It's beginning to look a lot like....Halloween!!!!!

O.K., so I don't get to post very often, but I AM trying...my dd doesn't start school until Sept. 9 so until then, she's my priority!!! That being said, I have been working on creating for my favorite holiday...Halloween.
I love creating Halloween goodies, they're just the best...and now is the time to shop for Halloween, all the stores are putting out their goods. But we all know that the best items are those that are handmade, in other words, ONE OF A KIND!!!! I love knowing that some of the decorative items in my home can't be found anywhere else....because they are handmade, unique.

So here is a small sampling of what will soon be in my Etsy shop...just check the upper right side of my side-bar and you will be whisked away to my Etsy shop.

I've made some journals, some small Bingo cards, shadowboxes, collages, etc. for your enjoyment....
Have fun and I hope you're all getting "in the mood" for Halloween. I know I am....

Estate sales....the happy and the sad....

Friday a.m. dd and I happened upon an estate sale sign, so we followed it. It led us into a trailer park. The aged oak trees were so beautiful....we got out and went in...the woman obviously had come from means at one time....there were several fur coats and fur stoles for sale, and lots of very well made and (at one time) expensive suits. She also had lovely china and curio cabinets filled with interesting things. The signature above is found in the lovely birthday book below,
it's so tiny and pretty, with a proverb for every month.
The ration book above was in a curio cabinet and is filled with interesting information....and tokens, not sure what those were for. The case is buttery leather.
I couldn't pass up this tiny leather Bible....


This woman had several card sets, like the Canasta set above, how cute are they?
The box above is my favorite find of this sale, I can only imagine what treasure was inside...at one time....but the fact that she saved it is so touching....

The box below intrigued me as well, I just wonder what it held...I have no idea but look at the stamp on the back of it...


I think this woman was well-traveled at one time (at least I like to think so.) I also bought a beautiful black cloth umbrella with a carved wooden handle for $1.

I just can't help but wonder about who this woman was and what brought her to where she ended up.......do you ever wonder like I do about the people at estate sales and what happened to them? Although it was a humble trailer, she had some lovely collectible items.....makes me wonder. I'm choosing to think that she was a widow and decided to downsize years ago and just keep those things that were the most precious to her...that's what I'm choosing to think.

Wanna see what I did last night?

Thanks to Pam's article in Green Craft magazine (from the publisher's of Somerset Studio) I was so inspired to make my own coffee liner garland. I'm sure most, if not all of you, have heard of Pam Garrison by now, artist extraordinaire. She became somewhat obsessed with these garlands that were hanging in Anthropologie stores a few years ago and set about to create her own.
I have to admit it's not really something I would have thought up on my own (wish I were that creative!) These have such an ethereal quality to them, especially hanging on a window with light coming through....they're just lovely.
This was such a FUN project and a great way to use up the various supplies that a lot of us tend to hoard....vintage music books, ribbons, flowers, fabrics, etc. 
The skies the limit here as far as your own creativity goes, look around your space and see what you'd love to put on your garland...you could even put photos of your family on the ends, how cute would that be? Mine is currently hanging on my laundry room window, may stay there a while, may move....who knows?

Making the most of the rest of summer vacation....

Today we took a trip to the Enchanted Forest in Salem and then went to Silver Creek Falls. What a lovely day....and a big one for dd, who is almost 9yo. She's never been one for rides at amusement parks, and we've never forced her....and she's still a bit afraid of the dark....but today she went on the log ride and loved it! We were very proud of her for even trying it....but she still didn't like going into all the weird little fairy tale houses that were there, and I can't really blame her. This is a child who wasn't raised on the scary Grimm's-type fairy tales but on the more benign Disney stories....

After that we went to Silver Creek Falls Park and did some hiking and exploring, really fun.

I hope you're all making the most of your last days of summer and making some memories with your families......oh and make sure you head on over to 52flea! She's having a fantastic giveaway and even offering to be your personal shopper! How cool is that?

My vacation finds.....

Well, it's official, I am completely incapable of leaving an antique store without something made out of paper.....it's just a fact. The group of books above are so cool, they have an off-white sepia looking cover and leather spines.....just cool.

I'm showing this cigar box above that I bought online because of it's cool graphic...
Aren't these boxes fun? Just love them for storage in my studio, they have more character than any other kind of storage (in my book anyway :)).

Look at this cute vintage handwriting tablet, best friend may need this for an upcoming display window...we'll see.
This item above and below is very interesting...I asked the owner of Yankee Trader (Carrie) if she had any ledger books and she brought me this. It's obviously not a ledger but was so cool inside with all the flaps to hold cards. I haven't decided if I want it for postcards or to make an awesome shadow-box item out of it.....
Check out the little pad of rent receipts below with the cutest graphics ever!

The Tom Thumb cash register is adorable and still works, even though part of the drawer is missing, I can still hold little bits in it on my work desk....it's sitting on a great little file box with a really cool handle on it. Love these for storage too....
Last but certainly not least is what I found at Farmhouse Funk near Astoria, this cool celluloid Christmas photo album, broken clasp and all. It will be great to display unless I decide to sell it.
Thanks for checking out my fun finds, all but the last item came from the same store in Gearhart, Yankee Trader, so if you ever find yourself in that area you must check it out! Carrie is wonderful, you'll love her store!

Ahhh, home again........

We had a great time at the beach, even though the weather could have been better...I know if you live in the NW you have no pity at all for me because it was soooo scorching inland, but we had mostly cloudy weather at the beach, which I don't mind too much but more sun would have been ok with me.  As I was packing up dd's things I couldn't resist this beach snapshot above in her little bathroom, her suits hanging up to dry :). 
The pic above is from our bedroom looking towards, what else, the ocean!! That's the little path we take through the dunes to get to the beach....
I did get some shopping in although there's not a whole lot of great places to shop...Farmhouse Funk is a new one for me, I only bought one item there and I'll post pictures later in the week after I unpack..my favorite store is called Yankee Trader in Gearhart, and it's fabulous! The owner Carrie, is as nice as she can be, and her prices are fabulous, I did buy quite a bit there as my generous MIL gave me a nice gift certificate to that store for my bday (thanks again MaryEllen!) I had so much fun shopping there and went back three times!

It's great to be home, the only down side is the unpacking, what a job.........have a great week and do check back in a couple, I'll have pictures of what I found!