Green Paper.....

"Plan your life out on paper but live your life with your heart."

~Warren DeMike~

I wanted to pop in and let you know that I am a bit under the weather so posting may be even more sparce than usual. I woke up yesterday not feeling well, not well enough to warrant a Doctor visit. I will be resting a bit the next couple of days. I promise to respond to all your comments very soon.

In the meantime you might want to visit Mary of Green Paper. Mary makes the most fantastic ephemera books and she just posted a video that shows the unique pages of her books. Green Paper also features a special Free Image section to be found here. You know we all love to find unique images to use in our art! Mary also sponsors a monthly give away AND if all that goodness is not enough she also has a free monthly newsletter too!

The newsletter is emailed to you and includes an interesting article, special free image down load, and a how-to. The one for July also included a special discount for use in purchasing images from her store. There is more, Mary also has a fabulous Etsy shop, Green Paper Package, where you will find unique items for you paper crafting needs. Mary also features Your art using her images in a special section. She has lots of links to explore and plenty of pretty to look at. Enjoy!

(All images in this post are from Mary's free image down load)

Blessings,

Miss Sandy

Friendship, Awards, Etsy, and A Few Free Images...

"A good memory is one that can remember the day's blessings and forget about the day's troubles."(Friendship Collage)

Thank you all for your friendship and outpouring of care, concern, and prayers in regards to my last post. I have no doubt that things will right themselves as things have a habit of doing. It is that waiting period in between that is often the hardest to bear. Waiting for me is prayerful hope, the substance of things hoped for but not yet seen. I assure you I am waiting peacefully for this painful process to pass and looking for the lessons to be learned thorough this situation. Anyway, let's move on to lighter things...

It seems I have been triple blessed this past week with blog awards. I have said it before and I will say it again it is reward enough for me to have you visit. I feel very honored that you would take the time to do so. I sort of adopted an award policy after agonizing over who to pass them on to because I think you are all so deserving, I choose not to select specific bloggers to receive them hoping that the givers will not think I am rude or unsportsmanlike.

It is with deep appreciation that I thank the very sweet Terry of Lady Liberty and Queenmother Mamaw for the Premios Dardo Award, as well as Tina of Tiny Bear for the Bella Sinclare Award. Each of you ladies are so precious for thinking of me and I thank you.All that said to say that I am now adopting a new policy of borrowing a button from Vee and declaring this an award free blog. Please do not think me rude but if feels funny to accept an award and not pass it on as it was intended. I think every blog has its own reason for being award worthy. This little birdie will now perch on my sidebar and hopefully not hurt any feelings.Heavens this post is giving me anxiety! It think you think I am rude and being brought up with strict Southern manners and worrin' about what the neighbors think and all I am about to have the vapors! Somebody quick, toss me a fan and position me in front of the faintin' couch so I can go down delicately! Anyway, let's move on again...

I ordered some stuff from Beth of Gathering Dust, I think she has become my new enabler of all things paper. She likes the same kind of stuff I like and she finds so many unique things that her Etsy shop just draws me like a magnet. I ordered a couple of old books, a personal weakness, and a set of wonderful old postcards. You know you can look forward to receiving your order form Beth because she will have some sort of super clever packaging like this...I really did not even care what the contents of the first book, The Wilstach Collection Philadelphia 1893 Memorial Hall Fairmount Park, which is an art catalog of a private collection that was donated to the city. I ordered it because I was just drawn by the cover, although I will say I was quite drawn to many of the black and white depictions of famous art pieces. Love this one, please feel free to snag for personal use... The second book I ordered was an old song book, The One Hundred and One Best Songs. I am a sucker for old sheet music. The pages of this book have a perfect aged patina to them and I love the way the the paper has darkened. Each page not only has a song but a quote at the bottom of each page. Miss Jessie Page of Slater, Missouri was the owner Long, Long Ago, please feel free to snag for personal use...I love these sweet birthday wishes on the post cards.This one is my favorite, please feel free to snag for personal use...
Beth is always so sweet to tuck in a little extra treat and there was a old advertising card for a book on one side and a skyline view of NYC on the other side, sweet buttons, and cool shoe store tags! Thanks Beth for such a great place to shop! I am hoping tomorrow to meet up with a friend for a fun day of flea marketing and lots of laughter. I hope to find a few more things to use to organize and display with in my studio space. I hope each of you have a delightful week!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Serendipity Sunday: You Are Not Alone.....

