Jen Bowles Design

Vintage Vacation Swap

I was lucky enough to participate in a super fun swap this summer hosted by none other than Holiday Jenny!

In the swap we were to include a handcrafted item, thrifted/vintage goodies, something edible, and some vintage vacation inspired crafty supplies.  My partner was the lovely & talented Lonnie of Farmgirls.

This was such a great swap theme.  Vintage vacation could be interpreted many ways, but for me there was never any question it was going to be a vintage Beach vacation.  Lonnie lives in coastal Oregon and it turns out we were on the same page with that!

I built my swap package around the theme of "Beach Day".  Here's a peek at what I sent to Lonnie...

My handcrafted  item was a patchwork beach blanket. I used thrifted/vintage sheets and curtains to create the blanket.  When I say I, I mean I had the idea and I picked out and purchased the materials.  I asked my mom for a hand with the layout and she ended up doing most of the sewing for me.  I love how we used the sweet little details of the daisies and the rick rack trim.  And, it's reversible.  For when one side gets a bit sandy :-).

Continuing on with my beach day theme, I included a fun souvenir plate from Cape Cod, a vintage deck of seaside playing cards, a thrifted beach towel (or perhaps beach pillow), and some fun vintage paper ephemera including a beach girl and a nautical chart of Martha's Vineyard.  If you're going to spend the day at the beach, you certainly need something to read.  I was so excited to find an older copy of The Shell Seekers  {perfect} to include in the package.

For my food item I did my best to get creative as Jenny suggested.  My item?  Snack size bags of Cape Cod Potato Chips.  Perfect for a beach snack.

Finally I wanted to send a little piece of the Massachusetts coast out to Lonnie in Oregon.  I used a smooth beach stone I found during one of our many beach trips and cut letters out of thrifted books to spell out Beach Day.  Even when it's not a beach day, hopefully the beach stone will remind Lonnie of beach day memories already made and beach days yet to come.

Now, for the really awesome stuff: what Lonnie sent me :-)!

Lonnie's theme was Beach Picnic.  Sounds wonderful to me.

My swap goodies came packaged in this great vintage train case.  I love it!  I have other pieces of vintage luggage, but this is my first train case.  I don't however, think it will be my last. They are so adorable!

I was pretty happy with the train case, but look at all the fabulous goodies that were inside...

I was overwhelmed by Lonnie's generosity and craftsmanship.     All of my handcrafted items are beautiful, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the seashell winged angel.  She is just so cool.  And I love her vintage anagram J necklace--total swoon!

As I reached the bottom of my treasure case, I came to these beautiful glass plates.  Such a lovely shape and perfect for a picnic. What would a picnic be without a picnic blanket?    Lonnie sent me an adorable summer themed vintage tablecloth.  Eeek! 

I decided not to wait for our next trip to the beach, instead I set up a picnic in the backyard.  With a fluted clam shell full of salt water taffy, delicate crocheted doilies (all from Lonnie), a beautiful setting and the sparkling sunshine, how could I go wrong?

Thanks ever so much to Lonnie for my totally wonderful goodies and thanks to Jenny for hostessing a great swap (as always)!

My first Katie Runnels inspired yarn wreath

Ta-da!

After I finally finished the yarn wrapping and abandoned the idea of using my own paperclay birds, it's done.

Yes, it's a wedding gift--for my cousin and his new wife.  Many of the details of their wedding were handcrafted and the color theme was blue and green (with lots of birds), so I'm hoping they'll love this wreath.  I do ;-)

I guess I chose the right time to make a wreath, Kari just posted a wreath swap on the Year of Color blog.  Making these wreaths could be addictive, great fun to use lots of little bits and baubles--I'm definitely going to sign up for the swap. 

A few details on the materials:

The birds are from Michaels, on clearance after last Christmas.  This seems like a good time of year to stock up on little birds, there are so many floral picks with birds to be had in the craft stores.  I made the top hat & the veil, and added the small flowers.

