Auction Lamp

Diane at http://diane1876.blogspot.com/ is the host of Trash To Treasure Tuesday.Pay her a visit , she has some great TTT.(trash to treasure) finds. Today I have this 1940's hand painted lamp ( per the antique lamp guy I know). I got this at an auction 4 years ago. It was a box lot with about 4 other lamps that needed some repair. The lamp needed to be rewired it also needed a shade. Done deal! I won the bid $1.00 for the box lot. NOW, I really wanted this lamp the other were repaired and I sold them. This WAS my treasure. I rewired it $10.00 for the kit, shade $4.00. Took the base off it wasn't a pretty bottom. The lamp is so pretty (this may not be the best picture of it). I love pink & roses. The Country Victorian-Cottage look. That's just how this lamp turned out.

Many blessings

Marie

Gods Cup Runs Over

When life gives us lemons do we make lemonade? Do we find our best friend, have a cup of tea and share the troubling times with them? Do we reach for mood altering beverages? Do we seek GOD as we know him? I have done all with the exception of one, the mood altering beverage. I have had many glasses of lemonade, and many cups of tea but, most recently in my life I have found GOD and all his goodness. He has lemonade and tea always ready. He knows just what I need before I even reach for his cup. He pours and pours until it runs over.
God has given me so much. My two children, my daughter age 23 working on her master's degree in Holistic Health. My son, age 21 graduating from college in May. I was divorced from their Dad when they were 4 and 2. The three of us remained a family. During the 17 years I was a single Mom I always knew I needed to keep the faith. I did. Still not really knowing God. I kept moving forward.
God has given me my husband. I remarried 3 years ago. Jim, has 2 young adult sons. We are blessed with a home, a home where all 6 of us are to blend. It has been troubling to say the least. Blending isn't easy. I am now reaching for God's cup more and more. I will continue to keep the faith. As I walk with the Lord every day my faith renews its self. Finding him wasn't hard, knowing him is where I need to be. May the peace and love of God rain down on my home and family.
Blessings
Marie

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Nippon Dish

Again we meet for PINK Saturday. This is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound ttp://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/06/so-just-what-is-pink-saturday.html thank you. My Pinkness today is this very pretty Nippon dish I found about a year ago at one of my many favorite antique/thrift shops. This pretty dish didn't look the way it does now. When I found it was PAINTED white with glitter embedded into the paint. I'm not joking. Someone painted this fine piece of china. The history of the dish goes something like this, per the owner of the antique shop. The "artist" that painted and glittered this thought they were making a greater piece of art. WELL, I took one look at this dish and just knew I needed to take it home and give it TLC. The owner of the shop knows me and said "if your can do something with it's yours for $10.00. So, I thought $10.00 for a painted Nippon dish...OH all right. If I could give it a second chance I guess $10.00 was worth it. Some spots of pretty showed through the paint. I just had to have this dish and TRY to make it the pretty PINK rose dish it was suppose to be. Home with me it came. Let me say this, it was worth $10.00. I washed it by hand and some of the paint came off. Washing it by hand was going to take a lot of rubbing. I didn't use anything abrasive. Just warm water and soap I just kept rubbing at the paint. Taking a chance I ran it through the dishwasher. IT worked. The white glitter paint peeled off in strips. A little paint remaines on the side of the dish. Other then that the dish is in fine shape. I don't think it has any chips or cracks. I love this dish that was truly worth $10.00.

Blessings

Marie

Jewelry Party at the Shop

I rent a little retail space from Diana owner of the Treasure House Gifts. She purchased the business 3 years ago when it was a multi-vendor antiques/collectibles store. She has slowly turned the inventory around to reflect her style of jewelry. She keeps the look of the antiques, vintage and painted furniture going with myself and another lady. This seems to work well for all of us. I'm at the shop just about every day. Diana has successfully offered a jewelry party to her customers for several years. This event takes place just before Valentine's Day. Here's the invite and address of the store. Should you be in the area, of the Jersey Shore stop by and visit us February 6, 6:30p-9:00p. Some of Diana's links are listed here. I'm looking forward to being a part of the party this year it will give me a chance to introduce my cottage style furniture.
Have a blessed day
Marie
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Treasure.House.Gifts.And.Antiques.732-892-7200
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190281800974&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1123

Head board bench/Trash to Treasure Tuesday

This pretty bench once was someones twin headboard. In it's original state it was green with 4 posts. My husband cut off the posts. Cut the footboard in half, then framed the bench. I painted it my favorite color white added the padding. The fabric I used to cover it with was a curtain. Very easy to put together. It's strong too!! Treasured Trash...it's worth the second LooK!!!
Marie

Some Past Projects

Past projects: Home and Shop
1930's Vanity bench
Headboard shelf
Mosaic nightstand

The best color in a can, this color white is used on most of my projects. I used Country White on all 3 pieces.
This shelf currently holds some pretties in my living room. I like to call this room my parlor. (that's the vintage soul talking). The back was once a twin size headboard. I took the headboard and frame apart, added the applique http://doityourselfchic.com/main.sc to what was the front part of the headboard, attached a new piece of pine and finished it with my favorite white.
The vanity bench was in rough shape, the velvet was worn out. The original stain was very dark. But I knew it could be redesigned to look like it belonged in someones cottage. I keep a good stock of fabric on hand and instantly knew the fabric I would be use on the bench. Cottage roses, what else. The bench found a home to a very happy customer.
The mosaic piece is the top of a vintage night sand from the '30's. I took the door off the front of this, it had a better feel without it. Painted it, did a little faux finish and some distressing. I loved the way the night stand turned out ( so did the customer).
These are just some of my projects. I love redesigning vintage furniture. I hope to keep posting projects of the shop and home. I will have some pieces available for purchasing. For now I thought I would just give some samples of my work.
Blessings
Marie

