My Crafty Little Page

Elusive Pink Saturday

2012-01-27T17:35:00.001-06:00

Late – that’s me…late for Pink Saturday. I worked at Oodles and when we finished there did some work at The Roost. See the floor? All Skate!!! It’s an old skating rink. We’re through the doorway down at the end of the walkway. That pretty booth on the left isn’t mine.

I love those “all white” spaces. Ours is…

more masculine.

However I did do a new pretty little vignette on the center table:

And the male 2/3’s of Oodles hardly griped at all! That’s because everything I put on the center table sells right away. Anyway, on my way out I spotted this gal.

She wasn’t very talkative but had no objections when I snapped a picture of her hat.

I thought she’d be perfect for Pink Saturday. If she had a brain she’d thrilled to appear on Pink Saturday!

I’m joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound today for her weekly meme. Do stop by to see her and all the PS blogs.

xoxo Nancy

Oodles of Hello Kitty

2012-01-20T12:09:00.001-06:00

Oodles, Oodles everywhere and not a drop of Pink!

Just wanted to show you we got our sign installed at Oodles. And were slowly getting stuff in there.

Now on to the Pink! This is the house in the Hamptons the Millionaire Matchmaker is doing up in Hello Kitty pink. And if that’s not enough “pink” - how about this maternity hospital.

The Hello Kitty Wing!

Even boys get born here. However, if you want to give birth in

this birthing room you’ll have to travel to Taiwan.

Can you believe all the pink everything????

It is cute, isn’t it?

Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting Pink Saturday and thanks to all the Hello Kitty babies!

xoxo Nancy

Pink Saturday

2012-01-12T09:33:00.001-06:00

In honor of Pink Saturday, The Roost is sporting some great pinks this week. A newly upholstered vintage channel back chair and the sweetest little pink dresser and mirror.

As you can see the little dresser won first place in the horse show.

And….thanks for your comments on the “Oodles” name last week. We were able to buy the sign at the auction in Sulfur Springs last weekend. This is how I envisioned the image for the tags to use there.

or maybe this…..

However the two guys involved wanted this because it’s supposed to be mostly industrial chic stuff. WhatEVer!

Oodles is in the Austin Antique Mall and the mall is one fun shopping experience. Read these Yelp reviews to read some of the fun reviews people give it! There’s just so much stuff and lots of places to dig through that stuff. If you live in the Austin area I’m sure you know about it but if you plan to visit or make a trip to the nearby Round Top Antique Fair in the spring – schedule some time to stop there.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you Beverly of How Sweet The Sound for having us all over today!

xoxo Nancy

Oodles of Pink

2012-01-05T22:46:00.001-06:00

Happy 2012 and Happy Pink Saturday. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty okay with the holidays being over. This year I’m hoping to purge a lot of stuff and organize more. AND get stuff in the store quicker. I bought these dishes…PINK dishes….last October and just today got them out.

They are Homer Laughlin Eggshell Georgian. I think I’ve priced them right - $75 for everything on the table – maybe 36 pieces.

Plus I have some large trays. I love them but I no longer have any room left for more dishes.

I even put these turquoise plates for sale! See how serious I am. This is the new booth we’re setting up at The Austin Antique Mall. We still have The Roost in Round Rock but are sharing this with my nephew. Anyway, if I get the sign I want at an auction this weekend I have a name. Actually even if I don’t get the sign I like the name so I think we’ll call it…..

Isn’t that a cute name? I’ve found that when you have a name for your space people will see an ad online and come in and ask “Hey, I’m looking for Oodles” and everyone knows where to send them whereas if they come in and ask for booth 41 or dealer 59980000000 they pretty much get a blank stare. I’ve always loved this mall – it’s such a fun place to shop. Huge and quirky in an old skating rink and I think the prices are great. Not that I’m going to buy anything – but if I were going to…

Have a great weekend – I hear a huge portion of the country is having unusually warm weather so enjoy it while you can. We had the most beautiful day today and I have an early estate sale tomorrow so Buenos Noches. Don’t forgeet or forget to stop and see Beverly at How Sweet The Sound. xoxo Nancy

2012

2011-12-31T19:18:00.001-06:00

Happy 2012!

Don’t Forget to:

Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins

2011-12-31T17:53:00.001-06:00

I found this little graph on Pinterest… I figure if I just avoid the seven deadly sins I have no need to worry about resolutions this year!

And to all my blog friends….

Many thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for faithfully hosting Pink Saturday each and every week.

Spa Day

2011-12-21T18:55:00.001-06:00

Beverly, at How Sweet the Sound, is hosting Pink Saturday. Nancy at My Crafty Little Page doesn’t have her Pink Saturday Christmas post ready but it will be up tomorrow. She also wants you to know that she is aware talking in the third person is annoying to everyone. She apologizes and wishes everyone the happiest of Christmases!

********************

With all the stress of decorating and packages and trees going up we figured it's time for a spa day to get all relaxed and pretty for Christmas. My husband and I do this together – he's in charge of the bubble bath and I get the massage table ready….light some candles….and pretty soon…

Iris is ready for a massage and blow dry. Hey – you didn't think I meant – nah…like that's gonna happen – hahaha.

She get's so relaxed and absolutely would lie there all day getting pampered and brushed.

I put a dog bed on the rolling ottoman, add some fluffy towels and rotate the table instead of the pooch!

And then I start all over again when her highness Lillie Louise get's finished with her bath.

They were such good little doggies this year – I hope Santa brings them a big bone for Christmas!

On another note – I did a little porch decorating. It really needs a good cleaning but it sure didn't get it today.

Have you ever used this polymesh? Wow – it's so easy to work with. I found a big bag of garland I bought last summer so I just wired in the mesh ribbon.

No lights at all. :( but everyone uses the backdoor anyway. Can you believe it's only 4 days until Christmas! Hope you've all been good little bloggers!

Silent Starlight Fell

2011-12-15T17:38:00.001-06:00

After church last Sunday I decided that this was going to be a more spiritual Christmas. I'm not obsessing about gifts, not decorating much at all. My husband is painting the guest room upstairs which is the best present in the whole world for me! Therefore I have nowhere to drag my stuff out so since I'm on a spiritual path this year I put all my Mary's where I usually put Santas and such.

My little shrine is taking the place of a Nativity. And there's so much pink to it. Soothing, right? We went to Vespers at St. Martin's in Austin last Sunday evening where Texas Lutheran University Choir comes to perform and it was so beautiful.

Of course I forgot my camera…story of my life this year…but I found this on Flickr . I'm for sure going to get sued for this since they're not my pictures.

An actress narrated the story…told from Mary's mother-in-law to be point of view.

So excited about her son's marriage to the lovely Mary and then finding out about an expected baby – how could her son and his bride to be have done this? It all turned out good as you know! At the end the choir encircles the church and it is just so ethereal – the voices coming from every direction.

Anyway – I thought I'd just display all together this year.

Along with all the easy to find trees!

Have a wonderful, calm and spiritual week…and may all your Christmases be PinK!

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. And now I have to get ready for my annual Christmas Bunco party.

Sick Week

2011-12-11T09:19:00.000-06:00

I have nothing of note to write about today but not posting anything on Pink Saturday makes me feel like I left the oven on when I left the house or did I or did I not leave the camera on the seat of my unlocked car. It keeps nagging at me that I haven't done anything. On Sunday I talked to my bff Barbara and oh good gosh she sounded horrible – she was so sick. When I said – "you know – I haven't even had a cold the past few years" I might as well have shared a meal with the infectious disease isolation wing at the county hospital. I sooo jinxed myself. It wasn't but two days and I came down with a horrible cold, then bronchitis and coughing and I have been sooo sick. And when you're sick you just don't have much pink or Christmas in your life much less pictures of your no pink and no Christmas life.
Last Sunday my grandson came over and helped bring our 15 year old Christmas tree downstairs. It's one of those with the "lettered" branches…H's on the bottom…then G's and so on.

