Art Journals and Other Goodies

Lately I've been obsessed with making these little journals for my etsy shop. I keep telling myself that I can't buy anymore vintage trims, buttons and trinkets until I use up the huge supply I have now...but I seem to be one of those people that want to keep everything for myself, I always grab some supplies for a item I'm making for my shop then think to myself...I can't use this on something to sell, I want to use this on something I make for myself. Well, I've been forcing myself to use some of those items and here are the end results...(although I still have a few items I can't bear to part with!)

The "X" on the button isn't thread, it was actually made that way...the "X" is metal.

This is a "he said/she said" book that has preprinted questionnaires in various categories (food, first date, favorites, etc.) for both him and her to fill out. My husband and I did this and I was really surprised at his answers. You may think you know how someone will respond but then again, you may be way off track!

This is one of my favorites (sometimes I secretly hope items I have listed in my store don't sell, then I don't feel so bad keeping them for myself...like this one!)

And here are some cute shabby and primitive hearts I made. They'd be good for Valentine's Day decor but I leave mine hanging all year round.

Well I've got to hit the showers...Sunday is the day Tom and I visit our local Goodwill stores and we've got to get there early to get in on the good deals. Sundays and Mondays are the days they have half off depending on the color of the price tag, I think today is half off the green items. If you haven't visited your local Goodwill store check it out...you'd be surprised at the treasures you can find, not to mention that the money they raise helps charitable causes. Hope you all had a nice valentines day.

Thanks Netflix...

We got suckered into trying a "free month" of netflix so, after a work friend gave me a copy of a swedish vampire film called lat den ratte komme in (Let the Right one In), I filled my netflix queue with foreign films that I've always wanted to see but never got around to renting. You can also watch certain netflix movies "instantly" with XBox 360 so I had Matthew show me how to do it.
So, for you foreign film fans, if you haven't seen these two films yet I highly recommend them (unless you don't like subtitles)...


Amelie (a french film, all subtitles) arrived in the mail on Tuesday, Shelby and I watched in on Wednesday while Tom was at school. Both of us give it two thumbs up, it was so adorable and colorful and cheerful...I could go on and on...this will definitely make my 10 favorite films of all time.

La Vie en Rose (also a French film, all subtitles) was an "instant" watch on Matt's XBox, we watched it tonight and thought it was fantastic, not as amazing as Amelie but definitley worthwhile. I would recommend Let the Right One In as well but that won't come out on dvd in the US until later this year. Rumor is they're making an American version but I'll bet it won't be as good as the Swedish version! Certainly not your Twilight sort of vampire movie but it's just as bittersweet.

I didn't get much crafting done this week...I was too busy taking pictures and documenting everything I did for my "Week in the Life of ME" mini album. Now I just have to put it together and that'll be one more thing to cross off my "to do" list. Here's what the cover looks like...

Yesterday Shelby and I took a quick trip to Hudson, Wisconsin (about 20 minutes from Woodbury, Minnesota). There are three shops we absolutely love there and, of course, we visited all three. St. Croix County Dry Goods...they have antiques, tons and tons of ribbon, all sorts of fabric and lots of other little treasures. La Rue Marche is a little boutique full of cute uniques clothes and shoes, purses and jewelry. Abigail Page Antiques is always a good place for treasure hunting, I don't think I've ever left that store empty handed and they were having a storewide 20% off sale, you can't beat that. Here are some of the goodies we picked up...

Ribbon and Fabric from St. Croix County Dry Goods, colorful forget-me-nots and pretty pink purse loaded with old embellishments from La Rue Marche, plate, German Christmas book, bird prints, toothpick holders and Mary and Jesus from Abibail Page. The Madonna was the find of the day...she is so pretty in person and it was only $3.00...my sister is going to be envious! Here is a close up of her pretty face...

I think this is the only new thing that's been listed in my etsy store all week...I just put it out there today. One of my "Birds of a Feather" book decked out in a valentine color theme...

I keep promising my sister a picture of the cute softies shelby made so here they are...she was thinking about opening her own Etsy store to sell these types of critters but when she was finished she didn't want to part with them...I guess I can't blame her, they're so cute!

Like I said, this week has been so busy for me but last Sunday my "studio" was really neat and tidy, how in the world does it get SO MESSY so quickly? I'll be digging myself out again so I can get to work on my next project.

I'm off to to my project 365 blog then I'll be spending the evening cleaning this mess. I have tomorrow off so I'm hoping I can do something creative.