Thrifty Miss Priss

Artist Class and a glittery sugar house Giveaway!

My friend Mary  is sponsoring an on line Artist Class.  She invited me to contribute a project and I'm excited to present to you "A Pocket Full Of Treasures Scrapbook"

This will be an on line tutorial of how to make my scrapbook along with LOTS  of other projects from other artists. 

My scrapbook is meant for holding all those little treasures you collect throughout life, but usually leave tucked away in a drawer or box.  After you've made your own scrapbook you can keep those special keepsakes all in one place without gluing them down.  This book had lots of little pockets to hold all those trinkets and treasures.

I used one of those OLD record album books and altered it into a scrapbook.  I will provide step by step instructions on how to do this.

The beauty of it is you do not need to know how to sew.  It can be glued or sewn.  I used both techniques and have to honestly say I like the gluing method better!

I'll even show you my mistakes and how I fixed them!  I will be using my book to take to Silver Bella to collect business cards and MOO cards.

  I can also see this scrap book being used for a scrapbook to hold little love notes from your kids.....or to hold special treasures from a vacation or a special event like a wedding.

 

I've signed up for several on line classes and have always enjoyed the challenge of the project.  This class gives you LOTS of different projects..not just one!  And if you use my coupon code "Thriftymisspriss" you will get $10.00 off!  It will basically cost less than $4.00 for each project!  I'm offering a fun giveaway to a lucky person who uses my coupon code as well. 

Wouldn't you like to live in one of these?

I will enter your name into the drawing if you sign up using my coupon code  The lucky winner will receive one of my sugared Christmas houses!  I will mail it to you in November so you can enjoy it with your Christmas decor.

Hop over to the Artist Class and take a peek!

Have a great week!

Fat Book thoughts.......

Thank you so much everyone for all the wedding Love!  The day was perfect and will always be a special memory for our family! 

Now that it's behind me.....I've been wanting to take on a collaborative project for a long time. I've just been waiting for the right time to do it......

Last February I participated in a fat book swap hosted by Dede.  We made lots of pages based on the valentine theme and sent them all to Dede.  She separated them, divided them up and put them together into fat books and mailed them all back. If you go to Dede's archives and look in January 09 you can see all the beautiful pages there.

She altered a hardback book by removing the pages and inserted all the fat book pages inside.

I just drooled over this beautiful artwork for months after wards.  It sits on a shelf in my art room where I can see it, open it, feel it on a regular basis. It's nice to have the work of so many others in your own book.  I've wanted to participate in another one immediately after I received this.

I thought I'd host my own fat book swap.  I've thought a lot about the theme and I've come up with "Winter Whites". Wouldn't a book stuffed full of ivory, cream, and white pages be beautiful?    Each participant would make a designated number of pages..(depending on how many people joined) mail them to me by the deadline and I will assemble and mail the fat book back to you.

Here are some pages from the Valentine book

This was the first time I'd ever participated in something like this.  I was a little nervous but like Dede said....everyone has to start somewhere! 

Do you like to collage?  Sew? Paint? Rubber stamp?  If you answered yes to any of these questions maybe you'd like to join me?  You might think you don't have enough   images of your own to use for a project like this....well flickr has thousands of copyright free photos that you can use. I will provide you with lots of links to websites that offer free images. Do you know Karen the Graphics Fairy?  She has beautiful images that she shares on a daily basis practically.  Mary is another source of wonderful images....some free, some very reasonably priced!

If you are interested in joining send me an email at thrifty underscore misspriss at yahoo dot com   I will post all the details.........who, what, when etc.  You may be signing up to make as few as 5 pages or as many as 16!  The more we have participating the FATTER your book will be!  I'm thinking the deadline will be the first week in November.  That will give me time to get them all separated and assembled and back out to you by the end of the month...in time for you to enjoy all "winter" long!

Enjoy your week!

Family picture wall with thrifted frames

I don't have much to share....just counting down the days until my daughter gets married!  One week and I'll be a Mother In Law!

I've been collecting these frames from yard sales with the intention of doing a family picture wall.  An updated wall that is....not baby pictures and first days of school........

I think every frame I came across recently was gold...or teak.  The long one at the bottom had a decent mat but I didn't care for the pictures or the color.  That pressed wildflower one at the top is nice because it's two pieces of glass....no mat needed.

this old flashcard is temporary.  I'm expecting lots of nice family pictures next weekend and will find one for this frame.

