What I'm Working on Right Now....

Hi everyone ! Always amazes me how time flies by. We've been busy with finishing up the gardening, the Halloween thing, family life, etc... and now here we are in that pre-Christmas, pre-holiday mode, with hot chocolate weather over here, and I'm looking forward to decorating woohoo ! --though I won't start until the beginning of December. I've a decorating project waiting to start, a tabletop thrift shop Christmas tree will be spray painted white, then I'll add some white mini lights and festoon it with lots of bright ball decorations. I got the idea from a recent magazine which showed off some unique trees, their large white tree with the bright ball decorations took my breath away ! Of course it was sitting in a much fancier hallway to add to the breathtaking effect ;) I just liked the look of the tree and will display it in our entryway, I'll take a before and after pic. for you.

So I have a few art projects on the go. For awhile I decided to stop making large altered art items, due to the higher shipping costs. After some time I decided to heck with what the shipping costs and just make what I love, what comes naturally to me. I'm a funny bunny, getting all concerned over shipping instead of thinking that someone might say "oooooh I really like what she's done and really want it ". If other's can list their large art pieces then so can I, so there !

Okay, here are a few shots of upcoming items. The first photos are of a pink plastic heart shaped music box I found in a thrift shop a few years back ( the lid was plain pink, I've since decoupaged the gold & floral paper ) with a cheap light pink felt lining which I've recovered with a real piece of velvet in fuschia.
Since Monday the box has been surrounded in red glitter, pink sequins, pink gel glue, glittered nest with a bird which I handpainted pink ( was orange ), pink blossoms on plastic green stems which I've flocked brown, vintage faux pearls, stars, glitter and more. I'll post the finished box in the next couple of days. It's gloriously gaudy !

The next project is much simpler, using a pretty pink mother of pearl-style cameo pendant around which I've attached pink rhinestones. I'm not yet sure what else I want to add, maybe a lush layer of lace ? We'll see :)

So now I'm off to make a nice cuppa tea. It's a blustery rainy day here, perfect for a big pot of hot vanilla chocolate, popcorn, a cuddly blanket and fun Christmas movies...maybe on the weekend. Until then I need to get these art projects done and find some vintage treasures to list in my vintage shop.

Take care all. I'll be back with shots of the finished projects ~♥~

A Cake and a Collage...

Yesterday I was feelin kinda blue, a rather horrid feeling which haunted me for several hours. All I wanted to do was shed my flabby skin and sink into a really big hot tub with a glass of wine.
Instead, I ended up making my birthday cake.....4 days early. I figured since my husband, son and I are heading up the island for that day ( Saturday ), then why not just bake it now and enjoy it over the next couple of days. LOL ! LOL ! Next couple of days, ya right LOL !

...the cake is gone....consumed...devoured.

Am i going to whine about it, about the calories and all ? Nope ! It's a birthday cake, and you should know that birthday cakes have no fat or calories whatsoever ;)

I didn't put any candles on it, just wanted to bake it, frost it and eat it. Oh, I was going for the Red Velvet look but did not realise that to obtain a really red looking cake, you need to use more than a few drops of red food coloring. DOH ! Of course, makes common sense ---but since I was feelin kinda blue I guess my brain took some time off.
ANYWAY, it's a choc. cake with cream cheese frosting, left white in the center and a rich bubblegum pink on top. Very YUMMYYY !! Did it make me feel less blue, you bet :)

Today I took a break from Charmbly making and decided to play around on the computer. So I made this collage fondly called Sara in Her Cotton Candy World. The background is from a photo I took a few years ago.
There's a farm out here with dozens of cherry blossom trees and wow does their property look gorgeous around May. I'm going to take more photos this year.
Hope you like my collage, I have plans to use it with my Charmblies. Will post the finished results later.

More of my favorite things....

Somerset Studio, Victorian Papers and Victoria are 3 of my favorite magazines. Victoria magazine stopped publishing a couple of years ago but then they brought it back, yay ! But I have yet to buy any new copies yet, perhaps after our move.

Victoria Magazine

Victorian Papers came from the Victorian Trading Co. that sells all things Victorian. Lovely romantic bits, bobs, trinkets, papers and clothing...ooh la la. Here's the link to check out their treasures and you can order a free magazine too ! ( and yes, I do use some of the images in my art ):

Victoria Trading Co.

And of course there's Somerset Studio. I splurged and also got their Somerset Life, such delights to delight everyone's eyes. Lots of wonderful altered art treasures and they even include free art papers for you to try in your own creations.

Somerset Studio

I couldn't resist showing off my collection of crystal perfume bottles my dear husband brought back from his navy excursion to the Gulf a few years ago. He went to many ports so I can't remember exactly where he got them from (!) --I'll ask him when he gets home from work. I'm going to guess that they came from Dubai where he visited several 'Souks' ( arabic markets ). One souk sold only gold, gold everywhere ! Shops and their windows lined with gold jewelry, from rings right up to exotic jewelry for elephants. He said the shine from the gold was very brilliant. Then he visited a silver souk and a spice souk ( brought home bags of wonderful rich spices --cinnamon, clove, tea masala (what would be used in chai tea, my fav.) ).
The shop where he got the perfume bottles was a place to buy scented oils, and then they would supply you with the bottles if you wanted them. Not seen in the photo are 6 other much smaller and plainer bottles with simple golden caps, each with a faux colored jewel embedded in the lid.
My most favored bottles are the pink ones and the blue one. The silver bottle had a minaret on top with a little crescent moon, but alas it broke off :( I still consider it another favorite bottle.
The oils inside each bottle are really lovely, from fruity to famous scents ( one smells like Chanel No.5 ). There's also one with a soft vanilla scent.

I love these treasures from afar. For now the bottles are kept in a dark place so the oil won't spoil. Once empty I plan to line them up in a sunny window.

The big bottle behind belonged to my mom. I believe she had it before I was born, don't you love that vintage label ? And yes the soaps are original but their scents have long gone. I could empty it and replace with something prettier...not ready to do that just yet.