Hello Bloggers--Welcome!

So when I was asked to participate in the blog party and found out it involved showing my "studio", I was sort of in a...panic!  I am a regular reader of "Where Women Create" and salivate over the wonderful spaces that women have in it.  The fact is, I work in my garage or at my kitchen table!!   It's not too exciting, but it's "the real deal" around here!!  Trust me....I DO have big dreams for my future studio, but for now, here it is!!

I do have my spare room to store most of my goodies in, though, so not all is bleak!  I'm a sucker for a cool suitcase and I use every square inch of them for storage!!

I shop at Goodwill and the Salvation Army like other women shop at Macy's and here is one of my better scores:  the white vanity.  Some day, I'm thinking this will be my desk, but for now it holds all sorts of things.  The blackboard was in the window of a restaurant going out of business (with the advertisement written on it!) When I went in to inquire the owner said, "Just take it for $20.00!" I had it out of the door pretty quickly!  It's normally filled with notes to self, but clean now because I'm going out of town!

I've never met a cigar box that I didn't like...the proof is here.  This is also proof of what a fiend I am about organization..I have tags that hang from every single one.

Well, thanks for dropping by to see my spaces!  I can't exactly call anything a studio right now, but stay tuned!!

Quick Gypsy Bag

I had a wonderfully weathered jean skirt laying around that I had purchased a while back....just waiting for a little beautification--Ragged Gypsy style!  I turned the skirt a different way than I usually do...with the fly on the side...and stitched the bottom, leaving the glorious frays exposed.  I whipped up a bark cloth strap from a vintage curtain and then went to town on embellishment (my signature style!).  I made a flower pin out of upcycled jeans, put an old clip-on earring in the middle, found a pretty green glass button for the skirt's button and of course...no bag would be complete without the old skeleton key and bead at the belt loop!  I'm going out of town this week back to my hometown of St. Louis and wanted a fun bag for all of my jaunts!

Patience Pays Off!

For what seems like an eternity, I have been searching for a pretty blue and white tin to create some pieces with....but it has eluded me!  I absolutely adore blue and white together in anything and was thrilled to finally find a pretty tin on Etsy to buy!  What resulted is, what I think, the perfect summer necklace!

Crazy Daisy

Today was my son's last day of jazz camp in Louisville, Kentucky.  Every year, I make a pilgrimage to the best antique mall there in Louisville...The Crazy Daisy Antique Mall!  This mall is right up there in the top five of my all-time favorite malls...there's SO MUCH there to look at--very unique things, as you will shortly see!!

Here is a super cool piece from some type of railing or porch post...not sure, but it was neat!!

This booth had tons of bakelite

I'm always intrigued by these neat painted metal hooks...if I only had a place for them!!

As a collector of pottery, I have to stop at these vignettes to get my heart to stop pounding!!  That yellow vase...I l almost bought that AND the frog.  My wallet would have been the one having slow the palpitations, but it would have been WORTH IT!!

LOVED the little pink ladder...perfect display piece for the yummy sherbet-colored flower pots!!

Sigh...I'm such a sucker for these old pictures featuring kids....betcha they were sisters--look how sweet!!

This booth had nothing but men's clothing and it was impeccably displayed...no hanger out of place (unlike my hubbie's side of our closet!  I love the Hawaiian shirts!

"Come into my booth, why don't you??"  This mannequin dressed as Santa was a little creepy and the way they turned that hand....just another thing that makes you go "Hmmm"!!!  BUT, it's a perfect example of the eclection in this mall! LOL!

A shot of only one aisle in the basement....all the good stuff is always in the basement!!  All the other goodies above were upstairs.  It seems I always find all of MY goodies down here, though!!

As hard as I try, I just CANNOT pass up a suitcase!!!  The top one became mine....and it came just in time because my hands were full of my goodies by then!!

I wish I collected these...I would have snapped this happy couple up at a small price of $5!!

WHERE on earth would you EVER find a Jimmy Walker doll with "DYNOMITE" written on his clothing??? Of course, THE CRAZY DAISY!!!

I swear, if I had room for her I would have brought her home!!  Isn't she just plain FUNKY??!!  My husband said, "She HAD to be a panty hose mannequin from the 70's!!"  Likely right!!

Well, it was another great day at the Crazy Daisy in Louisville, Kentucky, as usual!!  Those books will become journals, the tins will magically become jewelry and the small bag of mother of pearl buttons will turn into bracelets (at some point!)

Hidden Treasure

As you all know, I'm all about finding unearthed treasures....that thrill of finding something you've searched for OR finding something extra within another treasure.  That's what happened to me this morning!!   I'm obsessed with those old jewelry boxes...the ones with the little lock.... and search for them any and everywhere I go.  The higher they stack, the better.  I went to a flea market a few weekends ago and found a little one...perfect to go on top of my growing stack.  For a mere $3, I couldn't pass it up.   It was in rough condition, though, and even with cleaning (gotta love the Chlorox wipes!) it's still pretty weathered looking.  Today I was thinking of what to put in there....and upon opening it, I found a treasure I didn't know was there...a cute little frame with an unknown man's picture inside.  It even has a bail at the top to attach to a chain--the heart did beat a bit faster!!

Book Journals

Whew...I've punched about 30 of these puppies today!!

Fun title for a journal for someone with an adventurous life, I suppose!!

What an oldie but goodie!!  Everyone wants journals with the old Dr. Suess books, I've found!

Awww....gotta love those old fashioned young girl romance books!!

Perfect title for a diary!!

You may wonder why the bag of Raisinets is here....that was my comfort food while punching!!

Happy 4th everyone!  While others are having fun at the pool or a cookout, I've been catching up on preparing my books to make my journals.  I'm on a constant treasure hunt for books with cool titles or themes that I can use.  It's a lot of fun to see what I can unearth.  The local boutique that carries my jewelry screams for more of these....they sell like hotcakes!!

The Ragged Gypsy

Maybe some of you are too young, but for those of us who were tweens or teenagers back in the 70's, we remember making quickie bags out of old jeans.  I have a vivid memory of one of my friends having one that just made me green with envy...though it was nothing more than a simple bag.  I was on a mission to make my own and it came out okay if I do say so myself!  When I went about crafting bags recently, I played on those memories...but I wanted something a little more upgraded.  Here is just a sampling of my line of "Ragged Gypsy Bags" made in the image of those 70's bags...with a twist.  I like to embellish my bags with flaps decorated with flowers (some removeable pins), a little bling, skeleton keys with beads attached on the loops or anything else I can find laying around the caravan!  The gpysy uses what she has and makes the most of it.  After all, she knows life is just a vagabond adventure and the open road is hers!!