A Truly Divine Swap

Okay I love the word "divine" and probably use it way too much and I also have a very strong religious faith so you know this swap is for me! To sign up, check out Magical Musings.

Fun Jewelry

I've been working on some fun jewelry for my shop. I never knew how rewarding, inspirational, and most of all fun - it would be to have a little shop. Above is a pair of pink rose earrings made from fabulous vintage Japanese plastic rose charms. I just love these guys and made a pair for myself! I'm also planning to work on some more vintage jewelry items and boxes this weekend. The weather here is kind of iffy so I should have some time - oh that and I have to finish Harry Potter! Almost there - just a few chapters to go! It is definitely bittersweet because once I turn that last page, there will be no more Harry to read! Waah! What are your weekend plans?

More yummy vintage Japanese plastic rose charms, this time in pale yellow.

I thought it would be fun to imitate some cherries - these are in Swarovski crystal and vintage glass.

I had some great vintage AB green glass beads and some fabulous Tensha rose beads, I threw in some Swarovksi cubes and came up with this bracelet.

Can you believe it is almost August?! Where did the summer go? Do you think it will come back if I ask really nicely? God Bless all of you and stay safe.

Creative Fun

I've been working on some fun custom orders for the talented Angelina. She requested a lemon box as well as a cherry box.

She also sent along this fun pink and white Christmas image and asked me to create a box featuring it. We agreed a rectangle box would be better suited. She requested it be done in pinks and whites but left the rest up to me. I hope she is pleased with the outcome!

Here is a photo of her three boxes. These were a lot of fun to work on. Thanks so much for your support Angelina!

I also created this custom bracelet featuring a vintage rhinestone focal. I've recently been lucky enough to receive a lot of great vintage jewelry pieces from several friends so I'll be creating some more vintage inspired items for my shop. I'm having so much fun with it! Thanks so much to all of my wonderful blogging friends for supporting me in this. I've always wanted to create and share my creations and I never thought it would be possible until I came across this wonderful community. I treasure each and every one of you and I thank you for inspiring me everyday.

A Sad Day

I live in a quiet, peaceful town - that is until yesterday when that peacefulness was stolen by cowards. A horrific home invasion left a prominent family shattered and three beautiful women dead. I pray that Jennifer and her beautiful daughters Hayley and Michaela have been welcomed into God's loving embrace and are at peace. I also pray that William, the loving husband and father and the sole survivor of this tragedy will find the strength to carry on without his beautiful family. Please keep the Petit family in your prayers.

Give your family and friends that extra hug and kiss and let them know they are loved. Live each day to its fullest and do not let the "little" things keep you from truly enjoying this wonderful gift of life that we so often take for granted.

"Every spirit builds itself a house, and beyond its house a world, and beyond its world a heaven."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Simply Divine!

Some lovely hydrangeas from our yard.

Hello again dear friends! I hope everyone is looking forward to a great weekend. Hubby and I are about to take my two cousins to a baseball game and then I'll have my nose in my Harry Potter book! Gotta find out what happens before someone spills the beans! I'm steering clear of all the spoilers. It would be awful to have read so much only to have the ending ruined by poor sports!

Quite some months ago I ordered some wood letters from fellow blogger Deb at say it with letters! I kept going back and forth about what exactly to do with them. I finally decided for one set! I put up some family photos in a random pattern going up our stairs - this wall has been bare for quite some time with the exception of the schnauzer print. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. The previous home owners had put up this strange random piece of molding that I can't stand - that is I couldn't stand until I came up with the idea to put the word Divine "on" the molding and the photos underneath. I'm very pleased with the way it came out.

It was a lot of fun embellishing the letters. My sister just loves the look and has asked me to make her a sign so Deb - another order will be placed soon! Speaking of orders, I have some fun custom orders I'll be working on this weekend as well. Thank you so much to everyone for supporting my little crafty endeavors!

Rockin Girl!

How cool is this?! I got named a Rockin' Girl Blogger by Ms. Vicki over at This Art That Makes Me Happy. Thanks Vicki! All that I have to do in turn is name 5 Rockin' Girl Bloggers - I love you all and you are all Rocking Girls (and guys for that matter!) but since I must choose 5 here we go:

Jennifer at Sweet Eye Candy Creations. She has a fabulous new blog with some wonderful eye candy. She is also a real sweetie so give her a visit!

