Talented Time Travelers in Focus #28

Now let's take a peek at some of the talent shared at last week's party.

Roses are making a strong statement on the decorating scene these days.

And flower-lovin' gals, like me, can't get enough of them.

Be sure to take a look at the many lovely ways Sarah @ Welcome to the gOOd life has used beautiful fabric blooms in her creations.

Don't you just love the way antique furniture is being updated today?

My Creative Escapes gave this old chair a much needed face lift with black paint and bold trendy fabric.

The smallest of details can have a big impact on the overall effect of a decorating project.

As Tiffany @ Little Girl Tiffany Blue put it—referring to her doorknob redo—"even brassy can be classy"!

Sometimes, the choices we are confronted with are all so wonderful, we can't seem to lock into that perfect one.

Ellen @ Abounding Life came up with a number of lovely options for her memory box gift, but couldn't decide which was best, so she asked for our help.

I think they're all winners, Ellen!

Have you ever wanted to see the world?

Well, with Michell's tutorial for this fabulous wall mural, you can—every single day!

Go visit Michell @ Girl in Air for the details.

Jaime @ I'm Just a Mom not a Professional shared this sweet little frame she created.

And her idea comes in plenty of time for us to whip one up for our special Valentine.

Well another fun week has come and gone.

So what have you been up to this week?

Time Travel Thursday #29 - Movin' In A New Direction

"We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories.
Some take us forward, they're called dreams."
~Jeremy Irons~

Welcome to the 29th Time Travel Thursday linky party at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Are you ready to share your fondest memories, grandest dreams,

and most creative projects? Great!

By now, you know that our favorite projects around the cottage

 involve repurposing.  And until recently, the end products were 

almost always for home decorating.

So...

what does an earring have to do with home décor, you might ask? 

The answer...nothing!

For months now...

 the Yankee and I have been doing some major purging

around here and, in so doing, have come across things that were "put away for

future projects"—a very long time ago.

As I started pulling some of these rediscovered items together, 

a theme began to emerge...

repurposed salvage jewelry!

I've had the vintage, brass link-chain necklace above for about fifteen years. 

With such wonderful features—like faceted chains of various types,

 a lobster clasp, and great patina—I'd kept it safely tucked away

 for a very special project.

And the single, silver and turquoise earring—in the first image—had been stored

for at least that many years, as well.

When I posed the idea of pulling my vintage jewelry bits and pieces

together, to create repurposed jewelry—along with some of our

other vintage salvage pieces, like the antique trunk hinge, above—

the Yankee thought it was a great idea.

And being the creative man that he is, he decided to go to work

 on a design all by himself.

So...

with the vintage chain necklace, the single earring, and the hinge in hand, he began

scouring my other boxes of stored treasures

to complete his vision.

Another vintage link chain—separated to create several pieces of varied lengths—

a ball chain from an old lamp pull, a vintage prong-set,

black rhinestone bracelet...

and a few jump rings salvaged from an old belt...

provided him with everything he needed...

AS VIEWED ON A MINIATURE MANNEQUIN

for his very first jewelry creation.

I think he did a fabulous job—especially since he has never made

a single piece of jewelry in his entire life!

After seeing how terrific this piece turned out, we've decided our creativity

may be movin' in a new direction.

Then there would be no need for several barns to store

all the bits and pieces necessary for our projects.

Then again...

the way we hold on to things, it may still take

a barn or two!!!   ; ) 

Linking to these fun parties: 

 Allison's Hookin Up with HoH, Cheri's Party Time,

Diane's 2nd Time Around Tuesday, Gina's Transformation Thursday,

Leigh's Thrifty Thursday, Suzanne's Vintage Thingie Thursday,

Stephanie's Strut Your Stuff Thursday, Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday,

Jane's Marketplace Monday, Bobbie's Check me out Saturdays,

and Susan's Metamorphosis Monday.

Talented Time Travelers in Focus #27

Now let's take a peek at some of the talent shared at last week's party. 

I really like clothing with a classic look, but that might not be the style for you.

