Spring Nesting at The Vintage Marketplace at the Oaks

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Field Trip, Mixed Media, Textiles, Vintage

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Tags

antique show, antiques, antlers, apothecary jar, birdcage, birds, bunny, burlap, CA, christine barker, deer, deer antlers, duckling, Easter, eggs, flea market, flora and fauna, garden, gnome, Julie Weller, junk show, lace, lamb, lamb cake mold, lavender, mixed-media, mushroom, nests, rabbit, Rainbow, Scotsman, Scotsman trailer, shabby chic, squirrel, succulents, The Vintage Marketplace, treasures, vintage, vintage candy mold, vintage flea market, Vintage marketplace, Vintage Marketplace at the Oaks, vintage suitcase

This past weekend I was delighted to be a vendor at the Spring Nesting show at The Vintage Marketplace located at the Oaks Park in Rainbow, CA. I showcased my items together with more than 60 other vendors selling vintage and antique treasures, inspired garden goodies, lace and ruffled items, shabby chic yumminess and the most creative repurposed items.

Infused with the scent of lavender, the theme of my booth was Flora and Fauna, with Flora being on the right side under the white canopy and fauna was on the left side with my vintage 1968 Scotsman trailer, Fiona.

Inspired by Spring, adorable birds, speckled eggs and organic nests I got to work early this year, pinning images to Pinterest and taking notes in my journal. My friend, Julie Weller, and I took a buying trip up to the Bay Area in February and brought back some of the treasures that you’ll see in these photos. I still have some items set aside that will be for sale at a later date and I can’t wait to show those to you!

These are some pictures from the Flora side of my booth. Enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by my blog! I’ll be posting more photos soon, featuring the Fauna side of my booth.

If you’re interested in staying in touch with me on Facebook you can find me here.

xo,

Christine Barker

bannerpink

Special Event: Love by Design – An Artful Charity Auction is Going On Now!

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Glitter, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Soldering, Vintage

≈ Comments Off on Special Event: Love by Design – An Artful Charity Auction is Going On Now!

Tags

artful charity auction, beaded necklace, Carrie Harney, Cheri Brorsen, crystal rondelle, Donald Brorsen, german glass glitter, handmade art, handmade art auction, lamp work bead, Love by design, Love By Design Auction, Swarovski Crystals, Terri Brush Art Camp, wire wrapped

I’m reposting this because the Love by Design Artful Charity Auction has begun and runs now through Sunday, August 3. Head on over to see all the pretty art that’s available and start placing some bids! I’m sorry to let you know that after the post below was originally created, Donald Brorsen lost his battle with cancer and now more than ever this family needs all the help that they can get to deal with the overwhelming medical bills that they now face.

Thanks for stopping by, friends.

xo,

Christine Barker

My friend, Carrie Harney, has a heart of gold and recently reached out to her creative friends to ask for our help for an Art Auction that will begin on Facebook on August 1. She shared that her friend, Cheri Brorsen and her beautiful family, are experiencing one of life’s most crushing trials. Tragically, Cheri’s husband, Donald, is fighting a battle with cancer and Cheri and her four children are facing a rough road ahead. Some of you may already know that I lost my mom to Leukemia as a very young girl and my heart just hurts for this family who will be experiencing the loss of a husband, son, father and friend to so many.

Cheri and Donald Brorsen

The Brorsen Children

Carrie asked if we could help her raise some money for her friend to help pay some of their medical bills. Do you ever have those moments in life where you feel like something you do can really make a difference? This was the call to action for me and my creative mind finally turned on, after a brief hiatus, and I started thinking of things I could make for the auction. A lot of my creative friends are involved and the items they have created are stunning! And, Terri Brush has even donated a spot in her amazing Art Camp!

Go to the Love By Design Auction Page and LIKE it NOW and check out some of the wonderful items that are going to be available. More handmade items will be added each day to give you a chance to see them and choose your favorites. The auction action begins on August 1 and you won’t want to miss it! Mark it on your calendar so you don’t forget!

