Holiday Countdown

Lisa of Ten Two Studios is having her fabulous, yearly Holiday Countdown. Each day beginning December 1 through December 25, Lisa will post a page of printable image sheets for you to use in your artwork http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/ If you're in a hurry and can't wait for each day's images, or would like better quality images you can go to http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/buyit/

More Flea Market Freebies

I'm still going through some of the goodies I got at the Flea Market last weekend, and thought I'd post a few more freebies for you to use in your artwork. The reading primer is so sweet; it has a copyright date of 1906. Sadly, it's in pretty sad condition and falling apart, but I love the illustrations and the stories are so cute. I love how pictures of objects in the stories replace the words.

Flea Market Freebies

I manged to scan some of the cabinet cards and a few pages from the Sally and Billy reader for you to use in your artwork. Please feel free to download them. You are welcome to use them in artwork for your own use as well as artwork for sale. I would love to see any projects using these images, and a link back to me is appreciated. Please do not sell these images or include them in collections for sale.

Fabulous Goodies from the Flea Market

It was tough getting up so early this morning, but my daughter Shelby reminded me that the Flea Market opened at 6 a.m. and we needed to get started if we wanted to find treasures. This absolutely amazing Flea Market is hosted by the Lion's Club and happens twice a year, so folks come from miles around looking for bargains.

There's always tons of very diverse stuff at this particular event, but I had made up a wish list of what I wanted to focus on finding - old photo albums, cabinet cards, old postage stamps, and some very old books. Shelby and I scored almost immediately. She found some vintage note cards and stationary, and I was ecstatic to find a seller that had several old photo albums. I did a brief look through and decided I had to have three of them. I bargained with the guy and got a pretty fair deal. He also had a very sweet 1940s baby book which became part of the package deal. I spent a good portion of my budget on the albums, but they were worth it.

A few sellers later, I found some zip lock bags of older U.S. stamps. I was ready to snap them up, but the price was $20 for each bag which was, sadly, just not budget friendly.

Shelby found 3 lovely vintage handkerchiefs and a darling vintage pink lady's ceramic cigarette box with 2 little ashtrays that fit inside the box. The box has little ceramic flowers on the top and each ashtray has a flower on it as well. No, she doesn't smoke but she fell in love with it because it is so unusual.

I found some old books that are falling apart for really cheap, so now I have some great materials for an upcoming project. I also found an old childrens' reader, Sally and Billy, copyright 1928.

At one of the last booths I visited, I really scored. A gentleman had a box of cabinet cards that were in excellent condition. At $1.00 each, I bought 20. The greatest part was that some had the names of the people in the photos written on the back.

it was a fabulous shopping day. Shelby came home with some very cool stuff. I came home with almost everything that I had set my sights on finding, minus the postage stamps, and only exceeded my budget by $20. Best of all, we had a great mother-daughter, spend time together day.

I'm a Winner!!!

I was so excited when Kristin of Retro Cafe Art emailed to let me know that I was a winner of her fabulous giveaway. Kristen very generously gave each winner a choice of either a typewriter key necklace or 10 digital collage sheets. I chose the 10 collage sheets because I just couldn't resist them. They are fabulous. You must take a look at her blog because not only is Kristin an amazing artist, she also has amazing art supplies, vintage finds, image cd's and much more. I can't wait to do some shopping.

One Year of Blogging Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My friend Cory of Pink Dogwood Blossom is having a fabulous giveaway to celebrate the anniversary of one year of blogging. She's got some sneak peek photos of the lovely goodies she's giving away. Cory is a fabulous artist, and her blog is beautiful so be sure to visit and leave a comment to enter.

LolliShops Summer Design Reveal #3 Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Kim who is the winner of the tags that I created for Lollishops' Summer Design Reveal #3 giveaway. Please be sure to visit Kim's blog to see her lovely artwork. Thank you to all who participated in my drawing and became followers. I love making new blog friends.

Flea Market Sunday Winner!!!!

Congratulations to Terri Gordon, who is the winner of the journal for the Flea Market Sunday giveaway. Hop on over to Terri's blog to view her absolutely fabulous artwork. I would like to thank everyone who so kindly left comments and signed up to follow my blog. I love making new crafty friends.

