Time is flying too fast!

     I can't believe Memorial Day is almost here!!! Next thing you know it will be 4th of July next week! Mom always told me the older you get the faster the time goes...I hate to admit it but she was right. It seems like it was winter just a few days ago and already yesterday it was 93 degrees! I sure hope this summer is not as extreme as winter was...I might melt into a puddle before it's over!

     Well, on to something new! I have been doing some swaps on swapbot.com and have been working on some new things. This is a Cookie Cutter Curiosity which I never heard of before. It's my contribution to my partner and I hope she likes it. I've had a bunch of vintage cookie cutters that I've never used (I am a packrat you know) and this is one that I just could not figure out. What in the world is it? It IS a cookie cutter, though, so it's fair game to be altered. I love the little birdie and how her tail fits in the unnamed creature's head and I added a little nesting material for her along with a stick. She might need it to beat off any other birds that want her nest.

I have a few more cookie cutters but I don't think I can part with them so now I'm on the lookout for new ones that I like. I'm also on the lookout for some spoons. YUP...spoons that I can alter for a swap! That's a new one for me too but I can't wait to try. All these things are just screaming Christmas to me now. That scares me because it's waaaaay beyond July 4th and I'm the one that wants to slow things down.

      Before I go, I thought I would share a few swaps I received this week.  This first one was a Just Pink Card and all that was required was two pink cards.  As you can see, she went over the top.  I love everything, but especially the hand dyed seam binding (my favorite go to ribbon right now) and the little flower.

This is for a Handmade Bookmark swap and all that was required was one item.  What I especially liked was the use of buttons on the dangley thingeys.   Since I'm a button collector I was tickled!

I've never hosted a swap before...this was my first and it was for Vintage Photo Postcards.  I had an ulterior motive, I wanted to increase my vintage photo stash. *sneaky smile*  I love the little girl and I want to know what that lady is saying to that little piggy!  The one on the left is a very nice card but my photographic abilities didn't do it justice at all.  Sorry!  It's a solder sitting on a horse, probably a Calvary soldier from WWI.

Does anyone else have as much trouble figuring out this blogging thing as I do?? It's not bad enough that I'm not a great picture taker, but when it comes to blogging I am so out in the potato patch! I guess the only way I will conquer it is to just keep plugging away so look out world, here I come a pluggin' away!

I'll be posting some photos of our town's Memorial Day Parade...they go all out every year. Lots of fun to get together and catch up with neighbors that we don't have much contact with during the year. Hope everyone has a wonderful SAFE and happy Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy the time off from work! Ren

Just thought I'd try again...

to see if I could give away one of my journals. It's at the bottom of this post. If you would leave a comment, you will be added for a drawing on Memorial Day, May 30th. Hope you like my little offering.

This is an altered tin I did some time ago and just never completed. It's an old Band Aid tin covered with scrapbook paper and vintage lace. This is the back of the tin. I ALWAYS get my photos out of order and, for the life of me, I can't figure out how to change that. *pout*



This is the top of the tin with Prima flowers and Swarovski crystals as the flower centers.
Here is the front with a smooshed canning jar lid for the frame around a vintage reproduction of a mother and baby. There are Prima flowers with tiny Swarovski crystals in their centers along with micro beads and glitter. There is a small scrapbook inside that I haven't photographed yet.





Here is my little 5 x 7 hand decorated journal I'm offering for my giveaway. As I said, I will draw a name on Memorial Day. Please leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.



I hope all you mothers had a wonderful Mother's Day with your families. Talk to y'all soon! Ren

Things are finally humming right along!

Things really are humming...especially in my studio! I haven't been this productive in quite awhile. I don't know where the ambition is coming from but I don't want to question it! Here are a few things accumulating on my table.

This is a journal made from a black and white composition book, which is what most of my journals are. I used a vintage page along with a vintage reproduction of the lady sewing. I've also used vintage scrabble tiles and music. The ribbon, buttons and "Treasure" frame are new but fit right in with the look.