I created a mermaid-inspired pink and silver wire-wrapped bead necklace with a soldered pendant featuring a Swarovski Crystal bedecked sea star floating in a sea of pink. Dangling from the pendant is a gorgeous pink lamp work bead atop a sparkling tassel of chains, beads and pearls.

Inside the miniature shadowbox pendant you can see a peek of silver German glass glitter. Above the pendant is a pink glass heart-shaped bead and some petite pearl beads and sparkling crystal rondelles.

The necklace also features vintage pearl colored beads, more delicate glass beads, and silver accents.

The pendant can be worn with the starfish facing out or the Life of the Sea side facing out, with its delicate sprinkling of silver German glass glitter.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Love by Design auction, beginning on August 1 and LIKE the Facebook page now so you don’t miss out on any of the details!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

xo,

Christine Barker

Field Trip: Long Beach Antique Market

22 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Field Trip, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Papercrafting, Vintage

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

angels, atelier de campagne, crystal rondelles, french ledger, Julie Weller, Long Beach Antique Market, rosary chain, Tanya Peacock, tatted lace, trino

Last Sunday I took a field trip to the Long Beach Antique Market with my good friends, Julie Weller and Tanya Peacock.

We found some wonderful treasures and shared some giggles and I thought I’d show you what I brought home. Check out this eye candy. It makes me Swoon!

Some gorgeous beads and some metal angels and hearts.

Some sparkling rondelles filled with crystals and a piece of lace that reminded me of spiderwebs.

A unique rosary chain from Italy.

And dreamy, hand tatted lace.

But my favorite items that I brought home were 3 GIANT, and I mean HUGE, vintage ledgers from France that I bought from Trino at Atelier de Campagne. You can see the beautiful pages underneath my treasures. I can’t wait to use these ledgers for some collage work and mixed-media projects!

Thanks for stopping by!

xo,

Christine Barker

Special Event: Love by Design – An Artful Charity Auction

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Glitter, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Soldering, Vintage

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Cheri and Donald Brorsen

The Brorsen Children

The necklace also features vintage pearl colored beads, more delicate glass beads, and silver accents.

The pendant can be worn with the starfish facing out or the Life of the Sea side facing out, with its delicate sprinkling of silver German glass glitter.

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Love by Design auction, beginning on August 1 and LIKE the Facebook page now so you don’t miss out on any of the details!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

xo,

Christine Barker

Altered State: A Round Up of Altered Books

06 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Collage, DIY & Crafting, Mini Album, Mixed Media, Paper Sculpture, Papercrafting, Soft Sculpture, Textiles, Vintage

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

altered book, art journal, Cappucinoandart, etsy shop, flyinpurplemunkiez, heart shaped book, Ingrid Dijikers, journal, MacLean County Arts Center, Melissa Thiese, Raidersofthelostart, scrapbook, Sharen Chatterton, TarnishedandTattered, Through the Rabbit Hole, travel book, vintage ephemera

Altered Books, Art Journals, whatever you like to call it I call them amazing! You can take any book, paint it, collage it, fold it or tear it and make it yours. Add some swatches of fabric, paint chips, some vintage ephemera and you have a great piece of art to enjoy that you personalized and created on your own. Here’s a round up of interesting, eclectic and artistic altered books for you to enjoy.

At the end I’ve posted the name of the winner from my last post! Maybe it’s you!

1. This is a pretty incredible example of an altered book way before Altered Books became cool.

This great blog post is brought to us by CappuccinoAndArtJournal and you’ll want to check out the other pages that she has posted from this antique journal, great stuff!

2. How incredible is this?

This book was taught at the MacLean County Arts Center in Bloomington, IL a year ago. How amazing is this? I would love to take this class! “Bring in some of your old books and turn them into art by cutting, drawing, gluing, collage, and just about anything you might think of to alter the state of an almost forgotten form of literature.” WOW!

3. I love the whimsy of this incredible book by Raidersofthelostart.

It’s available for purchase in their Etsy Shop.

