Little Christmas wishes under glass ~

After working on my fairy house for the last few weeks,

it was so nice to get back to a few smaller projects!

I invited a dear old friend over for a creative day in my studio

and we had an absolute BLAST together!!!

Tammy and I met at art school years and years ago.

With both of us being creative spirits, the ideas just FLY

when we get together to make pretty things.

Plus add in the laughter, reminiscing and love...

well, that's just the icing on the cake!

These sweet Christmas tubes are just a few of the results

of our wonderful day together ~

Sometimes you have to make a HOT MESS to make something beautiful!!!

Look at that crazy table!

These are SO much fun to make!!!

We also made a few botanical tubes that I'm finishing up ~

They are filled with little snippets and elements of nature.

Beautiful to display year round if you're a nature lover like me!

The Christmas tubes are listed in my Etsy store and

the botanicals tubes will be soon as well!

I hope you're staying cozy on this chilly December day

and thank you always, always for visiting me here!

Hugs and love,

Dawn

Hello November!!!

It seems that this time of year ALWAYS gets my creative juices flowing!

The cooler temperatures and the changing of the seasons

makes my mind spin with all kinds of ideas.

Here are a few of the things that I've made lately.

It seems all of them are under glass for some reason!

Please be sure to check my Etsy store as a few things have

been listed in there and some of these items have already sold.

Does fall inspire you to create too???

Two altered apothecary jars with French labels

and other pretty embellishments!

This one is in my shop!!!

These have all sold but I just LOVED making these bird-inspired jars.

Nests, eggs and pieces of nature all captured under glass ~

And lastly, I've been making ornaments using 6" glass test tubes!

They are approximately 1" in diameter. I've added glitter snow,

a tiny bottle brush tree and other goodies to make a pretty Christmas ornament.

They can hang on a knob or on the Christmas tree!

And of course, loving natural elements, I had to try to make a few botanical test tubes.

They are my very favorites! I love drying flowers and other greenery

so I've made little gatherings for each test tube.

These have all been added to my Etsy store ~

It's so nice to be able to use the things that you've been gathering and collecting.

I have dried flowers everywhere, stems from pretty bushes,

feathers and other fragments of nature to use.

But it seems when you place them under glass

it gives them a special kind of importance!

Thank you always for stopping by to see what I'm doing and

I hope that I can inspire you to make something beautiful ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

The beginnings of Christmas ~

I've discovered as I get older that I just don't have what it takes

to put up a big ol' Christmas tree and all of the decorations anymore.

Simple and small is perfect for now...and this little tree was just the ticket!!

I found this 3 ft. tree at w-mart and saw it in the display section, just 25 bucks!

It has red berries and tiny little pine cones wired onto the branches.

PLUS it was pre-lit too!!!

There weren't any in boxes so they let me purchase the floor display.

I loved that!!! It was already assembled and I just plopped it in my car

and then put it right onto my buffet in our living room!!!!

I've added a few bird's nests, burr oak acorns and some beautiful feathers...

I'm gathering a few things from the studio to add to it.

It's definitely a work in progress but I just love it!

ALSO in other news...OK now, don't faint.

I actually went junking a few weeks ago and I just have to share

the sweet things that I brought home!

This precious frame was priced so reasonably I just had to buy it!!

I haven't figured out what I'm going to put inside but no worries,

I'm sure I will!

The rest of my treasures?

A couple of beautiful antique photos and vintage buttons.

It was such a wonderful day spent with a precious friend.

Can you believe that I'm finally getting back to my organizer???

It has already been purchased by a dear friend and customer but

my mom and dad came into town for a week for Thanksgiving and

delayed my finishing it up. I'll be sure to share photos of the finished piece

in my next post!

Something else I've worked on recently....these little nested egg soaps!

I made these for my friend Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered,

she's having an antique sale and wanted to have some of our soap!!!

And this photo below is a recipe I saw on Facebook....they. sound....DELICIOUS!!!

One last photo to share ~

Our sweet granddaughter Clara with her cousin Brant at Thanksgiving.

They both had the best time playing together!

I scanned the wonderful antique photographs I found, just for you...

Just click to enlarge them and right click to save them to your own computer!!!

Thank you always, always for stopping by to see what I'm doing!!!

Wishing you a beautiful December weekend precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

My little Christmas workshop ~

I thought I'd give you one more little peek at our tree this year ~

I place a 5' tree on top of a skirted table in our living room....and with the high ceilings

it works out so wonderfully! All I move is ONE lamp!

I have this beautiful Nativity statuary that I love and placed underneath this year...

Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Perfect for the gifts, don't you think?

My sweet sister-in-law has ordered SEVERAL gifts from me so my little workshop

has KICKED it up a notch!!!

Here's a glimpse at what's going on around here....some are extras

because that's just how I roll :) (if I have to make one, why not make five?)

they will very soon end up in my Etsy shop too!

Stay tuned because time is running out!!!

I found the most beautiful craft paint to use on the bleached bottle brush trees!

Folk Art makes several different shades of metallics and this is Pearl White....

IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!

Yes, I know my sweet snowboy is looking kinda pearly and shiny but

you just wait, after a little glitter and the proper hat and scarf,

he will be ready to charm you!!!

Today...I am so very thankful for you!!!

Just for you simply taking the time to stop by here ~

to see what I'm up to.

Wishing you love,

wishing you health,

wishing you blessings....

Happy Wednesday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Just a few bits to make you smile ~

I love going through my old photos...

I don't know if you really love getting repeats but

I never tire of these wonderful old photographs...

vintage graphics from ephemera...

or photos of something beautiful ~


(Remember to click a couple of times
on the ones you want to save!)

Sweet baby girl:

A scan of a sweet notepad that had a lot of damage

and I fixed up a little for you in Photoshop...

Look at this little boy's haircut!!! Precious!

A most wonderful, wonderful quote:

One of my favorite photos I've taken...

I love these beautiful old treasures ~

A wonderful book to get you in a holiday mood!!!

I'm thinking I need to go pull it out right now...I took a few pics

of the inspiration inside ~

 I so love this artist's work so much...

I just love beautiful things.

They inspire creativity and

always, always make me smile!

Wishing you a wonderful Thursday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn