Something Purple...

...for the Embracing Cottage Style Vintage Purple Party.

Here is a pendant collage of lavender/purple vintage jewelry pieces that have been glued onto a setting and put on a chain made of vintage elements.  I thought this would be a pretty, light color for spring. It is in my Etsy shop.  Check out the blog party at Embracing Cottage Style for other pretty vintage purple items.

Some New Directions

Sometimes I feel like my Etsy shop is getting "stale", so I've been thinking of doing some new things.  I just just love vintage jewelry--and probably always will--and looking for it is such a pleasant quest.  My shop has some really pretty pieces in it, but since many have not "moved", I'm going through it....taking pieces out...and repurposing them more.  Here are some examples of what I've come up with lately:
A brooch made of vintage bits:

A sunny yellow bracelet:

You'll see jewelry disappear from my shop and see them again repurposed into other pretties as I go along.
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I tried my hand at some paper work and have enjoyed doing that.  I made these little Valentine boxes out of match boxes with mini Valentines in them.

They were great fun to make--though time consuming, I'll confess--and I would love to have received one of them myself.  I plan on making other things, though making more of these Valentine's Day ones will have to wait until next year.  I'll try to remember to start making them earlier.
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I'll still be doing felt things simply because my bag of felt and thread and needles can go with me to so many different places--to town, to violin lessons, to piano lessons, to home school group mornings, etc., etc.  I can't stand just sitting around doing nothing, so felt projects keep my hands busy and my sanity intact.  There are so many people out there who are much more talented than I when it comes to designing and making felt things, and it's easy to get discouraged.  However, I really enjoy stitching and will keep on making things.  I'm trying my hand at some magnets lately.

So, that is what I've been up to lately.  There is never a dull moment.  I have other ideas I'd like to try too...just finding the time to do them is always a challenge.

Vintage Jewelry Embellished Button Card Ornaments

I really love vintage button cards and enjoy looking at them on Pinterest.  Some are just exquisite.  I remember an estate sale that I went to that had many...wish I had purchased more of them.  Anyway, while these button cards aren't over the top exquisite, they ARE pretty.  Of course, you know I like to embellish things with vintage jewelry...so these were a natural combination. 

I bought some pretty paper and worked these up.  I tried to make them look pretty on the front and back. 

They are in my Etsy shop and can be hung around the home as home décor all year round. 

Hope you like them too. 

Catching Up

It HAS been awhile since I blogged last.  Life has gotten busy.  There is only so much time in a day to get things done.  My little blog has suffered.  I can't possibly go back to when I blogged last and catch up on everything.  But I shall try....

In a nutshell:  We finished school at the end of May.  The kids did well this past year, and I'm very pleased with their work.  They are taking a break from violin for the summer but are still working on their piano lessons.  Our daughter is taking swimming lessons to get a little more confident in the water than she is.  We are still doing those lessons, and I certainly see improvement in just this short time.  They are also taking art lessons this summer. 

We went camping for two nights already.  It was fun to get away, and we hope to do some more in a few weeks.  No big vacation is planned this year--just short camping trips around the state.  We really would like to get up to Door County this summer.  I see the newest issue of Victoria magazine has a nice article on Door County.  They are well deserving of the publicity.  It really is pretty and relaxing up there in the "thumb" of Wisconsin.

There have been plenty of parties we've been going to:  graduation, birthday, etc.  My mother-in-law's 70th is on July 4th, and we are helping with a big celebration for her. 

I've been working on many projects.  Unfortunately sales have been a little low, but that is to be expected this time of year when there is so much going on and people are putting their money toward vacations and family get-togethers.  I've been working on some felt projects (I really do enjoy making felt things) and, of course, my vintage jewelry embellishment projects. 

 

Mom and I are thinking of trying a craft show this fall.  She has been in many; I haven't been in any.  We're waiting approval.  I'm not very good at "production", but if we are approved to be in it, I will need to work on that until November. 

Well, I'll try to be more faithful at writing in the days ahead.  Happy summer day to you.

Vintage Button Card Jewelry

Well, I've had some amazing inspiration for this, my newest project--Button Card Jewelry. 

I have made pendants and pins that look like vintage button cards--complete with little buttons (some of them very tiny).  

