Swaps, Swaps, Swaps and Freebies!!

Hello Friends!

Noooo, it's almost the end of January
and I still have Christmas posts to catch up on!  :O

I just love the swaps in my MAMA group,
they are so fun and the people are wonderful!
This is a Douze Jours de Noel
(Twelve Days of Christmas)
swap
where we made gifties and gathered vintage/French-themed goodies
for our partner.
These are my handmade gifties:

 A closer look:

Marie Antoinette chandelier crystal...


 Hand-dyed seam binding...

 

Handmade tags...

Altered matchbox....

Embellished snowflake...


Charlotte clothespin doll...

 

Embellished Eiffel tower...

Bottlebrush Christmas tree in salt shaker...

I received gorgeous gifties from my partner Lisa,
which I will post next time.


 This is a Bingo card pocket stuffed with goodies
that I made for a swap in my Paper Soiree group:

And this is an altered bottle I made for a friend:

 

And these little houses kept me VERY busy in December:

A pink one for my friend Brenda:

 Whew!!
It's always hard for me to let go of Christmas each year...

But this year I had another big event
to keep me busy in January, which was
MY BABY GIRL's BABY SHOWER!!
Well, she is not exactly a baby :)
I will soon post pics of that wonderful event.

I am enjoying the Swap for ALL Seasons swaps;
January's theme was "Thinking of You", and the color blue:



I was very excited to finally use that little wooden
"thinking of you" tag that I've had for years :D

 We make a card and tag to fit the theme,
and send color-themed goodies along with:

And now let's get on with the Valentine's Day crafting!

This is an altered candy box I made for a swap:
 

I'm still not up to date,
I have more pics of what I've made and received,
which I will post shortly!

Here are some images that I hope you will like:

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

More Friday fun to be had at Fabulously Creative Friday!  

Lots of great ideas at Show and Tell Friday.!  

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday!

Creative living, decorating, and craft ideas at Inspired Sunday!

Cute and crafty stuff at Make it Monday!

Vintage creativity at Knick of Time Tuesday!

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday!

Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

  ♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great week!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hello Friends!

Best wishes and dreams for a wonderful
and wonder-filled New Year!!

 

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

 

  ♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a wonderful year!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year Friends!


 
Wishing you all a blessed, healthy and wonderful 2013!   ♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥ Have a great year!  

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Friends!
 

  ♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥ Have a wonderful Christmas!!    

Altered Christmas Bottle and Freebies!

Hello Friends!

Well, I guess I didn't quite make it to two posts in one week.
Oh, well.
I wanted to share with you a couple of projects
that I made for the MAMA group.
Now I have long wanted to try my hand at making an altered bottle.
So I jumped at the chance
and joined the "Bouteille de Noel" swap. 
A Christmas bottle!!
My partner was Terri, who makes beautiful things.
It actually took me a long time to get started.
I had a porcelain rose that I really wanted to use for the top.
I kept fussing and fussing; it took me a bit before I finally admitted
it just wasn't right for this project, this particular bottle.
Then everything started to fall into place.

I started with a vintage bottle and filled it with some vintage pearls, mica flakes and snowflakes:



I layered (mostly) vintage lace pieces on the front and added
the silver snowflake, brass piece and this cameo which I love:
\
And here is the back:



Together Marti and I made this lovely bag to send the bottle in:



And of course I received a beautiful bottle from Terri:



She used a mercury glass technique on the bottle that I'm going to have to try!
I just love it!

I was also in a Secret Santa Swap,
those are just so much fun! 
We were supposed to create a pretty muslin bag
and fill with a handmade ornament, giftie, and Christmas treats!!
This is my bag for my partner, Lisa:

 

I made her a pretty little fairy slipper ornament but forgot to take a picture :(

 

And here are some Christmas tags for you to use when wrapping your gifties:

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

 

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.

 

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by Blissful Whites Wednesday!

Lovely, feminine things at Pearls and Lace Thursday!

Lovely, cottagey links at Feathered Next Friday!

Party on at a very pinteresting party at Tutus and Tea Parties! And for all things lovely and vintage, visit Knick of Time!

♥♥♥Thank you so much for visiting and for all your lovely comments!! ♥♥♥
Have a great week, and a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Anthropologie NYC

And what's a trip to NYC without a visit to Anthropologie?
I just love their ever-changing window decorations and in-store decor. This year's theme seemed to be an icy/frosty one... Fairly minimal for Anthro... Love this outfit, though... Ah, this is more like it... And inside the store,
paper discs edged with glitter,
stacked and hung from the ceiling... I probably won't be trying this at home, though ;)

Further down the block I spied this cute little coat made from "newsprint":

And this fabulous shoe wreath!!

I probably won't be trying that at home either! LOL

Here's a couple of wintery white freebies for you:

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

Is it winter white where you are?
It's 80 degrees here...

Visit White Wednesday for more winter whites! And Pink Saturday for lovely pinks!