Merry Christmas and Happy NEW Year

Merry Christmas and Happy NEW Year

I have missed connecting with you on Etsy and here as I have been recovering from knee replacement surgery.  My daughter, Colette, had updated her blog and posted about some of the Christmas ornaments I made for her.  I hope you enjoy her blog and I hope to be back crafting and connecting soon!

Happy New Year!

Sally

http://ewe-scrap.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving to all

and for my loyal followers, I have a special digital download sale at sssstudio.etsy. Buy 2 digital downloads and get 2 FREE, of equal or lesser value.

When you order 2 digital downloads, type in the 2 free downloads, (of equal or lesser value) in the comment section so you will only be charged for two but will receive 4.

Give your Christmas season a jump start by downloading all your tags and gifts.

(This offer ended Monday Noember 28th - please see the FREE Angel Card offer below)

Angel Card Giveaway

Three holiday cards with handmade angels, paper pieced. Highlighted with squiggles, chalk and a vintage shell button. Use two cards to giveaway and save one for yourself.


The inside is left blank for you to write your own message: Merry Christmas, Thanks, you're an Angel or one of your own choosing.


Each card measure 5" x 6 1/2" and comes with a matching envelope.


Leave a message in the comment section and one winner will be chosen December 7th.

Christmas Angel Pattern

Angels abound at Christmas time but really are all around us all the time.
This Angel can be made from pattern paper or stabilized cloth. She can be used as an ornament or on a scrapbook page, card or tag.

Click on the pattern and save to your computer. Open from your computer and size however you would like. Print and have fun with the Angel.

Be an Angel and don't sell the printed pattern. (c)Sally Swift 2011

Glad tidings to you all,

Holiday Craft Tutorial

DIRECTIONS FOR NAPKIN RINGS:
Fold napkin ring paper or card-stock, wrong sides together.
Open folds, using glue stick, glue entire wrong side area.
Fold on fold lines. Press out any air bubbles.
Roll short ends together and glue overlapping ends using tacky glue. Clip, using paper clips or clothes pins, until dry.
Burnish edges with Distress ink.
For extra strength and protection, cover with Mod-Podge.
Add Harvest or Christmas Acorns with hot glue.
Tie ribbon in small bow and hot glue to top of acorns.

DIRECTIONS FOR ACORNS:
A. Cut fabric circles 1 1/2" in diameter. Using double thread and needle, Baste around edge of fabric. Pull thread a little to draw up circle.
Put a fiber fill ball into fabric circle.
B. Pull threads tightly and knot thread, clip thread.
C. Using hot glue gun, glue ball into acorn cap. Add button on top of bow if desired.
Repeat for all Acorns.

If you don't have a supply of acorns in your area, I sell them on my Etsy Shop: Alll Things Homey.
You can send me a message telling me what you need and I will make a custom order just for you.
I also have in my shop other items made from the stuffed acorns that might give you some decorating ideas.

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving to you and all that you are thankful for.

Sally

GOD'S BOUNTY - in unexpected places...

Sometimes God's blessings are right in our own backyard, or in my case, in the park across the street. Last fall, with two of my grandchildren's help, we picked loads of acorn caps. I listed them on my Etsy shop, not knowing if anybody would want them, but not only have I sold over 400 acorn caps, they were mailed in my Michael's boxes (see below). How cool is that.
TIP: HOW TO USE ACORN CAPS: Mine have small calico fabric circles, gathered and stuffed with fibre fill, then glued into the caps. Use to decorate. They are adorable just sitting in a glass bowl or basket. Decorate the base of a candle or a small wreath. If you are not a do-it-your-selfer, you can purchase some ready made from All Things Homey.

Most of the mailing I do for my Etsy Shops are small and fit in a mailing envelope but I hoped the day would come when I would need to mail larger items in BOXES. That would add expense for my buyers that I did not want to add.

One day, a few weeks or so ago, I was shopping at Michaels when I spied a buggy full of empty boxes! I had come on a day when they were stocking merchandise. I filled my buggy with their buggy full of small and medium boxes. Yeh, thank you Lord. The timing was perfect because within a week I had orders for my acorn caps and they were mailed in my 'Michael's' boxes. How cool is that.
Thanks for taking a look and Happy Fall to you all, Sally

Free ' To Do List' revised

The holidays are rapidly approching. It seems like there is so much to do that I can't remember what I was going to work on today.
Oh yes, I was going to post a free To Do List on All Things Homey.

