Projects...And Seven Random Things

Last night, as promised, I finished this journal. I love the expression on the little boy's face. I am listing it on Etsy this afternoon...so check it out. After seeing everyone's banners over the past few weeks, I decided to try one myself. Mine is not very fancy, but was easier to make than I had thought!


I was determined to get to the flea market today, and came home with just a couple of things...one being a South Beach cookbook for $4. My husbands doctor wisely said that he needs to be on that diet, and I was all set to find the book this weekend - but hey, the cookbook? Even better! Also found a cool old paper doll today; it's got the little hinged arms and legs and is quite large! I'll take a photo of it for you later this week :)

So I was tagged by Alison for 7 Random Things so here goes...

1. Like Alison, HATE going to the dentist and would rather give birth. (Reminds me of the joke where the woman says she's rather have a baby than go to the dentist, and he says 'well make up your mind so I can adjust the chair.' Ha!)

2. I started off in college as a marketing major. Yikes!

3. Just found out last night that my entire neighborhood (except my immediate neighbors, of course) think that I am doctor, and my husband a stay-at-home-dad. What?!?!

4. We have a sweet but smelly basset hound named Sadie :)

5. I cried nearly every day at school until about the 4th or 5th grade. Sad, I know.

6. Love, love, love chocolate. Both the food, and the color.

And number 7...

No one in my real life (except for one or two people) know about my blog! Not even hubby! Shhh....

So now it's time to tag seven more people! Here goes...
Tales from the Terra-Cottage (always has somethin' goin' on!!)
Shabby Miss Jenn (the scrapper in you will love it!)
Vintage Flair (one word - gorgeous!)
Artsy Mama (the name says it all)
Posy (see what's happenin' across the pond)
Home Is Where Your Heart Is (cute!)
And one of my new favorite blogs...
Simple Things , Small Joys (will take your breath away)

Enjoy, girls - -

Whew!

Gosh, girls! What a week! Did you think I had fallen off the earth?? Busy today catching up on chores and a little junkin'. Found this picture today and almost had to take it home; except that that the roses are really pink. If I think of a good place to put it I'll go back and get it for sure!

Remember that little doll cupboard I showed you last week? Found a great one today that had to come home...even has the little rod to hang the sresses in. I'd thought I'd use it to hold jewelry; I don't have a very effective method of doing that. But for now it's actually hanging out on one of the bookshelves in my living room.

Also found this vintage napkin holder...wouldn't hold nearly enough napkins for my sloppy family, but would make bill paying a litte more...civilized.

So I am determined to finish several more chores that have been hanging out there bugging me for the past few weeks. I promise I'll be back later - I've been tagged for seven random things...hmmmm! I also have sworn tonight to finish a little goody that's been hanging around my art table. With the new Crowns and Tiaras book, who could be at a loss for inspiration??
Tomorrow is flea market day, and I've promised myself I'd go. I'll let you know what treasures are to be had!

Chores...and shopping

Girls, you don't know how long I have been eyeing up this adorable little doll cupboard. I keep coming back to check on it. It is in the basement of one of my favorite (though pricey) little shops. No bargains here. Wouldn't it make the most adorable little storage place for all my goodies?? I don't know...it's priced at $155 - which would be kind of hard to justify in my checkbook ledger. I just know one of these times I'll go back and it'll be gone!Maybe for my birthday...

Also, this enchanting dollhouse has been down there forever. I wanted take a picture of the inside, but that would have involved some real dicey moving around, and I could just imagine everything tumbling around all over me, and my having to explain I was trying to take a picture for you all! Doesn't it remind you of Tara!?

Now, they were not the most delicious thing I saw this weekend. For in the basement of my favorite shop (the one that carries my journals) I found THIS adorable 'cottage desk'! Girls, this is to die for!! Here is the front - sorry for the blur!

And here is the back - the side you'd sit on. The tiny drawers are gorgeous!!

I'm sorry the pics are so bad, but you get the gist. It was crammed in a corner, for crying out loud - I did the best I could! Girls, it was to die for. If I had one single empty inch in my house I would have thrown it in the back of my car right then and there!! (sigh)

I put some of my absolute favs on etsy today. I hope you like them.

I hope you're having a relaxing weekend. Let me know what you've been up to!

"Just a Million Lovely Things..."

Found this book at a great used book store the other day...






...it detailed the many magical evenings hosted in the Kennedy White House. Simply gorgeous.

I'm sure you remember this book that was out a few years ago; The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Here is one of my favorites from the book:

For A Poet

by Countee Cullen

I have wrapped my dreams in silken cloth,

And laid them away in a box of gold;

Where long will cling the lips of the moth,

I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth;

I hide no hate; I am not even wroth

Who found earth's breath so keen and cold;

I have wrapped my dreams in a silken cloth,

And laid them away in a box of gold.

Many people do not know that Jacqueline Kennedy herself loved to write.

Here is a poem she wrote in 1943 entitled simply 'Thoughts'.

I love the Autumn,

And yet I cannot say

All the thoughts and things

That make me feel this way.

I love walking on the angry shore,

To watch the angry sea;

Where summer people were before,

But now there's only me.

I love wood fires at night

That have a ruddy glow.

I stare at the flames

And think of long ago.

I love the feeling down inside me

That says to run away

To come and be a gypsy

And laugh the gypsy way.

The tangy taste of apples,

The snowy mist of morn,

The wanderlust inside you

When you hear the huntsman's horn.

Nostalgia - that's the Autumn,

Dreaming through September

Just a million lovely things

I always will remember.

Saturday Fun

Look what I found! How cute! I have often admired the projects others have done with little bird cages, and I never found one quite right. Today was the day. I bought it just as another woman was coming back for it. Yikes!

You know how crazy I am about the tins...I made this one to send to my mother-in-law with the kids back to schol pictures, etc. I think it turned out sweet. Made one for my mom, too!

Can you believe his grim face? My daughter was grinning from ear to ear...not that guy. It's funny how different they are.

Almost forgot! Made this biscuit jar for our dog, Sadie! Maybe that will disguise the nasty-ness of those dog treats! Ugh!

Have a great weekend - -

Back to School

Thank goodness the kids are finally back to school! My school district returns to school way before their private school does, so there is always end-of-the-summer stress at my house. Even though I hate the pressures of the school year, it is nice to return to routines! I love this picture. (It was first uploaded to Flickr by freeparking.)

I worked on a little tin today for my mom of 'back to school pics'. It turned out so cute, and I sort of got my work space cleared up. I don't think it ever really will be 'cleaned'. I have to have everything out so I can see it - and that leads to a mess! But as I was cleaning up, I thought this looked pretty -

I was straightening up in the hall, and saw this little picture I found about a year ago. I really need to hang it where I notice it more often.

It says:

Success

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much;

who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;

who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;

who has left the world better than he found it,

whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul;

who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it;

who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had;

whose life was an inspiration, whose memory a benediction.

Thank goodness tomorrow's Friday!

Back in Business

Whew! Thank goodness we are back in business, thanks to Hubby's tech knowledge. Just in time to share with you a card I made this weekend for my sister-in-law. Wednesday was her last chemo treatment for breast cancer, and sun flowers have been her symbol of hope and courage throughout the process. I had no idea how I was going to 'make' a sunflower, so I was happy with this!

Today we went to a beautiful topiary garden. Some images that I hope will start your week off with some joy - -

Each day brings its own gift. Untie the ribbon.

- Ann Ruth Schabacker

The Name Game!

I've been tagged by Dena at Swaddle Cottage for the name game! She is a Nina Simone lover - so that automatically makes her awesome (make sure you have your volume up when you click on her site!) Anyway, here's what Dena said to do:

...in this game the players must list one fact somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name (if you don't have a middle name you get to pick the name you wish you had) and then at the end of the post you also have to pick one person per letter to tag next (remember to tell them that they're tagged)

So at this point I'm just so thankful that my middle name is not Elizabeth, or Alexandra, or Evangeline...but Ann! Whew! So here goes - - -

A - Advocator. Might sound hockey, but that is one of the things that I love, love, love about my job is that I get advocate for people who need help moving their way through 'the system', or just through life in general. I especially love doing this for 'little people'...the children!

N - Napper. One of my all time favorite secret luxuries! I don't get to do it often, but when I can - yum!!! It takes a real art to do this without feeling guilty. But try.

N- Natural Shopper. Ok, can you blame me? I looooove to shop!

So now comes the hard part, I have to pick three people to tag (again, thank goodness my name is so short!) This is soooooo hard! Let's pick Andrea, who I don't think has done it yet, and besides how fun since she has baby-on-the-brain and I'm sure has been thinking about every middle name known to mankind! I can't wait to hear hers. Let's also pick the Terra-Cottage! I just adore her blog - it's fabulous, and one of my favorites as well. And how about Vintage Flair? Another favorite - If you haven't checked out her blog you are really missing something!

So girls, Friday night greets us with once again the inability to get my photos off my camera and upload them to you. It's killing me. I'm planning a major tantrum for when hubby gets home tonight from Canada! I hope it gets me far.

Love This Picture!

Well, despite my continued computer problem, I can still share something new! I found this old photo online, and fell in love with the dresses! How great are they? Which one is your favorite? (You should be able to click on the image to enlarge.)

Oh, and I almost forgot! I've been tagged for The Name Game! Agh! I'll work on that tonight - promise!

Romantics

Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann

by Lisel Mueller

The modern biographers worry

"how far it went", their tender friendship.

