Images of Fall

At the market.........

A Quiet Walk.........

Altered Altoid Tin / Button Swap.....

This month I participated

in a Fall Button Swap

over at

Button Floozies

I'm not necessarily an avid button collector

but

 when I see interesting ones I do pick them up.

This swap was especially fun because

it required we alter

an

Altoid Tin

So much fun!

This is the tin that I made.....



I decided to use a bird
fluffing up her nest for winter
as my theme.





The string on the side is attached to the birds mouth
it has a tiny charm attached that says
"Made for you"





As well as buttons,
I placed a few odds and ends.
The kinds of random shiny
things birds pick up
from time to time.



I  lined the sides with
straw, string,colorful yarn, and shredded ribbon.
Just what a bird would use to fluff the nest.



Then I made a nest to place the finished tin in
and
 bundled it with some more of the colorful yarn.



I placed the nest carefully into this  mesh bag
and tied it with this lovely autumn leaf.
Inside the package is one of my
Trading Cards which also had a bird theme.
I had so much fun coming up with my concept.
It was my first time
making one of the altered tins.
I definately think it can become addicting!

I was so excited when my box arrived!
My swap partner
Julie
of
Blue Pig Designs

made this beautiful box.....



The lid is a raisedfloral design.
I'm guessing clay or resin.
She beautifully shaded the design in blue and gold,
and
I love the fringe trim...

These are the lovely buttons

that she sent..

Happy, shiny, sparkly ones and the red ones especially,

have great little designs.

You can check out others in the swap over at

Button Floozies
Thanks to Laurie for hosting!
I can't wait for the next swap!

Happy Tuesday!

Learning about Harvest............





A fun day on the farm....

     

Local Artisans......

A few weekends ago I visited

An Occasion for the Arts

in Colonial Williamsburg...

My featured Artist for this week from the show is

Bronwyn Evans

of StudioBe

(so pretty in pink!)

Funny story is...

I met Bronwyn back in April at Art and Soul

in Hampton, Va.

We ate lunch together nearly every day!

Unorganized me lost her card (sigh)

but was so happy to see her standing in her booth

at Occasion for the Arts!

The jewelry pieces I photographed

are made with

 Precious Metal Clays

Look at the amazing details!

(let me apologize for the photos)

I have learned I need to pay more attention when

photographing against pure black or white!

This is so much darker than it should be

the beautiful ribbons for the pendants are

made from old Saris!

Bronwyn offers classes in her studio

teaching this Precious Metal Clay technique

as well as some of her other passions.

She is so wonderful to talk with and her pieces are amazing!

I plan on taking one of her classes in November.

I will definitely have better pictures!

You can contact her about upcoming classes and shows at

studiobe@mindspring.com

Happy Weekend!

Coupons, Organizing, and a little crafting thrown in.....

I love this time of year because of the weather,

my pumpkin obsession and my coffee obsession

can combine into one!

I am trying to manage some time off

so to make up for the lack of income I have been couponing

for the last few days.

Let me tell you,

when you seriously try and stock up

this is a time consuming task.
I'm not talking crazy take up a whole room in your house stock up,
but enough to save some money so I can spend it on other things,
like time with my family and taking care of some of the things at home we have been
struggling to get done.
After my coupon run was over I was exhausted!
But
after a nice sleep in this morning
and

fueled by the crisp fall air and a steamy Pumpkin latte,

I have been inspired to finally  

get my crafting space together!

I am too ashamed to show you the "Before" shots!

maybe I'll post a Mid-way-there one or two!

Today was very productive and for now

I'm working on organizing and getting rid of things...

Then comes the fun part,

Making it all look good,

Here is a bit of Inspiration I have been drooling over....

All photos via my

Pinterest

Studio Inspirations Board

So impressed with what Julie did with this small space...

via

BluePigDesigns

Of course all the eye candy on Pinterest

I'd love to achieve some day...

Definitely inspiring....

Julies design is more my speed being that I have a small space...

Can't wait to show you how it turns out!

SO...

what is inspiring you lately?

Happy Wednesday to all!

An Occasion for the Arts...

The Fall here is overloaded with

all kinds of gatherings, events, and festivals....

It is actually hard to decide some weekends

because so many overlap each other.

Last weekend I went to

An Occasion for the Arts

It was the first day that really felt like fall here

so it was perfect!

