Some new items added to my booth.

Spent several hours today working in my booth to add new items and redo some displays.  Here are some of the things I have added today.

I found this darling hen with chicks last week along with the small two-drawer chest she sits on.  The two black boxes on the left are really nice cigar boxes.  Great to add your own artwork to the lids and inside.

Here's the little angel I shared with you last week along with a nice storage trunk I found.

I was so tempted to keep the Paris subway banner, but I don't really have any place here at home to put it.  But it is nice!

Here are two gorgeous cigar boxes.  The one on top unlatches from the side and two pieces of the lid open up.  Great graphics!  Nice storage box!  The one underneath still has the cigar trays inside.  They would make it easy to store necklaces.  Check out the pictures of the inside of these boxes on my Judy B's Shabby Chic Facebook page here.  Click on the first picture then continue clicking on the pics to see all of the photos I added today.

This is a wonderful blue gray 6-drawer metal cabinet.  Great for storage or plants!

This is one of the better vintage children's watercolor sets I have seen.  It was made in England and has great graphics.  No dents but some scuffing on the lid.  Check the inside!

Most of these colors have not been used!!  The original brush, however, has no bristles.  You would have to buy a new watercolor brush.  But what summer fun!!  Underneath this paintbox in the aqua tote is a small book on painting with watercolors, a bundle of three small paintbrushes perfect for watercolors, and two packages of watercolor paper. The watercolor paper is substantial enough to be painted on one side and addressed and stamped like a postcard on the other.  Share the summer fun with family or friends!!!

Heavenly finds

I have spent time this weekend doing some treasure hunting as well as remembering that Memorial Day is for our military, past, present and future.  Here is what I found:

This little sweetie was right there at the entrance to My Sister's Attic waiting for me to grab him up and take him home!  I think the "tray" is for candles, but a plant, small books, rosary, small jar filled with shells, etc. would look even better than a candle!  Just too stinkin' cute!

I also found these three concrete decorative crosses at My Sister's Attic as well.  Love those because they look old and crusty.  They are older because the hangers on the back are rusted.  I have also coffee dyed another old book which you can see beside the little angel.  See my blog of May 22 here to see how to coffee dye these bundles.  Easy peasy!!

Angels in my house

I have had four of these porcelain doll heads on a shelf for about a year.  They stare out at me every time I go into my art room.  I have always thought that I would resell them, as is, for others to decorate.  But, after looking at Christmas decorations on Friday, reading numerous blogs, I decided that something should be done with them.  Then I can sell them.

Here's what they all looked like before I decorated them.

Pretty, but bald.  I love the hand painting of the facial features.  They are really sweet.

Here's the first one I did:

I decorated her with bits of old lace and trim.  Then I added feather wings, a crown button, and tinsel for the halo.

This is the second angel I transformed.  I used that crinkled up shredded paper for her hair, old lace, an old earring and feather wings.

Here she is from the side so you get a better look at the lace covering her head.

Here is the third one I completed.  I think she better fits in as a fairy.  I haven't put wings on her.  Don't think she needs them.  What do you think??

Since she is wearing a hat made out of coffee dyed flower petals, she is probably a fairy.

I completed the last one late last night.  I will have to photograph here later today.  Will post her later today.  Check back later this afternoon.  Got a lot going on this morning.  See you then????  Here she is:

Under the weather!

Last Thursday the throat started feeling scratchy and sore. Friday worse. By Saturday I was lying on the couch all day, fully dressed and covered with two blankets -- in 88 degree weather! I was freezing!! Yesterday the nose was so plugged that mouth breathing was the only way I was going to take any breath! Cold medicine, you say? It didn't help. Just plugged my breathing passages up totally and my nose still ran! AWFUL!!