   

I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.  I didn't spend more than a dollar for each one.  I used my home printer and did all black and white on glossy photo paper.  Now if I can just stay motivated to keep collecting frames......I'd like to fill the whole wall.  This teeny tiny hall is SO dark, using the hall light made everything glow a little.

I've been itching to get some more journal pages done too.  Thanks for all the sweet notes and comments on my last spread about my mom.  You guys are so sweet!  I know some of you are going through the same things with your parents and it makes it easier if you have someone to share it with.

SInce I was on a roll with pictures of my mom....I did a few more of her.  These aren't completely done yet I don't think.

I love the quote on the left page..."Hope sees the invisible...feels the intangible and achieves the impossible" Not even thinking about it until JUST now....how perfect on the page next to my mom!  She had more obstacles in her life than anyone I know but she remained upbeat and positive and her favorite saying was "it's NOT fatal"!  I have to be reminded of this occasionally.

This is what I imagined the dress to look like that my mom was wearing in the picture.  A few days later I was digging through an old photo box and found a tiny picture of her in the dress!  So I had to incorporate it in my journal of course!

Some of you asked if I used a spiral bound journal.  This one is spiral bound.  It's really a sketchbook.  I don't like using this and prefer to use the three ring binder version (which I will call my pretty book (ha-ha). I thought I'd have this spiral bound version finished in a month and move on.  NO WAY.   Using the three ring binder allows you more elbow room working on one page at a time.  I use card stock as the base page in that journal...and paint, glue, and paste on that. 

Typepad has done some "updating" and I wasn't able to respond to a lot of my comments.  Or when I did try it bounced back.  I think that is fixed now, but if I didn't respond last time it wasn't because I wasn't trying!  I think if you are nice enough to visit and leave a comment I certainly want to reply and try to visit your blog too.  I think it's rude when bloggers don't respond or at least attempt to respond to their readers.  It's like walking down the hall at work and saying hello to someone and have them look down and not answer you back!  RUDE! Anyway....when that happens to me I say, "Oh fine thanks, and you?"

And speaking of work.....we are going ALL electronic on Tuesday.  It will be a huge time saver (it's a doctors office) but lots of work at the beginning.  In fact....I brought work home this weekend and have not even started working on it!  Know why? here's the reason(s)

1) Because it's my birthday!

2) Because the weather has been beautiful and I can't stop sneaking outside!

3) Because I LOVE to wait until the last minute to do things....

Have a terrific week !

Creating Pretties

I've been busy today!

 

I fell in LOVE with Rachel Ashwells Union Jack Flag a year or so ago.  Hers was HUGE and it was a wall hanging.  Way outta my price range too.  After I made the shabby scrappy garlands I've been collecting frames to use to also make these Union Jack Wall Hangings.

I have SO MUCH vintage fabric that I need to stop hoarding and start making.

  

  When I was at the beach I saw an adorable way to display plates

 

  It feels SO good to finally use some of my stuff!  I like to pull it out...look at it....dream of what I'll do with it...then it gets put away again.  I'm trying to PUSH myself to actually create things and get them listed.

I'll be listing some more of my scrappy garlands later in the week.  THERE.....I said it....now I have to actually DO it!

Hop over to my shop  if you want to see it all!

Have a great week! 

Beach Thrills

While we were at the beach I got bitten by the thrift bug and wanted to find some local thrift stores.  We had to drive in to Delaware but found a pretty good one.  We passed several cute little shops and we stopped along the way.  Lots of them were not open mid week.  The thrift stores closed at 3pm and were not open on Saturday!  So it was hit or miss. 

We happened to drive by this tent sale and I asked my husband to  stop.

 

 

These cute little ball jars were full of shells and sea glass.  They were $30.00!

 

This great doll house was nailed shut and not even usable.  The inside was just spray painted white.  It reminded me very much of the one Sue gave me that someone found and left on her porch. 

I still have not started on the makeover, but that all white beach house at the tent sale was certainly some inspiration.  Oh, did I mention that it was $200.00? (Sue, do you want your house back?!)

 

I loved the color on this mirror!

 

this little yard conservatory was made from cabinet doors and old windows.  It was $150.00.