Click on image-save to computer-print
Make a List and check it twice. Be sure you ADD a day to shop at my Etsy shops:
sssStudio
AllThingsHomey
Treasures4Ewe
Happy Listing, Sally

God Bless America

I was in my car when I first heard the news on the radio. I immediately turned around, went home and turned on the TV in time to watch the second plane hit the second tower. It was SO hard to believe this was actually happening.
The images of 9-11 are burned, forever, in my mind and heart. Shock. Disbelief. Shock again. Praying. Praying. Praying. God help those people. Lord have mercy. Shock after Shock.
Truly 9-11 was another turning point for America. We ALL came together. We turned to God - but didn't stay there. Good Lord, deliver us.

This is a scrapbook page I did for my daughter who lived in Texas on 9-11. Her boys, then 3 and 5 held up the days newspaper...which I still have along with Magazines and 1st anniversary publications.

Share your 9/11 rememberances in the 'comments'.

FREE Candy Corn Paper Piecing Pattern

Candy Corn speaks of Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I have designed a paper pieced Candy Corn for you to use on your Scrapbook pages, Cards or Tags.
The top piece (white) slightly overlaps the middle piece (yellow). The bottom piece (orange) slightly overlaps the middle piece.
The center oval can be cut out of the middle piece or you can use it as a pattern to cut out your photo, then glue to the middle secion.
I have brushed the edges of each piece with Distress Ink but it could be highlighted with chalk.
I used the smaller Candy Corn for the Card and the Tag.

Right Click on Pattern and save to your computer. Open and print.
This post was featured on www.thestuffofsuccess.com

Please check out my new Etsy Shop for additional Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving designs.
'Follow' this blog for creative, inspiring and fun ideas.

ENJOY,
Sally Swift

Free Set of 6 School Tags OFFER EXPIRED

Set of 6 custom designed Back to School Tags for all your school scrapbook pages, greeting cards or gift tags. (Offer Expired)

Each tag is 2 1/2" x 3 3/4". The sample on the left is to show the black
board background on the tags.

These images are the copyright property of Sally Swift. They may not be reproduced for resale, file sharing or adding to another collection for resale. Printed sheets may not be sold.

Check out my other Custom Designed Digital Download Tags at www.sssstudio.etsy.com.

1929 Paper Doll Dressed Up in 3-D

Vintage Image Craft hosted a Paper Doll Party Creative Challenge in July.
They posted several vintage paper dolls on their Facebook page that could be downloaded and used in their contest. I choose Dolly Dingle from the June 27th posting.

Techniques: I printed three images of the paper doll and cut them so I would have a finished 3-D doll. Her legs are cut apart and layered. The left side of her hair is also layered and her arm is layered.

I used one of the arms as a second arm holding a bouquet of roses. I cut a pink cardstock skirt and layered it with wired sheer ribbon. The bodice is vintage lace, gathered. The belt is crushed vintage velvet ribbon. The bouquet is a gathered piece of vintage lace as the background, then gluing tiny ribbon flowers. A ribbon flower is on her hair. A pink ribbon hangs from her dress and from the bouquet.

TIP:If using wired ribbon for the skirt, make small pleats in the ribbon instead of gathering it and it will lay flatter. I used Tacky glue to glue the pleats down as I folded them.

The completed doll is then adhered to the frame background with pop dots. I painted the 3-D picture frame white. The doll is 7 inches tall and is in a frame 8x10.

My entry won 2nd prize which is a E Book: Ten Vintage Christmas Greetings to Make.

There are many sites that offer free downloadable paper dolls. Just enter Paper Dolls into Google search.

I have loved and collected paper dolls since childhood. The oldest paper doll is from 1944 and is from the funny papers. I have over 200 saved from the funny papers. I also have over 50 regular paper dolls from the 1940s, including a child Margaret Obrien and Rita Hayworth. (Anybody remember those?) I cut out all of these paper dolls and have saved them through these 60+ years. Still fun to get out and look at.

Happy Independence Day

God Bless America

Aussie Magazine Features my Button Cards

A few weeks ago I received an email from Tamar Bostock who is a writer for a new craft magazine being published in Australia to debut July 1st.
She asked if she could used my Digital Vintage Button Cards from my Etsy shop in an article she was writing about buttons. Of course she had permission!