Have I ever mentioned we are a family of idiots? We don't know our alphabet?
Of course they had to do a little Christmas treebowing! Well, one full on tebow and one geriatric half tebow. Google "tebowing" if you've never heard of it!

I hear Tim Tebow is okay with the tebowing pics on the internet! Anyway the tree finally shaped up right and we got it decorated -

and that's as far as I got before I was stricken with this deadly virus. Apparently I caught it from a phone call and I'm hoping I'm not infecting you guys Through. The. Computer. Go warn all the Pink Saturday folks to stay away! Merry– cough, cough, cough, Pink Saturday. xoxo Nancy

"Gold" Shrine

2011-12-10T16:37:00.001-06:00

I've been wanting to share this and just today got some good pictures. My husband made this shrine from all vintage elements so I'm posting this for him. This beautiful old chalk ware statue of Our Lady of Lourdes stands atop a silver bowl. The gold cabinet is a clock cabinet transformed with Krylon spray paint.

He did such a wonderful job on this with the intention of listing it on Etsy but as you can see it's not there or in our antique store – The Roost.

I'm really attached to it and love the candles around it. There is lightly tinted rose colored French water glass behind the statue and it casts a pink glow on the wall.

He used an antique perfume bottle with tiny dried roses. I keep adding little things, too. The tree made of pearls and gold wire.

The little white crosses and gold angels are from my collection of vintage religious articles.

She's a comforting presence in our living room and welcome to stay forever.
I'm reposting this and joining Holly at 504 Main for the color "Gold" 12 Days Party.
xoxo Nancy –

Tag You're It!

2011-12-02T00:06:00.001-06:00

Happy December - only 24 days until Christmas and what have I done? Well - the church is decorated.

Our store is sort of decorated - at least it's cleaned and shined and spiffed up.

I ironed about 15 Christmas aprons for the store.

I made a wreath out of the crochet pieces that I bought at auction with the aprons.

And my tags for December are done.

Yea – I actually made 2 tags for each month this past year.

I finished 20 different tags for Elizabeth at Creative Breathing Christmas tag swap.

and decorated a box to put them all in!

and I finished my Itty Bitty Book Club New Years Tags!

And it's only December FIRST! So even though my house isn't decorated I've got plenty of time. I've ignored Pinterest , however – hahaha. Looking at all the stuff there is inspiring if nothing else! We have a month of Christmas Pink Saturday's to look forward to this month. Thanks to Beverly looking at everyone's Christmas decorations is as much fun as Pinterest!

xoxo Nancy

And after four years on Windows Live Writer I just figured out how to make pictures "clickable" to original size!

Thanksgiving Recap

2011-11-25T18:01:00.001-06:00

Happy day after Thanksgiving. Did you all fill up on turkey and fixins'? I gave all my food a grade yesterday – only the ice tea got an A. Nothing tasted right to me. The turkey got a B- or high C – it was sort of tough even though it was cooked beautifully.

We forgot the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes so a low C and my cranberry salad didn't taste right so…B on it. Today however the all the leftovers get an A. Everything tasted superb! Oh yes – I forgot – I made a banana pudding for my son and it got an A+ both days. Gosh – I have no pictures and therefore you are getting this fascinating recap of my food!

The best part of yesterday? The Longhorns won the last Thanksgiving Day game against the Aggies as a parting gift as they whine their way to the SEC. It was so sweet – they have to live with the loss for the next hundred years with NO chance of a rematch! Crybabies. Once again the University of Texas tower glows burnt orange!

Let's see – oh yes – my Black Friday shopping consisted of window shopping online and going to Black Friday garage sales. I bought two lamps, two pottery barn tables and two turquoise slipper chairs. So I spent the afternoon shampooing upholstery.

I was on a decorating strike this fall. Totally depressing but I refused to go upstairs because after the wildfires we had a rat – maybe it was a mouse. In any case we put out 4966 traps and caught one and only one so it looks like that was it but my phobia took hold and I wouldn't go upstairs to the storeroom alone. The upside of being a chicken phobic insane person is that I have NO fall undecorating to do. Yea!

Since I am linking up to Beverly's Pink Saturday today, here's a picture of a tag I made. It need's a little more work but hey – it's Christmasy and it's pink!

That's an oatmeal container next to it I use for a little waste basket for paper scraps so you can see it's pretty large.

If I don't get over this not going upstairs business it just may be my only Christmas decoration. Won't it be so sad on Christmas morning when we're all gathered around this singing Oh Christmas Tag, Oh Christmas Tag. Aren't you glad I post pictures most of the time for Pink Saturday instead of this drivel?

Happy Black Friday! Now go visit Beverly! xoxo Nancy

You Can Go Home Again

2011-11-17T20:17:00.001-06:00

Once there was a way…to get back home again.

Last week I took a trip to my hometown and the town where I raised my kids. It was a great girlfriend trip to a bed and breakfast, El Rocio, and a workshop we did there getting in touch with our left brain, right brain.

We did an exercise where we smelled an unknown scent and then illustrated that on paper…no scissors…we had to tear the paper. There were about 12 of us – all from the Valley and apparently we all identified it as a citrus smell which indicated a collective memory.

This is my memory. (I know – such a masterpiece!)

An orange tree by my driveway. Parents out of town. Why not have a partaaaaaay? My yellow ford and someone jumping out of the car as someone else was backing out and a wrecked door that I somehow had to explain away. Obviously the truth never occurred to me so I said I was driving and didn't realize that the door was ajar. The big eye? That was the neighbor who saw what happened and related the whole thing to the folks. Busted! We got a little whiff of smell # 2 and this time we had to work with fabric and scissors. At our lunch break we discussed the smell and the general consensus was it was an unpleasant smell – I didn't get the poop smell as some did but it did remind me of medicine from when I was little. Castoria – yuk. Anyway it was fun and I was thrilled to learn that I had a brain. hahaha

The five of us who live up here in the hill country had to go by our old houses. I have two – the one where I grew up and the one where we lived raising our kids. I didn't want to go by my childhood home – I thought it might be too run down and that would be depressing and my last few years there are lonely memories. I did see my dad's old wrought iron shop or where it was – there's a What A Burger there now. Barbara and Judy's house is also gone – the new Our Lady of Sorrows Church stands in its place. Both of Patty's young and old houses looked fabulous, LaVerne's old neighborhood is being revitalized and I almost didn't go by my Wisteria house but the girls insisted and I'm glad they did. The trees that we planted, oaks, mesquites and olive, are enormous.

The red tile roof was torn off and a new metal roof being installed –

new windows going in and paint samples on the brick and oh my gosh the courtyard gone but my little churches I put there almost 30 years ago were still on the wall all these years later.

Hanging askew under roof debris but still there. On an impulse I went up to the open door and this is what I saw.

The doctor who bought our house for his parents still owned it and since then his dad had died and his mother moved into a nursing home so he was updating everything and moving in. As I was getting all this info from the designer Judy came in and said "Can she have the churches?" What?!!! I would never have asked but the next thing I knew they were all loaded in the car and the lady give me a hug and said "God Bless". And I cried. I loved that house and the memories of our years there. I'm happy for it – happy it's being renewed. Happy the Amalguers had good times there and happy their son loves the house.

So my little churches that I left for Mrs. A are back with me – sort of my way of getting back home again.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault

xoxo Nancy

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. Ya'll have a great Thanksgiving – fill up on memories!

The Nutcracker 2011

2011-11-11T13:58:00.001-06:00

It's Nutcracker time! Here's a pic from last year of my niece

in her Waltz of the Flowers costume.

I was asked to decorate a point shoe for the silent auction fundraiser tea this year so used this costume for inspiration.

I covered the sole of the shoe with a vintage card image.

And sort of got the shape of the dress bodice..

I love the way the Martha Stewart glitter highlighted a few areas.

A tulle flower on the heel

And some vintage velvet curtain material for filling.

