The creative process ~

I've been working a few new goodies...

one for a friend and one to sell!

Two sweet flea bags, embellished with stuff I love ~

gorgeous old lace, vintage buttons and a random watch face of course!

The process is not as easy as you think.

I have to go through ALL of my lace...selecting JUST the right pieces.

I lay everything on the bag, squinting my eyes...and I tilt my head and study it.

Just to see if this lace or that button is the right choice to make it wonderful!

I try to keep a good stash of things to create with because I love having choices!

Here are my two purses!

One is for a friend...but I have another just placed in my Etsy shop too!

This is the one that I've listed in my Etsy...

perfect to take while you're out antiquing and shopping for goodies!!!

Thank you always, always for stopping by to see me!!!

And if you've not entered my recent giveaway

please click here to comment to win!!!

Just a few rolls of seam binding for you to use in your creative projects ~

Wishing you a wonderful Friday and weekend my sweet friends ~

Hugs and love,

Dawn

The river of creativity...

Sometimes the river flows at full force ~

rapidly moving...overflowing the banks even!

But sometimes, it's a simple trickle and guess what,

there's just nothing, nothing at all you can do about it.

This life we live takes over and sometimes it just doesn't happen

how we planned it out in our heads!

Anyway ~ I did finally finish these two sweet "flea bags"!

One is already sold but the other has been listed

in my Etsy shop ~

I've used gorgeous old wedding lace, more vintage laces and doilies...

antique buttons and even a vintage watch face with tiny pearls!

They are such a wonderful size, perfect for slinging across your chest

and hitting the antique market!!!!

So how's your river flowing these days???

Wishing you a beautiful, creative and wonderful Monday precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

Something sweet...and something new!!!

The Ball Jar Co. contacted me a few days ago and
wanted to send me a few of their new Vintage Style Jars!!!

2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the first series
of jars designed by Ball brothers,

with each jar intended to be better than the one before.

1913 saw the launch of the first true "Perfect Mason" jar.

These limited edition blue Ball jars are a celebration

of the heritage featuring period-correct blue color

and embossed logos on the front and back.

These vintage-inspired blue jars maintain all of their modern standards

for quality and reliability.

And don't you just love that they are made in the U.S.A.?????

They are perfect for home canning needs...

or maybe you can think of something else to use them for!

I put my little brain to work to see what I could come up with...

Do you remember the other day when I had lunch at the French Market Tavern???

I found this amazing mason jar lid with chicken wire inside...
perfect to help arrange flowers!

I know it's a new market item made to look old though ~

I bought it but couldn't we make this ourselves??? I don't know...
TUTORIAL FOUND!
My sweet friend Penny of At Home in English Valley
made her own flower frogs!!!
You can read her tutorial HERE...
great idea Penny!!

Our gorgeous azalea bush is in full bloom so I clipped a few stems

to use the flower frog and share with you ~

I got to thinking about my sweet friend Cathe Holden
and her blog Just Something I Made...

and the gorgeous button labels she created a while back.

I KNEW the color would be PERFECT with these blue jars so

I pulled out a sheet of sticker paper.

These are FULL 8 1/2" x 11" pieces of sticker paper that you feed into

your printer to print whatever you desire.

First, I saved Cathe's image to my own computer.
I measured the jar tops to be 2" or under and opened my photo editing software

to size them down to fit the jar tops then printed them out!

Then I filled the jars full with wonderful, old buttons....

Of course, you know I had to add a little seam binding...I just love it so much!!!

I even fed the seam binding through a two holed button and tied a knot for this one.

What a wonderful way to store your precious button collection!!!

OH!!! And one more neat idea I came across:

Mason Jar Drink Glasses!!!

I just love these and knew you would too...
I'd love to know what you would use them for ~

They should be hitting the stores very, very soon!

Thank you always, always for stopping by here to see what I'm up to ~

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday,

hugs and love,

Dawn

The goods...

It seems funny when I show you my found treasures

after a day of junkin'.

Because I always buy the same ol' stuff!!!

I can't help myself though...

these are the things I'm drawn to.

The treasures are usually small, a great price and

very neutral in tone, right???

My friend Debby and I spent the entire day

in Griffin, GA and visited a bunch of antique stores.

I didn't even feature them all on my last post...

I found a few wonderful things at each and every one!

Here's a peek at my recent finds ~

Buttons? Always.

My very first daguerreotype! I've always loved them but they were always

way too expensive...this one was very reasonable so she came home with me.

One beautiful, little baby slip...a few baskets...

A bag of buckles...why? I don't know, I just loved them!

A couple of old sheet music books...ceramic hands that I filled with

some old buttons and one mother of pearl buckle that were found too.

A wonderful old hat, gorgeous lace with just the right of age on it,

and can you see the small galvanized bucket under it all?

An empty scrapbook with a gorgeous cover....

A beautiful quilt scrap...wouldn't it make a wonderful needle book or two?

I loved this string holder with scissors too!

These spice jars are from the thrift...I hand washed each and every one ~

Now to decide what to do with them :)

This beautiful pillow with a brand spankin' new feather insert
was discovered at the thrift too.

After taking the slip cover off, laundering it and pressing it...
it looks gorgeous!

I also found some beautiful fabric at a few antique stores...

just 2 yd remnants but I've been wanting to make Clara

a few little summer blouses ~

We'll see if that happens :)

Lastly, I wanted to share a little pincushion that I made for a friend ~

housed in a tart tin and dolled up a bit.

I so hope she loves it!!!!

Wishing you a beautiful Tuesday precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn