The Junk Curse

These diamonds in the rough were 75% off at St. Vinnie’s – a mere $2.25 each. Is it a gift or a curse that I can see bunches of potential in these? -- Beth

Note from Lisa: Both!

Perfect Mail Day

Don’t you love it when your friends have really nice friends, and then they become your friends as well? I’ve known bj for a while now, and therefore I have known Tasha for almost as long. The only trouble is Tasha lives in Georgia, so I don’t get to visit with her very often. She was in Seattle visiting bj during that hot week of ours, and they ventured north to have lunch with show and tell at my house. We had a lively visit, and before you know it, Tasha found out how much I adore vintage rosaries.

Well lucky, lucky me! This is what I received today – 12 rosaries and their memorable story. Tasha’s father-in-law practiced dentistry for nearly 50 years, and always took care of the nuns from the local parochial schools without charging a fee. In return, he received lots of free passes to Sunday pancake breakfasts, afghans the sisters knitted and rosaries.

The story is sweet, and this gift is so appreciated.

Altered Christmas Cards Workshop

Here's another sneak peek at an upcoming workshop scheduled for October 24 - Altered Christmas Cards. I'm sharing my stash of vintage holiday cards.

The hardest part will be selecting the three cards for your stamping, gluing and glittering! We'll have pom pom fringe, sequins, German glass glitter, Dresden gold snippets and way more for you to embellish each card. Attach hangers of pipe cleaners, ribbon or bendy metallic stuff, and you'll be leaving with three special decorations or gifts for giving. This workshop will be held at Bountiful Home in Edmonds. To register, please call Lisa at 425-330-5425.

Felted Ornament Workshop

I was crabby the day I shrunk my favorite turquoise sweater. Too bad I didn't know then, that it gave its' life to become a felted ornament sample for an upcoming workshop on October 3. We'll be hosting this workshop at Bountiful Home in Edmonds. All sorts of goodies will be waiting for you to use to make three ornaments that morning.

I LOVE the little house I made.

Lisa LOVES the bird she made.

And we hope you will have as good a time as we did making these samples!

Visit our website for registration information.

Introducing our Vendor Night Vendors

We are buzzing around preparing for our all-day Art Party event on September 19. There are goodie bags to pack, decorations to make, kits to compile.

But we aren't the only ones getting ready: we have a fun list of artists participating in Vendor Night. Here is who we have so far and website information for them so you can get a glimpse of some of the treasures they will be bringing for you.

Lyneen Jesse

http://dreamingofcastles.blogspot.com

Ephemera: paper, postcards, small items to use in altered projects plus cards.

Cindi Powell

Lovely jewelry using vintage components.

Cathy Mitchell

http://mudbaymusings.blogspot.com

Caroline Chastain

Jewelry and good stuff!

Joanne Cooney

Snow people and other fun items.

Sherri Robbins

www.ArtHouseMosaicStudio.com

Mosaics, garden totems, mirrors

Candy Pasion

Fun colors make up her art; from paper to charms.

Andrea Savar

www.french-flea-market.com; www.andreasavar.com

Found objects, French ephemera, old charms, beads, button from France, maybe even some of her jewelry.

Beth & Lisa

www.thesalvagestudio.com

We will have our usual fine collection of vintage ephemera along with some of our own jewelry made from vintage components.

Cindy Pestka

http://artgirl-island.blogspot.com/

Fun and fabulous, Cindy has it going on. She will have packs of ‘stuff’ and some of her own creations.

We still have openings for the Art Party. Click here for more information and registration forms. And you don't have to attend the Art Party to attend Vendor Night...Vendor Night is free and runs from 5:30 - 7pm on Saturday, September 19 at ArtWorks, 201 2nd Ave, Edmonds WA. And if you are interested in being a vendor, cost is $25 for non-attendees. Just give us a hollar.

Cousin Joe's Furniture

Last Sunday, was road trip day. Our youngest son Morgan, was spending a long weekend with us. We headed to Cashmere, over Steven's Pass, to visit Aunt Jean, soon to be 90 years old. The scenery was spectacular, and we found Aunt Jean in fine form! She lives with my cousin Joe and his family.

Joe has always been artist, and his current passion is creating furniture.

I loved how the glass follows the shape of the wood.

We had a tasty lunch at this table. It is a magnificent set! They loaded us up with a box of bounty from their garden, freshly canned pickles, and my favorite - a big jar of Joe's salsa. We all agreed, it was the perfect day.

Charm Swap -- a la Black and White

Last Saturday, Lisa and I hosted two groups of charm swappers at my home. IT WAS A BLAST! First of all – it was tons of fun to hang out with our customer friends, and second – I received this heap of fabulous charms! The way it works is you bring 25 handmade charms, and trade with everyone in the group. Each swapper has a chance to share the story behind their creation, and then we can ask them questions like “how the heck did you get this to stick to that?”

Here’s some action shots of the charm happiness.