Is it Love or Lust??

Hello Faithful Followers....I have been remiss, I know.  Please bear with me...or is it bare?  It's too late for me to get the dictionary to check....you know what I mean though.

I am in love, love, love with the vintage Shasta camper.  I....must....find....one....  Is it love or lust that keeps me searching?  To me, lust gives way after a while, so it must be LOVE!!  I love the vintageness (I may have just made up that word) of the light fixtures, the scalloped cabinets, the appliances.....and the WINGS!!!  Must, must have those too. 

I first fell in love when I saw them at the Country Living Fair and then hooked up with Sisters On the Fly.  I recently read their book and it has just been a crazy search since then.  I have found this one (above).  It is a bit far away and a little pricey (for me anyway), but I think it may also be sold now.  Although....my research tells me that for a lovey in this condition, the price is actually quite reasonable.  Except for me, I must factor in travel costs...either for me to pick it up (in Missouri) or to have it delivered.  Now it becomes a bit pricey.

So meanwhile I will lust after these blogs I have recently come across:  Nora Pearl, Little Vintage Camper, The Vintage Housewife,  Get Campie.  They call it "glamping" you know.  New term for me.  That could also include tents (not your average tent, mind you), but it is the vintage camper that has stolen my heart.  Every visit to Etsy has me searching for vintage mint green melamine to use (instead of my beloved jadeite which I think would not travel well).  Every trip to the fabric store has me searching for the fabrics I would use to recover and remake (you know I must!) to make this little palace on wheels my own.  I have it bad.  I stay up late looking at sites like Tin Can Tourist and Amy's Vintage Trailers.  I know she is out there for me....my Nest.  She will be minty green and maybe the very softest butter yellow...almost vanilla.  Vintage details will abound.  I will change out light fixtures to these from Rejuvination (or similar...they have a great selection in my favorite green).  How wonderful!! I can see it.  Really. 

I am on the hunt and will keep you posted!  I would show you more pictures if I could figure out how to get on Pinterest!!!  What is with that?  It seems so easy.  I have accepted my invite, but I guess I did not choose a sign-on or something.  I can't log on.  Anyone else have that problem??

I'll be back soon.....Maybe with camper in tow!  Wouldn't that be grand????

Happy Hunting for Happy Trails......Carol

I've Been a Crafty Lady!!

I have been having a blast lately getting to know a few new vintage jewelry creators by studying their work on Etsy, purchasing a few new/old items to either get organized or to create with, and organizing my work space.  In addition to that, I've been working on making my granddaughter some little cradle bedding (oh so cute!!) and decorating a little bag for my gift exchange at work tomorrow.  Here are the pics...

I absolutley LOVE this little metal cabinet that will house many treasures.  I lined the drawers with suede cloth and was amazed that I had picked almost the exact shade at the store before I even received the cabinet.  I ordered it from The Bountiful Bird on Etsy.  I see a few other metal boxes and such that I may have to get from that great shop in the future.  I really want to store my goodies in boxes, cabinets, etc., that have had a previous life....no plastic cases for me.  At least that is my intention at this early juncture.  Isn't she a beauty???  She already houses some glass and crystal rosary beads I got from Bird Song Studio....also on Etsy.  Both of these Etsy shops have been added to my list of favorites.  I want them handy so I can visit them often!!   I already have a second order in with Bird Song Studio....such wonderful findings there!

As for the little bag I decorated for my office gift exchange.....here it is.  I took a plain brown sack and added a free downloadable Christmas picture, added a few stamps, a WISH ticket (for the receiver's special Christmas wish), a little funky ribbon, and some Distress Ink Vintage Photo stamp pad rubbed around a bit to give it an interesting look.  I topped it with a little ring tag that also got the Distress Ink treatment.  Add a pinecone ornament and a couple of vintage shoe buttons and it is complete.  Oh...and the gift...a wonderful big candle in a decorative sleeve.  Just what the receiver was hoping for (seriously...we had to submit a list of our five favorite things under $20...it was an awkward endeavor).  Hopefully my colleague will like her gift.  She will receive it tomorrow at our office luncheon.

Oh, and to add to this list of projects, I have been painting an old wicker and wood desk for my oldest granddaughter.  It is actually part of her birthday gift from last May that I am finally getting to (how bad is that??!!).  I am determined to give it to her before Christmas so she doesn't think it is part of her Christmas gift too.  I ordered a piece of glass for the top so she can slide photos of her and her friends.  She is nine.  I know she will love that part!!  Pictures to follow. 

Lastly...as I mentioned earlier, I have been so incredibly inspired by some new-to-me jewelry artists.  Please check out their shops and their incredible work.  I am awestruck by a few of their pieces.  You will love visiting Opaline 1214 and The French Circus.  Such talent, such artistry....I'm blown away!!

Did I really say "lastly?"  This is really my "And finally...."  I have a very special package arriving any day from my most favorite Christine Wallace.  I'll say no more until it arrives and I can share it with you up close and personal.  I'm doing a mini happy dance in the mere anticipation!!!

So that is all for this evening.  I have been enjoying a cooler evening in what we Floridians call winter.  The windows of the sunroom are open, the breeze is pretty strong out there, and the wind chime in the tree is singing to me.  Lovely.

Hope you are enjoying a lovely evening as well.  Until next we meet.....Carol

The Hunt

The hunt for cool vintage findings has started for the jewelry line I hope to create one day.  I scoured several yard/garage sales this past weekend, and man....do I have a lot to learn.  Has it really been that long since I bargained for anything?  I found myself taking at face value the price either written or offered, and honestly did not even think to negotiate a lower price.  That, my friends, is the result of too many years of retail shopping!  I found one very cool item that I really loved.....a very old and very large silver framed charm.  The price was originally $300 (at a yard sale folks....really??) and the seller said I could have it for $100.  Still too rich for my blood.  My husband asked why I didn't offer her $25.  I have no idea why!  Because that was the price she told me it was, I guess. Then for the rest of the day I kicked myself for not at least trying to get a lower price.  And you can see that close to a week later, that piece is still haunting me.  Because the family was selling just about everything in preparation to move to Hawaii, they just might be out there again next weekend.  I think I will try to find them one more time to see if their prices are lower and if I can muster up the courage to offer a lower price. Wish me luck!

I did find a few lovelies though.  It is a start for what I hope will turn out to be a great collection of treasures and then incredible one-of-a-kind, wearable pieces of art.

Here is what I found...

I am not crazy about these porcelain beads, but I love the little
brass caps.  I'll be taking this completely apart so I can
look at it from a new standpoint.

I was thrilled to find these older rhinestone pieces.
Love the disco ball beads!!

While visiting my mother over the holidays and sharing this new venture with her, she was off to her bedroom to gather some old pieces.  Some of this stuff I haven't seen in years.  We had a great time reliving some of the treasures we found in her jewelry box.  I don't think she had even been in it in years.  But from that trip, she and my grandmother shared these items with me.  Yippee!!

What a great collection!  I'm so excited to add these
pieces.  Some will just be pieces of chain, while others
will be for their baubles.

I'll have to take some time to see if this awesome necklace
can be dismantled a bit so I can just use sections at a time.
I'm new at this, so the only way to see if it works is
just to try it....right??

I am so in love with this set!  However, it's days as a "set"
are over, baby!!

I have noticed that religious metals, rosaries, and crucifixes play a major role in many of the jewelry pieces I am loving these days.  I have my own collection of rosaries from growing up Catholic, and have acquired a few metals and such over the years as well.  I am really struggling with the taking apart of rosaries to use in my future pieces.  I know it is being done by others and honestly, I love the look.  I have asked a few people who know what a rosary is supposed to represent and mean, and I am getting a mixed bag of feedback.  Because I am using them in what I hope will be cherished pieces that ladies will hopefully wear in pride, I don't feel that I am being blasphemis.  One friend suggested I never take apart the ten bead section where one prays ten Hail Mary's, but otherwise did not feel it wrong to take apart the rest.  I think I can live with that.  I would love to have your input.  What is your opinion??  Please, please share it with me.  I really love the look these pieces add, but want to feel good in my heart about doing it.  I'm going to need your help though.

Here is my collection of rosaries and metals....



I love the back of this Virgin Mary piece. 
A little dap of "terra" from Jerusulem.
I've never seen that in a rosary before.

 And finally, here are a few of my own personal pieces that I've had on hand for awhile.

This pin is truly one of my favorite vintage pieces that I am hoping to include in a repurposed piece soon.  In fact, I love it so...I think I'll wear it to work tomorrow!!



