Altered Spoons

I tried my hand at altering a spoon.
Since these weren't the cool antique silver ones, I decided to completely wrap mine in vintage papers then wire/bead wrap. I picked a sunflower girl and used copper and amber to accent. Hope the girls in the swap enjoy these.
Below are two that I received...the big cool spoon with seashells and pearls is from Jeri
and Gloria sent the silver with gold wire and beads...just love gold and silver combo! Thanks girls!

14 Days of Valentines

Day 14 Last day...Valentines day!!

Angie Hall Haviland sent this felted heart pin and it is mounted on a mini braided rug just like granny used to make.
Thanks Angie for this nostalgic handmade piece!
You can see more of her beautiful artwork on her blog: Angie's Art & Full Life.


Day 13
Barbara Hagerty sent this wonderful "Forever Friends" Banner. Thanks Barbara....I already have it hanging on the Pantry door. You can visit her blog HERE!


Day 12
Isn't this Sweet! A glitzy cupid girl ornie!
Thank you very much, Christy Grant!


A wonderful swap...a wonderful group of gals....sad that it is over, but it has been a wonderful Valentine Treat each day of February!! Thank-You to the group and to Jeri Aaron for hosting another fun one!

Day 11 Steampunked!

Today is my gift day...
Here's a sample of what I sent out to everyone and I have more pictured in a prior post if you want to check them out.

I also added some new things to my Etsy shop....Pendants and charms...if you want to check them out, just click on a link in the left column. Thanks!

Day 10 Strawberries & Champagne

Cris Cunningham from New York is a wonderful and talented soap maker and her treat today is just delightful!!
First of all, it came in a wonderful Chinese Take-out container covered in hearts and the contents was Not Sweet and Sour...it was All Sweet!! Wrapped in toille tissue was a ribboned wrapped soap that is sweet Strawberries and Champagne scent...and if you take a close look...a sweet ducky!!
Love this wonderful Valentine Chris...Thank-You!!

Day 9 Calendar

Diann Scholl of Dianns Art Spot sent this very useful 2 year pocket calendar. Boy, could I use one of these! Love the papers and hearts she slipped in behind the clear cover.
Thanks Diann!

Day 8 Book Necklace

Gail Austin from Illinois Created this cool Book Necklace. I think she has used as many Mixed Media techniques as one could possible do in a smaller piece. Lots of details and techniques to enjoy!
Thanks Gail!

Day 7 Valentine all Year Long...

Gloria Hanes from Michigan sent this BEAUTIFUL Hanging Heart Calendar! She used Stampbord as the base and added Victorian Valentine images...too Sweet!! Love the bag she packaged it in and had to add a picture of it. Thank-You Gloria!!

Day 6 Heart Truth Day!

Todays gift is from Gwynn Thoma from Calif. A watch part necklace and beautiful tin!! I thought the tin was the gift and was so happy and then I opened the box! Thank you so much Gwynn!

Have to tell you .... I went and got dressed this morning in a red turtleneck so I could wear my new necklace from Gwynn..then found out Feb 6th is
Heart Truth Day ...officially... Celebrate American Heart Month with The Heart Truth!
I don't have a slinky red dress, not that I would wear one, but I feel right up town and trendy!

Day 5

Today the Valentine comes from Jean Bennett. First of all, the neat muslin Bag with vintage transfer is wonderful, but wait till you see what was inside....


I had to wait and find out how she made the covers on this lace embossed book. It looks like clay with all that detail and I found out it's Fimo with lace ran through the pasta machine. There are 5 watercolor signatures bound with burgandy mulberry paper and then hand stiched chain style..It is is a wonderful variation of stab binding. Just wonderful craftmanship!!
Thanks Jean!
This is such fun to open a handmade gift every day until Valentine's Day!

Day 4 Valentines

Day 4 of this fun 14 Days of Valentine swap comes from the hostess, Jeri Aaron. She made the most beautiful heart tag and wrapped the package with tissue paper and a toulle bow with 'Journey' key (love that Tim Holtz stuff!). Then I unwrapped a pretty handmade 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Journal book. A Cute Cupid all glitzed on the cover and pockets inside to hold something sweet...


I think I will have to fill it with delectable, delicious Chocolate recipes, sweet quotes and poems, vintage valentines...all things sweet! Thank-you Jeri!!!!
ps....If you might be wondering what happened to Day 3, my PostLady must be enjoying it. It was from Nancy and I got to enjoy it by visiting the other swappers blogs. She went to alot of work and it was sweet...hope the PO is enjoying!

14 Days Of Valentines

Hosted by Jeri Aaron of An Artful Gathering, who gathered up 14 artful friends to join in the wonderful 14 Days Valentine swap!

Day 1 is from
Susan Tidwell of Artful Musings. Banners are all the rage and I am so happy to receive a Nostalgic Traditional Valentine!! Beautifully done with lots of detail. Thank-you Susan! Head over to her blog if you get the chance.