Today I received the inagural issue of etzceteramagazine which can be read via the internet. It is a beautifully done magazine and full of crafty ideas and articles. I read the 40 page magazine cover to cover.

She gave me full credit for the cards along with the web address of my Etsy shop where they could go to and buy some. http://www.allthingshomey.etsy.com/
I don't have a clue how she found my button cards out of the millions of items listed on Etsy but I thank God that she did and has given my shop this exposure.

Please give yourself a treat and take a look at this magazine.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE....

They say...Do what you love...(whoever 'they' is)
And that is what I have been doing for the past week or so. I don't know why I love making tags, but it's just plain fun. Can't wait to make the next set.

Each tag in the photo is only one of a set of at least 4 and the vintage Santa set has 12 different Santas. They were my first set and that got my juices flowing.
I want to thank www.alteredartfun.blogspot.com for the circus images. Her blog has hundreds of vintage images which she so generously shares.
When I get a bit tired of making these tags, I will post them in my shop:
www.sssstudio.etsy.com. I will be offering them as finished tags as well as digital downloads.
...back to the drawing board...

A beautifull BIG mushroom

This beautiful BIG mushroom was found growing behind my shrubs against my garage. It was 7 inches across the top.
It took some doing but my 10 yr old grandson, Emmett, laid down on the ground and snapped this photo, which I have not cropped or retouched in anyway. It is such a beautiful picture that I am reminded of all the Photography Prints that are sold on Etsy. None are more beautiful than this.

Just wanted to share this with you...Have a Blessed day.

Two wasn't enough - I now have 3 Etsy Shops

I have recently resurrected my handmade calligraphy designs. It didn't seem appropriate to list them on my other two Etsy shops (allthingshhomey and treasures4ewe) so what else to do but open a third shop.

ANNOUNCING;

I learned to do calligraphy over 40 years ago and I have loved it ever since. I have even taught calligraphy classes but doing so was a bit frustrating because most of the students came expecting to be able to address wedding invitations after a two hour class.
In all the classes I have taught, I have noted that my best 'natural' calligraphers were male. In fact most of the best instructors are men.
Still, I love doing it and sharing an art that seems to be dying out.
Below are some samples of what you will find on http://www.sssstudio.etsy.com

The calligraphy is a print of my original. In the Serenity Prayer, I hand illuminated the print with watercolor. In the two smaller prints, I have added hearts cut from an antique quilt and hand sewn the edges. I encourage special orders: Quotes, colors, mat colors, etc.

Take a look, and as always, comment deeply appreciated. http://www.sssstudio.etsy.com

Button, Button; Who has the Button?

A hundred years ago, my mother played this button game, with her 5 sisters, as a small child.
I think I must have loved buttons ever since my mother taught me this game.
I love going to estate saless, yard sales and thrift stores where I have found and added many buttons to my collection.

I keep a lot of my buttons in jars, seperated by color. Of course the white Mother-of-Pearl buttons go in al old milk bottle.

Buttons are so versitle and can be used in all kinds of crafts as well as handy to have when your favorite blouse loses a button.

At my grandaughter's ninth birthday, the girls made button rings, (from my stash of buttons of course.)

I have many buttons on their original cards...too cute to remove the buttons. I keep some of those in a big jar also. I do have buttons, carded buttons, and crafts with buttons in my etsy shop: http://www.allthingshomey.etsy.com

AND THE WINNER IS....

And the winner of the Handmade Zipper Flower is RHONDA KOEBEL

As you can see by the photo above of my grandaughter Elise, the drawing was completely random! Rhonda if you will email (ssswift@juno.com) me your snail mail address, I will put the Zipper Flower in the mail straight away.

NOTE: My sister Etsy shop is currently having a summer sale of 20% OFF. Check it out at: http://www,treasures4ewe.etsy.com

Daughter Emily has a friend who has a friend that lives in Gainesville, FL. This friend of a friend told her friend about a large commercial Blueberry field that opens to public pickin' after the migrant farmers leave for South Carolina.
Last Monday, Emily, Elise (6) and Emmett (10) amd I drove 2 hours to 'glean' blueberries and peaches. We spent a little over two hours pickin' before heading our two hours back home. What fun we had...and what a haul we made.
The field of blueberries was 1/4 mile wide by 1/2 mile long and the bushes had loads of berries waiting to be picked.

