Altered Journal Swap Reveal

My journals are on the way to my swap partners, so I think it's time for the full reveal.  I made little dresses for both journals out of lace, and adhered them to a chipboard dress form.  I considered stitching dresses like I've done in the past, but I was afraid that I would run out of time.  The colors for the journals were very different; I'm not sure which one I like better!

My swap partner Marian likes pinks and aquas, so here's the journal I made for her:

Here's the inside cover:

After covering the page with paper and a lace border, I made a pocket out of a linen piece and a corner of a vintage hankie.  I added a few antique papers as a surprise.

The inside back cover and the back cover were pretty simple -- just pretty papers:

All wrapped up and ready to go:

with a few extra trims just for fun!

My other swap partner, Jill, likes neutrals, so here's the journal I made for her:

Here's the inside front cover, along with a few antique surprises in the pocket:

Again, I left the back inside cover and the back cover pretty simple:

Wrapped and ready:

Extra trims for Jill:

This was a fun swap -- I love making journals!  I'll post pics soon of the journals that I received from my swap partners.  Have a great week!  :)

Altered Journal Swap Sneak Peeks

I'm hard at work on the journals for my altered journal swap, so I thought I'd share a few sneak peeks.  If you are my swap partners -- no peeking!  Avert your eyes!

This swap has been really fun.  I will be sure to share full photos after I get these journals in the mail.  I had the same basic idea for both journals, but my swap partners wanted different colors: one is into neutrals, and the other is more of a pink and aqua gal.  So, I got to create two very different looks.

Back soon with the full reveal!  Hope you're having a great week!

A Tale of Two Tags

I've been hard at work (off-and-on, before and after vacation) on tags for my first tag swap.  I've participated in several match-box swaps (super fun!) but I've never done a tag swap before, and for some reason, I'm really nervous about it.  I guess I just want to be sure I'm up to snuff with all of these talented tag swappers!  I signed up for Karla's Birdsong Tag Swap, so the theme involves birds.  To be honest, birds aren't usually my "thing," so I was at a loss for what to do.

In the beginning, I found clip art of a vintage sheet music cover that I loved (thanks, Graphics Fairy!)  I played around with paper, stamps, and trims, and decided that the tag would look something like this:

But then I had second thoughts.....  I really wanted to stitch something -- add a  hand-stitched element to the tags, preferably using some of the ridiculously large lace stash that is ever-growing around here.  But what to stitch?  I decided to try to create a hand-stitched nest out of lace and trims.  I was pretty excited about this idea!  So I got out a few special trims, and I stitched and stitched until I had...... a big flat flower.

Ugh! Nothing nest-like about it.  I started over.  This time, I used less lace, added some tulle and a few strands of perle cotton embroidery floss:

Still kind of flower-like, but better, I think.  I glued a few vintage rosary beads into the center for "eggs."

Once the nests were done (or, almost done -- I've got 7 nests to finish!), I laid out the paper and trims again, and decided on this design:

But in keeping with the theme of over-thinking these tags, I've decided that teal-blue paper is too dark (sigh), so now I'm thinking of switching it out with a lighter blue, for a look kind of like this:

Anyway, this has been a fun project -- it's nice to be creating again.   I'm not sure why I've been so fickle and nervous about this little project!  But the tags have to be in the mail Monday, so I've got to finish them all this weekend.  I'll post more pics when they're all done.  Wish me luck!  :)

Summer Has Finally Arrived, and So Has Some Awesome Lace!

School is finally out for the summer!  I don't know about you, but I am so excited.  We are all looking forward to unscheduled days, swimming in the pool, staying up late to read our summer books, and sleeping late, too!  And as if it couldn't get any better than that, I got in a wonderful lot of lace yesterday.

 I've already put a few things into the shop, with more to come, so if you see something you like, look for it in the shop.

Next week I'll be sending out a newsletter to the folks who've signed up for my mailing list.  I'm sorry it's been such a long time between newsletters!  To celebrate summer, I'm going to include coupon codes that will be good for a discount in all of my shops.   If you'd like to receive the newsletter, but aren't on the mailing list yet, you can sign up easily in the box over there to the right.  ------>

I hope your summer is off to a great start!

Antique Lace Happiness

I'm lucky to have piles of "new" (new to me) lace on my office floor -- big piles of every type of lace you can imagine!  What a super way to spend an afternoon, sorting through all of these wonderful old treasures!

I find it both exciting and calming to sort through and organize these types of new finds.  Is that weird?  :)

Most of these goodies will find their way into my shop (some already have!), but others I just won't be able to part with.  I hope to add to the piles later this week in Round Top!

Lace Giveaway!

I hit another personal Etsy milestone this weekend - I had my 2000th sale!  WOO HOO!  To celebrate, let's have a lace giveaway, shall we?  There are 10 separate bundles of lace here, with a little bit of everything: some crochet, some Irish crochet, some filet lace, some chemical lace, all sorts of delightful things! 

If you'd like to enter for a chance to win this lace assortment, just leave a comment here.  If you link back to my blog and mention this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter, tell me about it in the comment and I'll throw your name in a second time for the drawing.  Enter by this Friday, November 19th at noon, Central Time.  Friday afternoon I'll randomly select and announce the winner.

Good luck!