Going Boot Belt Crazy!!

Last month I was in Goodwill and saw this Brighton Belt for $3.99. I had recently purchased a pair of cowboy boots and thought they needed a little extra somethin'- somethin', so I purchased the belt and took it home to my studio. This is what I made with it. I loved it so much I hit all the Goodwill in my area for several weeks searching for great belts to makeover.

These are my creations! I wear them all the time now!

This was a denim belt with the rivets already in it. I cut the belt down smaller and used the leftover belt to make a cuff that I will show you in another post. :)

This was a plain brown belt, but I liked the buckle. I had a piece of stamped and stained leather that I bought at SAS here in town (a local fabric remnant warehouse)and I glued it to the belt.

This was another Brighton belt that I painted and glazed.

The belt was constructed so that I could unscrew these metal connectors from the leather and take out a whole section. It made it the perfect size!

This one was made from a tapestry belt. I didn't use the buckle in this case so I was able to keep the detail on the end that goes through the loop.

I just wrap the belt in lace if I want to cover the leather.

 I also made a couple for a second pair of black boots that I bought. This one didn't need cutting down as I just wrapped it around twice. I slid the heart buckle on before I added the lace to the back of the belt.

 That big heart is the buckle for this belt. It's also a Brighton belt. I added the rhinestone chain around the edge of the belt and also the lace ruffle, the little crocheted doily and another rhinestone heart. There's no such thing as too much bling!!!!

I was addicted to make these for several weeks! I think I have enough now!! LOL!!!

Summer Lovin' at Sweet Salvage

 Yes, here we are with another visit to my favorite place to find vintage goodies of all kinds... Sweet Salvage.

 The theme this month was once again "Summer Lovin" and you could definitely smell the sea salt in the air!! (okay, not really but all the beachy vignettes certainly made me feel that way!)

I am laughing at myself because with all the gorgeous colors that were there at the show, I was as usual, drawn to all the neutral vignettes!

 I have no place to put this, but isn't it fabulous???

 I know, more neutrals but it's so sweet and filled with yummy ironstone among other sweet delights.

Doesn't a bicycle with a crisp white basket just scream Summer???

 Oooh! Look color peaking through!!! I'm getting crazy now!!!!

(All that glitter makes me giddy too. )

Love this!!!

 Blues and greens of all shades are always the colors I am attracted too.

 So much to look at!!!

I love this piece too. Darn, why cant I just live in the store???

 Okay... get ready for a shocker!!!! 

 These 3 pics are for my friend Sandy who loves color!!!!

 I gotta admit, they do evoke that vintage Summer feeling for me.

I do love the pop of teal inside this cabinet!!!

This is what I brought home along with some doilies and a couple of chippy white corner brackets.

It's my little preview of my studio that I will share once again for the Where Bloggers Create party on July 12th!

I hope you will come and link up and share yours too!!!!

Opening Day at The Salvage Yard on Cave Creek

Junking in Phoenix just keeps getting better and better!! I can remember 5 years ago being so envious of all the wonderful places that so many of you had to shop for vintage goodies. Since then, more and more great vintage shops are popping up up all over the valley! One of my favorites are the shops on Cave Creek road. They run just South of Cactus and then just North of Cactus.

One of these shops is called Rusty Saturday and behind it is a new place called The Salvage Yard that holds a monthly warehouse sale.  Today was opening day and I was there as they opened.  The thing that really got me excited was that the Jack and Cat curio team is one of the vendors and they had all kinds of wonderful grungy, rusty and "broken in" treasures.

I came home with two of the number tags above. I see a bracelet or two in my future!!!

You wont find beautiful displays and vignettes here. This is much more a "rustic" experience with stacks of vintage rusty goodness every where.

Aren't these fun??? The are vintage telephone coin boxes. Maybe they are what the workers used to collect all the change from the pay phones??? In any case, they were really cool, but I didn't bring one home.

Lots of bottles to alter and make fabulous!!!

I tried to get good shots with my iphone, but they didn't all turn out very well.  There were lots of pieces of furniture and assorted rusty metal outside of the warehouse too, but I didn't get any shots of that. (next time)

So you want to see my goodies????

(I scored BIG TIME)

Ta Da!! Isn't that wood cabinet fabulous??? It's in beautiful shape and I only paid $49.00 for it. :)  It will sit proudly in my studio with baubles and bling in it.  The side table was a bargain at $15.00 and will get a chalk paint finish very soon!! I also picked up a large metal tin tile and an old rusty trash can for $5.00 each.

I was in junkers heaven!!

God Bless America!!! LOL!

It's almost that time again....Where Bloggers Create 2014

To view my party post and see the link list for all the party goers... Click here!!!

Oh my gosh.. I cannot believe that another year has gone by and we are ready to amp up for another great Where Bloggers Create party!

I have already had several of you email me asking when it will be,  so here it is...

This years event begins on July 12th!

Last year we saw such a wonderful variety of studios from ladies all over the world. We had scrapbookers and fiber artists,  jewelry designers and painters,  mixed media artists and paper crafters.

We saw as many different kinds of artists and crafters as you can imagine and the amazing studio spaces that they create in.

I look forward to this event every year. Friends are made, ideas are garnered, and we are all inspired!!!  Every year I am blown away by your creativity, ingenuity and passion for what you do. 

I hope you all will join me again this year regardless of whether your studio has changed much since last year or not. Remember, it has been a year since we last visited your space so it will seem brand new once again!! If you have never participated, I encourage you to join in on the fun. We want to see where you create the lovely works of art that make your heart sing!!

I am going to try something new this year. If it doesn't go smoothly or you guys decide you like it better the old way, I'll go back to that next year. In all the previous years I have had you all leave a comment or send me an email to sign up and your blogs were listed on my sidebar. For this year though, we are going to try a link party. The main reason for this is that every year there were so many bloggers who signed up and then forgot (or were unable) to do their post.

With a link party, everyone does their post first and then comes over here to link up. You do not need to contact me to let me know you are going to be participating. (although I would love to know that you will be) Just come on over on the 12th and add your blog post to the list.

If you are unsure of how to participate in a link party, click here for full instructions. (It's really easy)

So the rules are as follows... (It's a short list, I promise)

1. On or around July 11th do a new blog post that shows off your creative playground. Please do not fear that it is not good enough. There is always a wide variety of creative spaces to be found during the party and yours will be loved and appreciated by all of us.

2. On July 12th, come over here and link up your post. (again if you need help, the instructions can be found here)

3. Please do not link up if you are just trying to advertise something or if you are not sharing a place where you create beauty of some kind. I will remove any blog or website that does not comply with this. :)

4. If you plan to participate PLEASE grab the code under the button for the event and put it on your blog. (It's in the top right sidebar.)  If you would do a short blog post to let your readers know you will be participating that would be wonderful. The more bloggers that know about the event, the more participants we will have and the more inspiration you will have!

 If you want to visit last years attendees, click here for the entire list. It will be available until this years party starts, and I will again begin linking the new posts.

Don't forget, it doesn’t matter if your space is big or small, it’s yours and that makes it special!!!

I hope to see lots and lots of you on the July 12th!!!

PS... (If anyone wants to get a pretty new look from Valentine Design for their blog before the event....there's still time! I am offering a 15% discount for anyone who is joining the party. Shoot me an email and I'll get you on the list!)