I didn't like the little petal held on with a vintage clip on earring so ultimately removed it and replace it with

a group picture from last year as a flower center. It's subtle and at first not even noticeable as a pic. a couple of leaf pins to hold the silk ties in place and it's done.

I hope it brings a good amount this year – the tea is Sunday so I'll let you know. Have a wonderful weekend. Stop by Beverly's How Sweet The Sound for a peek at all the Pink Saturday blogs. xoxo Nancy

Happy Homemaker Tags

2011-11-10T11:08:00.001-06:00

It's November and time to post my tags for the Happy Homemaker tagalong. I'm not sure if anyone else is still doing this but for me it became a personal challenge just to complete 2 sets of tags for twelve months! Here's what I've done for November and my theme is "Giving Thanks". I do thank Elizabeth at Bluebird Papercrafts for this fun idea that she came up with. She is about the most talented person in blogland in my book.

I used the same background and two different elements.

I still need to put words on this one.

and next month I'll have my entire set done!

xoxo Nancy

Pink Saturday - November

2011-11-04T08:13:00.001-05:00

Do you all do Pinterest? It's a completely constructive way to waste time. For Pink Saturday you can go take a look at my "Pink Board". This is one of my favorite artists on Etsy - The Wheatfield. This along with other fabulous pinks are on that board.

Did you guys get a whole bunch of candy on Halloween? We gave every kid who came to the door $5! Really – we did. Because we're sooo generous. Okay – the only kids who came were the little cuties next door to us. hahaha Lillie Louise and Iris were all dressed up with no place to go! They dressed up as Shetland Ponies so I have to show you a picture!

They were soooo cute!

Today is the last Raider football game and we're heading to West, Texas. West, Texas…not west Texas. We started the season at 115 sweltering degrees and Friday nights game should be about 75 degrees cooler. It's a couple hours away with lots of antique stores between here and there so I probably won't link up to Pink Saturday until…Saturday!

Go Cedar Ridge Raiders 7/1 – hope they make it 8/1! The fabulous Raider Band.

#52 getting ready to make the tackle wearing pink shoelaces for October.

If any of my criminal readers are planning on robbing my house while I'm gone tonight…don't – I have a dog sitter. Not that I'd need one with my two vicious dogs.

Good luck, Raiders

Have a wonderful and Pink Saturday and thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting.

xoxo Nancy

Halloween Past

2011-10-31T17:41:00.001-05:00

1969 Before you could go to Target or Walmart and buy fake tombstones we had to build our own. Look at that adorable boy – he's my 2 yr old!

We always made his costumes and he was so cute. Here he is with his great grandparents on my way ahead of its time toile couch!

Then he grew up and became a werewolf and then Frankenstein and passed the werewolf costume to

his little brother.

Here's my little monsters together.

Well, they grew up and each had a son. The two Brandons lived upstairs for a few years so I have tons of pictures of him….1996 - Tigger

1997 – He was Buzz Lightyear that year and I made a stuffed tigger looking out the window – he saw it and said "that's me".

1998 He was a cowboy

2001

a detective?

Creepy vampire

A pirate

2005 A punk rocker

2002 Then there's the little grandson – Q. He inherited a few costumes and of course I can't find my envelope with his pictures because I pulled them out 2 months ago to keep in a safe place and now I can't find them.

I feel so fortunate to have 2 sons and 2 grandsons…..considering I'm a nun!

Happy Halloween! xoxo Sister Nancy

31 Days Day 31!

2011-10-31T10:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween you Font Freaks! Considering I managed to do about 21 days out of 31 days I guess that sort of makes me a font failure but as The Nester says…"it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" or in my case it doesn't have to be perfect to be mediocre!

So I leave you with this one last link…What The Font?!## If you have a font you can't identify save a picture of it, post it there at What The Font? and eventually you'll get an answer from a fellow font freak identifying it.

Thank you to all who sat in on this class….you all get a 4.0!

31 Days – Day 30

2011-10-30T19:31:00.001-05:00

Well now at the end of this challenge I'm posting a link that would have been wonderful to know about on Day 1!!! But I only just found it and I'm still learning all about it but it is a wonderful free download that makes it a lot easier to see what each font looks like without opening a folder and trying to remember what and where to find the font you want to use.

C Font Pro and you download it here.

Try it! You'll like it!

Happy Pink Halloween From Fancy Nancy

2011-10-28T14:02:00.006-05:00

Last night I had bunco…I wasn't going to play but at the last minute a football game was cancelled so since the email said come dressed for Halloween I was ready with my witch costume – which was upstairs – which was in a tub which I couldn't get. Which husband promised to get it but didn't? ahem So I dressed as my idol – Fancy Nancy. Which webcam takes tiny pictures? My socks with bows and turquoise fancy shoes looked fabulous but I couldn't put my foot up on the bed or the computer on the floor but take my word for it they were fabulous!

I'm phobic lately about the camera and Not getting in pictures due to the camera adding like 10 or 50 lbs but what the heck it's Halloween! And which house has not one fall decoration out? And no lovely fall home tour pictures? Mine – so Happy Pink Saturday from Fancy Nancy – she loves to accessorize and she loves pink!
And for day 28 of the 31 Days Challenge here's something you can copy and make something with – a Dover Frame and some fancy fonts! Click on it to make it big - it's an 8 x 10 but will resize smaller.

or orange!

31 Days Day 26

2011-10-27T13:42:00.001-05:00

Okay – this is for you Mac users out there – both of you. haha – I know zero, zilch, nada about Mac computers but apparently it's different than installing fonts on windows. What ever your operating system is just type into your search engine "how do I install fonts on a mac?" and you'll find zillions of tutorials on how to do it. I just copied this one from ehow.

- 1
  
  Close any open applications. This will help to minimize the chances of an application "sticking" when you install the fonts.
- 2
  
  Open the disk or folder that contains the fonts you want to install.
- 3
  
  Select the font suitcases for those that you want to add to your machine. When adding PostScript Type 1 fonts, also select the printer outline files.
- 4
  
  Drag and drop the selected fonts into the Fonts folder which is in the Library folder.
- 5
  
  Return to your application to use one of your new fonts.

I looked for programs like Scrapbook Factory for Macs but couldn't find anything so if you use one that's good share it with us. There is some sort of windows conversion for Mac that you can install to run windows for certain programs and then you would have the best of both worlds or not!

31 Days – day 25

2011-10-25T08:03:00.001-05:00

What possessed me to attempt to join this challenge? I'm having blogger's regret! Posting something everyday for 31 days is far beyond my blogging ability but I'm limping along on the home stretch anyway!

Here's an invitation I made for a birthday party for a special girl, Isaiah.

I used an image from an old magazine cover. This is how it started.

The kids bowling in costumes were about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Who knew princesses had such bowling form?!!!

31 Days – day 23

2011-10-23T09:32:00.001-05:00

Okay kids….it's time for a….

Do you know why capital letters are called uppercase and small letters are referred to as lowercase?

Well – before computers (yes there was a time when we had no computers) there dwelled typesetters. They had trays of letters that were put in order to form the words to be printed. Lots and lots of letters. They couldn't just throw them all in a big box and search and search so they stacked them in cases and stored them on a shelf. The capital letters were shelved in the top case or upper case on the shelf and the small letters in the lower case. Get it? Uppercase. Lowercase.

It really wasn't fair to throw a pop quiz at you soo…..you all get an…

Have a wonderful Sunday. xo Nancy

Pink Dingbats

2011-10-21T13:21:00.001-05:00

Hey – did you think I was talking about us? Pink Saturday people? Nooo – although there are a few Pink Dingbats among us – including yours truly! No this is the font/dingbat I'm talking about – Sexy Rexy Smitten! You can download it here and then copy the key below. They are just too cute for words!

Sexy Rexy Smitten

Any questions? Okay – I'll take a couple!

What is a dingbat?

