Thursday, April 17, 2008

How about a little 'Vintage Vavoom' in your life?????

Along with the pincushion book that I reviewed on Tuesday, I also purchased two other books and I want to talk about one of those today - "Vintage Vavoom", from the Editors of Romantic Homes magazine. This book covers things like how to create the look, how to recognize quality items, where to find vintage pieces, how to use color, how to combine contrasting elements, ways to feature YOUR style, ways to personalize your style and how to care for vintage pieces. this is a great book for the pictures alone and there is a lot of useful info here as well. Here is a picture of the front cover - love the color of these dishes:
Here is a picture showing how to display various different vintage linens together - there are lots of ideas for linens and how to use them:
And here is a picture of some wonderful green glass in a Hoosier cabinet - this looks so great together:
And for those of us who love the shabby cottage, look there are plenty of pictures like this one. Doesn't this just shout SHABBY?

This shows a couple of different shop displays and howyou can use them for inspiration in your own displays at home:
All in all - I would say this is a great book and worth every penny. There are some really wonderful ideas on how to use vintage items in crafting and how to display them in some unique ways. A good book for ideas and for inspiration - one can never have too many books like this............

Hugs, Donna D.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Feeding my Addiction.................

For several years now I have been addicted to pincushions or makedos - both making them and collecting them. Not too long ago I was reading one of my craft magazines ( I buy way too many of those, but that is another addiction altogether, lol) and they had a book review of a new book about pincushions - got to get that one, I said to myself. Here it is - I want to share it with you and encourage you to get it if like me, you LOVE pincushions, cause it's a great little book.

Its published by Lark books and you can get it at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon.com on the web.

Here is a pic of the left inside cover - don't ya love those strawberries?

And here's the inside of the cover on the right side - isn't that the cutest little Hedgehog????

Next we have a wonderful little mousie - my cat would love to play with this...........

Now that Spring is here (well almost here), this little wrist pincushion should brighten up your day and bring some Spring inside..........
And here's a use for all those caning jar lids you no longer use........

And finally, some old-fashioned barrel-shaped pincushions. I can see these made out of some felted wools and embellished for every season. Or perhaps some silk or velvet with embroidered roses on them........

Hope this has inspired you to go and make a pincushion and if you need o want inspiration, I highly recommend this book. As soon as I get some of them done, I'll share some pics with you and if you make any, I hope you'll share a pic or two with us...........

Hugs, Donna D.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Sunday Greetings........

Morning everyone!!!! I've been having a lazy Sunday morning, enjoying my coffee and the HGTV garden shows. It's cool here but not raining at the moment - sure hope we don't get any more rain for a few days as my yard resembles a lake more then a yard, lol. I am so ready to get out and 'play' in the dirt but it will be a few days till I can do that, unless I want to put on waders first, lol. At least it wasn't snow and it has warmer up into the 50's - now for some sunshine to dry things out.

I've also been thinking about going to a really great antique/flea market show in Allegan, MI. It is on the last Sunday of the month and runs from April through September. There are 200 indoor dealers and 200 outdoor dealers - surely I can find at least one goodie that wants to come home with me, lol. Here is the website so you can check it out - Allegan Antiques Show. If I do go, I'll be sure to show you any goodies that I find.

Guess I'd better get up and do something constructive - the sewing room is calling me. Have a great day and be sure to dhare with me if you end up going to the show.................

Hugs, Donna D.