Sharing ... Catching Up ... And Another Swap!

Hi there!  I know I've been gone for a while, but I have a good excuse!  Hubby and I spent last week camping in north central Tennessee, just northwest of Nashville.  While there we explored a lot of that part of Tennessee, a LOT of Kentucky, and had a cookout at our campsite for a friend of his who now lives and works in Nashville, and visited a friend of mine who lives north of Nashville.  It was a great week ... for the most part!

 

Our camper and Clyde at our campsite at Bledsoe Creek State Park, TN

But now I am back, and today I got a box of goodies in the mail that were so sweet!  Once again, I participated in a swap at A Swap For All Seasons, and I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to take part in this one, but I am so glad I did, because I had great partners, and had so much fun getting together the goodies for Francie, and today I got my goodies from Debby, and I have to say, she did a great job!

This swap is kind of different in that from the list of participants, the person above you in the list sends to you, and you send to the person beneath you on the list.  So Francie was my 'send to' partner and Debby was my 'receive from' partner.  This month's theme was 'weddings', and we were to share one handmade card, one tag, and some goodies from our stash that were in the white to ivory color palette.  Here is a pic of everything in the box ...

Oops ... I left one thing out, I'll show it to you down a ways!

Debby had everything wrapped up so pretty, especially the cute bride and groom!  She hand painted them for me, and they are adorable! 

 

Aren't they adorable?  Here is the card she made ... it is so cute, and I love the colors!

And this cute bride tag is so cute! 

This small (about 2" across) heart shaped bar of soap is so sweet, and smells even sweeter!  I love it, and will definitely use it soon!  And yes, this is what I left out of the group picture ... so sorry about that!

And as much as I love this adorable hand crocheted heart, I love the tag it is on almost as much!  Don't you love the mason jar?

I love Jillibean Soup, and will definitely be using these 'Smile' stickers on some future projects!

 

And here are the buttons and trims she sent ... the trims are beautiful, but those buttons all appear to be vintage, and buttons are one of my addictions!  Don't think Debby knew that, but it is true!  I have LOTS of buttons, and will always be collecting them!

 

 

Debby, thank you so much!  You did a wonderful job, and I love every little thing!  You have been a wonderful partner, and I hope I have the chance to be YOUR sending partner! 

And thanks to you folks who come and visit!  Blessings,

Sharing ... Vintage Thingie Thursday ... Vintage Black Draught Bottle

Hi there, and welcome!  Today I want to share one of my favorite vintage treasures with you, and I will be linking up with Coloradolady's Vintage Thingie Thursday!

I collect a lot of different kinds of vintage things, and have a love for even more, but this is probably the most odd thing in my collection.  Most of my collected items are cream and sugar sets, bowls, pitchers, platters ... and then there are the hoarded things such as vintage fabrics, ribbons, laces, buttons, etc.  But never before a laxative bottle ... that's right, a laxative bottle!

Vintage Syrup of Black Draught Laxative Bottle

Don't you love that color?  It is such a pure, clear green that just called my name when I found it one day when I was out treasure hunting with a friend.  Not too far from here, maybe 5 miles or so, there is an old home place with two old chicken houses near it.  Inside one of the chicken houses is a treasure trove of ALL KINDS of things, from old tools and farm implements, to vintage dish and glassware of all kinds, and right on up to some pretty nice furniture.  The old gentleman who owns the place loves visitors and talks to anyone who will listen.  I love stopping by there and looking around for treasures and having a chat with him!

So one day I spied a bunch of these bottles, and took one for my very own.  I think I paid ten cents for it, but can't remember for sure.  The bottle is about 6 inches tall, but only about 3/4 inch thick, and the opening is about 1/2 inch across.  The edge of the bottle says 'Syrup of Black Draught', which I had always thought was cough syrup, but after investigating a bit I found out it was actually a laxative! 

Back last fall I stopped back by to visit with Mr. B. and get some more of the bottles ... I thought a grouping would be pretty ... but he had sold the rest of them!

My moral to this story is ... don't be afraid to get something unusual to add to  your collection!  Unique and unusual are often also lovely!  Oh, and by the way, the pink flowers are actually camellias from my garden.  Thanks for visiting today!  Blessings,

Sharing ... Hello Card ... Mabel Lucie Atwell

Hello and Happy April!  This has always been one of my favorite months ... mainly because it is spring, and because it is my birthday month!  Although, since this is a 'biggie' birthday, we won't talk about that now!  Last night I couldn't sleep, so I got up and spent some time in my craft room, and made a card.  I have to say, this is one of my favorite cards in a long time!  Here ... what do YOU think ...

Isn't it adorable???  I used my new favorite Mabel Lucie Atwell image as the focal point.  You can search by her name on Pinterest and find lots of her images to use in your projects!  She was an artist and illustrator in England in the early 1900's.  I inked the edges of the image with brown ink, used my Spica pens to add a little glitter on the window sill, her hair, bracelets, the puppy dog', the flowers and the curtains.  I sure wish it showed up here, but the glitter is so very fine it doesn't really show up in the pictures.

I love the yellow and turquoise color combination ... never thought of it before, but it looks great together!  The star is made by adhering an Epiphany star resin bubble to the paper and cutting around it with a craft knife.  I have several of the Epiphany punches, but tend to just buy the bubbles in shapes with straight edges because you can cut them out easily.

To make the fluffy bow, I used the Boye flower loom ... I think it's called a 'knifty knitter' and did one loop on each of the posts.  Here is a picture of the loom .....

And that is my card!  I think it came out beautifully!  If you are interested in purchasing this card (blank inside), please email me at lifeatcamelliacottage@gmail.com and I will send you an invoice via PayPal.  The cost is $6.00 for card and shipping.

Thanks for visiting, and blessings,

Ingredients:

• Base card stock - Georgia Pacific 110# white (Walmart)
• Patterned Paper - Simple Stories 'Snap' Color Vibe 6 x 6 inch paper pad
• Trim - Ball Fringe (unknown)  Seam Binding - Schiff 'Hug Snug' eBay
• Sticker - SRM Stickers
• Star Bubble - Epiphany Crafts
• Brown Ink - Stampabilities
• Spica Pens