He shall give His angels charge over thee...

I have to share with you my latest tattered angel that a friend wanted ~

I finally finished her and wanted you to see.

She's wearing a very old baby dress that has been sculpted and pinned

to fit the dress form...it drapes so beautifully!!!

I added wonderful old millinery around her waist.

And I also printed out one of my favorite Bible verses that I love to tie around her waist.

Her necklace is a part of an old rhinestone earring...

The wings were purchased at hob lob but I added layers and layers of

white feathers to embellish them.

On the front AND the back.

A side view ~

I truly love how this angel turned out and can only hope that

my friend loves her too!!!

I thought I would share a quick photo of our beautiful egg soap

from our General Store Soap Etsy shop

BEFORE it has been cleaned and readied for shipping!!

This soap truly IS handmade ~

Here is the AFTER...each one trimmed, cleaned and ready ~

I never, ever tire of making pretty things!!!

Wishing you a beautiful Monday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

A new angel in the making ~

I've started on another small, altered dress form

and thought I'd share

my progress so far!!

A friend on Facebook requested that I make another so....

if she doesn't choose to purchase her you know the angel

will end up in my Etsy store!

This is the dress form as I purchased it...

really pretty but you know me,

I've got to make it mine!

It stands about 17" tall, so it's a nice size ~

I painted a coat of gesso over the entire thing, from top to bottom.

Then painted a coat of Folk Art Antique White craft paint all over ~

Next...(sorry, I forgot to take a photo of this step)

I water down dark brown paint just a little, paint on layer on the stand

in sections, wiping the excess away with a damp rag.

I do this for the knob on top as well.

Next...I started digging through my old doll dresses and I begin to play!

I found this one and just LOVE the way it drapes on her!!

It's too long but there's something about that that I think looks ethereal...

I've cinched the dress around her waist with

seam binding but may add another layer of it

so I can have seam binding tails down the front ~

and added beautiful old millinery flowers.

She needs a pretty necklace, a Bible verse around her waist and of course

her angel wings!! So, we'll see ~ I'll be sure to share finished

photographs with you and if she ends up in the shop too!!

Thank you always for stopping by and for your sweet comments

on yesterday's post ~ you know I love you all!

hugs and love,

Dawn

There are angels among us...

I just love beautiful angel images...

and love, LOVE creating angel themed artwork.

I know they watch over us and are most likely

our loved ones who have passed on before us ~

I finally finished my tattered angel!

She was primed, painted and the stand was antiqued.

The small dress form stands 16" tall and

is adorned with several old treasures...

An old doll dress has been shaped to fit her ~

and another little doll dress serves as her petticoat.

Vintage millinery and seam binding were used to cinch her waist

and antique lace was used as a camisole.

Even a new-made-to-look-old rhinestone charm adorns her neck...

She is already sold but I just had to share her with you!!!

Thank you always for stopping by to see me ~

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday sweet friends!!

hugs and love,

Dawn

A tattered angel in progress!

I haven't finished her but couldn't stand it...I just had to share!

I found a small dress form at the store the other day

and knew it would be wonderful altered.

A few years ago I altered a paper mache dress form

that was really quite large and transformed it into

a tattered angel ~

I used old lace, feather wings, rhinestones, etc.

That's exactly what popped into my mind

the minute I saw this smaller form!

So rather than wait, I thought I would share my steps and progress!

Here she is...about 14 or 15 inches tall....

there were some designs printed on the fabric

but I didn't care for those ~

I've had these sweet angel wings for a while,

probably since last Christmas...

I found them at Hobby Lobby which

they probably have them again as they

are all stocked up for artists and crafters

to create their goodies for the fall 

and Christmas shows.

Next, I pulled out the gesso and gave her a good coating....

just so I could paint her a pretty shade of off white ~

The gesso dried quickly and I couldn't even wait to paint her,

I had to play a little bit!!!!

