Mermaids on the Brain!

Mermaids on the brain. I have a special affinity and love of mermaids. My favorite fairy tale is the real Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson not that sappy sugarzied version by Disney with the happy ending. In the real fairy tale she dies as a sacrifice rather than kill the prince. Anyway I shouldn't get started about that. The real reason I love mermaids is because the mermaids taught me how to swim when I was 5. No I am not insane. We lived 12 miles from Weekie Wachee in Florida. During the daytime the mermaids from the show at the Spring of Live Mermaids taught(as a side job) locals how to swim. We learned in the icy water of the springs. I was always fascinated by the giant conch shell that was sometimes on the beach. I didn't realize that it was from the show. So I love mermaids. Currently I am entered into a mermaid paperdoll swap plus I have just made proto type mermaid paper dolls with my mother for her doll club to try making and I just got a lovely mermaid stamp.

When I was a little older we would go to Webb City Saint Petersburg, Fl the worlds biggest department store. It had a display that was like a giant cave and you could look thru the openings and see what was in it. There was a beach and manequins that were mermaids and pirates. There was a treasure chest with pirates treasure and a voice over of a woman singing and talking. It was very real and exciting to an 8 year old.

I am currently trying to get back into cloth doll making and I hope to make mermaid dolls first. Of the pictured mermaids my mother made the bottom one. I am so proud of her for making stuff with me. I think I like hers best!

Helen, Georgia

Well we're here in lovely Helen, Georgia staying at the Loreley Timeshares. The grounds are beautiful this time of year with lots of green stuff, flowers and geese. We are thrifting a lot and have made some great finds. I am using windows 7 so I don't really know what I am doing with pics but here are a few. The moving valentine and old card came from the Murphy NC flea market yesterday. More to come soon. Happy Spring!

Card Swap

Got my cards from Missy's card swap(see Sidebar) yesterday. They are great. Not a disappointing one in the bunch. Here are a couple of pics. I have been making stuff slowly. I really want to get in there and get to work but life keeps getting in the way. I am going to Helen, Ga to meet my parents on Monday and spend a week of Thrifting and maybe a little crafting. Then Friday we're are moving on to North Carolina to see my daughter the vet(homeless parrot on side bar). Looking forward to a great week. Will post pics of my thrifting finds and perhaps some works of art too. Have a great week!

New Cards

Well I was finally able to stay home ALL DAY! Of course this will be the last day for about a month but I enjoyed it. All the new goodies made me really want to make cards and I did. The owl card was a challenge to use a border punch in a masculine card. I used my Martha Stewart eyelet border. Who'd have thought it would work out? Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

Goodies in the Mail

No this isn't blog candy. It's great stuff and it's all for ME! I got a notice in the mail box that I had a package. I thought it was from the card swap so I was happy about it but when i got to the PO it was a big box that contained these goodies. It was from my wonderful daughter and husband who live far away. I am so thrilled with it. The box is very large and has Hydrangeas and birds on it(love both) and it even had Prima flowers in it. I have been wanting some of these but not able to afford them. It is a great gift and it is all stuff I love. Hope everyone has as happy a day!

Saturday's Vintage Finds

I went to Garage sales and Church sales with my DIL and 2 year old granddaughter. It was a fun day and I found some vintage stuff. I love these Polka dot coffee mugs. I will use them to hold something in my craft room. I have a confession to make. I love cardboard boxes, especially old ones. This pin box has such nice printing, graphics and colors and then it was filled with old beads and earring parts. I also like tins a lot and this blue dutch looking one is very nice. I found a lot of seam binding which works great as ribbon in card and dollmaking. It was a good day. Hope everyone has a good week.

Vintage Finds

Well since according to many bloggers I read it is officially yard sale season. I went to the Library book sale tonight. The hard backs are up to $2 and the paperbacks $1 and whoever priced the special books was out of their mind. They were majorally overpriced. I did find a few gems and plan to go back for fill a bag on Saturday to find books for altering(not that I have ever been able to actually do that to a book!) This children's book has lovely images that i will use. It is from the '50's. The teen book is hilarious. It is called "Here's to you, Miss Teen, Guide to Good Grooming." I love the fact that different sections of it have different colored pages. But the tips about behavior are just funny. I think you can read this page if you click on it and enlarge it. All in all it was a great day. Almost finished with my 10 cards to mail tomorrow. Have a lovely day!