Paris memories

Hi all,
I'm just in a Paris state of mind today (well, every day really lol).
Thought I'd spread a little eiffel tower vibes your way too.
deborah

It's Christmas time!

Hi all, time for a new background, don't you just love the candy cane colors?
Now all I have to do is get out all the Christmas decorations, set up the tree, hang the outside lights and start shopping, lol.
Here's to getting it all done before Christmas eve!
deborah

NCCS Charity Auction has begun

Hi all, just wanted to let you know that the charity auction for the National Children's Cancer Society is up and running on ebay now.
The date is Nov 15- Nov 22. Here's the ebay link so you can check it out. Jewel of Shabby Boutique has done such a wonderful job of coordinating the event and also has such a touching personal story behind the reason why she has such a sweet place in her heart for NCCS. If you'd like to bid on any of the items, it would be soooo great and would be a wonderful way to start the holiday season of giving :)
Talk to you soon,
deborah

Cloth bags revolution!!!

Hi all, my new mantra is "Where's your cloth bags"!?

I finally have gotten into the routine of using only cloth bags for my shopping trips. And I will even run back to the car to retrieve them in my hurriedness to get into the store.
Really, there's no reason to use plastic anymore! I encourage you all to do the same.
I will admit though that once in a while I do ask for plastic so I can reuse them in my trash cans at home but that is a rare request!
I was reading an article in Body and Soul magazine the other day on the statistics on plastic bag usage etc. and this one line just caught my attention and made me really think about what I am doing by using plastic. It said "on average, we use a plastic bag for 12 minutes; it will persist in the landfill for 1,000 years".
That statement just struck me straight to the heart! and made such an impression on me that I decided then and there to stop using plastic bags. The alternative? Cloth or if the occasion warrants it, carry out the product in my bare hands!!! lol, what a concept!
Of course, my hands can only hold about 2 items at a time so cloth is much more practical.
So, I went searching on etsy for shops that create and sell cloth bags and the list is amazing. If you want practical or pretty or even the two combined then there is a bag out there that is just for you. Here are a few of the shops that I thought were really fun and totally worth the look.
This simple shabby market bag from jlquilts is really cute. It's machine washable and ready to carry all your items in style!
Here's another shop on etsy that is worth the look Mrs. Kwitty's her creations are really feminine and light and perfect for the girly girl in all of us, here's one of my favs in her shop, it's the love bird bag, soooo cute!
and if you want to make a statement then you might like these bags from byorderofthecrown, and last but not least and the bag that I think would totally update my shopping style is this gorgeous bag from Joyanna and it's called the Nichole bag! now that's shopping in style :)


So there you have it , a few links to get you started, hope they bring you inspiration and causes one less plastic bag in the landfill.
talk to you soon,
deborah

Love and hope charity event auction!

Hi all,
A few months back a bit I had posted about a charity event that would benefit NCCS, National Children's Cancer Society. And I wanted to let you know that it will be happening the week of November 15th -22nd on ebay.
Just click on this link "Little angels altered book charity" and it will give you info on how the whole idea came about and how you can bid on the auction if you would like. There's also a slide show on it so you can preview the artists pages. Of course, it is difficult to really see the beauty of the pages online but it will give you an idea of the contents.
I am so humbled to have been included in this altered book and my wish is that it's contents will bring much joy to the soon to be owner and that great things will be done with the proceeds towards finding a cure for all cancers, especially those that effect children.
Talk to you soon,
deborah

Apples and more apples

Hi all,
Just had to show you our apple harvest for the year.
We only have one apple tree but when it produces it does an amazing job! Last year, nothing! but this year a super huge crop and lo and behold the bugs pretty much left the apples alone this year too, so more apples for us!!! My hubby picked all of these yesterday and put them in this metal bin. My garden is in the background and it had just rained so the air was sooooo fresh. Can't you just smell the apples?
Now how to use them, lol. I've made apple pies (more to come) and applesauce and I've given bags full away to relatives but still there are so many left......
Any ideas? Talk to you soon, deborah

Teacup cuties

Hi all,
I just have to show off my latest creations and of course they are tea related :)
Not too long ago I brought home a bag of some vintage poker chips thinking to myself that surely I could come up with something creative to do with them and then the other day I came up with these. Teapot magnets! Don't they remind you of mini tea cakes?
I love the whole idea of recycling or repurposing items and these do just that. Hope you like them too.

Talk to you soon,
deborah

Hi all,
I'm feeling nostalgic for Paris today.
I seem to always go there in Sept. and October so here's a little peek of Paris past.

Just a few of my fav spots in the city of lights, the Louvre, Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, and walking along the Seine.
And there I am waiting for the flight.

Talk to you soon,
deborah

Harmony

Hi all,
I ran across a quote today while I was reading an article titled "life on my terms" in the latest issue of Body + Soul magazine and thought I'd share it with you all.

