Holiday decor

here's a really easy project that was fun and inexpensive to do:

supplies needed:

paper mache star wands - i found mine at JoAnne's ($1 each)
vintage text pages
glitter
white paint
modge podge glue
small glass Christmas balls - mine are vintage, but use what you have
glass container- mine is actually plastic from the $1 store, it's shaped like a Sundae glass
ribbon
paintbrush
water cup

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*first i collaged the front of the stars with text, let dry.
*next i painted the back of the stars and wand white.
*on the front sides of the stars, also line in white.
*then i hit the front of the stars with more modge podge (slightly watered down) and glittered.
*stick wands in the glass. i cut a couple of them to vary the height.
*add colorful glass balls
*tie ribbon around base
Viola! you are done and you now have a very pretty decoration!

come back tomorrow and i'll share another great tree decorating tip!

do you Moo?

i'm putting a call out for Moo cards for a studio project i am working on (as in decorating my studio with.....) i've been collecting them for about 3-4 years and used all the ones i had and need some more to finish my project. so if you are interested in sending me one of your moo cards, just email me (keeshagirl4@aol.com) and i'll give you my address.

mucho gracias!

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in other news, tomorrow is flea market friday, the first friday of the month, so don't forget!

flea market friday - join in!

It's that time again! (scary how fast a week goes by huh?)



feel free to show off our cool vintage finds from the flea market, garage sale, thrift or antique store.

the rules of participation:

1) you don't have to have gone to a flea market on friday - you can show off any wonderful treasures that you have found any time while at the flea market, junking antiquing or thrift store.
2) please mention Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancy's Flea Market Friday in your blog post and link back to this post.
3) this is a blog hop to meet other bloggers, so please no links if you are just trying to advertise your site. if you'd like to talk to me about sponsoring your flea market website, feel free to email me.

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i thought this painting was so pretty; especially for $5. looks great on my flea market easel as well!
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great color for this vintage sewing basket - i think i'll use it to transport jewelry to my next show (The Creative Connection)
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can't ever resist glass rosary beads
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two cool tin types - really like the gypsy looking girl
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old keys and a sweet souvenir coin purse. i remember loving those when i was little
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grabbed these 2 metal baskets for .50 cents - great for holding anything
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vintage Christmas ornaments - $5 a box
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and lastly, isn't she a doll? i always run into her at the flea market. her name is Debra and she is a hairdresser. she always dresses fun. She is very friendly and bubbly and always willing to flash her smile.

SlipperySlopeBloomer

I found this wonderful seller on etsy. her name is Jess and she's the creator of SlipperySlopeBloomer. i chatted with her briefly today about her beautifully colored pictures (done with Sharpies!) that she draws on vintage lingerie (she likes to call them "dainties"). She also makes high waisted bikinis (vintage style) which are very fun and flirty.


I'd wear this corset with a tank underneath and a pair of jeans (if my wallet allowed, that is....)

and i could also see myself wearing this!

What really impressed me about Jess was her attitude about recyling/upcycling using vintage items, found objects or junk. read more:

"There has been a growing trend in the crafting community these past few years to work in a medium made up exclusively of found objects and junk, and I am so very happy about and proud of this trend. It is made up of a small but growing faction of folks who have chosen to pay their bills by producing items to be consumed but have managed to do so with out adding to the pile of mass made-for-consumption THINGS our culture insists in churning out at a progressively disconcerting rate year after year.
They are people who have some how developed the strength of character and responsibility in the face of this terribly seductive but devastatingly wasteful culture we've got here to ask the question, "Hey! Is this really trash yet? Come on!"
And what's more, when these thrifty crafters ask their customers with playful incredulity if the trash is in fact trash, their customers find themselves replying in awe, "why no... NO IT'S NOT!" and a new world of recycled wonder appears before their eyes.
In the etsy land there are a very great deal of customers. With each new creative use of heretofore trash that is displayed, there are countless more of us out here realizing that spending might not actually be better than mending. We buy the brilliantly repurposed crafts we find, but we also are inspired to build our own brilliantly repurposed goodies. And slowly but surely, the world is changing. And things built to last but none the less abandoned are getting sparkly new lives and contributing once again to joy instead of clutter."