Using the digital tools available today and vintage cards and things, I've made pieces that look like vintage button cards and sewn on buttons (many of them vintage) turning them into brooches and pendants.  They have been a lot of hard work but great fun. 

Of course, much inspiration has come from following Button Floozies, a blog that I adore.  Pinterest has been another source of inspiration with photos such as this:

Then, there was the article in the March 2013 issue of Romantic Homes.  I just LOVED the picture in it and was drawn to the colors on this page. 

I haven't copied any button cards actually but rather have created my own and coordinated buttons to go with them.  Hope you like them!  They are listed in my Etsy shop.

Adele and Josette at the Dress Form Ball

This little lady had been out shopping (in Paris, of course!) all day but still wanted to go to the Dress Form Ball at The Polka Dot Closet.  Adele is, oh, so tiny at only 3-1/4" tall, but, alas, was the only dress form around who was able to participate! 

She wore her finest vintage creme doily dress...the one with the rhinestone sash and bow.  She was pleased with the fleur-de-lis brooch she purchased while in Paris and put it on right away. 

Though she was already cumbered with her purse and packages, she couldn't resist purchasing a bouquet of roses from a street vendor to bring to our hostess of the second annual ball.

 
Little Josette who goes with her everywhere was wearing her typical rhinestone collar and leash. 

Many thanks to our hostess, Carol. 

Be sure to go to her blog, The Polka Dot Closet, to enjoy the ball and the many lovely guests who are also attending!

Ready for Flowers

Added a few things to my shop today--a vintage jewelry embellished ornament and a perfume bottle.  They both are full of flowers and birds.  Enjoy!

Organizing

This has been a busy month.  I've been working on my taxes which is always a fun time. However, when I've needed a break from doing those, I've been creating a little and organizing a lot.  There were things to be made...and, alas, it was taking me awhile to create because I couldn't find anything!  Imagine that!  So, I decided to organize my box of tiny old jewelry bits...into smaller boxes of organized bits.  I just love little tiny bits of things--always have.  AND, I love to move them about and work with them with a long-handled, pointy-ended tweezers.  Perhaps I'm a frustrated brain surgeon!  We can all be thankful, though, that I'm only working with tiny flowers and glass bunnies.
Now I keep my tiny flower pieces--things I've collected to create with for years and am still collecting--in an old Sucrets tin. 

I have my little creatures--little birds, bugs, and bunnies--in a pretty white container.

My bigger flowers and creatures for perfume bottles are in a different section of my vintage jewelry organizers.  I made a few collage pieces last night, and it's amazing how well I can find things now that I'm more organized.  Now to organize the rest of my craft room!
Thank you to those who wrote with tips on helping me around Blogger!  Thankfully my blog list has reappeared, and pictures can now be downloaded.  Whew!  Happy day to you all.

Prize Ribbon Swap

I participated in the Creative Wings Boutique prize ribbon swap.  My swap partner was Marian of Maid Marian Made.  This is the prize ribbon that I made for Marian.  I tried to give it a shabby chic/Parisian look...with plenty of sparkle, of course, in the colors of ivory, light pink, and light blue. It's hard to make anything without sparkle! 

 

I have never made a prize ribbon before, so this was a new venture for me.  I wired the pink rhinestone brooch on with a loop on the back so that Marian may hang it up if she wishes.  Hope you like it! Also, thank you to Tabitha for being the hostess for this swap.

Something New

These are the result of seeing an idea in an old magazine then carrying that idea forward, putting my own ideas with it, and making something new.  I had discussed wanting to find little vintage tartlet/chocolate/butter tins with my mom, and she found some at a flea market in Florida.  So, I played and experimented, and these "tin pins" are the result.  I had originally wanted to embellish the outside bottoms of these...but, alas, that would be too hard to fix a pin to.  I had some vintage jewelry pieces--some of them very old pieces--that are beautiful but too delicate to really utilize on my other projects.  So these assemblage pins are the result.  What do you think?

This one uses a sugared flower piece. I love the glass leaf spray and the heart shape of the tin.

This one has a Bavarian theme with an aurora borealis rhinestone piece with a spray of pine cones and tassels...then I added a cuckoo clock.

There are three others that I've listed in my Etsy shop if you would like to see. 