 This old Paris souvenir bracelet is so very cool.  I picked it up at a local antique store a few years ago, but the clasp sticks so I don't really wear it.  However, it will really be beautiful taken apart and used in several pieces or a few in one Paris-themed piece.  Can't wait!!  Also included here are some of my Brownie and Girl Scout pins.  Not sure if I will use them, but thought their truly vintage look is great.  Did any of you feel what just happened????  I said something from my childhood is now considered "vintage."  Uh....how did that happen?  Also included here are two older cameos....will look lovely combined with some pearls I thinks. (Sorry for the sideways view here.)

As the weekend is fast approaching, I am already thinking of the neighborhoods I want to scour for new finds.  Then it is time to get my workspace organized.  I'll share that process with you also.  I feel I am ready to try a piece or two.  We'll see....

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week.....
Carol

P.S.  I forgot to mention....Adorn Me 2012 in Houston, TX at the end of February has been cancelled.  I am more than disappointed, but hope to go wherever it is in November.  Maybe I can find something similar to enjoy before then.

Where Oh Where Have I Been??

That is a very good question.  Where do I start?  Job frustration....I think that is where I left you all.  Talking about being moved from a position I liked (not loved, but I liked it a lot).  Well, much has happened on that front, but I no longer want to focus on that. 

Then the ever popular technical issues.  Blogging was cut from my work computer and my little home netbook was a challenge.  We just got a handle on that so I feel like I am creeping my way back into the blogosphere.  I have SO much catching up to do!!  Can't wait to visit all my favs again.

And then there was my decorating work.  I recently finished work on a 64 foot Hargrave yacht.  A total redo of furniture, accents, and softgoods.  I am very proud of the entire process....had a couple of firsts for me as a decorator as well.  I will share more on that soon (with pictures!).

So, I'm considering this a blog do-over!  Yay!  Don't you wish we could "do" that more often....a "do-over?"

What I am hoping to do from this point forward is some new things...a new focus.  I had lost interest in my artful self for a while.  I guess disappointments can allow that to happen.  However, I attended the Country Living Fair this past October in Stone Mountain Park, Georgia again and started to feel the flicker of the flame start again.  I didn't even take any pictures.  Remember all the posts and pics from the 2010 show?  I almost felt guilty that I was strickly indulging my own personal whims and fancies, and not taking pictures or getting business cards or talking to the artists.  That is, except for Shari Replogle.  I knew where she was situated last year and held out that she would be there again.  I was not disappointed.  Plus I got a beautiful treasure from her as well.

I found I had a common interest throughout the show.  It is not completely surprising that I love jewelry.  I know my taste is not right for everyone. I love the funky, the chunky, the vintage, the unusual.  I am often told "Only you could wear that."  I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I tell you, I'm starting to wonder if I am surrounded by really boring people (and I don't mean that in an ugly sense) or if I am just really strange!  I like to say different.  Some use the word artsy.  I don't know.  When I was walking around the Fair, these words popped into my brain more than once that day...."These are MY people!!"  I felt like I was with my true kin (and I was figuratively as well), but I felt it spiritually too.  My experiences over the past eight months or so keep driving home the message to me that I must stay true to myself, to my style, and to be who I am.  So that is going to be my focus.  Doing what feels right to me. I know you know what I am talking about.  It feels right to be in your own skin when you are following the right path for yourself, be it artistically or otherwise.

So since that show I have been consumed with finding a purpose and the creation of my kind of jewelry keeps floating to the surface.  Remember the Magic 8 Ball of our youth??  When I shake it and turn it over it says.....Make Some Awesome Jewelry!  I have been studying the works of Shari Replogle, Diana Frey, Amy Hannah, Christine Wallace (oh my!) and my extreme favorite:  Deryn Mentock.  I am truly enamoured.  I am hoping to attend Adorn Me! 2012 in late February in Houston, Texas to take an all day workshop entitled The Alchemy of Objects with Deryn Mentock.  That will truly be an awesome experience! I have some money to save, some equipment to gather (how does one fly with all one's tools?), some vintage goodies to gather.  I am so psyched!!  This is where I want to start leaning....with my work and with my life.  It feels good in my skin and in my head to even think it.  I long for the quiet creativity that I anticipate it will bring.  I must make time to do this....for my sanity, if for nothing else. 

So I hope you will like the subtle changes my blog will bring.  I hope you will still want to follow along with me through my little transformation.  I am praying it will be interesting for you and that I will still feel as strongly about the choices that I feel are forthcoming as I do right now.

