The Great Gummi Rally!

Ahh, to be young again!  To have so much energy, so much....creativity!  My 5-year old and I were sitting at the kitchen table together.  He was playing with some cars and eating gummi bears while I was drilling out rivets from door handle displays (I'll tell you about that a little bit later in this post).

My son asked me at least 3 times for more gummies, within a span of minutes, before I realized it, and so I asked what on Earth was he doing with all of them?  I looked over and saw this:

Now, he has, at the least, a hundred of these cars, with about 25% of them being trucks or jeeps, or some sort of vehicle that can carry objects, and he had filled almost all of them with gummi bears.  They were too cute, I just had to take a picture of them!

As I mentioned, I was drilling out rivets.  I had gone to a rummage sale near my home and this lady's brother-in-law was selling a TON of these display cards with dresser/drawer hardware riveted onto them, for only .25 each!  I grabbed a bunch and spent only $5.00 on the whole pile.  Here's a sampling of what I got.

She said they were so cheap because there's only one of each item.  I don't mind, though, because I can use them when I repurpose dressers or desks.  There may be a need for only one handle, like some items only have one drawer.   And those hooks!  I can use those anywhere!  I even got some hinges and other boring hardware for my husband, Mr. Awesome.  I'm only half-way done with drilling them out, I think I dulled Mr. Awesome's drill bit.  It's kind of making a funny squeaky noise, and it's starting to take forever to get the job done.

I hope to get some of my furniture pieces painted soon and maybe use some of the little guys!

Alas...Blogger issues

I was showing off my blog to my mom and noticed that my Wistlist is missing! I know bloger's have been missing their comments, too. What is going on with Blogger?? One thing I have learned from this, however, is to BACKUP my blog! I guess I didn't even SEE that option when I was designing everything, sadly. I hope this gets fixed soon, but at least it's only the Wistlist and not something super important. It's just the perfectionist in me that is worrying, I suppose.

On another note, last week I decided to sort my collection of buttons by color and display them. I had been storing them in old tins, but I thought seeing them in clear jars would look lovely, instead of stored away where I can't see them. Also, it's more practical for me. If I'm sewing and need a button, I usually end up digging through all the tins to find the perfect one, then again and again, if I need more. So, this will help speed it up by letting me at least just have one color to look through. I'll still have the therapeutic benefits of sifting my fingers through all the lovely buttons I own, but it will just be quicker!

So, I decopaged a label onto a jar of one of them to see how it will look. I think the label is too large for the jar, but the jar had a length of glue along it that I just couldn't get off and I wanted to cover it up, so it's ok to me. Here it is! I think I'll glitter the edges some day.

I had trouble using my cel phone camera. No matter how still I was, or how long I held my breath, everything was just a little blurry. So, now I found our old digital camera, got new batteries and away I went. However, I can't remember how to stop the flash from being used. Sometimes the flash really washes out the photo, did you notice? Well, I'll figure it out eventually and in the meantime, I'll try to post unglaring photos!

Janet's Creative Pillows Giveaway

I usually don't like to post giveaways, as they become outdated after the giveaway, but I'd like to for this blog.  It's called Janet's Creative Pillows, and she makes these exquisite pillows.  The one for this giveaway is in the shape of a dress form.  It's decorated with a pink, lacy, whimsical dress and is GORGEOUS, so hop over and sign up!

New Look

I had to stay up all night, but I did it!  Taadaa!  I finally got my blog to look the way I want, well....mostly.  I'd like the background color to be a pale pale lavender, but it only flashes that color then reverts back to white.  Oh well, it still looks smashing and I think I'll not worry too much about that!

I'm trying to figure out how to remove photos from my phone to my PC, so when that's done, I'll be posting some pics I took.  Stay tuned!

Some Good News!

For those who don't know me, I've been receiving treatment for endometrial cancer.  That is a cancer of the lining of the uterus.  Tuesday I came back from the Cancer Treatment Center of America (CTCA) in Zion, IL with a negative finding of the cancer.  My doctor is quick to remind me that I should not believe that I am "cancer free", because it's possible that it's just lurking, I guess.  I'm not really sure why I wouldn't be labeled as cancer free, if the several biopsies, MRI's and other tests show it as not being there, then what else would it be called?

Well, my next visit I will ask what that would entail.  In the meantime, I am off the nasty hormone medicine that has as a side effect an increase in appetite.  So, the 30 pounds I lost before treatment I have now gained back.  Back to the drawing board, I guess, but I am VERY happy about my cancer news and I thought I'd just share it with everyone.

As far as crafting, lately, I've been pretty busy with going to different doctor visits and getting spring yard work/gardening done that I haven't been up in my craft room much.  It's kind of a mess right now because I've also been rummaging and finding lots of craft supplies.  I'm starting to run out of room for it all!  Well, in the next few days, I'll start posting pictures of some of my finds and what I have been able to do in the meantime.

Back from the Dead

I can't believe it's been 2.5 years since I last posted.  Needless to say, I'm back.  There were some real issues with my life that are clearing up and I'm starting to feel able to blog again.  I hope to get some real inspirational things going here.

I've been crafting up a storm and would like to post some pics and tutorials.  It may be hard for me to post tutorials, however, because when I'm on a roll, I don't stop for picture taking ;)  Well, we'll see.  It just takes commitment, I guess.

I would also like to remodel my blog page.  I like it, but it's over 2 years old, after all.  I've got some great, free vintage clipart I found at The Graphics Fairy which I can use.

Take care!

How'd you like to have your own designed fabric?

Here's an interesting website (link listed to the right) that I've checked out and am POSSIBLY looking into for my own designed fabric.  The site is called Spoonflower and basically you upload a design you've created which you can then manipulate however you want by selecting type of fabric, color, and layout.  You then proceed to checkout and your design will be printed to your specifications and sent to you.  Granted, the cost of your material can range from $18-$30, but if it's one of a kind (OOAK) it's worth it.

EJ has started a little shop on Etsy to sell her beaded ornaments and I've been thinking of putting some of my stuff there, as well.  This would be the perfect venue for someone's own original fabric.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the cost of it, so if anyone knows of a less expensive fabric printer, let me know.  Oh, btw, Spoonflower is totally organic, which is nice considering the new CPSIA regulations in handmade items.  (Don't get me started on CPSIA!!)

Vintage Children's Recipe Book + Corn Bread Recipe

I don't know where I picked up this little gem, but it is ever so adorable!  The picture on the front of the little girls rolling out biscuits is sweet, and the inside illustrations are as well.  The recipes have little pictures that go with the words, so if the word "hands" was printed, a picture of a pair of hands would be shown, as well.
Here's the front cover:

 

The book was printed in 1932 byt The Harter Publishing Company of Cleveland, OH.  It just reminds me so much of simpler times, though it is interesting to see how things have changed since then.  For instance, I'll post a picture of one of the recipes which is called Mammy's Corn Bread.  I mean...Mammy??  Well, it is a glimpse of how things were back then.   Here's the inside of the book, with a little list of rules for little cooks:

I can almost imagine my grandmother using some of these recipes.  I lived with my grandmother during my early childhood, so I have that deep sense of the past that I learned from her.  This book reminds me of her.  The last picture is for the recipe I mentioned above: