Bumbershoot Designs' give-away!

Bumbershoot Designs and Supplies is having a great give-away, so take a look at Sharon's newest post for a chance to win a $100 gift certicate good for their Website, which is chock full of the most fabulous vintage beads, findings, cabochons, buttons, cameos and everything else that your jewelry making needs could wish for.  Mixed media artists will love the offerings of Bumbershoot Supplies, too.  Here is the link, so visit Bumbershoot Design's blog and leave a comment!
http://bumbershootdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/10/win-100-gift-certificate-from.html

Getting Organized!!

While shopping at Ikea to get my son some things for his new apartment, which he will be moving into tomorrow, I did a bit of shopping myself there.  I found the most wonderful chest of drawers called "Alex", white with 6 narrow drawers.  The minute I saw it, I knew that it would be perfect for all my ribbons, trims and laces that I used for my wedding garters.

 

My daughter put it together for me, she is the official Ikea handy-person in our family, and I set right to work getting my things organized.  The drawer above holds garters-in-the-making.

These pictures show how the drawers are filled, the first with little clear boxes filled with buttons, baubles and all many of wonderful vintage items that I embellish the garters with.

There is also a drawer filled with my laces, one with just odds and ends, and this drawer above holds my own handmade pincushions.  I made dozens of them, and kept many of them for my own use.  They will soon come out of the drawer, I am sure, when I get back into the swing of things and start creating again after taking a little sewing break, and one or two or more will sit next to my machine and be handy to take my pins, needles, threads and such.

Here are only a small selection of my ribbons.  The rest are tucked color-coordinated into similar clear boxes on a shelf near-by.

My newest passion is garters made with vintage glass pearl beads like these in white, ivory and black silk, some of which are already in my Etsy shop, www.GarterMademoiselle.etsy.com.  But the last drawer below holds some more of them in the making.