Dear Santa

Sometimes when a girl wants something like this....

 

 

{source}

 

she finds she might need to leave a subtle hint like this...

 

 

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

 



Love At Frist Sight

As I walked into the Church and rounded the corner,
our eyes met.

It was love at first sight.

I tried to fight it.
But despite my efforts, my eyes drifted that way throughout the day.

By the end of the day,
it didn't matter to me what the Farmboy might think.
Love cannot be denied.
The beautiful dolly was coming home with me.

*********

Isn't she gorgeous?!
This is the art doll I purchased from Colleen Moody.
I swear if I didn't know any better, I would think she was made specifically for me.
She fits me and my home so perfectly!

Yesterday I realized that I was too general in the post on the making of Lucie and I don't want to take credit where credit isn't due.
Colleen had all the dolls already sculpted for us because there wasn't enough time for them to dry and allow us to put them together.
I did paint her, make her legs and completely fashion her clothing and crown.
She, Colleen, provided us with paperclay, so I'm foreseeing much doll sculpting in my future.

Hope you're having a beautiful week!

Autumn Journal

First off, thank you for your well wishes! Everyone is feeling better and back into a regular routine.

Just before I came down with that nasty bug, I worked in my Autumn Journal and managed to get the first two pages done.

This first page came together in, at the very, very least, 30 minutes. Seriously, that's a record for me. (If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I'm as slow as molasses when it comes to creating anything!)

This second page, took a little bit longer, but once I got going, it too was done in no time.

I watered down some acrylic paint for the background wash. One of the colors I used, was a metallic gold. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it gives a nice golden sheen to it. For the vines, I used a brown watercolor pencil and then, once dry, added some shadow to it with my one and only (at this point!) Copic marker. I listed my "journal goals" with my dip pen.

I was hoping around blogland the other day and ended up at Sugared Songbird's Etsy shop. She hand dyes ribbons and her color combinations are really pretty. She had a bunch of Autumny colors that I thought would look nice within my journal. So I had an impulse shopping moment.

I'm glad I did. I had not purchased from her before, but I will again. I'm very happy with my ribbons. They are quite lovely!

I hope you are having a beautiful week! I'm off to replenish my Kleenex supply... still sniffley.

Shopping

My wallet has seen a lot of action in the last month... and none of it was Christmas shopping either... oops!

We'll start with Omaha Shopping.

The flowers on the hat are such a lovey variegated color, I thought the girl was pretty (she'll go in my pretty lady collection) and the postcard is of Omaha... needed some sort of postcard souvenir, why not an old one! You know my fascination with Egypt... I'm 99.9% certain the photo was taken in Giza.... a must have.
Okay, the pearls. You know how Holly Golightly loves diamonds, but "doesn't feel that they are for her", but they look wonderful on older ladies? Well, this is how I have always felt about pearls. Evidently I have reached the age (level of maturity... wisdom? Am I reaching too far here?) that I think pearls are now for me and I'm not even 40 yet, you know. Seriously, I can't get enough of pearls! This pearl choker is my favorite piece of jewelry now... please don't tell my Farmboy though! I've already worn it half a dozen times and feel that I could actually buy clothing around this necklace, just so I can wear it! Crazy, I know.


Lovely bits of broken jewelry. (more pearls)


Pretty buttons and don't you just love the trims! Yummy, I say! I'm thinking I'll use the trims in my French Textile Album... like the one in this post.


The beginning of my antique button collection.

Now, Silver Bella Vendor Night.

Wallpaper rolls from her, wallpaper and millinery pack from her and holiday flashcards and velvet strawberries (I'm sure I don't have to tell you) from her. Did you catch her seam binding sale? I did... and Andrea is really too sweet.


Yummy colored yoyos, trims and vintage bird from her. Some how I missed the "crafter's crack" at her table (I'm not crazy, Wanda knows what I'm talking about). Hand dyed silk and velvet ribbons from her, but you probably already knew that too.


