This is Handmade Hoopla Week over at SnaggingStampers. I haven't been able to make anything in the past but I was determined to do it this year.

Stampington Magazines have been my best friend lately...Every spare moment I have been looking for something that I could replicate and the jar at the left was the most fun.   So far I've made 5 jars of various sizes.

Each jar has something different inside.  This one has Tinker Toys!  Hanging from the top is an array of things you might find in your kitchen junk drawer...things you can't throw away, but really aren't using.  There is a length of chandelier crystals, watch parts, wooden thread spool, old keys, buttons, beads, slide film, belt buckle, clothes pin from the 40's, a brooch, vintage thread bobbin, pendants and a few things that I can't give an name to!!!

One or two of the jars has hands from an old clock, a pair of spectacles from the 1800's (only has one ear stem!), vintage match books, dominos, wooden nickle, beaded earrings, shoe clips, vintage photographs, rhinestone jewelry, medals, button cards, vintage sewing things,  and the list goes on.  These are just some of the things I had around my art room and kitchen drawers. 

Even though they were time consuming to make, I enjoyed the process a great deal, especially being able to make a mess, leave it and come back fresh to add more. The third one was much easier as I'd finally got a rythym going for how to hang items from the top.



This is another project I found in a Stampington Magazine: Tags wrapped with lace and ribbon and pieces of fabrics topped with pretty vintage jewelry, shoe clips stick pins and buttons.

The piece at the left was made with a pair of earrings.  One earring became a pretty stick pin, and t he other is just clipped to the ribbon.

First the tags had to be dyed and dried then the fun of pulling together three items to fill the tags began.

This was fun as I had many pieces of lovely lace that were short pieces.  This one shows a vintage hankie wrapped on the tag.


This tag has a shoe clip on the front. It's big and has beautiful rhinestones in it.

The tags can be given as a gift that may be added to ones collection of pretty things, or the recipient may take it apart to use the pieces for other crafting.

Lucky for me I found a fun Thrift shop that had some jewelry at affordable prices.  I walked in and in 15 minutes I'd spent $44.00 !!!!!

Greener side of the fence

I so wish I had taken my camera to the garden with me this morning.  I skipped my routine shower and headed out before the sun mixed itself with moisture to produce unreasonable humidity.

Since I'm often not even awake at this morning hour I was surprized to hear so many birds and see the rabbits out early muching on clover.  What took me back though was a little weasel staring at me before he went into the garden.  I approached the end quietly and he came out with a sense of boldness to stare me down for a while before he turned tail and headed off for the tall weeds behind the shed.

The word weasel in my vocabulary has been connected to someone with little integrity using words to alter the perception of some issue.  A weasel uses just a bit of truth to draw you in.

Weasels - Moles....I hear they can both ruin lawns and crops.  Our neighbor, a farmer, has not yet tilled and planted his land due to the pervasive rains of the spring and summer.  I guess that weasel decided the garden was greener on this side of the fence.

Asian pack for Kristi

Bird Book pages and Cover

These are my pages for a recent Bird Book collaboration. Each member had to make two 6x6 pages with art on both sides. After all the pages came in we made our own covers.

Jan's Chunky book pages

Kay, Martha and Beth, some internet friends from Project Pedros encouraged me to start this chunky book made with scraps leftover on my art table at the end of the day. I was hesitant to take on another project, but this is one is without a deadline, without pressure and it has become a real source of relaxation for me.

Because I work in decos I'm always pulling out pictures and ephemera for up to 5 different themes in one day. I'm always up for a challenge and my table ALWAYS has bits and pieces of interesting ephemera all over it, so why not? Everything in this book was found at an arms reach...across the table or on the floor!

This February 15th 2011 entry not finished

Remains of the Day little journal

This little Remains of the Day style Journal measures 4.5"x 5.5" and closes with a wrap around tie. I took an online class from Mary Ann Moss called Remains of the Day. She teaches how to make pages with pockets and places to tuck in pictures or collected ephemera and also has plenty of places to journal.

I've made a couple 8x5" size books and then tried this smaller size to use up some great little scraps of fabric I had on hand.

A dose of cortisone

I'm a night person, I work the evening shift so I can sleep in, but this morning I got up early, drove 15 miles to see the orthopedic surgeon to get a cortisone shot in my finger. I made the appointment early knowing I would be taking two days off work, and I wanted to get a head start on healing.

When I arrived I was told the appointment was made for their other location which is seven miles from my house, but was 20 miles from where I was. I had to stop and fill up with gas before I got home.'

I digress. There was a student doctor in the office today. I shot up a quick prayer that he was only there to observe, and I would be cared for by someone with experience. The joint in my finger is pretty small. I actually did quite well for the five minutes he had the needle moving around in the joint squirting in a rather large quantity of cortisone liquid.

Everyone commented on how well I was doing. Right before he removed the needle he hit a nerve and I nearly flew off the table. The nurse said I looked like the Grinch,an interesting color of green. I had worked up a good pass-out type sweat, lost the color in my face and managed to get my blood pressure to rise all at the same time.

When I was coherent again he told me my finger would be stiff for a day or so. What he didn't say was that the entire hand would feel the effects of the medicine. All my fingers resemble the tight skin of a nine month pregnant mother. Does the word cankle ring a bell?

I treated myself to KFC for lunch, hit up a couple thrift shops on the way home and settled on the couch for a long well deserved nap with the remote nearby.

I'm hoping for a less painful morning. My art room is calling my name - there is so much to do at home. I hate to look at it and not feel up to it. Well, I'll give it another 7 or 8 hours to heal up. Perhaps a miracle will happen during the night.