So there you have it. She does not have a blog (as of yet, i'm trying to talk her into it!) She's a wonderful writer and story teller, so maybe when she's ready, she'll start one! in the meantime, stop by her shoppe to look a peek at her work.

creativity at work

have you ever bought something just because you really liked it? no clue about what you would do with it once you got home, but it was just something that appealed to you? well i did that with this old wooden umbrella skeleton. it was $5 at the flea market and i just liked it. i figured for $5, what the heck. it sat around for a few weeks and then one day when i was organizing things i picked it up and started walking around my room with it. then for some reason i thought, well, i'll hang it upside and then put stuff on it. At first i added my hats to it, but they didn't stay up there very well. then i tried my headbands. again, not the right thing. and then all of a sudden, i knew - i'd hang my necklaces from it and it was perfect!
i wish the pictures were better - but it was kind of hard to really capture what the umbrella looks like (it's just a thin metal wire umbrella) - but anyway, you get the idea. i love the gypsy look of it and am going to tie one of my old chiffon scarves up a little higher on the wooden handle.
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if you missed yesterday's post, I posted a new class for my first guest artist, Pamela Huntington. you can read about it here. 4 seats have already been sold!

sewing fun

(hint, click on picture for enlarged view)

just a picture to show the jeans i've been altering. it's been fun and keeping my mind occupied. for the most part, i used vintage scraps from quilts, lace, trim, doily's and such.

mix media lamp

A few years ago at an Art-is-you retreat, i saw this lamp made by my friend, Taryn Reece. I wanted to buy it so bad, but it was "NFS" (not for sale!). Then on vendor night this year, she had it up again in her booth. once again i tried to talk her into selling it, but she would have no part of that! (and i don't blame her). So then i decided that i would just make my own. she sells the images and fibers, so i just needed a lamp! So here is my lamp inspired by Taryn's!

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and this is Taryn's lamp. i still like hers better! probably because she used a vintage lamp with that cool base. You can find the supplies needed for your very own lamp here. the images are on paper fabric for easy sewing.

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also, i am hosting a few workshops coming up next weekend. you can find the information here. email me at keeshagirl4@aol.com if you are interested. there are a few seats left in each class.

memories

does this picture bring back memories or what? from left to right:
my twin brother, kent, me, my little sister, kris (she looks like a baby doll!) and my older sister, kim.

don't you love the matching outfits? us girls in our pretty fancy white tights and ruffly collars (hey, how come kris got red shoes?) love kent's socks and bow tie -real nifty!

my favorite though are our bangs! kitchen bangs we called them. kris and kim's look pretty straight, but since i have a widows peak my bangs were always crooked and practically at my hair line! (although, kent's is pretty short too!)

Acceptance

here's a doll i just finished that is going out as a gift for a fellow artist. i'd like to see this artist get a little break from the hardships she has had to endure lately.

it's a beautiful fall day, let's go to the flea market!

I get so much feedback on my blog when i go to the flea market. i hear from you that your flea markets are non existent, sparse, lame, too expensive or plundered. so i think vicariously, it is fun to see what i find at my flea markets. not being a Jersey native, i often complain about living in this state, but i have to secretly confess, that if i were to move out of NJ, i would miss my flea markets! so come along with me today as we go to my favorite junky flea market, Collingswood. to visually get a picture of Collingswood, I like to quote my friend, Steve, a vendor, who told me that he only likes to sell at Collingswood in complete desperation or (you'll love this), when he needs to "flush the toilet". it's kind of gritty, dirty and has some seriously interesting characters. it took me awhile to get comfortable coming here. i made my husband go with me for the longest time as the men tended to creep me out. Now that i am getting to know some of them and am a more recognizable face, i will go alone and not have a thought about it. sit back and enjoy as i decided to post individual pictures in stead of the collage format.
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here's some of the things i look at every time i drive to the flea market.



this lovely row of trees. it has been fun to watch them grow and change with the seasons.
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one of many corn fields in my area. they are drying up now, their summer jobs of supplying delicious "jersey corn" to us has come to an end. for now they will feed the birds until the first frost comes.