Christi @ Between Three Sisters put together a number of attractive ensembles sure to please the diversity of tastes out in the blogosphere.

Be sure to go by and say hi to Christi and her sisters, Beth and Luci.

 

What do you do when you don't have all the supplies needed for that special project you're dying to work on?

You improvise, of course!

And that's exactly what Denise @ Junkdog Design did with her coffee filter (plus some) wreath.

Well that was another fun week of creativity shared.

Now let's take a look at what you've been up to this week.

Time Travel Thursday #28 - Craft Turned Home Décor

CHECK OUT ALL THE DETAILS FOR THE PARTY HERE!

Welcome to the 28th Time Travel Thursday linky party at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Are you ready for our next trip back in time and into the future?

Then let's get this party started!

At the beginning of December of last year, I shared pictures with you of a guest room—from a model home I had worked on back in the 80s.

Then at the end of December, you got to see some of the detailed designs of the master bedroom from that same model.

Over the years, many of the pictures of my past decorating endeavors have disappeared—to who knows where.

 But I found a few more from this particular model and thought I would share them with you.

The floor plan of this small house consisted of three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, and a great room—no separate den or family room.

The fictitious family created to build this home's décor around was a young, newly married, working couple, with no children.

Since there were no children in this scenario, and no separate room for things like TV viewing, one of the bedrooms was designated for that purpose.

A small-scale sectional was placed in the room—on the diagonal—with an armoire directly across from it that housed the television and stereo equipment.

I made the Roman shades and four pillows from a linen fabric that complimented that of the sectional. 

I wanted at least two of the pillows for this space to be a bit more unique than the square ones I had created for the other rooms.

Having sewn since before my son was born, I had accumulated quite a variety of home décor patterns from which to choose my design.

Unfortunately, none of the ones I had on hand provided that special little touch I was looking for.

So I decided to browse through my craft patterns and came upon this.

"Hmmm!  Round pillows would be a novel idea," I thought.

Now remember; this model was decorated almost twenty-four years ago.

So what may seem commonplace to us now—like round pillows—was once a unique idea.

As I began to craft the pillows, I noticed that by filling them only partially and compressing the top and bottom together, the pumpkin pattern—which is what I had chosen to use—took on the shape of a star.

I liked that design even better; and as you saw in the picture above, it's the one I ended up using for the pillows.

While many of you are quite adept at using crafts to decorate your homes in novel ways, some of us had to stumble upon the concept of "crafts as home décor".  ; )

Talented Time Travelers in Focus #26

 

Don't you just love seeing all the creative talent being shared here each week?

I know I do.

For instance, Nan @ You Could Make That created her own apothecary bottles for this fabulous vignette.

Well, she didn't make the actual bottles, but she did create the look of vintage apothecaries. 

Go check out how she did it.

What's your therapy for stress relief?

Tara @ *junkrestore* makes things—like these wonderful pillows on her sofa.

British Colonial style is one of my favorites; I've even used it in one of my past homes.

Lynn @ The Vintage Nest shared her British-Colonial-styled bedroom with us and a little secret about the banana tree you see in the corner.

You'll have to go visit her to learn her secret though.

What are the tricks you use for adding warmth and light to the darkest recesses of your home?

SUNNY SIMPLE LIFE adds cheery candles and charmingly sweet vignettes to brighten her spaces.

Can't you feel the warmth?  ; )

Another great week of creative fun has come and gone.

Now let's take a look at what you've been up to this week.

Time Travel Thursday #27 - Nature's Crystal Cathedral

CHECK OUT ALL THE DETAILS FOR THE PARTY HERE!

Welcome to the 27th Time Travel Thursday linky party at the Brambleberry Cottage.

Are you ready for our next trip back in time and into the future?

Fantastic!  Then let's party on!

Since I don't have a finished project of my own to share this week...

I thought I would share a bit of God's creative handiwork around the farm—from this past weekend. 

On Saturday and Sunday we got several inches of fine, powdery snow—

our fifth snow, in as many weeks.

