My sweet Lily-Grace gave me a present the other day and I thought I would share it with all of you. Santa brought Lucy this book {below} and the joke around the house is, the book should be titled Crafty Lori.
So, Lily-Grace made my own Crafty Lori book...too sweet for words. I would rather receive a gift like this from my children vs. something bought in the store. It really doesn't take much to make me happy. I am a very Lucky Momma.
My husband has banned me from making any new necklaces until I sell a few so they are listed in my Etsy shop....right here. A few words of advice for all of you.....don't let your husband count how many necklaces you have. It won't end very good! Anyway, someone buy one so I can make some more...I seem to be addicted to making jewerly lately.
My first love will always be creating with vintage papers and trimmings but lately, I can't seem to stop making jewelry. Thinking way back when I attended my first Silver Bella, I took a class to make a necklace and it was the most stressful experience. I left that class thinking OMG...that was the hardest thing I have ever done and thinking back, I now laugh at that. Now creating jewelry is very relaxing for me and I love it. I think the trick is, I do it when my children are busy because if I pull out my supplies when they aren't...oh it is nothing but trouble. They are dive into my beads and vintage jewelry findings trying to create their own creation. I actually do like it when they show interest in my passions, but I just need to control it. Here are some of my latest creations {sorry about all of the shadows in my photos, it is really sunny here in MI}.
Last night I didn't mean to get lost in my studio but I couldn't help myself. I have been making a lot of jewelry lately and I guess I got a bit lost sifting though my vintage papers and trimmings. A while ago I bought a vintage beaded purse that was falling apart and I immediately knew I wanted to re-purpose it into something wonderful. I decided to use it in my latest collage and the fabric was so brittle, I thought it would get stuck in the sewing machine, but nope. I had no issues and I guess the purse was sitting in the flea market waiting for me to rescue it and make it into something wonderful.
I have been off for the last week on vacation and it has been so nice to just be at home. While the kids were at school, I enjoyed a hassle free day of decorating the house with my favorite Christmas decorations. I love to decorate with the kids but, it is so much easier when they are not helping. Sounds terrible to say, but I had storage bins and glitter everywhere in the house. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is now behind us and Christmas is fast approaching....where does the time go? Really I would like to know! Here are some photos from around our home.
We went to our cottage in Northern MI over the weekend and while my family played outside, I stayed in our cottage by the warm fire and created. I had someone contact me directly to create a few custom journals and I was happy to create something special. It is always hard try and figure out what others want but I stayed true to own style and created something I hope she likes just as much as I do. The only request was one fabric journal with images of children and one vintage paper journal with images of brides. So, here are some photos of the finshed journals.
I have not been feeling well so I went to the doctor and I ended up having a double ear infection and strep throat. So, I have been laying around the house and after a while it gets old, I guess I have a hard time relaxing. I decided to sit in my little creative space and while the kids played I made a few necklaces. I guess that was my way of relaxing and I am finally starting to feel better.
I made this necklace a couple of weeks ago and I thought I would share it with all of you. So, I lost my memory card reader and I haven't been able to transfer my photos to my computer and I just realized that I have a card reader built into my computer. Gees, I guess if I would read the instructions on my new laptop I would know I had that. I guess my technical difficulties are now put to bed and there should be no excuse for me to start to post on a regular basis. I need to get my but in gear.
A while ago my Mom gave me her wedding dress in the original garment bag and it was rolled up in a ball. She said to me, do what you want with dress, I don't want it anymore {she was going to throw it away}. It sat in my closet for a while and I finally decided to do something with it vs. just hanging on to it. This is where you are probably going say what did she do? After debating for a while on what to do with it, I finally decided to cut up my Mom's wedding dress and made it into a wedding journal. My parents were divorced and my Mom didn't have any sentimental feelings towards it so why not. When Olivia was preparing for her communion, I was going to transform it into a communion dress but we just ended up buying her a new one. With the move from Arkansas to Michigan, my new thought process is, I don't want to hang on to things anymore, I want to use everything. The entire book is sewn together, even the pages of the journal. I only used glue in one spot and I have to say, I just winged it.....I really didn't have a process of how to sew a book together. On the front cover, the satin roses were on my Mom's bustle, the buttons were on her wrists and the the sequined lace was the body of her dress.
I decided to add photos of my Grandmother and her siblings as well as a photo of my Mom in her dress being walked down the aisle by my Grandfather. It is a tribute to all of the lovely wedding photos I am fortunate to have inherited {I used color photocopies so I wouldn't damage the originals}...it just kills me to have these wonderful photos tucked away for no one to see. So, here are the photos in order.
My Grandmother's sister.
My Grandmother and Grandfather, this is how they met...they each stood up for a wedding.
My Grandmother's brother.
My Grandmother {on the right} standing up for another wedding....her bother's wedding.
My Mom in her dress and I used the bridal shop's garment bag with the advertisment on the page.
My Grandmother's brother.
My Grandmother's brother.
Before I cut up the dress, I snapped a few photos of it.
I still have a ton of her dress left and I plan on creating additional journal for my girls when they get married. I will put that on my to do list. Now, if I only had the dresses and headpieces that my Grandmother wore. I hope after reading this you understand that I wanted to preserve my Mom in her dress and this is my way of doing it.
