Where this woman creates!

This post is a long time coming considering I re-decorated the room I now call my own almost 3 months ago! Yes, I hate to admit it, but I did the big move and paint job in March, but in my own defense, I really didn't get it completely done until recently. All the finishing touches are now complete and I'm ready to share my sanctuary with the world!!This room used to be my youngest daughter's bedroom and until March, was a guest room of sorts with the computer and a bunch of other odd junk in it.

It was also painted red on the bottom and white on the top with a border between the two.

When trying to decide what color to paint this room, I knew I wanted something fresh and completely different from any of the other rooms in the house.

Most of the other rooms are earth tones, cream, tan, or yellow.

Here it is mid-mess with the border removed and ready to paint.



The deep red was a little tough to cover, but the paint I bought was a good quality and did a pretty good job. I went with a pretty robin's egg blue ~ so fresh and different!


I also knew I wanted to go with a french theme in here since I am totally enamored with anything Paris!

I have a small collection of little eiffel towers which I hope to add to. I found the tin Paris sign at Hobby Lobby.

The black canvas banner with all the french locales on it was a purchase at my friend Katherine's shop, Fibber McGees in Plymouth, WI

I ordered the black lamp with the french script shade from a mail order called "Country House" and I just love it!!
Looks good with my "manny"!

I spend alot of time on the computer, so I wanted to make sure my view was pleasant! I have alot of fun things on this particular wall.

Tattered old books, sweet Mary Jane's and some vintage pricing tags that I bought on Etsy make up this vignette.

This picture is a little bright, but shows some of my work table and the storage around it. The cute little white book shelf was my grandma's.

I recently bought this old desk from the Red Rooster and knew it was exactly what I was looking for as my work table. It was from an old technical school from the 1940's. I love the shelf on the top...great for extra storage!

This is what it usually looks like with all the jewelry junk laying around! But I thought it looked a little more "real" this way!

I decided to take the closet doors off and utilize this space for storage for crafting and art supplies. I found the old metal brackets and made a shelf above the door to display some of my ivory pottery collection. It really pops against the blue!

I try to keep this organized!

More storage in this old chest, and a great place for the tv too! The black eiffel tower on the wall is a vinyl rub-on that I got at Hobby Lobby ( I adore H.L.!) and the framed map of France on the left is from a 1940's atlas.



Well, that completes our tour! The only other wall I didn't show has a black shelf that I have office junk on and is not all that exciting. But I do have my pincushion display on it that I showed in my last post.
This room was a labor of love and I am so happy that I have a place to call my own!!

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do! Thanks for stopping by!

Projects completed!!

As promised, I'm sharing the finished product of some of my latest projects. In my last post I mentioned a table top mannequin that I bought on Etsy and that I wanted to decoupage it with vintage pattern pieces. Well, here is my finished manny and I think I'm lovin' the end result!
I used pattern pieces that were the same color as the mannequin so all that shows is the black lettering. I also tried to match the pieces with the "body parts" ~ kinda fun and made the result a little more interesting. You really need to use a light hand when applying the mod podge as the delicate tissue tears easily.
By the way...the necklace is a new creation too!

I also finished the shelf I mentioned in my last post too.

I used pages from an old German book as the background, then glued pieces from an old tape measure around all the edges.

Finished the top off with a piece of hardware that was in my stash from the Pardeeville Mall.

I've been on a decoupaging frenzy lately! I had this old wood drawer and thought it would look great done with ads from an old Woman's World magazine.

Now I'd like to share some of the other things I brought home from my recent trip to the antique mall.

I found this adorable mini plant shelf and thought it would be a perfect spot to display some of my favorite pincushions.

This sweet little crown pincushion with tape measure on the bottom was a recent Etsy purchase too! That Etsy can be a dangerous place for me sometimes!!

I knew I would find the perfect spot for this cute 2 tiered basket in my craft room. I filled it with old balls of darning cotton and string that I use to make tags.

Last but not least, this is the bulk of the rest of my finds from Pardeeville. I have been looking for some of these gutter screens and managed to find three! I plan on keeping these for a bit and will use them like little cloches! So fun!

Will probably sell the shaving brushes and the Flinch cards in my Etsy shop. The little word cards will be saved for art projects.

Have some plans for some more jewelry on the back burner and have been kinda anxious to get working on all that cool hardware I just found!

So stay tuned and thanks so much for your visit!

I have been visiting blogs lately, but am having trouble leaving comments and from what I hear I'm not the only one!

So know that I do drop in now and then, but have to just look for now!

