Cottage & Family:
good

Oh my goodness I kind
of feel like we have fallen
off the face of
blog world lately ~

This has been such a fun
summer with a new baby
in June and a new
baby in August ~
What precious precious
blessings they are!

Our family came from
California to meet
the babies ~ We have
made some wonderful memories!

While family was here
Kristin and I did a
little creating ~

Here are some of the
new things that
we added to the
Vintage & Handmade Category ~

We are on a roll!

Chat with you soon!

Kristin and I have been busy busy with our website
the last couple of weeks!!

But ... in between the busyness there are
babies coming very soon!!

Kristin's baby boy, Isaac's room, is
in a vintage airplane theme ~ She wanted
to use one of her husband, James' photographs,
but wanted it to look old ~

This is a quick step by step but
you can get more detailed instructions on her
family blog ~

First we got the picture laser printed at
Staples in a 20x30 inch size ~
Then we went to Home Depot and had them cut
a piece of wood in to 2 pieces 10 x30 inches ~

Place the 2 pieces of wood side by side
( we attached it together at the end but
you can do that step ahead of time )~
Then brush on Acrylic Gel Medium
and spread pretty generously ~
Place your paper with the image face down
and smooth out ~
We had a couple of wrinkles and actually it
ended up adding to the vintage look ~

Let it sit overnight ~
Then dampen the paper with
a wet cloth ~
When the paper looks wet rub with your fingers and the paper kind of rolls off ~
Kristin cracked me up because her fingers
didn't have finger prints or something because
she was having issues with this step ~

You can keep dampening the paper when it dries out
until it is
all rubbed off ~ Some of the paper was left
and it ended up grabbing the stain and looked good ~

Next Kristin stained over the entire piece ~
Then she sanded the edges
and rubbed the edges with
Pigment ink with a sponge ~

Lastly we waxed it with Annie Sloan clear wax
but you can also use Mod Podge to seal it ~

After it dried the wood was attached together
on the back with metal flat brackets ~

The whole project cost less than $30 ~

It turned out great and looks awesome
in Isaac's room !!!

Today I got all of the
lace out of my flea market
shopping cart and got
busy tea dying it ~

The hot sun today was
perfect for drying the
lace fast :)

I needed a good drying
rack though and
remembered this ladder
in my yard ~

It worked perfect!!

The rungs gave alot
of area to drape the
lace over ~

After it was dry
and ironed I got busy
creating the bottles in
the picture above for
a shop in San Diego ~

My very favorite
part of what I do is
the creating part ❤

I am so excited to carry
Jeanne d'Arc Living magazine
on my website!!

It has been one of my very
favorites and is now more
affordable than it ever has
been~

If you have never seen one before...
the pictures are GORGEOUS,
the articles are so good and it
does not have any advertisements,
which is great !

You can get them in our shop
for $19 including shipping ~

Just click here to go there ~

My website reopening was

a total blessing! It was busy and

was fun to be creating and getting

caught up and in the groove again ~

I have had a website for about 8 years

and have never closed ~ It was a good

thing to catch my breath for a few

weeks ~

I have sold out of alot but will

continue to restock as I create!

{and visit my favorite antique stores }

Those are the best part of

having a website!

Here are more pictures of some of the

things that we had on reopening ~

I am really still alive even

though it has been forever since

I have done a blog post :)

Life has been crazy the last few

months with my preggie girls ~

{Steph is 20 weeks & Kristin is 29 weeks }

Stephanie, my youngest daughter, is

20 weeks and has hyperemesis which

is crazy over the top morning sickness ~

She was literally in bed for 3 months

and in the hospital 4 times ~ She had

a subcutaneous pump in her stomach

for most of that time which

helps with the nausea ~

It was a good day when she could

just talk and smile ~

Needless to say my focus has changed

to my girls ❤

The pump came out a couple of weeks

ago and she actually can do things now

which pretty much is a total blessing

and an answer to many prayers ~

Last weekend we

flew to California for

our annual girls trip with my mom,

sister and niece ~ We just spend the

time shopping and laughing alot :)

{me, Steph, my niece Chelsey, sister

Kim and mom Sue standing...