I thought this little child's chair was cute with the "cottage" sign screwed into it.

We went to another shop

which was so cute.  It was full of cottage style and shabby decor.  The prices at both the tent sale and this little shop were super high I thought.  I walked away with nothing.  I complained to my husband that the prices were just too steep.  He said "You want a junk store!" so guess what?  we found one!

 

my husband doesn't like to do these kind of things...so he waited patiently in the car.  This is where I found these frames

  

Then we found a HUGE church rummage sale....and again my husband waited in the car.  They had it broken down by rooms...kitchen.....linens...etc....it was very organized inside this wonderful church.

That's where I found this beauty that I showed you before

 

and I just loved those glass ball jars with shells so I found my own!  For PENNIES compared to what they were charging at the tent sale.

when the flowers are gone, I have plans to put shells and sea glass in these just like the display I saw.  We found a HUGE store called seashell city......it had every shell imaginable.

this place was so amazing.  I've been there before but never really appreciated all the beauty.  It probably deserves it's own blog post at some point because I took so many pictures in here.  I also laughed my head off because my husband was putting HUGE sea sponges on his head as if it was a hat.....and smelling the shells to see if they stink (they DO).

One vendor at the tent sale had made these mirrors....so pretty...but so time consuming and expensive!

 ok, back to my thrifty finds

The one thing I've been looking for FOREVER is a small chandelier for the hallway....it was the first item I spotted at the church rummage sale outside in a box.

I will shab this up and paint it.  It's tiny enough that we won't bang our heads every time we walk down the hall.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my thrifty deals from the beach!  The next time we go I'll do my homework ahead of time and dedicate more time to searching for junk.

Have a great weekend!

I was smart and took today off to unwind from my vacation....or in all reality to prepare my brain for going back to work.  I'm geared up and as ready as I'm going to be........

I worked all day in my art room...it's become the dumping ground for every yard sale/thrift store purchase.  I was making great progress and then I'd find something interesting.  I'd stop and play around with this and that, then get back to organizing.  Then I had to stop and take pictures of my thrifty finds........then I'd get back to cleaning........then I felt it necessary to cover a cigar box with pretty fabric......then I got back to cleaning.  I need to see a dr. soon for ADD i'm sure.

Here's some journal pages I did on vacation

  

Here are a few I did in my "Journal of Interest" book, which I will now refer to as my "pretty book"!  I'm using all my best papers and trims for this book.

 

I found this picture when we went to Lucketts in June.  I thought this little girl looked like she was up to something, in fact...she reminded me so much of my oldest daughter when she was a baby.  She was a little schemer and once when she wore me down from begging and whining for something..she walked away and told my husbands mother "Works like a charm every time!" so I thought this was the perfect caption for this photo!  The date at the top is my daughter's birth date.  I forgot to share this with her so I'll have to show her!  It's been a big family joke ever since then.....wear mom down and it works like a charm every time!

So after I was cleaning and throwing away today...I came across this picture of my mother in law as a baby.

Do you SEE the resemblance????  The little girl in the top photo looks JUST like my mother in law

so I had to dig out my favorite picture of my mom and do a two page spread dedicated to the both of them!

  The background journal paper is from Lori.  In fact, the little watch that belonged to my mother is glued on to a little decoration Lori used on one of the bags she sent me in our swap.  I like to recycle!

The lace is tatting that my grandmother did years ago and never used it for a project.

 

I don't like having to use the flash but I was in the mood to take the pictures so I couldn't wait for daylight.

 

while I was cleaning I came across this box of flash cards I got about TWO years ago....I know....the things we find when we clean!

I've been having fun with these all afternoon.

 see what I mean?  I copied the pictures of the mamas and now they're in my sight every time I sit down to play.

That little "k" on the bird picture came from Karen's shop at Lucketts (Karen is also the graphics fairy

Later this week I hope to show you all the great things I found on vacation!

Here's a sneak peek:

Have a great week!

More gifts for "I thought of you today" swap!

Lori received her package for the "I thought of you swap" so I wanted to share with you what I sent to her.

A sweet little vintage christening gown and slip!  I washed it and hung it out in the Virginia sunshine...then I pressed it with rose scented linen water......that stuff smells amazing!

I coulnd't find a child's coat hanger so I cut down a regular size one...twisted and wrestled with it...then I wrapped the whole thing with a LONG piece of fabric scrap from my garland stash.

