Happiest of New Years

Best Wishes for a Merry and Joyful 2008!

I have already made lots of resolutions, and am looking forward to a wonderful new year. What have you resolved to do in 2008? Do share!

May peace fill all the empty spaces around you

And in you, may contentment answer all your wishes.

May comfort be yours, warm and soft like a sigh.

And may the coming year show you that every day is really a first day,a new year.

Let abundance be your constant companion,so that you have much to share.

May mirth be near you always,like a lamp shining brightly

on the many paths you travel.

May you be true love.

-- Author Unknown

A Great Find!

I couldn't believe it when I found this waxed wood canvas today while out doing some junkin'. It's absolutely adorable. The inside says "L Abbott"...I sure wish I knew more about her because she is right up my alley! So I immediately took her down to my sad new studio space...in the basement. Remember when I told you I wasn't sure if this space would work? I am even mores sceptical after a few hours of trying to get it set up. No natural light, bad wood paneling, tattered carpet...it's going to be a stretch of the imagination, that's for sure! Still - we'll see what happens, as this little fairy says! At any rate, I hope she can inspire me enough to re-stock my etsy shoppe!
I hope you're enjoying your holiday!

Despair

I am beside myself with disbelief. My favorite scrapbook/paper crafts store, Recollections, is closing. Closing!! I can't believe it. It's where I purchase all my goodies. Nowhere else even comes close. What will I do??

(sigh)

Whew!

For now, I am back on track, and ready to show you what I've been up to! As I mentioned, my craft space has moved - maybe permanently, but for sure for the holidays. It's still all a jumble, and really hard to find anything!!

Still, I managed an order for a friend of mine; she loves the little girl I use so frequently! I can't believe I managed it in a completely disorganized and boxed up space!

Our big holiday party went off without a hitch last night, despite numerous threats of up to 5 inches of snow. Whew! Now I feel like I can relax a little. Major project for over the holiday will be organizing this 'new' craft space...and of course, a little antiquing!

Have a great week!

Drats - Part II

Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. I got the first problem solved, and even managed to find a minute to download some new pictures - my packed up studio space (sigh) and some great Christmas crafty-ness that I had accomplished, and now it seems that the computer has a some sort of virus! This leaves me with my laptop, and without the ability to download my photos for you! It's not fair! Grrrr.....

Onto some other news. Did those of you who are paper-craft-people know that Tim Holtz has a blog now?! How cool is that? Make sure you check it out!

And don't forget to add these two books to your Christmas wish list! Sooo much inspiration!







Well, I hate being out of the loop! So many of you have gorgeous things on your blogs these days, and I'm just late for the party! Don't worry, though. I'll be back with a vengeance!

"Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night."
~Glade Byron Addams

Drats!

Darn it, friends! My camera is not downloading properly, and it's been ages since I've been able to visit with you! So here are some 'oldies but goodies'. I loved this little sampler I saw in an old shop. I hope you do, too!

Over the weekend, I packed up my studio space :( It was soooo hard to do, but with Christmas coming, we really needed the extra room. My husband is trying to convince me to set everything back up in the basement (where we put the boxes for now.) He's moving out to a beautiful new office we added on our house...and says I am more than welcome to occupy the basement. It IS finished....but dreary as all get out! Yuck! (But I'll think about it.)

The picture below I took on Thanksgiving morning; it's the view down our street. Gorgeous!

What's in My Journal?

Odd things, like a button drawer.

Mean things, fishooks, barbs in your hand.

But marbles too. A genius for being agreeable.

Junkyard crucifixes, voluptuous discards.

Space for knicknacks, and forAlaska.

Evidence to hang me, or to beatify.

Clues that lead nowhere, that never connected anyway.

Deliberate obfuscation, the kind that takes genius.

Chasms in character. Loud omissions. Mornings that yawn above a new grave.

Pages you know exist but you can't find them.

Someone's terribly inevitable life story, maybe mine.

-- William Stafford

Winter Wishes...

I found some inspiration along the way the past few weeks, and decided to make these tiny charms from old family photos to display during the holidays. I'm headed off today to find a little tree or wreath...we'll see what comes along. I especially like them because I know I can 'double up' some use for Valentines as well, and who doesn't love a little efficiency? I was even able to make one out of a tiny copy of my grandparent's wedding certificate!

As I had hoped, I did make it out to one of my favorite antique malls this weekend; although I didn't come home with arm loads as I usually do! I did find this adorable Noel sign, with a gorgeous tag - Winter Wishes.

What are your winter wishes this year?

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Geez!

Oh my! Is anyone else falling a little behind in their fall scrapping? Gosh this time of year can be really hard to keep up with, huh? I got a little done over the weekend...up to October 31st anyway.

I am determined to escape at some point over the weekend to my favorite antique mall that I haven't been to in ages (or at least it seems). And of course, there are the REST of the holidays coming up. Right now, my kids are blaring just one of the radio stations that is 24 hour holiday music. That should help get me in gear, huh?

One week 'til Turkey Day

Wow! Is any one else starting to get that crazy holiday too-much-to-do feeling? Of course, it doesn't help the kids any that there is seriously Christmas music on the radio, and I am not even kidding.

Last weekend was my nieces' FIRST birthday, and I made her a little card from an old vintage one I had found.

I really want to make a Christmas banner...has anyone seen any good ones out there?

Have a great weekend!

Charmed

Inspired by a vintage charm bracelet I found in aNew York City flea market, I have renewed my love for charm bracelets! I purchased this book, called Charmed Bracelets by Tracey Zabar for just a few dollars from Amazon. It's really lovely. The pictures are gorgeous, and it's well-written. I highly recommend it for your own bookshelf!