Serendipity: Making a delightful or unexpected discovery

"...He will quite you with His love..."

~Zephaniah 3:17~

This week there has been a great need for comfort here at the Quill. Situations have cropped up that have stirred up emotions. Fear and worry have tried to take up residence. Disquiet of the soul has taken place. The Lord often chooses many ways to minister to us in these tough times. This weeks delightful discovery was a highlighted verse in my Bible:

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quite you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

~Zephaniah 3:17~

All week long, every single time my soul became disquieted I heard the same phrase of a song being sung, "You are not alone, You belong to Me..." For the life of me I have not been able to figure out where I have heard this phrase or the voice of my mind that sings it. After reading the above verse I felt very overcome with emotion that perhaps it was simply the Lord reassuring me and rejoicing over me with singing, quieting me with His love, letting me know that I am His. The things of this world may touch me but they will not overtake me because I belong to Him and He has overcome the world.

I pray that no matter what might touch your life that you will know without a shadow of a doubt that you are not alone, He is with you. He is mighty to save. He takes great delight in you. He can and will quiet you with His love. Listen for His song for He will rejoice over you with singing too.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Paper Flower Memories (Paper Daisy Tutorial Included).....

"The poets darling."

~William Wordsworth, "To The Daisy"~

I will never forget the magical moment when I crafted my first paper flower. I was six years old. My teacher, Mrs. Butts, gave each student two facial tissues, a piece of string, green construction paper, and a pipe cleaner at craft time. We were instructed to get our safety scissors and paste from our cigar box of school supplies from the cubby under our desks and the magic began.We were shown how to cut the tissues in half, separate the tissue layers, and to stack the layers one on top of the other. It was a good thing we were making carnations because our cutting skills were pretty sad and many a jagged edge or small tear attested to the fact. Once the layers were stacked we learned to fan fold, flipping the tissue stack back and forth until it looked like an accordion.

This accomplished, we were to sit holding our little fan folded tissue pinched between our thumb and fore finger until the teacher could come around and tie the string tightly around the middle. We girls in banana curls and barrettes batted our eyes and fanned ourselves like little Southern Belles having the vapors as the boys made airplane noises and flying motions with their winged tissue creations. Once the string had been tied, the pipe cleaner was twisted over the string to create a stem.The teacher then instructed us to fan out each side and gently separate each layer pulling towards the center. Like magic a flower began to form. Once we had all the layers fluffed together she helped us to trim and shape the flower into a frilly carnation. We cut out construction paper leaves and pasted them to the stem then planted our flower in a Dixie cup that had a little bit of clay in the bottom to stick the flower stem in. We carefully printed off a flower poem onto a piece of paper from our Big Chief writing tablet in our neatest first grade scribbles and erases. These creations proudly sat on our desks at open house when our parents came to meet our teacher.I went home that very day with my head filled with the wonder of being able to make a paper flower, fingers itching to try again. I always arrived home from school before my mother got home from work so I thought I might surprise her with a paper carnation bouquet. It was I who was in for a surprise.

Looking around I found some thread in mothers sewing box and pipe cleaners, scissors, and paste in my craft box but, we had no facial tissue. I wondered if I could use toilet tissue instead. Much to my delight I found a pretty pink roll under the sink and thought how much better it would be to make pink flowers rather than plain white. They took more layers and came out much smaller than the facial tissue ones so I decided to make more. I used the whole roll of tissue!
Then I thought white mixed with pink would look even prettier so I set in on the white roll on the tissue holder until my fingers got tired of folding, tying, twisting, and gluing. I gathered up my abundant bouquet and carried it to the kitchen table. I thought a vase would look much prettier than a Dixie cup so I dug one out from under the cabinet and surely water would look prettier than clay so I pushed a chair over to the sink and filled the vase.