That sweet pink box was found at a thrift store!  I actually found two....this one had a price sticker damage on the top right so  I foofed it up with some OLD fabric scraps (from my garlands) and some vintage pink velvet ribbons and some little ribbon roses.  The BIG pink rose at the top is silk....not old millinery......I just don't have the luck that others do in finding these!

Lori collects porcelain trinket boxes so I found two....and those sweet rings in the middle are from forever 21......strangely enough......Jessica from Such Pretty things had posted some pictures of great jewelry from forever 21 and I went to comment on how pretty it was and LORI had just commented there on the rings!  I was heading to the mall for dinner that night so I made it a special point to accompany my daughter to forever 21 (her regular hang out) to search the jewelry.  That store is amazing....you have to go in there...and don't kid yourself that it's teenager clothes.....they have so many cute tops in there....many that look timeless and vintage.

 

The little gown fits perfectly in that box....and Lori can use the box for storage later....can never have enough of that!

I just love quotes...I hang them on the fridge all the time hoping certain members of this family will take the time to stop, read and reflect.  Mostly the only comments that are made are "THAT is so lame!" but I thought Lori might like to read the ones I've gathered that I think have to do with being creative.  I gathered them together and made this little book...with her initials embroidered on the front

I also found an amazing deal on three Tracy Porter books, all different.  I could pour over these for hours....so many ideas and inspiration here.  Even though it's a few years old now....the photos are timeless......

And lastly,
When I opened Loris beautiful packages I gasped at the site of the Rosary she included.  Just that day I'd been out finding treasure for her and came upon several vintage rosaries.  They were so beautiful....I untangled  them......and spread them all out....and just kept looking over them for more than 30 minutes.  I thought that was such a personal thing to give someone.  I've never even owned one, I'm not catholic.  I don't go to church.  I do consider myself religious in my own way.  I finally decided that I would go ahead and purchase one for Lori and one for myself.  I was secretly hoping It wasn't sac religious to wear a rosary.  They were so beautiful that I couldn't see not wearing it.  I came home and opened my box from Lori...and there was a rosary.  I could not believe it.  My family stood there with their jaws hanging down as I quickly pulled out the rosary I'd just bought for Lori.  They are almost identical.

I jumped on google to find out if it was ok to actually wear a rosary.  From what I could see there's no problem  with it.  Most sites said "don't wear it to show off the jewelry...wear it to show your faith"...either way....that's why I want to wear it! 

So Lori, whether it was "divine intervention" telling me to buy that rosary for you.....or serendipity.....I just want to thank you again for all the goodness you sent my way!  Before long Lori and I will show up at the same events dressed alike......kindred spirits we are!

A Journal of Interest....

Thanks so much to everyone for the wonderful comments on the dining room re do!  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  One of these fine days I'll look up what the wall color is...I've had lots of you ask....I actually purchased that paint from the OOPS bin at Home Depot (I KNOW!) for $5.00.

Switching gears a little here....while I'm not elbow deep in paint anymore, I'm still trying to be creative everyday.....I signed up for "A Journal Of Interest E-zine".  A few times a week we get prompts and instructions on how to complete a new page in our art journals.

Here's a few of my pages so far.

I got the Victorian Game Card images from Mary at green paper they are beautiful and I'm finding so many ways to use them!  Thanks Mary!

On this page we were to make a statement.....or a quote....this says
"To live a creative life, we must loose the fear of being wrong"

This page was about giving yourself permission to use certain materials.... to take the time every day to create........

The little bits and pieces are fun to add!  I got this from Karen, The Graphics Fairy!

When I added my name to the inside cover, I wanted to be sure and keep Agnes' name displayed.....she must have been a previous owner of this old music book....from 1904.  Agnes and I can share the book!

Have a creative weekend!

Making Progress in my craft room

Making tiny bits of progress.....

 

The bed was lime green...then it went into storage...then I sprayed it pink...I just did not like it...back to home depot...now it's white

 

I'm in the process of making lots of pillows so it will be a day bed.

 

I used the curtain rod I had as a ribbon hanger....so then I was stuck with nothing to hang the curtains from.  I thumb tacked these to the wall...and used the pink tulle to cover up the tacks.

 

See what I mean?  Clever way to store ribbons...not so clever if you need the rod later......

