elegant whimsy

this is my lamp. It was my sister's lamp when we were little. Then at some point she decided she didn't like the flowers in the base so she painted it pink. Then years later I found the lamp in my parents linen closet and adopted it. I scrapped off the paint (pooryly as you can see). Then I bought a new shade for the lamp. I got one of those sticky shades from Hobby Lobby where you can decorate it yourself. So I had this fabric that I loved but it wasn't big enough. So I just patched it on there as well as I could. Then I hot glued the beaded fringe on and there you have it. I love it. My sister thinks it's tacky. To me it definetly adds some elegant whimsy to my room. At night the beads seem to just glitter with the light. What do you think?

for the love of the cards

I always thought I would enjoy working for a card company. Even when I was pretty young. Back then I thought the only card company in the world was Hallmark. So I wanted to work for Hallmark. I also wanted to work for Nickelodeon. Ofcourse the world isn't any thing like what we think it is like when we are young. I did work for a card company called "You Send Me" for a little while. They have the MOST adorable cards. I started out in packaging and finally got my own desk. I think I was a production artist. It was all the owners designs, we just added glitter and embellishments. It was a wonderful job but I was in the height of my bad decision making days and probably didn't enjoy as much as I should have. The job I have now is also wonderful although not very creative. I only work part time and have a lot of free time to draw. So for the past few years I've been drawing and sending cards to my friends who live all over. And ofcourse there was the fairy tea party invitations. Now, finally I am trying to sell these cards. I've been posting them on etsy but so far no buyers. That's ok though because I love doing it and maybe one day I'll make a sell. I've mostly been doing fairies, but I'm trying to branch out. I mean, why not? I've done a couple of Halloween cards and I have more in the make. I love Halloween. anywho, here are some of the ones I've done that are up for sale.

This one is called "I love you this much". I think it's cute. It could be for Valentine's day or just any day. I like the idea of getting something like this for no reason at all. (except for the love ofcourse)and here is another fairy. They are always fun to draw. and here is one of the Halloween cards. Isn't she cute?

Ok, so I've been tagged by Michelle. In her words -"The challenge is to list 6 random facts about myself and/or 7 strange things you might not know about me.I will tag 6 others to do the same." -except I'm not sure how to tag people...so I will just do the list. Six Random Facts about me:

1. I was in a coma for about five months in 2002.
2. I was born on Easter morning (although my birthday hardly ever falls on Easter)
3. I am Southern Baptist.
4. I have one greenish eye and one blueish eye.
5. I graduated from Berry College with a major in Art and minor in Visual Communications.
6. I lived in Vermont for a few months. (also in 2002)

Seven strange things you might not know about me:

1. I like to eat cheese with my pancake syrup.
2. I don't like big crowds.
3. I hate to wash my hair.
4. I have a crush on Vincent Van Gogh.
5. My husband says my taste in clothes are strange.
6. I think faeries are real.
7. I can't stand having long fingernails.

Love is the Spice of Life.

ok, so this is what I came up with. I used a pink satiny type fabric for the back and a red mesh for the front. Then I sewed the word LOVE on red felt using pink beads. Then I stuffed it with dried herbs from my garden. I used lemon balm and chocolate mint. I love the way chocolate mint smells. (I love chocolate) Although I wish I would have had more dried herbs on hand I think it smells great. Oh, and then I used orange lace to hang it with. I have it hanging in my kitchen for two reasons. #1. It smells good #2. It will always remind me that the best ingredient for any dish is Love.

glitter glitter everywhere!

I love glitter and I love Martha Stewart. So you can imagine my joy when I read about the "Be Inspired" Martha Stewart glitter contest. The trouble was what to do? I looked around at things I've already done with glitter. One of my favorite things is to paint glass and sprinkle glitter into the paint when it's wet, then when it dries it makes a pretty window decor. Then there are my paintings. I went through a phase where I put glitter in every painting I did. The thing is I had just come out of a five month coma at the time and those paintings were my attempts at getting my old self back. That took some time and a lot of trail and error. No, I needed a new idea. So, my husband so lovingly took me to the craft store and we walked around looking for ideas and inspiration. There are so many things to paint...then I saw it. You know those books that aren't really books, but secret hiding places. I love these books. There is a mystery about them. Well, they make them blank so that crafters can decorate them. What a wonderful thing! So I decorated mine to be like a faerie tale book. here are the pictures...

orange, pink, and red

So I'm thinking about the goddesses of craft challenge and I'm very excited to make something. This is my first challenge and I just like being a part of something big and crafty. I just can't decide what to make yet. So I got a bunch of red, pink and orange things together and just took some pictures of it to try and get some ideas of what I could do. Here are the pictures. That wonderful pink and red pattern is actually wrapping paper that I got at Big Lots. Big Lots is a great place to find secret treasures. From wrapping paper and bags to scrapbooking supplies they have alittle bit of everything and the prices are great.

I love this yellow trim with the orange flowers. I made a belt out of part of it but I still have a good bit leftover.

I collect hankerchefs (sp?). I think the edge of this one was tatted. that white lace is actually yellow. The flash distorted the color.and ofcourse a big cloth rose. now, what to do? what to do?

thrift store finds

Ok, so I went to the thriftstore and found this serving tray. It was just begging to be painted.

so I painted the inside pink and did this...

then I painted the outside green and the inside sides yellow.

If you want to see more pictures of this I am selling it on etsy. My etsy shop name is becky susanne.