Inspire Your Heart With Art Day

Did you know today is Inspire Your Heart With Art Day?  Me either, but I was (believe it or not) contacted by the marketing director for Patience Brewster (whose work is very inspiring!) about posting something about it so I agreed. The idea is to soak up some form of art today; go to a museum or gallery, even a concert. Frankly, I'm never at a loss for creativity; I'm one of those unfortunate souls who "cannot not create" something-- I'd rather do that than eat. However, since the internet and blogging have been around, I have found a wealth of inspiration.

 I otherwise would probably not know of "Smashing."

Or inchies

Or altered tags

Or mail art

Or ATCs

So if you are stuck for inspiration, it's probably no farther away than your computer. You can "google" any of what I mentioned and find many examples; try their "images" option. Flickr is a good place to search too.

Enjoy your day-- get inspired!!

The 12 Tags of 2015

Anyone in the paper craft biz has probably heard of Tim Holtz. His blog shares a tag making how-to every month and invites readers to make their own version and link up. I never thought too much about joining in as I don't make many tags these days, and due to a small craft space and a small budget, I don't own most of the supplies used to make these tags. However, the ever busy Deb at Paxton Valley Folk Art is joining in this year (pop over to view her wonderful take on the tag), and that spurred me to jump on the bandwagon.

Another point that made me decide to join in is the fact stated on Tim's blog that your creation does not have to be a tag. Sold! I made an ATC instead with a matching inchie since that is what I've been making lately. The words were cut from an old school reader; the 5 and "one" are scrapbook stickers. The letters for "twenty" were cut from a 1930s magazine. The arrow is washi tape, and the star was cut from scrapbook paper. The background on both is more scrapbook paper, and the "15" on the inchie is stamped.

Seeing the different submission of Tim's tag is very interesting. This should be an enlightening project!

Have a great day!

Winter Creations

This week at Inspiration Avenue, they ask the question; what does winter mean to you? Since this is a family friendly blog, I can't answer that truthfully. But living my entire life in northern Illinois it does mean one thing without fail: SNOW. I got out some winter themed scrapbook papers I had and made some snowy creations.

Two tags

Four note cards

And an ATC

That kept me busy for awhile-- and inside, out of the snow!  Thanks for stopping by.

Wacky Pack Wednesday

A rather sloppy Wacky Package today.

I remember when Pizza Hut was first in my area; the take out pizzas were on cardboard with a paper wrapper, bag, sleeve, whatever you want to call it, and they made the center stand up somehow in a peak to look like a "roof." Neat, unless you're buying more than one-- can't stack them that way.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just A Photo #3

Snow is a four-letter-word, you know!

Have a nice, snow-free day!

SPA Robert Burns Night

Sunday Postcard Art has a very interesting theme this week. Robert Burns Night/Scotland. I was aware of Robert Burns, but have never heard of Robert Burns Night which was yesterday. Even if you're thinking "Robert who?" you most certainly know Auld Lang Syne; he wrote that. He also wrote the well known line on my postcard in the poem To A Mouse. The line is more commonly known as "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," but I chose to use the original.

Thanks for viewing, and I hope your best laid schemes stay on track today!

Great Aunt LO

I had a little "free" crafting time a couple weekends ago so made something for myself.  A layout of my Great Aunt Madge. I have mentioned her once or twice here before. This is a photo copy of her at quite a young age, 19 or so. Love the hat!

My grandmother, Aunt Madge's sister, is the one who wrote "Auntie Madge" on the top of the photo. As much as I would say that is defacing a photograph, I'm glad she did; I think it adds to its charm.

Have a charming day!

Wacky Pack Wednesday On A Thursday

So how come none of you loyal readers noticed I neglected to post a Wacky Pack yesterday?  Were you being polite or are you as overworked as I am? It never dawned on me until about 8:30 last night. Sorry, folks! So here I am a day late an probably a dollar short too!

It's another laundry detergent Wacky Pack. I'm sure you know it is spoofing All. Of course, it no longer comes in a cardboard box, but the logo hasn't changed too much over the years.

Have a super day! And I hope you are more with it than I apparently am!

The Fabric of 1967

Did you know or remember that Sears used to sell fabric by the yard?  No longer, I'm afraid. Here is a sampling of what was available in the Spring/Summer catalog of '67.

