Red Lead Welcome to My Cottage Swap

Vintage Note Card Swap

Beautiful mail came today! My exchange cards from Lenna's Vintage Note Card Swap arrived today and they're SO pretty. I'm going to have to keep these around to admire for quite awhile before I'll be able to bear to part with them! Just look how lovely they are!

The first card on the left is from Sarah. Her card is made of fabric and trims, buttons and a crocheted pansy...so pretty! JoAnn's card in the center is a collage of paper and ribbon in the softest colors and accented with the sweetest stitching...I wish my machine did that! The card on the right was made by Laura and it's so bright and happy...it makes me smile every time I look at it! Laura's used a beautiful napkin as the base and added gorgeous papers, an adorable vintage image of three girls, a transparency, old buttons and a silk bow. I love it! Thank you ladies and thank you Lenna for another wonderful swap! Lenna will be hosting another swap soon. If you think you might like to join in check back at Lenna's Creative Swaps site to see what she has in store for us next!

Happy Homemaker March Tag

Well, here we are again and this time a little closer to Spring. But as I look out my window on a rainy, cold and blustery day I know winter still has a bit of a hold on us. My tag this month depicts another small moment in a child's life. It's a Saturday in early March. Young Alice wishes she could go out and play but it's raining and cold and Mother suggests they work on their sewing together. Snug and warm by the fireplace, Mother in her big comfy chair and Alice on her favorite red stool, they spend a few contented hours stitching and chatting. I actually know this very feeling of contentment. I'm very fortunate to have my mom (85 years old and still a pistol!) visiting with me for a few months and we've been able to spend several hours in quiet contentment just being together. It doesn't get any better than that! I didn't use any new techniques in creating this tag...just cutting and pasting, rick rack and ribbon. But one thing I did use that you might not have thought about using yourself is the little flower in Alice's hair. It's actually a fingernail decal. Fingernail decals come in all sorts of designs and are very inexpensive. Take a look here to see a few. So, that's my tip for this month. I hope you're seeing signs of Spring where you are. Be sure to stop by the Happy Homemaker blog to say hello to Elizabeth and see all the other March tags. See you next month!

Sometimes You Just Have to Buy Yourself a Present!

I know I don't need it. I'm not sure where I'll put it. It's kinda heavy and the color doesn't match anything I already have. BUT. I love it, I've wanted one just like it for ages, I saw it and I bought it! Plus...it was a steal!!


PS...actually my sweet Quinn who I had DRAGGED to a rummage sale at 7am right before he had to get on an airplane and fly to Taiwan bought it for me. Thank you baby!

Mini Fabric Collage from Liz

I wanted to share with you the sweet fabric collage that my swap partner Liz made for me. I love this little collage...I've always had a soft spot for vintage school images. And I love how she's used a piece of mica on the collage...such a neat touch! Liz even created a wonderful school themed box to hold the collage and included some old photos and a Florida alligator . Thank you Liz...this is such a special gift! Linda's planning to announce the next swap at A Swap for All Seasons on March 20...why don't you take a look and join us?