Thrifty Finds and Other Adventures

Sneak a peek.....but first:



A couple weeks ago, I went to the thrift store just down the road from my house, and for $1.00, I came home with this (add the frame and mirror for another 3.75). I got started on the first little project and as you will see, it will be quite perfect for Brag Monday, since I used one of Graphic Fairy's little gems! I know it's Saturday night, but since I have a busy week ahead, I want to be ready, or I'll miss the boat for another week.
I'm thinking I have to now find some flowers, maybe some real tulips to put it the can, it will look perfect for spring.


But first, I think the mustard paint job has to go, ewwww, I like mustard, just not on my milk cans!



Used the trusty Tremclad again, I love that glossy pink way too much...one has to try to make good use of every bit of paint, so as you can see, I was killing two birds (so to speak, I am an animal lover!!) with one stone.



This is it, dry and ready for it's close up.



What do you think? Is it worthy of Brag Monday?? I hope my own tulips eventually come up so I can brag about those too.....



Remember I was telling you about my friend Barb taking me on a little expedition last week? This gorgeous wall hook/hanger thingy for $4. I am going to use it for the keys because my old one just fell of the wall (actually I think I ripped it off the wall because I pulled on the keys to hard and then it hung by one nail, sideways, for a week before I gave up trying to hang anything from it) and honestly the little hooks are just not big enough for more than one set of keys. This one is far prettier and imagine, I did not have to alter it in a way, shape or form! I do have to make sure I use heavy duty drywall anchors this time though, the thing weighs a ton (made out of cement or what??), and my key pulling strength does not need to be tested on this one.





Anyhow, happy Saturday and remember to spring forward your clocks tonight!!

Cheers,
Viviana

What a little Tremcald Does for The Heart!

I just had to share this!! Both were thrift store finds for $2 a piece, but both in exactly the the wrong colours of what I like for my room, gold and burgundy makes me queasy (kidding, I don't mind, just not in my room)!




So I got my trusty can of pink Tremclad, my face mask and my new paint box (an old box cut up to be a backsplash) and got to work.



At first I worried the pink was too light and maybe I should have primed it, but Tremclad came through for me, and after 3 coats, they both look brand new and ready to be hung up in my room.





The poem in the frame is a dedication to my son, who is a blessing and a wonderful little angel!

Lives are for living
I live for your
Dreams are for dreaming
I dream for you
Hearts are for beating
Mine beats for you
Angels are for keeping.
Can I keep you?

Have a wonderful day, full of love and lots of pink!

Cheers,
Viviana

My First Postcard Friday

I've acquired a very small collection of simple postcards, some have been mailed, some have been written on and some were never used, all are lovely in their own way. This is the first of them, it is stamped March 9, 1907 and it is addressed to a Miss Bessie Roue, Marshallton, Del.
This is the first time I join in on postcard Friday, yay! I will try to have a new one for you every Friday.

Cheers and have a great night!

Roses, my favourite flower

For a long time, I used to say sunflowers or violets were my favourite flower, maybe for fear of sounding too cliche, but after so many years of admiration, I decided that a rose is my flower of choice, it always had been. I got my first bouquet of roses from my good friend Renay many years ago, she thought it fitting for my birthday, which happens to be on Valentines day. Since then, it's not been often I've received a rose, but I love them, and actually, feel so sad once they start to wilt, that I am happy to not any at all rather than suffer the pain of watching my beloved rose die and dry up. With all the amazing vintage images and postcards out there for me to find, they fulfill my needs when it comes to the beautiful rose.

I came across this great website, called Vintage Holliday Crafts, She has a very sweet collection of images, and I loved some of the roses, which I will share with you here today.




Please read her terms of use too, for if you are grabbing them to use for your crafts. Remember to click on the image so that it shows you the actual full size, before right clicking to save it.



