Cottage 6 Studio

Best Wishes

Happy Friday!  The weekend is almost here and the Northeast is starting to warm up a bit.  Still chilly today, but the current forecast for next Thursday is for a high of 51 degrees! Yay!

In the meantime, I have been studying, visiting the chiropractor and making a horrendous mess in my art room.  It is so bad, that I had to do a lot of this banner at the dining room table.  No lie.  Its scary in there.  Who did it and ran.  Know what I mean?

So, one of the yahoo groups that I belong to is called Vintage Bliss.  We make little books, called decos, in vintage themes.  Each one is a round robbin, where all the signers create a page on a given theme.

Once a month, we also have Art Challenges and for this one, we were to create a banner with our Best Wishes for the recipient.

At first I couldn't decide what my wishes would be.  Single words...quotes...sayings?  Then I decided I would have a look through my vintage images and let them tell me what kind of wishes they would be (much better than scrambling to find images for words or sayings I'd already chosen).

The Love and Friendship panel features an adorable image.  And the alphabet set is an old one from Hero Arts.  The dp is actually vintage wallpaper.

Here I used an Artists' Signatures background stamp from Judikins and a scan of one of my favorite old postcards for Inspiration.  The image shows artists selling their work along the Seine, so I continued the Paris theme with an Eiffel Tower stamp and a fleur-de-lis, both from Stampington.  On the bottom I used the Cuttlebug Highlights technique from the TJ newsletter.  The label is from Purple Onion Designs, as are all the labels I used in the banner.

The picture definitely tells the story here.  His laugh is so contagious, you can't help but smile.  Oh, and he's also my dad.  I used a vintage album page scan from Inka Stamps (now Altered Artifacts) to frame the image and embellished the piece with some vintage wallpaper.

Now, I'm sure in its day, this look was very glam, but now, its just silly.  This is a simple panel of designer papers embellished with two bingo markers.

This is another great image.  I've used it before in a gift for my niece when she celebrated her First Communion.  I framed it with another vintage album page image from Inka Stamps.  The background was made using the Distressed Enamel technique by Tim Holtz.  You can find it on his blog, here.

The last panel is very much the same as the first, except for the image, to "frame" the banner.  I thought this was a great image, and since these ladies look so happy doing their yardwork, I thought I would wish Terri joy in those everyday tasks that can sometimes seem like monotonous chores.

There you have it.  I loved this project, it was so much fun to choose the theme for each panel.

Once I get the mess cleared up in the art room I'll be working on some more Valentines.  I'll be back with one of them over the weekend, the other will have to wait until after since SOMEONE reads my blog.  No sneak peaks, Mum!

See you then.

Anna

By The Pricking Of My Thumbs

Just in time for Halloween, its another spoooky wall hanging.

All of the stamps are from Oxford Impressions' Wicked Collection.  This idea has been kicking around in my head for a while now.  It was especially easy because this great cardstock from The Paper Cut comes just this way (minus the red, of course) and didn't have to be aged at all.

I almost ruined it.  I was filling in some areas around the edge that the ink pad I used didn't reach using a Sharpie.  I lost control of the marker and left a nice swipe by the bottom.  Thank goodness I had this Dresden trim in my stash!

It didn't sell at the fair we did this weekend, so it may become part of my own decor for the season.

Do you decorate for Halloween?  Do you use store-bought decorations or do you make your own?

I use a combination.

Be sure to pop in later this week, I'll be showing off a few vignettes around the apartment.

See you tomorrow.

Anna

Good Morning, Pumpkin!

Hi there.

Before I begin a day of dog walking, church going and housework, I thought I would pop in to post one of the wall hangings that I made Friday.

I've used one of my favorite pieces of ephemera (a scan of it), this beautiful vintage fruit crate label.

If this piece looks slightly familiar, I made an A2 size card like this a couple of months ago and liked it so much, that I decided to morph it into a wall hanging.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will be back tomorrow.

Anna

What I've Been Up To

When I decided to open Milestones and Miracles on Etsy, I knew that I didn't want this blog to become just an advertisement for the store, and I still feel that way.

That said, unless you want to hear about my housework, errands, or homework, that is really all I have been up to the last few days.

I've been reworking my wall hangings because of problems with the seam binding.

I replaced the jewelry findings and seam binding with fibers and I like them both much better now!

I also did some detail work on some hangings I haven't photographed yet.

And I completed some cards for the shop.

(Woman's pocket watch from Scrolls Work Rubber Stamps, sentiment custom made for me.)

I used this week's sketch over at Splitcoaststampers.

(Sentiment by Stampers Anonymous, map (on the blue paper) by Just for Fun.)

I reworked an old card using an image from my grandfather's photo album for this one.

You wouldn't believe how long this one took me, unless you're a cardmaker and then you know how it goes.  A very simple layout and very unlike the idea that I started out with, a little cursing and hair pulling along the way, but a simple and effective result.

So, there you go, that's what I've been up to the last few days.

I'll see you again tomorrow.

Anna