For this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday I am most thankful to live in a country where I can actually undergo this metamorphosis.  I am thankful for the family I will see and spend time with this coming holiday, and I truly wish you all the most incredible blessings a holiday can bring.  I have so much more to share....the ideas are really starting to go from a mere simmer to a low boil.  I think they are going to keep growing.  Hope you to find you there along the way....

Wishing you a peaceful Thanksgiving...
Carol

P.S.  I just ordered this great book and sprung for the overnight shipping so I would have it for the long holiday weekend.  Can't wait to get it tomorrow!!  I will read every word and study every picture.  Plus I couldn't have a totally pictureless post!!!

Order it HERE.

Vintage Inspired Memories

It is Friday, and a Vintage Inspiration Friday, at that!  I haven't played along in awhile.  Crazy times of late....adjusting to new schedules and such.  However, I was going through some old photos in my computer hoping for something to inspire me and thought I would plug them in and play along.  I know you've seen them before, but I just couldn't help myself.

They are all from the Country Living Fair I went to this past October in Stone Mountain Park, Georgia.  They are coming back this coming October as well.  I'll get the 3-day pass this time so I can relax, take my time, enjoy it at a slower pace, shop, shop, and shop some more!

Spring wishes to you all! 

Desperately Seeking Carol

Do you remember that '80's/'90's movie:  Desperately Seeking Susan?  Well, I know it was about a girl looking for a girl she saw or thought she saw or something like that.  I am in search of myself.  I need to make some time for myself without feeling like I am slighting someone else in the process.  How does one do that?

I've spent the better part of the last week stealing moments with my dear mother.  Lunch here, shopping there.  She leaves for Georgia in the morning.  I will see her again soon and will start thinking of when I will make my next journey there.  I've seen her more in the past few months than I have in recent years....her trip here at Christmas, my surprise visit to GA in February for her birthday, and her "tax trip" here this past week.  I know I will be in ATL in October for the Country Living Fair, but will make it up there long before that, I'm sure.  Thank you, Mom, for still being my mom.  Even at 48, I feel like a little girl sometimes who longs for her "mommy."  Maybe we never outgrow that.  I know I am blessed to have you. 

My Aunt Claire came over from the west coast this past weekend too.  I was so happy to see her and will have to make the 3 hour drive to see her new haven.  Lake Susie....how "dreamy" does that sound??

I am feeling taken advantage of, of late.  I need to get a grip on that and find time for me.  I vow, this week, to take care of the things I feel I need to...feeding and bathing my sweet granddaughter, but maybe letting her daddy put her to bed as I venture out to the shop to work on a dresser a dear friend has entrusted in me.  Yes....that will make me feel that I am using my time wisely, accomplishing a goal, and doing what I love.  I longed for time in my garden this weekend, but did not find it....or make it.  At some point, I need to make time for me.

Maybe this week?  How do you steal moments for yourself?  I could really use your advise.....

End of Book Remorse

Do you know what I mean?  You spend time really enjoying a book......and then it is over?  That is where I am today.  I just finished And I Shall Have Some Peace There by Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden dot com.  I mention her and her site often.  If you garden at all, hers is a must read and visit site.  Even though I am in a Zone 10 garden and she in a Zone 5B (or A....can't recall at this moment), and our gardening is so very different, sometimes it really isn't.  I gleen tidbits here and there, and truly just enjoy the visit.  If you don't garden, just enjoy the beautiful pictures in her many slide shows.  Did I mention the wee bit of envy I have over how Ms. Roach escaped the big city to dwell in the country?  Her home and garden are her life's work now, and I find the idea of that absolutely wonderful and peaceful. 

Hopefully, you also saw her bird article in last Sunday's Parade.  There are so many of us bird lovers out there.  I know I do not take advantage of seeing and searching for the many different birds that are still in my neck of the woods.  But, if one more of my friends tell me a Painted Bunting visited their feeder.....!!!  I may have had a quick sighting of one last spring, but not the many that some of my friends get year after year. I must make my yard more inviting for them.

I failed to mention that I read Margaret's book on my NookColor.  If you have one, I encourage you to download it there as there are beautiful bonus pictures that the regular book does not have.  You will love them as much as I did, I know.  (I believe it is on the iPad version as well.)


"Did you ever just want to walk away?" asks Margaret Roach in her newest book. 

YES!