I bunched up my bouquet and plopped to on top of the wide mouthed vase and scooted it to the center of the kitchen table where my mom was sure to see it when she got home. Satisfied that she would be surprised I went off to play in my room. She saw it all right, the whole gloppy soggy mess dripping down the vase, tissue pieces, thread, and pipe stems sinking to the bottom.
At first, after a long tiring day at work, she did not see my effort to create a surprise for her, she only saw a mess to clean up. When I bounced into the room yelling, "Surprise!", my face fell and crocodile tears began to roll as my eyes landed on my carefully crafted carnations turned to mush. Through sniffles and tears I explained what happened and she explained to me that paper flowers must be kept dry.

I graduated from toilet and facial tissue up to crepe paper and wrapping tissue in my tween years when making giant colorful Mexican flowers and displaying them in your bedroom was a hot trend. I revived the carnations recently using crepe paper streamers to make tiny carnations to decorate some nut cups for a baby shower and then once again tucked the idea away. That is until I saw a paper flower crafting book from the 1960's for sale on Etsy.

I am hooked again and my experimental nature has taken over as my fingers itch to test out various supplies, techniques, embellishments, and uses for paper flowers, minus the water of course. I thought you might enjoy seeing my first try at making a simple daisy and variations of the same pattern, as well as learn the technique yourself.

MATERIALS:*Any color crepe paper for flower petals

*Brown or Yellow crepe paper for flower centers

*Green crepe paper for leaves
*Covered wire ~ 30 gauge
*Stem wire ~ 18 gauge
*Floral tape
*Cotton Ball, approx 1 1/2 inches in diameter, 1 per flower

*Fine roll wire

*Wire cutters
*Scissor
*Hot glue & glue gun
*Spray glue

NOTE: You do not want to use a liquid glue when working with crepe paper, it can dissolve the paper or cause the color of the paper to bleed or run.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To make the flower center, place cotton ball in the center of a 6 inch square of brown or yellow crepe paper.2. Gather the edges of the paper together and twist making a crepe paper covered ball with a tail or stem.3. Place stem wire up inside the tail, (I added a dab of hot glue to the cotton ball and stuck the wire end in it to keep the wire from slipping out), and wrap fine wire tightly up close to the base of the ball. Cut away excess paper and wrap stem with floral tape.
4. To make petals, cut a strip of paper 18 inches long and 6 inches wide. Fold into fourths as shown below. The grain of the paper runs lengthwise.5. Make slits about 1 1/2 inches deep at both ends dividing it into thirds. This makes the side of the petals. Now round off the corners as shown below.6. Open this so you have an 18 inch strip. Fold in half lengthwise as shown below.
7. Run a piece of wire along the folded edge in between the two layers of paper. Gather the paper up on this wire making a circle of petals. Place petals around the daisy center and tighten the wire. Wrap ends of wire around stem of flower. Trim away excess wire with a wire cutter.
8. Wrap stem in floral tape. Gently stretch and twist tape around the stem.

9. Cut two 6 inch squares of green crepe paper. Cut in half to make four 6 inch by 3 inch pieces. Cut two 8 inch pieces of wire.11. Spay glue on side of two of the 6 inch by 3 inch pieces. Place wire down the center of the 6 inch length allowing some wire to hang over the edge. Place remaining piece of paper on top of the wire and gently press together, sealing the wire and fusing the paper pieces.

12. Trim into leaf shapes.

13. Using floral tape, tape leaves to stem.I think this traditional daisy would make a lovely package topper for a baby shower or little girls birthday gift. This is why I really ordered the book, with floral package toppers in mind.

