Retro 60s fabric journal

I came across a cute bird kitchen towel in my stash the other day. I loved the retro 60s colors and was inspired to start another Mary Ann Moss/Remains of the Day fabric journal. For the interior pages, I tried something different (which reminds me that I never posted my pages from the other journals ... OK, will do that tomorrow) I recently acquired a box of vintage greeting cards, all with the original envelopes. Each envelope had a little bit of handwriting at the top indicating the holiday and year it was received. The envelopes had such a fabulous patina that I decided to use them for the pages. So I stuck them together (literally) and created spreads with them. At first I thought maybe I should apply color to all the envelopes with paint or Glimmer Mists or something. But then decided against it because a) I was anxious to stitch in the signatures tonight and b) I decided I could color or collage on them when I write in them (but mostly "a") I'm pretty tickled with the results. And that flower on the front? From my niece's swimsuit from last summer!

Celebrating creativity!

I was at my favorite local sandwich shop the other day and sitting a few tables away from me was a little girl about 4 or 5. She was dressed all in pink ... pink shirt with flowers, pink polka-dot leggings, pink sparkly tennies. And topping it all off was the most perfectly flouncy pink tulle tutu I've ever seen.

And it got me thinking ... when do we lose the ability to go out in the world dressed however we want without fear of ridicule? She was wearing what she liked and she was happy. Period.

Then that got me thinking, it's kinda the same way with art. As children, we go along and color the sky green, grass purple and rabbits turquoise. And we're happy with that. Then somewhere along the way, we start to question our choices, our ideas (and maybe even our outfits!)

So celebrate that childlike freedom of creativity! It takes awhile, but I've learned as I get older, that you *can* get some of it back if you just give yourself permission. And having a "Paint-Your-Own-Pottery-Place" creativity wand doesn't hurt either!

PS - That little girl inspired me to go out and buy a flouncy flowered skirt ... well, minus the tulle!

Crazy about zippers lately

Been working with my zippers a bit lately ... this is a necklace I finished today. I've been playing with different chains, etc. and was digging around in my vintage stash and found this old mesh-y/chainmail-y choker necklace. When I placed it on my desk next to this particular zipper flower, I had one of those "WOW" moments and knew they were meant for each other! (the link necklace is a separate piece ... I just like wearing them together!)

The rest of the flower zipper jewelry and accessories can be found at http://www.chickspicksbyhillary.com/ if anybody's interested (to not give credit where credit is not due, the zipper flowers on her site are not mine)

Vintage handwritten pages bonanza!

Found a boatload (or actually trainload since they're mostly railroad-related) of handwritten bills, statments and receipts from the 1880s this weekend. Lots and lots of lovely handwriting in ink! Have posted most. Take a peek! http://www.thepaperfleamarket.com/vintage-receipts-amp-letters.html

Soldering mystery revealed

Today I FINALLY took a soldering class and the mysteries of this artform were revealed to me! I've been wanting to learn for quite awhile, and now just seemed the right time. The steps are not complicated. It's the skill part. I've heard once you've learned the basics, you have to practice, practice, practice! Sally Jean Alexander certainly doesn't need to worry about any competition from me!

I have plans for this little guy ... stay tuned for the big reveal. In the meantime, I'm looking around at things in a whole new way ... if I can stick copper tape to it, I can solder it!

Journal Dream Come True

I just learned that my art journal is going to be published in Somerset Studio's "Art Journaling". I am absolutely, positively on cloud nine. This is a dream come true ...

Journal pages coming together

Been out-of-town for a few days, but now that I'm back, I can't wait to continue playing with the fabric journal. Here's a glimpse of how some of the pages are coming together. It's such fun to take a scrap of this, a torn piece of that and stitch them together.

I'm also posting some more goodies to the store. I hit a super sale the day before I left, so I'm itching to reveal those items (psst ... lots of vintage patterns!) I'll send out the usual e-mail notification to those of you on the e-mail list (What? Not on the list?! Well heavens, you can sign up here: http://www.thepaperfleamarket.com/jooureli.html But if you just can't wait, hop on over to the store now: http://www.thepaperfleamarket.com/index.html