an actual picture of Edith wearing the red dress I've created for her.  They were a family of simple means so I've always wondered about that red dress. I know she could not afford the fancy sequins and beads that I think of used in the 1920's.  I'm sure she bought something used or made it with a friend out of fabric they found.  I think that is why this red dress made from an old advertisement seemed to fit my project and the story so well.  The wings are perfect since Grandmom Edith has long since passed away, but they also represent the kindred spirit of a mischievous teenager.

Many of you have asked if she got caught?  Truth be told she would shut my Aunt Lil down so fast when she started telling that story.  When we were kids my Grandmother was a God fearing, church going woman who did not think that story was as funny as her sisters did. She did get caught and apparently got in some big trouble. lol  Trust me though,  the pictures we have of them as teens reveal a group of fun loving sisters who loved the camera and definitely caused some trouble in their day.  Although she was an excellent role model, it makes me smile to know she stretched her wings a bit as a young girl.

Double click on any of my pictures for a closer look. I'm linking this project to White Wednesday and  Kristin's Summer of Color Challenge.  Click the button below to checkout RED this week.

Project on the table

Hello, friends!  I worked on several projects this past weekend including this altered cross.  I had some fun making this distressed lace.  Here's a closer look -

I love leaving the strings long and adding this texture.  The cross was painted with my faux rust technique.
I'm still deciding how to finish her off.  Here's an idea I'm considering that uses a few found objects -

What's on your work table this week? I would love to hear. I'm also working on a red project for Kristin's Summer of Color Challenge.   I'll share that finished project with you tomorrow.  If you get a chance pop over to Kristin's to see some great mixed media art that bloggers have shared this summer.  Her blog is full of inspiration.  xoxo

Where Bloggers Create 2011

Come on in! This is a relatively new studio space for me. It was my formal living room a few months ago. It is the first room you see when you walk in our home so we agreed to invest in nice furniture that flows with the rest of our home.  I usually have 3-4 mixed media projects on the table and supplies.  I clean up for company by keeping my mixed media projects on cookie sheets or in box lids. The room adjacent to the studio is our office.  The office closet was customized to fit all my art and junking supplies. It is very convenient and allows me to just keep my "pretties" out in the studio. I have lots of cigar boxes and baskets in there. I could do a much better job of labeling and sorting but this is still a work in progress.  I also have a sewing area set up in the adjacent office. It is just a few steps away. Let me show you around-

A drawer makes it so easy to see my stamps.

 I love my Rusty Rooster weathervane found at a local antique store.

 I use lots of vintage jewelry in my creations. Having these pretties displayed in the printer's tray makes it so much easier to see what I have.

 My mood board is an old garden gate and one of my favorite things in the studio.

 Many of my supplies hidden in the closet

One side of the office holds my sewing machine. I also use the cabinets above for paint supplies.

One of the best parts about the studio is that I can open the french doors out onto the screened patio. I hope you enjoyed the tour. It is a challenge creating a place and storing supplies and tools when you like to play in so many mediums. I love found objects, paper arts, sewing and even a little painting. Now that I have the space, I will be looking forward to visiting your studios for great ideas on how to organize. Maybe the next time you visit I'll have more of my projects displayed on the walls. I'm still working on filling those.  Thanks for visiting! Follow this button for a whole list of studios to visit! Many thanks to Karen at My Desert Cottage  for hosting this great party! xoxo

My Desert Cottage

My name is Vicki and I have an Ebay addiction

I really do!  Here's one of my late night purchases.  Don't you love these large holy cards? I get a real high from the auction atmosphere on Ebay.  I find myself searching for anything vintage and the next thing I know everyone is in bed and I'm still up to the wee hours of the morning.

Yes, I do need 30 yards of your vintage lace - PRONTO! lol  I start to make deals with myself..."I'm going to look at one more page, then I'm done."  NOT.  What if something fantastic is on page 27-55 of my search? I can't stop at page 26? Thank goodness for the "ending soonest" button.  That usually satisfies my urge to find a deal and win an auction. I love to stalk the last 5 minutes or so of any transaction.

I had to buy this lot. See the butterflies?  I love butterflies.  Rusty Butterfly Vintage didn't sound very good though so I stuck with Rusty Rooster Vintage.  As you can tell, I'm in a light hearted mood today.  So, how about you...anyone else shop Ebay for supplies sometimes? I have found some good deals.  Nothing nearly as good as my estate sale purchases but if you can afford to buy in bulk sometimes the deals are fabulous. Hope you are having a great week. See you Friday for the Where Women Create party (button top right!). Until then...xoxo

Altered Tags by Kara and Sydney

Kara and her BFF Sydney found themselves with nothing to do Sunday afternoon. So, they asked if they could borrow some supplies and make a tag project at the kitchen table. I was busy cleaning the studio.

I had recently shown Kara how to use embossing ink and Perfect Pearls, and she wanted to show Syd.  She and Syd both like things heavily distressed and full of layers.  They refer to these techniques as "messing it up," and are both really good at it. 

In the two pictures above, they have inked their tags with different color Distress Inks and blended with a sponge. They have also sprayed the tags with Glimmer Mist.  Kara in the first photo has stamped her tag with Perfect Medium (clear embossing ink) and is spreading Perfect Pearls in gold over it to bring out the stamp.  Syd, in the second photo, has added words printed from the computer.

Here's Kara's finished tag with a cute hot air ballon stamp as the top layer.  It says, "You blow me away."  Isn't that cute?

And, here is Sydney's finished tag.  She used a ferris wheel stamp and wrote, "You spin my head right round."  Love it!  Thanks girls for sharing your project.  You did this one on your own, and I am really proud.  xoxo