Cottage of Memories

Good grief - someone stop me !

Are you kidding ? Another project for tonight ? Yep.

The inchies are staring me in the face to finish sanding, inking and attaching flowers. But the 10 ephemera packs mentioned earlier today are all in bags, ready to go. More ATC's ? We'll have to see about that. (I'd work on them in the car, but I'm driving. Not a good idea)

In the mean time, I mentioned a post or two back that I wanted to make something special for my 2 friends whom I'm traveling with as well as my room mates.

I finally came up with the cover tonight - of a little  4 x 6 mini scrapbook - for recording memories or adding photos to when they get home or a bit of journaling during the weekend. I hope they like them.

Now if I can stop thinking of new things to make. . . . . I might get to bed before 3 am !

Blessings, Jill

More trades ? What am I thinking ?

As I was putting together a little something special for Stephanie - who I just met online through the artfest message board, I decided to put together a few more packets of fun stuff to trade. Is anyone out there trading ephemera and other fun vintage things ?

Here is a peak of what my packets will hold.                                                                                             

In each packet of trade, you'll get some vintage wall paper (at least 4 pieces), a vintage Bingo card, vintage sheet music, dictionary pages, page from a flower decorating book, page from a bird book, Salem, Oregon utility bill ($1.88 per month !), some miscellaneous papers, a bit of lace and buttons, and 3 fun owl playing cards. If you participated in the ATC swap, my ATC's were made using the gold card in the middle - and if I stop making up new things to trade, I might have time to make more !

Sleep ? Who needs sleep.

Until Wednesday - Blessings, Jill

This is me

Since I haven't been able to get a scanned photo of me for the corner of 'About Me', I've taken a picture of a picture that I had taken a couple of  years ago. For those of you who are curious, here I am. It's a bit blurry, but that's what you get when you take a picture of a picture.

Blessings,

Jill

Getting Ready for Artfest !

I can hardly beleive that the time is here to start thinking about packing for Artfest ! It seems so long ago that I mailed off my registration to arrive on September 4th and then received my confirmation packet in the mail.

These last few weeks, I have been busy getting ready - especially for my trades. I decided to make 'inchies' to trade and a few ATC's for some special people. (Room mates, friends Ali and Dona, etc)  Here is a sneak peak at what they will look like, and a bit of the process and supplies used.

I couldn't come up with a sturdy piece of cardstock that I thought would support the flower I wanted to add. The theme this year is Nature Walk, and there is nothing else I love more than fresh flowers and watching them bloom. . .so one day a thought came to mind (in the shower ? Not sure this time) that I always see the old Scrabble for Children games at the thrift store, and I knew the letters used in the game were about 1 x 1. So off to the local St Vincent DePaul store I went. And waiting there for me were 3 games for $2 each. I then spread mod podge on some vintage sheet music and stuck them down. Then I painted more mod podge on the backs and layed down another sheet of music.  A couple days later I cut them out and sanded the edges.  I decided to make them a bit distressed, so I inked the edges and then added the flower.  Something was missing. So off to the studio I went and right there in front of me was my small set of word stamps. Smile, passion, desire, adore, embrace, lifetime, remember and moments. PERFECT ! They fit right on.  So I stamped the words on the tiles and then attached the flowers.

Here are the supplies I used.  Stamps, plyers, small hole punch, ink, sander, Prima flowers, brads and lots of love. When I attach each flower I wonder who might receive this little gift from me and word she or he might get. Will it be the perfect word for them at the time ? Just a simple reminder to smile, or embrace (the moment) or (have) passion (for what they do). I also say a little prayer that this little piece from my home will bless them. This is so fun.

I wasn't sure how many to make, and it's turning out to be about 300. I am excited because that means that they will touch the hands and hearts of many.

Here is a photo of just a few of the finished product.  Now to just figure out how to get my name and e-mail address on the back of such a tiny little tile !  Am I suppose to give out reading glasses too ?

Until  we meet again, blessings to all.

And speaking of blooms, here is a small bit of inspiration from my home to yours.

Isaiah 35: 1 -2

The desert and the parched land will be glad;
       the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
       Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom;
       it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
       The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
       the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
       they will see the glory of the LORD,
       the splendor of our God.

Come Rain or Shine . . . .it's Yard Sale Time !

If you know me well, you know that I love yard sales. Going to them to find the treasures that are awaiting a new place in my home AND having them to rid myself of some of the treasures that need replacing.

With that said. . . .I will be having a large sale this FRIDAY ONLY (march 21) - From 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Some of the treasures for sale will be different antiqu-ey items that I had at my antiques show in the fall - vintage nighties, dishes, holiday decorations, shelves, planter boxes, linens, pillows, and all sorts of other things that I can't remember right off the top of my head.

In addition to that, I am becoming a popular spot for some friends to make a little money by selling their left over scrapbook supplies. My friends include Ali, Emily, and Tricia. (not 100% sure yet if Tricia will be participating, but we can hope !)

So, if you're interested in stopping by - drop me an e-mail @ jill@bamstick.com and I'll give you directions.  It will be fun ! And if you're lucky - the coffee might even be on.

Testing the Pixels

Thanks to a new friend, Dawn, that I met through my Hippity Hop Sway, she gave me some pointers on being able to enlarge my photos in typepad. I am still not sure which is best, and how to move the cursor once the photos are posted, but that will come with time too.  The Spring photos are at 250, and I'm going to try these at 300.  Let's see what happens !

This is a photo of some of my swap items I've opened so far along with the basket full of goodness that awaits me for the rest of the week.

Spring and Storms

In the Pacific Northwest, the weather can be so crazy, but I love it. Yesterday was a perfect example.  We had rain storms like you'd expect, where the drops seem to be the size of gum drops. What was so fun though were the rainbows we saw just after and the sun trying to peek through the clouds to get a glimpse of the spring blossoms that abound.  I was able to go out into our back yard during a break and snapped these photos of the lovely blooms found on the trees. These trees are actually in our neighbors yard, but they sneek over the fence to say hello.  (I can't wait for their friend, the lilac, to come say hi)  What I love about these photos is the dark grey sky in the background and the newness of life coming from the buds. Isn't God good to show us that beauty abounds in the darkness ?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Happy Sunday.                                       

Hippity Hop Easter Swap

My very first swap is the Hippity Hop Easter Swap. I can't even remember how I fell into finding a post about this swap. I have always wanted to participate in one, but I would find out about them too late. When I found this one, I knew it would be one I loved, because 1) I love Easter,  2) I love pink and pastels,  3)I love anything vintage and 4) I could meet new friends in the collage art world, which is where I am putting lots of my energy these days. I came up with the idea for my swap item in the shower (does anyone else have really good ideas come to them in the shower ?) and decided I wanted to use vintage sheet music ~ the stuff I used was printed in 1936 ~ and an old photograph.  I wasn't sure which one - I had 4 to choose from - but I finally decided on a sweet girl who I could add a bouquet of flowers to. My wheels started spinning and ideas were written down and a 'rough draft' made.

Then. . .life happened. The crud. The girl scout cookies. The stuff of life. I normally love the stuff of life, but when it takes over what I need to be doing, I don't like it so well anymore.

I had to humble myself and contact the swap organizer and plead my case, since my items were late in the mail.  I was so overwhelmed by the kindness shown by the other participants and their willingness to wait a day, it brought me to tears. So, tomorrow morning, bright and early, these lovely girls will go out and in a week or so, the lovely ladies of the 'green group' will receive her. I hope she brings joy to their homes. I wonder where they will put her ? On a door ? On a wreath hanger ? On a cabinet handle ?

I can't wait to see.