A dingbat is the name given to a font which has pictures rather than the letters usually associated with the word font. There are many dingbat fonts available to choose from.

What is the difference between dingbats and wingdings?

Wingdings are the Windows version of dingbats.

And here is a coded message just for you!

Have fun with all this my fellow Pink Dingbats!

31 Days – Day 19

2011-10-20T16:19:00.001-05:00

Trick or Treat 2 Font

I can tell you how I download fonts but I think it's probably different for each version of windows and for a Mac I have no idea. Anyway…

1. Download the font by clicking "download"

2. It will go into your downloads folder as a "zip" file

3. Unzip!

4. Go to your "Fonts" folder

5. Under "file" choose "add new font"

6. A new window will open – locate the font you downloaded and click add

7. Highlight and click install and it should show up in your fonts

Happy Homemaker Tag Along

2011-10-18T19:08:00.001-05:00

The leaves of brown came tumbling down….so go the lyrics to September in the Rain and even though we had not one drop I decided to use the song anyway for my September tags. Elizabeth started this tag-along last January and I've been on time every month until September when two of my friends daughters got married.

I did some hand lettering on this. I thought I'd try a tag without the printing and stickers. I used marker to color in the white tag and some "leafy" ribbon.

As you can see I messed up the printing on the white tag so I'll be keeping that one.

October threw a party and we got rain! The first we've had in 5 months so it was something to celebrate. So many of our trees have died it looks like New England with the oranges and golds. Sadly though, they have died from lack of water.

Don't you love this little poem? October Gave A Party. I used some chipboard flourishes that I'd salvaged from another project and some Dresden foil leaves and flowers. I printed the poem and pumpkin together and printed "October" on brown heavy cardstock.

I'm so glad to get caught up on my tags.

Only two more months to go! This has been such a fun project this year.

If the link is still up I'm heading over to Elizabeth's Bluebird Papercrafts to post my tags and see everyone else's. Happy Fall!

31 Days – Day 18

2011-10-18T08:29:00.001-05:00

Despite my terrible phone photos, this was a great use of fonts.

Designed by my bff Barbara, and made by my godson Nick it made a perfect shower gift. The letters are cut out and burnished onto an old window.

Advice to the newlyweds with a place for their picture. This looked wonderful at the wedding reception. Just for the evening it was backed with paper to make it easier to read at night.

I think they should offer these on Etsy. I could think of a million things to put on here.

I've fallen down on the job of getting my posts up for 31 days. Tomorrow I'll put up a link for some Halloween fonts. :)

Pink Saturday - Pink Heals

2011-10-14T10:13:00.001-05:00

Guardians of The Ribbon, dressed in pink fire suits, will drive pink fire trucks across the country every year to spread an awareness campaign supporting all women in their fight against cancer.

The Guardians bring the tour to help raise money and awareness for the non-profit entities that help women in their City and State. In addition, this non-profit supports and helps other non-profit programs raise money by bringing the pink fire trucks to various fund raisers to assist in the efforts at no charge to the organization.

As Guardians of The Ribbon, the goal is to spread the “Cares Enough to Wear Pink” campaign until all are in pink shirts. Why? Because Pink Heals!

These men honor those who can no longer fight, stand with those who can fight and inspire those who watch.

Thanks to my good friend, Judy, who took these pictures for me. What a perfect way to call attention to the fight against breast cancer…

and how perfect this is for an October Saturday. Pink Heals…but then we already knew that, didn't we?

Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting Pink Saturday.

xoxo Nancy

31 Days Day 14

2011-10-13T19:55:00.000-05:00

Here is a fabulous graphic font called…what else? Old Car – download here at DaFont. Save the key or you'll never figure out what is what.

Just about every other key is the filling station man at your service.

31 Days - Day 12

2011-10-12T18:05:00.001-05:00

Words to live by:

Graphics + fonts! Combine them and you could write a book. This is an illustration by Marie Angel, from An Animated Alphabet.

31 Days Day 11

2011-10-11T10:01:00.001-05:00

o you know how to put one of these fabulous beginning letters in a paragraph? There's a really fun place you can go and all you have to do is copy the code of the letter you want to use. It's called:

aily Drop Cap. She has over 10 alphabets and it's as simple as going into html mode on your blog and replacing the first letter of your paragraph with a code you copy and paste.

ave

un! Daily Drop Cap – just follow her directions!

31 Days Day 9

2011-10-10T00:06:00.001-05:00

I'm hosting a luncheon today for some friends. I think I made good use of my fonts, don't you?!!! The lady graphic is from The Vintage Workshop (I think) and the clip art I found by searching for free wedding clip art.

I had to change some names to protect the innocent!

Have a wonderful and blessed day. xoxo Nancy

31 Days Day 7

2011-10-07T13:28:00.001-05:00

and Day 7 of 31 days of Fonts and Graphics! You can read all about that here!

The above font and graphic is a font called "Pffft" and you can download it here at Fontspace. It's prettier in pink….don't you agree? I absolutely love the girl – she is the capital # key and the heart is capital $ key.

Have a wonderful Saturday and don't forget to root for the Longhorns!

Go here to join in Pink Saturday and here to read about the 31 Days Challenge and here to read about my 31days. Hook 'em xo LonghornNan

31 Days Day 6

2011-10-05T21:25:00.001-05:00

Are you a Mary Engelbreit fan? Me, too! And don't you just love her font that she uses most of the time. I tried to find it online and guess what? It costs a lot of $$$$!

So here are some freebies that are very similar.

Speedball # 2 on Font Space

Grouser on 1001 Fonts

I love both of these fonts. Enjoy!

31 Days Day 5

2011-10-05T16:22:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite places to find free images is The Graphics Fairy. She has wonderful images on her blog. You do have a library of graphics and images don't you?

This little pumpkin on a pedestal was made with images from The Graphics Fairy. If you haven't been there go check it out – it's a fabulous place for vintage images.

The initials on the pinwheel are from Jenny B. Allsorts. She used to have the whole alphabet on her sidebar but I don't see it there now although it wouldn't hurt to ask :)

And the background for the poem is from a photo sharing group I belong to on Flickr - "Collage Images Not For Posting Art". (That's the name of the group) These are favors I made for a little Halloween party.

See you tomorrow ;) Nancy

31 Days - Day 4

2011-10-04T18:47:00.001-05:00

If you are a whiz at Photoshop you probably won't need this information but if like me you haven't yet mastered that my recommendation for a good program would be Scrapbook Factory. I've never made a scrapbook page on it and rarely have used their templates but it is amazing the things you can do with it. I make blog headers on here and combined with another free program I'm able to do most of the things I need. Recently I've designed some really neat monograms for wedding programs and made some cute invitations.

With these elements and the letter "C" I was able to make

this

and use it to make a program cover, gift tags and a lot of other things.

The leaf swag was a freebie from Dover. I'll get a list together of places for free graphics. Hasta manana!

Nancy

31 Days #3

2011-10-02T19:55:00.001-05:00

This is basically the six groups of fonts out there (with the name of the font I used in parentheses) and of these six there are jillions.

Just click here and look through and download a couple that you don't have. Just bookmark the page to reference the collection when you are looking for something specific.

Or you could pay $14.99 and get them all – your choice! I personally like free!

Serif and Sans Serif Font

2011-10-02T17:49:00.001-05:00

Day 2

How many times have you read those words when looking at fonts? Do you have any idea of what that means? You do? No way. I didn't until I actually researched it!

"Out of all the fonts that we have to choose from on a regular basis, did you know that most of them can be broken down into two general categories. Those categories are “Serif” and “Sans-serif,” and the difference between the two is very simple: One has decorative “feet” while the other doesn’t."

Which one is which? Well, “sans” is a French word that means without, so “sans-serif” means without the curls or small appendixes (feet) that we find at the end of each letter. The image below will show this for you:

Notice the “feet” on the serif font? In general the thinking is that Serif fonts make it easier for a reader’s eye to follow the text, particularly when the font needs to be small like in a magazine, newspaper, or book. It is said to draw the eye across the page much easier. So when are Sans-serif fonts used? Most websites use a sans-serif font because it’s generally easier to read these fonts on a screen. I've tried a few different fonts on this blog but my favorite is Papyrus.

