(This has GOT to be a RECORD) Monkey-in-the-Middle Monday...

How many weeks in a row now? Ok, not as many as I thought, but I'm still dang proud of myself because I actually do have something to share with you today...again! Given how busy the past few weeks have been, that's not too shabby...

To learn a little more about Monkey-in-the-middle Mondays, just click right here.

I don't have too many participating this week. Kathi over at Out on a Whim has went and gone on vacation...imagine that in the middle of summer. Haven't heard from my other regulars, but if they are participating I will update during the week. I do have one link, however, a new friend...

Oh! Just one more thing...

Don't you love that Title? I do! Go visit Mel and check out the 80's ergo chair that she helped a friend re-do....FUN!

If you are taking the plunge and participating, please just send me a quick email with your link. It may take a few days, but I will definitely get you on the wall of fame...errr....Monkey post...

And without further ado, it's time for me to share....

Sometimes, I find a stamp and it takes me awhile to give it a test run. Sometimes I find a stamp and I have to stamp with it IMMEDIATELY (you get where this is going)...when I stumbled upon these 12 days of Christmas stamps, I knew they'd be occupying valuable thinking space in my mind until I actually did something with them. I just love them! Not sure if I love this initial experiment, but they are growing on me...

I think I may sell these more as ornaments because I can't imagine splitting them up...you can't have just one day of Christmas, can you?

I forgot how many birds "my true love gave to me" ...should fit right in this year, considering how popular the feathered friends are right now....

My personal favorite is the "lords a-leaping" there in the lower left...

But I always enjoy a good piper piping or drummer drumming...

Now let's just change the mood COMPLETELY, shall we? The Cottage Style Street Team is celebrating Christmas in July this week on Etsy...so in honor of the event, I am channeling my inner "girly girl"....

What better way to do it than on some sweetly ornate vintage silverware? I don't know if you can read it, but the engraving on that middle handle says "Hotel Ponce DeLeon"...I want to stay there!

I have a hard time with forks and knives...I often have to buy a whole box of mixed pieces to get the spoons I usually paint. After a very busy holiday last year and tons of buying this year in anticipation of another busy Christmas, my collection of forks and knives is piling up....I need to figure this out...

Snowflakes are simple enough to fit on those pesky forks....

And the glass glitter adds a nice touch in person, even if it's hard to capture that sparkle in a digital image...

I haven't gotten to the pinkies yet....I also thought about painting little vintage looking ball ornaments or jingle bells or maybe a wee little tree...just can't decide....any opinions or suggestions out there (good, bad, even ugly)?

And so there you have it, this week's record breaking Monkey-in-the-Middle Monday...

'Til Next Time....

STEPH

GIVEAWAY!!

I was surfing the fora on Etsy yesterday and came across a post by Tags and Buttons asking for sellers to be considered for a Blog Feature. On a whim, I threw my name out there, not thinking I would get chosen, but -lucky day!- I was chosen and I am this week's featured seller on the Love Etsy Feedback blog!

Love this blog because it features Etsy sellers who have really good, even great, feedback. What an honor!

In celebration, I agreed to do a giveaway (actually two!)...One lucky winnner for each giveaway...

Two sets of tags in each giveaway...

This is the first set... strawberries and tricycles and childhood summers remembered...

This is the second package....all things robin's egg blue and birdies....

To win either one of these sets, all you have to do is visit Love Etsy Feedback and leave a comment. If you make a purchase in my shop this week, you get your name entered twice (details on the site)! Don't delay though, the drawing is August 2nd....

Monkey-in-the-Middle MONDAY...

Yes, Monday...already....time is flying...

To learn a little more about Monkey-in-the-Middle Monday, click here.

Before I share my Monkey this week, I am so excited! I have new links for you!

Still figuring out exactly how this is going to work because I attempted to join the Mr. Linky thing but when they started talking about altering you you blog template, I got a little nervous...

So for now, until I feel a bit more confident in the template altering field, I guess I will just give you a list, similar to what the gals at Show-n-Tell Sundays are doing (except mine's allot shorter, for now.... *smile*)...It would be easier if you emailed me directly with your Monkey link. That way I won't miss anyone (if I missed you this week, feel free to send me a nastygram through the link above...;0) )....and feel free to right click and save the monkey banner above and on the sidebar. That way you can post it on your own blog...let's spread the word!

So get ready to clickity-click on a few new fun sites...hopefully I can add yours next week??

Out on a Whim Studio

Lisa's Retro Style

Always Inspired

Catnip Studio

Now, on with the show. I had very little free time last week, as my kids were in soccer camp all week. Add a few games, sleepovers, movies, etc. and I didn't get much work done beyond filling orders and driving my car to and fro...

But I did complete my final version of "Home Sweet Home".

What do you think? No Huge differences, but, from the first go-round, I learned a few things I'd like to change-colors, shading, etc ...