4. Setting Them Free Altered Book by Sharen Chatterton

This is a stunning example of objects bursting out of the page, so lovely! The contrast between the plain images in the book and the colorful dimensional butterflies is wonderful.

5. One of my favorite artists is Ingrid Dijikers. I feel very fortunate to have taken a class with her at Art & Soul in Portland, OR several years ago. We created the beginnings of a book in her class “Through the Rabbit Hole”.

All of her work is so incredibly artistic and even her doodles are perfectly placed. Check out her blog to see more of her amazing work!

6. This is super cute!

I found it on Tumblr so I’m not sure who to give the credit to. If anyone knows, let me know and I’ll update this!

7. This gorgeous altered book was created by tarnishedandtattered

SWOON!

8. Tarnished and Tattered also created this gorgeous Wedding Book as a present for her cousin.

Unbelievably gorgeous!

9. I am also loving this travel book by Melissa Thiese.

I’m planning on borrowing some design elements, (like the folded over page to create a pocket!) from it to document my last couple vacations when I finally get around to creating books about them!

10. And this heart shaped book is stunning. I believe it was created by FlyinPurpleMunkiez.

I love how it has hidden spaces to keep treasured items!

Thanks for joining me on this journey through altered books!

Have a wonderfully creative week!

xo,

Christine Barker

PS: The winner from my last post is number 8, which is Patty Antle!!! Congrats Patty! Please visit my Etsy shop and choose one of the Pin Cushions priced at $15 and email me at kryztyne @ gmail.com (remove spaces) to let me know which one you’ve chosen. Thank you to everyone who left a comment, I appreciate you playing along!

Flea Market: My first booth at Behind the Picket Fence

01 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Field Trip, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Sewing, Soldering, Textiles, Vintage

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

annette schwab, Behind the Picket Fence, burlap, burlap pillow, chenille, christine barker, costa mesa flea market, Deb Kennedy, diy booth, diy garland, Earlene, etsy, etsy shop, fabric garland, fancy pincushion, flea market, fruit picking bag, fruit picking sack, handpainted sign, Kim Kobayashi, orange county flea market, parasol, petticoat, Phil Barker, reproduction baby carriage, rose, scarlet calliope, steamer trunck, steamer trunk, Trevor Benavides, union flag, vintage baby carriage, vintage camera

It’s taken me years to feel brave enough to have my own booth at a flea market. I have a collection of things that I’ve been collecting for years, (plus a couple collections that I’m ready to call it quits with), all with the intention of selling them in my own personal boutique at a flea market. When I heard about the Behind the Picket Fence Marketplace, I just knew I had to give it a try. Well, first I thought about it and changed my mind a bunch of times, but in the end I made the leap and I’m so happy that I finally did it!

Thankfully I had a petit army of people to help me with my state of mind and artfully arranging my booth. Going into this event I was scared as could be, but knowing that my sweet husband and son would be there to help me set up and sell gave me some peace of mind. They were spectacular helpers, setting up the booth, doing the heavy lifting, greeting customers as they stopped by and handing out my business cards. Trevor even had a side business going selling some of the hundreds of burlap coffee bean bags that I had for sale. (If you want some, please just let me know! I have a few left!)

And I’m so thankful for my friend, Deb Kennedy, who’s an extraordinary Writer, Stylist, Designer and Speaker based out of Orange County, CA. When I put out the SOS for help to foof up my booth and give it some decorator savvy, she answered the call. I was petrified that I would set up the booth and it wouldn’t look like the picture that I had in my head. Deb came to the rescue and got right to work, rearranging items, placing them just right and using items in ways that I NEVER would have thought of. Plus, she took all of these beautiful photos!

Left to my own devices I would more than likely just put things out on the table but Deb knew just how to display things so that they would be shown to their best advantage. Like the vintage fruit picking sack, and the dress form, and the shabby chic tea pot with gloves.

I also had a selection of my handmade Union Flag aprons and pillows, burlap pillows, and fancy pincushions available for sale.