Vintage Inspiration--My pincushion collection

I've mentioned several times in the past that I have a fairly large collection of pincushions, so I thought I'd share them with you for my Vintage Inspiration Friday offering this week over at Debra's blog ~ Common Ground. So here's the tour...

Some are sweet and a little shabby,

some old and tattered...

Some of the animal variety...

some of the native american souvenier variety...

these beaded ones are my most valueable...

but this little one in the urn is my most sentimental. Back in the early 90's when people actually wrote letters, I had a pen pal from Texas that I corresponded with for 3 years. I flew down to meet her in 1993 and this little pincushion was one of my finds when she and I went junking! So it bears alot of meaning and memories for me of my sweet southern friend and the fun we had those 4 days we were together!

I love the tattered and beat up look of these two!!

Aquired these pink sweeties recently!

Another one of my favorites with the kitty chasing the little mouse out his "hole"!!


I don't recall what got me started with this collection, but it is my oldest and largest and one that I still add to whenever I can!


So, if you're looking to be inspired, head on over to Common Ground and soak it all in!!

The new girl in town!

I mentioned in my last post that I have been cleaning, re-arranging and purging around here lately. Well the main reason behind all the sprucing up in my sewing/craft room at least, was to make room for my latest purchase... this vintage beauty!!
She's made of gorgeous, amber-colored velvet and is worn to perfection!! I bought her from another dealer in the antique mall I'm in. And I think I love her!!!!!!

Perfect for displaying my junk jewelry
and for photo shoots for my etsy listings.

These necklaces are my latest creations and I will be listing some of them soon, and maybe taking one or two to the mall or The Red Rooster.

I also added another pincushion to my collection. I bought this beauty from another dealer too! I love these "half doll" types...and am always looking for more!

I also wanted to share my latest etsy purchase too! This yummy, gorgeous seam binding was hand-dyed, aged and is now sheer perfection! I can't wait to start creating with it!
I bought it from French market's shop just in case you want some of your own!

And of course, I love their Paris tags too!

Yummy!!!


I want to give my new dress form a name, so if anyone has a good suggestion, let me know!
I'm planning on giving her a good home for a long, long time!!

I decided last minute to join in a new linky party for the first time over at Savvy Southern Style for Wow us Wednesdays! Kim has quite a list of blogs that are ready to WOW you, so head on over and check it out!!!

Bartering ~ How did I do???

While working at the Red Rooster on Sunday, which I have to do a couple days a month, the lady from the antique store next door expressed a great interest in the gorgeous photo album I had for sale in my space. She asked what my best price was and I told her what I could do on it. She then told me she would think about it. We got to talking about some of the things I've been looking for and collect and I told her I would be interested in bartering. Well....after some discussion these are what she came up with.....
5 adorable little bitty oil cans!!

~ and this beautiful pincushion and 2 sweet little strawberry emeries, which I also collect! I was excited when she showed me these because after reading the post that Julian did from Tallulah's Antique Closet, which you can read about HERE I knew I wanted to find more!!

She then showed me these antique pin balls, which she claims are very old. Has anyone ever seen these or know anything about them? I find them very folk artsy and interesting?

She included these in the deal too!

I found this version on Ebay and thought it looked a little similar. If anyone has anymore information about these, let me know. I am very curious to learn more.

I hope I did well on my bartering trade! I feel satisfied with what I came away with and I guess that's really all that matters! :)


A little while later, my friend Katherine came over to the shop from her shop across the street (Fibber McGees) and brought me my belated birthday gift!! When I opened the little wooden box ~ I nearly squeeled with delight!

Isn't it darling?!? She bought it from my friend Jeanine of Chippy Shabby at one of her sales and said Jeanine told her I would love it! Well, Jeanine, you were so right ~ I DO!!!!!!!!!!!

I love little surprises like this!


Hope you have a great week and there's still time to enter my giveaway!!!

Vintage Inspiration - Baby Shoes!

I have always been drawn to sweet little children's things ~ toys, clothes, and darling little shoes! Especially the scuffed and softly worn variety! They are so fun to decorate with and tuck into vignettes!

This shelf is in my computer room and I love looking at it! I've filled it with my ironstone creamer collection and tucked my favorite pair of vintage baby shoes in as well!!

Well worn and well loved!!

Aged to perfection! Aren't they the sweetest thing??


I have done other fun things with them too!

Like pincushions...

and snuck them into little cubbies!

Laceless varieties in front of a picture of my "baby"!!

I'm sharing my baby shoe collection today for Vintage Inspiration Friday with Debra at Common Ground! Hop on over and enjoy all the other inspiration being shared!
Thanks for stopping by and don't forget about my giveaway!