Salvaged Wood Signs, Romantic, Shabby Paper Collage and Travel Plans

 Hello Everyone..

We're oh so close to all that fall goodness!

Are you looking forward to it?

I think I finally am.

It's hard to say goodbye to the loveliness

that summer brings and I
 like to reflect on the time gone by.

It's been a wonderful summer with many
happy memories made and some work done
along with letting go of some things.

Doesn't each season hold a magic and

uniqueness all it's own?

I hope that your summer has been a 
peaceful and fulfilling time with many happy moments
and adventures along the way.

And....
 with open hearts shall we 
embrace the new season that's upon us?

 Here we come!

Pumpkin goodies...

cozy sweaters and warm, 

crackling, fireside gatherings with family and friends
or what ever delights each of your hearts!

And.... so begins my candle season and 
even MORE twinkle lights!

Don't you just love the warm glow of all those candles

and lights.. and the scents??

Oh MY! 

Farm Fresh Apple

Pecan Pie

Sunny Pumpkin Fields

I've been looking for a place to buy candles in bulk and
good prices in general.
I finally found one.
They also have dripless in many colors
Orange Black and Purple

~*~*~*~*~*~

 I recently enjoyed pulling out some of my

pieces of old wood.

Sign making is a lot fun

and one can be so creative.

I always enjoy seeing what designs people make.

 The first two are a combination 

of stenciled and free hand painting

I am always intimidated by hand painting as I'm just learning.

I drew the flowers on with a white Stabilo pencil. 

It worked very nicely and is easily erasable.

I'm always inspired by Miss Mustard Seed. 

Have you heard of her? 

She's very talented and so kind and helpful

 to share little tips!

Here's  a video that I watched awhile ago..

It was helpful and just fun :)

 Beads strung on a thin wire...

I use them whenever I can for a project.

They're one of my favorite ways to embellish something.

 This was an oak stool that I picked up.

The paper I used was Romance Novel by Prima.

Paper LOVE. 

I often find my papers at Hobby Lobby or

Scrapbook.com for a very good price.

Sometimes half off~

After the glue dried, I sealed it with several 

light coats of Krylon Crystal Clear.

~*~*~*~*~*~

With one of my many rounds of flowers that I planted this year,
(I think I am officially a crazy plant lady now)
came a beautiful rose bush that graces us
with PINK and WHITE roses
at the same time.
It was....
SO very Lovely.
And I finally figured out to care for them.
That's another story.Liberty wanted a drink..

I love how she looks like a giant dog. 
Silly~ 
But it made me think of fairy gardens.

And then I found this little friend on the bird bath.

I'm sure it thought she was a giant!

Do caterpillars have thoughts?

I guess they do in Alice in Wonderland ;)

We've had some beautiful clouds with our season of rain.

I really do enjoy a cloudy day. 

I'm preparing for a trip to our beloved

 Sugartree in Ohio. We leave Friday.

I'm preparing for that and getting a few things done

from my ongoing list. 

It will be wonderful to see my brothers and sisters,

some of our kids and grand kids as well 

as a new grand baby along the way!

Antique shopping

junking... good food and just getting away
and some 
JUST PLAIN ADVENTURE!
I do love hittin the road.

Willie Nelson CD singin..
On the Road Again

 It's been a great summer but one

of very hard work and I need some 

rest and inspiration.

I wish you the happiest first day of fall.

I will be gone until mid-Oct but will be coming 

and going online. 

Have a lovely week, thank you for coming

and I wish you joyous blessings.

Hugs,

Tamara

************

Oh... a little p.s.  here~ 
Do you like the Junk Gypsies?

They have a new book coming out.
You can watch a video about it here and you
can pre-order their book 
HERE.

I pre-ordered mine several weeks ago.
Can't wait to get it.
Love them girls spirits and the talents that they have.

bye for now..

Joining the lovely party at
Share Your Cup Thursday

Come make some new friends and 
enjoy all  the fun and inspiration~

A Spring, Collage Tag With A Love Message ~

I hope that your weekend 

is going well. 

