Online Art Journal Class.....

"Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic."

~Rosalind Russell~

Have you ever wanted to create an art journal but don't quite know how to get started? Are you experienced in creating unique art journals but want to learn more? Well, Heather of Pretty Petals is hosting an online art journal class to suit the beginner or the experienced. Specific details of the workshop can be found HERE. The price of the workshop is very cost effective at only $13.50 for the two week class. Registration details can be found HERE.
The journal theme is finding the beauty in our lives. Heather will walk you through the steps for creating an art journal from an old book, creating four pages inside the mini book with page themes of:

*Beautiful Lady

*Blessed Family

*Oh How I Love (wait til you see this one!)

*Sweet Friendship

Heather will wind up the class by showing how to make a beautiful box to store your journal in.

The workshop will have easy to follow instructions with loads of images for you to print out for the projects as well as some bonus scans of vintage wallpaper and ledger paper images. You can add as much of your own stash to your journal as you wish.

Even though it is a two week class, with Heather posting instructions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week, the class link will be left up for one month after the class ends so that you can work at your own pace to complete your project.

Heather's fabulous work has been featured in the special Somerset publication, Marie, as well as in Artful Blogging. I am sure you will be inspired by her vintage style.

I can't participate in real time but signed up and plan to use the month after the instructions are posted to participate. I can't wait to learn Heather's tips and techniques! I hope some of you will join in on this journey of joy creating an artful celebration of the beauty in our lives.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

A Thoughtful Recollection.....

Pansy means thoughts

"I send thee pansies while the year is young,
Yellow as sunshine, purple as the night;
Flowers of remembrance, ever fondly sung
By all the chiefest of the sons of light;
And if in recollection lives regret
For wasted days, and dreams that were not true,
I tell thee that the pansy "freaked with jet"
I still the heart's~ease that the poets knew.
Take all the sweetness of a gift unsought
And for the pansies send me back a thought."

~Sarah Doudney~

Pansy is just an English way of saying the French word "pens'ee" which means thought, and people used to send these flowers for their nearest and dearest to remember them by. The small velvet plants we grow in our borders were first bred in Victorian times from the Wild Pansy which Shakespeare described as Love-in-idleness.

Wild Pansy has always been a favorite with children and country folk who have given it many affectionate names ~ Two~faces~under~the~sun, Face~and~hood, and Tickle~my~fancy. It has also been called Herb Trinity, because there are often three colors in the one flower, reminding us of the Holy Trinity. Perhaps the best known of all the names is Heartsease, for it was believed that by carrying the flower about with you, you would ensure the love of your sweetheart.I recently received a most thoughtful gift from a special blog friend and I wanted to thank her for her thoughtful kindness. The sweet pansies on the gift tag she made are being extended out in friendship all the way from the Netherlands. Lili sent me a sweet little gift package full of French and Dutch ephemera! Lili, thank you for such sweet words and extension of friendship, I really love everything you sent and can't wait to use it in my artwork.

This pretty envelope included...Neat old ads...Dictionary and book pages...I just love the font used to print these pages...Bird images...Tags...Cards...Little envelopes spilling over with stamps, cigar bands, game pieces, buttons, bows, and other bits and bobs...Now if only my schedule was not so busy nor my studio so full of packing boxes so I could play with all this! Lili, thank you for your thoughtful recollection of me in your generous gift.I scanned and cropped a few of the pages to share with you, feel free to snag the images below for use in your artwork. Enjoy!
(Free Image)

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I hope to slow down enough to have time to create something, anything really, to share with you in the near future. Right now I have an antique dining set calling to me from the driveway to come out and spruce her up and restore her to her former glory before she moves into her new home with Darling Daughter.

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

A Few Finds.....

"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked."

~Bernard Meltzer~

Last week, my friend, Pam, and I went Flea Marketing. This is one of our favorite things to do together. We were both feeling a little cooped up with all the foul weather we have been having and decided to brave the elements and see what we could find.

More than anything our flea market forays are more about fellowship than they are about finds. We always laugh and talk so much we are both hoarse at the end of the day. Last Thursday was no exception as we hit some of our favorite haunts, she, with her list of items she was looking for and me, with no list, open to the possibilities of what might strike my fancy.

At our first stop, Jones Antiques, we stood and dug through an entire suitcase of old ephemera, looking at every piece of paper in there, but only selecting a few to take home. I still had in mind my project and a few of these will be great. I also dug through a big wooden box of silverware and found four old spoons with great patina. In another booth I found a great old pale blue chicken feed sack.I don't know if you can see how pale and faded the color on the back of the sack is but it is perfect for what I have in mind. I love how it is spotted with age and so soft to the touch.Our second stop was at The Mall, a huge antiques store. I found an old copy of Birds of America. This will be a great source for nature inspired art projects.

Just look at these bits of beauty.

Lastly, we stopped at Flea's and 'Tiques, where I picked up a small package of discarded keys.Not exactly a fabulous find day but it was a fine day to spend with a friend! We found a little gem of a place yesterday and got some unique and fun stuff that I'll share with you as soon as I can get time to photograph it.

Tomorrow I'll be spending all day with my sweet all grown up girl shopping for things she will need for her first place. I hope you have some wonderful plans in store for your day too!

Have you found anything fabulous lately?
What is it you find to do with your favorite friend?

Blessings,
Miss Sandy

"B"-utiful Things.....

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "B"....

I found this "B"~utiful chippy vintage marquee letter, c~1900's, at Vintage Embellishment.
It is the initial of our last name and I think it is a perfect addition to my other chippy stuff.

"B"efore I get to the "B"~utiful things I wanted to thank all of you for your "B"eautiful words in response to my last post. I am trying to embrace this new season of life with a smile on my face and ache in my heart. So many of you have reassured me that I will survive this transition. Thank you.

Sometimes my taste is questioned as far as what I perceive as "B"eautiful. Often it is the cast off chippy, faded, aged patina that draws me to an object. Old tattered "B"ooks with raggedy spines with perfectly aged pages are guaranteed a home with me, their usefulness far from over in my opinion. A snip of old lace here, an odd "B"utton there, a cast off leather dolly shoe, any of these will do. It is very rare for me to desire an object for its perfect condition, preferring the imperfect. It was the imperfect I was in search of for a future project.

I ordered this "B"lue ribbon package from "B"eth's Etsy shop, Sugar Pink Moon. "B"eth always wraps her packages so pretty! Inside the pretty packaging was a "B"ook!

This darling little old primer is perfect for a project I am planning. The images and lettering are so sweet.

I also ordered this "B"undle of envelopes from "B"eth.

You can visit "B"eth's "B"log, Gathering Dust.

I found a "B"ountiful set of vintage cabinet cards with awesome graphics on the "B"ack and sweet photos of days gone "B"y on the fronts at Petals in the Past.

I fell in love with the graphics on these.

I think this may be a sweet "B"rides photo, notice she is holding her fancy wedding shoes rather than wearing them on her feet. This chubby cheeked cherub is one adorable "B"aby!

While "B"rowsing, I found this very old embossed album, minus the pages, at Vintage Supply Co. It is a perfect shell for creating an art journal with.You can visit this shops owner, Janette, who is a fantastic mixed-media artist at her Etsy shop where she sells awesome supplies, here, or visit her blog, Carolina Artist. I have utterly fallen in love with her mixed~media "B"irds on her Janette Janson Etsy where she sells them.

I stumbled across this 1886 music "B"ook at "B"lack Sheep Yarns. It arrived wrapped so sweetly in old ledger paper!

I got a kick out of this little corner of the wrapping that says, Roaring "B"ranch, PA.

I thought it aptly described the precious cover, a "B"ranch roaring with singing "B"irds.

The "B"ack of the "B"ook is every "B"it as "B"eautiful as the front.

Sweet little Swedish "B"ook pages accompanied the package.

Lastly, I gasp at the gorgeousness of these vintage album pages! I could not "B"elieve my luck at snagging them from Mary's Etsy, Green Paper Packages.

They are adorned with "B"ranches "B"earing "B"eautiful "B"lossoms and "B"irds!

You can visit Mary's "B"log, Green Paper, and enjoy all things ephemera. You really should check out Mary's free image page!

These are just a few of the "B"~utiful things I found for my project. I am getting more and more excited about this project than anything I have ever done. I'll be sharing more about this at a later date.

In the meantime, "B"elow I have scanned a few images from my new finds for you to use in your artwork. Enjoy!(Free Image)(Free Image)(Free Image)(Free Image)(Free Image)

Tomorrow my friend, Pam, and I plan on a little raod trip stopping at several flea markets and I am hoping to find a few more things for the "B"ig project. I am so ready to eascape the pounding on the outside of my house! The dishes have about rattled out of the cupboards, the dog has barked non-stop, and consturction has hit a major snag. I hope there is a "B"it of "B"eauty "B"uilt into your day too!

"B"lessings,
Miss Sandy