Giveaway at Polka Dot Barn....

This giveaway is too cute!!!

You have to love this apron!

I hate to advertise it to much because I would love it...

But... I want to share her blog with YOU!

Wonderful Blog, You will love her!

http://polkadotbarn.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-time-for-another-fabulous-giveaway.html

I caught a Fairy, Jim Holtz Alcohol Ink... Try it, You'll Like it...

My finished Birdie.... Before Birdie... It had a few little chips on it!

Ask for another markdown! My finished BOWL of ChatterBlocks!

During... Because I forgot (like so many times) to take the picture before I started!

Jim Holtz Alcohol Ink

I want to use this "stuff" on everything and anything that I can find! I love it.... I have used it on wood, paper, metal, concrete, plastic... In other words~ It seems to love anything that you apply it to! The finished effect can be anything that your little fingers can dab out~ Yes, I end up using a cotton ball instead of the stamper that comes with it. I just like the effects that the cotton ball gives me! When you first see it on the stand at the craft store, you think to yourself~ "Self, what is this stuff and why is it so pricey for these little bitty bottles?" Being the curious monkey that I am, I had to purchase it, bring it home and try it out. It became one of my favorites immediately! And surprisingly, the little bottle goes on and on and on and on... Just like that EverReady bunny thing. So... the price is a bargain after all!

This is a product that I highly recommend to any artist or crafter. Go to Hobby Lobby, buy yourself some and a little birdie while you are at it (make sure it is 50% off).

YOU will be amazed at the transformation!

Question for my artist and crafting chickadees~

Have you tried this product and what wonderful projects have you made from it?

Also.... Today I will get finished moving into my little "NOOK" at Vintage Village in Snellville!

Tomorrow will bring pictures of a finished little shelving unit,

including this little Fairy that I caught right before I was leaving to go today!

And the winner is....

The winner of the

Giveaway

#21 (with the help of True Random Number Geneartor)

Sandi at My Yellow Door

http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/

Congratulations, I already see that you collect Books!!

Hope to see you on the

15th of April for my

Tour of Collections!

Hopefully, tomorrow after a very long day of working, decorating and having loads of fun; I will be making a vey exciting post!

April 1 is a very exciting day for me! The Lord as richly blessed and you will see the beginning step of a very long journey He has taken me on.....

Footprints Also Known As "I Had a Dream"
One night I dreamed a dream.I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.
When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.
"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

Margaret Fishback Powers, 1964

Recycled Ladies Pump into Sunday Go to Meeting Shoe...

This is my last post before I announce the

winner of my Giveaway on Monday morning!

So... if you have not put YOUR name in the pot

do so over the weekend dear chickadees!

Next week I will be sharing with you my adventure over the past week. I had to take a day trip to Auburn, Alabama to take Whit some formal dresses for a dance she had last night. Sob, Sob... Oh, how I miss all of the wonderful Homecoming, Prom and Debutante dances she went to in High School! I am just thankful that she is getting the opportunity to wear all the wonderful dresses again! Anyways, Anywho and back to what I was discussing before I so rudely interrupted myself with the sobbing.... I went to Auburn and I DO NOT PLAN a trip to Auburn, Alabama without going Junkin'..... Girlfriends... Going down Interstate 85 between Atlanta and Auburn you can find some of the best little antique and junkin' places in the world! And my favorite little strip is in Opelika, Alabama! But, I can't get carried away now or I will totally give away my post for next week! So Stop Yvette and go Post NO More on that....
I will share a project that I could not wait to do once I arrived home! I pondered on it all the way, trying to figure out exactly how I was going to manipulate all the pieces into part to make it what I wanted!
I started with a plain old black simple ladies pump and a old torn up Baptist Hymnal that I found at Salvation.... whooops, can't tell you the name of the store yet because that will blow my post. Anyways and Anywho it was a "store" where I made a very, very, very cheap purchase.

This is my completed project~

I call it my

Sunday Go to Meeting Shoes

I will be using this to hold my business cards at

Vintage Village!!!

YEAH

Flaunt your Red and My Art Studio...

My Red Art Studio

I love my red art studio that I live in most of the day!

There is something about the color red that inspires and excites me,

just makes me feel so good!