I created a variety of decor to give my booth my style so that people would know as soon as they saw it what I was all about. Several people asked if I would sell my fabric garland but I told them I’d have to charge them over $100 since it pretty much took me an entire day and too much fabric to create. I can’t sell it, it’s too pretty!

Burlap and rose decorations.

Petticoats on a parasol.

And, I hand painted a sign with my name to let people know who I was.

And finally, I had a photo booth to take pics of some willing shoppers as they stopped by.

All in all it was a wonderful day! I felt great because I finally conquered my fear of participating in a flea market, I cleared out some of my inventory and I got to spend the day with some wonderful people. It meant so much to me for people that I knew to stop by my booth because it was so nice to see familiar faces and when they gave me compliments about my booth I was over the moon! I think I’m ready for the next challenge now, I’ve got this!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I have some of these items and more listed in my Etsy shop if you are interested in purchasing them.

Also, this is my 125th post so I think that’s a reason to celebrate! I’ll be giving away one of my pin cushions to one lucky person who likes this post and leaves a comment here on the blog. Who wants to win?

xo,

Christine Barker

Blog Hop: Surprise Happy Birthday Blog Hop, Kimi!

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Blog Hop, Cardmaking, Christmas and Holidays, DIY & Crafting, Glitter, Lovebug Creations, Mixed Media, Papercrafting, Sewing

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

acrylic paint, beautiful blooms, birthday card, birthday greetings, caulk, diy card, embossing, fake cupcakes, fake frosting, faux cupcakes, faux frosting, glass glitter, handmade card, kimi cremar, love, LOveBug Creations, Mama's Mesh, mica, mica glitter, pink glitter, plaster, plaster cupcakes, seam binding, simply sheer ribbon, tim holtz

Welcome to

KIMI’S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY BLOG HOP!

Have you been seeing the cutest birthday projects ever? If you arrived at my blog and would like to start at the beginning, which is also the birthday girl’s blog, please hop on over to Lovebug Creations . If you arrived at my blog from Dawn Mercedes, then you’re in the right place!

Here’s my birthday card for Kimi:

Kimi’s favorite colors are pink and green so I created a card and sweet faux cupcake photo holders using those colors. I hope she likes them!

My card features several Lovebug Creations products:

Rumple Ribbon in Purpledise

Simply Sheer Ribbon in White

Mama’s Mesh in White

Beautiful Blooms in White

Doesn’t the Mama’s Mesh look so nice behind all of those crazy colors? The embossed pattern you see on the hot pink is from Tim Holtz.

I created some faux cupcakes using directions I found online and this was a MESSY project. There was plaster, caulk, and paint everywhere! I had to experiment with the frosting and ended up using caulk mixed with a little bit of plaster and some acrylic paint. The plaster gave the caulk the sturdiness it needed to hold up until it dried.

These pretty ribbons are Rumple Ribbon from Lovebug Creations in Purpledise. Each cupcake has a different sprinkle. The first one has mica, the second has glass glitter and the third has pink glitter.

Kimi, Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people in the whole world. I wish that Ohio was closer to California so that we could get together and craft and I could give you a Happy Birthday Hug in person!

And to everyone who stopped by, Thank You for hopping! Please leave a happy comment for Kimi before you go! Your next destination is over to Kristi to see her pretty project.

xo,

Christine Barker

If you get lost along the way, here is the complete line up.

Pam
Tanya
Stacey
Tanya Hahn
Connie
Stephanie
Katie
Kathy
Dawn
Christine – You’re here now!
Kristi – Go here next!

Blog Hop: Spring Celebrations with Lovebug Creations

29 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Blog Hop, Christmas and Holidays, DIY & Crafting, Lovebug Creations, Mixed Media, Papercrafting

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

baby mushroom, blog hop, bunny box, bunny craft, easter craft, Happy Spring, LOveBug Creations, Mama's Mesh, Mama's Roses, Rumple Ribbon, seam binding, seam binding ribbon, Spring Celebration craft, Spring craft, spun cotton mushroom

Welcome to LoveBug Creations Spring Celebrations

New Release and Blog Hop!