Sophie Honeysuckle at Sophie Honeysuckle's English Decor. Check out her fabulous life and home over in England. Gotta love the story of how she met her husband!

The fabulous Ms. Susie Q at Rabbit Run Cottage. She has quite the way with words - you must read her recent tea party post - she is the very personification of a Rockin' Girl!

Kina at Life ala Kina. Must check out her blog - she is cute as a button and well on her way to a most wonderful life in her new home. She also makes some darn good coffee drinks!

Jenn at Jenn's Nook. A beautiful soul who is battling recent medical issues with grace, style, and true strength.

Please do visit all of these Rockin' Girls. I also want to draw your attention to two wonderful new blogs I came across - they are a husband and wife duo. Fredsworld and Happy Loves Rosie - check them both out!

Shop Update

Hello again dear friends. I hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend. I've been busy with many projects including repainting our shed (thanks to help from my sister!) a cottagey green and yellow (I'll post photos after it receives a few finishing touches) and creating some new items for my shop. I've featured them here. Above is a fabulous necklace featuring a vintage chain and fabulous vintage pendant. Update - the necklace has been sold. Thank you!

I thought these were fun colors from some sassy summer earrings. The orange and lime beads are vintage.

And by popular request, I've added some fun boxes. A red and white gingham and cherry box...

And a citrus green and yellow box featuring a vintage girl and deer image. Update this box has been sold. Thank you!

Some fun and fabulous items came in the mailbox including the above brown paper bag scrapbook from Heidi. Check out her blog and leave a comment and she will mail you (for free!) a blank scrapbook to personalize. She has also created a Flickr group for everyone to post their results.

Above is the absolutely fabulous cottage pack I received from the other wonderful Karla. This pack was so chockful I could hardly contain myself as I opened it! I couldn't get everything in the photo. One special touch Karla added is a personalized bookmark. I can't wait to start creating with some of this bounty.

These are some gorgeous vintage pillowcases and lace trim from Heather. Her store is full of some beautiful items! She also has some leads on the Foof-a-Life book - which I finally got a copy of (or at least it is on order)!

Lastly, I have to let you all know that I have been making the wonderful Raspberry Mocha that Kina has been so kind to share. Click here for the recipe. I've been making it in the morning and sipping it at work - Yummy!

Indiana Jones

Exciting stuff brewing in Connecticut the last few weeks. Steven Spielberg has been in town filming scenes for the new Indiana Jones movie on the Yale University campus. Yup - this means he brought along his good friend Harrison Ford as well. A good friend of mine works at Yale and brought me on a little tour of the sets last week (she had a brush with all the stars including Harrison's best gal Calista Flockhart). Unfortunately, it was the day they were packing up so no stars, and no action shots but the one thing I did see was all of these wonderful store windows. These photos were taken along a street bordering the Yale campus. All of the store windows were turned into 1950s era store windows. The first few shots are from a store that is actually a print shop but became a general store during filming. Above is a broom display on the sidewalk.


Some good 'ol fashioned Brillo to get those dishes nice and clean.

Most of the stores were open (at least some days) during the filming, they posted their real store information in the windows. This store is really Ten Thousand Villages, a great shop that sells items from developing countries and passes the proceeds back to the countries. during filming, it became a sort of grocery store.

Not the best photos with the glass reflecting but still lots of fun!

Anyone need some pantyhose or rollers?

This store was made to look like a tailor shop. Can you spot me in the below photo? Hint - I'm wearing green.

The last store on the block is a women's boutique that was made into a music store. My only question - was the electric guitar around in the 1950s?

Cammy at Freckled Farm has tagged me for 8 random things. Here goes:

1. I eat cereal almost every single morning (and sometimes evening). It can be something sugary like Lucky Charms or something more healthy like Bran Flakes or Cheerios.

2. I have a tendency to dump my husband's soda/juice/water before he is finished with it. I try to keep things clutter free and if he leaves his glass out too long - I assume he is finished.

3. I keep some sort of night light on in the hallway when it is time for bed. I'm not afraid of the dark, I just like to be able to see if I have to get up in the middle of the night.

4. I do not own a "real" ipod. I have the Dell version - a Dell DJ. More recently, my boss gave me an ipod Shuffle.

5. I love boy bands. My musical tastes are really all over the map from alternative rock, standards, pop, jazz, Broadway - but I always have a soft spot for the sugary sweet boy bands. I think it stems from my teenage obsession with the New Kids on the Block.

