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!
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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