Newspaper headlines are usually sans-serif and stories are normally serif. But then most anyone reading this probably gets their news online now.

So….are you totally bored to death now? I need to rethink the rest of this month through to make it a teensy bit more interesting!

(This is Gigi font)

(This font is Daffodowndilly NF)

Notice feet has no feet – just like the French to disregard their own rules!

Adieu! Nanceeeey

My New Phone

2011-10-01T10:03:00.001-05:00

Late, yet again, to Beverly's Pink Saturday. All because….

I got a new phone. Yep…I traded in my bag phone for an Android. What? You don't know what a bag phone is? That was my first cellular phone back in the '80s!

(holy cow I just googled this picture and they sell for $600 on amazon! Who's going to search for the old bag phone) You could be in the middle of Timbuk2 and it would still have perfect reception.

Okay maybe I've had a few since then and the plan is a little better than the original $1 a minute plan I had! Really – I was only allowed to use it if I was in a horrible accident with every bone in my body broken AND there was no payphone nearby!

So I bought a new Android and I've learned how to make a call and tomorrow I'll learn how to hang up! haha I've been looking at apps and I think if I put one of these themes on the phone it would be much less stressful than the preinstalled one!

I've got my eye on a few apps too – Garage Sale Finder for sure. Uh – this one – I don't think so! Who knew a period could be so fascinating and I don't mean the punctuation one!

I could really use a "Where did I leave my fill in the blank app. The car in a mall parking lot, of course, but a microchip attached to my computer glasses would be even more helpful. I already did "Words with Friends" as I'm a Scrabble addict. Can IPhone's and Androids play games together? I'd really love to whomp my son in a game of anything.

So what apps should I get? I've already seen a whole bunch I want! xoxo Nancy

31 Days to Nester's 31 Days Challenge

2011-10-01T09:03:00.001-05:00

A 31 day commitment? That's what I'm doing for October - posting each day with some sort of information or example of different fonts or graphics and how using one of the many different forms can invoke a feeling or glimpse into what sort of event you're planning.

I'm not an expert by any means on this subject but over the next 31, now 30, days I plan to learn a lot more. The Nester has thrown out this challenge to post on one subject for 31 days and there's nothing like a challenge to prompt me to figure something out. Fonts, like dishes, are something that you just can't have too many and I'll be sharing some fun fonts with you and some info on how to add new ones to your font library.

So each day in October I'll be posting something to do with fonts, graphics or invitations….at least that's the plan!

Day: 2. Serif and sans-serif Day 3: Free Fonts

Cedar Ridge Homecoming

2011-09-23T14:50:00.001-05:00

Last night was my grandson's schools homecoming game and I really, really, really wanted to show you pictures of some of the most bizarre "corsages" you've ever seen….Texas High Schools Homecoming Mums! So what did I do? Forgot my camera which means I'm going to hijack some pictures off the internet!

First up I'll show you what girls in my class wore for homecoming mums. A nice large real chrysanthemum with purple and gold streamers and if you wanted to be showy maybe a pipecleaner "M" in the middle of it. (What gives with the rainbonnets 1965 girls?)

Fast forward to the new millennium. This ain't your daddy's mum – ( that is if your daddy wore a mum which he didn't because he's a manly man)

Yes – that is a disco ball and feather boas in that mum. Go Mustangs…go bears…go tigers…go to the chiropractor after wearing one of these babies!

So anyway last Saturday my grandson and I made a mum for his date. Here's the base. We made our own because this stage to get you started at Hobby Lobby was $27! Since I had a ton of the ribbon already we only spent $39!!!!

Lots of staples and lots of glue – now you know where this glue got its name!

Add three big mums

Then start blinging it out. Yes – every drawer basket box sack was open in my craftroom and it still needed….more!

So of course when it was done later that night my flash wouldn't work and I have no good pics of m 4 ft masterpiece :(

Are you in awe of my mum making skills? Okay – maybe not – and there's no boa or teddy bear in there because I have standards – well…..sort of.

and guess what? The dudes wear a "garter" on their sleeves.

So what do you think my Pink Saturday buddies? How about a pink mum? That's upping the ante, huh? (yeah, right – what school chooses pink and white as their color??? Go Pink – Go White - Go Kitties – not gonna happen.)

Anyway I've got next years mum on the drawing board.

6000 yards of ribbon etc. So if you think of what else should be on there leave me a note and if there's not enough room in the message leave it over at Beverly's How Sweet The Sound. xoxo Nancy

When I'm 64

2011-09-16T14:56:00.001-05:00

When I get older dying my hair,
Just two days from now,
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine?

If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still read me,
When I'm sixty-four?

oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oooo
You'll be older too, (ah ah ah ah ah)
And if you say the word,
I could stay with you.

I could be handy writing a post
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride.

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still read me,
When I'm sixty-four?

Every summer we can garage sale
In the light of dawn, if it's not too far
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on our knee
Bloggers one, two, three

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view.
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, Wasting Away. (well not really – you know – the pink cupcakes and all!)

Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still read me,
When I'm sixty-four?

So can you guess how old I'll be on my birthday Sunday?

So will you still read me, will I be blogging, will I still d0 Pink Saturday…when I'm 64?

xoxo Nancy

Little Maids All In A Row

2011-09-08T21:18:00.001-05:00

My tag for Elizabeth's Happy Homemaker Tagalong isn't done yet so I'll share the little gift boxes I made for some little surprise gifts for the bride to give to her little nieces.

They are those flimsy little 12 for $1.00 boxes from Dollar Tree but they look so cute when gussied up a little!

And wrappings for the bride's two sisters – just because they're pretty….and have some Pink!

Happy Pink Saturday and thanks to Beverly for hosting

and to Cindy at My Romantic Home hosting Show and Tell Friday.

xoxo Nancy

WWYT What Would You Take?

2011-09-06T12:47:00.001-05:00

First of all – everyone needs to pray for rain for Texas, please…. or send some positive rain vibes or whatever you do. There are fires burning everywhere here.

Backing up to Sunday when we came home from church this is what we saw.

Fire trucks everywhere, command center in the middle of the street and the land across the street from us on fire! At first as we drove through the barricade we thought it was our house and I knew the only really important thing was to get the girls, Lillie and Iris, out. This foam they kept spraying after the fire was out.

But it wasn't our house and the wind, which was about 4o mph was blowing away from our house as the temperature climbed to 105. It went on to spread to 20 more acres and was then contained. And that quickly became one of the lesser fires. All day long sirens blared as fires started popping up everywhere. I know this picture looks like my house is a hovel and sometimes it is – haha – but there was a time when it was green and blooming. Because of the hottest summer ever recorded and the most severe drought in half a century our yard and plants are gone. We just couldn't seem to water enough and then came the time when doing so was a waste.

Then I saw this where it shows the first fire started on our side lot –

nope it was across the street so the EndofDays-er blogger who put my address as ground zero for fires of hell or whatever should meet the rest of the endofdaysers across the street. Laughing….sort of.

Anyway – with all that done and sitting all cozy in my hovel I decided to pack a few things to grab and go. With the dogs in the car…some of the things on my list (actually in a laundry basket) – computer…it has tons of my family pictures and lots of info we'd need for insurance, etc.and easier to take than that stuff, birth certificate and ss cards, some jewelry – only gold or silver unless it's sentimental, and some prescriptions that cost more than gold and silver. Then for me a few clean clothes, and the programs and wrapped gifts I did for my niece's wedding even though I was scoffed at for wanting to put them in the car just in case!!!

And even though the wedding is at a resort

a few miles from the worst fire in Texas –

Bastrop County – it will go forth somewhere because I'm happy to say it's more about the marriage than the wedding!