The peach trees were at the west end of the field. There were only about 12 trees and they were loaded with fruit...yellow peaches as well as white peaches. They were small, about the size of an apricot but so juicy and sweet, especially the white peaches.

Once home - what to do with ALL this fruit. I filled 5 quart containers with blueberries to give away and still had as many berries left. I also gave away a large bag of peaches. The next project was to make some peach perserves. The peaches were so juicy that the preserves have a bit more syrup than intended but don't they look yummy? This morning I needed sryup for the grandchildren's eggos, so I whipped up a small batch of blueberry syrup. Um-m, so delicious.

Lord, bless the owners of this field for allowing 'gleaners' to come in. Amen

1940s Dress Patterns

Sixteen years ago, While living in Indiana, I went to a small town yard sale. It was about 20 miles out in the country but I think almost every home in that small town was having a yard sale. What fun I had. The only thing I remember buying is a bag of about a dozen 1940s dress patterns. I love the 1940s style even though I was only a child then. In the intervening years and moving a couple of times, I lost track of where I had put these vintage patterns.
A few weeks ago, while cleaning up in the garage and going through storage boxes, I found that bag of patterns.
Wow, they are cuter than ever. In preparing these patterns to list on Etsy, I found out that the pattern pieces were machine cut without any markings. Complete, illustrated instructions were given so you would know what to do with the pattern pieces. I'm glad they don't do that anymore. A pattern size 18 had a 36" bust which today's patterns would be a size 12.
In researching 1940s dress patterns, I learned that one of my favorite patterns was actually a rare pattern and worth almost $40.00. It is the Betty Grable Hollywood dress pattern. It is now listed on my etsy shop.
http://www.allthingshomey.etsy.com

Zipped up Flowers

Why would anyone have a gallon jar full of old zippers, you might say?
Over twenty years ago one of my mine and my mother's favorite Bargain stores was going out of business.
One of the many items for sale were zippers. (They weren't old then). And they were 5 cents a piece.
Well, I am my mother's daughter and I can't resist a bargain. My mind starts calculating - 5 cents a piece - 20 zippers for $1.00. Now that's a bargain I can't refuse.
For over 20 years I have enjoyed my gallon jar with it's colorful zippers waiting patiently for a project.
THEN, I saw a zipper flower somewhere on the internet and HAD to make one. I typed in Zipper Flower Tutorial, on Utube and learned how to do just that.
The photo with the small coin purse has a detachable zipper flower that can be worn as a pin, and is for sale on my other Etsy shop: http://www.treasures4ewe.etsy.com

Would you like to win a zipper flower made just for you? Click on my 'FOLLOW' button before the end of May and I will select, randomly, a winner to be announced by June 4th.

All Nature Praises The LORD

For over 10 years I have looked forward to the coming of Easter when I find evidence of nature praising God. The new growth of a particular pine tree, in Florida, shows it's praise in the form of crosses at the tips of each branch. It makes my heart want to join them in Praising the God who made all.
I have never been able to get close enough to take a picture. These are tall pine trees. This year I found some, not too tall, and I borrowed my daughter's camera and her son and we went picture taking. John-Thomas did an awesome job taking the picture in the above page. Then he selected the background paper and I did the rest of the page.
One of my favorite pages because it has been simmering in my heart for over 10 years. I hope you enjoy it.
Easter is all about new life. The new life that Jesus gives us through His blood shed on the cross and through our acceptence of his sacrifice to cover our sins.
New Life comes through the crosses on pine trees and also comes from chicks pecking out of their eggs. I have been decorating eggs at Easter for over 50 years. Two of the quail eggs on my tree are 50 years old. Some are over 40 years old and some are just days old.
Happy Resurrection Day to all.

Time to Decorate The Tree...

Time to decorate the tree? It's not December!

Decorating the Eeaster Tree is a tradition in my family for almost 50 years. In 1973, we were living in Chattanooga and I was selling my Mini Easter Trees at a local art and craft shop. From their connection, I was featured in a full page story in the local Chattanooga Free Press newspaper.

This year, my granddaughter Elise helped me decorate the tree, something she has been waiting to do for almost three weeks.

A couple of the eggs on the tree are 50 years old. Most of the ones from the 1973 tree have broken through several moves. Even though I cherish the old ones, I always enjoy making new ones each year.
This year I have 6 real quail eggs that I have glittered and decorated. They are listed in my etsy Shop: http://www.allthingshomey.etsy.com