And for those who are 

facing a kind of 

hardship in your life, 

I wish you

Peace 

Rest 

and 

Love.

 This project was 
inspired by a

 Tim Holtz  video. 

I tried for an 

hour to find it in my history..

but to no avail. 

If you like paper crafting
or mixed media,
he is a wealth of information,
is such a talented
designer and is so
kind to share.
Thank you, Tim!

I am always learning so

many new, useful and fun

 techniques.

I like to give 

credit where I've gleaned 

information.

Anyway,

 this is a simple collage 

technique that could be 

found among 

many paper crafters.

The design is my own.

I always enjoy working 

with paper and the collage is 

a fun way to add  a lot of interest

to your first layer.

I also enjoy the 
"building and blending."

I have to learn to

photograph the steps!
**********

I'm working on posting more
but have to admit that sometimes
I just stare at that blank post
screen with no where to go!
I'm learning to just 
"do something."
Share something.

Am I the only one who over 
thinks and makes it more complicated
than it is? 

I'd love to hear about what 
you do for inspiration! 

I hope you enjoyed your visit and 
found a little bit of
encouragement or inspiration.

Thank you so 
much for stopping by and 
have a weekend filled with love.

Tamara
xo

“Love recognizes no barriers. 

It jumps hurdles, 

leaps fences, 

penetrates walls to 

arrive at its destination 

full of hope.”

Maya Angelou 

Chic Handmade Pumpkins

Hi everyone.

It's that wonderful time of year again when 

many families are completing their 

Thanksgiving plans and working on 

putting everything in place for the big day when

family and friends come together

to celebrate the abundance

of blessings. 

Today, I wanted to share this 
fun project with you. 
It is:

Fabric Pumpkins. 
I realize 

that they aren't a new "thing". 

I've seen so many of them around and
was inspired by Becky at Timewashed.
She had a pumpkin give away. 
Her pumpkins were so pretty that I wanted to 
try making some for myself!
Thank you for the inspiration, Becky!

I wanted to share them 

because they were a real pleasure to make,
I liked the way they turned out
and the attached sentiment is
particularly meaningful. 

Gratitude has been my 
"word" this year. 
There's so much to be
grateful for and it's
the time of year that most people 
are counting their blessings.
_______________________________

The pumpkins are all made from 
thrift store fabric and the embellishments
are vintage, jewelry pieces
salvaged from there as well. 
Some of the pumpkins have crocheted, 
vintage lace around the stems which were
 found treasures also.

The cream fabric 
came from a thrift store shirt and the
black and tan fabric with roses,
used to be a vest that I
disassembled. I've had the pieces for years and
was waiting to use it for something special.

They are super-easy to make and would 
make a great craft for kids just learning to
sew by hand. 

"It's not happiness that makes 

us grateful, but gratefulness 

that makes us happy." 

Brother David Steindl-Rast

I hope you like them.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Blessings,
Tamara

Linking up at
Your Whims Wednesday
Vintage Inspiration Party

Shabby Cowgirl Signs: Rusty Barbed Wire and Pretty Flowers Meet Re-Claimed Wood

Today, I want to share with you some of my favorite things to work

with. I can't resist mixing these ingredients to come up with this recipe for

 some rustic, shabby gorgeousness.

(at least I think so!)

*rescued wood

*rusty barbed wire

*thrifted lace

*yellowed fabric

Mixing these textures are rich.

 Creating an easy, rugged beauty

that speaks to me of simplicity.

The aqua sign wood was found just like that. The others I had

to cut from a board and paint and distress a little.

I wanted more of a white-washed look.

I tried gesso but it really soaked in and

 store bought is expensive!

And so I thought I'd try my kid's white tempra paint.

It went on very easily and the coverage was just right.

It dried very fast and then I just sanded it a little with

#60 grit sand paper.



There are a few other little charms for a splash of color.

The wire that I used for the hanger was too thick for the beads.

And so I used some of my dark brown jewelry wire to

string the beads on. I wrapped the end where I wanted to start the beads

 and then took a wrap and strung a bead..took a wrap...strung a bead

and so on until I

reached the desired length.