Many people have lost their homes – over 600 – and the worst fires are still zero containment. So, here it is my favorite day of the year – this beautiful September day when the first cool front has arrived these fires are still raging.

I'm keeping all those displaced people and the firemen in my prayers.

(pictures from Facebook)

Now… what 5 things would you take if you only had 10 minutes?

xoxo Nancy

PS – I forgot…phones and chargers for all the electronic crap! My basket just got heavier!

PSS I'm joining Sue @ It's A Very Cherry World today for Rednesday after realizing I have a big red firetruck to show!

Pink less Saturday

2011-09-02T23:36:00.001-05:00

Hello Bloggy friends. I am totally bloggyless today! This week has been so busy. I've been taking pictures for an upcoming estate sale for my friend Pat of Estate Sales by Pat. If you're in the Austin area it starts next Thursday and her prices are fabulous. Check it out here! She has some gorgeous quilts and linens.

Tonight I went to the new Pflugerville auction and got a huge and I mean huge box of crochet doilies etc for $5.00!!!! I never win stuff like that but no one else was interested. Yay! So I'm making lampshades with them. And I have a million little projects going because this adorable girl, our niece…

is getting married next week. How did that happen – she grew up overnight because wasn't 1986 just a couple of years ago??? And guess what her colors are???

Did you guess Pink? WRoNG! It's teal. A shade of my favorite color – turquoise. And as you know I'm daughterless so I love the chance to offer my helpyness to her mother, my bff. She's my niece even though her mother is not really my sister but isn't it wonderful that sometimes you do get to pick your own family!!! And I had a really elegant black dress picked out to wear to the wedding and then somehow opted instead to buy a pink/purple sundress that looks like a migrane with a hot pink shrug! I've been around you guys too long!!! haha. So that's next weekend and I'm just so excited that she's getting married.

And by the way – Happy September! Even though it's still in the 100s it's September and there is totally a chance that a cool front could blow in. It's not in the forecast but there is a chance and as long as it was August it was more like a fat chance!

So now I'm heading over to put my link up on Beverly's Pink Saturday and could I be later? Oh well….better late than never, right? Have a wonderful laborless Labor Day weekend.

xoxo Nancy

Barbie Cars

2011-08-26T19:47:00.001-05:00

Last night was the first game of the season for my grandson's Cedar Ridge Raiders so if purple were pink I'd be set. He played a fabulous game and fortunately for you all my camera died and I only got this one shot! But unfortunately for you guys I saw a pink Barbie car at the game and my camera was dead! Seriously – it was fabulous and I figured if I googled it someone would have a picture.

I found this picture here and swiped it. Oooh – there are some serious Barbie Hummer Haters there on that site. Haha - the car guys are seriously upset that this macho Hummer went pink!

And recently I saw this - uh – art car? Too funny – and I was able to get one lousy picture with my phone! It was covered with Barbies and toys…..

only in Austin!

Happy Pink Saturday. Thank you Beverly!

xoxo Nancy

Cupcake Love

2011-08-19T14:16:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday as I was dreading/preparing to make cupcakes for LaVerne 's (Riverside Studios) party look what arrived out of the blue? Actually out of the pink!!! came this package from my best friend I've never met…Dana of The Stone Rabbit.

Dana, for those of you who have been on a desert island for the past few years, is that famous blogger from Missouri. What you probably don't know about Dana is that Dana is a psychic. I KNOW! She had no idea that I would be baking cupcakes – heating up the kitchen when it's already 105 outside – yet she timed this package to arrive just in the nick of time! This allowed me to have a total "cold" meal. Tuna salad stuffed tomatoes and pasta salad. One of my friends has decided late in life that she is a vegetarian. Really – try to wrap your head around that – she might as well have changed her gender preferences which wouldn't have involved menu changes. haha But I digress – instead of our usual party chicken salad we had tuna! Isn't this the cutest cupcake arrangement 5 pinks and fill in with chocolate.

So…on Sunday we went to see The Help. It is so good - the clothes and hair and furniture is spot on and then came back to celebrate LaVerne's birthday. She tried and tried to blow that candle out.

See? She's still trying. Whose husband conserves digital pictures like they're Ektachrome film. We're in our 60's – meaning you need to take at least 10 of the same shot on the off chance you might get a decent shot of everyone.

So that's it for today. Happy, happy birthday Dear LaVerne and thank you, thank you Dana for these nobake delicious pink cupcakes. And warning to Jeff – if you eat one more pink cupcake you will turn into a girl – the last three are reserved for their intended purpose – stress eating – which I am right now – stressed! Really stressed but I've got the solution for that!

xoxo Nancy

Now go see Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday without whom I'd have never met people like Dana and the rest of you fabulous bloggers!

Pink Saturday and Design Gives Back

2011-08-11T19:41:00.001-05:00

oday is the day that Pink Saturday bloggers are joining Kelee Katillac's Miracle Makeover. As I understand it….

well – let's start at the beginning of this story.

There once was a cute little house. It needed something more even though it was cute.

A few flowers and some paint help a lot…

Add a sky and some bluebirds and this house is getting much more "curb appeal".

As fine a house as it is some big puffy white clouds and ivy climbing up the house makes it an even more pleasant place. But do you know what makes a house really wonderful? Yes, you guessed it…

Children! Isn't this a much, much happier picture? In this house there lives a mom and dad, a big sister and two little brothers and nearby a nice grandma. But alas, there are some troubles plaguing this little family. Sadly, one of the little brothers is sick. His mom and dad and sister and brother all pitch in and do everything they can to help him but they can only do so much. Just as you saw above how a little decorating and color makes for a happier place outside…this family needs some help sprucing up the inside!!!! Yikes…. out of the way kids…..

Here comes Kelee Katillac and her designing crew to the decorating rescue!

And this is where this story really begins!

It's about a little boy who is probably a lot like your son, grandson or nephew; he loves cars, trucks and trains. Charlie enjoys riding his bicycle, too. But, he is different than most eight year-olds in two ways: he has brain tumors and he leads a toy drive to help kids in chemotherapy to have happier holidays. "Charlie Santa" was founded by our hero when he was just five and in his first round of chemo. This is one of the reasons he was chosen to be an ambassador for kids with Neurofibromatosis Type1, and a recipient of a Miracle Makeover.... here is a little about Charlie and his family.... Just by visiting this internet-wide party the week of August 12-18 and leaving comments you will help raise more money for another MiracleMakeover for someone in-need.

Here are some details for you:

There will be many places for folks to help earn donations by JOINING - Commenting - Like ' ing - Or Posting
Here is how it works in 4 WAYS:

1) Comments: Comments at any of the host blogs earn $1 each

Pink Saturday @ at How Sweet the Sound/ Beverly

Spiritual Sunday @ Spiritual Sunday /Charlotte & Ginger

Country Wings in Phoenix @ Country Wings in Phoenix/Sherry

Metamorphosis Monday comments on Monday Only

2) Joining Google Friend Connect: We are creating our volunteer blogger roster of the future thru Google Friend Connect it will be up on Wednesday.
We will Donate $1 for each person that joins Design Gives Back Google Friend Connect PLEASE come by Wednesday and be the first to connect! :):)

3) Facebook: "Liking" Design Gives Back/ or Guideposts Facebook earns .50 each/ donation from us comments earn $1

4) Anyone that does a post with something positive, uplifting, spiritual or miraculous and a link to the video or embedded video and link to us will earn a $5 donation from us to the charities!!! ----They must email us the link to their post.--- info@miraclemakeover.org

You're still HERE??????? Why why why??? You could be helping this wonderful cause not to mention there are prizes you might win!

Head over to Design Gives Back for more information and inspiration. Watch the video - the goal is 5,000 comments.

