Sweet finds and making a few new things!

A couple of the boys gave me Hobby Lobby gift certificates for Mother's Day!

Well...I lasted until Tuesday and had to bust loose and see what

treasures I could find (with my coupon in tow of course!)

I found a sweet little stash of goodies too!

A box of gorgeous cards...a photo box that was half off...

And Tim Holtz photo frames!!! How cool is that??

A few bezels as I have a new bottle of Ice Resin

and want to create some simple necklaces...

I even found some teeny, tiny ball chains to hold them too!

The moss is for the new ferns for my front porch,

I love to cover the dirt to retain the moisture ~

And I always need the natural colored thread...and needles!

And what have I been working on?

Slowly but surely I've been working on two new flea bags!

One is for a friend but one will hit the Etsy shop soon...

I can only hope they turn out as good as my last two in the pic below!

OH! And don't forget to enter my seam binding giveaway HERE!!!

I love this stuff so much I want to share some with you....

Wishing you a beautiful Wednesday sweet friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Simple discoveries ~

You know I'm always on the prowl, right?

Just looking for amazing things to create with,

to stash away for a future project....

or just to enjoy looking at ~ until I start the future project :)

I dropped by Hob Lob today and I couldn't help myself,

I always dig around for the strangest stuff!

I found a bag of leather scraps ~

they always have them, and they always look different....

The first bag I found had THIS amazing piece inside!

Can I please have a sofa

upholstered with this gorgeous crackled leather????

I'm not sure what I'll make from it but, well... at least I have it :)

The other little bag had suede scraps inside.

I have a hankering to make a tiny pair of fairy shoes ~

Don't you think suede will be the perfect thing to use????

They will be really similar to the little elf shoe I made for our Christmas tree....

but much more natural and "of the forest" :)

What is it about teeny tiny shoes??

I can't help it ~

I just love them!

Have an amazing Thursday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

OK, I'll admit it...I'm a gatherer ~

Like you didn't already know this!!!
If you've read my blog for any length of time
you'll find that I'm always, always hunting and gathering
goodies and supplies to stock my studio.
ESPECIALLY for a great price.
I don't think being an artist has to be expensive, do you?

Here's my recent gathering of goodies ~
The eyelash yarn was on sale at Hobby Lobby ~
I love using things like this!
The moss collection (yes, I paid for moss!)
was at Michael's, but just look at it!!!
The burlap garland was at Michael's too ~
I don't know what I'll use it for but that doesn't really matter...
The ruffled ribbon was half price at Hobby Lobby ~
and again, I don't know what I'll use it for, but it's wonderful!!

Here are few close-ups:

You can see why they call this eyelash yarn ~
I found it HERE online...

Isn't this ribbon beautiful?
You can find it HERE online too!

The wire cloche was a clearance item at Hobby Lobby and had
a very large bent cross on top ~ so I removed the damaged
piece and added my very own sparkly embellishment!
I ended up using E6000 glue for this ~

A few little guys in the process of getting finished...
(I promise I'm not going to say the "p" word again)

And on my relentless quest to easily dye this ugly gray Spanish moss...
look what I had on hand and just thought of it!!!
Walnut spray ink!
I only use it as an accent under the nests
but want the color to be pretty.

So that was my wild Monday.... today I keep little miss Clara and plan on
taking her into the studio to play in her playpen while I create!!!

OH, I almost forgot to tell you this incredible new jewelry
component line that Michaels had!!!
You can read more about it HERE and HERE....
The charms and pendants look handmade!!!!

I hope you have a great Tuesday precious friends!!!!
hugs and love,
from a die-hard gatherer...
Dawn

Enjoying the sweet things in life ~

Sweetness....for you ~

A sweet little blessing in our lives is our granddaughter Clara ~

You just HAVE to smile when you see her precious face!

She's kissing you now, because SHE wants to....

talk about melting your heart!!!

Our little Clara is having a birthday next week...ONE YEAR OLD!

I'm helping Emily get a few things together to decorate for her party

a week from Saturday. It will be a Spring theme ~

perfect for a little girl's first birthday party!

It just so happens that Hobby Lobby is having a wonderful 50% off sale

on all of their Easter goodies....SO I got to thinking (dangerous)

there will be plenty of things that will have a Spring look

rather than just Easter ~

I have to share with you what I found!!

The wonderful thing about most of these goodies is that first,

the cost was only around 20.00!!

I already had the bunny though...