I guess, technically, I am not in the middle of this project, but kinda-sorta, I am. Now I start the process of finding a printer and figuring out cards, etc...lots to learn about what to do with a project to get it to it's selling state. I was even thinking I might like to do some tags from this...how cute would a housewarming gift of a cupcake basket tied with a "home sweet home" tag?

This is a whole new direction for me. I seem to be wandering away from the decorative painting, at least for now...have to admit I am a little burnt out....plus I absolutely LOVE the fine detailing I can get with pencils and a good drafting pen. I missed that with the acrylics. I will definitely still be offering hand painted goodies in my Etsy shop (Big plans for the holidays- more ornies than you can shake a stick at...ok maybe not that many), but for the time being, I think the only new patterns I will be offering are those that appear in Create and Decorate....I want to continue with that. And all of my current patterns will continue to be available on my website .

Wow, seems I am making big business announcements in the Middle of the Monkey....how'd that happen? I just started typing and -BOOM- there it is....sneaky, sneaky....

Something else we worked on this week....I say WE, becasue my dear teenage daughter is working off a huge (OMG it is 2 HUGE! IDK how she did it!) texting bill....Mothers of Teens (MOTs!), you feel my pain, I know u do...so I have slave labor to cut out all sorts of tags for me this summer...great time to get ahead for the holiday rush, but these are new...I am loving stamping on the vintage text. It's a little tricky, but the results are 2die4!

So what's your Monkey this week? We'd love to see...

Until next time...

Steph

Catching up & Show-n-Tell is BACK....

Phew! What a week! This was our main soccer camp week...so a good majority of my time was spent in the car or sitting and waiting...not too much computer time and no time to blog....sorry 'bout that....

But I am making up for it today, because it's Sunday and Show-n-Tell Sundays are back. This week's hostess is Cerri at The little Pink Studio. If you'd like to learn more about Show-n-Tell Sundays, go visit her studio. Be prepared to spend your afternoon (or morning or evening) surfing all of the Show-n-Tell links...great eye candy here!

Show us your vintage paper...that's this week's theme.

Oh my...I am going to flood you with images here, and this is only a portion of what I could post...

I have a thing for old books, pamphlets, etc.

The pages and books I am showing you this morning came from one barn sale (the same one I got these cuties at, which also fit this week's theme, but they've already been the subject of a s-n-t), stacked up in the corner, looking extremely neglected. They weren't even marked with a price. I figured that even at a buck a book, I would come home with a good sized stack. Imagine my suprise when I asked and was told "five cents each".....WHAAAA??? Seriously?

My impulse control seriously abandoned me at this point....I think I came home with about 20 books...one was even FREE (I'll point that one out in the photo descriptions)....

I love the spines of old books, and while technically, they aren't vintage paper, I'm sharing some of the covers anyway, just because I can (*wink*)....

Fuss-budget's Folks...love that title! And the cover features some very cute children....

These next two covers are too pretty not to share. The pictures are separate prints that have been glued to the cover...

Being a decorative painter, my heart always flutters over an authentic crackle finish...and she wears the "wrinkles" so well....

One more cover and then we'll get to the meat (err...pages) ...remember, nothing in this post cost me more than FIVE cents... I still can't believe that myself....

This ledger is mostly blank pages (someone cut out most of the used pages), but still my favorite find of the day. I've seen these go for more than I wanted to pay on Ebay (and I was willing to go over 5 cents-lol)...

This photograph was tucked in the book (actually two copies)...nice house....

A page that was cut out, folded and tucked back in the book...

Look closely at those postal rates....5 cents (I see a trend here) to ship a pound up to 150 miles from home....I wish!

This is a birthday reminder book. Really lovely in it's simplicity, each day has a nice quote or scripture passage with room to write your special someones information...

Another birthday entry...

OK I just thought this title was a little cheeky...

And this one a little poignant...written about the Civil War...

And this one FREE...The spine of this book is no more...it is literally being held together by strings.....

The People's Home Library, published in 1915. I'm not going to show you anything from the "Home Medical" (taking care of your humans) or "Home Stock" (taking care of your critters) sections because they are mostly filled with pictures of rashes and other yucky stuff , but the "Home Recipes" sections is filled with all sorts of little gems.....

....such as this sketch to help you identify different plants...just in case you're going on a nature walk....

...or the various medicinal uses for the tobacco plant....n-i-c-e.....a narcotic and a diuretic....

Being a WAHM, this one has got to be my favorite, though...."Domestic Science"....

Don't you want to take the Housekeeper's Creed? I am being just a little cheeky myself here, but if you click the pic it will open in a larger window and you can actually read most of it....Why shouldn't housekeeping be considered "the highest art"? On second thought.....

So there you have my Show -n- Tell for this time...as I said earlier, I could keep going (have a growing collection of military life themed ephemera and there are some real winners in this one, but I will save that for another day), but if you even made it this far, you deserve a really big chocolate chip cookie, cooked following the rules of domestic science, of course.....

