So many blogs to post, so little time!

I am so far behind in posting blogs. I check other people's blogs all the time but I have not been able to make the time to post all the blogs of my own that I want to write. It seems there is never enough time in a day! Yikes. Anyway, as of right now, I am off work until Monday, so no excuses. Starting tomorrow, I am going to attempt to catch up with all my blog writings and picture posting, etc.
Stay tuned.......
Lolly

Late But Wonderful -- Sweet & Sinister Swap

First of all, this blog is VERY LATE in being posted and I want to apologize to my swap partner, Tara for the delay in posting these wonderful goodies that she sent for the Sweet and Sinister Swap hosted by Kari! I love everything that she sent! First up is this wonderful candle stand that she brilliantly put a pumpkin on! I love it. The candle stand is a nice substantial size andmy cats don't bother it, so that's another bonus!

Next is this AMAZING decoupaged (sp? I'm tired tonight!) box. I love it and she did beautiful work. Then to my surprise there was a sweet array of trims - I love it all!
<

Tara sent these lovely scrapbook supplies with some amazing black and white papers.......stunning!



An adorable black and white pirate wand.

I am clearly a cat lover and she sent these wonderful black cat pot holders - love them!

Then she sent this wonderful little spider scrapbook journal complete with embellishments. I love it and can't wait to work on it.

And finally, the only thing not pictured here is a great black and white chinese lantern and tags.

Tara - you are awesome and I love the Sweet & Sinister goodies that you put together to send to me! You are the greatest and it was wonderful getting to know you! Thanks for your patience with me in getting this blog posted - it's 2-1/2 weeks late but the sentiment is so sincere!!

I'm back .... my sweet cat Freida's ordeal

I haven't posted for a while, but I am back. I have a ton of blogs to post in the next few days, but thought I would start with this one. My sweet baby cat Freida has had a very trying two weeks. On the 6th, I took her to the vet because for a few days previous she was throwing up and that Friday evening had started to throw up blood. Freida ended up having emergency surgery that afternoon.....she had swallowed a 7-inch piece of ribbon with wire on the sides (like for wrapping gifts and crafting). She ended up spending the weekend at the emergency vet and then had to be confined in a large cage at my house for another week. My poor baby. It was very serious and she had some issues with high temperature (she was on two antibiotics and pain meds - not an easy thing to give a cat meds) and the scar on her tummy is a good 8 inches long....ouch!

I am happy to say that she is very much on the road to recovery. Her staples came out a few days ago and other than being a little bit more tired, she is back to her old self ---- a true DIVA. Ms. Freida is my heart cat - I hand raised her from the time she was one week old (she is 5 now) and she is truly the ruler of the roost and my constant companion and shadow. My heart....

I have just been sick about it....I am always so careful about things that the cats and dogs can get into. I have been feeling so guilty about this....the only good thing is that my house, and specifically my floors, have never been so clean and tidy! Now I just have to figure out how to pay for all of this! Thank goodness for credit!

Here is a picture of my sweet girl....

Black Cat & Pumpkin Swap Goodies from Catie!

I wanted to share with you the WONDERFUL box of goodies that sweet and talented CATIE sent me. She was my partner for the Black Cat and Pumpkin Swap hosted by HopHopJingleBoo. First she wrote a wonderful note to me and included this sweet little vintage cat card........

Look what Catie made for me! This amazing Witch doll sitting on a pumpkin and holding her cat. Oh my gosh! Miss Catie...you are so very talented and I will treasure this cutie!

Then we have this wonderful Halloween Tree that Miss Catie made......pictured here with a whole pile of handmade ornaments made with vintage supplies (I will put them onthe tree later when the cats aren't around...they already think the box and its contents belong to them!). Note the cute candle holder that the tree sits in!

Next is a pail of candy (yum!!), Halloween socks, and some thrifte jewelry that Catie found for me.............how did she know what a jewelry person I am? I LOVE IT!

Some fantastic, whimsical holiday crepe paper.

More jewelry! You go girl!

More Halloween goodness! Cute!

Pumpkin earrings...........too cute!

And finally some wonderful vintage wallpaper and fabric samples! These will be perfect for my collage work!

Thanks so much Catie for everything! You went way overboard and I LOVE IT ALL! But truly the best part of the swap was making a new friend and getting to know you! You are an awesome person and super talented!

"Little Things" and "Dream" Collage

Here are two recent collages that I did....I love them....the birds are copies taken from a vintage children's book. The little girl in the "Dream" collage is me! I am proud of these and love how they turned out.

Goodies from Natalea!

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a drawing that Natalea held on her blog. I won this adorable witch placque!

