Best Treasure Yet

I went on my usual Saturday morning treasure hunt but there was nothing usual about today. I found the best treasure I've found in years!

No, it wasn't this photo album from the 1920s and 30s...

or the great photos inside.

It wasn't these darling old baby clothes that I never can resist...

or this sweet baby photo.

It's not this adorable Princess sewing box with the cutest poodle on top or even the rhinestone buttons I found inside (my favorite).

No, it's not even this amazing full doll trunk or the price tag that said, "$5 All"

But wait...look inside!

Is that what I think it is??

No, not the handkerchief! Look closer!

Don't let those vintage Barbie clothes blind you! Closer!

It's Mr. Mouse! From Mr. and Mrs. Mouse House 1967, my favorite childhood toy!

I have never seen one for sale other than on eBay and he and his wife and house can go for hundreds of dollars, too much for me. And he still has his tail!! I looked all around to make sure the house and wife weren't nearby then I carefully tucked him back in, shut the trunk and ran to pay for it. Perfectly reasonable behavior for a 50 year old woman! Please don't judge!

Have I gone too far?

August Collage Challenge

I'm so happy to see Mary Green back hosting a new collage challenge! Mary always provides three beautiful images and you must use at least a part of each one to create something.

The map is in my background. I put a light coat of gesso over it so it would make a quiet backdrop for my nature scene.

I started with a different idea and cut the map into smaller pieces then came up with this idea so I printed it again. I used the two sets of trees down the right side and added a bird.  I cut the figs out of her hands and put a bird there too. Besides, I don't like figs.

Then I cut out a bunch of flowers from my piles of papers and added them over the torn pink tickets.  She has such a lovely garden now!

Please check out the creative things everyone else made at Mary's blog Greenpaper.

Thank you, Mary! I always enjoy your challenges!

More Quilt Blocks

Once again I am finishing my Block of the Month quilt blocks on the last day of the month. I always think I'm going to start the new blocks right away each month but it doesn't happen.
This is my favorite of the four I made for June and July.

This one is a different version of the dresden plate.

These were the June blocks. I didn't post them on their own because I think they are kind of boring. I'm not sure if I'll have to redo the one on the left. There is only one other block that is very pastel like this and I'm not sure if they will really go with all my blocks. It is the same group of fabric which is Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda but all the others have at least a little of the darker colors in it.

I'm going to a Sewing and Quilt Expo with my sister later this week. It is going to be so fun!!

I hope you all are doing well!!!

Fun With Old Paper

I've been doing some collages in my gluebooks lately. The one above is in my tiny 2 1/2 by 4 inch Moleskin. The background is a real piece of newspaper from 1883. It was a scrap that fell out of another old magazine I have. Since it was already cut I didn't feel bad using it. The old stamp is also real but the other things are copies. The lady is from Steam Tea Travels and I forget where the other piece is from. Have you ever visited Steam Tea Travels? Very creative blog!

This one is in my larger Moleskin. I used a year book from 1936. I'm not thrilled with it because the shiny paper was hard to glue without having it ripple and I was too heavy handed with the distress ink on the side. I bought the yearbook at an estate sale and the National Honor Society membership card belongs to the lady that owned the book.

The background in this one is an actual drafting assignment done in 1915. The little square that says "Practice Sheet" is another assignment from 1917. I like to pick up these old things and put them to good use in something creative. 

I used some advertisements from an old McCall's magazine from the 1920s for this one. It has such pretty images in it!

It was fun playing with paper and glue again (and a little ink) so I'll have to keep it up. There is nothing more relaxing to me!

Have a great week!!

Vintage Birthday Card

This little cutie was photographed about 78 years ago. This is my mother Dolores and she is 79 today. My grandfather loved taking photographs so luckily there are lots of pics of my mom when she was young. It may not be the clearest picture but it is cute anyway.
I wanted to make something for my mom so I made this card for her using only vintage items. First I took an old photo album page and put the picture in it.

I glued some old trim down the side of the album page that was torn from the book. This covered its rough edge. I added a thin piece of lace along the bottom of the page and on top of that I added a crocheted corner. I don't know what this was originally attached to but I love it. I always buy old lace at estate sales. That is something I can't bear to sell because I want to keep it all. I haven't seen any reality shows about lace hoarding so I'm not going to worry about it.

I used an old faux pearl necklace to make the hanger. I restrung the pearls onto wire so it would hold its shape. I cut the words from a vintage birthday card and added an old piece of tatting to the corner. I added vintage buttons that still had their old thread in them and some old millinery flowers to finish it off.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!!

Stitch Sampler

I finally finished it!!  This is my stitch sampler from Rebecca Ringquist.

It took me two years but at least I finished. Well, it didn't actually take two years. I'm bad about starting things and then before I am finished I get excited about working on something else, which creates piles of unfinished projects. I'm sure I'm the only one who does that! Right!

The fabric on the border is Soiree from Moda. I bought this charm pack several years ago and when I started the sampler I picked my embroidery floss to match the fabric.

I do have a couple other projects that are several years old and I am determined to finish them.  Then I'm going to stop doing that and work on one thing at a time until I finish.

Right! Like that's going to happen!!

Check out Rebecca's Etsy store, Dropcloth, for lots of pretty samplers.
Have a great week!

Cut & Paste

"Why?" says the man wearing the peppermint souffle on his head.

I saw this cute "Cut & Paste" sign on Mary Ann Moss's blog Dispatch From LA. I had to have it since I love to cut and paste. The background is just a bunch of pretty papers from Mary Green's classes that I had leftover.This fabulous girl came from an old Good Housekeeping magazine. I also got some old French magazines recently and that is where the guy came from. I added the word on his sweater since he is the victim of a crazy cut and paste lady.

I bought these old magazines thinking I would sell them in my Etsy store since I know so many people love collage but I couldn't stop myself from cutting them up for my own collages. The ads and the models from the 1950s are so great! And the fashion...!!!  Oh, I love vintage fashion!!!!!

 I found these two bathing beauties in the Good Housekeeping mag and knew they needed their own journal spread. This pretty chevron paper was also made by Mary Ann Moss.

This was my second attempt at this collage. I painted a background first but it looked horrible so I started over. I also used some rub-ons which was really fun. I found them for 50 cents and had to try them. I don't love this collage as much as the first one but it was fun to work on anyway.

I'm looking forward to more cutting and pasting!!

Have a creative week!!!