Letters:  a combination of metal scrapbooking letters, Scrabble letters and flea market letters (from an old felt menu board, I believe) 

Misc: In a total "I'm so happy I have a crafting stash" moment, I found the green leaf pins (Maya Road) and thought they worked perfectly in the wreath--just stick them in and done! 

Since completing this wreath, I've already added 4 more skeins of yarn to my collection.  Can't wait to get started on my next one!

Catching Up (again)

One of the things I love about summer is summer visitors.
Before they arrive, summer visitors serve as motivation to complete projects and clean your house.
When they're here, summer visitors allow you to take a few days off from your regular schedule and enjoy their company.
Once they've departed, the laundry begins.
I am at the 4 loads of laundry, read emails, pay bills, post photos and general catch up phase today ;-)
We sure did have a nice visit with some of our friends from our old neighborhood in North Carolina.  It's fun to play tourist for a few days in your hometown (and beyond).
I have lots to share and hopefully will be able to do just that this week.
Of course Friday is Cuyler and Will's birthday and Sunday is Ebby's birthday.
The excitement is seemingly nonstop around here...

Today I'm sharing photos of collages sent and received in Artsy Mama's Year of Color Summer Delight Collage swap.
First, here's the collage I made, 'S is for Summer'.
I used lots of materials including old book pages and text, paint, alcohol inks, scrapbook paper & canvas paper.  I even got daring and sealed the entire piece in beeswax.  I really love how it turned out and hope it's enjoying it's new home in Arizona with Katie, my swap partner : )

The collage I received from Katie is entitled 'Endless Summer'.  I love all the textures, dimension and materials. The colors and mermaid motif make it a great fit on the wall of our newly repainted downstairs bathroom. 

Thanks again Katie!

May Basket Swap

I recently completed my second swap of the year, participating in the May Basket swap hosted by Artsy Mama on her Year of Color blog.
My partner was the lovely Julie from Jane's Apron.  I'll be sharing the wonderful May basket I received from Julie in a later post.  For today, I thought I'd post pictures of the basket that I sent to Julie (she received it yesterday).
Julie has a fondness for things vintage and thrifted.  Her creative re-invention of vintage sewing patterns and ephemera is simply delightful.
I drew my inspiration for my May basket from 3 main sources: Julie, my own May basket memories and the fact that I've been wanting to make some layered button & tin flowers.
The actual May basket I sent was a thread cone (very heavy chipboard, bought a bunch on eBay a while ago) covered in ruffled crepe paper.  I added the ribbon handle and then filled up the cone with handcrafted flowers. 
I also included a bunch of other goodies that, because of my basket choice, were packaged on their own separately.  I tried to keep within the vintage/flowers/bird springtime theme. My favorite non-handcrafted item I included was the bird fruit peeler from the Asian market.  You use the beak to start peeling rind fruit like oranges.  Very clever and cute~and it works. 

Naturally, I couldn't resist buying one for myself.
I had a lot of fun putting this May basket together, hopefully Julie will enjoy it just as much.  : )

{check out more May basket swap goodness on flickr}

 

One String at a Time

Recently, I participated in the One String at a Time swap hosted by Artsy Mama  on her Year of Color blog.  Each partner made a garland or bunting out of the material of their choice, the only requirement was that it be 48 inches long (includes the string).  Since the mail out date was just last Friday, I'm not sure if my partner has received her package yet (look away, Kathie!). However, since I've posted about nothing but my Savannah trip more than a week, I thought I'd change it up.
From the Atlantic to the Pacific, here's what I sent my partner:
Seems we share a love of the ocean : )  I really enjoyed working with this color palette and making a banner just for fun.  I even managed to use an appropriate book for the background text behind the glittered letters (The Sea at Ebb Tide).

A few close ups... 

See more in the Year of Color flickr pool!  

And now that it's begun to downpour, I must go pick up Cuyler at school.  Perhaps I'll drive instead of walk today...
  