6. Spring is my favorite season. Perfect weather - not too hot and not too cold and the promise of the lazy days of summer ahead (though they haven't been too lazy this year!).

7. I still live in my childhood hometown. I don't know if we will ultimately stay here but for now I love it.

8. I threw the discus on my high school track team. I was a skinny little thing and didn't fit the type at all - perhaps why I was really bad at it!

Flea Market Finds

Hello dear friends. I hope you had a nice weekend. I had a successful time at several estate/tag sales as well as the flea market. Above is a sampling of some of the fabulous vintage jewelry I found. This is a wonderful hat I found at the flea market. I intend to cut it up for the flowers, but I will probably keep it in tact for a bit as it is so pretty and inspiring to look at.

Here are some antique linens as well as a vintage wallpaper roll. I got the wallpaper for $1! If you are looking for some fabulous papers - look no further then Karla and Cerri. I purchased some great packs from each today.

This was a wonderful surprise from Louise. She sent me a package of vintage Cape Cod postcards as well as some seashell stickers and a handmade tag! Thanks so much Louise! I love it!

I'd like to thank everyone for their wonderful feedback on my boxes. I'm happy to say my aunt was quite pleased with hers. I hope to be making some of the small round boxes this week for my Etsy shop. I have some fun summery papers I want to play with! A blessed day to all.

Boxes, Boxes, and More Boxes

I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun, and safe 4th of July. It was a pretty miserable day weather wise in CT. Overcast in the morning and raining all afternoon/evening. No fireworks but we should be able to see some this weekend. I decided to use some of the down time to work on a few projects. The first is a box for my aunt. Her 50th birthday is coming up this weekend. My uncle said no gifts for her party unless we wanted to bring a gag gift. I personally am not into gag gifts, plus didn't have time to even look for one so I decided to create this box to hold her cards and other special mementos of the day. I used a combination of vintage wallpaper, vintage sheet music, and a sweet vintage birthday card and of course threw in some glitter!


The interior of the box. I'm running very low on my paper stash so I used quite a bit of different kinds but I think it adds to the character! I was having trouble getting the interior sides covered properly so I decided to trim them in rick rack and highlight the original purpose of the box.

Later in the day we went to a picnic, I actually sat outside for a bit in the rain, under the patio umbrella but then the water started seeping in! This is a little box I made as a hostess gift for the picnic hostess.A few gift tags.

Last but not least is a craft project by my friend Judy. Her son is getting married in France next month (how wonderful! The reception is in a chateau!) and she is having a "state side" reception for the happy couple in September. She made this box to hold cards. It started out as a plain cardboard box and top and with very minimal guidance from me, she created this lovely keepsake.

Have a wonderful day dear blogging friends!

Freedom Isn't Free

On this 4th of July I want to wish all of our troops a safe holiday and safe days in general. You are always in my thoughts and prayers. I appreciate all that you do to secure our freedom.

A very safe and happy July 4th to all.

Open for Business!

I am very excited to announce that my Etsy shop is officially open! It has been a labor of love and at times I've had my doubts but I pushed forward and am very pleased with the results. A very special thank you to all of you for the encouragement and kind words. A special shout out to Heather for the wonderful banner. I appreciate any kind of feedback, please let me know your thoughts on my little corner of Etsy.

A Royal Tiara and Other Swaps

This is the spectacular tiara I received from the very talented Renee. Isn't it fabulous? I told her my favorite color is the very appropriate royal purple. I just love this and have been wearing it all around.
The funny thing is, Renee said she scrapped the first one she made - can you imagine how lovely that must have been?

Many of us have been introduced to the wonderful Laurie and her delightful birds. After seeing several photos, I knew I had to have one for myself. Here is the charming little guy.

This is my She Sells Seashells by the Seashore swap received from Genevieve. One of the little shells was smashed so I'm on the hunt for a replacement. This little piece has inspired a whole new design for my breezeway. I'm going to be working on this "little" project over the summer and hopefully will be able to post the results within the next month or two.

This is the fabulous matchbox I received from Natasha. She got quite a bit stuffed in there! Can't wait to start using some of this deliciousness. The above two photos were taken with my new digital camera! Yea! I won't tell you how long it took me to get those two photos downloaded (and I should be getting ready for work now :))

This is a bad photo of the matchbox I sent Natasha. You can see why I needed the new camera!