Here is a variation using sewing pattern tissue paper and instructions, coffee dyed lace, brown crepe paper, brown candy liner, and brown wire and floral tape.For this one I did not round the petals but left them straight so the pattern markings would not be lost. I slipped the center through a candy liner, gathered a piece of dyed lace into a circle, slipping the center through it also, and then followed the same finishing instructions as above.For the leaves I cut to two large rectangles of the pattern instructions, trimming the top to look like a leaf shape, highlighting them with Walnut Ink, then gathering the straight bottom to form the bottom of the leaf I attached them to the stem with a bit of wire and floral tape. I love the sepia look of this one!

I wanted to try using more layers and get a lush look for a wedding package topper to I experimented with multiple layers of tissue alternated with tulle on this one. Adore it!Following the same basic instructions make three petal patterns using white crepe paper, trimming the petals using a pinking shear. Prepare two more petal patterns using a fine white tulle. Layer in this order: crepe paper, tulle, crepe paper, tulle, crepe paper. Using a needle and thread or a sewing machine, stitch straight down the middle of the layers to hold them all together to make gathering easier. Fold petals in half and gather on wire as in original instructions. You will not get a tight gather due to all the layers, there will be a hole in the center.
I used a white candy liner, a white cupcake liner, a white crepe paper streamer ruffle, bits of gathered white tulle, and a button to create my center. Using white covered wire I threaded it through the button and twisting it a couple of times on the back. I went through the middle of the small white candy liner, using a little hot glue on the back of the button to make it stick, through the paper ruffle, gluing as I went, gluing on a few snips of tulle and finally through the cupcake liner. I glued the whole thing around the center of the flower leaving the long ends of the wire free. For leaves I gathered a vintage napkin in the center and twisted the wire around it to secure it. Some brushes of clear glitter around the center edges would also be a nice touch. After a little fussing and fluffing I have a package stopper topper!Next I tried a patterned tissue gift wrap. I crumpled the paper up to give it a texture rather than its new stiff look the followed the original instructions. For the center I used a bit of pink silk fabric rather than paper to cover the cotton ball. I added a couple of silk leaves that I dry brushed over with a bit of gesso and a sprinkle of clear glitter. This one is pretty in pink!Lastly I tried using some coffee dye muslin following the original instructions. The thickness of the fabric was a bit bulky to work with but I am pleased with the finished result. There will be a large opening when the flower is finished off and the petals will be loose. I lifted them up very gently and placed dots of hot glue around them near the gather to secure. I used two round sturdy cardboard circles to glue over both sides of the center openings. I had a wonderful paper flower left over from a kit I had purchased through Five Dollar French General to I glued it to the top of the flower. To the back I glued a pin back.I thought this one would make a great package topper but I intend to use it as a fashion accessory! I tried it on my favorite summer hat, love it! I tired it on the lapel of a denim jacket, love it! I tried it on a vintage scarf tied on the handle of a casual summer bag, love it too!

I have at least two more daisies I want to experiment with before moving on to the next flower. Just think there are eighteen more flower patterns and endless possibilities!

I'd love to see your version of this darling daisy! If you make one send me an email including a photo, I'd love to do a photo collage of them all listing artist and links to your blog. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Q&A: Preserving Vintage Ephemera.....

Ephemera: Printed material that was only meant to be used for a short time, but preserved by collectors. Ephemera also refers to those little everyday throw away pieces of printed matter that are not intended to be retained or preserved, like store receipts. Paper ephemera may include such items as pamphlets, newspaper clippings, handwritten letters, post cards, ticket stubs, etc.

NOTE: All images in this post are scans from my ephemera collection. Some of them I have shared before and some are recent scans. Please feel free to save any or all for your personal use.

Recently Vee asked how to preserve ephemera after I mentioned treating an antique dance card with an acid neutralizer. With paper crafting being at an all time high and vintage ephemera being a hot crafting item I thought it might be important to give some tips on the handling and care of such items.

