Have you met Sammy?

A Very Short Story

His name is Sammy! He wears a pink felt hat.....

He lives in a cupcake wrapper......
on top of a collaged wooden block.....He's on Ebay......right now.....click here!
The End

Winter Blahs!

This cold, snowy weather is really starting to wear on me! Check out those ginormous icicles on the back side of the house! Wouldn't want to walk under those babies for fear of icy impalement. I'm so sick of having a cold nose and cold feet! I've been looking at the seed catalogues and dreaming of gardening but it's not working to get my mind off of the coldness. Here is an ACEO I made, inspired by the seed catalogues entitled: "Jardin de Paris".

I just posted her on Ebay.

Creature of Habit.....

I love Friday nights! I like to get my Antique Week paper and maybe another magazine, put on my jammies and snuggle up under a blanket and read. Yes, I'm somewhat of a creature of habit, especially during the winter months when there isn't much to do. Speaking of winter, I'm getting pretty sick of it and I heard that there is another major winter storm heading this way early next week. Good Grief!!!!

So tell me, are you a creature of habit and if so what is that you do?

Something nice.........

Something nice and totally unexpected happened to me this morning..... I went through the Duncan Donuts drive thru to get my cup of Joe.........I was singing along to a Smashmouth CD and was deep in thought thinking about of all things, heaven....you know like when you get there will there be people you recognize? will they recognize you? who will meet you to take you there? how old will you look there? is there really such a place? Anywho, when I got to the window to pay for my coffee, the lady handed it to me and when I went to hand her the money she said, "the lady in front of you paid for your coffee". I was so taken back that I said, "she paid for my coffee, why?" The Duncan Donuts girl just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. What a nice thing! It wasn't just that I got a free cup of delicious hot coffee....but that a total stranger bought it for me! I rode all the way to work (37 minutes) in the dark with a huge goofy smile on my face sipping my coffee. I believe this was one of those RAKs (random acts of kindness) that I've always heard about....... and it could have possibly been a sign......a sign that there really is a heaven! The next time I got through the drive thru I'll pay for the person's coffee behind me and suprise them.....I hope it puts a big goofy smile on their face.

New Ebay Postings and Felt Strawberry Tutorial....

I don't know about you, but I love chocolate covered strawberries! The only problem is all of the calories but if you make them out of felt, there are zero calories. I've included a tutorial on how to make felt chocolate covered strawberries so make sure you read to the end of the post. They are easy to make..... a little time consuming but they are so stinking cute!

I just posted this one on Ebay. It's a 3 inch paper mache box complete with French writing (it says Chocolate Covered Strawberries)!

Real pirates wear pink, right? Well, this one does because she's a Valentine pirate!

If you'd like to own Pinky the Valentine Pirate with Polly Parrot, go to Ebay! I just posted her.

You are very lucky if you have a best friend....a true pal..... a B.F.F. ..... whatever you want to call that person in your life. Click here to view it on Ebay.

Mermaid Cupid is also on Ebay........

Ok, now the cool tutorial! Felt Chocolate Covered Strawberries! Here we go.....

First cut a piece of red felt, 3 inches in diameter (this will make a 1 and 3/4 inch long strawberry).

Cut it in half (this will make 2 strawberries)

Using 4 strands of yellow DMC

Sew on a wavy piece of brown felt (this is the chocolate).

Fold it in half, right sides together and sew along the flat side.

Turn it right side out and stuff it with a little poly-fill then run a basting stitch around the top, draw together and knot off the thread.

Cut a felt stem and sew it on top of the strawberry. Then pop it into a candy wrapper!


Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Let me know if you make any berries!

And the Winner Is.........

I used a random generator to pick the number of the pennant winner and the winner is............PammyJo from Grammy's Altered Life! Congrats! Please email me your name and address and I will send it out to you on Monday.

Cupid Mermaid

By the sea.........by the sea...........by the beautiful sea............
Available over at Very Vintage Valentines!

Check out the previous post to enter into the Valentine Pennant give-away!!!

GIVE AWAY!!!!! New Ebay Items!

I'm getting into that Valentine mode! I love Valentine's Day! I have so many good memories of Valentine's Day......I remember when I was little my Dad would usually stop at the drug store and get a small heart shaped box of candy, you know the kind with the fancy gold foiled lettering....for me. When I was in highschool, I got my first dozen of roses on Valentine's Day from my boyfriend. And this is the best Valentine memory......... Gary and I were engaged on Valentine's Day! So in keeping with the Valentine's Day spirit, I've created this pennant to hang just about where ever you like! It has been collaged on both sides. A piece of sturdy chipboard is sandwiched between the two collages, so it won't curl. It measures 7 inches across the top.