If you’ve floated over from Kristi, then you are on the right path. But, if you stumbled upon our hop and want to start with our blog hostesses, then click over to LOVEBUG CREATIONS.

Spring is a time for Easter and Mother’s Day events but it also heralds weddings, graduations, family reunions, and more. Today LoveBug Creations has some awesome new products to unveil for your spring celebrations.

Want to add something special to your handmade projects?? Check out these new springtime collections for your garden of Rumple Ribbon delights:

New Rumple Ribbon Colors: Peach Blossom, Dahlia and Buttercup

More new Rumple Ribbon colors! Garden Green, Blue Bells, & Spring Lilac

Mama’s Roses

And, we are releasing the beautiful Mama’s Roses. Each rose is hand-formed and hand-dyed. Each Mama’s Rose has dimensions of 2″x 2″ and can be used as-is or inked, painted, stickled, and more. The only limit for these beauties is your imagination. Plus, they’re feather-light so you can create lots of projects from layouts to cards to tags to mixed media creations to 3-D creations and more and not weigh down your project!

And, as if that isn’t enough, we’ve got 4 NEW Mama’s Mesh Colors: Kraft, Ivory, Light Blue & Light Pink! And, BIG NEWS! You can now purchase Mama’s Mesh by the yard instead of in collections!

So, settle back as we take you on a tour of spring celebrations and don’t forget to visit the LoveBug Creations ONLINE STORE.

My favorite spring celebration is Easter because I just adore bunnies, pretty pastel colors and especially Easter candy. Who can resist?

Pretty pink “Dahlia” Rumple Ribbon from Lovebug Creations tops off this decoration with a beautiful flourish. I started with a plain chipboard box, painted it, layered on some sheet music and gave it some cute pink stripes. Bunnie’s basket is made from chipboard as well that I formed into a basket shape.

Isn’t this pastel ribbon color dreamy? This lil bird thinks so!

Baby mushrooms are one of my weaknesses! Eek! They started out red but I gave them the pink treatment. Vintage flowers are from Michelle Hurtt.

And, just in case you missed the Mama’s Rose that I snuck onto my Fleurette Bloom/Lovebug Creations Hop project yesterday, here it is again:

This Mama’s Rose started out white but I painted it gold to match the rest of my project. I love how this elegant rose gives my project elegant dimension.

So, how about some Lovebug Creations Blog Candy!

LoveBug Creations is offering a $10 gift certificate to their online store and several other items as well.

AND

I’m offering a $5 Giftcard to the Lovebug Creations Shop!

What do you have to do to be a possible winner? It’s easy!

1. Become a follower of each crafter (if you’re not already)

2. Leave a sweet lil love note in the comments at each blog with your email contact info

3. For one extra chance to win “Like” the Lovebug Creations Facebook Page and leave a comment

4. Check back on Wednesday for the announcement of the winners

The full spring line up is:

1. Kimi & Pamela
2. Stephanie
3. Dawn Mercedes
4. Connie
5. Katie
6. Tanya
7. Kristi
8. Christine
9. Kathy
10. Stacey

We hope you enjoyed your visit and wish you happy spring celebrations!

The next blog spot on this spring tour is Kathy. Check out her project and don’t forget to leave a comment and follow my blog before you go!

xo,

Christine Barker

Blog Hop: Lovebug Creations and Fleurette Bloom

28 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Blog Hop, Collage, DIY & Crafting, Lovebug Creations, Mixed Media, Paper Sculpture, Papercrafting, Sewing, Textiles, Vintage

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

ANTIQUE FRENCH LARGE GLASS BRIDAL DOME, Antique French Wedding Crown Display Globe de Mariée, arlene baker, beaded tiara, blog candy, blog hop, Digital Papers, Fleurette Bloom, FRENCH Globe de Mariee Wedding Display Case, gilding the lily, globe de mariée, LOveBug Creations, Peony Cutting File, Rumple Ribbon, souvenir de mariée, SVG Cutting Files, SVG Peony, SVG Swan, Swan Cutting File, wedding globe

Welcome to the Fleurette Bloom and LoveBug Creations Co-Hop!