 I left a little space between to tie on the strips of

lace and fabric. It worked well and the strips covered the wire nicely.

 Perfect!

(which is not always the outcome with my ideas)



And some clear glitter for some sparkly goodness.

After I stenciled, and the paint was dry, I just brushed on some

craft glue and sprinkled the glitter on.

 Soft rufflles on chippy wood.

Do you like it?



Cutting the barbed wire was a little tricky. I had to ask my husband

how to do that. I first tried regular heavy duty wire cutters.

There was no way they would cut through a

wire of that thickness.

We have done some fencing and so we had

 some fencing pliers. I was concerned about

being able to cut it because my hands aren't very strong.

But they worked great without hardly any effort and

it didn't hurt to use them either.

I also wore a pair of leather work gloves.

How to attach the wire to the wood was another question.

I tried E6000 but I couldn't get the wire to lay flat.

I decided to try using some small rusty nails and just bending them

over the wire and tapping them down.

I only had a few small ones though and so I had to find something

else. Down to the garage I went to look through my Honey's nail

I'm going to have to figure out to rusty up some nails before I

can make any more of these!





There's just something about old, rusty barbed wire...

All the wood and wire was found here on our place. I have piles of wood

that I choose from and there are tangles of rusty

wire (barbed and baling) that I cut my pieces from.

I not only love working with these materials but

it's important to me to create another life for things once used.

  It's an old farm/ranch that sits at the foot of a mountain.

A wonderful Dr. and his gracious wife generously sold a part of it to us.

 They were from Holland.

(Just think.. the barbed wire I used for re-creating was once used to keep

these dear folk's horses corralled! To me, that makes it special.)

I would love to hear about some of your favorite things that you create with!

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Blessings to you,

Tamara

 I'm linking up at:

                                                          http://shabbyartboutique.com/

My Girlish Whims

Scrap Fabric and Mixed Media Valentine Book

Good Saturday morning to you. Today I wanted  to share my first "book" that I've made. I'm excited about it and I hope you like it. The desire to use up some of my scraps brought about the

thought of putting this little book together.

With Valentine's Day coming, this theme seemed the natural choice.

I just love the contrast of the warm, rich red and the purity of white together.

Mixing textures is one of my favorite ways to create.

 

And LOVE is:

 

the thread that binds all people together.

No matter the place or circumstance.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, there it is from the front to back cover. 

Do you have a favorite page or something that you would add

or do differently?

 I'd love to hear your suggestions!

 

There is such GORGEOUS work out there and

I know I have A LOT to learn yet and techniques I want to try

and experiment with.

 But at least, this a bit of a start.

 

 

I have to set a limit on embellishments because my mind goes

on and on with what I could do. But I wanted to get it posted a

while before Valentine's Day.

 

Thank you for stopping by. 

A blessed Saturday to you,

Tamara

 

 

Ruffled, Shabby, Burlap Pillow for Fall~

I can hardly believe it's been a month or more since I posted. My days are so full of family and living this blessed life.

But I have been making time to work on a few fall items as time allows and this little hand-made pillow came to be.

 

It's very simple to make. I like to make my own pillow forms. I find very clean

used pillows at thrift stores. I always make sure they don't smell stuffy or odd.

I have a place where I can buy them for a dollar a piece. I tear them open and use the stuffing.

I also buy clean, white sheets at thrift stores. After washing them, I measure and cut

my pieces for the pillow form. 

 

I learned a new little secret about making the form fit nice and snug inside the

cover. Make it about an inch larger than the outside. I had

my doubts and thought that it might be too small but not so. It worked very

well.

 

All my fabric is thrifted. The ruffles are made from a white sheet torn into strips.

I cut them twice as long as the area to be ruffled. You can triple your length if you

want very full ruffles. And if you're edging the entire pillow with ruffles, tripling

is better.

 

The little flower is made from a thrifted, sheer curtain. There are many tutorials on You-Tube

about making the shabby, burned edged flowers. They are very pretty!