The sweet little kit was from Teresa's table (her daughter put them together) and I also bought a Prairie Home tee shirt from her table too. Love that shirt! In fact I put 3 others on my Christmas Wish List for Santa. The mica was from her.

I think I mentioned that my Farmboy had to be out of town during the week of Thanksgiving. He didn't have to "work" the whole time, but he had to be there just in case, so I spent the week down there with him. Well on Saturday, we decided we would drive over to Fredricksburg, we were in Austin (forgot to mention that). Well, when in Fredricksburg there are three things that are a must... eat German food (which I don't like, other than spatzle, so we did better than that and ate at both of Rebecca Rathers' restaurants)... drink beer (well, I don't like beer either, unless it's a cider ale or a fruity lager. So I didn't do that either)... and the most important thing you should do in Fredricksburg is shop! (but with Christmas just around the corner, I did control myself and only picked up a few things.)

These are the only "old" goodies I bought. Two French books... love the the N's on the spines and a fabulous journal all written in french. Yep, hit a pretty good jackpot with that one!

You know my favorite shop in Austin... Uncommon Objects? These are the goodies I got from there.

I went looking for a German book and found it before even getting to Fredricksburg. The sweet little bracelet is a child's bracelet from 1930. Love the pretty aqua heart on it. And low and behold, it fits me perfectly! (not that I'll ever wear it... I wouldn't want to break it.)

So those are all of my goodies!

Before I go, I'd like to show a little sneak peek of what I'll have in the shop soon.



Hope your day is a beautiful one!

The Stamptini Girls

Good afternoon! I wanted to pop in real quick and introduce you to some friends of mine.

The Stamptini Girls!

These three lovely ladies have recently started up their business, Stamptini Girls, and offer a great selection of gift items. They create all kinds of wonderfulness! From cards to mini albums to coaster to candles. Check out their blog and if you are in the Fort Worth area you can find their creations for sale down at the Stockyards. They are also teaching classes and workshops in the Frisco area. Oh, and when LolliShops opens, be sure to look for them there as well!

(photo: Stamptini Girls)

Shoppe News

I have been busy and have listed a few new items in both shopppes.

The "Summer Citrus Creativity Kit" is listed at Alisa Jane's Pocket.

It's full of juicy yellows, greens and coraly-oranges. I almost didn't list this one... wanted to keep it for myself.

Over at Alisa Jane I have listed my "Beauty" Collection. Four decorative plates that I'm selling individually or as sets of two or a set of four. Each bears an image of one of Harrison Fisher's "American Beauties". I can't tell you how much I love his girls! I've been wanting to use some of them for a while now.
Beauty No.1












Beauty No. 2












Beauty No. 3












Beauty No. 4












And speaking of shoppes, Wanda has opened her Etsy shoppe, The Rat's Pajamas. Be sure to go take a look. I also hear that Wanda is going to be a vendor at Silver Bella. Oooo, I can't wait!

And Lori of Faerie Window is a guest artist at The Primitive Gathering. Sorry Lori, I totally meant to mention this before! When you get to The Primitive Gathering just click on the "Faerie Window" banner to see her work. But DON'T buy that cute little "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'" piece. I'm trying to figure out a way to buy it and Farmboy not notice. ;) (evidently I've been making too many purchases... hmmm) Alright fine! If you really want it, go ahead and buy it... but hopefully I'll beat you to it.

Have a beautiful day!

A Sweet Gift and Some Other Pretties

First the gift.
I got mail the other day and what a lovely surprise it was!

Diane sent me this sweet "thank you" package. Diane is a busy lady! Along with a lot of other different crafts, she makes these pretty pins with bits of textiles and trims and embroiders on them... they are really pretty. She also designs fabric for Clothworks, as well as, paints. Look at these watercolors! Aren't they gorgeous? Thank you so much Diane! :)

And now for the "other pretties".
Remember those little bottles my BIL gave me? Well before I left, I started playing with a couple of them.