Kristin was not in this picture :( }

{the shoe dilemma ~ I am not sure why it was a dilemma though since they were only $5 hehe! }

{Chelsey and Steph...bestest friends }

Sometimes life as we know

it stops and what is really important

becomes loud and clear ~

I have been asked if you can

stamp the blank charm

frames that are on my website ~

As a matter of fact I was going

to show you what they look like stamped

pretty soon .... but, I figured it was a good

time now since someone else just

emailed me :)

Here is a sample of what they

look like ~

This particular charm blank in

silver is sold out but I have

it in gold and alot of different

ones available here for a great price ~

Have fun stamping!!

Life has been craziness the last 2 months

with some family things that have

taken my attention ~

Times like these completely make me

realize what truly are

the most important things !

On another subject though ......

So I kind of freaked out a bit when I heard

Picnik is closing !! Oh my goodness !!

I am a total computer

goofball and learn my thing

to do on my computer and

once I get it that is it .....

don't throw new stuff in there

because my brain freezes!!

I have been using Picnik since

the beginning of Picnik

( however long that is ) and now

I have been trying to teach

myself how to do my photos in

Photoshop Elements ~

I have been doing the pictures with

the frame thing forever ~

and now they are frame-less .........

which I kinda like !

I am all about a clean look and it makes

my website look less cluttered ~

Haha.... you wouldn't know that I don't have

a drop of A type personality

in my body by that statement!

Anyway today I added more things to my website

and am trying to transition my brain and website

over to Photoshop Elements pictures ~

I am going to kind of miss the

collage thing though !!

Does anyone know how to do collages with

anything else besides Picnik ?

My sister and niece have

been visiting me in Texas for

the last week ~ They live in California

and so we try and go back and forth

as much as we can ~

We hit the road shopping all week

starting with Canton's First Monday

{never can get enough junk!! }

Then as much shopping and

crafting as we could squeeze in ~

It was really cold and rainy most

of the time so we spent one day in

front of the fireplace watching movies

and Chelsey ( my niece ) taught

us all to crochet ~

{below is my daughter Stephanie and above

is a good friend Bethany, my niece Chelsey and

daughter Kristin }

Kristin added a rose and I just

love it !!

One day we decided to go

to the Gaylord Texan Hotel because

it is just gorgeous at Christmas ~

{ my sister Kim & I }

{my niece Chelsey, sister Kim, son in law James

daughters Kristin & Stephanie }

It is always fun to have them come

visit and sad when they leave!

I miss my family in California like crazy!!

I guess it is time for us to take

a trip there again soon ~

I had an awesome Canton

day on Wednesday finding

some Farmhouse goodness!!

I was totally on the hunt

for rusty and galvanized ~

Haha!! Can you tell...

Here are some of the things

that I found and are listed

on my website ~

There is also some vintage ticking

that is being washed

and a bunch of other things that

need cleaned and worked on ~

I want to go back sooo bad already!

I am kind of obsessed with treasure

hunting there!

I need to get out my paint

and work on some step ladders
~

Thank you for stopping by!

{added later }....all clean and

smelling good!

I am lost deep in the depths

of cleaning my studio ~

I figured since I had a trail from

the door to my sewing machine

and to my computer that it was

time to clean and destash like

craziness!!

I have so much stuff that I think

I might use to create with ....

Stuff to do photo vignettes with ....

and just stuff I am not sure why with ~

Anyway ... so I have been pulling things

out and trying to list stuff in

my flea market category that I won't use

anymore ~ And also taking a bunch to

the thrift store that I don't feel

like listing because I am over it ~

These pictures are to make you all

feel really good about yourself and

to keep me accountable to finish ~

I am such a candidate for

Where Women Create aren't I ~ Hahaha !!

Alrighty I am back to burying myself

in "STUFF" ~

Update #1

I need a gazillion plastic bins !!