Another neat thing? These things can be used to decorate

her bedroom after the party!

I'm finally going to make her pink tutu for her party!!
Walmart pink tulle...around 6 bucks ~

Just enjoying the precious, sweet things in life!!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday dear friends!!!

hugs and love,

Dawn

Brrrrr.....for us here in Georgia, it's COLD!!

Yes, I know....you probably want to knock me in the head
for saying that but I'm pretty sure we're spoiled here in Georgia
and these low temps have got to go!

We've been in the teens overnight as far as temperature goes
and the cold just seems to creep into the house.
I don't know how you girls do it with snow 5 feet deep
and temperatures way below zero ~
So I hope you're staying all snuggled and warm....
and while you do, maybe dream of spring??

Hobby Lobby has made it official!!!
You can now shop online to find some wonderful goodies ~
~JUST CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT ~

I was browsing around the Ballard Designs website
and found some of the most wonderful things!
Here are just a few photos of what I love....
Inspiration is everywhere!!

Wishing you a cozy, warm and wonderful Wednesday!!
hugs and love,
Dawn

Keeping the spirit ~

It's always bittersweet when I see pretty lights glowing
on people's homes after Christmas.
It's like they don't want it all to be over....
they want to extend the goodness....
to make it last just a little bit longer.

I always felt that way when I was a child too.
After Christmas eve, after Christmas and then my birthday,
I just wanted the wonderfulness to keep going!!
Yes, New Year's eve and New Year's day were just around the corner
but they weren't the same for some reason.
They didn't hold the "magic" that Christmas did.

But time marches on and we must remember to be thankful
each and every day, to make each day special and
remember to show others kindness and consideration
even when Christmas is over ~
We can keep the goodness going....

Sweet Clara studying the ribbon on one of her gifts Christmas eve....
She's finally just about over that awful bronchitis

She's looking a little serious about this gift business!

Such a sweet angel....she just turned nine months old the 23rd of Dec!

Here's one of my birthday goodies that I found while shopping Saturday ~
I ended up at Michael's with a 50% off coupon
and took the plunge and bought one of these rolling organizers.
It was originally 89.00 and I got it for about 45.00!
Plus I put it together all by myself!
Now I've decided I'd like to have another one ~ we'll see though....

The drawer thingee was a Christmas gift from Dennis!
We found it at Hobby Lobby (I love how it looks old!)
and used a 40% off coupon on it ~
and the jars are Christmas gifts from Dennis as well.
I love storage, can you tell?

I found the mini iron at Hobby Lobby Saturday too (coupon)
and want to use it with the beeswax ~
we'll see if I can do this wax collage stuff....
plus some gesso and styrofoam balls on sale ~

A book I've been looking at and a bundle of sticks!

I guess it looks like some crazy things to buy with your birthday money, huh?
Now I'm in a mega creative mood and
have to get a few art pieces produced and out of here
in the next week for Pam Carriker's book!!!
I feel like I can really concentrate on them now ~

I hope that your Christmas was absolutely wonderful....
And thank you all so very much
for your precious birthday wishes, you SO made my day!!!!!



"A Friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature."

Ralph Waldo Emerson



Have a wonderful Monday sweet friends ~
hugs and love,
Dawn

Pressed beauty ~

Why do I love these wonderful pressed flowers and ferns so?
They make me smile, their colors, their amazing intricate details ~
I wanted to share their beauty with you....

Don't you love my fancy flower press? It works great too!!

Nature is the art of God.

Thomas Browne
Religio Medici, 1635

A sensitive plant in a garden grew,
And the young winds fed it with silver dew,
And it opened its fan-like leaves to the light,
and closed them beneath the kisses of night.

Percy Bysshe Shelley
"The Sensitive Plant," 1820

I don't know how I'll use these beauties yet....
but I just love looking at them!!

I found this amazing book cover and back at Hobby Lobby, can you believe how antique it looks?? Such a great look for the price ~ they sell online too! I found it for you HERE...

I've been studying my little boot pattern for Clara. I'm such a goob sometimes, I have to think about something for awhile and really sort it out in my head before I get started. It's like I'm scared I'll mess up so I keep going through the steps in my head...crazy, huh?!

OH, and I''m having a giveaway...in just a few days!! I want celebrate...now, don't scream.....but 1200 posts!!!!! Also, I'm approaching 400 followers so that's even MORE reason to celebrate!!!!

Have a wonderful Friday sweet friends ~
hugs and love,
Dawn