This little cutie was made from another composition book. The flower is from a vintage book about flowers that I got at my local thrift store and has not been aged at all. The coloring is natural. The entire journal is covered with vintage wallpaper in a soft blue color. The printed page is vintage but everything else is new as well as the seam binding. Boy am I ever loving that stuff! It just hangs so nicely and I don't even want to use my regular ribbon much anymore.

This is a smaller hardback journal that is decorated with all vintage things except the flowers and heart. It's hard to see, but the frame is covered in lace. I'm not a very good journal keeper but I really want this one. But.......since I'm NOT a journal keeper it will go to either Etsy or ebay, not sure which yet.

My 87 year old Mom will just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cake! She has been on a perpetual diet for as long as I can remember and this one is calorie free! I'm going to use it to put her Mother's Day gift in. I love the lid...it's all glittery. The box itself is covered in rose wrapping paper that just happened to match the flowers I had for the lid.

I really have had fun the past few days and can't wait to get back upstairs! I can't believe the difference a larger work area made. My tables are full but still give me plenty of room to craft.

I hope y'all have a safe and blessed Easter with lots of love and laughter around. Ren

I'm pouting...

because I couldn't give away my little Spring hanger. No comments, no one to give it to. Guess I'll just file it away for some future date.

My Vintage Heart...

was loads of fun to work on. I finally rounded up all my vintage paper scraps and decorated a heart shape cut from a piece of scrap foam core board I've had laying around for ages. Then I dipped in my stash of "stuff" to decorate it. The scroll stamp is from Tim Holtz and is heat embossed with black. The other scrolly decorations are self adhesive thingeys that I colored with alcohol ink and embossed the top edge with black once again. "Once upon a time" was another self adhesive embellishment I've had along with the key and key lock brads. The pearly thing is a pin from the junk bin at a local thrift store that I pulled the back off of and glued with the feathers. The two round things near the point are typewriter keys I cut from paper and added crystal accents to give it some dimension. The tassel is bits of chain from from a cheap necklace from the dollar store that I wired on with a pearl bead. I edged it with ribboon to cover and keep the paper edges flat.

I'm off to do some more crafting so talk to y'all later! Ren

New Items

Hi all! I've spent the last couple of afternoons upstairs crafting on my two new tables and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! I have so much room to spread out now. I actually have room to work...imagine that! Here are a couple of projects I completed and am hoping to post in my Etsy store.

I'm loving my two giant hole punches and am probably using them on way too many things right now. They are so fun though! I, also, got the hang of making ruffles...what fun!

I've been embossing my tags too. I have a swirls and a dots die that I use. Now I'm on the prowl for another kind. Oh, I have music notes too.

These are two that I did quite sometime ago but am finally ready to part with. They have bits of tulle and lace from a vintage wedding gown I found at a local thrift store.

Guess I'll head out to try and figure out how to list my first items on Etsy. I tend to be a slow learner so it could take quite awhile. Course everything I do anymore takes longer than it used to. See y'all later! Ren

My first give-away!

I don't know if anyone reads this blog so I thought I would have a give-away just to find out.

This is a little Spring hanger made from an altered coaster. The little blue birds are a copy of a vintage post card with touches of glitter on the flowers. The whole thing measures 4 1/2 inches by 6 inches including the lace trim. It was fun to work on and I think I will do a few more since I have a handful of the coasters left over. Leave a comment for me and on March 26th I will pick the winner.


It was so nice and sunny yesterday! Today it's pretty dreary here in New Jersey but...THERE'S NO SNOW!! I always used to enjoy snow but the last two winters have put snow on my crap list now. Am I seeing things?! I look across the street to my two neighbors and actually see white stuff! OOPS! It's only the white risers on their porch steps. PHEW! That's a relief. I am so ready for Spring this year. I hope everyone else is having great weather. I'm looking forward to seeing my granddaughter outside finally and I can't wait for T-Ball with my grandsons.

I guess I'm going to head upstairs to my crafty space and try to make room for my two new 8 foot folding banquet tables. My neighbor across the street checked out my crafting space and told me I needed a "big ass table" up there. I was going to get a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood but instead I got two half-assed tables instead! (scuse the language but it was a direct quote) Will I ever be able to stretch and spread out! Talk to y'all later! Ren