Be sure to join me tomorrow for Monkey in the Middle...I've got links to share with you!

And a finished project....

'Til next time....

It's MONDAY.....

I'm on time this week...mark the date...

Time for another installment of Monkey-in-the-Middle Mondays...if you are complete lost click here to read an explanation of exactly what M-i-t-M is...

Much can happen in a week....and over the past seven days, I discovered a new playground...

Been trying to think of some more portable forms of creativity. I am looking at a long fall full of kids' sports practices. Sports practices that are just far enough from home that it's just not practical to do the "drop and run home" and then go back. Just long enough that the amount of gas used would make me cringe if I were to do that, not to mention the fact that I'd be home a mere fifteen minutes before I had to turn around and go back.

Soooo...I started playing with colored pencils last week....dove in head first and invested in some good colored pencils. And so it began. This picture in different forms has occupied all of my free time this week.

Home, very SWEET home...what girl wouldn't want to live in this confectionary cottage? I tend to be quite taken with houses....like to paint and sketch them in all forms...this is just the latest...

What do you think?

Still not completely there. Had some ink smudging issues (and for the life of me could not get a great picture-the colors are WAY off... sorry about that). If you look very closely you can see them. I think I will have to do at least one more version before I am completely satisfied. But the end goal here (in addition to a more portable studio) is to move more into prints and notecards of my work....

So what are you working on this week? What is your Monkey-in-the-Middle? If you'd like to join in the hoopla, send me an email or post your link in a comment. I will make sure you are duly linked and praised for being a brave soul willing to bare all (or just a few WIPS would do)....

Until Next Time....

Mary Engelbreit/Etsy Co-Op Ad....

Finally got my hands on the new issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion....

Right near the front, adjacent to the Table of Contents....my first ad space in a big national magazine....

I paid for it, but it still feels pretty darn cool!

I'm right HERE (look down NOW, top row, far left). If there was a way to do an

arrow with the keyboard, I would have had one pointing down where it says "look down".

Like I said, I paid for it but it's still sweet. Mary Engelbreit is a personal hero of mine...love her whimsical, optimistic style...Someday, when I grow up (shhh!), I want to be like her, but with my own style, of course....

Now I am off to explore one of my favorite magazines...

Til next time....

Good News Potpourri....

How cool is this?? I am this week's featured seller for the Cottage Style Street Team on Etsy!

Just click on the button above to visit and see the very nice write-up Sadie Lou gave me...I'm blushing! And after you're done reading all about me (yawn), take a look around...some very talented artists belong to CSST....

My friend Lisa (again! She rocks!) Blessed me with this very adorable award...blush...I am honored, Lisa....Thank you!!

Always happy to share the good juju...I'm passing this one along to a few good bloggers.....

Kathi of Out on a Whim Studios ....my "secret Sister" who's really got it all going on...I love to see what she has come up with...

and Cassie at Mockingbird Hill ...first because her banner and blog name are centered around my favorite book ever, To Kill a Mockingbird, but most importantly, her blog is always a fun read....

Let the Festivus Begin....

The Monkey in the Middle Festivus, that is...

Home from the dentist (have a cavity,dang it!) and a very expensive trip to Sam's Club (I have a true love/hate relationship with that place).....

And now it's show-n-tell time, Monkey style (scroll down and read the post from this morning first if you are completely confused)...

This is what I have been working on the last week or so...and this just proves how much slower things move for me in the summertime....Yes that is a Patriotic, 4th of July inspired bell. I meant to have it done early last week (and seriously, I should have had it done a month ago).

Sometimes good intentions just don't cut it, but like a good worker bee, I am going to finish it this week and get it on Etsy....Patriotic is good year round, right (work with me)?

Let Freedom Ring...get it?

I'm not too proud to admit I did not come up with this....I told my friend Roseann that I was doing a patriotic bell ...she is already the proud owner of several of my other bells and she suggested "Let freedom Ring".....clever girl....

Couldn'tr resist some "fireworks" either, in the form of some sparkly German glass glitter...every girl needs a little bling....

And on the paper end of Sunshine & Ravioli, I have been doing some custom work....

These sweet tags are for a baby girl....a variation on my collection of blue bird tags on Etsy. We went eco-friendly with this one, using recycled pink card stock and cotton ties (not to that step yet).

Sweet birdies on ballerina pink....I am loving these! So much so that I think I may start offering this option in my Etsy store....

And there you have it...back in the saddle again....

Now hop on over and visit my good friends Kathi and Lisa, because they are back on the Monkey Bandwagon with me...it's good to have friends! :0)

If you'd like to join Monkey in the Middle Mondays (Next week will be Monday-promise I'll plan ahead), create a post on your blog and let me know about it. For the time being I will add a link here so everyone can see your WIPS (that sounds a little naughty doesn't it? Not really, Works In Progress, for those that don't know)...

Come on, it will be fun....