It is also a place that I am sit and converse one on one with my FATHER.

Times are hard on all of us but He gives us HIS word to remind us of HIS FAITHFULNESS~

Philippians 4:6-8 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Psalm 94:19 When doubts filled my mind,your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

“Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue.

Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are

or people might think we're stupid.”

Jules Feiffer

"Red is the ultimate cure for sadness"

Bill Blass

"Give her two red roses, each with a note.

The first note says For the woman I love and the second, For my best friend..”

My grandfather Frank Lloyd Wright wore a red sash on his wedding night.

That is glamour!

Anne Baxter

“A printer consists of three main parts:

the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light”

http://southernlady-nancy.blogspot.com/.

Tristan, My new Favorite Artist, Autism & A Conference One and the same...

http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/2009/03/she-speaks-scholarship-contest-for.html
Is it not amazing how God can place you in the right place, right time and with the right person.... The day before yesterday I went to Vintage Village to look at my shelving unit for my "little" store! I decided to make a day of it, make a circle around the the two counties in which I was visiting and end up picking my husband up at our "big" store and going to visit Grandma at the nursing home. One of the stops before picking up Mr. Charming (my new name for him since I have a store!!!) was to drop by Goodwill (REALLY FAST) to see what was on going on! As I arrived and started to rummage though the "trinkets", I noticed this lady with a plunder of rewards of arriving maybe ten minutes before I did.... She was shopping the aisles before me and I could tell she was my kind of junker!!! She looked at me and smiled at the same time looking down into my cart. I had this beautiful wooden tray with cast iron handles for $4.00. At Michael's I would pay at least $20.00 for a tray this size to use for a project and it would not be half as pretty. She said,"I love the tray"..... I don't know why..... But I offered it to her, she offered me a piece of Milk Glass that I was admiring! From that point on we struck up a great conversation, ending up behind each other in the "forever until eternity" checkout line and then we exchanged information. She contacted me last night, leaving me this website...... It was after I read about Tristan that I knew why I met my new friend Ellen McILwain.
See, I know why God put us together now, Mr. Charming knows why I was thirty minutes late picking him up and why now Tristan Bramblett is now my favorite Artist!!!

Please, take the time to go and read Tristan's story, see how HIS life has changed because of parents who were willing to follow God in faith to do the right thing for their children and see what ART can do in a child's life...

Thank God for Parents & Grandparents

like Tristan's and his sister!

http://www.blueelephantcreations.com/index.html

Tristan's Wonderful Art

That YOU can purchase on HIS website!

That brings me to another quick post~

Faye left a comment on one of my post the day before yesterday about Autism. I somewhat ignorned it until now. That is until God punched me on my sore shoulder yesterday and got my attention to look at it again because of Tristan

(TWO CHILDREN WITH AUTSIM IN TWO DAYS

HE WANTS MY ATTENTION)

Anyways.... I am posting Faye's post about an upcoming post on Autism...

This is meant for someone, only God knows, I am just the messenger....

From Faye's blog~ http://justsomethingnannamade.blogspot.com/

My daughter is announcing a collaborated effort by Unlocking Autism and Great Plains of Kansas to bring their FREE Biomed. Conf. to Rome, Ga. This will be informative for anyone dealing with ADD, ADHD, PDD, Asperger or Autism.Free Biomed. Conf.Location: Unity Christian School, upper campus, Hwy. 53, Rome, Ga.Exhibitors: Doors open at 5 to parents 5:00 to 6:00 PMKeynote speaker: Dr. Timothy Callaghan, certified D.A.N! practitioner; The Specrum and the Bio. Med. Maze 6:00 to 7:30 PMSpeaker: Amy Whitlock; A Families Journey 7:30 to 8:00 PMSee http://www.tendergraces.org/ for more detail.Download flyer from site.....Pre-registration required.amy@tendergraces.org

Also... this is all God... I just visited my daughters blog and went to Lysa TerKeurst's blog to look at the scholarship information. I was not planning on attending the conference with my health problems, how could I. Plus, if Whitney doesn't get a scholarship with our store and the economy the way it is....IT WILL BE BY FAITH that GOD is sending Whit! But when I got there I hit Mr. Linky... LOL So, I also am going for a scholarship! And I might be going also!! Georgia to North Carolina... I can do it ~ If God can carry me!

