A library to carry with you

I recently came across this beautiful necklace and simply had to share.

This and other goodies can be found at The Black Spot Books.

Knitted Goodies

My husband has been hard at work learning to knit and the first fruits of his labor have been bestowed upon me. I am so proud of what my sweetie has accomplished that I just had to share these wonderful gifts!

a pretty green bookmark

a lovely knitted bag

perfect for holding a book

Seeing his accomplishments and his ability to stick with it and keep learning is a wonderful example for me. It spurs me on to keep working on the Mickey Mouse I’m trying to cross-stitch. Hopefully, one day soon I’ll be able to share that as well.

Illustrations by Martin Harris

I discovered Martin Harris’s illustrations recently while perusing the world wide web and have become completely enamored. They have a vintage storybook quality that I find quite charming.

“A Day at the Zoo”

“The Haunted Railway”

He is a Melbourne artist who works with watercolour and gouache. His works can be found on his website, MartinHarrisArt, and at the Outre Gallery. He has also made some works for the Third Annual PoMoNoBo Hallowe’en Art Show taking place on October 2, 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

“Little Gothic Library Vol 2 – The Masque of the Red Death”

Mr. Harris has created illustrations of 3 other Poe stories/poems. This one is my favorite! As a child, I had this story in a book with a cassette tape. I used to read and listen over and over again. I realize that this is something of a morbid story, but I assure you I had a very happy childhood.

Little Snoring Giveaway!

You could win one of these lovely Babushka Russian doll necklaces just by clicking here, then visiting the Little Snoring shop and picking your favorite item. I picked these pretty little necklaces and I do hope I win one.

Jewelry for a Pirate Queen

1. ModCloth 2. GypsyMoon 3. StrangeMonster 4. Zombuki 5. Ghost Love Jewelry 6. CosmicFirefly 7. JewelryRow 8. CosmicFirefly 9. Ghost Love Jewelry 10. Eclectic Eccentricity

As promised, a lovely selection of jewelry fit for a pirate queen. I am really enamored of the octopus bracelet and the skull book locket. Of course, the hair combs and the cuffs are simply gorgeous and I’m loving the pirate kitty button. I’ve been on a bit of a button kick lately. I recently gave my book bag a little more attitude by adding some fun buttons. I hope you are enjoying pirate week. If you see something you like visit the shop. I highly recommend Ghost Love Jewelry, Eclectic Eccentricity, GypsyMoon, and ModCloth. They have some truly lovely things.

Pirate Fun Across the Web

Here are just a few pirate themed goodies I found around the world wide web. I hope you enjoy! First up we have a replica of a 1930’s pirate costume pattern from WearingHistory. Next we have the cutest cupcake toppers from ScrapYourStory. I just adore this clutch from LittleBlackRabbit and this tie from ToyBreaker is absolutely beautiful. These Lego cufflinks from PinkTopHat are fun and quirky. Wall decals seem to be quite the thing right now and these ships from Christianitees12 are perfect for the pirate lover. Lost Mountain Clayworks makes beautiful pirate-worthy wares. What could be more fun than this vintage-inspired pirate dress from VivienofHolloway? With Talk like a Pirate Day looming, I thought this dictionary from Amazon might come in handy. This doll from TheTinderBox reminds me of a doll my grandma made for me once. Isn’t she cute? Everyone knows that a pirate’s makeup is of utmost importance. No pirate lass would dare be caught without her DragonScales eyedust from ModCloth. A Peter the Pirate Jack-in-the-box is a necessity for any pirate-loving kid. This one can be found at Amazon. I’m becoming quite a fan of Hello Kitty and just couldn’t resist this pirate plushie from Sanrio. Isn’t she just the cutest? I couldn’t leave out my fellow readers and booklovers. I have something just for you, bookplates from ModernClassicsKids. I love old school desks. They are the perfect places for little ones to draw, color, and write. This one from Omgurl is full of pirate fun! I have a little something for all of you music lovers.  I found this 2 cd set of sea songs and pirate ballads on Amazon. It’s also available in an MP3 format. Looking for a way to make breakfast fun? May I recommend a pirate toast stamper. These can be found in a variety of places online. I found this one on PerpetualKid. I simply couldn’t consider my little gallery of pirate fun complete without a sockmonkey. I found Bad Billy Blart at YackyJan. She has lots of delightful monkeys looking for a good home. Lastly, a little something for the movie lovers among us. I have never seen The Pirate, but with Gene Kelly and Judy Garland its bound to be lots of fun with singing and dancing. A copy is waiting for you at Amazon. I hope you arrrr having as much fun in my little pirate gallery as I had in putting it together. Come back tomrrow and check out all the piratey goodness to be found in jewelry. There are some really pretty pirate-inspired pieces out there. I can’t wait to share them with you.

Headwear Bonanza

I found two wonderful how-tos courtesy of Simplicity and Martha Stewart. Simplicity has a wonderful downloadable pattern for a beautiful bucket hat and Martha Stewart has instructions for making these very pretty feathery headbands. I just love hats and unique, fun headwear. These certainly fit that description. They have definitely made my future projects list!

Aren’t these just gorgeous!?

Crafty Summer Fun!

This summer I was happy to do some Isabella Watching. She and I had so much fun making all kinds of goodies. We made silly putty, soap, and puppets. She made a birthday crown on her birthday, of course, and there was much fun had painting. One of my fave projects was the Valentine garland. We even learned to cross-stitch. Isabella had a lot of fun with the makeover program I mentioned in an earlier post.

I hope everyone else had a happy summer!

My Plaques of Achievement

Several weeks ago while perusing the booths at my favorite flea market, I came across these lovely plaques and thought I can do that! I immediately began searching for and pricing wooden plaques at Wal-Mart and the local craft stores. I found just exactly what I needed at Hobby Lobby. The two wooden plaques I purchased were oval shaped and unfinished. They cost 99 cents apiece. I then used acrylic paints, mod podge, and some pictures I found on a great website, Vintage Holiday Crafts . The results are two pretty awesome one-of-a-kind plaques to hang in my crafty nook.

I am quite proud of the final result and can’t help thinking that one could make something like this for a child’s room or to fit almost any theme. I can picture maybe yellow paint and Betsy McCall paperdolls for a little girl’s room and green with a football for a little boy’s room. It is a simple project and quite fun!

Magnets, Paint, and Crafty Fun!

I recently purchased a set of 50th Anniversary Barbie Magnets. They are so cute and quite retro! I wanted to hang them in my little crafty nook and decided to look for a lovely metal vintage tray that could be made into a magnet board. Then, quite by accident, I stumbled upon a clearance sale at Michael’s and for a mere $2 bought this chalk/magnetic board that only needed a little paint. The deal was sweetened even further by the flowers and butterflies. I was quite happy and excited lastnight as I chose paint colors and watched my little board come to life. It hangs now in my craft room and I just wanted to share the final results with you.