Now, for those of you who live in regions of the world where snow is commonplace in the winter, you may not find that to be a big deal.

But, in the South, to have had this much snow—so soon in the season—is A BIG DEAL!

Personally, I love snow here around our farm.

Things that might otherwise be missed—like bunny tracks—become highly visible, beautiful additions to the wintery scene.

And the deer—seen around here almost daily—leave definitive signs, in the fresh fallen snow, of their comings and goings.

Which do you think came first, the bunny or the deer? ; )

By the way, did you notice that God uses glitter in His projects, too?

On Monday morning, we woke up to discover that, during the night, ice had covered everything in sight!

The once dull, bare trees now glistened in the sunlight.

The winter grasses—in the field where last year's Valentine soireé was held—looked like crystal wands.

The sumac—at the edge of the forest—had been transformed into woodland chandeliers.

Even the little thicket where the bunnies like to hide had taken on the appearance of an icy palace.

Over the past several days, as I have wandered—totally awe-struck—around our farm and forest...

and have taken in the glorious scene all around me, I've been reminded of the infinite creativity of my Maker.

And I am so thankful that He lets me experience it through things like this marvelous crystal cathedral that He has created on my little farm.

Now show us all the creative endeavors you have to share.  ; )

An Anniversary For Me and Another Giveaway For You!

My, oh my, how time does fly!

On this date—one year ago today—I joined the rank and file of the blogosphere. 

I'd been an avid blog reader for a while—before taking the plunge.

For a long time, I told myself I didn't have time to do a blog justice.

And here I am—a year later—still feeling as though I haven't done my blog justice.

But at least I started and, hopefully, in this new year, will be able to accomplish more of the things I had desired to do during the first year.

Please know that I sincerely appreciate each and every person who has visited, commented, followed along, and become my blogging friend. 

And to show my gratitude, I'm having an anniversary giveaway! 

I'm not quite ready to reveal to you what this giveaway is, but I think you will really like it.  ; )

So keep checking back, to see if I'm right.

Talented Time Travelers in Focus #25

I have so much fun with all the creativity shared at my party each week—

it's really hard to choose just a handful to spotlight.

First up, let me introduce you to Melody @ Mel's Cabin.

She's someone who definitely has cabin fever—and is proud of it.

Be sure to visit this sweet new blogger on the block and say hi. 

Quick!  What's the first plant that comes to mind when you look at these cute felted flowers?

If you said, "Allium," you read my mind.

Alison @ the MODERN COTTAGE company gave us a terrific tutorial for creating these little lovelies.

Winter has barely begun, yet I'll bet there are a number of you already pining for warmer weather.

Hey, I'm right there with you!

It was a delight visiting Sue @ Beach Bungalow and being reminded that greener/warmer days are coming—eventually!!!

Viridian @ Viridian's Blog summed up the beauty above correctly, when she stated that she is not something to be played with—as one would a doll—rather she is something to be admired, as a work of art. 

Each of us have those little things that trigger fond memories of Christmases past.

For Sammi @ A Well-Kept Home, this little gold ornament conjures up wonderful memories of Grandma's house at holiday time.

I love great looking pieces created "on the cheap".

Would you believe that this gorgeous project of Christina's @ Christina's Adventures cost under $3.00?!

Lisa @ Serendipity Chic Design gave us a double dose of creative charm.

Not only did she show us her fabulous cabinet redo, but the cute sign above it was one of her projects, as well.

Lisa lost her entire blog, following—everything—so be sure to read the message she has at the bottom of her blog and heed its warning!

Would you believe me if I told you these fantastic wall décor pieces are handmade?

Would you believe me if I told you they were crafted from paper?!

Visit Suzy @ Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom for a complete tutorial—and believe!

Is your checkbook or pocket calendar cover boring you to tears?

Janelle @ P K Glitz Blog has a creative way to turn the drab to fab.

OK Time Travelers, keep that creativity flowing through the time machine each week.

Now, I'm gonna go see what ya got up your sleeves for this week's party.