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

I like that way of thinking, because happiness is not something that just floats through the air and once in a while lands on our shoulders, I think it really is something that we create in our lives. How we respond to others and what we choose to do with those responses, really do shape our hearts and minds. I'm not saying it's always easy, but when we do those three things together, think, say and do, in harmony, life can be a whole lot kinder.

talk to you soon,
deborah

Frog in the pond

Hi all,
I was watering my flowers around my small pond the other day and this cute little frog decided he had had enough of the rainstorm that I was imposing onto him so he jumped out onto this rock and I had to quickly get my camera and take a photo.
Isn't he cool looking? I've never really seen a white frog before and wanted to give you all a peek too.


talk to you soon, deborah

It's all about the teaparty!

Hi all, do you have a little time for tea?

Thursday I served my first "Traveling Teacups" tea party and it was sooooo much fun!

My friend Judy let me come to her amazing home and give a practice run. I set up the table outside on the deck and it all looked so wonderful.
There were four of us and we had the nicest time chatting, drinking tea and tasting all the yummy goodies.








I'm not quite ready to launch my official kick off yet, there's still a little bit of tweaking to do to get it just how I want it, but it's getting close, so stay tuned because when I do I'll also be having a blog giveaway for one of you sweet blogger friends to take home for your very own tea party.



Talk to you soon,
deborah

Living the life of the rich and famous!

Hi all,
Yes, I still blog, lol! Just alot going on in the fam right now, but I'm back and raring to go! My hubby and I are on vacation for a few days and we are having such a wonderful time. We rented a house in Placerville that has a super amazing view, swimming pool, hot tub and the house is gorgeous!! We are truly feeling like we are rich and famous :) Here are a few photos for you all to see.
That's it for now, I'll have more later.
Talk to you soon,
deborah

I'm ready to paint my wall

Hi all, okay, the project has begun. It is really just a small project but I have been meaning to do this for a couple of months now. I have one wall in my living room/dining room area that I want to repaint and redecorate. And for my birthday I picked out this gorgeous old shabby chic head board at a local shop that has been made into a blackboard, as my gift (thank you mom and dad). I'm actually staying with my signature color of Creamy Brie for the wall because I already have the opposite wall painted in a golden yellow faux finish and I don't want to compete with that so......
I should be finished with the painting in a few hours so I'll leave you all with the beginning photos here and then later I'll post the finished results. Wish me luck, lol.
talk to you soon,
deborah

Blooming flowers in my garden

Hi all,
I was just out in my front yard garden watering the plants around my little pond and lo and behold one of my late summer flowers was in full bloom. I've been keeping an eye on it for the last week because the pods are getting huge and I could tell that any day now they would open up and announce their glory and sure enough they didn't disappoint.
I don't even know the name of the plant! I planted it last year when we had just put the little pond in and it was beautiful. The tag had said it was a perennial so I hoped for the best that it would survive our winter snow and sure enough it did! Then on my birthday my sweet hubby gave me a fountain to add to the pond and it added just the right feel to the whole yard.
Also our trailing vine over our gate arch is showing its color. Last year was it's first year and it only blossomed a couple of flowers but this year it is more established and is giving us an abundance of red trumpet flowers!
I am getting such joy from our little pond. It is not very big but we added gold fish last year too, sadly not very many survived but a hardy handful but they make me smile whenever I sit at the ponds edge and watch them swimming here and there looking for their daily food. The bees also fly in and out sipping their fill of cool water. Such simplicity and calm in such a crazy mixed up world.
Hope you enjoy the garden photos.
Talk to you soon,
deborah

Back to my usual posting!!!

Hi all,

I am still trying to figure out this photo editing thing and cannot for the life of me get it right!!!
So I will leave it all behind for now and just post my regular way!

Last week I entered one of my collages into the local fair and I wanted to show you all what the collage looks like.
Lately sunflowers have been permeating my vision everywhere I go. So, I decided to create a sunflower piece and called it "ode to van gogh".
I really like how it turned out and hope that the fair goers enjoy it too.

I used a bright blue for the background because van gogh loved his blues and then added some crackle over yellow ocre to give it a peeling vintage look.
I also added tiny glass beads to the centers of the stamped sunflowers and loved how it came out! Kind of looks like real seeds.
The main sunflower is made out of vintage wallpaper pieces and a bit of corrugated paper and then I added a fringe tassel, fluffed up, for the center of the sunflower.
The stem is a piece of olive green vintage fringe.
and of course I couldn't stop myself from adding a few vintage buttons here and there!!! lol

That's my van gogh inspired collage! Hope you enjoyed the photos and maybe next post I'll get the photo issue settled, ha!
Talk to you soon,
deborah