I am discretionary about using authentic one of kind ephemera vs. something that was mass produced. Often I make a copy of the original to use in my artwork combining bits of authentic materials. I truly have mixed feelings about using these precious bits of history. More often than not I have purchased something with the intention of using it and can't bring myself to do it. The artist in me wants to use them with wild abandon but the historian in me wants to save and preserve them.TIP: When using a printed ephemera copy in your artwork treat it with a workable fixative, source, allowing to dry before gluing. Most of today's printers use water based ink that will bleed, blur, or run when gluing if over worked or saturated with glue. The fixative seals the ink and allows you more workability without smearing your image.Almost everyone has paper documents; old school drawings, income tax returns, old deeds, yellowed newspaper clippings, etc. they want to keep as mementos. The key to preserving these family treasures is proper handling and storage.Early paper was handmade from a variety of fibers, (e.g. flax, cotton, and hemp), and it is generally quite durable. When machine made paper was introduced in the 1840's, wood became the most common ingredient. Wood was abundant, inexpensive, and easy to use, but the presence of lignin and acidic additives that are commonly found in wood pulp paper make it susceptible to yellowing and embrittlement over time. Newspaper is particularly unstable due to the large percentage of acidic ground wood pulp in the manufacturing process and the lack of protective alkaline buffers.You will notice that old photographs, documents, and newspapers begin to turn yellow and become brittle and deteriorate. Acid is the culprit. Remnant acid in the process of the printing of the photo or document slowly begins to dissolve the document over time. The document or photo is literally eating itself up from the inside.There are three primary sources of acid, the first being mentioned above, remnant acid, left in the paper as part of the manufacturing of the paper. The second source is associated with how you store the document. Even if the original paper is acid free, the document can be damaged if it is mounted on or against an item that is not acid free. Over time acid from these products will leach into the document, acid based degradation will occur. The third source is associated with photographs. The photographic process itself can introduce acid especially if the washing process is not done properly, causing photos to deteriorate at a faster rate. Even the handling of our vintage documents can transfer oily acids from your hands to the paper.To limit further damage and degradation to your vintage documents you can use products that neutralize the acid and slow down the aging process as well as improve your storage methods. While this is not a permanent solution, it can extend the life of a document. Many restoration specialists use a deacidfication spray to treat vintage documents. Paper Saver by Provenance and Make it Acid-Free by KRYLON are affordable products. EK Success and Bookkeepers also sell deacidfication sprays or mists, these are a bit more pricey but you are also paying for a larger quantity. Simply follow the manufacturers directions for product use.

Below you will find a list of tips to help preserve your vintage documents and photos:HANDLING

*Wash and dry your hands before handling. For particularly fragile documents, wear cotton inspection gloves. These gloves will protect against fingerprints, hand oils, and scratches.

*Carry vulnerable papers on a slightly larger support such as a folder rather than by hand.

*Avoid eating, drinking, or smoking near documents.STORAGE:

*When framing a document, be sure to use archival grade framing materials. In most cases using vintage frames is perfectly safe but you should replace old cardboard or paper backing, mats, or adhesives with modern acid free materials. If it is a valuable document you may also want to replace the glass with a non-glare ultra-violet filtering glass. Limiting exposure to UV rays in normal room light will extend the life of a print or document.

*Old photo albums have acid based pages, adhesives, and covers. You should exchange them for modern, archival grade, acid free photo albums. Use only high grade acid free adhesives or photo corners to attach photos. Lineco has a full line of archival quality products. Many of these products can also be found in art supply or scrapbooking stores.*Bulk storage of photos or documents should be in acid free containers. Ephemera should be protected from light, dust, and physical damage. Papers should be kept separated from each other with individual folders, window mats, Mylar envelopes, or tissue interleaving. ANY paper in physical contact with vintage documents should plain white and acid free.

*Do not store ephemera folded, store it flat, the fold will weaken the paper fibers and cause tearing at the fold.*A number of segregated documents can be placed in a storage box made from polyethylene, polypropylene, or acid-free cardboard. Simply being labeled "archival" is not a guarantee of stability; look specifically for the words "acid-free" when purchasing storage containers.

