SCORE!

My day at the flea market.
The best part of the day, finding this adorable crown starting to patina....my heart sang!

Beautiful old hankerchiefs with gorgeous lace

Love that darling bird on the coin, old charm bracelet, not ancient, but old enough.

Beautiful mother of pearl pin, and a bird pin! Unbelievable rosaries with vintage medals....look at the one that has the water of Lourdes.

Cabinet cards a plenty...

And the most gorgeous illustrations in 2 books I bought, one is "The Art of the Pitti Palace, Florence", the other, "The Art of the Netherlands". To die for.

I am a sucker for old japanese santas....he made it home with me too! Hope your week is as good as my day was! Thanks for visiting and all your kindness you leave me with.

BITTEN

available on etsy here

Yes, it has happened! I have been bitten by the holiday bug, and I think I like it! I just added these to my shop. I really enjoyed making these because this is something that I would wear for Christmas, or a holiday party. Just enough for me and not too much. I stayed away from my beloved liver of sulpher, it was reeeaal hard! This time I liked the sparkle. The first pair I would wear anytime, although I do love the look of the icyness! I do love Christmas, and all it stands for, and each year I strive to enjoy the TIME more, and not get caught up in all the STUFF. I am getting better every year.

SOMETHING NEW AND A BIG SALE!

ANCHORED-available here on etsy

A while ago my very good and very talented friend Renate, of Put A Little Magic In Your Life, gifted me with this beautiful bird pendant that she made out of resin, paper, and some secrets I am sure! I knew I needed to do something special with it, and that happened last night. I always wanted to try wire crochet, and I didn't even know how to crochet, but it was in a book I had, so I taught myself in about 5 minutes. I don't know if it is exactly correct, but I really liked how it turned out. The kinkiness of the wire, and the intertwining, connection, building step by step, combined with the bird, and the bits of beads, reminded me of the bird building her comfortable nest! She will rest comfortably on my neck!!

I also just added this new piece to my shop. It is a beautiful faceted carnelian capped with bali, and attached to pearls and vintage rosary chain. If you visit my shop you will see I have marked EVERYTHING AT 25% OFF! I am so sad to hear everyday, around every corner , of so many of us struggling with finances and the economy. I really would rather sell my jewelry than have it sit in my house or shop. So I think I am offering a really good sale for those who want to shop pre black Friday!

Thanks so much for visiting, your support, your kindness, your friendship!

GRAM AND ME

Quite a while ago, oh, about a year I would say, I found some really old newspapers behind my grandparents very elaborate and old baptismal certificates from the church, and a wedding certificate. I took them to Kinko's , the certificates too, and had them photocopied in a mirror image, with the plan of transferring them into mixed media for a project. That project happened this weekend, well, at least one of them! The newspapers and the certificates are all in Polish, so I really wanted to use them as they are a huge part of my gram and her heritage, and who she was. This is an 8"x 8" canvas that I painted with titan buff, and distressed a bit with burnt umber and added a bit of meadow green. I transferred a torn part of the newspaper onto the canvas by a gel transfer, and was really happy with the way it turned out. I then glued a piece of a sewing pattern and placed the image of me and my gram on top. I had photocopied a photo of us, cut it out of cardstock, and stuck it on with those pop dot thingies to give us some dimension. I added a beautiful bit of Lorraine of Creative Daily's fabulous blue patterned fabric, a piece of my Gram's hankerchief, and a piece of an old ruler. I gave my grandma wings, because the little I can remember of her, is like a beautiful creature that took me to in her wings. I gave myself a small butterfly to hang onto, signifying my growth. Oh, and of course, some of gram's old buttons I have. I have plans to make more with other family members, possibly as gifts for my family. I had so much fun telling our story this way. I think she would have liked it.

Thanks for visiting as always, and your incredible friendships!

WORKING THROUGH IT

FINALLY had a chance to work in my journal, and put onto paper what goes through my body and mind to the best of my ability. As some of you know, it has been a very long year of trying to find a diagnosis of my health issues. It is still not resolved, as of yesterday it is like we are back at square one......still some type of autoimmune with a combination back and nerve problem. Plasmapheresis is over after 5 weeks, and the course of treatment to follow is unknown, so there are more tests. At times I am aggravated, exhausted, hopeful, doubtful, happy, sad, unsure, and it seems everyday I question myself and my beliefs. AND, at the end of everyday I still believe the same thing I did when I got up, but may have lost during the course of the day somewhere. I believe I have found the best people to help me fight this, and I believe that I am NOT crazy anymore, and I believe that this blog and each of you, along with my friends, and family, are my strength. Just visiting all of you and seeing your work and being inspired is enough. This life stuff is really getting in the way of my time to communicate and visit with all of you, and that annoys me too, so I apologize. I think of all of you a lot through my day, and that is so important to me. Just so you know.
I believe in God, and the power of faith, hope,and what I know is within me.
Thank you all for visiting, and letting me vent.

DAYDREAMER & SERENE

I've worked a lot in the last few days making some new earrings and bracelets. The bracelets are on their way to a local shop ...if there are any left I'll put them in my etsy shop later. These earrings were just added to the shop. I made similar ones a while ago, but this time I made duplicates so I could have a pair, and I changed up the stones a bit. I really like these designs, I never get tired of the daydream message, and the look of those beautiful blossoms. By wearing these you get to keep that lovely reminder of the beauty of the blossom, and carry it with you.

Both are available in my etsy shop here , and here.

Thanks so much for visiting and as always your constant support.

ALCYONE

My daughter, Briana, named this necklace for me. Alcyone is a greek mythological figure that you can read about here. This post is about love above and beyond, as with Alcyone. Yesterday, as Briana went with me to my plasmapharesis treatment, she, out of love, and not being asked, took the time and discomfort to donate platetes while she was with me. Most people don't do it because of the 17 gauge needle, and platelets only last 5 days and then have to be discarded. I don't need platelets, they are for other autoimmune disorders and for cancer patients....I need plasma. But that is not the story. The story is that I am proud I raised a loving and unselfish woman. The necklace will be in my etsy shop tonight.