Update #2 ~ 8:08 p.m.

Oh my gosh I can see the floor ~

I need to stop and spend time with my hubby

but just maybe it will be done in

ohhhhh about a week !

I just got home from a few days

in Central California ~

Oh my goodness it was glorious

there! The weather was awesome

( it was great to get away

from the Texas heat )

and well I just pretty much

love it all ~

Family, childhood memories, the beach,

the mountains, the vineyards,

the weather... I could go on and on ~

It is funny how when we lived there

I completely took the beautiful

hills and ocean for granted ~

It has been 16 years since we

moved to North Texas and I am

a happy gal to have family

in California and flight privileges :)

I am a lavender freak so seeing it

all over is amazing to me!

This is a beautiful bed and breakfast that

a friend's wedding was at in Templeton ~

This is a really fun place in Avila Beach called

Avila Valley Barn ~

This is my sister and niece

picking yummy apples ~

I have been home a day and am totally

ready to go back ~

Hopefully in October for the

Remnants of the Past Vintage Show

and

Three Speckled Hens Show ~

Now it is back to work (fun)

for me ~

I LOVE going to First Monday

Trade Days in Canton Texas!

Every month it is something

I so very much look forward to ~

Even though I knew it was hot,

I left my house with a good attitude

and told myself that I would

just stand the heat because

I LOVE Junkin' !

I hit the grounds with my

trusty cart {a necessity there },

my ginormous ice tea and anticipation

of the treasures I would find ~

I drove in and saw ohhhhh maybe

5 vendors when there are usually 75 ~

But....I knew there was cool stuff

even with the 5 vendors and there

was still another HUGE area to hit ~

The next area had about half of

the usual but still some neat things!

I NEED a chicken coop and that cute

little bicycle and all the awesome

galvanized stuff, a gazillion

old keys, a stack of drawers and

birdcage ~

COOL STUFF !

Has anyone done anything awesome

with a chicken coop ~ I want to see :)

I didn't buy any of the big stuff

because I was on a mission for my

website and big stuff is expensive

as craziness to ship ~

After about 2 hours I thought

I would die of heat stroke

so I went to my most favorite

place to eat because it looks healthy,

you get free refills on ice tea

and they have a HUGE fan!!

Ohhhh and the buffalo head rocks!!

{not really, I don't like dead animals

but it is so Texas }~

After I ate I was revitalized

and ready to hit the junkin' trail for

HOURS more ~

Well I lasted about one more hour,

saw sweet Daphne and Dorothy that were fun

to chat with and decided heat stroke

was definitely setting in ~

Dang it!! I so wanted to last

for sooo much longer but

it was kind of miserably hot ~

{110 degrees and it is humid...bleh!!}

Next month I am definitely going

on Thursday so I can visit

LaurieAnna's Vintage Home,

Girls Gone Junkin and some of

my other favorite shops that aren't open

on Wednesday and have air conditioning ~

I talked to my mom, in California,

while driving home and she

told me that she was kind of chilly

because the ocean breeze was blowing

in and it didn't feel like summer

{which she loves }~

I would be loving some ocean breeze

right now :)

Yesterday my girls and I

went to the Dallas Home & Gift Show ~

Oh my goodness to say that I LOVED

the style of so many places is a total

understatement !!! It was somewhat

overwhelming ~

Here are just a few pictures of some of the

yummy stuff !!

The pictures are with my Iphone so they aren't

very good but I couldn't resist taking some ~

There is no way to see it all

in one day so I am ready

to hit the road to go back as soon as I

am done blogging :)

Stephanie and Kristin ~ My babies !

Dang they grow up quick!!

I am reposting this from January because

I LOVE Drop Cloth fabric and am participating in

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia's

Blogger Block Party !

I have been ruffling the world lately with

my awesome ruffler for my Bernina

(which I love too !)

There have been some wonderful tutorials

and ideas for drop cloths because

it is the coolest fabric with such a vintage look

and a great price !

Who would have known that drop cloths were good

for bags too !