*Store fragile papers, such as newsprint, horizontally. Vertical storage of documents should be supported, not allowing the documents to slump. Also, rolling documents for storage is not a good idea. Often over time paper objects that have been stored rolled for many years become quite brittle. In order to safely unroll humidity must be restored, known as humidification. Placing your document in a humid environment for for several hours should make it more flexible, allowing you to carefully unroll and flatten it. Do not proceed if the item begins to resists, cracks, or begins to tear. Watch out for ink on the document that might bleed.
*Do not store ephemera in basements, attics, or garages; places that are generally too humid, this can cause mold. Also avoid storage in areas where insects or mold growth might be present. The key to preserving your paper documents is to keep them in an acid-free humidity controlled environment. Your paper documents need protection from a variety of elements which contribute to their deterioration ~ namely: light, heat, humidity, acids in papers, plastics, and adhesives, other objects, pollutants, and pests.

*Do not use tape, glue, paper clips or staples on valuable papers. The damage caused by these items over time is difficult, if not impossible, to repair. If you must use tape or glue for repairs, be sure it is acid free. A linen archival tape is better than a plastic tape.*Lamination is not considered a safe conservation technique because the process may potentially damage a document due to high heat and pressure during application. This also devalues a piece for a collector. Plus laminating materials themselves can be chemically unstable and further damage your document.

*Consider making photocopies or digital copies of your precious papers so that the originals do not have to be handled often. Although copying does require a short exposure to intense light, it will allow the originals to be kept safely in dark storage therefore may be beneficial in the long run.Here is the link to a great tutorial for digitally archiving your photos and ephemera. This tutorial takes you through step by step instructions to create your own digital archive. The tutorial considers all the issues of importance in creating a one hundred year archive.The Western Reserve Historical Society has a great list of of general tips for preserving all documents, papers, scrapbooks, video, audio cassette tapes, photographs, photographic media types, and a list of archival supply vendors.

The main thing is to enjoy your ephemera and by preserving it you are allowing future generations a peek into the past.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Information sources:
Preserving Vintage Photographs and Documents
Document and Photo Preservation FAQ by Linda B. Beyea
How to Care for Paper Documents and Newspaper Clippings

4th of July Through A Child's Eyes.....

"Great is the man who has not lost his childlike heart."

~Mencius~

We had a wonderful 4th of July celebration here at the Quill. I thought I would share a few holiday decor images with you. I wish I had been organized enough to share these with you BEFORE the holiday but, truth be told, I wasn't in much of a holiday celebration mode. I was running on empty after three nights of sporadic sleep and I was just plain tired. I made up my mind that I would do this for my little grandson. Let me tell you, I am so glad I did! You could not believe his precious little face when he saw all the color and sparkles. His little lips rounded into a puckered little "O". A tiny gasp of delight whooshed out followed by a whoop of, "WOW!" Hand clapping and jumping up and down ensued to repeated shouts of "It's A Party!"His enthusiasm melted every tired bone in my body. His excitement was infectious. He was quite taken with the party favors filled with candy, a twist on the traditional paper cone. He carried it around all evening announcing that it was, "A Party!" He liked that his party had a rainbow (handle) on it and he could carry it by the rainbow.He plucked all the glittered paper stars off the center of the table and put them on his plate declaring that they were his stars.He was excited about the paper pinwheels and the big tin flag hanging on the wall.He wanted to be lifted up to touch all the sections of the banner and declared that he liked the button flowers on the tips.He wanted to try on the bears little paper hat and spent some time playing the little wooden drum.He pushed a chair over to examine the dinning nook decor where a lot of flag waving took place.When it came time to shoot fireworks I hardly noticed all the sparkle and shine rocketing off into the inky night sky because my eyes were locked on the most delighted little face that lit up far more than any roman candle ever could. After each display he would clap and shout, "Try it again Daddy." or "Try it again Grandpa.", encouraging them to light another one.The very best part of the evening was when he began to wind down, freshly bathed, he curled up in my lap and wanted me to sing. So we sang Yankee Doodle while his "party" was still clutched firmly in his grip. I rocked and sang as conversation swirled around us. Little eyelids fluttered, his grip on his "party" loosened, one last contented sigh and he was asleep.
I continued to rock hugging the moment in my heart and thinking about freedom, childlike freedom, the ability to express oneself in delight and wonder without restraint. The ability to enjoy the simplest of pleasures like a paper cone filled with candy that represented a whole party with a rainbow handle full of promise. I don't ever want to lose that wonder and awe over all the gifts and blessings in my life or the ability to recognize them and exclaim over them without restraint whether they be my political views, religious beliefs, or personal opinions.Thorough this event my little grandson taught me about the freedom of exploration, expressing delight, and being filled with joy over the simplest of pleasures. He showed me that even the smallest of efforts reaps a great reward. His little exclamations of appreciation were gifts of encouragement. His enthusiasm was a reminder to view my world with childlike eyes, a childlike heart, and with childlike wonder. Long after the party decor has been packed away, the lessons learned will remain.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