I hit the mother load in vintage image rub ons at a garage sale last month. You should have seen my MIL and I digging through all of these boxes and spazing like a couple of kids in a candy shop. At one point I thought it was going to be a wrestling match, thank goodness she decided to share. She's one tough, old bird... I think she probably could have taken me without any problem.

I also have to show you these, because I simply love them. Remember when I bought that gorgeous old clock face? Remember how ridiculously happy it made me? (It still does.) Well, I found another old item that makes me just as ridiculously happy as the clock face.

Look at that Lemon Extract bottle!!!! I know, how can a dirty, old bottle make someone SO giddy with excitement? I don't know, but it does! As for the book, well, every time I went into this one shop I would pick it up and then eventually put it back. After doing that for months, I finally brought it home with me. I love the image on the cover and thought that some of the pages were missing so planned on using the cover in a piece of art or maybe doing an altered book with it. There aren't any pages missing on closer inspection, so I'm going to read it first... then use it.

The last little pretty.

I've been so into polka dots recently and I decided I needed a red and white polka dotted apron. I found this at Honey Bend Vintage and loved it, so I snatched it right up. It's not red and white, but that doesn't matter. It has that cute little ribbon flower and the bottom edge is scalloped... love that! So it hasn't made me cook more than usual, but I sure look darn cute in it while I am cooking. :)

Oh! Be sure to stop by and visit Jenn's new etsy shoppe, The Peony Princess. I already have!

That's it for today. Have a beautiful one!

I *Heart* Austin...

and Advil is my bestest friend!

So the Farmboy had to be in Austin this past weekend... not necessarily working-working, but to be there in case for some mumbojumbotechnicalcomputerthingymabob reason. So Pretty Lady and Capin' Davy Cannonswine and I went down to join him.

I spent all day Wednesday doing laundry, because there is nothing worse than going on a trip without clean underwear, and Thursday morning finished it up and packed it up. However, while taking a quick break, I checked email. Come to find out my body isn't as young as I think it is and hunching over my laptop when it is sitting on a stool and sending email that way isn't, evidently, the smart thing to do. When I stood up, I couldn't stand up. The pain in my lower back was terrible! So I popped some Advil and got the kids to load up the car.



My MIL had come over to ride to the rent car place. Farmboy had reserved a car for us so that we could all ride home together in his car... MIL was to drive my car back home once we got our rent car. We get there, mind you we are already running 30 minutes behind my planned schedule, I hobble from the parking lot into the office, stand in line for too long and then get to the desk only to be told that I can't drop the car off in Austin. No one-way tickets from this shop people! (it doesn't say this on the website) "Oh, but don't worry, we will take care of you and get you a car from the McKinney shop." (which means I have to turn around and go the wrong direction) They get off the phone to tell me "so sorry, they don't have any cars." I take MIL home apologizing profusely, fill my car up with gas (which wasn't already done, because we weren't supposed to take it) and feed the starving pirate in the backseat before he starts a mutiny.

Now we are on the road... an hour and 15 minutes behind my planned schedule, the Advil hasn't touched my back, but I think that's okay because it doesn't hurt as long as I'm sitting and the 4 hour trip flies by due to the non-stop talking teenage girl sitting in the front passenger seat.



We get there and it takes me, what seems like, another 4 hours to get out of the car. We were quite the sight walking through the lobby... me looking like a very old grandma who has misplaced her walker, Pretty Lady loaded down like a pack mule and Capin' Davy Cannonswine continuously and loudly asking "when is Dad leaving his office?" After Farmboy showed up and they all finished with the "need a walker" jokes and more Advil was popped, we went to the house of the one with magic hands! Otherwise known to us as the mother of our god daughters. Thank the heavens for massage therapists! Anyway, she worked on me for quite awhile and told me it wasn't a muscle in my back, but yes, it was a muscle in my butt! Guess it's all of that bike riding and laundry. When we left I was still hobbling, but could stand upright.