Thank goodness my post was all about Faith today!

But God knew this all the time!

The joke is on ME!

A New Adventure & Hobby Lobby Re-do....

Trumpets Please....

Announcing the Arrival of

The Charm House to Vintage Village!!!

I finally made the decision to take the jump and make the first baby step into the real world of "retail"! And it is a big decision based on FAITH for me! I am counting on the Good Lord to take me though it all!

I am so grateful to Debbie at the Vintage Village for being so encouraging and helpful to make this decision an easy and simple one. When I first walked in the door, it felt like home. Each girl decorates their booth with so much care, love and HEART. I knew this is where I wanted to place my ART! It would find its home here with all of the other wonderful vintage trinkets and treasures that I used to create it! I looked and searched for a year, trying to find anywhere or some little place that I felt my art would fit in.

God knew this would be it.

His place, in His timing!

I know this will be a Good Thing ~

Because

God is Good ~ All the Time!

Come Visit us at

2229 Scenic Highway

Snellville, Georgia

www.vintagevillageantiquesandmore.com

And Now for another Hobby Lobby Re-do~

One of their Concrete pieces 50% off

Of course I had to change the colors using Jim Holtz Alcohol Inks

Colors Caramel, Stream and Ginger

I used a cosmetic wedge sponge to apply the Alcohol Inks onto the piece.

I then used another cosmetic wedge sponge dabbing the timber brown StazOn Ink pad

and highlighting the high areas of the piece.

When finished to my liking, I applied a coat of spray varnish!

Hope you like!

Birdies Nest ChatterBlock project...

My little birdies nest will just not go away. I lay in bed at night and the ideas just pop into my head! I love it! The night before last I remembered this wonderful Bible verse and I had to use it with my new nest. I thought to myself ~ "Self, there is no better way to use this verse than on your ChatterBlocks"! So, Self got up the next morning and started working on it! I just could not help myself! If you notice closely, I even used a little Titan Buff paint and Baby Blue paint.

Oh... And see the fibers and feathers in the nest!

So easy to mix in with the shredded paper!

Not my colors~ But I love this little piece!

It is going in a very special place and I will tell you all about it tomorrow!

I can't wait to share my SURPRISE with you!

It is a HUGE FAITH step for me~

Love you ALL!!
Psalm 91:4

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Giveaway at The Charm House...

The Charm House is hosting a Giveaway

All you have to do is~

Leave a comment on this post.
It is that easy!

Please~ If you do not have a blog that I can get in touch with you, leave your e-mail address!

I would be very disheartened if YOU won and I could not get in touch with You!

Since we have been discussing

Collecting,

the Giveaway will include~

Three Readers Digest Books

Three Vintage Clothespins wrapped with Seam Binding

Three Blue Eggs with a Nest

Three pieces of Vintage Jewelry

Three Old Wooden Spools

Drawing ~ March the 30th

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving,

make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!

~ Amanda Bradley

Let's make the Birdie's Nest & The Secret Item....

Some of you got it right~ YOU are SO GOOD!!!

CUPCAKE LINER & SPRAY ADHESIVE

Cupcake Liner helps the nest to go back into shape after all the shredding is on.

Spray adhesive is the best thing that I could find to adhere

the shredding to the cupcake holder. Place cupcake liner upside down onto scrap plastic surface that you can throw away use. Spray with adhesive really well and start putting shredding onto to cover entire cupcake holder. Then pick up liner and start pressing shredding to liner to adhere. You may have to add more shredding if needed. Turn over and do the same. If you want a thicker nest, repeat steps.
Pressing shredding ( use any type of shredding that you wish) onto cupcake liner.
Place onto plastic and put Styrofoam ball or other small ball into middle.

Form shredded nest around ball. All adhesive should be covered so it should not stick to ball.

The cupcake liner helps the nest go back to a cupcake shape. Cupcake Shape!!! Or rather

MY BIRDIES NEST!!

At this point you can hot glue brown shredded paper into bottom for nesting.

Hints~ Add fibers to nesting for added interest!

Happy Nesting!!

