Getting in shape for the Holidays

Just in case you're worried about putting on a few pounds over the holidays, take a look at this 1940s exercise video! These machines look downright painful! I'm afraid to even get on the scales I've eaten so much lately, but hey, the gals in this video can work out and craft at the same time, sign me up!

In Memory of Moses

In Memory of Moses
200?-2011
We lost sweet moses this past weekend. His enlarged heart and wild tom cat days before he came to us, made him leave us all to soon. What is it about animals that can heal a broken heart , dry our tears and make us smile on the worst of days?
For Moses:

The Rainbow Bridge Poem

Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.

The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head. You look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…

KC Willis you rock!

I just finished a three day class with KC WIllis and to date that has been the best workshop I have ever been to!  It was a very relaxed atmosphere with only 8 students so it was small enough where we could all be calling KC's name and she could get to all of us without stressing out! Can you believe that this flag was one of our projects!!

These photos do not do justice to her work. The detail and creativity that she puts into each piece is amazing. Her images are of strong women in history , most from the west, who made their own way, truly inspiring with quotes to match.
She had a stack of finished wall hangings that we could choose from to purchase and at the time, I was so proud of myself and only bought one. Yes, I'm kicking myself now for not buying more.

I was just so intent on finishing my own projects that I didn't take time to really go through them! I did end up with one which I will share in my next post.When I finish all my projects, the wall hanging like these above and below, a shrine, which I do not have any photos of, and of course the flag above. I was so close to finishing my flag but I didn't want to force it so I brought it home to finish.

One of the coolest tools that she uses a lot on all of her pieces is a heat gun. I have never owned one, but I do now! I went to Lowes and bought the middle of the line one and plan to "go to town" and finish my projects. I'm sure I'm the last person on the planet to own one but I figure I'll just be careful of how much aqua-net I use on the days when I use it!!!! 

These large collages were so amazing, she actually mounted one on a black canvas, OMG, to die for! This class was just what I was hoping for to get my creativity going. The great thing is that to make the wall hangings or even these larger collages, I have all the materials cubby holed away in my room or in storage. Now, time to tea stain it all!

I cannot encourage you all enough to not only partake in any of KC's workshops but to consider buying either her CD sets or a piece itself. Each time you look at the piece you see something you didn't see before. What I will see when I look at me piece by KC is a positive experience with lovely women and a creative experience that brought be back to life! Thank you to all my fellow classmates and most of all KC.

This is the "book class" that I have already signed up for in April, 2012. I can't wait to see what we create next and I'll bring even more goodies to embellish this time. I was a newby this last time but next year I'm comin' to class both barrels blastin'!!!!!

Christmas Ornaments for the Kitty Tree

Well I decided I just couldn't leave the tree with a fabric garland. So I figured I would use what I had and started hauling out the glitter, glue and any bits and bobs I could find. Truthfully I didn't know how these would turn out so I used all the left overs of other projects and just winged it. The kittens were ALL OVER it and it was all over them! The baby stepped in the Tupperware container of glitter and dumped it all over her and the floor. She jumped which gave the room a shower of glitter that I have yet to get all cleaned up! Then the other one stepped in the glue bowl and glued all her whiskers together!

I have never had children but I now feel like I had decorated a tree with two insane toddlers!!! OMG how do you mom's do it? I was so stressed out by the end of this project I thought I would lose my mind. Then you look at them and think, oh yea you're cute all right but, "One of these days Alice, Zoom to the moon!!"

So, I'm done with decorating!! I will end up re-decorating this tree over and over again anyway so it'll be like I did more. It felt good to start and complete a project. I have found myself starting a project, becoming unhappy with it and throwing it away! So frustrating!
The good news is that I have a class with my partner in crime Charlene, this next week with KC Willis !! I'm really excited! Cross your fingers  I can crawl out of this black hole of a creative port a potty and get back on track!

Antique Cabinet Photo Pages

As you know I collect cabinet photos, most are vintage wedding photos but sometimes I will buy a whole album for the odd photo here and there and for the cabinet photo pages. They are usually in pretty bad shape so I photo shopped these as best I could so help yourself! Just cut out the center and center your photo! If this download does not work they are also in my Flickr.com account.

WARNING! Estate and Garage Sales can be Hazardous to your Health!

Yep, Estate sales can be hazardous to your health! Garage sales too! A couple of weeks ago I went to a great Estate sale that had so much fun stuff to pick through.

There was an old shed out back just filled with all kinds of rusted bolts and tons of old relics of everything! SO, I bought this old metal cabinet. It was small, only about 12x12 but yucky and rusty and just begging to be dumped out and cleaned out. Well when I dumped everything out, an old vile of MERCURY fell out and almost broke. There looked like there was another vile that might have broken so I gathered it all up, double bagged it, scrubbed myself down and took it to the hazardous dump site! YIKES!!!

There has always been the risk of going into old buildings living down here in Texas so I  have always tried to keep a pair of gloves in the car just in case. But as good intentions go, I got lazy and quit wearing them. Yesterday I got a phone call from a friend who said she had been bitten...

by a Brown Recluse Spider. It wasn't a bad bite but she got to the ER and she's not really sure it was a Brown Recluse but it was a spider bite but she was taking any chances. I won't even show you the photos of what can happen if it goes untreated. I mean Yucky to the tenth degree! Horrible treatments and possible scaring.Eek.

So, just in case you see an Estate Sale sign that you just can't resist, just be careful, wear your gloves and be careful what you bring home.
My new rule is to open and clean everything in the garage before I bring it into the house!!

The Indestructible Kitten Christmas Tree

This is a bare-bones Christmas tree! It's not what I'm use to but I have to admit it's kind of nice to have an excuse not to do the whole sha-bang, taking days to put Christmas up and days to take it down. I had to hire "peps" to help me get it out of the attic, put the tree up, then have them help me put up all the empty boxes. Then it starts all over again after the holidays!! But this year we had to adapt for these fuzzy faces!

