Catching up!

I am so behind on my blog posts! Yikes!
I wanted to share my Birthday Burger Day treasures from my burger buddies.

First, Colleen and Judy decorated this darling, chippy, rusty wire chicken for me with a paper crown, butterfly garland (to hide the gift) and a butterfly pennant flag. I thought the 'packaging' was the gift...but no, there was more!

This beautiful butterfly cuff bracelet and some vintage metal buttons that belonged to Judy's mom. Divine!

Beth gave me this beautifully wrapped box with gourmet sea salts and a lovely, vintage floral pin from Tinsel Trading Company.

Birthdays rock!

The Curious Nest

It started with this darling necklace. Andrea Savar, proprietress of The Curious Nest in Seattle, posted this limited edition necklace as a fundraiser for Japan on her blog. Loved the cherry blossom bling and the worthy cause...so Friday, Ophelia and I took a drive to her shop. Oh my goodness. I have always loved Andrea and her vintage French pretties and she has outdone herself with this cozy 'nest' of a shop. It is filled with vintage French goodness along with Andrea's own jewerly line, Debbie Savar's (her mom) original paintings and various other local artist's work. It is a happy place with something for everyone.

One of Debbie's paintings...the detail and colors are beautiful.

Beads, baubles, boxes! Paper, pillows, paintings!

Andrea also carries The Salvage Studio book...so I autographed all she had...fun! And then I saw goodies by Laurie Cinotto of LaLaLaurie and Hazel's Vintage Pretties sachets from Katie Galbraith. It was like attending a party and some unexpected friends showed up.

"Urban Nests" for Urban Birds
Colorful nests filled with found objects.

Metal Star

And I loved these colorful creations from Kim Groff-Harrington.

Some vintage jewelry pieces from Miriam Haskell and some glass goodies.

And of course I had to pick up some treasures. Some will be used for my May Day Charm. I haven't decided what yet!

Beautiful birdcages filled to the brim!

It is hard to take a photo of a window display...but look at all the goodness inside!

Thank you Andrea, for your warm greeting, your beautiful Cherry Blossom Necklace fundraiser and creating a cozy 'nest' for us to visit!

Charming Friends!

I participate in a delightful charm swap two times a year. I missed attending the spring swap in person this year but Caroline proxied for me and so I wouldn't miss any charm goodness!

I created charms from vintage bingo balls. I made a jig to hold the balls so I could drill through them with my drill press. Gotta save those fingers! Then I patinaed some copper wire with a small blow torch and wired up the charms. Vintage sequins, a few beads and some homemade pounded wire eye pins completed the bauble.

And good presentation is part of the 'charm' so they were displayed on an old copper floral arrangement dish. A flower frog held my charm description.

Here are the treasures I received in return:

I am a lucky girl! Thanks for all the beautiful charms!

It was a grand affair!

Wow!

The Ruffles & Rust Spring Vintage Market was spectacular on so many levels:

Vendors - top notch

Booths - inspiring

Come Junk With Us crew - dreamy

Attendees - worth every bit of hard work

I love this show as a vendor, shopper and fellow junker. So much heart and soul goes into this event.

Here are a few shots of my booth that could not have happened without the hard work and support of my husband Doug and sister Ophelia along with my good buddies Caroline and Cindy! And I was touched by my friends that attended and shopped until they dropped! My booth was nearly empty by the end of Saturday...I am truly blessed beyond words.

Love garden-y yellow-y stuff!

Silver-plated knife handles hold vintage millinery flowers as a wearable vase.

Sterling salt and pepper shakers made into necklace pendants. Vintage 1940s faux pearls!

These lovelies were my treat to myself from Auntie Joy. I loved my jour'ney!

Ruffles and Rust or Bust!

my booth...garden inspired...of course!

Where the heck have I been lately? Just getting ready for one of the most awesome shows in all the land! Head to the Ruffles and Rust Spring Vintage Market this weekend to soak in and take home some of the loveliest treasures...from rusty farm implements to fine vintage fabrics and everything inbetween. 85 premier vendors have been working their fingers to the bone and combing the land to provide a beautiful selection of wares for you!

Be sure to print out a coupon for $3 off Saturday!

See you soon!

A dream come true...

One of my favorite blogs is The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee. Oodles of kitten cuteness on a daily basis. I happened along her blog a couple years ago from Linda Morrison's blog, Luluz. They had me at 'Itty".

'Professional Crafter' Laurie Cinotto is a kitten foster mom for The Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce County and I really admire her work with animals along with her darling paper flower work.

(book coming soon!)

Well, our paths have crossed in the junking and blogging world and today

I had the honor of joining her, Linda and all the cats for lunch. And what to you take a

'Professional Crafter' and kitties for a hostess gift?

Hostess gifts for kitties and Laurie

The kitties received a vintage, pink floral container of organic wheat grass (a huge hit!) and I made little bouquet of button flowers for Laurie.

Charlene Butterbean (IBKC grand-dame) greeted me at the door; made sure I was

worthy to meet the kitties; received her well-deserved gift and accoulades and retired to her upstairs suite for the rest of the visit. I was in kitten heaven watching

the Fabulous Furman Five play, eat, sleep and run around.

Truly entertaining.

Oliver, Curtis, Teddy, Edith and Roland Furman

My attempt at kitten photography was dismal at best.

Please check out Laurie's blog for truly beautiful kitten photos.

Teddy and Edith

Oliver attacking my necklace!

I don't know how Laurie does it, but my fuzzy attempts at photos are

kinda appropriate considering how fuzzy these babies are!

Spending the day with these two very talented and delightful women along with

some bonafide Itty Bitty Kitties was truly a dream come true.

Thank you!

Bling!

Let's get some bling on this blog! Doug and I met our friend Colleen (she created the fabulous painted furniture at the Studio) for breakfast and guess what she just 'happened' to have in her car? This shoe! I know! While at the July 2nd Saturdayz Sale she found a vintage pair of lucite shoes. She removed the heel and buckles and added them to this vintage wooden shoe form she had. A few wraps of rayon seam binding later and look at this darling object d'art. We thought it looked very Marie Antoinette-ish.