1-29-11: Stevie's Birthday - Presents

To make the little Huckleberry photo frame flair I cut a Polaroid I had taken with my SX-70 to fit in the sticker frame (which was from a scrapbooking sticker pack I've had for years). The wood grain gift tag is contact paper applied to a manila folder scrap.

For this present I tucked a paper frame (SX-70 image size) I made with a Polaroid of our dog Buddy under the plaid ribbon. The paper for the frame is a hi-lo mix of thrifted manila folder and fancy handmade paper from the art supply store. I also used vintage photo corners, rubber stamp letters and a color photocopy of an antique label.

This really was a fragile glass gift - I have a huge packet of those vintage mailing stickers which are not only practical but look good too! The guinea pig gift tag was from the same educational set as the clowns for the banner. I stamped him with my typewriter letter, isn't he the cutest? I love his widdle feet and kooky hair.

The portraits of our dogs Buddy & Huckleberry were wrapped in the guinea pig tag package. Aren't they handsome in their little yellow bows? Did you know you can order prints from Snapfish and pick them up at your local Walgreen's usually within an hour? It is genius! The document frames are from K-Mart - $15.99 each.

A wind-up birthday robot from my parents to Stevie. Clearly it is going to steal our prescription medications for fuel! Beep-beep-boop!

1-29-11: Stevie's Birthday - Cake

Stevie's birthday cake - a "Big Baby" vegan German Chocolate cake from Fair Grounds. http://fairgroundscoffeehouse.com/

 The cake was lovely on its own, however to add some festivity and a personal touch I added these vintage floating clown heads and plastic candle holders. 

Big Baby German placed safely out of harms (dogs) way awaiting the after dinner gobbling.

The Birthday Boy! 

 Clown head and cake mouth massacre!

Clown Birthday Banner (Easy "How To" Included)

Stencil word banners are one of my favorite things to make - they just add so much whimsy to any occasion! When I saw this clown themed photographic educational card series at Artifacts (only 50 cents each!) I knew I had to make a clown themed banner for Stevie's birthday. (Yes, it's a tad J.W.G Jr)

1. Choose a stencil set in the size of your choice and trace the needed letters. I used my 5" set here but how darling would a mini banner be? 

2. Carefully cut out letters on an appropriate surface such as a self-healing mat or a piece of old cardboard. My preferred tool for cutting is an Exact-O knife, although small paper scissors work too.

3. Punch two holes in the top of each letter or flag and string in reverse order with ribbon, twine, etc. Helpful hint: leave your self extra length for hanging.

4. Hang banner and arrange letters evenly. 

5. Enjoy!

1-27-11: An Evening With A Little Gentleman

Allow me to introduce local celebrity and dog-about-town Mister E. Dog. Mister Dog is a very handsome chihuahua/corgi mix and very much the little gentleman. Above he is shown appreciating some calming Mozart while visiting Thursday eve. 

Polaroid Land Camera Model 95A + Accessories

Here is the latest addition to my Polaroid camera collection! It is a Speedliner Land Camera Model 95A. This version was made between 1954 and 1957. This camera is a real beauty and in almost mint condition. The camera case is a leather embossed to look like ostrich - very fancy!

The camera and all of these instructional manuals and accessories came in a brown leather Polaroid "Master Case". Originally the case and the other accessories were sold separately.

Polaroid Filter Kit #541 - "exciting special effects with clouds, reflections, distant scenery."

Close-Up Lens Kit #540 - "Built-in steel measuring tape gives correct adjustments for camera focus and lens attachment."

Polaroid - G.E. Exposure Meter, PR-22 - "Compact photoelectric meter makes correct exposure simple and certain."

Various instructional, informative pamphlets including How To Make Good Pictures with your Polaroid Speedliner Land Camera Model 95A" were I got the info quoted above. Sadly the Flash Gun is missing from the set - I'll have to look for a replacement.

There are conversions to allow use of 120 film for this model which I will be researching. I saw one that used Legos! Do any of you readers have any advice on converting to a 120 format?

Paper Photo Frame: SX-70 Template

Oh my goodness! If I ever get this SX-70 Polaroid instant photo paper frame perfected it will be a modern miracle/feat of crafting endurance. Don't you think the frames could be so darling, though? Just a few more kinks to work out!

1-20-11 WIWT (What I Wore Today)

Thursday was a real bone-chiller here so I thought I'd try to warm-up, and fun-up my day, with a lil bit o' electric citron themed eye make-up. The eye shadow is a 10 color intense palette I bought at Claire's (I know!) for use at Halloween. The key to this look is a liberal dose of anti-crease eye shadow primer - I like Too Faced "Shadow Insurance".


Tops:
* Red knit billed hat - Ann Taylor via The Second Act
* White cotton men's tank top - Target
* White cotton tee shirt - Gap
* Pink cardigan sweater - Old Navy (thrifted)
* Grey wool men's cardigan - thrifted
* Heathered empire waist sweater dress - Calvin Klein via TJ Maxx


Bottoms:
* Black cotton tights - Gap
* Black cotton tights - Target (yeah - it's two pairs of tights cold)
* Mismatched cotton socks - Target
* Thick wool knit socks - ??? 
* Black leather fringe lace-up boots - Artifacts

Warm Thoughts with Gertie!

Meet Gertrude "Gertie" - possibly the cutest little puppy-baby you will ever see! It may be 10 degrees out here in the frozen tundra, but looking at these photos of little Gertie makes my heart cockles warm. (She gets sooo sweepy!) 

(No, she isn't my furry baby - she belongs to Frank, but she visits often and gets dressed up in handkerchiefs.)

Pencils, Stickers + Tape!

Adorable pencil toppers!

Happy fun-time pencils!

Cheerful Stickers!

Charming patterned tape!

A few goodies I purchased from Dick Blick (all on SALE!) today. I went in for glue sticks, but who could resist so much temptation?!

(The backgrounds are paper frames I've been making recently - the oval center one is a project from the the fabulous book "Paper + Craft". The rectangle center is a template I made myself. I'm a little bit obsessed with making these! For fun I created a Polaroid sized template too.)

1-18-11: RIP Snowseph Merrick

Sadly, Snowseph Merrick - much like his namesake - collapsed under the weight of his own head in the wee hours of the night. Doesn't he look like the tragic figures from Pompeii? I am refusing to let the dogs "mark" him as it seems disrespectful. Maybe I'll try and rebuild him - better than he was before...