Loving the unusual and different.......

After dropping my dd off at her golf class yesterday I visited a Goodwill nearby.....on one of the endcaps I saw these four tiny creamy frames with what look like oil paintings on top of the glass..

and while I find the paintings somewhat interesting when I turned them over to check out the backs I couldn't believe the paper that was covering them!

It's really thin paper and at first I thought that the flowers were handpainted on the paper as well...but no, it's just some gorgeous old backing paper...

I'm going to doing something creative with these beauties by adding my own twist on them....

stay tuned......oh, and have a marvelous weekend! Get out there and find some treasures....tis the season!

Trying to get in the "summer" groove.....

after all, it is officially summer now, right?

got out my favorite of all time vase...found at the Salvation Army, of all places...it was one of those serendipitous moments, you know, when you turn around and there it is? Think I paid $2 or $3, can't remember now...

it has violets and hydrangeas on it...what could be more old-fashioned or charming than that?

love it to bits....!

here she is in all her glory holding my peonies that are blooming like crazy right now!

happy ant, what is it with peonies and ants anyway?

And the winner is...........!!!!!!

Sweet Thespa from vintiquitiesworkshop! If you haven't been to Thespa's blog yet, you must treat yourself. This is one fabulous artist and I'm so happy that she (hopefully) will be using some of these fun elements in her lovely works of art.
Thanks so much to all of you who entered, I promise I'll be doing another giveaway....Thespa my dear, please send me your address so I can ship your goodies out soon.
Happy weekend to all!

A before and after white stool makeover and a couple of finds....

So I went to my Vintage Mall today hoping upon hope to find just the perfect stool for my studio...mostly I stand when I work in there but sometimes it's nice to have the option to sit down....I've wanted one of these old Cosco stools forever but they always seem too high priced for me (not that I'm cheap or anything, but, well I really am!) 

Today I saw this "beauty"  for $9.95.....and it's a really old one that is structurally sound, all I needed to do was to tighten a couple of screws and get out my sander. This used to be red, then green, now white. And a former owner's attempt at artwork just didn't cut it for me....:).

So I just added a decal and sanded off the "offending" flowers...

I even added a couple of my favorite stamps to the back of it....

At the same mall I found this awesome green breadbox..........................

and this awesome cutter quilt with gorgeous florals on it...it was a good shopping day for me..
I'm linking up to white wednesday here.
Hope you come over and join in the fun, and don't forget my giveaway (it's 2 posts back..... you have until Friday to enter!!!!

~Girl power~ and some great advice from my best friend

so sometimes collections can just happen without trying....these books about "girls" are one such collection for me....

I've had the top two books for a very long time, purchased for the subject matter and the graphics on the covers.....

I mean, seriously, who would have thought back in the 1800's of writing books like these for women...we surely didn't wield a lot of influence back then....but someone had the forethought to do so.
The third book "But yet a Woman" was found yesterday at the thrift....soooooo very perfect to go with the other two that I already own....and I happen to have a "thing" for daisies!

This old suitcase was another find yesterday.....and here comes the advice from my bff.....always open the suitcase to check out the inside!

Ummm, o.k., so glad I did!

It's filled with this gorgeous blue and white paper....makes me swoon!
Don't forget to scroll down to my previous post to be entered in my giveaway.....I'll be drawing a winner at the end of this week..:).

It's giveaway time!!!!!!! Step right up for a chance to win......

It's a giveaway of epic proportions! O.K., so I embellish a bit!
It's a mixed media extravaganza.....!

Still too much?

O.K., it's a lot of fun stuff to create with.....

Vintage velvet goodness.....

Lily of the valley and french stamped ribbon all wound around an old clothespin....

Some fabulous tally girls......

Scads of romantic ribbons....

Wound around a vintage spool.....

Tiny box that is so sweet to put a gift in....

Very cool vintage Boston store tickets to do with what you will...

All packaged inside (well as much as I can fit anyway) into this simply awesome Meloto piano roll box. Have you ever? When I was researching piano rolls on Ebay and came across these beauties I about died! This lovely lady had a ton of them and lived in my own state, so shipping wasn't too bad. I ordered all she had because I thought the box graphics were incredible.
And of course, this will all be shipped in a very large padded envelope so I'll be adding more, count on it!

Here's what to do.....comment on this post.  If you tweet about it you get 2 chances, just let me know that you tweeted so I can enter you twice.  I'm new to Twitter and don't really know what I'm doing yet over there but you have to start somewhere, right? So I'll be tweeting about my giveaway and we'll see what happens, maybe nothing so that just means your chances are better of winning!  I just so appreciate the comments I get.
The drawing will be on Saturday, the 18th,  and I will have my 10yo dd pick a name out of a hat...we like old-fashioned around here.

Thanks so much for looking....love you all!

Awaiting Summer.........

Freshly cut from my garden.....

The fragrance is unbelievable! I don't have many roses, but the few I do must have a wonderful fragrance!
Otherwise, what's the point?
I remember when we first moved into this house about 16 years ago and I was craving a garden and plantings with all my favorite old-fashioned flowers, all of which must have heavenly fragrance. My dh knows my love for lilacs so he ordered a very large bunch for me from an upscale market here in town. When I received them I was so shocked and disappointed....no fragrance! How did they do that?
Oh well, it was the thought that counted and he was so sweet to indulge me...even without the fragrance!

Stay tuned my friends, tomorrow will be my big giveaway......
~pinky swear~

For the love of a book...........!

Some days are diamonds and this was definitely one! I hit thrifting gold today....nothing attracts me more than old antique books...like the one pictured above....it's in my Etsy shop right now and has every quality that I look for in an old book...leather, marbled pages, marbled endpapers, marbled covers.....did I mention that I love "marbled" in books. It also has a leather gold embossed spine and leather corners.......and it's title is ...
"Bittersweet"
It's from 1858, the oldest book I've ever found, and if it doesn't sell..........ahhhhhhh! No worries...:).
Stay tuned for more info on my giveaway mentioned in my last post....it's coming up soon ~ promise!

I'm feeling so thankful and ready for a giveaway!!!!

So I'm feeling very thankful for blessings in my life and want to pass my good feelings on to my blog friends! The photo above is just a small sneak peek of what's going to be included....I will share that if you love lace, fabric, and ephemera you won't want to miss out on this giveaway....stay tuned, details will be coming in the new week. In the meantime I do hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!!
Blessings to all.........:).

What is it about ~floral~ ticking........?

i think it's just the MOST romantic of fabrics, don't you?

like most things, it looks best when grouped together....

there's just something so appealing with the thought of laying your tired head upon such a soft pillow....

this one is my very favorite, i know i've shown it before in all it's faded grandeur.....

i keep looking for another one, what do you think my chances are?

no seriously........

i tucked another one under it and sewed on some vintage glass buttons i had....i'll keep looking because i covet it so....i'm headed over to debra at common ground to link up with her vintage inspiration party...come join us, won't you?