Vignette Fridays!

I am participating in Vignette Fridays over at Color Outside the Lines.

I decided to share one of my old favorites with everyone.

Remember this?

 If you've never seen this before, you can read more about it HERE.

That's all folks!

See you soon....

collecting

A few posts back I showed you this:

I told you I would tell you more about it later.

Today is the day.

I have many collections. (no, I'm not a hoarder)

This little cabinet holds one of my favorites.

It is filled with miniatures from all over the world. 

(among other precious treasures - like that picture at the top of my grandparents dancing - love that one)

When I travel I try to find small replicas of famous landmarks - preferably in pewter, but I'm not too picky.

These aren't all from my travels - my children know I love these, so some of my collection is from their own adventures.

Most cities have at least one structure they are known for...

All of these souvenirs are very inexpensive and easy to pack.

If you want, you can double-click on this image to get a better look at these.

 I've even gone to the trouble fun of labeling them for you.

When I was a young girl I had a charm bracelet with charms from my travels.

I've hung it here too.

I know this doesn't look like much, but it is one of my favorites.

When my husband and I were in Rome, we tried to get to the ruins before they closed the gates.

We ran all the way up the hill, huffing and puffing, only to have the guard shut the gate in our faces.

I did the only thing any red-blooded American tourist would do in this situation.

I bent down and picked up a chunk of the path.

The Ugly American strikes again.

What do you collect?

I'd love to know.

Come back soon to see the progress on my new website.....

We're planning a fun contest where you can win a special little something...

...straight from the attic!

welcome home boy....

This will be short but oh, so sweet.

This little guy...

18 months old

7 years old

...became this young man.

receiving a reward for excellance while deployed.

He was sent to Afghanistan to do this...

Twice.

This was our son's second deployment.

For the second time he left this:

his beautiful wife Aleah

and these:

their adorable children Dresden and Karise (aka: Drez & Reecie)

At our house we fly the USAF flag for the duration of each of Dusty's deployments.

From the minute he leaves until the moment he arrives home.

This was the view from my attic window yesterday....

...and here is my view as of 30 minutes ago.

Welcome home my precious son.

We have missed you.

We are counting our blessings that you have been reunited with your sweet family....

Now get some much earned sleep.

We love you,

Mom & Dad

Altered Art Party!!!

I just found out about this Altered Art party over at The French Cupboard.

I have ALWAYS wanted to join in one of these cyber-parties, but either didn't have the right project in the works, or the confidence to jump in.

 Since I just now discovered this I didn't have time to go upstairs into my magic attic and create something new, so I decided to go back in time and drag out my old paper dolls.....

my original design - that's Schmitty the Kitty - may he rest in peace.

my grandson Dresden

my granddaughter Karise

I got a little carried away....

ya think???

OK, I even made necklaces from scanned images of these guys.

So.....

If you are struggling with what to do with the kids this weekend....

This would be a fun project for them to make.

Just click HERE for the details.

See you soon for an update on my new website....and a fun contest, where you might win one of these...

Bodacious Bubbles!

See ya later!

Monkey

I'm taking Monkey down to the lake!

I can hardly contain myself...

I am so excited right now.

Excited about new projects...

Like these:

I am calling them my new Bodacious Bubbles.

...because these are whoppers!

They are 1 1/4" wide and magnify whatever I choose to sandwich between their bodacious, bubbly domes.

I have decided to go with some wonderful combinations of whimsical fonts and images, backed with scraps from this law book my friend Virginia gave me.

Thank you Virginia!

 I told you I would find a cool way to use this.

What else am I excited about?????

I just finished work on the first batch of Susan Branch's newest, limited edition ornament:

...but I can't reveal it to you yet.

not until she does, so stay tuned!

As if that's not enough to be excited about.....

I have been accepted into Custer's Arts & Crafts extravaganza in November!!!!

AND.......

In a few short weeks I will be launching my brand new website where we will have shopping carts and galleries and all sorts of good fun....

You MUST come back and check out my progress. This online store is the coolest ever.

So stick around...

Don't go too far...

See you soon!

The Rusty Bird

Meet my friend Virginia:

Some call her this:

She makes these:

Better than a bird.

She is one of my favorite vendors at Vintage Barn Show.

Last weekend, at the show, she gave me this:

And because she knows how much I love to use vintage ephemera in my work, she surprised me with these:

Virginia has no idea how much I love birds.

And nests.

I have this rather large *gallery* hallway in my home....

It is actually the size/shape of a small room, and it is where I have displayed most of my bird's nests, etc....

I hung one of my necklaces from Virginia's cage and added some eggs.

(more about that cute little cabinet and a later time...)

I think it looks just dandy.

I made this cube a while back. Not as easy as it may look.

This is where Big Mama usually lives.

This is a grouping I made using old botanical bookplates with inexpensive frames from Michaels. The key here is using the same exact size frame and mats (I cut my own) to make a statement. 

This sweet little table was my bedside table growing up. It is circa 1860. (or so my grandmother told me)

I love it.

The collection of large eggs on the right are actually from chickens we had many years ago.

We called them "The Girls".

I blew them out and saved them.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Virginia.

Thanks for stopping by!

ps: make sure you come back to see how I use the treasures Virginia gave me.

You won't be sorry!