"Begin Each Day Like It Was On Purpose" - Hitch

I love this quote from the movie "Hitch."  It reminds me what each day is all about, from the moment our feet hit the floor till our head hits the pillow at night.  I feel like I've been living life that way since I started this little blog 2 months ago.  A friend on another blog just posted a "giveaway" as she gets ready to post her 1,600th blog!!  To me, that's simply amazing, and I hope someday to be able to post a "giveaway" for my 1,600th blog posting.  But in the meantime, I'm so grateful to be able to connect with you on Mondays and share a snippet of my life from the past week.  

the beautiful roses of our garden

the Birthday card I made for Melissa - pretty appropriate for 
a MAC store manager, eh?

As March came to a close, I finished my first month as a featured artist at our fabulous scrapbook store, Making Memories Unforgettable. 

 It has been a huge success, more than I would have dreamed it could be.  I'm so very grateful to Katie Hughes, owner, and all the staff and designers who promoted and "talked up" my art.  I KNOW the success I enjoy is only a good as the women behind the product!  Thank you Alex, Kiera, Kristen, Edna, Lauren, Karina, Emily, and Taunya for believing in me!  You are all blessings in my life.  If you haven't already, visit the store's website at: makingmemoriesunforgettable.com.  Check out the amazing classes that are planned.  Kickoff night is this Thursday and retreat is already set for July 8,9,10 at Starr Pass Resort with the theme "Candy Shoppe!"  Here are some of my latest creations - perfect for Mother's Day!  They're available at the store or online at http://www.khess136.etsy.com

You know, I have to keep setting the bar higher for myself with my art, and that usually involves - SHOPPING!!  So, the Hess girls and mom spent Monday going out to lunch and then to one of our favorite Antique stores, 22nd Street Antique Mall.  Have a look...

Chef Mandy adds a rolling pin to her repetoire

On-the-go Melissa has the perfect accompaniment for all that MAC makeup!

A very small part of 22nd Street Antique Mall

Later in the week I had to go it alone and took my self over to American Antique Mall and then on to Goodwill.  I got pretty darn lucky at both places!

darling vintage dress patterns, frogs, and Holy Cards

I love it when something's dated!!  Here it's 1922

these are future pincushions (you just KNOW I'll show them to you when they're finished!)

not a great picture of lovely vintage green buttons

sorry about the pic - these are red, white and blue vintage buttons

and gold

these have a future as white shabby chic frames for jewelry - project follows

story on these guys coming up!

charming old jewelry box to hold my vintage costume jewelry that I use in my craft

couldn't resist the darling ladybugs on this 70's match canister

So, here's the story on the green sherbet glasses.  I've been collecting these for the past 15 years - A: because they're affordable as Depression glass goes and B: because there seems to be a lot around and C: because I love their sassy shape.  

Well, don't I spy 3 of them on the shelf in Goodwill!!  But wait - here's the best part (and one of the reasons I love junking as much as antiquing) they were each $0.99 - can you believe it??!!  Now the girls have a dozen and I have a dozen and we can put the collection to bed and move on to something else!!  Hmmmm - maybe start up my old collection of butter pats!  

Hey - remember these old guys??? They're some of the vintage fabric stamps from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show this past February.

I featured them on one of my very first blogs and said I would be trying them out and showing some time in the near future - well, that time has arrived!  I played with the two that I bought using acrylic paint and cardstock.

These are the two I will use on cards...it wasn't as easy as it looks.  In fact, it was kind of strange stamping with a hard wooden block, so I put a mousepad underneath the paper to get a better impression.  I'll probably use these for my first two cards:

I'd like to share a project with you this week that I'm borrowing from Kendra at onmysideoftheroom.blogspot.com  Please visit her blog - she's got such fun stuff. You can get there by clicking her button on the right side column of my blog.  

Remember those blah brown frames I bought at Goodwill - here's their "after," except I'll do mine in a shabby white paint.

DIY Jewelry Organizer

First pick out a frame. If your planning on distressing it (sanding the edges giving it a weather worn look) I would go with a natural wood frame, it just looks better. For mine I found a pair of frames that had some beautiful detailing on it but it was particle wood, which doesn't look good distressed.
Paint. For most of my other ones I used spray paint because it's a lot faster and does a much better job at coating evenly. But this time, since I wanted the detailing to be more noticable, I used a brush to lightly go over, but not completely cover, the scroll work.

If you are planning on distressing, distress.

Next you'll need to measure out some chicken wire 1/2" larger than the opening of your frame and cut to size using some wire cutters.

I used pliers to bend the wire to fit the frame, like in the picture below.

Use a staple gun to attach the chicken wire to the back. Make sure you staple the wire to the sides of the frame and not from the back to the front. I made this mistake on one of my other frames and since it was a thin frame, like many are, the staple went right through. It holds much better to the sides.Cut off the excess wire.

For my other organizers I also stapled some fun fabric to the back so it would show through the wire like this one I have in my craft room/office. To do it just cut a piece of fabric 1/2 " larger than the area you need to cover and staple it over your chicken wire.For this one I wanted the color of my wall to be the back, so I took strips of fabric to cover the wire so it wouldn't scratch up my wall.

I took a strip of scrap fabric the length of a side by 1 1/2 inch folded over and stapled it on top of the exposed wire edges.
Do the same thing all around the frame until all the edges are covered. Be sure to check that it doesn't show through the front as you go (unless you want it to show or don't care)
On the bottom edges of the frames I used screw hooks to hold necklaces. I thought about painting them but decided to go with the color they came in.
Now it's time to put up all your favorite jewelry!!!!

                                                                                      

 Thank you Kendra, for this fun and easy project!  Can't wait to make a couple for myself.  I have a feeling it will remind me to wear jewelry I've forgotten I have!  Let me know how you do, friends.

For now, have a simply fabulous week - Like It Was On Purpose!!

xoxo,

Karen