Sweet Surprises and A Few Finished Projects.....

"We cannot do great things on this earth, only small things with great love."

~Mother Teresa~(Click on any photo to enlarge for better viewing)

I am often overwhelmed and amazed at the generosity and thoughtfulness of bloggers. I recently received a couple of sweet surprises in the mail from two new blog friends, Caroline and Jodie.

Caroline, I do hope you can forgive my tardiness in posting on and thanking you for the super sweet note you sent me and the precious angel magnet you enclosed. Caroline's handwriting alone is an exquisite gift, she writes in the most beautiful script! I have a thing for beautiful handwriting.

Caroline, you will never know the depth of meaning the words you wrote inside this card mean to me. You did not know that it would arrive on a bad day and was just the encouragement I needed to hear. I have placed this card in my keepsake box and the magnet on my message board. Every time I look at it I will remember you and be glad our lives touched. Thank you for blessing me!

Jodie of Everything Vintage recently won a give away here and sent me a thank you card and enclosed a token of her appreciation. I am in mad love with her packaging! This is such a clever little box and its embellished beautifully with a velvet flower, silk leaves, a button rose, and such dreamy vintage paper!The box held a beautiful handmade book mark. The beading and cross are so sweet and I love the message "BELIEVE". Thank you so very much Jodie for your kindness. I have already put this to good use in my current read!

I do believe that I am one blessed lady not just by these two precious ladies but by everyone of you who takes time out to visit here. I probably don't say it often enough but I do appreciate each and every one of you who visits. I have formed some amazing friendships here in the land of blog and you are just the best! It is with great love that I share the small things in my life with you and the blessings I receive are great things to me.

I finally figured out how to finish off the ink cupboard I showed you in this post. I thought I had a vision of how I wanted it to come out but it just wasn't coming together like I wanted it to so I put it aside until I could figure out how to embellish it. I made these darling paper birdhouses that I thought would work but they were all wrong so I tossed them in the Ooops pile and will use them later. One of the papers got some wrinkles in it but life is way too short to worry about wrinkles! I love the quote I chose to go around the door and the little vintage key detail. The feather in the inkwell was a gift from my friend, Pam, who gave me some beautiful feathers from her collection. I think these are Emu feathers. Since it is a cupboard to hold small rubber stamps and ink pads I decided an ink theme would work and I am happy with the results.

Between working on the never ending pond project and doing some DIY in preparation for having some work done on our house I managed to squeeze in a few storage solutions for my studio space. I found a tin cone, wicker stationary holder, and a wooded spice rack at a flea market a while back and finally had time to jazz them up a bit.I used a little paint to highlight the tin relief designs. I tied it to a shelf bracket with a satin ribbon and now have a handy scissor holder within easy reach while crafting. The spice rack got a new coat of white paint, you can see a peek of it beside the scissor holder. It now holds glitter, glue, and a few other assorted things. I'll show you later in a bigger reveal.The wicker stationary holder and a book holder that I forgot to stick in the before photograph both got a fresh coat of Spring Green spray paint. I used the stationary holder to hold a case of drawing pencils, oil pastels, chalk pastels, and as scrap tag storage.These colorful ready to embellish tags are made from scrap card stock left over from other projects. Sometimes a scrap is not large enough to use but too large to throw away so I turn them into various size tags. You can do this using various punches but I use a tag stencil to trace them and cut them out with a scissor. I bind color families together using twine and a large button, tying the loose ends in a bow. This keeps the tags tidy. I placed them on a shelf above my work surface where I have them handy.This little book stand has been with me for quite some time and its icky gray~green color had to go! I often use this book stand to hold various art books when learning a new technique or for visual inspiration. When not in use I wanted it to look inspiring all on its own so I gave it a couple of collage "pages" as well as covering the lip that holds the pages open. I love the happy green color, well, I just love green period! I hope you found a little inspiration here. Next week I will have another Q&A where I will share some tips on preserving vintage ephemera (paper), and address a few other questions. I also hope to have a new tutorial up for you. I just got a vintage book on making paper flowers and they are so fun and fantastic that I just have to share!