LolliShops Summer Design Reveal #3 Giveaway

Summer is passing quickly, and it's that time again...time for the LolliShops Summer Design team reveal. As usual, Sadie sent some fabulous vintage ephemera, a cute little cottage made of fabric that she crafted, and other bits and bobs to work with. For this month's theme, I chose tags. I love tags and I love making them. The little cottage and froggies are perfect subjects for whimsy. The vintage little girl seems to echo the lovely sentiment on the birthday tag. I hope you like these. Please leave a comment, and you will be entered in my tag giveaway. For an added chance to win, become a follower of my blog. When you leave your comment, just mention that you've signed up to be a follower and your name will be entered twice. I'll announce the winner on August 8.

Welcome to the Flea Market

It's Flea Market Sunday, and to celebrate this fun LolliShops event I'm giving away this sweet little journal. Just leave a comment and you're entered. If you'd like an added chance to win, sign up and become a follower of my blog. In your comment, please mention that you've signed up as a follower.

Flea Market Sunday on Lollishops

This Sunday, August 1, is Flea Market Sunday on LolliShops.com! This event is a blog giveaway with several vendors participating, and is hosted by Sadie Lou Who of LolliShops. com. Participating is easy...for your ticket to win fabulous treasures, handmade creations, inspiration kits, and lots of other goodies, just visit the LolliShops.com blog on Sunday morning where you will find a list of participating blogs. Don't Forget!!!!!! Mark your calendars and go to the LolliShops.com blog first thing Sunday morning for a tour of the Flea Market without leaving the comfort of your home. I'll be participating in the Flea Market, so be sure to come back and visit for the chance to win my giveaway.

A Little Gem

Today was a hectic day, but as I drove past my favorite thrift store I couldn't resist stopping in to see what I might find. The glass showcase that is near the entry door is always the place I stop to look at first. Unfortunately, there was a lady paying for her "finds" so I couldn't really look in the case without being rude. I hovered close by pretending to aimlessly look at some books when I heard her ask the lady behind the glass counter if she could see the little autograph book in the case. Well, I can tell you that snapped me to attention right away. Without being too obvious, I kept my eye on the little book in her hand and kept hoping that she wouldn't buy it. Well, Hallelujiah, she handed it back to the lady who put it back into the case. It seemed like forever until the customer paid for her purchases and left the store.

Like a spider on a fly, I stepped up to the case and asked the lady behind the counter if I could please see the little autograph book. My heart skipped a beat as I held it in my hand and opened the front cover. On the very first yellowed page, written in pencil, was the name Verna Newell, Kingsburg, Calif., February 18, 1929. I leafed through the autograph book and read some of the entries dating from February 18, 1929 to January 15, 1930. Also on the first page was a price sticker which I looked at with trepidation thinking that this little gem would be expensive...Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the cost of this little darling book was $3.00! Only $3.00! I snapped it up and headed home with my treasure.

Kingsburg, CA? Where's that? I Googled it and found that Kingsburg is located on Freeway 99 in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley near Fresno. Kingsburg supplies the state with lots of tree fruits, raisins, and grapes. In the early 1900s many Swedish settled there giving the town the name of "Little Sweden". A popular event, a two day long Swedish Festival is held during the third weekend in May. I think we actually drove through there once upon a time when we were on our way to visit our son, Greg, who is stationed at Fort Irwin near Barstow. I vaguely remember seeing Swedish flags.

The autograph book was a gift to Verna by an admirer - "With Love Verna, Richie Lee Vaughan". There aren't many autographed pages in the book; in fact the majority of the pages are blank, but the entries are priceless. Verna's classmates, the class of 1933, were the signers. Sadly, a few of the pages that are written in pencil are nearly illegible because they have faded, but the majority are still clear. The entry that I love the best is dated January 14, 1930:
Class of 1933
Dear Verna:
When the roses bloom in winter
And the snowflakes fall in June,
When the sun comes out at midnight
And the moon comes out at noon,
When the waters cease their flowing
And two x two is ten,
When today is tomorrow
Maybe I'll forget you then.

Your friend and classmate
Hatsune Matsuoka (this is a guess, as some of the cursive letters are illegible.)

But, the strangest thing of all, and this is definitely serendipity, is an entry in the book dated January 15, 1930, written by a girl with the first name of FRANCINE....my name...how random is that?

And the winner is.....