The rest of the weekend was spent hobbling around Austin, popping Advil that was working now, eating good Tex-Mex, watching the bats fly out from under the bridge, and treasure hunting.

Now for the good stuff. I went to Uncommon Objects on Friday. The rhinestone strawberry brooch and velvet rose embellished purse I was eyeballing the last time were both still there. And they were both still more than I'm willing to pay for them. I did find a 1939 wallpaper sample book (the best treasure from there) and also picked up a little pink lingerie box and some bingo cards. I cannot tell you how excited I was to find that wallpaper book. I have been searching high and low in every shop I've been going into, for wallpaper.


I had meant to check before we left to see if anything good was going to be going on in Austin while we were there, but didn't get to it. So I planned to hit the Jerrell flea market on our way home. I didn't, because it turns out that Luck was on my side and must have just been messing with me when it came to my back. :) Sunday morning we went down to Lake Lady Bird (for those of you who know Austin, that sounds so weird to me... should be Town Lake!) to fulfill the pirate's need for water. He evidently had spent too much time on dry land and was pretty sure if he didn't set sail soon he would shrivel up and die... so we went kayaking. Not quite the pirate vessel he was after, but it did the trick. On the way back to the hotel afterwards we were driving by the Civic Center and the sign happened to catch my eye. I screeched to Farmboy to turn the car around... the Austin City Wide Garage Sale was going on! He asked if I really wanted to go, seeing that my shorts were soaking wet from boating. "Well YES!!!" Sometimes he is just plain crazy in the head! What do I care about chaffing in places that you don't want to be chaffed when there are treasures to be found!

Sarah and I had been chatting about this just last month and I wasn't about to miss it. They call it a garage sale, but it's a flea market with lots and lots of wonderful stuff and the prices, for the most part, are right. There were only two booths, both filled with gorgeousness, that I wanted almost everything in, but their prices were not flea market prices. Oh well. I did purchase enough goodies to make me happy! :) The family couldn't hang with me so they left to get some lunch and thought I was crazy that I would rather stay there than eat. To each his own! And I want to say thank you to Joanna. She posted the other day about how she always asks the dealer for their best price. Normally I have trouble doing this. I have trouble talking face to face with strangers anyway, unless they are under 4 feet tall and can't tie their shoes yet. Anyhoo, I did it every time and get this... IT WORKED!!!!

I have to show you this picture and then I'll stop rambling.

There were maybe 8 of these tables set up like this and depending on what was on them, they were priced all under $10, by the pound. I tried 4 times to dig through all of these linens... I tried the pillowcase table, the tablecloth table, the crochet table and the apron table (you know how I LOVE aprons!) I couldn't do it. Every time, I had to stop and walk away... there was so much, I had to walk away each time because I was so overwhelmed!

Alright, now that I've probably bored you to tears with my drama, here's to a beautiful Monday!

Favorite Shops

Show and Tell, being hosted by Cerri of Little Pink Studio, is all about your favorite shopping spots.

My favorite place to shop is on the square in McKinney, the town next door to mine. All the way around the square are the most wonderful little shops. Some of my favorites are The Antique Collection, Clydes, The French Mix, Ambrosia and I think the one on the corner is called The Antique Corner Market (or something like that) and quite a few more. I don't have any pictures of any of these wonderful places, wasn't able to get up there this week, but I do have these.


This is the shop I referred to in the post about our weekend getaway. It is called Uncommon Objects and is located on South Congress in Austin. This place is seriously packed from floor to ceiling and wall to wall to wall to wall! Every vintage item you can think of is in this place.

And to really look at everything would take at least a couple of days. (this is one of my favorite corners!)


However, beware! There are so many great things in here that will make you SO, SO, SO HAPPY, that when you do find something you feel will need to go home with you, it can cause "Stupid Grin Syndrome"!!!


Thanks for stopping by and make sure you go look at every one's favorite shops!

PS. Farmboy, if you're reading this, just a small reminder... mother's day is almost upon us... lovely red rhinestone strawberry broach :)