Matchbox Swap--to My Partner

Well, this promises to be a hot weekend here in Wisconsin.  It has been very dry lately, so hopefully the storms the weatherman says will come will indeed come.  However....hopefully only during the evening/night.  Tomorrow is the start of a city-wide garage sale hop at one of my favorite local towns, and Saturday morning Mom and I are planning on going to the Princeton flea market.  Yes, the flea market is every Saturday...BUT the holiday weekends are supposed to be the best.  Hopefully neither will get rained out despite needing the rain!

Thought I show the matchbox I created for Karla in the Vintage Dragonfly's "Partner's Choice" altered matchbox swap.  Mine hasn't arrived yet (it isn't coming from Karla but from someone different), but I'm sure it will in time. ; )  Each person was to list what they liked--themes, colors, styles, etc., then we were to alter a matchbox and fill it with things that they especially would want.  I made Karla a box with an aqua, beachy theme complete with glitter "sand", sea glass, jewelry shells, and a shell button drawer pull.  I didn't take a picture of the contents...but it had plenty of bits and pieces and blings.  Karla is just the nicest person...she told me she was married at a lighthouse.  Now, how romantic is that?  Hop over to her blog when you get a moment and get to know her. 

Vintage Petite Jar Spring Swap--From Me

In the Something Special Vintage Petite Jar Spring Swap here is what I sent to my partner, Karen, of Karen's Monday Musings.  I took the glass jar and decoupaged music paper on it then some vintage bird papers. 

I had some tiles so spelled out "Bird" and "Song" on the sides as well.  On the bottom I put a label from an old crochet yarn ball. 

I made a "nest" on the top with coordinating silk flowers, buds,  and colored yarn to the vintage bird papers and included a little bird sitting in the nest.  She wasn't quite "pink" enough, so I added a little blush to her belly to pink her up.

I tied lace and color coodinating yarn to around the jar and, of course, had to add a little pin for bling.

Inside I just put in as many vintage bits that could fit and hope that the glass things didn't break in transit. 

This was fun to create and assemble.  I hope you like it!

My First Auction

I had really enjoyed reading Vintage & Victorian's  article on auctions.  The article was very informative and encouraged anyone who had never been to an auction before to at least give it a try.  I had never been to an auction and mentioned to my husband that "someday" we should try one just to see what it was like.  Well, I saw a "tag sale" listed on Craigslist at an auction house.  I thought it was, well, like a garage sale...and should have known that any sale at any auction house is going to be an auction.  We arrived and figured this out very quickly.  Of course, while we were there I just had to look around and noticed three boxes of lots that looked like something I wanted.   I was pretty nervous actually worrying that I'd scratch my nose at the wrong time or wouldn't be able to understand what the guy up front was saying.  A very kind lady knew it was my first auction and gave me the advice not to bid on the first price but wait until the auctioneer went down in price before I started to bid on anything.  There were tons of little things to auction off--a set of plates, knick knacks, you name it.  Because dear patient husband and kids were waiting...and waiting, I nervously went up and asked one of the helpers if they could ask for bidding on two of the boxes I really wanted since that was all I was really interested in.  He kindly said yes.  Of course, I waited to bid once the first price was called out (since that was what the kind lady said to do!) but quickly learned that if I request something I need to bid on the first price.  Note to self!  I was pretty nervous but did bid on the two lots (ran out of money for the third lot which is okay--didn't bring as much as I should have with me thinking it was like a yard sale)....and won them!  How exciting!

One had very old things in it like an antique purse, glass jet buttons, a black mourning jacket/blouse, etc., and the other had fun vintage jewelry.  I'm not sure if I'll go to too many auctions in the future, but I finally went to one, had a great time, and found some fun treasures.

Spring Giveaway Jubilee Giveaway

I'm connecting with Sarah at Hope in Every Season, for her Spring Giveaway Jubilee.  She and others are offering giveaways during the month of March.  How can I resist joining in on the fun?  I'm offering a vintage rose perfume label image ornament, a wee sparkly ice cream cone trinket box (the ice cream part lifts up off the cone!), and a sparkling vintage rhinestone "leaf" pin.  I'll choose a winner March 31.

Here are my rules....

