Friday, April 30, 2010

An earthquake in NW Arkansas!

Well friends, I survived an earthquake and didn't even know it till later. We had ourselves a little earthquake in NW Arkansas yesterday. Strange, not a very common thing.
Magnitude 2.5 with the center not far from where I live and work. Good thing it was so small.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2010vrbm.php 


People in California would probably laugh at how some people have reacted to it. On the other hand we have a tornado watch in effect till 8pm tonight and that would probably freak them out, LOL. Looks to be clearing up a bit. 

Anyway that concludes the weather report from Vintiquities Workshop.
Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Antique report card image

Found a report card in my family pics that belonged to my Grandma Mary. I thought it was neat.
Being poor at "arithmetic" must run in the family, LOL. I always hated it.
So glad I'm no longer graded on it. See...there is always something to be thankful for.

Have a very happy day!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Pink! A fancy dry erase board tutorial and free pattern!

 I was just realizing this morning how my subconscious helps me to create things.  It is influenced by so many things around me and holds onto the things I'm drawn to without my knowledge. 
Saturday I went and had lunch with my family at my grandpa Bill's house and I noticed a neat little dry erase board that his wife Ruth (sweetest lady in the world) had on the refrigerator. Someone had printed off a Bistro style page and framed it in a glass frame, put magnets on the back and there you have a very fancy place to jot down your grocery list. I thought it was the neatest thing (and apparently stored it away in my brain for later).
Yesterday at lunch I found this antique frame at a flea market for $2 (score!) with really no particular thing in mind for it's use, I was just drawn to the embossed designs. By the time I got back to work with it my brain had pulled up that image of the nice dry erase board and I decided that would be what I would use it for. 
So then I went hunting for an image to use as my background and naturally I went to...
 The Graphics Fairy!
There I found this image...
It was "almost" exactly what I needed. So I played with it in Photoshop, which was a stretch for me as I have not worked with Photoshop much at all and everytime I go to do something with it I have to teach myself step by step what to do. So what I ended up with was this....

I took out the words and enlarged the center area with a lot of cut and paste.
I added the words rappelez-vous which is French for "do remember" (or at least I hope the online translator got it right) LOL
I made a .pdf file for you to use for PERSONAL USE only ( Thespoena McLaughlin 2010)...


I added a lot of embelishments by Prima Marketing. Say it in Crystals, Prima flowers, leaves etc.
I love the way it turned out. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it as it doesn't exactly match my decor. Most of my things are brown and blue. But I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually when my studio gets done, if ever.


A little something else I found at the flea market was this vintage Avon pendant, it is so cute! A big pink swirly center with rhinestones all around. Too neat! I also found the old tattered silk hankies in pink and brown.
So yesterday must have been a day for pink! (Strange that I never used to like pink, I think it's growing on me, I'm even wearing it today.)
Have a Happy Day! 

 

Friday, April 23, 2010

Old photos of my Grandma & family

I've been going through old family photos, mainly an old album that belonged to my grandma Mary.
That's my grandma on the right above. Normally I share my pics freely when I find them at flea markets but these are all mine as they are family photos. Please do not share without permission and do not use in artwork nor sell or reproduce. Pictures in the post are the property of  Thespoena McLaughlin 2010.
My grandma Mary on the far left. Wasn't she a cutie!

Hope you are all having a great day!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Vintage Queen Mixed Media Crown

A little vintage goodnes. I've had this crown on my work list for a while but it was just missing something. I found the perfect Prima flowers at the scrapbook store last week and got it finished last night. 
I even put a tutorial on how to alter Prima flowers on my scrapbook blog if you want to check that out...
A detail shot. All of the papers are from Graphic 45, I also used Tim Holtz Distress Ink, fine glitter, and lots of other stuff too.

Hope you are having a productive and happy week!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Gorgeous Vintage Style labels Free to print

I found these gorgeous vintage labels online, free to print. There are lots of different styles.
Go check them out and dowload the .pdf files for free...
I love all of them but these are my favorites! 
They are all from Suzee Que's flickr photo stream. Go check it out...
And thanks so much Suzee Que for sharing such great images!

Ok, unknown to me till after I posted this, this morning, that sweet gal that shared her images so freely past away last week. I was just reading blogs like I do after posting and came across a post about Susan Criser aka "Suzee Que" having past away last Tuesday April 14th. I'm sad to have only found out about such a giving and sweet person after the fact. I wish I could have met her.  Prayers to her family.


Friday, April 16, 2010

A Fairy Cigar Box Purse

I made this cigar box purse a few years ago and gave it to my cousin Amanda as a new mommy present. She loves fairy things. I never got a chance to take pictures of it so I asked her to take some pics and send them to me. This is one side.
 I do believe in fairies, I do!
The handle with fairy and garden charms.