Oh, and before I forget, Dawn at The Feathered Nest is having a huge 1/2 price sale on her tutorials, only $5.00 each!!! The sale ends on July 7th EST time. I purchased her Nest Assemblage and Nature Journal tutorials and they are totally awesome. The photo illustrated step-by-step instructions are clear and concise. You even get a bonus of images to use in the projects! There are ten wonderful projects for you to choose from, just visit here at Lessons from The Nest.

This will be a four day weekend for our family so I will not post again until Tuesday. Handy Hubby assures me that this will be THE WEEKEND that ends the pond project, we will see. I hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Blessings,

Miss Sandy

Pretty Places, a Party, and a Present.....

"The busy bee has no time for sorrow."

~William Blake~

I have been as busy as bee buzzing from one project to the next and it has left little time for blogging so I thought I would direct you to some pretty places to visit and tell you about an exciting blog party coming up in July. I have add a few new sites to my blog roll and thought you might enjoy visiting them also.Last week I introduced you to a wonderful artist, Toni Kelly, of A Spattering. Her paintings are just amazing and I am sure you will love getting to know her.

I'd also like to introduce you to Lori of Before the Stroke of Midnight. Lori is a very talented and I just love her digital art!

Heidi of Birds of a Feather has such a dreamy style in her decorating and art. I wish I lived in her area to be able to attend her Mermaid Tea workshop!

Katie of Raggamuffin Gal is a wonderful artist and such a sweetheart. I know you will love visiting her too!

Tiffany of Shabby Scraps has exquisite style and her blog photos are just so dreamy to browse through.

Sharon of SharDon Exclusives makes some of the most beautiful jewelry I have ever seen. Her bead work is amazing!

Domestic Bliss, well the name says it all, this blog archive is pure bliss to browse through!

Rose Garden Romantic has that great feminine vintage vibe that I love so much.

Sandi of Wayside Treasures also has that dreamy cottage style.

If you are looking for some terrific party ideas you will not want to skip visiting Entertain Exchange. You will find all kinds of gorgeous table settings, party themes and ideas. I am in love with these little black olive penguin appetizers, they are almost too cute to eat!

Speaking of parties, Karen Valentine of My Desert Cottage is having a blog party called, Where Bloggers Create, to be held on July 24, 2009.Karen was inspired by the publication, Where Women Create, as well as a post over at Bella Dreams, where Denise posted some photos of her studio space. These inspirations got Karen's juices flowing thinking there must be many more gorgeous studios and work spaces out there in blog land. Karen's invitation is to join her in a blog party to share your creative space whether it be a full blown studio space, a converted closet, or a humble kitchen table.

To participate just leave a comment on this post link along with the address of your blog. Karen will add you to her link list on her sidebar. On July 24th you simply post your photos and stories about yourself and your creative space on your blog. To visit all the links just go to Karen's blog and click on her sidebar link list and enjoy. I hope to see you there!

Since I could not play with you today I thought I would leave you a little present to keep you occupied in my absence ~ a paper playmate! Isn't she adorable? I found this paper doll sheet at a free online paper doll site. I can't find the link to give proper credit so if you know, please let me know. Feel free to download and use her in your paper crafting. Enjoy!

Blessings,
Miss Sandy