Today's gift, DAY 2, is from Shelly Rae Wood. A wonderful Valentine Tin! Sweetly done with Valentine quote on love and hearts. Check out this cool way to make a brown bag package...I'm thinking this would be a wonderful way to package up some homemade goodies to send to school for the teachers. (we can do that in these parts..lol) Thank-you Shelly!!

Here's a link for tutorial on bag.. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com:80/resources/geniebag.php

Happy Groundhog Day to everyone...haven't heard the results and not sure I want to. Hoping the weather just lightens up a bit as we are heading into calving season and it sure would be better for everyone if it would not be so extreme.

Magical Wand

Time Flies! It sure does for me anyway. I start on a project, hunt and dig through supplies, clean an area to work and before you know it, Hours have gone by before you even start.
My AAWA group is having a wand swap and I knew the minute it was announced that my wand had to be magically enhanced so the recipient could feel the powers this little wand would bestow!


It had to have all the elements of time intensive 'detail' that consumes precious time in the studio. Doll making, woodwork, beading, jewelrywork, computor graphics, painting, stamping, fibers and embellishing. This 'TIME' muse would also have to have a stand so that it could be ready at all times, god forbid she'd be put in a drawer!


Everyone just knows that Time Flies when you are busy with your art, so this wand is magical. You just wave it over your project and say, "I will not be Queen of the Last Minute"!

Altered Container

This month we have a Container Mingle with one of my Yahoo Groups and this was my attempt to get in a Spring mood....I soooo have cabin Fever!!! There are tons of great container ideas possible with Valentines Day coming and Easter down the road, but this is just for Springtime's sake. I was glad to put away the Christmas stuff and change up the colors for a while before doing 'red' again for some Valentine's swaps coming up.
Here it is 9:45 in the evening and my UPS man just pulled in the yard to deliver a package. Poor Guy...crappy roads and light snow, late and long hours and he always has something wonderful to say and with a smile! UPS rocks!

Day 12

It is day 12 and the last gift was just opened...it comes from Virginia Madison from Richmond, VA. Isn't this little puffy quilted poinsetta pin just the cutest thing!! Thank-you Virginia! And Thankyou Jeri Aaron for organizing such a fun swap!

The 12 Day of Christmas was great fun and made the Christmas season so much brighter by having a special little something to open each day. You are all wonderfully creative gifted artists and participating with you has been the best gift of all. Thankyou and Merry Christmasa to ALL!!

Day 11

Isn't this necklace just beautiful!!!!
Todays Gift comes from Jean Bennett, way down there in Florida! I just love it and the handmade box that it came in is sweet! Thankyou Jean!!
Tomorrow is day 12 and I'm sorry to see this fun exchange coming to an end.
There's been talk of doing this again for Valentines...can't wait!

Day 10

The gift for today comes from Susan Tidwell and it is a sweet soldered ornament!! The little girl with her teddy is waiting for Santa! So Sweet!

It came all neatly packed in a polka-dot TP tube...clever way to make sure it's journey to my house was safe! Thanks Susan!!
You can visit her blog by Clicking Here!!

Day 9

Todays giftie is a bamboo tile necklace made with gel transfer and a beautiful jewel dangle. It is cleverly mounted to a Van Gogh playing card, love that!
Shelly Rae Wood is the artist and I want to Thank-You for such a wonderful necklace!
Now for the gift wrap...here's what she says...
"I made them by ironing freezer paper to snowmen napkins. The pouch is the pull treat pattern from http://www.splitcoastampers.com/. You don't untie it to open it, you just pull on the bow and it "magically" brings out your treat!!" Pretty cool!!
CLICK HERE to visit her blog!

Day 8

Todays present comes from Jeri Aaron. Isn't this cool...an antique teacup pincusion! It is the same Germany dish pattern as my Grandmas (that I didn't inherit), so now I feel all warm in the heart that I have sweet piece to remember her by ...and practical too!It came in a wonderful little gift box too! Thanks Jeri!!
You can visit Jeri's wonderful blog by Clicking Here.

Day 7

For Day 7, Gwynn Thoma sent this elegant dress ornament. The skirt is a dainty hankie scalloped fabric with crystal beaded fringe over the prettiest snowflake sheer fabric - in fact, it's the same fabric that my Day 3 gift was wrapped in. The package was just as pretty, a cotton fabric Bag tied with tinsel...everything so pretty!! Thank you, Gwynn!

Day 6

Is this not the coolest antique spoon?!!! I love it! And how sweet that the little girl in the snow is doing her chores just like a farm girl....I can relate.

Gloria Hanes sent this giftie all wrapped in wonderful music fabric with rusty bells and tags. It sure compliments the gift! This is wonderful, Thanks Gloria!
Take time to visit her blog!