Not only is the placque itself cute (and I just love anything witchy!), but even her packaging was fantastic!



Thanks so much, Natalea! Your little witch has a place of honor in my studio!
-Lolly

What Do You Love About Your Home? Party with Karla...

Karla over at Karla's Cottage is having a party and has invited us along...she is celebrating her article in the most recent issue of Romantic Country magazine. How exciting is that! I will have to get a copy of that mag. I love reading Karlas blogs and she is so super talented.

Let me preface my blog by saying that I didn't plan this through very well, and definately procrastinated and then not getting home until 9pm last night, so....having said that, I have taken strategically placed pictures of specific vignettes in my house, hopefully hiding some of the dust and CLUTTER! I should also mention that I like stuff and am a firm believer in "more is more".


First of all, I love everything about my home, but I have a real fondness for my beautiful bedroom. Pictured here is a dresser that was my grandmothers with some of my beautiful finds displayed...I have also attached a close-up picture. It just makes me happy to be in this room.



Okay, now on to the little vanity alcove in my bedroom....love it.



I also have a guestroom that is in the process of being created (no pictures yet...yikes!) and my studio space (which I wrote about in my previous blog). As we head down stairs, I just love what I did on the hall and it goes all the way down the stairs. I just painted squares in a lovely burgundy color and then the photos are arranged in and around the stairs... the squares look crooked, but I think (hope) it is the angle of the camera....c'est la vie!

I won't show you my whole living room, as that is a big culprit of the messy dust and clutter, but will show you a few sections that I just love....I kind of wish I had an armoire to hide the big television (and like Karla admitted to in her blog, I also am ADDICTED to television!), but I just love the old music stand it sits on now...and the two etageres have been with me forever. And again, the walls are all full.....did I mention "more is more"?



Last but not least I just love the art of Henriette Ronner-Knip (dutch painter, 1821-1909) and have several pieces that I adore!

I am so in love with my kitchen, too, but it looks like a disaster hit at the moment, so will save that special room for another blog.
Thanks for sharing just a few snippets of my home that I love so much! It is filled with lots of stuff, but more importantly it is filled with lots of love.

My Studio Space....

I always enjoy reading other bloggers' posts about their studios/craft nooks, so thought I would share my space! I am actually very proud of it. The room I use is the third small bedroom in my house. I have put a LOT of stuff into the space, yet I don't ever feel crowded or overwhelmed!

First up, here is my actual work space.....I converted a closet into my "creating" area....you can't see it all in the pic, but the storage goes UP into the high recesses of the closet and still everything is very accessible. The countertops are about waist high, so I use a bar stool to sit and a small stepladder for accessing things up high. Note my constant companion, Freida (I hand raised her from the time she was about 2 weeks old) on the bar stool. What a cutie!





This is the other corner of the room with window, chair, bookshelf, etc.....excuse the unfinished floors....I laid linoleum and need to finish the edges.



Here is the corner that houses my television, desk, printer, etc. In addition to my full time job and craft endeavors, I also have an ebay business and an AVON business, so a lot of stuff happens in this room and at this desk. Note the walls are literally covered up to the ceiling with all of the pics andplacques that I have accumulated, a lot of them cat related, since I am the crazy cat lady. These are things that wouldn't go with any other room in my house, but I love them, sooooo......



This is another shelf that is next to my work area....



Note this (dusty) pic of my sewing machine (to the right of the bar stool in the flowered case). This is actually a brand new sewing maching that I bought 2 years ago.....I have yet to use it....shameful!



Another pic of the corner with my tv, printer, et.....





Well, there you have it. Portions of my beloved studio! I am so happy with how it has all turned out.

BLACK CAT AND PUMPKIN SWAP

I wanted to share some of the goodies I sent to Catie. We were swap partners in the BLACK CAT & PUMPKIN SWAP hosted by Deb over at HOP HOP JINGLE BOO.


First up, this collage. It is on an 8x10 canvas. I really like the way it turned out. I will have to make one for myself!




Then I threw in this trio of pumpkins. They are all very different, but each unique its own little way and I love them all and couldn’t choose just one, so I sent them all to Catie. I DON'T KNOW WHY THESE PICS ARE ACTING THIS WAY.....hopefully I CAN FIGURE OUT WHY AND EDIT THIS POST.


I also sent along this pumpkin spice sachet (smells divine!!) and the cutest, tiniest little pumpkin soap from AVON.


Above are some vintage magazine pages rolled up and tied with a cute little pumpkin/fall pick…..
This is a lovely vintage hankie with beautiful lace bundled together with a new hand towel that actually has a picture of a silly black cat.