Sending a hug and a prayer to Charlie!!! xoxo Nancy

Tagging Along With Pink Saturday

2011-08-04T20:25:00.001-05:00

his year I've been tagging along with Elizabeth's Happy Homemaker group. I'm making two tags each month. One for me and one for my partner Scrap For Joy. My theme is a Year of Celebrations and for the month of August I'm celebrating PINK! Perfect for Beverly's Pink Saturday. Since August is about to be the end of me because of this Summer from Hell. I had this

Bright Idea!!!

I decided to send some cooling positive pink vibrations to August. I live in Austin and we send positive energy all over the place so why not see if it can bring us some cool vibrations.

The pinkest thing I could think of is Pink Flamingos. As if they aren't flashy enough I've added a little bling to these girly flamingos. These fancy flamingo girls are just full of pink girly messages. Just between you and me I'm thinking…

Right Pink Sistahs???? Pink is all about Girl Power!!! (With EXCEPTIONS of course! ahem)

I figure you can't have too much

and because I'm ….

I decided to do something different and cut my tag out of a transparent binder!

The thing about pink is – it's almost a neutral. It looks good with soo many other colors. Pink and red, pink and brown, and my absolute favorite color turquoise looks even more fab with pink.

It's not just a color – it's an attitude, a mood and most of all it's fun and girly. Because of Beverly's Pink Saturday I have met some of the coolest gals in Blogland. So Put a little Pink in your life and…

Look at those l.e.g.s…..

So do you want to see my legs????????NoNONOO…How about my tags????

Isn't she a happy pink Word Bird?

Oops…come back here girl. Always preening – she must be looking for her high heels.

Thanks for "Tagging Along" for Pink Saturday.

My good friend LaVerne is being featured for Pink Saturday – so head on over to Beverly's How Sweet The Sound. Way to go LaVerne…… take a bow girlfriend!!!

Austin Weather

2011-08-01T11:23:00.001-05:00

J U S T Shoot ME! Rainfall? What's that? A total of 7 and a fraction inches of rain… for the year.

So ready for fall and the chance, however small, for cooler weather.

Sooooo – on a different note – what's your weather like????

DDT Is Good For Me

2011-07-27T10:55:00.001-05:00

Better living with chemicals. haha…

While at a backyard party at my friend Patty's house the uninvited mosquitoes showed up. I mentioned to her neighbor from "up north" as we say in Texas (which means almost any state north of the Mason Dixon Line) boy do we need the ddt truck to come by. I was just kidding but explained that as a kid they used to "fog" our neighborhoods with ddt. "Oh no, Nancy - that couldn't possibly be true –that's a deadly chemical" -which made me question it myself. Just then an old friend from McAllen walked by and I grabbed him to see if he remembered it. "DDT" he said and his face lit up - "we used to run behind the fogger". And sure enough we did. The truck pulling the fogger was as exciting as the ice cream truck and by the end of the block a host of kids ran behind it bathing themselves in the cool mist. A relief to our parents in a time of polio, encephalitis, typhus and malaria that our kids and the food they ate were just a little safer. . I googled it…and the above picture came up. You can find anything anymore – seriously! So taking it a step further I typed "kids chasing the ddt truck". And there we were…'50s kids bathed in DDT! To make a long story short – like that's possible at this point – this image popped up.

It's from a movie "The Tree of Life" and clicking on the trailer I watched the preview and it looks sooo good. Has anyone seen it? Brad Pitt plays the dad and Sean Penn the little '50s kid as a grown man. I can't wait to see this movie. Anyway I saw that it was filmed in nearby Smithville. Googling that took me to Smithville houses for sale.

Ack! I love this house – and then I took the virtual tour. Look…

Pink – they painted it pink.

I am soooo moving there and living in that house…or maybe not. Just maybe I'll buy this store and live….

above my antique store!

I could be happy here. Who cares about the stairs when you have your own…

elevator.

Sigh…I want to move to Smithville – and live in a pink house or above a store….and chase the ddt truck!

So my question is:

Did you ever chase the ddt truck?

Do you want to move to Smithville?

Do you obsessively google?

Do you visit Beverly and other Pink Saturday blogs?

If you answered yes to all the above…we're soul mates. See you in Smithville!

The Kindly Kennel Klub

2011-07-22T13:44:00.001-05:00

Oh good gosh…could it be any hotter? Yesterday the temp sign at the Dairy Queen was blinking 111 degrees!!! It's beyond ridiculous how miserably hot it is. Our good friends/former neighbors came for a visit and we went out for a short while and then decided it was just too hot to be getting in and out of the car which was about 160 degrees so…we headed home. Home – where there's a/c, cool drinks and lots of dogs!

Buster the weiner dog found the perfect spot…Buster and his mom thought it was a wee bit cool in our house. Today our friends Mel and Tracy headed for the river and Schlitterbaun to cool off for a couple of days floating the Comal. While I know they're expecting this…I'm afraid it may look more like…..

this!!!!!!!!!! Now I know why they closed the Comal last weekend!

Anyway, and might I say wisely, Buster stayed behind … he tucked into his favorite spot. Me into mine!

So on this hot July day I'm staying inside surrounding myself with dogs, Pink and lots of cool things. A little blogging, a little nap and in between reading on my Kindle and skyping with my son. I've only had the Kindle for a few weeks and I absolutely love it.

I've read about 4 books since I got it and that's more than the past two years! Right now I'm reading Stealing Faces – a 99cent book that is really, really good. Jean Auel's last Cave Bear book was finished off in no time flat without my neck going out from reading the 10 lb book in bed and Stephen King's last book of four novella's was one of his best books I've read in a long time. I love the fact that you can download and read the first chapter of a book for free to decide if you want to buy it or not. I also cleared the clutter off the table in my craft/dining room and guess what?

You can actually use the table for dinner!!! That hasn't happened in awhile! ( No – I wasn't having a Mardi Gras party – just wanted to try these bakery cookies – they tasted about the same as they looked! blech!)

Look at the girls….Lillie couldn't even look when she saw Buster the Weiner dog – she thought he'd had a tragic accident and lost his legs and Iris the Shame Based Sheltie was looking innocently Guilty. Do you know why?

Well – when sitting down to Jeff's beautifully plated dinner, Tracy, sounding much like Baby Bear of Goldilock's fame, asked "Who's been eating my dinner?" A half eaten chicken salad? Iris is my # 1 suspect although it could have been Buster.

I definitely need to keep a closer eye on my little wards here at The Kindly Kennel Klub.

Hope you are all staying cool on this Pink Saturday. Beverly at How Sweet The Sound hosts each week come rain or shine – even though all we've had this year is shine and shine. Anyone out there with too much rain? or cool weather? Send it our way – c/o The Kindly Kennel/Kindle Klub. xoxo Nancy

43 Things Tags: File under: Dorky Dog Hoarder

Pink Flamingos

2011-07-15T13:40:00.001-05:00

One of my all time favorite pictures….of my grandson…15 years ago.

Of course it involves PINK!!!

Happy Pink Saturday!!!

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

2011-07-07T22:48:00.001-05:00

This is the booth next to our booth The Roost. Gosh – the stove is so cool by itself but what I just fell in love with are the two things on top.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like the skillet and covered casserole on the burners…no wonder things food was so tasty in the fifties. It was cooked by Happy Homemakers in pink! First mixed up in a pretty pink mixer.

I'm sure little munchkins were keeping their cute selves entertained on a pink tricycle just like this one.

On another note my grandson, Q, is playing in the national championship baseball tournament this weekend. So in keeping with that for July I'm celebrating Baseball – our national pastime- for Elizabeth's Happy Homemaker year long tagalong.

I used some vintage images and stitched it all on the sewing machine.

Using the Title Words from the sheet music for the song we all know and love I stitched them down the side. On my tag I tucked a little picture of my grandson showing off his state championship ring.

and on the other a copy of an old baseball card.

Here's the back of the card

That's a hand fan that they are resting on. Tomorrow night is the opening ceremonies at the Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express.

