Anonymous

If any of you (lurkers) out there want to leave me a message, I've enabled the anonynous option! So, please let me know what you think.

Celestial Light

I recently joined ClubCreative, a yahoo group. It is described as "a cozy place to create and swap art, share thoughts and feel at home. high quality artists only." Imagine my surprise when when of my favorite collage artists asked me to pinch hit in a swap that was hosted by this group! So, I joined up, and now have the opportunity to sign up for swaps.

So, I signed up for the ATC swap "Phrases from books." The quote on this card is from Longfellow's Evangeline. I found the photo on the internet. Somehow the gypsy just seems to fit this quote. The colors for the ATC card was inspired by the With One Palette artist Jeannine Peregrine in this month's issue of Somerset Studio. She used tangerine,orange, aqua and berry colors. I just love how they look together. The orange worked perfectly for the light in the quote. The woman in the picture is wearing a necklace, so I stopped by a local bead shop and picked up these teeny, tiny glass sead beads. What a pain to string, but I love the way they look on her, don't you?

Enjoy!

Georgia on my mind.

To continue the previous post...

Our vacation was filled with lots of activities- some for us, some for the kids. We visited Lane Orchards, where we took a tour, ate lunch, and had scrumptious peach cobbler and ice cream.

Tammy and I had a girls days out. We went antiquing, found fabulous finds and generally enjoyed not having to rush home to the kids. We ate lunch at a great little tea house, called Tara's Tea Thyme.

The guys also had some time to themselves. Don and Chris went out to a movie- yes, a real theater!! They took a motorcycle ride. And the most "guy" thing of all, the two men took Jason to an aviation museum. Jason and Chris took a spin in a flight simulator, which they both just loved!

We hit a kiddie water park, where the kids played in water slides just their size. I'd like to say that we girls basked in the sun, but we did have to watch the kids. They enjoyed splashing, and Tammy was brave enough to go down the adult water slide with Jason and Shelby at the same time!!

We spent plenty of time in the pool, and both kids learned to enjoy it. I think Jason would have been swimming in a few more days. Adam was becoming braver and braver too. Shelby is already a little fish- and not even 3 yet!

We enjoyed a lovely southern breakfast at Don's sister Judy's house. She is truly a wonderful woman- totally loved my kids! Her backyard has a tire swing, and both my boys loved it. I can see we'll have to get one too. (that and a pool- hint hint).

And finally, Chris and I celebrated out 5th wedding anniversary. We went out to a Japanese steak house- alone- and had an adult dinner!! Wow. These years have gone by fast. Chris is by best buddy and the love of my life.

We have been truly blessed to have such wonderful friends as Tammy and Don. Tammy and I are going on 21+ years of friendship. We met in college, and the rest is history!

thanks, my best friend!! Love you- Lee

We had a PEACHY time!!

We just returned from a week at Tammy's place in Georgia. The long car ride was certainly worth it! Don and Tammy were wonderful hosts, and we spent the week doing various activities. We arrived on Saturday and relaxed over dinner.

Sunday was Father's Day, but Tammy and I snuck aways for about 2 hours to visit the local flea market. It was hot, and not as full as it could be since it was Sunday, but hey, all the better for us! Tammy scored some major finds. I'm sure she'll be showing them off on her blog. It was a typical flea makrt, some junk, some cool stuff, some produce, some clothing. It as fun to see what people sell in a different neck of the woods. What was sad is that some people are making their living this way- selling old stuff, most not very clean or very desirable. Some of the booths and it's contents are open to the elements most of the time, so they stuff is faded, dirty, and has been wet a time or two. And some of it is such major junk- old tapes and stuff. Who buys that trash?

Anyway, I did score some cute things- I even picked up Chris a cool, old lure (I'll add a picture later). First, these awesome oak corner chairs for $15 each!! Supposedly they were used in old rail cars- doesn't matter to me if they were or not, because I love them. The caning is in excellent condition and they are quite sturdy.

Some little things to make altered stuff out of. Can't you just see birds nests sitting on them?

And this way cool card holder thingy. The guy wanted $5, I offered $3. He turned me down, I walked away. He called me back, but as I paid for it, tried to make me feel bad by saying "I can't believe you won't give me $5. I paid $10 for it years ago." My reply? "It isn't worth $5 to me." No rookie here, my friend!! It will look great in my crafting area, holding stuff- maybe ink pads? I think I might paint it, though.

Our week went much too fast. We had a blast! Being with Tammy always makes me miss her more. There is alot mor to show and tell you, so more of Georgia in the next post...

hugs- Lee

Outta here..............

for week, off to Tammy's place in Georgia! I am so excited to see her- it's been awhile! We hope to get some flea marketing in, maybe some crafts, lounging by the pool, and generally laughing it up!

In the meantime, here are some photos from around my place.

XOXO, Lee

A tisket, a tasket, I found 2 wicker baskets.

OK, not baskets really, but handbags. I found them at the local thrift store. I was digging around, looking for cool stuff to use as collage material, when I stumbled on them- wicker handbags!! They were in a big bins of bags. There were 2 other ones, but I figured that 2 were enough... and for a total of $6, I got 2 cool summer bags, plus a leather bag.

These babies are mint- they probably were never used. I'm thinking that someone died and the house was cleaned out. Maybe this woman had a handbag fetish? They obviously were in a basement, because they have that musty smell. And yet they are clean as a whistle- no rips, dings, smudges or mold. One of the bags I didn't grab had a mass program in it from 1977. From what I can tell, these handbags are from the 1960-70s. The tags inside say HONG KONG. The bags are vinyl wicker, or what I've seen on the internet- covered wicker. I wouldn't go as far as that, because to me that means they are wooden underneath, which these obvoiusly aren't. I was going to try to sell them, but if I can get them to smell better, these are staying with me! Who wouldn't have thought that someday I'd want a wicker bag. My mom would crack up if she knew. But, we all know- what comes around goes around.

Now can someone tell me how to get the mustiness out??????

Another day, another swap.

I was recently asked by my cyber-friend and awesome collage-er Marilyn Healey to participate in a fatbook swap. There are 12 pages total, with 2 sets of 6.The pages are 5x5, with the theme of birds and trees. I did a few pages, with a few going in the trash! LOL!

But I finally settled on one look for a set, and here it is. I did 4 more last night, but will have to post those pictures later! Thanks, Marilyn, for the invitation. I am definitely stretching my wings!

My peeps- real and imagined.

These pretty little girls are off to the Birds of a Feather party over at the Faerie Zine, a Flickr group I belong to. They are dressed in their crowns, party wings, and best dresses. Amidst all the fun and laughter, there will be dancing, singing, and lots of presents. Best of all, there will be plenty of cake for everyone! Thank you Lisa Kettell, for being the hostess.

Next are my real peeps- my precious boys. It really hasn't been too hot here yet, but that doesn't keep them from wanting to play in the water. So, I filled up these plastic tote things for them. They had a blast! At one point, Jason was kneeling in his, and Adam was perched precariously on the edge of his. It kept them occupied all afternoon! Thank God for the simple pleasures of life.

Hope you are enjoying the wonderful weather we're having!

hugs- Lee