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.

Where Does the Time Go??

I really am still alive. In case you haven't noticed, things have been crazy here!! Sadly, looking at the calendar, I see that things won't be settling down until the second weekend in November (and then -who are we kidding - it's Christmas madness. But anyway...) But God is good and He gave me a surprise chance to sneak out to one of my favorite antique malls yesterday. I promise to take some pics of some goodies I got - some vintage homemaking magazines you'll love, a great vintage purse...yum!!

When I saw this yesterday, I knew I was to heed the message, and take a deep breath. I hope it gives you some fortitude for your journey!

Have a wonderful Sunday - -

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 - -