If you’ve come over from Chantel, you’re in the right place. But if you’ve landed here and want to begin with the first stop, head over to Fleurette!

The pairing of Lovebug Creation’s fantastic Rumple Ribbon and trimmings with Fleurette Bloom’s outstanding SVG’s (Scalable Vector Graphics) and digital delights is a great way to freshen up your projects. Who wants to be ho-hum? Not us!

You’ve seen some fabulously fresh projects so far and there’s more to be seen. Are you ready to see what I’ve made?

To begin, I used the Fleurette Bloom Swan Lake SVG Card Collection which includes everything you see in this picture.

Swan Lake SVG Card Kit / Collection

And I used the “Lush Flowers” 3D SVG Collection.

I created a replica of an antique French Globe de Mariee using Panther Pink Rumple Ribbon and a gorgeous mystery product from Lovebug Creations (check back for the reveal tomorrow!), and some adorable Swans and a Peony from Fleurette Blooms SVG Cutting Files.

Here it is without the glass. What do you think? Each detail in these Globe de Mariee’s symbolized a different aspect of a French bride’s marriage and French Garden House has a lovely blog post about the history of them if you want to learn more.

Doesn’t this Pink Panther ribbon look dreamy against the silk velvet cushion? I’m absolutely swooning!

Ooh la la!

My love for swans burns brighter than ever and these SVG cutting files from Fleurette Bloom are incredible. The detail on the wings is amazing and their little eyes and beaks are just precious!

This beautiful, dimensional Peony is from the Fleurette Bloom Lush Flowers Collection.

And some detail shots. I made the crown in a Beaded Tiara class with Arlene Baker and I’m just so tickled with the way it turned out! Dresden is from Gilding the Lily in Fullerton, CA. Vintage millinery flowers and fruits are from Michelle Hurtt.

Now, how about some BLOG CANDY??

Fleurette Bloom is offering a $10 gift certificate to her ONLINE STORE

AND

LoveBug Creations is offering a $10 gift certificate to their ONLINE STORE

AND

I’m offering a $5 Giftcard to the Lovebug Creations Shop!

So what do you have to do to win this great stuff? Easy!

1. Become a follower of each crafter (if you’re not already)
2. Leave a love note in the comments at each blog spot with your email info (so we can let you know if you win!)
3. For extra chances to win “Like” our Facebook Pages and leave a comment at Fleurette Bloom Designs and LoveBug Creations
4. Check back on Wednesday for the announcement of the winners

The co-hop line-up:

1.   Fleurette
2.   Kimi & Pamela
3.   Stephanie
4.   Dawn Mercedes
5.   Connie
6.   Kristin
7.   Katie
8.   Ilda
9.   Tanya
10. Chantel
11. Christine <– You’re here!
12. Kathy <– Go here next!
13. Cheryl
For your next burst of Spring inspiration, please visit Kathy!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderfully creative weekend. Don’t forget to leave a comment to be able to win some blog candy! And, I’m sending out a great big THANK YOU and hugs to Connie for cutting out this file and mailing it to me. I’m still in the stone age using a Cricut and she was so sweet to cut out my swans and flowers for me on her Silhouette! I couldn’t have done it without you, Connie! ❤

xo,

Christine Barker

PS: Lovebug Creations will be having another Blog Hop tomorrow to reveal the newest spring colors and trims. Stop by and be the first to see what’s new!

Field Trip: Glitterfest 2014

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Field Trip, Glitter, Mixed Media, Paper Sculpture, Papercrafting, Soft Sculpture, Textiles, Vintage

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

anaheim, anaheim expo center, charlotte, crazy cat lady, Dianne, dotti cordell, Glitterfest, jlf design studio, jo lynch, Julie Haymaker Thompson, kristy lynn, leticia fernandez, Lisa Loria, little white farmhouse, lulu max jewelry, meyer imports, michelle hurtt, millinery flowers, oil painting, paper clay, paper clay doll, Sheryl, susans charming trinkets, sweet insanity bake shop, tara wilson, tiki ranch, tustin, velvet flowers, victorian scrap, vintage findings, vintage flowers, vintage millinery, Whimzy

This weekend was the much anticipated Glitterfest in Anaheim, CA hosted by Sheryl Simpson and Dianne White of Whimzy in Tustin, CA. They also have a show in the fall and I look forward to both every year. I have some good friends who bring their art and treasures here and each time I go I make new friends!