 

The light is really bad in this room.  It doesn't help that these pictures were taken when the sun was setting.

Everything in this room was thrifted at some point...or borrowed.  Rachel Ashwell Curtains were from my daughters old "shabby chic" room....the pink spread is a Bates...found that for SIX DOLLARS!  The white pop corn spread was purchased at a thrift store also, a few years ago.

 

See those two sweet little girl pictures?  Found those at Lucketts last weekend. Loved this little girl!  She looks a lot like me when I was young, and just like my girls when they were about 7.

 

 

This case that hold my little collection of flowers used to be in a restaurant, it held Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

The pink ticking on the table skirt is from my stash.  Then last weekend I found this stretchy elastic ruffle that goes all the way around...I think it was for a bed skirt?  I love the added foof it gives.  It was a whopping $2.50

I just love this room!  Every evening I'm in here listening to music on my Iphone....working on something.  Here's a few pages from my journal that I've been working on lately

 

A page to remember the fantastic time I had at Lucketts, meeting new blog friends....

 

 

  

This one stays right by my side...or on my knee here...and we bounce ideas off each other......

  

We chatted about the cute little gift that Heather and Stephanie gave me last week....and she wanted to see just HOW that flower was made....

 

yes, I think she has it all figured out!

Even Sarah was thrifted!  She was once previously owned and she is second-hand!

Have a great creative weekend!

The past few days have been such a whirlwind!  I've had the best few days meeting old and new friends.  Thursday evening I met Karla and Beth for a fancy dinner.  Karla's sweet husband took us to the most fabulous restaurant ever.  It was on the 17th floor of the building surrounded by city lights.  It was the most amazing thing.  Karla whipped out her camera and her husband cringed.  He explained to us that the people there are USED to eating in places like this several times a month.  It's a private venue and these people pay for the privilege to be members.  When our food arrived we each had our own server....and they did a choreographed dance practically around our table.  I glanced at Beth as if to ask her what was going on......but wow was it impressive!  I can't thank them enough for including me in on Beth's mini vacation away from home and to celebrate Beth's Birthday!

 

Friday morning we met up with TEN friends from as far away as Kansas, (Karla and Beth) Ohio,( Lori )Pennsylvania (Heather and Stephanie) and several local girls.....Pamela, Jessica,Hope,Amy and Andrea.  What a treat to meet these amazing women!  Reading someones blog forever is one thing....finally meeting them is another!  You absolutely feel like you already KNOW them. Weirdest, nicest experience ever!  I wanted to take some little gifts to each one so I made the little bouquet of flowers.  The "vase" is the top to a spice jar....plastic stopper part removed.  The flowers are tiny little coffee filters that I punched out and put a pastel colored sticky dot in the center for color.

I wrapped them in coffee filters too.  I used the cone shaped filter and colored the edges with a marker...after pinking them.

 

I also took along a little gift for Beth for her birthday.  She has an antique booth and sells baby clothes from time to time.  I embellished several hangers that I had so she could display her little dresses.

 

Then it was on to Lucketts.  This is the best place ever!  If you are within decent driving distance it's worth the trip!  We all met there and shopped for a while....then it was on to the pink polka dotted barn "On a Whim" right down the road.  Both places did not disappoint!  I left my camera in the car like a lazy girl and will have to show pictures from their websites.

Here we all are in a shop called "On a Whim"  it had two buildings and one was entirely filled with vintage prom dresses.  It was more like a museum!

 

(Karla's wonderful new camera took this amazing shot!)

Back row:  Jessica (Such Pretty Things), Pamela (Pamela Janes Studio), Lori (My faerie Window), Amy (Inspire Co), Heather (Pretty Petals), Andrea (Velvet Strawberries)

Front row:  Hope (paper relics and Besottment), Karla (Karla"s Cottage) Beth (Gathering Dust), Stephanie (Just a little bit pink), and Me.

 

 

 

 

This was taken in the Cottage...an amazing old house in Leesburg adorned with the most beautiful rooms!

I'm still absorbing all the fun we all had.  It was so nice to walk around and chat with everyone!  It wasn't even so much about the shopping, although it was great.  It was about getting to know each other and sharing ideas.

I'll share more including great gifts that were exchanged "just because"! 

If I owe you an email or a reply I'll get to you!  It's been a crazy week!