I've named the little French guy in this collage, Pierre La Fou-Fou! Pierre is standing in a shower of hearts. The bright pink circles have just a touch of ultra-fine glitter on them and the bright pink velvet ribbon just sings "Valentine's Day!"

Side 2: Love Birds sitting in a Love Tree. Bet you didn't know there was such a thing as a Love tree......well it only blooms at midnight on Valentine's Day so I'm not suprised you missed it!

Close up of the Love Birds....

So, here's how to win this baby! It's simple, just leave a comment and then if you have a blog please leave a link back to my blog (feel free to use a picture of the pennant in your blog if you'd like). I will randomly draw the winner on Thursday. I'll send you the pennant and a little suprise as well, because ya know, everyone likes suprises! (and no, it wont' be a puppy!...or a pony!)

I just posted these items on Ebay. Click on the title to take you to the item.

The Valentine Queen!

Flirt the ACEO Paper Doll

Well it's about -12 degrees here this morning and I'm off to make some hot coffee, eggs and hash browns! I hope all of you have super Saturday doing whatever it is you like to do best!
Smiles-
Melissa

Comfort food, freezing temps and metal tape....

It was -14 degrees this morning at 7:00AM but then it warmed up to 7 degrees! BRRRRRRRRRR! Tonight I made creamed chicken and veggies over mashed potatoes.......warm comfort food!

I got to spend a little time in the studio today working with a somewhat new medium for me.....metal tape also known as furnace tape. It comes in a roll that's shiny silver metal on one side and is sticky on the other side when you remove the paper (don't confuse it with silver colored duct tape which is a dull color). I've used it on a project before and then tucked it away in a drawer but was inspired by Jack and Cat Curio's art. They make the most amazing collages!

Here are a few ATCs I made with the metal tape. I cut the bird image, crown and heart out of chipboard and glued it to the base of the card then I covered the whole card with pieces of the metal tape pushing it around the shapes. I then used 3 different colors of Ranger alcohol inks to cover the area around the birds and the crown and heart. I used red alcohol ink on the crown and heart. Pieces of paper were collaged onto card. I used a black Sharpie marker to go around the images.

The skull and crossbones is a foam piece that I covered with dimensional glaze and black glitter.

Next post............ special give away! I'd better get to the studio and finish it!!!!

Altered Valentine Tin

Special Delivery Altered Art Tin

I created this tin for a Valentine Tin Swap I hosted over on Flickr.

This little guy is raised from the background by a tiny wooden block behind him. Little 2 by 2 inch canvas........With the canvas hanging in the tin........

Without the canvas hanging on the button hook......

Top of the lid of the tin.....

Snowshoeing!

We got hammered with about 12-13 inches of snow on Friday night and Saturday morning. Bad for the roads.......good for snowshoeing! I went today to a park near my house and snowshoed for about an hour. Click here to see the kind of snowshoes I have. Now my body feels like.........hmmmm.......how can I describe it? I know.......do you remember those old washing machines with the wringer that squeezed the water out of the clothes? Well, it feels like my whole body was squeezed through one of them! I'm afraid I'm going to be one hurting puppy when I wake up in the morning. But, it was worth it to be out in the fresh air and I snapped a few pictures of the beautiful snow blanketing everything. I hope you enjoy the pics!

Every now and then "look-up", it's amazing what you might be missing!

Looks like the fence posts are wearing little white snow hats!

Just 3 more months until these tiny buds burst forth into leaves. Hope springs eternal. I've walked past these trees many, many times and never noticed the carvings in these trees....
I guess my perception was heightened due to the lack of oxygen going to my brain while snowshoeing because here's another one!
I hope you had a nice, relaxing Sunday! It's going to very cold this week with a high of 11 degrees on Thrusday and 9 degrees on Friday! BRRRRRRRRR! Stay warm wherever you are this week!

Ebay Offerings!

Well, it's official, I've discovered a new obsession.......making art paper dolls! My newest doll is a tall drink of French water named........get ready for this..........."Oooo-la-la" and she has a pet pink pug (say that 3 times) named, what else.....Pierre! She holds Pierre and he's removeable. Oooo-la-la wears a rhinestone choker and Pierre also has 2 rhinestones on his collar. Arms and legs are moveable. She is available on Ebay right now if you'd like to own her for your Valentine collection or your "pink" collection.

The next doll is a tribute to the glittery blue and white season of winter in all of its glory! She is known as "The Snowflake Fairy" and measures 8 inches tall. Created from chipboard, cardstock, decorative papers, glitter, stamps and gems she is one of a kind! You can find her on Ebay!