This year the Expo Center was decorated with a sweet candy theme and I just adore the sweet colors!

One of the vendors is my friend, Michelle Hurtt, selling some beautiful and truly authentic vintage millinery flowers and blooms. These flowers are from the 1930’s through the 1950’s and are virtually impossible to find anymore. The collection that she has is in amazing condition and what an extensive and beautiful collection she has! For this Glitterfest, Michelle wanted to share some of her treasures with the Glitterfest attendees and introduce everyone to her new business. Last week we chose the flowers from her warehouse and I put them together into color collections. I’m so proud of my friend for going out on a limb and pursuing her passion and I’m excited for her new business venture. I can’t wait to see what direction she takes with her incredible stash of goodies. Michelle is known for her exquisite attention to detail and her beautiful design sense and I know that everything that comes out of her studio will be stunning!

Here I am with sweet Lisa Loria in the photo booth!

Lisa is known for her whimsical designs and is going back to her artistic roots and spending more time painting. I am loving the direction she is headed in!

More of Lisa’s adorable work!

Have you ever seen a cuter necklace? These are made by Tara Wilson of Lulu Max Jewelry.

Tara specializes in mixing vintage pieces of jewelry with modern pieces and creates truly one-of-a-kind wearable art.

These gorgeous pastries are from Kristy Lynn of Sweet Insanity Bake Shop.

Here’s my favorite son, Trevor, trying on some spectacles in the Little White Farmhouse booth. Since he was with me and being so patient I tried to hurry through the show and didn’t get to spend as much time looking, chatting and taking pictures as I usually do. But, he was such a good sport and even carried a really heavy cement head to the car for me without me even asking!

Little White Farmhouse always has a wonderful collection of vintage items that I just love!

And then I saw two of my friends, Dotti Cordell and Jo Lynch! I was introduced to these girls through a swap hosted by one of my BFF’s, Julie Weller, and met them in person for the first time at Glitterfest a year ago. We keep in touch via Facebook and I just love them!

While walking through the aisles this table caught my eye. I saw some very familiar art work and did a double take. I had no idea that Julie Haymaker Thompson would be at Glitterfest!

I’ve always loved her art and can I just tell you how thrilled I was to finally meet her in person? Her art is cute, fun and whimsical and she is one of the most down to earth people I’ve ever met. I think I’ve convinced her that she has to come out to Orange County again in the very near future to teach a class. (I’m not above begging if I have to!)

I just love her style, the colors she uses and her paper clay dolls are just so fun and unique.

One of her dolls is holding a cat and since I have 5 cats and may have been nicknamed “Crazy Cat Lady” by my niece, Noel, I just knew Julie’s doll was destined to come home with me. This picture shows my kitties, Mr Darcy and KirJava, checking out the adorable doll.

One of my favorite booths is Tiki Ranch and they never disappoint with an extensive selection of findings, bits, bobs and doo dads.

Victorian Scrap? Tiki Ranch has it covered!

I found some fun treasures in the booth of Leticia Fernandez of JLF Design Studio. From Charlotte heads to paper clay creations she had a fun mix of goodies to peruse.

I found a bevy of beautiful jewelry in this booth from Susan of Susan’s Charming Trinkets.

Do you love miniature animals like I do? This booth from Meyer Imports had wonderful reproduction mushrooms, mini plastic animals just like you used to get in the cracker jack box and every color of German glass glitter that you can imagine!

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my review of Glitterfest 2014. Have a wonderfully creative weekend!

xo,

Christine Barker