Congratulations to Cory (Dogwood)! Cory is the winner of my LolliShops giveaway, the Have a Little Fun and Pink cards. Cory is a fabulous artist and I hope that you will visit her beautiful blog Pink Dogwood Blossom. I would like to thank all of you for participating in my giveaway, and leaving very sweet comments. I will be having a giveaway next month, so please don't forget to visit my blog and leave a comment.

LolliShops Summer Design Challenge #2 and Giveaway

It's time to reveal this month's design team challenge. Sadie sent some absolutely awesome papers, ribbons, laces, buttons, tags, tickets, and darling vintage ephemera to play with. Here are 2 cards that I came up with. This challenge was a fun one, and to celebrate, I'm having a giveaway! Just leave a comment and on July 22, I'll choose a winner.

God Bless America

Happy Birthday America. Live loudly for liberty! Preserve our Republic from those tyrants, both foreign and domestic, who would seek to destroy it and take away our freedoms.

Two New Finds

On a whim the other day, I stopped in at one of my local thrift shops. I didn't have much time to browse around, so I almost didn't stop. But, being a thrift store junkie, I couldn't resist taking a quick look. I'm so glad I did because I found this darling, red vintage scrapbook. Red happens to be one of my favorite colors, and it was priced at only $1.00, so I decided I had to have it. It measures 8-1/2 inches by 11-1/2 inches and the pages inside are all blank. Whomever owned it, never used it. I'm not sure what I plan to do with it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of something. Any suggestions?

My second find, is a copy of the April 1954 issue of Holiday Magazine. I have never heard of this particular magazine, but it showcases getaway vacation spots. It has wonderful old ads for cars, shoes, clothing, appliances, filtered cigarettes, Cris Craft boats, makeup and more. I love the travel ads for Bermuda, New York, Miami, Brazil, Nova Scotia, South America, Oregon, Virginia, and other fascinating places. There are ads for airline travel and train travel. It also has some very interesting and insightful articles; I especially enjoyed one written by Nobel Prize winning author William Faulkner describing growing up in his native Mississippi in the small town of Oxford. The story relates how much Faulkner loves his native land and its people - "He was born of it," Faulkner says of himself, "and his bones will sleep in it."

Another article that I found interesting was about South Carolina's Pirate Coast. In the early 1700s, the infamous Blackbeard, "gentleman pirate" Stede Bonnet, and other lesser known buccaneers sailed from Carribean harbors to Charleston and the sea islands of Carolina's coast. Blackbeard was notorious for wearing an arsenal of pistols and lighted matches in his hair. The article went on to relate the legend of the young woman who lived in a large house near the old city gate. The author, Herbet Ravenel Sass states, "In the preserved house is an old family Bible, on the yellowed flyleaf of which is written a scandalous thing: that a daughter of a certain excellent local family had run away from home and kindred to become the latest 'wife' of Captain Edward Teach - the celebrated pirate Blackbeard. Now I had long known about this woman, but only as a legend, a whisper from the Coast's incredible past - a whisper which said that of Blackbeard's many loves his ultimate favorite was a magnificent creature both beautiful and damned who had been a high-born Carolinian lady". Mr. Sass goes on to state that as a youth he had dismissed the legend as one of the old wives' tales with which the Coast abounds, but now believes the story to be true; a pirate treasure better than a chest of doubloons.

Here is a picture from the magazine depicting Blackbeard with his guns and smoking hair. The magazine is oversize and will not fit on my scanner, but I will attempt to take pictures of the ads and post them soon.

Swap Meet Adventures

After lunch today, my daughter Shelby and I drove to a swap meet we had heard about. When we arrived, we were surprised to see that a few of the vendors were already packing up their stuff to leave. We found out that the sale had begun at 5:30 this morning; way too early for us! Even though we arrived "late", we managed to find some good stuff. We rummaged through a box of greeting cards and found a few older ones, so we snapped those up. At another booth, I found a small, in nearly perfect condition, green ledger that I fell in love with and had to have. The lady I purchased it from was very sweet and in a bargaining mood, so I managed to get it for half the asking price. The inner pages have no marks or writing on them, so I think that I will use it as a personal journal.