Today is one of those random days where I do

nothing in particular but hop from

one thing to another ~

These are just a few pictures from

my day today ~

I LOVE these hats and cuffs all together so I

had to take a picture of them ~ they are a

special order and look pretty all stacked up ~

As I was working on these I was looking

out the window at the BEAUTIFUL Crepe Myrtles

in our backyard ~ Oh my goodness they are

so pretty this year ~

We have about 12 trees so I need to start picking

the blooms to enjoy some inside too ~

It is also a puppy walking day so my girls

and I took the whole gang for a walk ~

Between the 3 of us we have 5 puppies that are

so cute dang cute together ~

Katie ( the one yawning ) thought all this

picture taking was a tad bit boring :)

Okie dokie back to my random day ~

Bye for now !

It is Flea Market time !!!

I love big flea market totes

but having your money

at quick and easy access is a

really good thing :)

This is a tutorial

on making a little bag for just that ~

The first step is to buy a tote which

can be found at most craft stores ~

Then, I am a ruffle kind of gal

so I used my ruffler that

I just love ~ I got mine here ~

This is my sweet sister's shop :)

It is easiest for me just to ruffle

a bunch at a time making it

any width you like ~

Then I used the Citra Solv transfer method

to transfer my image on to the tote ~

You have to use a printer that uses toner

to print out the image or it won't transfer ~

Then I cut my ruffle to the size

I wanted and you can either

sew or glue it on ~

I love to use Fabri Fix because it dries fast

and is washable ~

You can add any embellishments

you would like ~ I added a

little rolled rose that I glued on

and an old key tied to the top ~

That is all !!

Have fun flea marketing !!

If you don't want to make your own,

I will have them for

sale on my website here ~

Added later today :)

This is just another example

of one without the

transfer but more ruffles ~

You can get the little charms here ~

Oh my goodness it is crazy cold out today in Texas !!

I have been busy creating stuff since it is too cold

outside to even step foot out there ~

But instead of showing you more ruffled stuff I decided

to reintroduce you to my family ~

It pretty much says the same thing in my

"About Me" page but oh well :)

Dana, my hubby, and I have been married 28 years ~

He is a pilot which is totally fun since our whole family

adores traveling and we do it as much as we can ~

I do have to say that we are originally California kids

since we grew up there and miss it alot ~

We have quite a bit of family still there ~

If you are my facebook friend you

have seen this picture alot but I LOVE it ~

James took it of us and it is where I want to be

pretty much all of the time ~

We have 2 girls that are 24 and 21

and are both married ~

Kristin and James got married 3 years ago ~

James is an awesome professional photographer

and Kristin works at a bank ~

Her passion is mentoring teenage girls

and also she loves to cook ~

Stephanie and Noah got married 1 year ago ~

Noah works at a huge

church in the sound area which he is going to school for

and Steph is in school for a Marketing degree ~

She likes to cook too so I recruit them

on the weekends since I hate to cook !

They all live close to us so that is wayyyy cool !

We get to spend time together quite a bit

which is always a fun time ~

I am off to the warmth of the fire ~ my office is cold !!

I have been ruffling the world lately with

my awesome ruffler for my Bernina (which I love too ! )

There have been some wonderful tutorials

and ideas for drop cloths because

it is the coolest fabric with such a vintage look

and a great price !

Who would have known that drop cloths were good

for bags too !

Although I love it, I am not thinking I will do

more of these in drop cloth fabric just because

I kind of felt sorry for my little ruffler trying to ruffle it ~

But.... I know I want to make more

of these in muslin soon ~

Oh my goodness the creative bug has hit me big time

and literally all I want to do is sit and create !!

Today I had so much fun creating

more little Valentine's things and a

Vintage Pocket Pillow ~

I think a super cool present would be

to have a whole uninterrupted week with

my stuff spread out everywhere and

nothing to do but create from sun up to sun down!!

That sounds like pure bliss to me :)

Here are some of the things I worked on

between taking down Christmas decorations ~

Talk to you soon !