jackpot!

We went picking last Saturday.  My husband and I have gotten into kind of a routine this winter.  
Friday night we do bills and get caught up on our TV from the week (American Idol, Pawn Stars, Auction Kings, American Pickers, Storage Wars, Modern Family, The Office, The Bachelor (yes I'm addicted!)
Then on Saturday we do a date, where we go pickin' for the next Sale.  
Either a flea market, an auction, or our favorite stores.  
Sometimes the kids want to come along, sometimes they have other things to do.  
Then on Sundays we do our crafting, setting up, painting etc.
This past Saturday I found this basket of chandelier crystals at a flea market.

Being the chandelier fanatic that I am, I am always in need of crystals when I refurbish my lights.
I asked the gentleman how much he wanted for the whole basket.  I think I caught him off gaurd, as usually they are sold individually for $1-2 each crystal.  He thought for a minute and said "how about $100?"  My heart was racing and I called my hubby over and he said "do you really need any more crystals?" (buzz kill)  
I said "YES!  I always need crystals, besides I think there is surely at least 100 crystals in this basket, so that is an ok deal."  
I asked the gentleman if he would take $90?  Yes!  Score!
On the way home we each took a guess at how many crystals there were in the basket.  Kind of like the jelly beans in the jar kind of thing.
My husband guessed 152.  I guessed 174.  We were both wrong!
There were over 500 crystals in that basket!
JACKPOT!!! 

nesting!

Nothing says spring like birds nests!  
Here is a grouping that I have been working on this weekend. 
Adding little feathers and eggs!

pretty spring gift

A pretty Spring gift to make for your friends with Spring Fever!...
I took a paper mache box and decoupaged some pretty paper around the sides and on the top.
I added some hand made cards, some pretty paper covered clothes pins with twine for hanging photos, some stamped pencils, a sweet bouquet and a little birds nest, topped it off with a glitter butterfly...
put in a little note "...only a few more weeks to Spring!"

the light and color of Provence

As a young art student, I often wondered why so many of the great artists came from the same location in the world...Provence.
Van Goh, Picasso, Chagall, Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Boudin, Renoir, Matisse, ....  
Some of these artists were born in Provence.  Many (more than listed here) came to the region because of its beauty.
Until I visited there I did not fully understand this beauty.  
It starts with the light.  The light there is amazing.  It is hard to put into words. 

Next, the colors of the landscape, the skies and the nature are breathtaking!  

The color of the soil, the crops, the towns and villages are beautiful.  

These famous artists chose these towns and villages and the landscapes because they make beautiful subjects for their paintings. 
And these paintings have become some of the most famous paintings in our lifetimes.


All of these pictures were taken with my cell phone...  Can you imagine if I had my good camera with me?!  

tea stain hangtags

My daughter and I make ALOT of tea dyed hangtags.  We make pretty hangtags out of them for gifts.  We also use these for all our price tags at the sale.
I actually don't use tea - I use coffee.  Instant coffee.  It works much faster.

I just pour some coffee into a pan of water.  Let the tags soak for a few minutes.  Longer if you want them darker.  Put them on a cookie sheet.  Put them in the oven on very low heat - just enough to dry them out quickly. 

Check them every few minutes.  Once they are dried (they will start to curl up) I pull them out, let them cool and bag them up.

My daughter and will stamp them and glitter them for pretty tags for gifts.

in search of this dog!

I watched the Westminster Dog Show the other night and fell head over heels in love with this dog!
Its called a Puli.  There is another dog out there that is similar in looks but much bigger call a Komondor.  
They look like mops!  How cute is he?
In researching this dog, I found that Mark Zuckerburg is also in search of both of these dogs!
I think he has a little more money to spend than I do! 

Besides, I don't think my little Cairn Terrier, Cooper, would be happy with me if I brought this little mop home! 

isn't she lovely?

Isn't she lovely?  I found this lovely statute at a recent auction.  There was a gentleman that knew a little history about her and shared what he knew.  
She was one of 4 statues of the 4 seasons.  She is either spring or summer.  She has a birds nest in one hand and flowers in the other.  She stands about 7 foot tall on a pedestal.
She once was on a hilltop overlooking a garden in southern Ohio.
I'm not sure what happened to her three sisters....
I can't decide if I am going to sell her in the Spring sale or if she will be going into one of my gardens this spring. 
I have really been trying to clean my gardens up recently, taking a lot of the ornamental things out for a more modern cleaned up look, but she sure would make a statement, wouldn't she?....

sissy is having a baby!

My little sister is having a baby!!  Well, kind of...
My little sister had cancer a few years ago, so she was not able to carry a baby herself, so she has been patiently waiting while her baby has been growing in her surrogates belly!
This past weekend we had a surprise baby shower for her!
I got to meet the lovely lady that is my sisters surrogate.  
She really is an angel sent here from heaven.  To do this, so another can have a child, is simply angelic.  She is a lovely, sweet, beautiful girl and I was thrilled to meet her and thank her for doing this for my sister and her husband.

It was amazing that we were able to keep this shower as a surprise, partly that the date has had to move several times over the past few weeks for different reasons.
I am so excited for her and her husband!!
I can't wait to meet this little one!!

pretty hangers

Take some old hangers and do the same thing - add a pretty rhinestone or flower and you have a pretty hanger that you can hang your jewelry on!

pretty clips

just a simple addition to something can take it from bland to beautiful!

I took these rusty enamel clips and added some pretty old rhinestone jewelry and flowers and made them spring ready!

flower frame

I cant stop thinking about spring and spring flowers.  
I was looking at this old pile of frames, wondering what I could do with them.

I took some french paper and played around with layout.  

I covered a wood board with my french paper or  I just decoupaged right over the ugly paintings!

Then I went to the store and got some pretty flowers.  Here is what I ended up with.

spring fever - cake plates!

I havent crafted in several weeks and I am feeling really unfulfilled.  Well I made up for it today!
I got up at dawns crack today and had a big list of things I wanted to do today!
I made pretty cake plates, flower artwork, pretty clips and hangers, tags, decoupaged furniture to name a few things.  I will be sharing them with you this week.
I will start with showing you some pretty cake plates I made with some vintage plates and candlestick holders.

I have always collected mismatched pretty plates that no one else wants.  I visited a local thrift store and picked up some pretty crystal candle holders and paired the two together.  Center your candlestick and use some glue that bonds ceramic and glass.  You can add a few tiers.  These will make a wonderful display for your spring treats!

sissy's baby shower - diaper cake!

Last weekend we had a baby shower for my little sister!
I decided to make her a diaper cake.  I had seen them on line but had never made one.  They are actually quite simple to make, but let me tell you ...you can get a little carried away - as you can see on mine - there is very little diaper showing!  

I think I covered every square inch with baby stuff!  My daughter and I had so much fun making this together!
You start with a baby bottle center and build around it with rolled diapers (rolled with see through rubber bands) Keep adding and build the cake shape and add your baby treasures around - all secured with a giant rubber band that you will cover with your ribbon. 

I topped it off with the cutest handmade sock monkey hat that I got here on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/66037177/barley-sock-monkey-earflap-beaniehat

Here is our finished "cake"!