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our local fresh farmer's market; a dying breed.
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the Canadian geese flying around. they are noisy and annoying; yet when you see them flying like this in their vast numbers, honking away, it takes my breath away. i wonder if they are psyched to be heading to a warmer climate or what?

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the infamous sign for Collingswood. this is the new and improved sign. not sure the image of the gentleman got any better. he looks like a cross between farmer john an an alien with a potatoe face.

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let's talk about "flea market attire" during winter hours. it is COLD and WINDY at Collingswood! got your checklist?



here's my stay warm uniform: sensible shoes, warm socks and leg warmers, check!
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cute shopping cart to hold wares, check! got this one at Marshall's for $19.99. (give up the notion that you can carry it all, because you never know what you will find and it helps prevent constants trips back and forth to the car. (record set this summer of making my husband cart stuff to the car - 6 times!)
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warm pair of gloves, check! the hands don't work well doling out cash when they are frozen!

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cool hat, very long scarf to wrap around neck and face, over sized sunglasses, chapstick and cute coat (from Daffy's, NYC!) under coat, yet another lightweight zippered nylon jacket, check! (attitude byob!) also, carry a purse that you can wear across your chest -easier access to the $ and keeps your hand free.
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CAST OF CHARACTERS:



get to know your vendors, check! this is Phillip - he knows i like working with costume jewelry, so he'll bring out stuff for me to see. he also plays Irish music and tells really bad jokes, but we love him. there is a hierarchy to these guys selling at the flea market. Phillip is on the higher end of the spectrum and i love going through his stuff. other characters a bit lower on the chain include: Dependable Don, Vinnie & John, Vic and a few of the other junk guys that i haven't quite wanted to ask their names yet (but jeff and i have nicknames for)!

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Collingswood wares

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LOVE these!
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Oh, look who i spy? it's Joanna (Summerhouse girls from Country Living Fair and one of her sons). Naively i think maybe her mom, Kathe, isn't there and i ask, "where is your mom?"
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Oh there she is! she immediately pulls out a cool find, which she knows i will appreciate (we are kindred souls) - old doll body parts!
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down what i call, "Junk Alley" - Dependable Don's terrority..... this is a "digger's delight". be prepared to scrounge through disgusting boxes which are sometimes really wet from sitting out in the rain. (gross). sometimes he has a helper named "Mikey" who jeff and i have nicknamed, "Kid Rock" (strong resemblance!). recently i found that Kid and i both collect Fedora hats. who knew we'd have so much in common. sadly, Kid was off today because a pic of it him would have been cool with his rockin 80's glasses and stringy, long, blonde hair!
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as seen around Collingswood - an oversized Gumby doll - i got that "look" from the vendor when i asked her if i could take this picture.... 'nuf said about her!

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remember my empty shopping cart when i began? well, i scored big in Dependable Don's section with a bunch of vintage Christmas stuff (and some vintage Easter) i love that stuff and am buying it all up. what for? not sure yet! wait tell i tell you what he charged me for all that stuff.
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this was what i got from Phillip
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loot of vintage Christmas, Easter and super cool vintage, NEVER USED cosmetic case - wait for it, wait for it, wait for it - $5! (and i didn't even post all the pictures!)
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and how about these? are they absolutely the bomb? vintage dance/costume attire for a little girl -so sweet. the detail and materials used are unbelievable. how much were these beauties? now don't be mad, but i took them from the FREE table.