Tea for Tuesday

Happy Tea Cup Tuesday.  Martha and Terri host a most wonderful tea cup sharing party, so be sure to check out all the lovlies.  Here is one of my newest tea cup finds.

I love this little cutie.  It is my tiniest tea cup at just over 2 1/2" tall.  The pale pink with the black and gold make me smile.  It seems girly and chic altogether.

I know next to nothing about teacups, but here is undercarriage of my pretty.  Going to have to ask Santa dear for a tea cup collector book.

More gold to smile at on the handle and a very generous stripe at the base.

Thanks for stopping in to see my cup.  As promised there is another tote up at my Frilly Frou Frou +2 shop.  Pinks and ivorys this one.  Eeeeee! :)

Dearly missed *& prize winner!!

You all have been dearly missed but not forgotten (I promise!).  

First I want to share a new tote with you.  This is Ivy, and I just listed "her" (haha I decided to name all my Frilly Frou Frous) in my Etsy shop.

  

Simple and sweet I hope.  I had so much fun with the 50's looking minty greens.

I handmade both the flower and the velvet leaf for embellishment.

And now, I will spare you the litany of excuses for my absence and proceed with the show, yahoo!  I last left you with the promise of a drawing for the tote filled with goodies.  I did reach 100 followers and beyond even, thank you everyone so much for playing.

Well, here goes... a drum roll please...

The lucky winner is Judy of French Laundry. I'm going to hop over now and tell her the good news.  Also, I have already photographed 2 more new totes and will add them to my shop this week too.

Cheers friends!

Celebration Giveaway Extravagan-ZA!

Here's the Loot!  I am thrilled to give away this assortment of goodies, see the pretty tote in the back there.  Ooooeeeee, so exciting!  Read on...

There are so many things to celebrate here I decided to roll them all into one big ol' Celebration Giveaway Extravagan-ZA!  First of all, today is my 31st birthday.  Hooray!  I am happy to be alive and healthy and I am hopeful for a spectacular year! 

Second,  I have officially opened my Etsy shop.  I do hope you'll come visit me there.

Frilly Frou Frou +2

Hooray again!!  The "Plus 2" is to honor my two fantastically frilly daughters.  Haha!  The first items I have listed are really fun totes like this one I made specifically to give away here.  Right now, the shop is a tad bit empty, but I couldn't resist revealing it as soon as possible.  Don't fret, I will be adding many more FRILLY FROUFY items soon, so be sure to check back when you can.

This tote is made from a heavyweight canvas-type material which I tea-dyed, washed then line dried.  Smells so yummy off the line, love that!  (Took all of 5 minutes in the 114 degree heat yesterday.)    I added these handmade fabric flowers.

And some really lovely laces.  The taupe-y colored lace goes around the back also.  A new applique I scored recently, I love how it looks like a medalion.

Add all that together and it makes for a great tote.  I made myself a pink one that I simply LOVE, perfect with my everyday jeans and white tee.

Here are some closeups of the rest of the items in the Giveaway:

And last but not least, my favorite reason to celebrate... YOU!  I have reached almost 100 followers.  Triple Hooray!!!  If that isn't a good reason to boogiewoogie to a good song, I don't know what is.  :)  I thank eack and every one of you for coming here to look at my blog and for taking the time to leave a comment when you can.  You really make my days special!

Here is a list of the items in my

Celebration Giveaway Extravagan-ZA!

Frilly Frou Frou Tote

4 - 8.5"x11" pieces of wallpaper

Wallpaper border piece

Vintage Happy Birthday tissue/wrap

Handmade pink flower w/ velvet leaves

Shop window card

Hankie w/ coral crochet border

Rose doily

Millenery Rose

5 book sheets Vintage German calligraphy

5 sheets Vintage dictionary

5 sheets French poetry

5 sheets Vintage Greggs Shorthand

2 white lace pieces

Silver rick rack piece

(And a whole lotta LOVE!)

To ENTER... all you have to do is comment here

(1 time).

For extra entries you may:

~ Follow my blog (or be a current follower)

~ Link to my Giveaway in a blog post, include first photo

~ Link to my Giveaway in your sidebar, include first photo

~ Like my Etsy Shop on Facebook

Then comment 1 time and let me know how many entries (up to 5) qualify you for the Giveaway.

A winner will be chosen, verified and announced September 24th.

Clear as mud?  Hee hee, had to put that in there.  Thank you again for visiting and for making this so fun for me, hope you enjoy playing in the Celebration Giveaway Extravagan-ZA.

Truly and affectionately yours,  

Sewing Slipper & Curly Cuties

Oh my dear goodness it's been awhile since my last post.  My husband has been working out of town for 5 weeks, so I have been staying quite busy with my girls.  He is home now (and off work after 32 days straight) for a week and then gone again until Labor Day weekend.  So thankful he has work though, we can not complain.  In the mean time, I have been crafting and creating into the wee hours much to my heart's desire.

I made this sewing slipper to swap in my Marie Antoinette Mail Art group.  Our hostess, the sweet and super craft savvy, Melanie provided us with a fabulous example and tutorial.

I cut up a vintage lace and embroidered doily to use on the vamp of the slipper.

I have been saving this metal shoe "buckle" clip for just the right project.  I'm so glad I came across it while I was searching for embellishments, its a perfect fit.  I used blue velvet trim under the buckle for a soft pop of color.

The base fabric is a very pale blue satin.

The slipper opens up to reveal felt spaces to hold sewing pins and needles.

Love this bow trim!

