Moving Forward

I must save my posts to draft when rattling on and on. UGHHHHH. Okay let's try this post AGAIN! Take 2. Does anyone have a problem with bloggee disappearing and an Microsoft error report popping up when you cut or paste or try to move photos?? No?? Just me?? Okay....I'll save as draft periodically from now on I promise! True to my word, here are some craft projects and thrift finds from the weekend. First featured is this altered clipboard. I first saw a project like this on Miss Heidi's blog this fall. I can't remember the post, but I thought they were adorable then and have been wanting to try my take on the clipboard project since. Here's my first attempt. Check out down below a few pics for the finished product. I can't wait to try more versions and experiment with assorted embellishments! The wheels are turning, the wheels are turning!

Here's a back view. Didn't I do a great job with the crackle paint?? HA! GotchYA. It's scrapbook paper that looks uber realistic! I definitely have NOT mastered that trick of the painting trade. Crackling escapes me. I have experimented several times and I just can't seem to grasp the concept. Not the end of the world, just need to keep plugging away!

Next on my crafty weekend endeavors is this latest collage....which isn't quite finished but oh, probably about 60% done. I started it a couple of weeks ago here. I still have some additional layering to do as well as adding a few more embellishments. Now that I am totally into learning about and doing altered art, I see picture prospects everywhere. Check out the butterflies on little miss models eyes and shoulder. I took those from a Bath and Bodyworks spring collection coupon catalog. One never knows where treasures may lie. This latest work is titled (fittingly), MOVING FORWARD. Ellia, if you check in, I used some of the papers I purchased from you :) I loved the description under the title of the music she sent me:

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A Song of India by N. Rimsky-Korasky:

...Softly from her floweth; she her radiant feathers o'er the ocean draweth. He who hears her singing Memry no more knoweth. the diamonds in their rocky caves are countless, And coutless are the pearls in southern oceans, The glory of distant India's realm.

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I think as I complete each work, I am getting better at telling a story within the collage. I guess I never really understood collage work before, but after reading a little on it (want to learn more), and visiting some blogs that do a lot of altered work, I am finding it more intriguing to tell my story or a story I imagine through my work. After all, that's what Art is about, isn't it??? It's been oddly enough one of the harder hurdles for me to jump, because I'm not a naturally expressive person. I mean, I might be creative, and I might do well thinking outside the box, but I don't neccessarily tell a good story through my art. That is my work in progress I intend on honing in on. Stay tuned!

More thrifty weekend goodness: purdy pink pyrex piece. All mine for a DOLLAR. I actually purchased a plain white one this weekend for a dollar as well. Whoohooo..now I know those are deals. Flea Markets or thrift stores resell pyrex anywhere from 10-20 dollars a piece. When she said a dollar each for the three bowls (see next pic), I SWOOPED them up without hesitation before the seller had a chance to change her mind!

Othere lovelies from my 60 family (more like 20 families) yard sale: beautiful brand new picture frame with etched flowers--1.50

Correlle dish for 1.00. Oh..not thrift items but aren't those napkins the cutest?? I picked them up at Tuesday Mornings, one of my favorite new stores that opened up in our little (but growing) one horse town.

Here's the finished clipboard donning a notepad picked up at my beloved Tuesday Mornings...the little blurb at the bottom reads, "if it's not on the list, i'm probably doing it". LOL I also added my initial....which I know confuses you because how does one called LUCY have an initial starting with a J? Well....some of you probably already know this, but in case you are just tuning in, Lucy is a nickname (giving to me about 4 years ago by someone I'm now not too fond of but for the sake of blogging....I will continue to use my nickname).

Oh I love goodies in the mail, and this weekend I was feelin' the love, that's for sure, and it couldn 't have come at a better time....a superdelly ishish package from Miss ThriftyGoodness, sent to me as a thank you for partnering up for the Pink and Brown swap with her. I absolutely love the knitted mittens, they are two pretty to wear (and in my case, chance loosing one).....so for right now, I have them hanging in my crafting room to admire. I love the SWEET stitching and adorable ribbons lace on the cuffs. I have no idea how she managed to do these while getting ready for her wedding. She's much much much more organized and focussed then I am, that's for sure. Her package is full of other goodies like a adorable vintage pillow case ( now adorning my favorite nite nite pillow), a sweet potholder worded with "RECIPES" (which is my other favorite love....collecting recipes), and bunches of ribbon and vintage carded buttons along with a wooden spooled thread. Thank you Rebecca, you're so sweet and generous...gush gush gush :)

Awwwww...these are so pretty, I wanted to feature the handiwork in a picture of their own. I love and appreciate everything, especially the time you took to make me something so special :)

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Well, phew, that's about all the news today at Sweet Repeats. All good stuff. No sad stuff today. :) We're Moving Forward....not to say everyday will be a good one, but if we take it one day at a time, it's a whole lot more manageable then thinking too far ahead and worrying about what's to come. One day at a time, we will create, thrift, hug on eachother, share the blog love, share the stories, pics, learn from eachother, and cheer eachother on. That's what I'm counting on as I Move Forward. :)

Over and out...Lucy


Oh...one more thing: here's some top key words used when people pop on the blog:

sweet repeats blog
3
.
sweetrepeats
3.
women enterpeneurs
1
4.
edible Easter topiary trees recipe

5.
loving him too much

****I get a kick out of reading the key words. For the longest time, one of my keywords used a lot was: Swap Partners. BRAHHHAHAH...can you imagine the folks that popped on my blog? I bet they were SURPRISED. LOL. Probably not as much as I would have been had they wanted to get in on our fun ;)

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really over and out now :)

lucy