They wonder just what it means

when he writes he thinks of her constantly,

his guardian angel, beloved friend.

The modern biographers ask

the rude, irrelevant question

of our age, as if the event

of two bodies meshing together

establishes the degree of love,

forgetting how softly Eros walked

in the nineteenth century, how a hand

held overlong or a gaze anchored

in someone's eyes could unseat a heart,

and nuances of address not known

in our engalitarian language

could make the redolent air

tremble and shimmer with the heat

of possibility. Each time I hear

the Intermezzi, sad

and lavish in their tenderness,

I imagine the two of them

sitting in a garden

among late-blooming roses

and dark cascades of leaves,

letting the landscape speak for them,

leaving us nothing to overhear.

Uh-oh

Well girls, there's some computer trouble. Don't panic. I just can't upload from my digital camera. Drat! And just as I was impatiently waiting to show you the great treasure I got on Monday, and some goodies for Etsy that I know you will love. Grrrrr.... But never fear - hubby has promised to get it up and running. I hope so, otherwise I'm going to have to do some fancy thinkin'!

In the meantime...coffee break!

My Friend Frida

Well Reader, you may recall that I have a love of delving into the lives of women that I find inspirational and courageous on lots of different levels. This is definitely one that fits the bill. So in celebration of the beginning of Fall, let's take a look. Now, I love Frida Kahlo not for her controversial communist rebellions, or her...shall we say...somewhat outrageous sexual escapades. Instead, I find her thrilling because of her raw passion for life, and yes, that ever present painful love affair.

Pull up a chair. Here's what we know...Frida was born in Mexico in 1907 in the midst of political turmoil. Injured as a young woman in a horrific bus accident, she endured many surgeries and unbelievable pain in her life. But this is where Frida's love of art and painting began. Frida was know to...in fact...paint from bed. Gorgeous and beautiful paintings; usually self portraits. About painting from her bed she once said, "I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." And what, you may ask, made this woman broken? Her stormy marriage to another famous painter of the time - Diego Rivera. Frida once said, "There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst." Wow. Yet they married - twice- and he became a fuel for her paintings. As she once said, "My painting carries with it the message of pain." And they certainly do. Mostly self portraits, Frida explained, "I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."

Frida spent most of her life grappling with both physical and emotional pain. Her painting was therapeutic, but often not enough. She once said, "I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim."

And so Frida Kahlo has become not only a legendary art figure, but woman of note as well for her depth and controversial life. To me, one of the most poignant things she wrote was this: "I think that little by little I'll be able to solve my problems and survive." I guess that's all any of us can really hope for, huh?

This month, spend some time investigating a woman you find fascinating.

Sweet Curiosities

Plenty of fun things to see on Saturday, as expected! Great old antique shops, as well as newer stores that carried some fun things by local artists.



This the window of the local dry cleaner/alteration shop. Too cute!!

We came home with the car loaded down, inside and even on the roof with some great furniture. That's the great part about shopping further out from town; the prices are even better and you feel like you got a real steal! (more on that later...)



I found these two great magnets...how cute are they??





I wish I could remember the woman's name who made them! One of those things that you think, "Oh, I'll remember that", and of course you don't.





But the best find was something I found for my girlfriend (Juli, if you're reading this...stop here!) It looks like this...





Upon closer inspection, it says...








When you open it, it's paper folded accordion style. Perfect for a secret message. It got me to thinking...wouldn't it be great to write down a secret thought....a wish, a dream, a goal, a secret...that you felt you couldn't/shouldn't tell anyone. And then leave it somewhere for 'the curious'? Maybe somewhere along your faraway travels, or even close to home. What would you write?

Mid-way

Thought I'd share with you the progress I found when I got home last night. Ok, I'll have to say that it does look bigger without the busy wallpaper. Still...(sigh)

I was so inspired this morning by some thoughtful words that my were posted by my new friend over at Mybellacolle. She included a quote about God's own renovations. It says, "God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let Him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child's tear untouched....
This might explain some of the discomfort in your life. Remodeling of the heart is not always pleasant. We don't object when the Carpenter adds a few shelves, but He's been known to gut the entire west wing. He has such high aspirations for you. God envisions a complete restoration. He won't stop until He is finished... " (Max Lucado)

Aren't those gorgeous words to ponder? I also love the fact that it goes along with what I have always found to be true - that the work always looks it's ugliest right before it's all going to come together. Great ideas to take with you along your journeys today.

Speaking of journeys...I've managed to convince my husband to get out of the house and go with me to a little town that needs a lot more exploring! So I'm slinging my camera over my shoulder and taking you along. Should be fun! Plenty of antiques...yum! But first, it's off to pilates with my girlfriend :( I hope my uterus doesn't fall out...