Handmade Nest for Birdie~ Can you guess what I used?

photo by Chase Adams I want to challenge you a little today....

PROBLEM: Yesterday I needed a birdnest to fit a particular bowl. I could not find one in my house and I could not find an old one in the woods that I could get to.

SOLUTION: Make one.

YOUR CHALLENGE: I used two different papers on this nest~ a newspaper and a brown craft paper. I also used two other items~ One to bond everything and one as a base.

Can you guess these two items?

Tomorrow I will show you how I make the Birdies Nest!

Kids Collecting and Creating Memories FREE....

Don't forget to label your JAR with

WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE

Is it not a pain when you go somewhere and you have to buy those CRAZY souvenirs? You know the ones that cost $$$, "Mama I need this", they bring them home, play with it for a little while, probably hit each other with it (sometimes requiring stitches at the local hospital ~ HISTORY) then all they do is take up room until you have that next NEIGHBORHOOD GARAGE SALE.....

Well, I want to give you another option where the kids can be creative, be detective's as they search out their treasure and create a family memoriers on your vacation! I want to do this by telling you my story of my adventure one summer.

It was a summer when my health was at its worst and my mother was at the beach with me and my children. She was walking the beach with Whitney (Chase building sandcastles as always like his daddy), who is a beachcomber like her grandmother and I. Boy, did she find something so wonderful! She came running to the house, at this time she was only about four, yelling, "Mama, Mama I found a Sea Horse". Well... I wasn't that sick. I knew my baby could not have found a sea horse. My mother followed her, a huge smile on her face, and I knew that it was something special. Whit opened her small, precious hands..... There it was a weathered, small, gold, plastic horse. ~ Her little Sea Horse.

See... We create our own Souvenirs. We don't need to go and make all those purchases. Our children are so good at finding their own little treasures. All we have to do is be like my mother, give them the gift of imagination! Take them on their own little adventures, hunting God's treasures, telling them about the broken shells and how God takes us broken and works with us. Tell them that the broken shells are the most precious shells because they are the ones most like us! There are no perfect shells, because there are no perfect people!

We have opportunities to give our children an empty jar and let them fill it with their memories.... All we have to do is just build the foundation to encourage the imagination of the child to fill it!

So.... The next trip you take, make sure you carry a jar for each child and let him fill it with his imagination and create his own collection of souvenirs! It may be filled with all rocks, but that's ok, It's their jar and their imagination!

Tip~ You want this to be a recycling project? Use a plastic mayonnaise jar for safety purposes for children when hunting for their treasurers! Everything will be FREE!

Another Free Collection for Kids:

Rock Collection~ Collect a rock from each place you go and write on the bottom the location that you picked it up. It is amazing how different rocks look from different places!

Some of my Favorite Rocks

My children have been to Australia and have brought me back rocks from the great rivers there. Free souvenirs and I love it! Teach them they don't have to spend money to give good gifts~ Gifts come from the heart, not the wallet! It will be a great lesson on saving money too!

YES, I collect rocks too!!!

Goodwill Re-do for $2.00 and a Little Birdie....

Little Birdie~ I purchased these cute little birdies at Hobby Lobby on sale for $1.50! Great Price! But I just didn't like the color~ No problem for me~ Just change it!

Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink and a cotton pad for the base. A little brown ink from an ink pad using a make up wedge to high light some edges and a charcoal pencil for fine details. To finish a coat of spray varnish! YEAH ~ A new little birdie to fly and perch onto one of my projects. Finished Birdie
Birdie birdie before my handiwork.....

Cheese Tray from Goodwill for $1.19! Great Buy!!!!

Apply Scrapbook Paper.......

Sand Edges of Tray and Paint Easter Eggs.....

To make speckles on Eggs, Use Toothbrush with brown paint and flick....To finish eggs I sprayed with Spray Varnish.

For me to get the paint finish that I wanted, I painted the tray four different colors of my choice and then sanded the tray. This made the tray look old and used. I then hit the edges with an ink pad to give it more of an antique look. To finish, I gave it a coat of Satin Varnish.

Bottom of Tray....

Tray with nest and eggs!!

Oh So Sweet!

My finished Goodwill Project!

How about this for about a $2.00 project??

I think Birdie wants to sit by it!