They look so innocent....... before proven guilty!

I used fabric strips to make a fabric garland that are in six foot strips, it took ten to get all around the tree! Plus I used burlap for the tree skirt so I couldn't make the garland to fancy. Talk about a challenge! Having these fabric strips all over the place, the two kitten demolition crew did a doozy with all of those, it just gave them a distressed look :) But the best part part was I have only spent $100 so far on the tree, the rest I had on hand!

 AND, with the money I am saving I'll put towards trips like my trip to California with my partner in crime, Charlene to  Kim Caldwell's event. I think we're driving and I have a feeling it's going to be a "antique" version of Thelma and Louise junking all the way there and all the way back, without driving off the cliff....at least until we see the credit card bill!! Then somewhere in there I'll be going to see Karen Valentine in Phoenix. I think I could get use to this Charlie Brown Christmas tree!

I'll be putting old Wedding Photos on the tree too, I just haven't figured out how to do it yet. I've laid out several options but I just can't decide. Any suggestions? Do I attach them to the garland or do I hang them just mounted on doubled scrapbook paper? Maybe some Mother of Pearl buttons somewhere, HELP! I'm stuck! I can do shiny and all blinggy, but subtle and earthy is not my forte'.

Hummm, just can't decide. Egads I'm so bad at this! I have just laid them in the branches here, not on the garland. I can hear you all saying, "you're thinking about this too much!" OK time for a glass of wine. Cheers!

But either way if the tree falls over or the ornaments get nibbled on it won't be a big deal!

I know, I know, she's too cute, lil stinker! Little Miss Prissy climbed the tree within hours of putting it up! I thought I saw the tree shaking and thought no, I'm imagining it but, nooooooo, it had already been attacked!

Hubby put four  bags of Kitty Litter to hold this tree in place! I just hope these kittens can't knock over a tree with 80 pounds of weight on the base. Lovely but functional. Again, thrifty!! Maybe another trip? Oh Round Top, forgot about that trip, I think I'll just break even now! 

So,If any of you have any suggestions on what I should do, PLEASE let me know! An earthy minimalist  I am not so...... HELP!

To return to White Wednesday with Faded Charm go to:fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com

Olan Mills Photos, Oh the Agony!

How many times were you dragged by your parents to an Olan Mills studio to have that yearly photo made? What background would you use? The autumn leaves, the southern grove or my least favorite, the fake library with all the books, that was the worst! Lucky for me I couldn't find as many for me as I did my little brother! I threw him under the bus and bailed for college leaving him behind to fend for himself!

My favorite is of course the one where Robert is holding his Star Wars Toy! I wonder how much that would go for on Ebay these days?? He loved Star Wars anything! I'm not sure what he did in the photo with the band-aid on his head, no telling, Robert has two gears to this day, full throttle or hitting a wall!
So is there still an Olan Mills Studio today? Are there still crying babies, bad hair and that gawd awful library background? In these days of digital everything it makes me wonder if this right of passage into adulthood still exists? I love all our new advances in technology but sometimes I wonder if it's left us with less sentimental memories of things like this.Then again, I do love a little air brushing here and there in my aging years!!

I'm sorry Mr. Turkey I can't do Tofu!

Thanksgiving is going to be here before you know it and that battle in the kitchen will take all day and night. It will end with all of us falling face down onto the bed at the end of the day,fully clothed and exhausted! So this year I  thought I might try the tofu version of turkey and I wish oh how I wish it could have been better. But, OMG it was terrible! I don't mean Night Hawk dinner bad, I mean this was like when Snoopy kisses Lucy and she goes into her fit! "Get the peroxide, get the iodine, I have dog germs !" Mine was more like get me the chocolate, get the wine oh gag me with a pitch fork!!!! Agh, bla, bla , blaaaaaaaaK!

I mean I know they're trying to be funny but really? It just looks so disgusting  so yucky, gooey, so OMG throw it away before I barf. But I did taste it and it tasted like a turkey jello! I see that lip curling, you're doing it too aren't you! My mother has been a Vegan, yes Vegan, for years now! She hasn't always walked on the dark side with no burgers, no steak, no pork chops, and Lordy above no hot dogs which she calls hogballs. Yes I can never look at another hot dog again without thinking of my mother saying, "You know what they put in those don't you, hogballs!" Now every time you see a hot dog you're going to think the same thing aren't you! Just sharing the love my fellow bloggers! So this Thanksgiving if it ever crosses your mind that maybe you should try an alternative to Ol' Tom, just think..Mexican food!

Girls Gone Junkin' and Birthdays!

Today was the perfect day to go to Canton! The weather was perfect and the booths were packed with wonderful treasures and people. None more crowded than Girls Gone Junkin" and it was Cathy's birthday! Of all the luck to be there to hug her neck and sing "Happy Birthday" to her with all the other customers that were in her store!

We all wish she has had the best day ever, AND, that her birthday wish comes true!

Charlene was my partner in crime today. We just took our time and lollygagged all over Canton, not looking for anything special, just enjoying the day. I found a purse at GGJ and some old photos, no shock there!

Cathy just has this way of displaying the ordinary everyday things and making you want to buy it all!

I forgot to go back and buy this photo darn it!

A sweet lamp covered in lace and a dash of pearls to polish it off.

New purses that always catch my eye..

Ahhhh, but this one may be the one that got away, after I took this shot someone took it off the mani's shoulder and bought it!

Just a little bit of this and a little bit of that..

I wanted this one too, lordy I have an obsession with purses. "Hello my name is Cindy and I have ANOTHER obsession.."