My next purchase was a small shoebox containing old photos. Some had been removed from a photo album and had black paper spots on the backs. Some of the photos had notations on the back, and all of the others were blank. It always makes me kind of sad to see treasured photos of someone's loved ones now ripped out of the album and put into a shoe box (sitting on the ground) for sale. I love these photos and try to think up little stories and scenarios about the people.

Another treasure I found is a magazine called Delineator, which I have never heard of. It's dated September 1943, and the original price was ten cents. I absolutely love the very fashionable lady on the cover powdering her nose. The magazine has fashion ads, recipes, stories, food ads, and home decor articles. I will see if I can scan some of the ads and post them later; the magazine is a larger format than my scanner so I may have to take some photos. I scanned the cover, and as you can see I wasn't able to get the entire thing.By this time, all the vendors were packing up, but my last stop netted me a few older postcards. After I scan them, I will post some of these.

Oh, and not to forget about Shelby...she found a darling, collectible figurine, a background rubber stamp, and some vintage trim. Both of us came home with little sunburns on our necks and faces, free of charge.

LolliShops Summer Design Challenge

I was so excited when I received the LolliShops design team kit from Sadie Lou containing the sweetest vintage goodies ever. The vintage birthday card was absolutely darling, and I couldn't resist the lace, ribbon, sheer fabrics, buttons and the most adorable velveteen flower with a little heart shaped pin. The precious little girl was not only on the front of the card but also on the inside, so I determined that I would use both of them in my creation. In keeping with the vintage elements, I decided to do a shabby birthday themed collage on a canvas. I began by layering acrylic paints, vintage calendar pages, birthday sheet music, dictionary pages, paper scraps, the fabric and elements included in the design kit, and I rubber stamped swirls and flowers to finish. I hope you like my first design team creation. I'm really looking forward to see what challenge Sadie has lined up for next month.

Shabby Repurposed Journal

I heard about an online journal making class given by Mary Ann Moss, and after visiting her blog, I couldn't wait to sign up and get started. I love the idea of repurposing pages from old magazines, books, ledgers, receipts, security envies, leftover scrapbook paper, fabric, maps, and anything else that I can get my hands on. The possibilities are endless, and finding things to use for my pages is like going on a treasure hunt.

Here are pics of my first journal. I didn't make a sewn cover for this journal, but decided to use chipboard instead and covered it with scrapbook paper and then collaged. As you can see, the pages are sewn - very easy and fun. Since this journal is done in shabby style, sewing isn't precise, adding to the shabby look. For my next journal, I'll definitely be experimenting with a sewn cover.

I enjoy watching Mary Ann's many videos; she explains everything clearly each step of the way. I especially like that there are no time limits - I am able to work at my own pace. Included in the class are many printouts of journaling boxes and ephemera to use in the journals. I highly recommend this class.

A New Challenge

I've been chosen by my friend Sadie Lou to be a guest design team member for the Summer for LolliShops. Sadie Lou is a wonderful artist and always manages to come up with the most amazing creations. Visit Sadie's blog, Sadie Lou Who to see what she's been up to.

I was a little nervous and very flattered that Sadie would give me an opportunity to create for LolliShops. Not only did she invite me to play, but my daughter Shelby as well. Shelby is a budding artist and has incredible talent. It will be fun sharing my studio space with her.

I was really excited when I opened my packet from Sadie and found the darling vintage birthday card, lace, ribbons, fabric, buttons, and a few other embellishments (not in the photo). Now the challenge begins...let's see what I can come up with. I'll post on June 1st.

National Letter Writing Month

Did you know that April is National Letter Writing Month? I had no idea until my friend Lindsay Ostrom posted a 28 day challenge on her blog. Lindsay comes up with some fabulous ideas for challenges each month. If you would like to play along, just email Lindsay. Each day was an adventure going to my mailbox to see what fabulous, creative mail art would be waiting for me from blog pals near and far. Making cards to send was a great creative challenge for me, because I don't really consider myself a card maker. I almost purchased some ready-made cards to send, but couldn't find any that I liked or were appropriate for the challenge. Instead, I purchased blank cards with envelopes and some blank tags with envelopes and brought them home to my little studio to see what I could come up with. I made the decision that I would try to use up the images and scraps that I had left over from other projects. It was an incredible adventure and exercise in creativity, and I was amazed to find that my leftovers went together fairly well. I really got hooked on making cards, and especially loved making tags. I thought you might like to see what I came up with.