My Second Pink Saturday

I'm glad I started blogging. I learned a few things, seen some very beautiful "PINK" things as I made my way down the list of bloggers on PINK Saturday hosted by Beverly http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/. Deleted many things on my own blog by accident then added more...then deleted again by accident lol. OH boy it's going to be a long winter. OK for my Pink saturday item this week I have a very fluffy PINK wreath I made. It's part of a very PINK area of my little retail space I rent at the greatest little store on the Jersey Shore. I added little muted PINK flowers and PINK glitter to make this extra special. I think it's perfect for a girly girly of any age. Thank you for stopping.

Marie

The FORCE is not WITH me

I've been working on opening my own store but, the forces aren't with me. I started a co-op 5 years ago. My daughter was in college and my son was a senior in high school. My children had always been the center of my focus. As a single mom since they were both very young this seemed to be the right time for my little dream to unfold.
I Resigned form my job, sold my house, invested my proceeds, kept a little of the proceeds for the co-op. Things changed during the two years I was pushing forward with the business and, most importantly becoming a business woman. I remarried and had to go back to work at my real career. Nursing. I am not happy anymore in my career field. I've been a nurse for 16 years. I'm very burnt out. That was the reason for the big push towards the co-op/retail space/business woman.
I needed an outlet for the "creative" side of me that was really aching to get out. I've always been a creator/crafter, do-it-youselfer. I just didn't have any real time for all that when my children were younger. Most of my free time was spent with the kids and their activities.
I've been married almost 3 years moved away from the town where I raised the kids. The same town where the co-op is. I stopped working full time in May. I found another co-op ran by the sweetest lady. Within the co-op is a tea room (great for business). I did well during the summer. Creating, painting furniture, etc. When the economy crashed everything came to a stand still. SO, I'm going back to work full time, yet again! When the economy gets better I'll give the brick & mortar another try. For now I'm going to learn the land of blog, etsy and maybe dare I say it a web site.
Have a very blessed day
Marie

Thrift store find

pinksaturday 049
Originally uploaded by romanceandrelics

Very pretty. I found these little plates at one of my favorite thrift/antique/anything store. They were $1.00 each. Such a deal they are now part of a vignette in my house.

Off to a good start

OK, so far so good. I enjoyed PINK Saturday very much. I anwsered some blogs and I'm still visiting others. I plan on going down the list, what is the total number for this past week 132? I would like to "DECORATE" my little blog.lol. I can't help myself I need the fluff and pretties. If anyone has suggestions please stop by give me ideas, sites and pointers. I did find a way to create a slide of some of my home pics but, I would like to place the slide on the bottom of my blog or on the right side. Take care
Marie

Pink Saturday

I'm a newbie. I have admired many blogs over the past year as I started a very slow pace towards blogging. I was never really sure if I could conquer the lack of knowledge I have for computers. I'm still not sure. I figured I had to start somewhere. I created my blog last week, posted my photos on flickr and told myself now is as good a time as any. I like pink saturday and knew it was the place for me to start.I've seen some of your blogs on pink saturday and just loved all the great things I read and saw. So, here's my first pink saturday contribution. I made this sign for my store. However, I loved the way it came out so, now I may have to keep it. I did this mosaic using broken pieces of vintage china. All shades of pink. I attached the letters to a piece of vintage wood I painted pink it may become part of the decor of my home. Thank you

Have a blessed day

Marie

Teaching a not so techie person...

Ok, I've been very busy this week. I've learned so much about blogging, flickr, PINK Saturday and now...ETSY. WoW!! I guess it's true, you can teach an old dog new tricks. My brain is going into overload. I've posted two of my little creations on ETSY. I think I did that somewhat correctly. I use Romance and Relics there also. Well, I shall soon see how this all plays out. I hope to meet great people along this adventure. I've had some great pointers already. Beverly from http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ helped with some downloading, saving and adding. This was done successfully the result was the PINK Saturday button that now exists on my blog.Thank you.
Have a blessed day
Marie

http://flickr.com/photos/romanceandrelics

A new year a new adventure

Hello,

I've been interested in the "blogging world" of communicating for quite some time. However, I never considered myself to be a whiz with computer technology. So, here I go making an attempt to join in on the 21st century. It's going to be an adventure I'm sure. Let me introduce myself, my name is Marie I am a mother of two young adults. My daughter is 23 working on her master's and my son is 21 finishing his last year of college. I remarried 3 years ago to a great guy. He has 2 young adult sons. For the past 5 years I have been making many attempts to put my career of nursing aside and follow what is in my heart. I am a creative soul trapped inside the body of a person who keeps getting pulled back into the nursing field to help make ends meet. I have rented retail space in various stores over the past 5 years. Still not content with that. Once I've mastered blogging, I will get a website and put my little dream together. But, I am looking forward to the day I have my own store front. In the mean time I am welcoming all thoughts, suggestions and ideas to advance my knowledge with blogging. Thank you.

This mosaic table is one of my projects I currently have at the store where I rent space. The store I'm at now is in a great little Jersey Shore beach town.

Have a blessed day

Marie