Seeking Everyday Beauty & Velvet Strawberries

Gifted & Grateful

Occasionally, a sweet customer or blog reader will send an email asking for my address, saying they have a little something they would like to send my way. Of course, I am happy to oblige....who doesn't love to receive fun, unexpected gifts in the mail?! These girls were so thoughtful and kind to think of me, and I wanted to share some of the wonderful surprises that have landed on my doorstep recently.

This incredible necklace is a gift from a sweet new friend, Muguette. She creates gorgeous beaded gemstone jewelry and sells her pieces (and more) in her etsy shop, aptly named Muguette Renee. The beads on this necklace are Chalcedony and Petal Pearls. So delicate and stunning. I just love it and have worn it several times already. She also decorated a large matchbox and stuffed it full of trinkets, charms and beads found on her travels around the world. A girl after my own heart! Thank you so much, Muguette!

Sweet Tiffany from Shabby Scraps Boutique, sent this jumbo-size wool strawberry pin cushion in the prettiest pink and green sherbet colors I could ever dream up. How cute is this? I was practically squealing when I opened the box! I photographed it next to some berries I took off of a purse so you could see the difference in scale. It's huge. Pink, pale green, strawberry, seed pearls, what's not to love? It's hanging on my inspiration board in my studio/office, and it makes me smile every time I see it. Thank you Tiffany!

One of my dear customers, Kathryn, emailed me and said," I have something I need to send you. It was meant for you". She found this purple velvet strawberry-covered sewing basket at a yard sale! Can you imagine? The top is covered in berries and there are some more on the front. Love that green velvet ribbon trim too. She filled it with matching purple and green vintage trims, seam binding, rick rack, an olive green cloth tape measure (love!) and a hot pink leather journal.

Here's the front. It's meant to be a sewing basket, but could definitely be carried as a purse.  Thank you Kathryn! You know I love this!

A big thank you hug to each of you for thinking of me and sending such thoughtful mailbox surprises. I'm so grateful and will truly cherish these pretty gifts!

Art & Soul & Friends & Fun

Goodness, I didn't mean to be away from here for an entire week! It's been a week of playing catch-up from being gone last weekend at the Art & Soul Retreat. It's amazing how only 2 days away can set me back a whole week.

The retreat was awesome and Lisa and I got in some much needed time for ourselves. Time to chat and create and relax and have fun. We decided we need to do this more often and have already started thinking about another art retreat. We took Sally Jean's class, "The Girl's Got Gothic", and here we are proudly modeling the necklaces we made. Try to ignore the bags under our eyes.....we had been in class for over 8 hours by this point and were just so darn happy to have finished the project! After this, we headed to dinner and then wound up in the lounge where we met up with Dede, had some vino and relaxed!

It was fun to piece together random elements that I love into one necklace. I've been making new jewelry from old jewelry for years, but this was different. Adding the photo charms made it very personal and meaningful. 

I used pictures of Mario and Sam and a picture of George and I on our wedding day.

This rose cabochon necklace has been in my stash for a while, and I was happy to give it a home here. Pink and green, my old faithfuls. No matter what color trends come and go, those 2 colors remain my favorites.

Some bits of jewelry, worn out pearls, a Lucite button and some old lace were put to good use.

The main Gothic-shaped piece is a collage I made using my Little Andrea picture, some wallpaper scraps and a snippet of old ledger I found that says "Mrs. S". It's hard to see, but there is a tiny flocked flower under the glass too.

Then, I used a scrap of an old cloth measuring tape and some more bits of old jewelry.

And a little velvet strawberry to finish it off.

What a fun class this was! Sally is just delightful and seems to radiate positive energy and creativity. And, man, can she solder like no one I have ever seen. She makes it all look so effortless. It got me in the mood to solder again.....you know, in my spare time.

A fun time was had by all, and I can't wait to do it again!

Happy Weekend everyone!

 

A Gift

Yesterday we went to dinner to celebrate our good friend Dj's birthday. It was so nice to be able to sit outside as the heat wave we've had for months has finally broken....I think. She has been asking me for a bracelet, and I made one for her in her favorite colors with lots of trinkets and charms dangling.

I was on a roll and made 2 other bracelets over the weekend as well. I plan on making at least 2 more, and then they will all be for sale at One Hundred Wishes! I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy Monday! xo andrea

What I've Been Up To

I've just returned from getting a pedicure and leg/foot massage. Quite possibly the best thing ever to happen to my legs and feet. I feel so much better. I'm now 30 weeks pregnant, and all of a sudden I am seriously waddling and aching all day long. I'm carrying this baby much lower than I carried Mario, and it feels like he's going to fall out! The constant aching is getting to me.

{If you hate feet, I'm sure this is not your favorite post. My friend Amy and I used to argue about who had prettier feet. Mine are weird, I'm thinking now, because my 2nd toe is longer than the 1st. I used to think this was normal......I don't know that it is though......ok enough about feet.}

Despite the aching, I gotta keep going! You are keeping me busy, busy, busy with orders, and I am grateful. Thank you. I don't know if I say it enough. I really appreciate your support, and am so glad you have found a place you love to shop in One Hundred Wishes!

The weekend was a fruitful one in many ways. Got some wonderful vintage goodies for the shop and now I can finally get the Flea Market section underway. Look for updates next week or the week after. I'm heading to another favorite flea market this weekend where I know I'll find even more lovelies for you!

We spent Saturday at the Luckett's Fair. It was the best fair I've ever been to! They had everything you could possibly want to do/eat/see as far as fairs go. The only downside was the temperature.....the heat index was 110. I don't remember the last time I was that hot.  Disregard everything I said a few posts ago about the heat wave breaking. False alarm.

Mario enjoyed petting the bunnies and taking a pony ride. I enjoyed the homemade fudge (a little too much probably) and the antiques vendors, and George was quite happy eating his Italian sausage sandwich! Fun for all!

Oh, and by the way.......this is my 99th post! Check back soon for #100 and a sparkling giveaway you're not gonna want to miss! 

Things from Blog Friends

A couple weeks ago, Hope came to my house to teach me some things I'll need to know about my website. I'm not exactly tech-oriented, but I'm learning. I want to know this stuff, so I guess that's a good starting point. She has been tirelessly designing away for me for months now, and I was thrilled to finally meet her. We had lunch and chatted and played a bit in the studio. We actually did more talking than learning! So fun to get together with like minded people who love paper and all the vintage trimmings as much as I do. Hope, please come back soon......

The photo above shows some of her cards that I ordered and love. It will be hard to part with them.

This lovely parcel came all the way from Germany, from Carol. I love the florist's crepe paper she sent. Reminds me of what they used in Sarajevo to wrap around bundles of flowers from the market or the florist. It must be a European thing, but I think someone needs to import this stuff! The German scrap sheets are beautiful. I'll be saving those for something special. She also sent some German craft and decorating/gardening magazines which I saved for the ride to Ohio last week so I had something new to read. They are filled with creative ideas and inspiring pictures. Just wish I could read German! I love foreign magazines, love the slightly different twist they put on home decor and crafts.

I promised pictures of my flea markets treasures. I'll get to it today or tomorrow, I really will. There's quite a bit to photograph, and it's currently piled up on my kitchen table.