Blogging Again and Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hello Friends!

I feel like I'm sending a signal out to the vast unknown...
like I've lost touch...
It's been so many months since I've made a blog post,
I really did not intend that to happen.
But
I'm still here, I'm still creating...

And
I'm not going to try to catch up
all in this one blog post :O

I am in a yearlong swap project hosted by Linda
of Swap for All Seasons,
which is a monthly sampler/fabric collage.
I am loving it!!  These are so much fun to make!
This is my January swap:

I wanted to incorporate a heart into it,
since she didn't actually received it til February!  :)

And this is my February swap:

 I just love combining all the fabric and lace bits
we all accumulate along the way. 

This is a little altered heart box that I made for
my Paper Soiree group's February swap:

It's so hard to put the glitter away when Christmas is over :)

Just a couple of cute projects,

some cute images,

and best wishes for a Happy Valentine's Day!!

I will be back next week, so please don't give up on me :)
Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

More Friday fun to be had at Fabulously Creative Friday!  

Lots of great ideas at Show and Tell Friday!  

Lovely blues at Anything Blue Friday!

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday!

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

Lovely tablescapes at Seasonal Sundays!

Cute and crafty stuff at Make it Monday!

Be inspired by Inspire Me Tuesday!

Vintage creativity at Vintage Inspiration Wednesday!

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

Beautiful greys at Grey Dey Thursdeys.

Lovely things to be found at

French cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

 

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

Paris! Freebies!

Hello Friends!

OK, just a few tiny more pictures of Paris,
and then we'll move on!  :)

I found another pic I had taken in my fave Mathilde M. boutique:

 Here at Chez Odette you can get mini-cream puffs in several different flavors,

each represented by it's own adorable vintage French girl:

The beautiful fountain in the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg

(Luxembourg Gardens):

A sentimental picture...I lived in this building once upon a time!

 It was so fun to walk around the old neighborhood!

Beautiful fountain:

 Notre Dame on a beautiful summer day:

 

 Well, this looks a lot like Anthropologie:

 But it's not!!  Just a lovely French housewares boutique!


The beautiful department store, Galeries Lafayette:

 There is no denying the French do things beautifully.

 I do love Paris,
and I was already planning our next trip there as soon as we got back!
(More Paris and Provence pictures here and here.)

And I do have some more creations to share with you:

These are two ribbon and lace paper dolls I made for a Paper Soiree swap:

And I'm really a novice at jewelry making,
but I didn't let it stop me from making this bird's nest necklace
for a swap at Marie Antoinette:

 I weaved the "nest" using lace and fabrics
which I stitched to buckram. The chain is made up of a few
different pieces, old and new.  And I added some birdies and sparkly gems.

I wanted to come up with a fun presentation that was quick and easy!

So I just laid down various washi tapes onto the lid of a jewelry box.

And added a chalkboard sticker.

Hope you all are enjoying the last days of summer.
Although I don't know why I say that,
there's still technically almost a month of summer left,
and it's in the 80s during the day here in San Diego.
But the nights are cooler, it's breezier,
and it just seems that the Labor Day weekend
is more the mark of the end of summer.

Freebies:

Click to enlarge, right click and save!

Enjoy your holiday! 

More Friday fun to be had at Fabulously Creative Friday!  

Lots of great ideas at Show and Tell Friday!  

Lovely blues at Anything Blue Friday!

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday!

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

Lovely tablescapes at Seasonal Sundays!

Cute and crafty stuff at Make it Monday!

Be inspired by Inspire Me Tuesday!

Vintage creativity at Vintage Inspiration Wednesday!

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

Beautiful greys at Grey Dey Thursdeys.

Lovely things to be found at

French cottagey links at Feathered Nest Friday!

 

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

Christmas Crafting and Freebies!!

Hello Friends!

Oh, my, my!! Has it really been a MONTH since I've posted? :O

Well, it is that time of year when we are pulled in all directions.
I have had lots of crafty projects, which I'd love to share with you.
I knew once December came all I'd want to do is bake cookies
and shop ;) ...oh, yeah, and eat the cookies.
So I revved my engines and did my creating in November. Whew!

First up is this cute little box filled with handmade tags for my Paper Soiree group.

and here are the tags:

 

For our make and take we made these little bags and origami trees

to embellish the bags:

 

Here are my samples:

 

I really wish I had a template to give you, but I don't.
I do have a link to the origami tree video, which you can see here.
You could add them to any bag, it is easy to adjust the size.
They're so cute on cards. 

Wendy of BlissAngels had a Christmas Cake Box swap,
and if you have been following this blog,
you know I love me my cake boxes :)
And she happened to be my partner!
Now I know that Wendy loves her fairies, so I made her a
SugarPlum Fairy:

 I do have several other projects to show you,
but I think I'll save them to provide the impetus for me
to post later this week :)

Now I shall shower you with images for your own
Christmas crafting:

 

Click to enlarge, right click and save!
 

Lots of links to lovely pinks at Pink Saturday.

You will find links to lovely teacups at Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations!

For links to lovely, shabby, chippy whites, stop by White 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 weekend!

Tinsel Trading Company and Halloween Freebies!

Hello Friends!

Well, my search for fall color was apparently a few days too late,
and I MISSED the New England peak foliage.  :(

I did console myself with a trip to Tinsel Trading Company, though.  :)
Let's do a little window shopping:

 

 

 

 

 

Oooh, let's go inside:

Inside this cabinet are very vintage trims:

And there really are boxes and boxes on the floor in the back of the store

of very vintage trims just waiting to be unpacked and displayed.

 I am always mad at myself when I get home for not buying more when I had the chance!

Especially since our hotel was literally a half block away!

 

Here's a little giftie I made for my friend Rosa:

 

and some Halloween freebies:

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 White Wednesday!

 

Thanks so much for visiting, and have a great weekend!