Since this piece will be totally different than my first tattered angel,

I thought I would pull out all of my collected doll dresses

and see if I had one that would work for her....

I found the PERFECT little dress!! Plus I found a slip that I will use as as well ~

This is just pinned in place to give you an idea...

I still have to paint her a beautiful linen color,

antique the stand and begin layering pretty components

that will add to her charm!

Stay tuned dear friends!!!

Wishing you a wonderful Monday,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Inspiration is contagious!

My sweet friend Barbara of Treasures from the Heart

recently purchased my newest Angel Wing tutorial and

I just have to share hers with you!!!

I think they are just GORGEOUS!

It's always wonderful seeing what others

will add to your idea, you know?

She's added a light dusting of spray glitter!

They are so beautiful Barb,

thank you so much for buying my tutorial

and for sharing your wonderful wings with your readers ~

Inspiration and creativity truly are contagious!
Barb had the wonderful idea to use lace....
just look at these gorgeous wings!!!!

PLUS

Another dear friend, Louise of Bumble Button
is having a giveaway HERE...
Louise shares the most beautiful images on her blog!!

Wishing you a beautiful Wednesday precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

So very thankful ~

I truly am!!!

Thankful that you loved the sweet angel wings

and purchased my tutorial to create your own!

As an artist, I've always, always wanted to share ~

how I do things, what I use and the process of creating

something from ordinary things.

I want to share the creative spirit and help others

realize that they can make these projects as well!

My prices are low because in today's economy

I realize that we all don't have tons of money to spend

on a random tutorial.

But what I do hope is this...

that you can use any of my tutorials to create something beautiful.

Something that you are proud to give as a gift to someone you love

or just to enjoy for yourself!!!

In my tutorials, I always encourage you to use things you already have

so you don't have to stress over having the exact

components that have been used.

I'm coming up on 2000 posts!!!!

It's amazing that I've shared that much

over these last six years, isn't it???

I'll be having a giveaway you know,

just a few things that I'll gather together

that I think you'll love.

Thank you so much!!!

For stopping by to see what I'm up to,

for caring about what I create and

mostly for being such precious friends ~

Wishing you a beautiful Wednesday,

hugs and love,

Dawn

On the wings of angels...

I did it!!!

I finally created a new tutorial!

My sweet angel wings....

AND

I made it a NO-SEW tutorial so anyone

could make these little sweeties!

You can find it at my tutorial blog

Lessons from the Nest

or in

my Etsy shop!!!!

Wishing you all a beautiful Tuesday sweet friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Life...it's all about perspective ~

Don't you think??

It's all how you look a things...

glass half empty, glass half full?

Lately, I've been guilty of looking

at the half empty side of things but then

I always, always have to stop myself!!!

Let's take a look at the half FULL glass...OK?

I am an eternal optimist and please Lord, let me remain so!

Even with mid-life hormone craziness,

life struggles,

or whatever...

I always, always want to be an optimist!!!

This baby's face says it all...how I've been feeling lately ~

I want you to know too...

you are a such a BIG part of my life ~

my dear Angel Friends.

I love my family with all that I have

but you...

YOU so GET ME!

You know why I love collecting crazy stuff,

you love my crazy stuff,

and you love what I make with it.

Thank you so much for that!!

I am so very thankful for my precious babies and grandbabies...

what a precious gift from Heaven above.

Glass = overflowing

I found this great photo of Chase, our fourth son ~ now 21 years old,

good Lord, how did that time fly by so fast???

And look at him at a mere 2 years old...

blessed I am.

And our oldest Brent holding his daughter, Clara as a newborn...

glass = OVERFLOWING

And just look at how Clara's mama is gazing at her ~

I have many more family photos I could share but with five beautiful sons,

I'm afraid my post would be WAAAAY too long ~

We can look at what we don't have...

what we think we deserve...

or what we think we need,

but truly

it's all right here.

Right in front of us.

And our glass is overflowing...

Wishing you a beautiful Tuesday my precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn