A FEW ITEMS ON THEIR WAY TO ETSY

 a quick hello!!! i'm still around, just taking a long winter's nap. looking towards a positive new year!!!
i've added a few items to my etsy. merry christmas, happy holidays.
blsessings
marie

As I move into the new season of my life...

I have to step away from blogging & all that makes my heart sing. I'm not sure how long I will be on this sabbatical. I've closed my booth space, packed away all my projects and, I'm not looking at my craft room with the same desire I once had. This is due to some serious marriage issues, returning to work full time and the pressures of the "real world", the grown up world that sucks the life out of you!! I can't do it all. I have done my best! It's all in the LORD'S hands now. I have enjoyed my journey blogging. The creative talent that has blessed so many leaves me in awe each time I find a new blog! I've said it before I enjoy visiting and reading the blogs more then I do posting. So, as I move fore ward faced with much uncertainty I know I can step back into this WORLD!! A place where I can relate, a place I understand more then the grown up world. Please keep me in your prayers! My next journey in life will not have much glitter, glue, paint or paper. But, I will have the Lord and the opportunity to someday return to creating and blogging.
Much thanks and love
Marie

HAPPY TRICK OR TREAT

A PUMPKIN VIGNETTE I DID FOR MY FALL DECORATING. I USED PHOTOBUCKET TO ALTER THE PICTURE. NOT SO SHABBY! THERE ARE MANY OPTIONS FOR ALTERING AT PHOTOBUCKET .I DID THIS AS A FREE ACCOUNT HOLDER. HAPPY PINK SATURDAY!! ENJOY THE FESTIVE FUN, BE SURE AND VISIT BEVERLY AT HOW SWEET THE SOUND. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO SEE THE OTHERS THAT SHARE PINK.

MOSAIC TABLE

good day to all my friends at PINK SATURDAY! it's been a long time since i joined in on pink saturday and a month since my last post. changes are all around me some good some that just must be for now. none the less i'm here to have a little PINK twink and i must say i need it and it's long over due. 

the 16th & 17th (last weekend) we had a yard sale here at 49 stratford drive. lots of STUFF from back in the day. the HIS, HERS & OURS collection. we're a blended family, so there is STUFF, stuffed every where. i also had my inventory from the booth space i closed down last month. i NEED to get RID of STUFF!! the yard sale helped. some things will be donated to the church and some things went to the curb for trash pick up.

i do have some pink left overs! (that's something like t'giving left overs only better 'cause of the PINK)

today i'm sharing my vintage ice cream parlor chairs and table. i waved my mosaic tile cutters over the table top and this is what appeared. she was suppose to find her way to my booth but, just didn't make it. LOTS of vintage pink broken china for you all to love. so love away. i didn't cover the chairs. i do plan on it. this set did NOT sell at the yard sale. It was very LOVED by the "SALE-erS". maybe it was price tag shock. this set is still available should anyone take an interest in it. i think i'll list it on etsy, or maybe leave it open for

disscussion via e-mail. enjoy and have a blessed day. until the next time. please be sure to visit beverly at how sweet the sound and all the other pretty pink petals that post.

blessings

marie

i've been decorating. adding autum colors. i've been playing on flickr. adding autum colors. this is what i came up with. i'm happy with the look.
blessings
marie

A PAcked FaNNy ReVEal

i'd like to introduce Lila Mae. WHO?? my new mannequin design. she started to morph back in march. then we had the 2 floods here. at the time Lila Mae was without a name and only had on a few pieces of her vintage trousseau. she was packed away for a few months during the clean up, about 3 weeks ago i pulled her out of storage. a lady she is, and a lady should always be properly dressed (poor thing was half naked).
now she will always stay clothed. i permanently attached all her garments. sewed & glued. (i do have a few pieces to tweak and maybe add a few extra pretties). her sweet little vintage/victorian inspired dress is something like a DR. FRANKENSTEIN experiment, i say it in the most loving manner. the whole dress is bits and pieces of vintage this~~n~~that's. the bodice is from a 1950's dress, the bustle in the front is a vintage half slip. her skirt is pieced together with satin and some scraps of material from other projects. most of the lace is vintage. her lace collar is my favorite. found it at the thrift store. i think that's the day i started getting inspired to create her. the beaded collar is pearls, love it! of course her fanny is packed. this girl really got back! lots of ruffles, all different types of fabrics. i just love her FANNY! i hope you all enjoy her. i was hoping to get her over to my booth space. i don't think that's such a good idea now since i have everything marked down 50%. she'll probably head on over to etsy. i'm also considering taking her to a few craft shows. we'll see!
blessings
marie

WHERE WERE YOU 9/11/01

glitter-graphics.com

Nine years have past since America was attacked. On 9/11/01 I was on my second day of training for a new job at a nursing home 5 minutes from my home. My hometown Atlantic Highlands, NJ is a small old Victorian town. Filled with lots of local history and a stones throw from lower Manhattan. Atlantic Highlands is a 40 minute boat ride to the Financial district. There is a ferry service that operates out of the Atlantic Highlands harbor. People from all over the area use the service. Commuters going to Wall Street, or folks going to the city for the day. The ferry makes Manhattan seem like it's just across the street from the small town that I call home. The view from the Jersey side looking across the water towards the Manhattan skyline is awesome. After 9/11 the holes in the skyline where the towers once stood remind us daily of the innocent lives lost. And looking at the skyline now has lost some of it's awesome beauty. As I said  I was on day two of training when the first plane hit the tower, I saw it on TV from a patients room. I knew in an instant we were under attack. I actually walked out of work, told the boss I would be back. I didn't go back. I went directly to get my kids, I took them out of school. When we got back home the small town of Atlantic Highlands was one big traffic jam. Our volunteer first aid squad had reached out to NYFD &NYPD offering the use of the harbor and the ferry boats. This was going to be a  means of rescuing people trapped at ground zero. The traffic jam was local (and then some) Doctor's, nurse's,  EMT' ers, any person trained to give medical attention to the victims. I was one of the nurse's, and my job was to stay in Jersey and help the victims off the ferry and start a triage system. Doctor's and nurse's were being sent over on the ferry's to help bring victims back to Jersey and get them in hospitals here. NYFD & NYPD met the ferry boats in the middle of the bay to call off the "rescue mission", we were told "there are not any survivors" OH MY GOD!! THAT WAS ALL I COULD SAY. My blood ran cold! By this point both towers were gone and NYFD/NYPD knew the extent of the loss of life. I stayed at the Harbor all night helping folks being brought out of the city via the ferry's. They were displaced because every form of transportation was shut down. We had a haz mat/decon area set up and helped over 1200 people feel a little safer. I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET!!  those that died as victims and those that lost their lives to save lives. On a little side note there should not be a Mosque on hollowed ground!! period.
Blessings and love to all those that lost a loved one September 11, 2001.
Marie

THIS IS WHAT A FANNY PACKED LOOKS LIKE

 the youth of today, the generation that has grown up with slang such as   "on the DL", "phat"and "booty" have a unique twist on words. i think you know what i'm saying here. they have a great vocabulary(lol), some of the terms really crack me up.  one i love is "baby got back". now, i think that really means a padded tush. none the less i always imagine BABY with a huge rump. i guess every lady of the victorian era would have been described as a "got back-er". their "got back" look was romantic fluff. i'm sharing a sneak peek at what's packed on this back. there will be a full reveal with in the next week. please come back and see!
blessings
marie

FUNNIN' WITH FALL

i have been playin' wit' photobucket. i used a few of the editing options on the basic account photobucket offers. first i made my picture a cartoon, then added a little color to the nest. i left the other items in the original picture alone. a little whimsy. i'm likin' the look.  the bird's perch is made from a re-purposed christmas ribbon spool. i just decoupaged pages from a vintage dictionary onto it. the pears i found at the thrift store for .30 cents, they are made of wood. i guess the first owner didn't know what to do with them. hummm when in doubt decoupage. i got the fun idea for the photobucket editing from chari@ happytodesign.blogspot.com. thanks chari!
 i plan to put aside 40 minutes a day to work on projects. i figure eventually i will have something finished! the only reason i'm scheduling time in the craft room is because of the changes that have crashed down on me recently. i'm closing my booth down at the end of the month (everything is marked 50% off now). i'm returning to work full time. i have put school on hold until the spring semester. so, all that being said my therapy is 40 minutes in the craft room. stay tuned i have some cute little projects i'll be psoting.
blessings
marie

A SMALL PIECE OF PRIME REAL ESTATE

my corner of the world...
my corner of the laundry room...
i've found paradise...
it awaits me...
calling me, wooing me...
i finally have my own "where this woman gets to create" place in history...
i called dib's on half of the laundry room last year when we had the basement remodeled.
then the winter thaw and spring rain hit us hard and we had to rip out half of the newly remodeled basement. now we are just about done with the remodel of the remodel and i have a space to claim. yeah for me, i know the rest of the family is lovin' the idea of all my cast off treasures stayin behind closed doors.
blessings
marie

i'm thinking of de-stashin' and sending these sweet pretties over to my etsy. not sure yet. i'm doing an early fall over haul. i also may be heading south to jacksonville, florida. a little family emergency. i need to help out my brother and sister-in-law. my brother has some serious health issues and it looks as if he will be admitted to the mayo clinic over the next few days. please pray for my family. thank you! 

blessings

marie

Bathing Beauties

three sisters sporting lovely legs and hot bathing suits.  the lovely lady in the middle is my maternal grandmother. my guess the picture was taken in the very early 1940's. my mother's family was from newark, nj until my grandparents moved to the jersey shore, leonardo, a small beach town on the bay. i think my aunt's had been visiting the shore the day this picture was taken. my grandma passed when my mom was 19 i never met her but my mother kept her spirit alive as i was growing up. i was told by my mom grandma was always laughing and just very fun loving. i guess this picture was a day of fun at grandmas house. and those bathing suits just say VINTAGE!! luv 'em

blessings

marie

bloom where you are planted

i know i'm a late bloomer. i bloomed late on the blogging scene, january it will be 2 years for me here. i love it. i must be honest i enjoy visiting all the lovely blogs a tad more then i do writing, i guess it's just my lack of skills on the computer. i get myself somewhat frustrated, and the digital camera, let's just say i take more pictures of my hands, fingers & feet well, you get what i'm saying. but, i just keep going. doing it all at my own pace. i view my blog and those i read as an extension of my hobby. crafting & art go hand in hand with blogging, i mean what did everyone do with their creations before the internet? we all what to share our designs and pass along the "how to's. yippee ya hooey for the net and blogging. there's something to be said for late bloomer's, by the time we get to "doin it" pretty much all the how to's are out and everything is perfected. i've had weeks to practice, in between college classes and still cleaning & fixin' up from our flood (back in march) i think i got the technique down for fabric ROSETTES, POCKET PILLOWS, and BURLAP oh and flower pins with scraps of lace, vintage appliques and jewelry. i'd like to share a few of my latest projects with you let me know what you all think?
blessings
marie