OK, I know the rest of the stuff I will list here is not black cat or pumpkin, but I really wanted to send these things to Catie. Above is a an adorable vintage Golden Book entitled C……well, C is for Catie Ann….you get where I’m going here, right?


Here are a couple of vintage button cards, BUT ALSO a couple of vintage-inspired buttons that I think are just lovely. I thought Catie would like them.

There were a few other miscellaneous items in the box not listed here, and I of course had to throw something in for Caties sweet cat, Callie. Hope she enjoys…..
I had such fun putting this swap package together and I wish I had actually HANDMADE more items, but I am happy with the collage I made and the other contents of the package and I hope Catie likes it as well.

Collage Love

I am really loving collage these days. Here is a pic of a collage I just made for my mom. That is a picture of her in the middle. Mom is a very cool chic, my best friend, and an amazing artist. She loves anything black, spider webs, and diamonds, to name but a few things, but that is what I have reflected in this piece that I call the "Spider Woman" collage. I gave it to Mom last night and she loved it. I did two other neat collages for my two swaps I am participating in and will post those once they are in the mail to my swap partners. I have about five other pieces in the works. I am having so much fun!

Here is the "Spider Woman" Collage and I really like the way it turned out....

How Lolly got her craft groove back...and two cute cats!

Sorry I haven't posted a blog in more than a week, but once I jumped back into my crafty self, I lost track of the days! I am just so inspired and am having so much fun! I will post some pics later this week. I am trying to finish one swap that has to be mailed this weekend and will post pics of that this week.

Some parts of my life are in still in chaos and I am working on those, but when I am being my artful self, I am so happy and so content......I had forgotten what that feels like. The art really feeds my soul.

I love my little studio/office and feel so much at peace in there. I have actually found myself sitting at my desk at work (I work a full-time 9-5 job) counting the hours until I can get home and make something. Fun, fun, fun.

I am going to make a commitment to post regularly and try to become a real part of this wonderful and amazing artful blogging world.

Pictures of some of my creations will come later this week. In the meantime, here are two fun pictures of two of my cats. This is my dear Spike....and yes, he likes to sit like this when he is with me......

And here is my old man, Charlie....he recently became blind due to two detached retinas caused by high blood pressure, but nothing slows him down....love that snaggle tooth....

Swap Fun!

I have joined two swaps - I am so excited! My first swap ever that I signed up for is the Sweet & Sinister Swap hosted by Kari over at ArtsyMama and am so excited. I have so many ideas and have been paired with a great partner, Tara. This is going to be so much fun. After lurking in blogland for so long and watching all the other fabulous swaps, I only hope that the package that I put together lives up!





OK, then I came across this other interesting swap and definately decided that it was also right up my alley! It is the Black Cat & Pumpkin Swap hosted by Debra at HopHopJingleBoo.
I am excited about this one, too! Halloween is a favorite of mine, and add in black cats......I'm there!
My mind is spinning with ideas about what to put together. Both swaps require that I post both what I send.....and what I receive, so I will share that with you!

Talk to you soon!

Yummy Yard Sale Finds from Saturday!

Good morning. I just wanted to share some of my yummy yard sale finds from Saturday....I got home and felt I had really scored! I am very psyched!
First up, this entire basket of vintage buttons was $8 - yay!! I tend to use a lot of buttons in my crafts and even in my scrapbooking. I had already given my mom a bunch of the black and gray ones to use for her witch dolls (I'll post about those another time!!) before I took this picture.

Then I found these wonderful large vintage Needlework Crafts magazines. There is one from 1949 and the others are from the 50's. They were $2 a piece, but well worth it...I just love the pictures and the neat vintage ads.....each magazine is crammed full of vintage goodness!
I also found some sheet music for $1, a lovely old (albeit dirty) jewelry box for $1 and a baggie of vintage crochet "thingies"....they are not really doilies, but I love the colors in them and am sure they will eventually be put to good use!

I found some ribbon (not vintage) and the whole lot was just $1, so that was great. But then I found these old books that are just awesome for $4 for the lot.....the best one is the one on top, which is a 1950's Montgomery Ward Wallpaper Catalog filled with samples.....absolutely luscious!!

I was/am so excited about these wonderful finds! I have TONS of scrapbook items/supplies that I can incorporate into my altered art, but when I stopped crafting a few years back (long story), I got rid of a lot of my vintage and collected "stuff", so am building up my collection again! I am feeling so inspired!! I am off for 4 days this holiday weekend, so am going to spend time in my home office/studio getting my craft on!!

Have a great day!