This is the other side.
 The caption was from a fairy poem out of an old book.

Now for the inside...
I made the inside myself, made up the pattern and sewed it together then glued it into the box. It has an elastic pocket (which I stuffed with beauty samples for Amanda) a smaller pocket and a mirror.
So, that's it. I'm glad I can share it with you.

Hope you have a great day!

Somewhat better day

Well, my evening went a little better than my day yesterday. Even though I had to go home and help finishing the roof, and we did get it finished last night at dark, YEAH! (Rodney is cleaning up today while I'm at work) It won't be long before we start work on enclosing the deck.

I told my kids that if they found my camera there would be a reward.
My oldest daughter found it under the back stairs. ???? I would have never in a million found it there. I told her I would give her $20 and she has decided to put that towards a formal gown for the end of the year dance. 

So I got to take a picture of Abbi my youngest who lost her tooth this week and may lose the one next to it soon. 
Today it's nice out but will probably rain later. My mom is coming to visit Tuesday! Yeah! I've missed her so much. Can't wait to give her a hug!


Thursday, April 15, 2010

FRUSTRATION!

It all comes down to the fact that it's April 15th! 

That's what I'm blaming it on anyway!

I've lost my camera, it's tax day and I just realized that I forgot to mail in my state taxes, and I forgot to bring the things I was going to scan and share today. 

My hubby and I didn't get as far on repairing the decking on the back deck roof as we planned so he has to stay home from work today to get it all done before it rains tomorrow. (insert "no rain" chant here)

Plus I worked on a pillow case to enter in a contest and thought the deadline was today, but NOOooooo, it was Monday the 12th, so I missed it and did all that hard work for nothing! (well, ok, not nothing, it was made for my youngest as her tooth fairy pillow, so she likes it, she lost her first tooth this week)

I'm in a bad funk and trying to get out, sometimes it's very hard to think positive. Life could certainly be worse though.

Hoping and praying you are having a better day than me!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

My new blog & an old school antique photo

Found this neat photo recently, I love that girl in the center with the really wild hair. Can you say POOF!

Today I would like to share with you my newest blog. I started Vintiquities Muse a while back and was waiting till I had an idea for it to begin posting. Well yesterday while posting here about working on the roof for my new studio I decided to use Vintiquities Muse as a studio decor inspiration blog. A place to keep all the wonderful ideas that are inspiring me as I try to figure out how I want to decorate and organize my new studio in the future. 

So please go check it out, and if you like decorating ideas and how-to's or just need some ideas on organizing supplies then please follow, as I will be looking for those exact things to post there daily.


I'm still working on the layout of the blog, but for now it's running.
Hope you all have a great day!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Poppies and Projects and free image too

I got a little mixed media collage done this weekend. As with most of my projects I may add more later. 
I used a piece of an old camera as the back ground and added crackle medium and "poppy orange" acrylic paint then added an antique postcard with the images of poppies on it. The metal circle around the word poppies was a piece from the old camera and I added an antique shoe buckle. Last I added Ranger's Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Walnut Stain as accents. I love the Walnut Stain Distress Stickles because they remind me of the old glitter glass that was added around the edges of scenes on some old postcards. It's almost an identical look.

I found a few things at a yard sale Friday. Some old books with some cute illustrations like the one above form the 1930's. 
And I found a really old game. Couldn't tell you what game it was but it has the sweetest lithograph picture on the wooden panel that covers the box...
I picked up the game for $2, right in my price range. Apparently someone bought it at a flea market for $25 cause the tag was still inside the box. And as if the picture on the top wasn't enough, when I opened the box I found these...
Check out all those wonderful game pieces! Each one a a different color, a few that are pretty close but slightly different shade. I'm such a sucker for crowns. I plan to make a mold of these and cast them in Sculpey for use in jewelry and mixed media. I like using original vintage pieces in my artwork but these are just too brittle to use for much.  There were other pieces that were broken up. 

 We got some work done on the roof and I carried bundles of shingles upstairs with a little help from my brother in law Todd. Man are those heavy! My shoulders and legs are killing me! We got the old shingles torn off, yes I was up on the roof tearing away with my husband. We got the bad boards replaced and then we ran out of time. Tonight after a full day of work we will be putting on the new decking and putting down the tar paper. Tomorrow night we'll be putting new shingles on and praying we can get done before it rains this week! It's going to be a VERY long week but in the end it will all be worth it.

So what did you find/do this weekend?

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Giant Asteroid flying towards Earth!