I thought I'd share some of the few things that really caught my eye..

and then later introduce you to the individual artists...



beautiful still life scenes and country homes...



lovely photographs from world travellers



amazing journals large and small



gorgeous still life scenes you want to jump into



Studied under Ansel Adams...



Fun embellished shrines
every time I look at these I see something I missed last time!



Wonderful wood block printing



Soft and peaceful....



Loved these
colorful and unique



Victorian combined with new pottery to make a beautiful sink!



Salvage jewelry



Marbleized accessories!





Metal clay jewelry

 (I have learned that when photographing this type of silver jewelry on black

you really need to pay attention!)

 

Just a small sampling of what was there!

I'll provide info and more about the artists soon.

Two of which I was surprised to see

that happened to be two lovely ladies I have worked with

and learned with!

Hope you are having a great weekend whatever you have

chosen to do!

Happy Saturday!

Fall reading.....

Beautiful day to sit outside...

My Beekman Heirloom Cookbook arrived today

I was so hungry after I looked through

I can not wait to start trying the recipes!

On the left

new issue of Mary Janes Farm

and on the right

first issue of the new magazine

Mingle....

Love it!

All about creative theme gatherings

ideas for decor, food, etc.

Definitely go take a peek lots of eye candy!

Deliver me from Temptation.....

Friday I was out running errands

and decided on the way back home

to make a quick stop at our nearby DAV...

I have been trying to limit myself...

but some days I drive by

and see things they have out front and just can't resist!

That is where my self restraint tries to kick in

ME -Stop?

Conscience- "No, you don't need to"

ME-"Right"

ME-"But just to see what is outside, don't have to get out of the car?"

Conscience-"No, supposed to be saving money, even if you only spend $1!"

ME -"Right"

ME "Two more seconds and you won't be able to turn!"

Tires squeal

and I make a last minute dash into the parking lot!

 Like the Deathstar of Planet Thrift pulled my van into the lot...

So pathetic...

The Thrift Force was with me Friday!

(sorry for the corn)

Here is what I found...

Entire roll of this groovy 70's kitschy

wallpaper

.58 cents

I'm pretty sure we may have had this growing up!

Plan to use it for Ephemera packs

and to share....

Whitmans Candy Tin

.48 cents

and

 vintage hand sewn pillow cover

.98 cents

I have been finding all kinds of Whitmans tins lately

and they have been perfect for storing

craft items like stamps and sewing supplies.

I found this vintage bird mobile in the records section?!

.98 cents

Unusual and great graphics...

Children's book with cute

Dick and Jane like pictures throughout

I plan to scan them to use...

.68 cents

I thought this was a book at first...

When you open it 

turns into this cute little doll set to play with

There are instructions on how to make little outfits for the

two dolls

You can store things in the cabinet on the right

and the counter top on the left pulls out and you can store in it

and then push back in when you close!

So adorable I couldn't resist...

$1.48

The dolls had never been taken out of the packaging...

I have this in mind as a Christmas gift!

Not bad for about $5.00 for everything?!

Check out what everyone else found at

Apron Thrift Girl

Her Library Adventures

Diane1876 - 2nd time around Tuesday

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Nothing says fall like...Cheese?

Yesterday as I was out in the

wonderful cool air

strolling through Williamsburg

at the

Occasion For The Arts...

I started thinking about the things that instantly come to mind

when I think of fall

besides leaves and pumpkins

(even though I have an almost fetish for anything made w/ pumpkin)

One of them

is

Cheese....

Perhaps because the best place to buy it here

is at

The Cheese Shop

which is located in Colonial Williamsburg.

This time of year

it is perfect for walking,

there is the smell of woodsmoke

(no indoor heat here other than ye'old  fireplace)

HAM is being put up for cure...

which goes perfect with

CHEESE....

if I lost you sorry...

The mere mention of this shop

and locals or William and Mary students

who have left the area start to drool.

I thought I'd share a few photos

of my stop in yesterday...

all kinds of colors and flavors...

Oops...

Pictures of the sandwiches

didn't make it...

darn,

 we will have to go back!

They have a great patio

that is usually packed during tourist season...

This time of year it's great to sit here and people watch...

this cracked me up...

That dog was fast and lovin' it!

Also funny how even though it was much cooler

most people were still in summer clothes

or either totally bundled up!

Virginia is so smack in the middle we never know what

to expect!

Found some great items thrifting this weekend

and

saw some amazing artists at

Occasion for the Arts...

I'll be sharing my favorites this week.

Happy Sunday!