Freckled Star

Decisions.....

So a few weeks ago I was contemplating saying good bye to my blog..........

A few weeks ago I was in a different place and it wasn't a good one.........

But the more I thought about it the more I knew I shouldn't let anybody get me down.......

This is my life and it's an artful one........

It's not perfect, far from it, but it's fun and if I can provide a little comic relief every now and again for a friend or even someone I don't know it's worth it.........

It's an outlet and my online journal..........

So here I am not going anywhere for at least another year:)

I had also said that my 500th post was coming up.........

Which I went right past sooooo............

Here is a little something for 509 posts lol;)

You see I have these crates.......

Ever heard of Glitterfarm?

I first saw Jenny's things at Remnants of the Past Show in San Luis Obispo last May. I fell in love with these crates!!

I bought 3 right away! A blue, white and pink for Spring. One has all my lace, one has all my fabric flowers and the other has vintage bottles stored.

They are one of my favorite things:)

Now just last week she introduced her new Fall colors...........

Oh hello!!!!

I thought I'd share one of my favorite things........

The deal is leave a comment on this post about what you'd do with your crate. Storage, decor whatever you'd like.

Since I did a little research on whether or not anyone even reads this thing lol! I have discovered I get the most hits Friday and Monday. So here it is Friday and I will leave it open til Monday 9pm Pacific time. My kids will somehow draw a number all scientific and such and we will get a winner:)

The winner will choose one crate in any new Fall color!!

Rust, Dirt Road, Cuppa Joe or Barn!!

Sound good?

Can't wait to see if you win?

You can find Jenny's Glitterfarm here.

You can "like" her Facebook page and if you're so inclined check out her Etsy:)

Have a wonderful weekend:)

And thanks for reading my ramblings the last 4 years;)

 

 

The Faerie Book Swap.........

For the last few years I have participated in Karla Nathan's swaps she has hosted on her blog......

The last couple have been tags which were really fun and easy with themes like Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland..........

This year she did a book. A faerie book her favorite thing:)

Well I knew if Karla was drawing a faerie for the cover I was in!

And it is fabulous!

I was so so so so happy with my book!

It's gorgeous!!

Here are the pages I received........

Absolutely love every single page!

Thank you so much Tami Hacker, Mercedes Scott, Rosanne VanEtten, Pam Perrella, Terri Gordon, Deborah Bonner, Karla Nathan and Robin Carr!!

And a special thank you to Karla for your generosity and passion for vintage, faerie art lovliness:)

 

 

The Sewing Maiden....

On Saturday I was able to take another class with Mavis of Turkey Red at the French General in Los Angeles......

This was the sample........

Love her!! So sweet!!

Well she may be sweet but she was a pain in the !@# to put together. Probably one of the most challenging classes I have taken. But then again it could have been the heat! Who thought it would be 95 degrees in LA the tail end of September for goodness sake!!

Anyway after 4 hours (it was a 6 hour class) I couldn't take it any more and had to go. All that little stitching made me want to throw her across the room. Which would have been in bad taste lol;)

So once I got her torso and arms on I headed for my air conditioned car and sat there like my dog with my tongue hanging out.

Then when I got home and looked at her in the light of day I was absolutely horrified. Good lord she was in pretty sad shape. Poor thing it looked like I had thrown her across the room. I decided to just leave her til the next day when I was more clear headed:)

On Sunday I felt much better and after the Farmer's Market/Grocery shopping for the week I decided to give her another go......

Sometimes you just have to walk away from something even when your inclination is to just FINISH it!

There she is all finished.

I put a shawl around her as well as a scarf to hide my non existant sewing skills!

Her little scissors and bobbins. Love the little thimble!

I had that little brown pouch for a while now and it was perfect to stitch on her and put some buttons in. Again love the charms we got from Kaari:)

The rest was just lace bits. I had the little clothespins from God only knows where.

I especially loved this class because absoutely everything was included to make her. If I had wanted to make her identical to the sample I could have. Every piece of quilt, lace, charms, buttons and fabric were included. We didn't even have to bring scissors or needles.