 

Happy Little Jolly House

Look at what I got in the mail today from my pal Lori at Whimsy Studios...
Isn't it  adorable?!!
We did a little swap, I sent her one of my felted flower brooches and she send me this wonderful little hand painted whimsy holiday house.  Lucky me!  She also tucked a few extra goodies in the box including 3 ring pops for my little darlings and a set of handmade gift tags with an original Lori McDonough illustration.   As I said to Lori, I guess that means I have to start wrapping soon : )
Thanks so much Lori, I love my goodies!!

P.S.  While my jolly house is one of a kind, Lori has some other holiday houses available in her etsy shop!

Ga Ga for Garlands swap received!

Thank you Andrea !  I d0 BELIEVE in the power of swaps!
Today I received my garland from the Ga Ga for Garlands swap and lucky, lucky me!  Andrea wrote that she'd never made a garland before, can you believe it?  I love it and I love that it's so different than the banners/garlands that I've been making.  And the letters--so cool.  Love all the little details too, so much fun.
And the Believe garland is officially our first holiday decoration of the Christmas season.  Yes, I have some work to do...

Ga Ga for Garlands swap goodies

I've finally emerged from my crafting cave.  This time I have 2 pennant banners to share.  I made them for 2 different women in the Ga Ga for Garlands swap.
I made one banner for my swap partner, Andrea, and one banner for my mom's swap partner, Karen.  My mom is doing a fine job recovering from major surgery but I thought I'd take 'make holiday banner for swap' off of her to do list.  Both banners have the word JOY in silver, in the same font.  Both banners are the same size.  I love how they have a totally different feel though.  I really like the red/lime green/silver color combo.  I was planning on making another one just like it.  Then I got the scoop that Karen had a winter wonderland thing going on in her dining room so I switched gears.  I love the contrast between the two projects.  Just goes to show how color and mood go hand in hand.

Now to finish one more bitty baby banner.
And then perhaps some holiday stock for the etsy shoppe...

Vintage Banner Swap--Received!

Today I received my first international swap package.  It was from Gaby in Germany and she sent my banner for Tini's Vintage Banner Swap.
Now, I don't know if Gaby knows how much I love (and miss) the ocean or if she just happened to pick a seaside theme for my banner but I love it!  The photo is darling as are all the little details--look at all the different shell buttons.  I love that the text is German, I'll just have to look at it and fondly remember where and from whom it came from. Thank you Gaby !
Gaby also sent me my first ATC.  Such a great surprise.  I love ATCs but I've only ever made 1 myself--and it's hanging on my woman in my studio.  So it's very exciting to have received a genuine ATC--from an artist and traded.  Hmmm, maybe this could be my motivation to make my 2nd ever ATC (and send it to Germany...).

Vintage Banner Swap--complete!

Phew!
My second fall swap is now completed. 
I was invited to take part in Tini's Vintage Banner Swap on flickr.  That was back in August.  Well, today I finished my banner (the deadline isn't until 10/15, unless I'm reading that wrong--I hope not!) and it will soon be on its way to RuthRae.  Ruth does absolutely beautiful work with all sorts of mixed media including fabric and she's just finished writing a book.  I, on the other hand, just finished cleaning up cat vomit in my foyer.  :  )
The banner I made for Ruth is vintage and vintage inspired.  The vintage items include wallpaper, sheet music,  ledger paper and buttons.  The rest of the items are vintage inspired including the trims, crepe paper and decorative paper.  This banner is also a new size for me, the 3rd one I've tried.  The pennants are 6 inches across the top and 8.5 inches high.  I'm happy with the way it turned out (seems like I usually am--not sure if that's good or bad)  and it is definitely different from the work that Ruth creates and posts on her blog. Hopefully she will enjoy it, she did encourage me to create in my own style...
Tini set up the swap partners as a list so though I am sending a banner to Ruth, I am receiving a banner from  Gaby...in Germany!  My first international swap swag, and she mailed it today.  I guess I'll wait a couple of weeks before I begin stalking my mail carrier ;  )