Then I tied the slipper closed and filled it with a few fun notions, some wide lace and a pretty hankie.  I searched and searched for pretty vintage scissors to no avail.  Ah well.  My 4 year old loved the slipper so much she desperately wanted to try it on.  I disallowed it, but I saw the draw she had to such a pretty little satin slipper.  Wouldn't it be nice wear a pair of these around?

Here is a photo of my little Curly Cuties.  I did their hair in sponge rollers for church a couple weeks ago.  Their locks were just-a-bouncin when they walked, so fun to have girls (with curls)!

Love and BIG ol hugs,

Fabric Covered Metal Cuff

 

It was total bliss to create this cuff for a swap with my Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group.  My partner Tabitha loves the pink, aqua, cream look, so I got it all in there for her.  I love the curled up millenery flower in the middle with the pink pearl center I added.

I was so happy to use the white and cream vintage lace, and I was holding out on using my blue lace (which is truly pettable, it's so delicate and soft).  This was just the right project and color scheme to break it on out!  Hee hee.

This is the inside of the cuff, an aqua satin.

I was vacationing in Colorado Springs, so I brought a giant box of goodies and tools and I handsewed everything in my hotel room there while my girls were napping.  :)  The best part about the project was that after worrying and expecting it to be fairly difficult, I was happily surprised with the completed cuff.

Tabitha in turn made me the most beautiful cuff.  I have really been enjoying all neutrals in crafting.  The pieces I make using the monochromatic whites, creams, beiges usually turn out to be my favorites.  And in the fashion/jewelry world, I have been raving about white, so how perfect is this cuff for me?

The roses on my cuff are divine!  She had it all wrapped with love in the wonderful hankerchief.  I love the sweet pink birdie clip and the white flowers she sent, too.

The inside looks so gauzy and cool. 

The center piece is amazing.  I love that crackly grey look of the rhinestone.  And that scalloped surround.  Swoon!

How about the cool wire, pearl and rhinestone detailing she added to the sides?  Over lace.  I am in love with my new cuff!  Thank you Tabitha!

 

Izzy's Hat

Oh it's been too long since I last scrapbooked; how I have missed it so.  Part of my Mystic Paper assignment this month was a layout and I was thrilled, yippee!  Here is what I came up with from the 7Gypsies paper and the wallpaper border.

This bitty beauty is my younger daughter last Fall.  The coloring in these photos of her coordinated so wonderfully with my kit.  The frame around the photo, the frame corners as well as the flowers, I cut from the amazing wallpaper border.

I trimmed around pieces from the wallpaper and used pop dots to elevate the leaves around this photo.  I left the white border to really make it pop.

A circle cut from a manilla folder daubed with Tattered Rose distress ink and misted with water.  Grungeboard letters painted white and rubbed generously with Brushed Corduroy.  The trim in my kit was perfect for the curve of the circle.  Then I just added some doodle dots with brown marker.

Don't you just love her chubby arm?  It makes me so happy.  She is about to turn 3 this summer and still hasn't quite lost the baby squishyness yet.  Awe, proud mama heart is swelling now.  :)  Enjoy~

Wild Woman

Here is my first project for Mystic Paper this month.  The 7gypsies paper and the wallpaper border in my kit just spoke something western to me.  Maybe it was because I was surfing around the blogs right during the Paper Cowgirls event and that inspired me, but when I found the Crafty Secrets wild woman image, the chimes rang and the lightbulb flashed and angels sang, "Aaahhh."  I love that moment when it's like, "Okay, I can do this.  Yes."  Vision and the feeling it gives me once imagined always shocks me a little.  Isn't that funny?

Well, here she is...my collage board.

My "Wild Woman."  I painted a Glimmer Chips frame white (super sloppily) and rubbed it with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.  I loved the old west look of it.

White paint and ink on grungeboard letters.  Up in the top left corner you can see some of the flowers I cut from the wallpaper border.  Love that stuff, so luscious in color, weight and texture.

Dictionary clippings: Prarie Fairy

Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree it's been three long years..... (that's all I know.)  :)  Goodness do I ever love seambinding.  And did you notice, I couldn't help myself from using crepe streamer (once again) to make a sumptuous ruffle, just the touch of western femininity I wanted.  Oh and with the Brushed Corduroy ink.  Yeah!

Don't forget to click over to see the other gals Design Team projects (the lovely Sheri and Jenna).  And check back tomorrow for my scrapbook layout for Mystic.

Elegant French Pouch

Remember when I shared photos with you of my gorgeous kit from Melanie?  Here is the "Elegant French Pouch" I created.  Oooh I have so much fun with these fabric projects!  I love getting to use new stuff from far away lands.  :) 

 

Here is a close up of the lovely Marie Antoinette printed fabric Melanie sent me.  I love the colors in it, so inspiring.  The bottom of the trim border photographed a little crooked here, but I swear it's all straight and nice in person.  (That would drive me crazy to look at.)  I had a little fun with the crinkly seam binding and made a loopy "fringe" trim for the bottom of my pouch.

The pretty rose and charm Melanie made me, and a earring clipped onto the lace.  The gold worked so nicely with the browns in the trims.

With all the decadent pretties Melanie sent, I couldn't resist totally decking out the back of my bag too.  I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE with the blue and rosy cream lace.

More jewelry here.  This piece is now probably one of my most favorite in my current collection.  Pink rhinestones, aaaah!

So I hope you like my little pouch.  I might wear it all around the house today, it makes me that happy.  Hee hee!