You're Invited.

The first Market Day of 2012 is next Saturday.  May 5.  Just a week away!  I am so excited.   This is the day I look forward to from about say, oh, the end of December, as soon as craft shows are over for the year.  Yes, it is that much fun.  You should come.  We will be back at the Kirkwood Building again this year.  Market Day opens at 9:00 a.m.  Free admission.  So much handmade goodness.  You can check out a vendor preview on facebook, just search for Market Day Iowa.  Some of my crafty friends who will also be at Market Day include: Pajama Love, Dank Artistry, Bean and the Sprout, Jbirdstitch, Big Button Archive, Mimibird, daniAWESOME, and Purple Pincushion.  Just to name a few.  You can find most of those folks on etsy, by the way.  Can't wait to see what everyone has been making.  You're invited!  It's a perfect opportunity to get something unique for yourself.  Or to find an awesome Mother's Day gift.  And to support local artists, crafters, and vintage dealers.  We hope you will come check us out. 

These are a few of my favorite things....

Hello, my name is Daphne and I am a magazine-aholic.  A magazine junkie.  There, I've said it.  I have admitted I have a problem. 

These are just a few of the magazines currently floating around the house...magazines have a way of ending up everywhere I go: the living room, the kitchen, the family room, the studio, my vehicle, and the numerous tote bags and reusable shopping bags I take with me as I go about my days.  (Notice I didn't mention the bathroom.  I've never been a bathroom reader.  It doesn't make sense to me.  I certainly wouldn't want to risk one of my favorite fifteen-dollar magazines getting wet!)

I love, love, love magazines.  They are such a great source of inspiration.  I have discovered lots of wonderful artists and crafters and tons of ideas that I want to try myself from magazines.  I love art and craft magazines; Somerset Studio and Cloth, Paper, Scissors are two faves.  I love scrapbook magazines; last year, I decided to part with most of my rather large collection of scrapbook mags and honestly, it was like deciding which arm I would want to cut off.  But I was determined to de-clutter and somehow, I mustered up the strength to do it.  Of course, then I went out and promptly bought some more magazines, since I had all those empty drawers to fill. 

My new favorite magazine obsession is all the flea-market themed magazines that have suddenly appeared on the newsstands.  Flea Market Style is one I like.  I have been a junker for a long time, before it became the cool thing to do, many years before there were magazines about cool "junk."  I love seeing what people do with their junk: how they incorporate it into their homes and how they create something new out of something old.  Naturally I love that, as I spend lots of time making new stuff out of old stuff myself. 

The magazines also help me justify my purchases and ever-growing collections of stuff to the stuff police person (aka the husband) when he thinks I've got too much of something.  Seeing pictures in magazines of someone who has thousands of rubber stamps or hundreds of vintage printer drawers makes me look a little bit less like a hoarder.  I only have three vintage printer drawers at present and far, far less than a thousand rubber stamps.  I've got a long way to go. 

Speaking of junk, I am really looking forward to a bit of browsing through junk and junk creations this weekend at the second annual Junk Jubilee show at the fairgrounds.  Not sure how I missed this show last year, but you can bet I won't miss it again!  If you want to check it out, head over to the state fairgrounds on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  You can get more info at www.junkjubilee.com. 

Is This Heaven? No, it's the book sale!

Twice a year, spring and fall, finds me at the Planned Parenthood book sale over at the fairgrounds.  It is truly my idea of heaven--and judging from the line when the sale opened on Thursday afternoon, it's heaven for quite a few others as well!  I arrived five minutes before opening and there were probably a couple hundred people ahead of me.  Luckily the volunteers moved the line through the doors very quickly and I made a beeline for the vintage section first.  Scored some truly awesome books, a few that I have been looking for.  When this happens I know that karma is working for me.  I tried to be courteous and not pushy in my attempts to look through the books. I confess to being a bit greedy when it comes to getting my hands on old books to turn into journals.  Because every book sale, there's a little bit less to choose from, although of course there are still plenty of treasures. I am very happy with all my finds and have already got a new batch of journals underway. 

Friday afternoon I returned to the book sale to work a volunteer shift and had a great time doing that as well.  It is interesting to see what other folks are buying.  I've volunteered at the book sale before and will definitely do so again.  I am a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and am glad to be able to make a small contribution by volunteering.  Because without the book sale, I wouldn't have access to so many great old books all under one roof.  And Planned Parenthood gives access to so many important services that many folks might not be able to afford. 

Today is Sunday, so that  means that everything is half off at the book sale....and tomorrow, everything will be 75% off.  There will still be some great stuff left, so I will probably have to shop again.  You should, too! 