"...the most irresistable and alluring thing about a charm bracelet is it's ability to tell a story unique to it's owner. Consider a charm bracelet 'history on a wrist' - there is nothing more personal or symbolic. Laden with tiny figurines, fond remembrances, and sweet forget-me-nots collected over the years, charm bracelets chronicle small moments in a life lived. Truly, to wear one is to wear your history upon your sleeve."


Have a great week!

So Sorry...I've Been Away!

I was in such a hurry that I didn't even stop to tell you I'd be gone! With all the craziness of Halloween and all that that entails, I neglected to tell you that I'd be on an exciting adventure; without kids! Hubby and I flew down the best city in the world; Charleston, South Carolina for Homecoming weekend at his college. I really love Charleston, and have never been there in the fall. Rest assured, it's just as gorgeous as the spring! I didn't take my camera (on purpose!) and so I have to borrow these images from the internet. If you ever have a chance to go and visit - do!

Who couldn't love this place?!

Make sure you stop and see that beauty that is around you this week...it's there if we take the time to see it.

"Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present - love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure - the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth." ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Spooooky Halloween!

Don't you just love Halloween? I certainly do! There are soo many great images, recipes, traditions, etc. on the internet these days. Vintage halloween is one of my favorite things...if you love it too, check out this site. Loads of fun!

HALLOWEEN
A gentle breeze rustling the dry cornstalks.

A sound is heard, a goblin walks.

A harvest moon suffers a black cat's cry.

Oh' do the witches fly!

Bonfire catches a pumpkins gleem.

Rejoice, it's Halloween!

-Richard Anderson © Copyright 1998

Inspiration..and the 50th Post!

"Negative complexes that arise along the way are banished...-your dreams will guide you the last part of the way-by putting your foot down, once and for all, and saying, 'I love my creative life more then I love cooperating with my own oppression.' If we were to abuse our children, Social Services would show up at our doors. If we were to abuse our pets, the Humane Society would come take us away. But there is no Creativity Patrol or Soul Police to intervene if we insist on starving our own souls. Thre is just us. We are the only ones to watch over the soul-Self...It is bitterly harsh to water them once a week, or once a month, or even once a year....They need us and need the water of our craft every day. Protect your creative life."

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"If you would avoid the... starved soul, name the problem for what it is - and fix it. Practice your work everyday. Then, let no thought, no man, no woman, no mate, no friend, no religion, no job, no crabbed voice force you into a famine. If necessary, show your incisors." -Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Autumn Day

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."

-Wm. Cullen Bryant

Enjoyed a beautiful autumn day this weekend (though warm!) and wanted to share it with you -

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting

and autumn a mosaic of them all."

-Stanley Horowitz

Really lovely. Even found enough time last night to make these two paperweights. I really love the baby one; although I have to come up with a better way of photographing them!

Something as simple as flowers against a barn can be so breath-taking this time of year...

SOAKING UP SUN

Today there is the kind of sunshine old men love, the kind of day when my grandfather would sit on the south side of the wooden corncrib where the sunlight warmed slowly all through the day like a wood stove. One after another dry leaves fell. No painful memories came. Everything was lit by a halo of light. The cornstalks glinted bright as pieces of glass. From the fields and cottonwood grove came the damp smell of mushrooms, of things going back to earth. I sat with my grandfather then. Sheep came up to us as we sat there, their oily wool so warm to my fingers, like a strange and magic snow. My grandfather whittled sweet smelling apple sticks just to get at the scent. His thumb had a permanent groove in it where the back of the knife blade rested. He let me listen to the wind, the wild geese, the soft dialect of sheep, while his own silence taught me every secret thing he knew.-- Tom Hennen

Well, then...close your eyes!

I must say, I love this card! It's excatly the mood I'm in today, and I hope you are, too. This card (and other ones equally as fab) are by Leigh Standley and Curly Girl Designs. You can see more of her work at http://www.curlygirldesign.com/! And in honor of silly things, I made this today - -

Hope you have a wonderfully silly weekend!

Love My Vintage Girl!

I have always loved this little cutie, and use her loads. Now I've found a brand-new use for her so I can see her everyday; a paperweight! Check her out on Etsy, and she can cheer your day up, too!

My girlfriend asked for a Gratitude Journal for her adorable, very preppy daughter. This is what I came up with...

I am very into writing letters and notes to people that you love. I encouraged her to tell her idea why the idea of gratitude was so important to her by adding a little pocket with a stamped note inside.

Hope you're having a beautiful weekend...

Of Trash and Treasure, And Other Ponderings

Saw this on my travels over the weekend, and just had to stop and think how simply beautiful it was.
I need some help, girls. I really need you all to weigh in and tell me WHAT to do! Several years ago, when we all got together to divy-up my granmother's things, we found these shoes. My grandmother and I were so close, and I was immediately drawn to them. They were the shoes she wore on her wedding day. Now, practical as my grandmother was, (and tint, they're a 4 I think) she wore the heck out of these things. I mean they are WORN, girls!I must have put them in the trash a thousand times and kept pulling them out. What do you think? Trash or Treasure?? I simply can't decide. Do I try and put them out somewhere to be seen? Do I hide them in the attic? Or is it simply time for a trip to the dump? Help! Here they are - - -

Decisions, Decisions. Let me know. Anyway, some other treasure I found over the weekend...

Don't you love that vintage purse? I have a cocktail party this weekend, and I can not figure out what the heck I did with my sporty black cocktail purse! I just may take this one. Won't that get the tongues a waggin'! I found this old issue (and others) of a vintage homemaking magazine, where they feature homes, and they're floor plans. I love the way they so formally state the homes owners; ah, the pride. Click for a larger view - you'll love it.

Made this journal today. I love the way it turned out!

I didn't have the right filter on my lense, but when I passed this gorgeous field this weekend, I knew I had to take a picture.

Leisure

byW.H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.