1.  Open to all--even internationally.
2.  One entry...leave a comment below.
3.  One entry....follow me on Facebook...leave comment below telling me you are.
4.  One entry....follow me on Twitter...leave comment below telling me you are.
5.  One entry...blog about my giveaway....leave comment below telling me you did.

Easy peasy.  Just make sure I can get a hold of you via email if you are the winner.  Please go to Sarah's blog to check out the other giveaways and enter them as well.  The more the merrier!

Organizing

This hasn't been an overly productive week as far as creating goes--although I have finished some pretty sets of pushpins that I'll take pictures of and list today.  I've mainly worked on organizing my workspace.  Sometimes I get creating, and at the end of the day it looks like a whirlwind swept through my little work room.  Well, multiply that "end of the day" times two months...and...you get the picture.

I've acquired many strands of vintage beads.  The really pretty sets in good condition I've listed in my Etsy shop and have sold.  Other strands are beautiful, yes, but I don't think they will sell really.  I thought of selling them as a big lot, but decided to keep them for future projects (like more wreaths).  They needed a place to be kept organized and clean. I decided to store them into one of my old sewing machine drawers.  The drawer keeps them visible and untangled...and I love the drawer.  I'm working on finding some other pretty container for my pearl strands (and bits of strands).  I'll keep organizing this week while creating a thing or two on the side. 

Hearts and Roses

You know I can't resist hearts and roses--especially guilloche pieces and pink!  I added these to my shop recently....one is a rather large guilloche piece.  It was designed as a pendant and could certainly be used as one, but I put it on some ribbon so that it may be seen to be used as an ornament as well.

Then I played some with my new rose beads and made this pretty pin last weekend. I really do like these beads and thought they worked well into this setting.  I love the detail and the rich pink coloring.

Hope you like them too.  Enjoy!

Can't Resist...

...hearts and vintage bits.  So, these have been the result of my work lately.  I found these sweet brass heart lockets from a seller on Etsy as well as some of the bits and pieces I've put onto the hearts.  Especially pretty are the guilloche pieces and those chippy flowers.

They have been fun to work on.  Ironically, I found a seller on Etsy who sells the little vintage enamel flowers, requested a custom listing of them...they agreed...and despite several emails over the past several weeks haven't heard a word back.  I'm so disappointed!  I know it's a busy time of year (but it has been many weeks)...I know things come up (but I've noticed they've listed many things)...but just can't understand poor customer service--at least communicate with me please!  I'd rather have someone tell me they can't get back to me until a month has passed than just not respond.  Oh, well...a lesson learned to remind me to have good customer service when a customer writes...and I'll keep on looking for my flowers.  Anyway, hope you like these.

By Special Request

You go through life and meet people who you wish you really had never met.  Then you meet people who, when you look back, you are just so glad that you got to know them.   One such person was a delightful lady who purchased a perfume bottle from me last spring.  She was so kind.  Then she wrote back saying that she had some of her mother's jewelry that she would never wear...and could I put some of the pieces on perfume bottles for her and some of her relatives?  I admit to being nervous breaking apart these precious memories of her mother, but then again, she and I were working together trying to repurpose these pieces into a new way for her and her family members to remember her mother.  Much time (and prayer!) went into these bottles.  I included this lady in every decision with plenty of pictures and emails back and forth.  The bottles were finished and last week arrived at their destination.  I shall miss our emailing back and forth but am truly glad for the chance I had to get to know her.  Such fun it all was!  It is a great honor to help carry on these precious memories in the lives of this lady and her family.  I don't know if you will ever read this, but thank you so much, Mary.  You are a kind and generous person, and I'm sure your family members will appreciate your creativity and thoughtfulness.  I'm so glad to have gotten to know you. 

Vintage Jewelry Embellished Ornaments

I had such a fun time making these ornaments!  I can picture them being hung in a home all year round--on a knob, a shelf peg, on the corner of a boudoir mirror, anywhere really where a spot of color and sparkle is needed.  They are mirrored ornaments covered with vintage jewelry pieces.  They have been listed in my Etsy shop.  I'm working on a pink heart-shaped one which should be done later in the week (it is becoming my favorite one so far!).  Perhaps I'll post it on here for you to see.  Hope you like them! ; )