Ok, so what do you do when you find a photo of an asteroid flying towards the Earth, lying on your daughter's bedroom floor? 
Well, first you stare at it for a really long time...

Then you stare at it some more, What the heck is it?

Then you scratch your head and turn the picture over, around, upside down, right side up....

Now you stare at it some more.

It can't be from a magazine, flip, it's an actual photo that was developed....

Scratch your head...

(daughter doesn't get home from school for another 2 hours, contemplate calling the school to ask daughter what this is a picture of, then change your mind)

After hours of waiting and trying to decide if you should grab your family and head for the hills because the Earth is doomed (LOL)
said daughter finally comes home from school on the bus..

"Brittany, what is this a picture of...?"

Brittany..."It's a picture of some weird fungus on a log at Girl Scout camp, you can see the sunset in the background."

 (dark area at the bottom is log)

MOM- "Oh, OK!" LOL

Everyone can calm down now, we aren't about to witness the destruction of planet Earth!

Tee-Hee!

Have a happy day!


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Silver Bella OR Bust!


I found out about the Silver Bella event last year while searching through blogs and it really caught my eye. There are so many wonderful classes you can take, so many wonderful vendors with their vintage goodies, and so many creative people that I would be so ecstatic to meet.
By searching through those blogs I decided that some day I was going to go to Silver Bella. So my new year's resolution this year was to save $10 a week so that I can go to Silver Bella in 2011. Now $10 a week may not sound like much to some people but I'm kind of stressing about it actually. I just hope I can keep it up till next year without needing the money for some unforeseen emergency.

See my savings jar that I've decorated all up for the occasion?....



So far I have been saving every week without missing one, so at this time I am on track for next year. 
But yesterday was the first day to sign up for classes this year and I can't tell you how much I have drooled! I may need to replace the keyboard soon, LOL.

The instructors for this year are awesome!


Go check out the amazing classes they are offering at Silver Bella this year...
You won't believe your eyes.
For more information...
http://www.paperbellastudio.com/pages/silverbella.htm

If I could go this year these are the classes I would want to take...

Bonaparte's Gift by Kaari Meng
Prize-Alicious by Sally Jean Alexander
An Award Winning Brooch
Sally Jean Alexander is going to be there, I am a huge fan of hers, I have her book. Her work is so inspiring to me. I would give anything to take one of  her classes and can only hope she is teaching next year so that I can.

The Secret Inside the Bottle by Lisa Kaus
 Teacup Fairy by Beth Quinn
"OK who am I kidding! I would want to take ALL of the classes!"

Do a Google search for Silver Bella to check out all the great blog posts about last years event.  The dress up, the shopping, THE SWAPS! OH MY!
See the pictures, get inspired, and come with me next year. 

Or if you are lucky enough to have been to Silver Bella before or are going this year, I would like to know everything about it!

Silver Bella or Bust!
Have an amazing day!


Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Some Flea Market Goodies!

These are some things I found week before last and never got around to posting. I was so excited to find all these yummy things, I actually only spent a little over $5 so it was a really good day.
Got an old book that was falling apart with lots of relief and embossing on the cover ( I love those kinds of covers), an old recipe organizer from the 30's with lots of blank aged pages for journaling sheets, a neat old tattered pearl collar, a fabulous old bread label pocket ledger, and a nicely distressed folding ruler (I'm such a sucker for old wooden rulers no matter what kind they are)  And a neat old milk glass jar with lid.
I've already used some of these things in projects that I hope to show you this week. The rest are carefully displayed so that I don't forget I have them to use. LOL.

Hope you all have a great day!

Monday, April 5, 2010

A thought on "LOVE"

Love is a stage we toss our hearts upon. The set is made of our hopes and dreams and critics throw out advice with all the discouragement they can muster.
-Thespa

L-A-Z-E-E Need I say more.

Found a couple of interesting things at the used book store last week. So I'm sharing them today. I just love the little girl's dress in this image on the cover of an old music book.

I found this old girls book and someone had cut the image on the book sleeve out long ago and pasted it inside the book. Love this "One for all, and all for one!" caption and the ladies are lovely.

I had such a lazy weekend with my kids. Took my youngest to an Easter egg hunt Sat. Then had an egg hunt at our house for her with her older brother and sister. I bought some tiny plastic eggs for the oldest two and put one quarter in each of those and hid them very well, under leaves, in holes, up on branches etc.  They had fun. Then we lazed about the house reading books. I really did mean to get in the shop and make some things happen creatively but the book was more interesting at the time. Shame, shame, shame on me, LOL.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Upcoming events...

I have some VERY Exciting news to share soon. Can't wait to spill the beans!