The little burlap flower was also found in a tutorial. I need to write down my source next time so I can give them proper credit. Just know that the though the pillow design is my own, I do not take credit for the flower designs.

Do be careful if you want to make a pillow from burlap. You need a little extra measured into

your size to allow for fraying. I wondered how it would hold together when hand-sewing the

closing. It held up surprisingly well. But the little extra gave me more room to fold in my edges

when closing the opening.

 

The pillow is about 10 inches square.

Burlap is a lot of fun to work with. There are so many uses.  In my next craft post,

 I'll share the little bucket/planter that I decorated with burlap ruffles.. It turned out very well

and I was able to  retail it to an Antique/ Shabby Chic Shop nearby.

That was exciting.

 

Bless you and I hope you're enjoying the last few weeks of summer. 

Soon the cool, fall breezes will be rustling the leaves around our doors and reminding us

to wrap our scarves about our necks!

 

 

 

 

Shabby Heart Wreath

 I have been so busy with company and more travel. All in the family.  However, there is always time for working on a project or two. AND defining and re-defining my special place where I create and celebrate the blessings of this life.

Here's a list of some of the projects I will be working on and sharing.

*Altered, ball caps made feminine
*A calf-length jean coat that I have been longing to embellish
*Chalkboards of a variety of shapes and sizes
*Earrings made from scrapped jean pieces
*A re-do on a pretty metal container (it has burlap ruffles which are so pretty but E-A-S-Y!


God is so good to give me ideas and I give Him all the credit.


Today I want to share with you this Shabby Heart Wreathe. I picked the heart up at a thrift store many years ago and have hung onto it because I really wanted to make something with it.

I really had a fun time putting this together. Sometimes I just and make flowers of different
styles. I enjoy the process of picking out the textures and colors that compliment each other.
For these I used tulle, velour, velvet, some lining fabric and lace.

I didn't make these flowers for this project in mind but I thought they would go with the shabby
soft look that I wanted to try to create.

I dry-brushed the wreathe first and then layed the flowers all about in the pattern that I wanted.

There is a rosette and a couple of yo-yos which are super fun and easy. These are all easy flowers to make and great way to use up scraps.

Among the flowers, I also wove in a small piece of eyelash yarn that gave it a little whispy look.

The large, crème colored flower is my favorite. I really love the soft, full appearance. This was made of pink paper ribbon and lining fabric. If you want to make these flowers, they are easy but a little more time consuming. Choose lining fabric or any type that will melt with the heat of a candle. Sheer curtains work well also. ( I just thrifted a pink sheer that I'm eager to try!)

You'll need:
*fabric scissors
* tea light or votive candle
* fifteen round pieces of fabric cut in three different to layer
(None of this has to be exact. It depends on the size flower you want. The fabric does shrink when melted so this will affect the finished size. You probably lose about 1/2 inch in your melting process.)
* paper ribbon cut in flower shape. I used my Tim Holtz tattered flower die. (I only used a piece or two of this to add just a splash of color to add blending and balance.)

After your circles are cut, then cut petals in your circles. Remember, it doesn't have to be exact. Then just hold your piece above the lit candle turning it they melt,being careful not to get your fabric IN the flame. You do feel the heat and there is a potential for burning your fingers. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!! You may have to experiment with a piece or two to attain the look you want.

After all of your layers are complete just add the paper ribbon (or not) where you want the color. Sew your layers together in the center with a few quick stitches. It doesn't take much to secure them. The flower overall  does take a little time but they are so pretty and well worth the time for me.

To make the ribbon and bow, I used some old linen fabric pieces that I tore from thrifted napkins and the hanger from a piece of lace. The large, pretty buttons came from an old sweater that belonged to one of my girls!

Before I hot-glued the flowers on, I took some pinkish fabric, lace and more linen and made strips to
attach behind the flowers to hang down.

I hope you've enjoyed this and that it has been helpful or inspiring. I would love to hear about a project that you've been working on!

Have a blessed day.
Tamara