~MERRY CHRISTMAS 2014~

My Yorkie, Mollie

(She'll be 12 on 1/7/15)

Merry Christmas to all my Blogger Friends.  Wishing for you a day a peace and a New Year filled with only good things.

I hope in 2015 to be back to blogging more.  I've been missing connecting with you...but truly had a tough and busy year.  Doing well, but looking forward to better days ahead!

 Trusting God for

Fresh Wind

and

Fresh Fire.

Blessings to you all with love...

~HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2014~

~MY SISTER and I~

(1963)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my family and friends.  I've had such an incredibly busy harvest season and have barely had time to breathe in and out.  But...I love it and I'm grateful for the goodness and blessings from the Father.  Just had to pop in and say hello and share my best wishes with you for a wonderful holiday today.

Thinking today about my precious grandparents and the sacrifices they made for our family.  About my loving parents who have grown dearer to me as the years have passed on (missing you this year, Daddy!).   My siblings, my first friends, who have promised to never leave me...I'm so grateful we are friends.  My children, my greatest earthly joys (because of you I know true love).  My Miss K, my darling grand-girl, who will always have my heart.  To Mollie, my Yorkie who is almost 12, for the giggles, sweetness and unconditional love. To my caring friends...I owe you so much!  To my husband, for loving me for 36 years and for, well, everything else, too!   You will always be my one and only and I will always be your lady. I love you.

Thanks to God, for the privilege of FREEDOM and for sending His only son, Jesus Christ, to rescue me from myself.

I pray for you all good things.  Only good things. May the love, peace and grace of God cover you always.

Blessings...

~ONLINE SELLING vs. MY LOCAL BOOTH~

 

It's Friday and I"m so glad!  I've had a super busy week setting my Booth for Christmas and also filled in a couple of days at the Shoppe.  Still love the creative side of my world and the entire process of bringing to life the things that live inside my head.  Just never have enough time to make, create or change up all the things I'm passionate about! 

 

Having a Booth is so much different than selling online.  Trust me when I tell you the things that sell on my website don't always move in my Booth.  Maybe it's a regional thing, but I kid you not...it's waaaay different!  Forget trying to sell something pink locally...unless it's some rare and costly pink rose teacup destined for a collector or a custom order, the color does not move.  Period.  Although there are still tons of pink-lovers out there (and boy if you love pink YOU LOVE PINK!), I've moved away from working with it for the most part.  I still do special orders...but generally I stick with neutrals.  And for me, anything more costly...like things fashioned with vintage laces, trims, etc., well, forget it.  Those things are best sold online as you can better target the customer who is actually looking for those things (Pillows, Christmas Stockings, Sachets, etc.)...

The Suitcases you see above are new!  They were both purchased at a local store for only a few dollars and transformed with paint and transfer techniques.  I forgot to take a before picture (ARGH!), but I found them at a local discount store and they were originally black polka dot with a French/Paris design.

 

They were cute enough...but, I wanted to turn them into something vintage looking and useable in the farmhouse style home.  So, after spray painting the inside with metallic gold (easy cover up for all the color going on and I love how the original design comes through) I painted the exteriors with acrylic paint and stamped them with two of my favorite vintage French graphics!  They are great display pieces in my booth and pretty inexpensive to create!

Here's a shot of my Booth taken a few days ago....can't believe it's time to ready the store for the Holidays.  Wow!  This has been a fast-paced year for me.  How about you?

 

Things are always changing and after the first of the year I'm going to add some new elements...not sure yet just what I'm going to do, but something!

Oh...and just in case you think I've totally abandoned all I once did...here are a couple of pictures of two Christmas Stockings I just recently uploaded to my website (both are sold).

 One in whites and creams...

And one in pink.  This one was purchased by new Nana for her sweet baby grand-girl!

Hope you are excited about the holidays like I am...

Blessings...

~A FABULOUS CABINET MADE FROM JUNK~

About a week ago I found a rickety old piece of junk (Really!  Just a piece of junk...not junque!) at Goodwill for $15.  A huge cabinet style thingy (think TV cabinet) that was full of great wood...but honestly, a crummy find that was more than UGLEEEEE.  My Mr. AGPMan met me at the thrift, picked up the cabinet and hauled it home to his work shop.  Somehow he was able to salvage all the materials as I'm always needing odd sizes and cuts of wood in my business.  Plus the asking price was great!  The result is the bead-board display cabinet you see above.  All made with the reclaimed wood from the piece of Goodwill junk.  Took a while to dismantle the thing and pulling out all the old nails and hardware was a pain!  But, seeing what my guy was able to create from a pile of landfill destined debris makes my heart sing!