Lots of gingham.

Kitchen curtains anyone?

I admit it-- I never heard of "hopsacking" before. Have you? I'm surprised as my mother did a ton of sewing back in that era.

Thanks for viewing!

SPA Quotes

"Quotes" is the theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week. Nothing came to my mind right away so I looked up quotes about "love" since Valentine's Day is not too far off. This one was my fave by far.

I added it to my "Quotes" Smash book. "GREAT." was printed on the right side. I altered it to be more "Peanuts" appropriate. Not sure if I'll do anything to the left side or not. I thought of adding candy bar wrappers (which I don't have at the moment), but sort of like it plain too. I'm still thinking.

Thanks for viewing today!

Weekly Album Project

I've sen a lot of art journals and Project Life type albums over the last couple of years. Have you? I like them, but not the commitment. I came up with my own little weekly album idea for this year. A smallish book, 4" x 4", of one activity or thought for that week. Of course, I'll be using mostly paper, and I plan to use a vintage sewing pattern image on each too. I have a stash of these, already cut out so I might as well use them, right? As you can see, I haven't made a cover yet.

The week my daughter went back to school after Christmas break was horribly cold!!

Yes, putting away all of my Christmas decorations was exhausting!

I was talking with a friend about painting my kitchen because I'm tired of the color, but didn't come up with any big ideas. It has been colonial blue, medium pink, and now bright yellow. The gray countertops are staying; the black flooring is staying, the white cabinets are (unfortunately) staying. Any suggestions? And I'm not a fan of green and not about to wallpaper.

Thanks for viewing!

Just A Photo #2

Have a happy Sunday!

First Finds for 2015

It's been quite a while since I shared any thrift finds.  The stores I haunt are closed between Christmas and New Year's, and one was closed after that due to wintry weather. To be honest, I started getting out of the habit of going, but I had some items to donate so made the rounds the last week or so.

Up first, a 1975 cookbook all about breads and soups which sounds pretty good in January!  Some old postcards and a couple vintage get well cards.

Both the postcards were used and sent to different people. One is written in German (I think) and dated 1913 (wow!), the other was not dated or postmarked with a date.

Both of the above postcards are embossed, and this gold one is even flocked. How about that?

Whatever happened to "cute?"

One of the postcard folders features the homes of the stars. Here we see Jack Benny's (above) and Bob Hope's below.

Tyrone Power's and Clark Gable's

Cary Grant's beach house and Mary Pickford's. This folder must go back pretty far-- late 30s? Maybe the 40s.

I also found a couple pottery pieces. This is a bank.

And this is just a bird.

Definitely no garage sales or estate sales to attend so this isn't a bad little haul. Thanks for viewing!

Weekend Inchies

I was in another inchie mood this weekend and created some more 1" x 1" collages. They are rather addictive.

I'm linking to Order of the Opus Gluei since it's their fault I got into these in the first place!  See this old post if you're curious.  And if you just can't get enough of inchies, view this fickr group, Small World of Inchies and Twinchies.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Wacky Pack Wedesday

Gosh, this Wacky Pack might make you think twice about dying your hair! Miss Clairol was introduced in the 50s. That's a lot of dye jobs!

Have a beautiful day!

SPA Paisley

Going by the submissions at Sunday Postcard Art this week, I guess I was the only person on the planet that didn't know paisley patterns came from Persia. I was curious and looked up "Paisley" (which is SPA's theme, in case you didn't get that). The text on my postcard is a condensed version of Wikipedia's definition. The rest was "doodled" by yours truly with markers.

And please tell me I'm not the only person who never heard of "Persian pickles" before!

Thanks for viewing!

The Well-Dressed Toddler of '67

Since last we left the 1967 Sears catalog, I posted baby gear.  So here is what their older siblings were wearing. 

You could even buy a plush Piglet for $2.99. How cute!! How come I never got one of these?

Enjoy!

Have I Mentioned Lately...

...that I'M COLD??!!  Our weather this week has been awful, at best.  Very cold, snowy, windy...

Makes the days seem gloomy, irksome, vexing...

I really shouldn't complain.  Up until New Year's, our winter had been fairly mild.

But somehow when your thermometer reads 2 degrees, you tend to forget about the past.

Stay warm today, people!!