THE HISTORY OF ROSES"
(I came across this bit of history, it is quite concise in illustrating how the rose came about to be so loved)

Roses have a long and colorful history. They have been symbols of love, beauty, war, and politics. The rose is, according to fossil evidence, 35 million years old. In nature, the genus Rosa has some 150 species spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from Alaska to Mexico and including northern Africa. Garden cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago, probably in China. During the Roman period, roses were grown extensively in the Middle East. They were used as confetti at celebrations, for medicinal purposes, and as a source of perfume. Roman nobility established large public rose gardens in the south of Rome. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the popularity of roses seemed to rise and fall depending on gardening trends of the time.
White Rose of York

During the fifteenth century, the rose was used as a symbol for the factions fighting to control England. The white rose symbolized York, and the red rose symbolized Lancaster, as a result, the conflict became known as the "War of the Roses."

Roses were in such high demand during the seventeenth century that royalty considered roses or rose water as legal tender, and they were often used as barter and for payments. Napoleon's wife Josephine established an extensive collection of roses at Chateau de Malmaison, an estate seven miles west of Paris in the 1800s. This garden became the setting for Pierre Joseph Redoute's work as a botanical illustrator. In 1824, he completed his watercolor collection "Les Rose," which is still considered one of the finest records of botanical illustration.

It wasn't until the late eighteenth century that cultivated roses were introduced into Europe from China. Most modern-day roses can be traced back to this ancestry. These introductions were repeat bloomers, making them unusual and of great interest to hybridizers, setting the stage for breeding work with native roses to select for hardiness and a long bloom season. Many of these early efforts by plant breeders are of great interest to today's gardeners.



Enjoy,
Viviana

Sharing Images from "The Last Door Down The Hall"

The Last Door Down the Hall is one of my favourite places to go when I have time. This blog is not just full of inpiration, she has so many wonderful vintage images, photos and postcards, I just can't get enough. I'm sharing some of the images she has shared with us from a couple years ago, but like with any vintage piece, they are as beautiful today as they were 2 years ago when she first posted them. So if you are looking for a blog filled with inspiration, ideas, creativity, recipes and more....this blog is the place to go.





Aren't they great? I sure hope she keeps on sharing for many years to come!

Cheers,
Viviana

In keeping with the mood of the season, I thought I'd share this lovely little holly sprig. I love it because it has a wild rose on it, I live in Alberta, Canada, and the provincial flower is the wild rose (our license plates read "Wild Rose Country"). I am using it on our Christmas cards, which I will post as soon as I am done.

I'm thinking that maybe I should have started on them sooner, but the idea didn't really blossom until a few days ago, when my son and I were outside and I kept on thinking of all those little sepia pictures done in a studio with fake snow, and here we have tonnes of the real stuff to work with. Anyhow, I'll leave it at that, and I'll post it when I'm finished.

This next picture is so wonderful, I don;t even know how to express how I feel about it. The artists name is Billy DeVorss. Who wouldn't want to pose for him? Oh, if only he could paint me looking so stunningly beautiful!



This last one is for all of you who even though it is Christmas season, are still making and creating for other reasons too.
Thanks for looking and comments are gretaly appreciated.

An Amazing Find At the Queensland Craft Fair!

OK, I'm not a glass connoisseur and I don't normally buy really pricey gifts for family with the exception of my son... but I think I found a treasure with the purchaes I made this weekend at the craft fair. I was there as a vendor for my other business (Sand Magic Creations), but I also wanted to shop a bit, get my handmade Christmas stuff bought up.
I saw this one table, lots of people stopping by it, well lets just say, it was busier than most with how sales are going this year.
Anyhow, long story short, I bought 7 glass bowls for less than $70, and they are gorgeous! I am sure that in a boutique at the mall the small one would probably sell for $30-40 and the larger ones for $60-70, so I think I got a great deal. That's why I love craft fairs!




Ok, the pictures do not do them justice really, because once you get a candle in there they look incredible (I used a tealight for sizing, but could not find a match in the house to light it with!!).




Anyhow, what do you think?? I love how the dark brown melts into the green and also the rainbow effect on the sandblasted one.

I love them all, so now I don't know wether I will part with any of them. So much for getting the Christmas shopping out of the way!