It is getting so hard to find classes like that anymore!!

There she is in all her instagram glory. I so love instagram!! Making any picture look 100 times better:)

For all my cussing, totally worth it!

Happy Monday!!

 

Christmas in September

Nothing like making Christmas ornaments when it's 100 degrees out;)

I am in 8, count them 8 swaps for Winter Wonderland in December:)

Crazy yes!

But oh so much fun!!

This one happens to be an ornament swap. Just 13 ornaments and then you turn them in to the swap hostess who happens to be Tara Wilson by some date I don't even know when it is lol. Then on the night of swaps Tara will have taken all the ornaments and made them into a beautiful table top tree!!

Who could resist that??!!

I got this idea from a Somerset Holidays magazine from 2008. See it pays to save those magazines!! They were just a different color and had a lot more embellishments but the concept was the same.

So I got out my cream fabric remnants, cut out hearts and then had my mom in law sew them for me. So I did cheat a smidge bit:)

But the rest is all me!

One of the fabulous things about swaps is being able to use all the precious things you have gathered and been accumulating for years!! I had the fabric, I definitely had the lace and a whole bag of batting I don't even remember what I bought for;)

After they were stuffed I just wrapped pieces of lace and cheesecloth all around them. Stuck in a little glittered branch and the bezels came from Sun and Moon crafts (link on my sidebar) and the little images were in a bucket of ephemera I had.

They are all a little different but all the same basic cream and white colors which is the theme of the tree. To incorporate fully I just printed "Winter Wonderland" in French Script on fabric paper and cut. I used no sew tape to hold it. The most genius product ever!!

And that was it. Swap number 3 down!! 5 more to go:)

Have a great weekend!

I'll be back with my French General Sewing Maiden class next week!!

So excited!!

 

Oh the places you will go.....

This weekend I am going here.

Which means most likely I'll be here.

Orders anyone:)

I am thinking about going here.

To see my boy before it's covered in snow.

Next weekend I have a class here.

I am excited!

I have spent way too much time here the last two days!

Two words Washi Tape!!!

One more word SALE!!

Then there is "nuts" now that's a word!!:)

Been getting all my ducks in a row for this.

I am getting these for all the partcipants.

I just told my General Manager this morning;)

Have you tried the mac and cheese here?

It's so good it should be illegal!

Well it'll be at my house on October 14th if that persuades you to come on over:)

I bought these.

Now I just need a horse and 10 gallon hat;)

I'm starting on swaps for this.

Thinking 8 may have been a little too much.........

But you only live once they tell me:)

And in between all that I went here in a monsoon that was crazy.

For a meeting that has me excited about the future.

Then I went to the outlets here and the Williams Sonoma Marketplace rocked!!

Ok so you are probably about to kill me about the links;)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

 

The beginnings of..........

An Art Journal.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to take a class with Holly Stinnet of Holly Loves Art.

It was a great class at Miss Terry's lovely home.

I have always loved Holly's art. I have several of her aprons and dolls. Each I love dearly as some of my favorite things:)

We all received a fabulous kit of papers and images to get started.

So after picking my image I thought of my color scheme which happens to my favorite paper right now the La Belle Vie from Close to My Heart. Black, pinks and browns. Butterflies and crowns:) Topping it with some irradescent paint really made it look gorgeous!

Another fun thing I worked with yesterday was Washi tape. Loved it!!!

All up and down the sides with some of French General's lace tape they have at Michael's.

I also fell in love with my charcoal pencil again! It just makes everything pop on the page and it's fun to get your hands dirty:) Between that and the glitter gel from Close to My Heart I was a hot mess! That glitter gel works great though with just a little dab on your finger and few quick swirls on the page. 

My second page.

So that's the beginning:)

I am using my Journal from Jeanne Oliver's class. Affaire at Tiffany's was back in May and I still have not done the cover on it!!:( But now I am determined to get that done this week!! Just need some modeling paste I heard lol!!

Happy Monday eveyone!

Have a great week!!