 

Just recently I started carrying a line of soy candles in my Booth called MIXTURE.  I love them because they are simple in style and come without labels, etc.  Finding a place to display them was a bit of a challenge because they are narrow (cylinder) and only about 4" tall.  The new cabinet was created with them in mind.  The perfectly spaced shelves are removable and makes them wonderful for showcasing other things as well.

I love being married to such a talented and creative man.

Don't you just love the photo of the two little girls above?  Wish I knew more about it.  Whenever I see it I just can't help but smile.

I imagine them as friends for life.

Through thick and thin...

Good and bad.

Happy and sad.

Plenty or want.

Blessings as you make your way through November with those you love.

~ALL GLITTERED UP and Then Some~

 This time of the year always ushers in a flurry of business.  Always thankful for that! 

I still love working with vintage images and graphics!  I noticed at Market in this past summer that the WOODLAND look is very popular once again!  

Everything is always changing!

 My Mr. AGPMan cut out over 100  wood pieces for me to use in these Glittered Christmas Hangers.

 

Here are some new decorative Bottles!  They are going onto my website later this evening.  A little time consuming to do the labels, but still fun!  My daughter, Adrienne, made the Bee Charm(s) out of a vintage image for me!  Love it!

Here's a picture of one of the Tattered Prairie Pins I have on my website.  I have another dozen to photograph and list today!

  

Right now I'm totally enjoying the FALL decor around my home (inside and outside) even though my head is into Christmas.  When someone is self-employed like I am the seasons have a tendency to get all jumbled up.  I have to start offering my wares early or people don't have time to decorate.  After all these years I've accepted it and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Hope you are all doing great.  I love Blogging again and plan to share more with you soon!

Blessings...

 

~GROWING UP BEFORE MY EYES~

I'm swamped with working on Christmas offerings, but just had to take a few seconds to show you the latest picture I snapped of my Miss K...

Can you believe how much she's grown over the past year or so?  Such a precious girl and moving up and onward!  She's still my only grandchild and I love her to the moon and back again.

More soon.  Pretty things to share over the next few days...

Blessings~

~ANOTHER YEAR OF CHRISTMAS OFFERINGS BEGINS~

Every year I spend a lot of time hunting down the different components for the Tattered Vintage Lace Stocking Hangers (Ornaments) I offer up at Christmas.  I just love making them and I'm always so happy to put the trims and laces to good use...

 

They are a lot easier to find than real VINTAGE FELT.

 

This year I've cut out 100 separate wool felt pieces for the petite Stocking Hanger Ornaments.

(That's the boring part!)

That is fifty more than I cut out last year...ran out of the wonderful old felt and the stuff you can find readily available today (from Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Hancocks, etc.) is crummy.  Argh!

 

They only offer Poly Felt and it pales in comparison to the vintage Wool Felt offered up until about the mid 1970's.  You can find new Wool Felt...but goodness...it's so costly!

Christmas is just around the corner...can you believe it?  Thanksgiving is so close to it this year that it makes the the holiday season feel scrunched and rushed...  Sometimes it's a challenge starting Christmas during the Harvest time of the year...  But, if I don't I never catch up.  

Sew...sew...sew...off to work I go.

Blessings...

~DRESSED IN HER AUTUMN BEST~

~My La Chaumière de Briarwood - October 2014~

Fall is definitely in the air here in Oklahoma.  The leaves on the trees are changing color and there is a coolness to the morning that only comes once the summer sun melts into the horizon in the early evening hours.

I love Pumpkin Days.  They make my heart sing.

My favorite time of the year...

 ~La Chaumière de Briarwood - September 2007~

I finally got around to snapping a new picture of my  La Chaumière de Briarwood (at the top).  The fresh sod we laid late last year finally took hold about mid-May and it's grown lush and full.  The grass/sod you see in the 2007 photo died off when we removed three huge trees a couple of years ago.  Got tired of seeing only MUD so new sod was in order.   I changed our front door from white to a deep tan and next spring we plan on painting the outside siding in a complementary shade.  My flower boxes are empty because at almost fifteen years old they are literally rotting off the front of the house.  With our on-going kitchen remodel my Mr. AGPMan just hasn't had time to make new ones.  So...no pretty fleurs this year! (Drats)...