I am better today. The nose is somewhat better -- at least at times I can breathe through it! LOL!! But I have been through a lot of tissues!!I found this picture on the blog of Vintage Bliss. I was taken by the turquoise crosses covered with shells. Had to make some of my own!! So off to a "big box" store I went and found the wood cross. You can see that I already had a bag of seashells and a jar of broken pearl necklaces. A little spray paint in Robin's Egg and I was good! I plan to do more!I love the tiny pearls in the center shell. And the limpet shells were so pretty and ruffly! A little glue and I was good to go!

Lately I have been collecting crosses of all kinds. Don't know why! Also am collecting rosaries to drape on the cross and my angel. They seem to be everywhere now! Just look!In the niche in my entry way. I plan to add more as I find them. Used to be a huge floral in the niche and I never really did like it -- not really me!In the corner of the great room stands my angel with a fancy cross on the wall behind her. On the wall to the left top is my only Wallace Nutting tinted photo and two pictures of Lake Tahoe that my sister gave me.Here is a close up of the angel with the rosaries and crosses around her neck. Her crowns (on her head and at the bottom) are from Rustic Stuff in Scottsdale. The angel is from the Scottsdale Marketplace at Lincoln and Scottsdale Blvd. These two crosses are on the walls in the guest bathroom along with lots of my treasures discovered while antiquing over the years.

Got my last issue of County Home. It is not going to be published any longer and the remainder of my subscription will go to Better Homes & Gardens. Well, drat!! If I wanted that I would subscribe, which I don't! I loved Country Home!! Better than Country Living which I thought had lost its original direction long ago and I dropped my subscription. I was a Country Living devotee from the get-go! Kept them for years until my hubby told me to get rid of them because they weighed too much and the AF had a weight limit. He didn't want to pay the extra!

Also got a post card from Somerset Memories letting me know that the backlash (they didn't say that, but we all know everyone complained!) made them change their minds about publishing annually only. They will now published it semi-annually.

My head is shaking. I know what to make of all this, but I don't like it! Not one bit!

Sneak peek!

Here are some pics from a project that I have been working on through my cold-ridden, fogged-up mind. Yesterday, with a clearer head, I did more work on this altered book project and am getting closer to having it finished. I am going to offer it as a class, but first it has to be finished.

This is an altered house book. The idea for it came from the most recent issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. I decided to do a wintertime book. As I progressed through getting the pages done, it suddenly became a "flip book" yesterday. Trying to figure out how to view the entire book and not see some of it upside down, I knew it had to flip. As in once you look at it from one side, you can flip it over and look through it again and get a totally different book.This is one of the finished pages in the altered book. I know it looks washed out, but the flash did that. If I don't use the flash, the colors wash out. Hmm! Time to get out the owners manual for the camera and do some research.

Lots of techniques used in this altered house book. Collage, fabric, plenty of gesso, plenty of sparkly things, plenty of recycled vintage things, Pearl Ex (not shown), hearts, angels. The flip side will feature more Christmas items to become a Christmas book.

Of course, I am not leaving those awful red rings on this book. It needs slightly larger, regular binder rings on it. I hope to get to Staples today to remedy this.

Working on shadow boxes

I have been working on a couple of new projects. Lots left to do, but I thought I would give you a sneak peek at what is going on in my work space.

I love these small shadow boxes. They are perfect for vignettes! Since I am a big hoarder of tiny antique and vintage treasures, this is the perfect way to display them!This is the first one I did using several vintage items -- lace, tiny pearls, spoon, perfume bottle -- and an old picture. The lace edge on the glass is actually a stamp and Adirondack snow cap white ink (thanks, Mike, for putting me on to that wonderful product!). This shadow box is in the "nearly complete" stage. I just want to stick everything down and add some "snow" at the bottom of the box. Also want to embellish and decorate the outside edges. I had a vision of seeing this Christmas angel through the frosty pane of a window. Did I succeed??

I hope the angel will be part of a three-projects-in-one class to be offered before Christmas. My idea is to create three quick Christmas projects to be taught in one class. Things to give as gifts or to decorate the home. Since we are all on a "budget" these days and have to watch every penny, many of us are going to be doing more "homemade" things for gifts and decorations. I know I am!!