Market Day preview: Fancy Nancys

A week ago I shipped a box full of journals to White Rabbit Gallery in Iowa City (you should definitely check it out when you're in I.C., you can find it at 109 South Linn or online at www.whiterabbitgallery.com.  It's a haven of handmade goodness.), which depleted most of my inventory, so I've been busy making more this week.  With the first Market Day coming up on May 5, I will stay busy. 

I have made a lot of Nancy Notebooks in the past three years.  They were one of the first things I made when I started making journals back in 2009, and I still love making them.  Because I love Nancy Drew.  I have loved her for about thirty years.  When I was about seven years old or so, my mom used to drop me off at the public library in Knoxville so she could grocery shop in peace.  That probably sounds like bad parenting, but it really wasn't.  For one thing, way back then, in a small town, it was totally safe to leave an exceptionally well-behaved 7-year-old such as myself alone at the library.  And it was totally okay with the children's librarian, Miss Viner, who was always able to tell my mother that I sat and read quietly the entire time.  True story! 

The Nancy Drew books were, as I recall, on the bottom shelf.  The Knoxville library had an excellent children's collection, so I was able to read my way through most of the Nancys.  They were the older editions, with the blue tweed covers, rather than the picture covers, which is what I like to use to make journals.  I adore the picture-cover Nancys.  Nancy is always smartly dressed and ready for any adventure.  She knows how to fly a plane, change a flat, and she always looks good doing it.  Is it any wonder that my main career aspiration as a child was to be a detective? 

But I digress (actually, I do that often, and well!).  Here are a couple of Nancys I just finished up.  I love using velvet paper whenever possible.  I'm a tactile person and velvet paper just can't be beat. 

I've probably made at least a dozen journals from various editions of The Secret of the Old Clock.  I think the cover with Nancy in the green dress is my favorite, because then I can use this awesome green velvet paper for the inside covers:

I remembered these ledger envelopes that I've had and it occurred to me that it would make a sweet little pocket for this journal.  And it did. 

Here's the inside of the Crooked Bannister journal.  I love the bright pink cover and the fact that it has a robot on the cover as well.  And I love the velvet and metallic floral paper inside:

This journal has two pockets, on in the front and one in the back. 

My photos don't do the papers justice, but you get the idea.  I am really looking forward to the Planned Parenthood book sale next week to see what Nancys I can get my hands on. 

Brave Little Owl

I finished this small collage yesterday.  It's a 6 x 6 canvas. This was my first go-round with a staple gun and I'm happy to say, I got the staples where I wanted them and did not sustain any injuries!

I love the mini rulers from 7 Gypsies.  In fact, I generally love 7 Gypsies products. 

But my favorite part of this piece is the little owl.  I found him at the monthly flea market held at the fairgrounds last month.  I'd stopped by in search of owls and actually found two of them, plus this nice big green flower pin.  I added the little crown (by Tim Holtz idea-ology). 

The little gold owl went on another collage that I sold on Saturday at Sycamore Craft Market.  I can't wait to use the green flower. 

Happy April!

April started out wonderfully: our thermometer showed a high temperature of 88 degrees yesterday! We spent most of it outside, playing, washing vehicles the old-fashioned way, and finished off the day with a nice long bike ride.  It was Jacob's first time riding on the bike trail at Gray's Lake here in Des Moines and he did great.  As for me, it was much more fun to ride with him than to push him up hills and then chase him down hills. 

I was gone all day Saturday at Sycamore Craft Market in Iowa City (had a great time, and thanks to Jody & Jason for creating and hosting this event!) so yesterday I put together our April calendar layout in record time by grabbing a few supplies from my stash and sticking it all together. 

Once again, I used one of Jacob's many paintings for the background.  He's a very prolific "paint artist."  The measuring-tape trim on the bottom is by Webster's Pages, the "play" ticket is Tim Holtz idea-ology, and the "Grow" bingo card is from Jenni Bowlin Studios a couple years back.  I've had the flowers in my collection so long that I have no idea what brand they are.  I stuck it all together and got the page done.  Easy peasy. 

I wanted to include a picture of Jacob and the tulips in the yard, because he was so excited when they bloomed last week.  I can't take any credit for the tulips; they came with our house when we moved here almost five years ago.  The fact that I didn't plant them is probably why they continue to bloom every year. 
We are so enjoying this early spring that we've got.  I wanted our April calendar to be bright and colorful as well, just like the tulips. 
Now we're off on another bike ride.  Enjoy your day!