~La Chaumière de Briarwood - July 1992~

When we purchased our home twenty-two years ago it looked like the photo above.  I hated the two-toned garage doors and the light paint on the exterior.  The original door was in sad shape...overrun with wood ants and the pine tree (right) was ruining the foundation of the house.  The grass was pretty much non existent and what was there was mixed with a bunch of weeds.  Over the years we've done so much to transform the only home we've ever owned...  I love her more and more each year.

~My Mom's 80th Birthday Party~

Yesterday we celebrated my Mom's 80th birthday with a fun party full of family and friends...  I love this picture of us with the bright fresh sunflowers that graced the table~

Several of my vintage blue ball jars were used as vases and I love how they came out.  We went with a Fall theme for the party and everything looked very festive and fun!

Customized Favor Bags were handed out to guests.  They held pieces of our Mother's favorite See's Candy.  Bags were easy to make using a vintage image and a charming sunflower stamp.

Homemade fudge-filled chocolate cupcakes and homemade carrot cake cupcakes were topped with cream cheese icing.  Made 'cutting the cake' beyond simple and almost no mess!  

I'm getting ready to start my Christmas offerings for this year.  I can't believe the holidays are around the corner.  I'll be back later this week to share with you what's new...and old.

Blessings~

~*HAPPY BIRTHDAY #80 MOMMA*~

Today is my beautiful Mom's 80th birthday.  As I told you a few days ago we've planned a wonderful Birthday Reception for her on Sunday and I'm beyond excited about her big day.  I promise to be back late that night (or Monday if I'm overwhelmed...which is a distinct possibility!) and share the details and photos...

My Mother is such a lovely person.  I'm so thankful she's doing so well...

She was a beautiful bride...loved my father so much...  Still does~even though he went to heaven last February...

He loved to put flowers in her hair when she was young...

She loved becoming a new Momma...

And with each child she gave birth to she grew more and more lovely...

Even after we all left home she continued to offer us her wise and tender counsel...

I love you, Mom.

Thank you for everything your done for us all over the years.  Today I celebrate you and your life and all you mean to me...to all of us.

Thank you for putting up with me when I was full of my obnoxious self and giving me a chance to become all you believed I could be.  It was your faith in me that helped me press onward during difficult times...

I can never repay you.

I love you forever and a day.

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Your Becky Girl

~*BEAUTIFUL GEMS of THOUGHT AND SENTIMENT*~

~*BEAUTIFUL GEMS*~

My Father had a passion for books.  Didn't matter what kind...he loved them all. 

~*FRONT PAGE of BEAUTIFUL GEMS*~

I hope someday to own one or two of his most favorite...he had an amazing collection.

~*My FATHER...about 1993*~

Early this past Summer my Mother and I attended an amazing estate sale here in my town.  It was a family-run-sale (my favorite kind) and the contents of the home were incredible.  I scored a vintage Remington Typewriter, two amazing handmade vintage evening dresses (all hand stitched and dyed) and one of those large copper pots with perfectly placed patina.  I also snagged a ton of old books...about thirty or so.  Most of them had been stored away for at least fifty years or more and just seeing them made me think about my Dad.  He would have loved a sale like this one, and no doubt would have bought the same pick of books I had if given the chance.

 

~*BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK*~

As thrilled as I was over the Typewriter, clothing and old boiling pot, it was the books I was the most excited about.

~*1890 LONGFELLOW POETRY BOOK*~

Books.

Dusty.

Dirty.

Old.

 

 ~BEAUTIFUL VERSES*~

Anyway, I purchased all of them for about $25.  It wasn't until I lugged them home (and had time to flip through them) that I realized the rarity of my find.

 ~*TINY BOOK - THE BOY'S STORY BOOK*~

All the books are wonderful...my favorite is the BEAUTIFUL GEMS BOOK and the one you see above...THE BOY'S STORY BOOK from 1853.

~*BY THEODORE THINKER*~

It is so precious...

 ~*BEAUTIFUL DRAWINGS*~

Lots of lovely black and white etchings, too.

BEAUTIFUL GEMS is about 120 years old and as crazy as it sounds I just love the smell of it.  The spine has some damage and some of the pictures inside are loose.  So, I'm planning on scanning a few of them and framing them up for my La Chaumière de Briarwood.

 My Father would have loved it best, too.

Hoping your day is wonderful and filled with lots of good things.

Only good things.

Blessings...