I hope I can survive the heat! Keeping my fingers crossed for The Action Baseball Team. Good luck guys.

xoxo Nancy

I'm joining:

Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

and Elizabeth at Creative Breathing for our Happy Homemaker TagAlong. This has been moved back to Elizabeth's blog and I'm glad because there are always fabulous things to see that Elizabeth makes.

Thank you ladies for hosting these fun events!

And Justice For All

2011-06-30T22:29:00.001-05:00

I haven't gotten much done this week but I did make this. An old lampshade frame I covered with seam binding and then sewed together crocheted doilies to cover it.

This made me feel a bit more productive than just sitting in front of the television since I could work on it while watching television.

And I realize that it's not pink and there's no red and blue to go with the white for a red white and blue Pink Saturday so I'm posting about our court/justice/legal system this week.

I'm fessing up right now – I've been watching the Casey Anthony trial all week. It's sort of like a wreck you pass by – you don't want to look but you can't keep your eyes away. Maybe you haven't heard about this trial. Perhaps you have been shipwrecked on a deserted island. What could have been a complete circus was held mostly in check by this man – Judge Belvin Perry. He's a great American in my book. Here's a bio about him and it's really interesting reading.

And he doesn't suffer fools…...

Just ask the idiot who decided to give the prosecutor the "finger" on the sly in the courtroom today. Talk about swift justice. He was immediately brought before the judge, sentenced to 6 days in the OC Jail and fined $420 plus $200 court costs…and I'm sure he needs a new pair of undies as he was so terrified he could barely speak. He's appealing – go figure that. Actions have consequences. He respects all members of the court and expects you to do the same. It also seems "expert" witnesses can be bought. And some shouldn't be bought - "Grief" expert Dr. Sally who the defense felt should instruct the jury on how to deal with "grief" since the jury may have never experienced "grief".

Anyway I learned a lot about the legal system this week and am amazed to find that everything is public. All court documents, charges, taped jail conversations, personal letters etc are made available for anyone to view online.

And my heart just breaks for a little girl who seemed to be adored by her family yet somehow ended up dead and thrown away like garbage at the hands of her mother.

I hope she gets justice.

Thank you Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for hosting Pink Saturday.

Off my soapbox now. xoxo Nancy

The Lost Pines Kennel Club

2011-06-24T15:02:00.001-05:00

Uh oh – I can't remember if I've ever shown you pictures of this or not! I'm going on the assumption that you probably don't remember either so I'll proceed. Any objections? You may continue. I mean I may continue… Three guesses as to what I've been doing the past few days. Good lord – the testimony seems to be getting in the way of the sidebars. Anyway…. Here it is time for Pink Saturday and I'm scrounging around for something Pink.

This is a box I made for my friend Judy for her birthday back in April. I've developed an interest – ahem - (obsession) with figurines from the 50s that were made in Japan. So for my yaya buds April birthdays they all got figurines!

I covered an old Frost Bros box with soft blue '40s wallpaper and vintage dictionary pages. An old prize ribbon floret was the perfect embellishment.

I was going to replace the ribbon part with a different one

but I decided to leave it because nestled inside was this sweet little figurine.

A little pup who looked so much like Judy's sweet old Bailey who died last year.

Bailey, Big Lilly, and Spanky – three old dog friends belonging to three old girlfriends. They were all so darling together. First Bailey died, a year later my first Lilly died and just a few weeks ago Barbara's Spanky who I absolutely adored - died. She was a little Yorkie so full of vim and vigor who seemed to have nine lives. At almost 15 years old she quietly slipped away… blind, mostly deaf and on her own terms.

Spanky used to come stay with us on a regular basis – we all just adored her and she's missed – a whole lot. Isn't it wonderful how our pets bring so much love to our lives.

Stop by to visit Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. Thanks for letting me have a little doggie remembrance today. xoxo Nancy

Baseball Champions!

2011-06-16T22:38:00.001-05:00

It's no secret – I'm not a baseball fan but my grandson, Quentin, plays and he's good…really good. Isn't it amazing how a grandkid in the game makes it so much more interesting? I just wish they played in an air conditioned gym!

Earlier this month they played in the State Championship for his age group. Here he is at bat. He's about the smallest guy on the team and the opposing team makes a bad mistake - they underestimate him.

He can play all positions but mostly he's the catcher.

This was the first game of the series they won.

During the first game some of us…like this good looking kid, ahem…..just kick back and enjoy the game.

Me? I watch the game in the blazing heat – oh my gosh – it's so hot here thinking "oh my gosh it's hot it's hot it's hot". Our 15th day over 100 degrees. And then some like this guy are multi taskers. His bike was on some lift-a-ma-jig allowing him to watch the game while spinning…and texting ….visiting with the lady in the pink chair and drinking a cup of coffee. Holy cow that's getting it done!

The Action team went on to win another game that day and the next day two more….and then they played the final game and guess what???

They are the State Champions!!!

So in July they play for the National Championship and lucky for us it's right here in Round Rock, Texas this year. I'll keep you posted!!!

Is there anything better than a grandkid ? Yes!!! Two grandkids!

This is my post for Beverly's Pink Saturday so thank goodness for that lady in the pink chair! Last weekend we spent the whole time helping my son move so I had no time to visit you guys. I'm really hoping to make the rounds this week. xoxo Nancy

Pink Bluebirds

2011-06-10T13:19:00.001-05:00

Heading into summer I start replacing much of the pink that was out for Easter, spring and Mother's Day with brighter colors so it's getting harder to find things for Pink Saturday. Recently, however, I bought a huge amount of stuff from the sweetest girl who was a merchandiser for upscale stores. She decorated store windows for baby shops and did displays for Nordstroms. Now she's pregnant and decorating her own nursery and selling her huge stash of goodies that she used.

I was ecstatic when I saw this bluebird – and she had not one but five of these guys!

So I'm keeping one and selling the others in my Etsy store. Isn't he darling? What is it with Seasons of Cannon Falls who made this guy? They get you hooked on stuff and then discontinue it. Maybe they started out as drug dealers. I bought the iron door knocker with the interchangeable toppers and fortunately I have one for each season because they quit making them! The one I don't have is the heart. I found it on ebay and it cost a fortune!

Anway…I think the other bluebirds were overwhelmed by his size at first since he's the Baby Huey of bluebirds (and I'm sure that reference is totally lost on most of you because hello I'm Methusala!) but then noticed

like all of them he's also has some pink and if you have pink in common then you must be a nice bluebird or even blogger – and soon he was just part of the family! These guys just make me smile. I saw a brochure on Flickr showing the original prices at Woolworths – 25 cents. Ack!!! Of course at that time you couldn't have given them to me. Wouldn't you love to go back in time for just a few minutes. RightNowNancy would tell FiftiesNancy to buy them all and while you're at it pick up some Holt Howard pixieware!

See what I mean??? Haha – give me a break. No doubt this ebayer did go back in time or travel to the future or maybe that's not dollars but pesos!

What would your today self tell your kid self? I think I'd mention when you hear about an upstart called microsoft and even though you might think it's a pillow just buy some stock!

Sooo… time traveling back to today I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.

Hope your weekend is wonderful! xoxo Nancy

June Happy Homemaker Tag

2011-06-09T11:59:00.002-05:00

I'm time traveling today! For Elizabeth's Happy Homemaker year long tag along and for my year of celebrations this month I'm celebrating Summer and not this summer but 1959 summer. The station wagon is packed and we're heading to the lake.

I'm feeling toile today (as if I knew what that was in 1959) so that's my tag background. Ahh – carefree 1959. Did you have any of those tie at the shoulder outfits? I did and I'm happy to say I did not have those bloomers…except for my shorty pajama bottoms!

Put on some baby oil to soak up some rays. In 1959 the sun was friendlier and no one worried about skin cancer and the only wrinkles were in your dress you pulled out of your Samsonite suitcase!

It was most definitely a simpler time and my tag is fairly simple this month.

That evesdropping girl – isn't she cute – I'm sure she's listening to her big sister! The tag seemed unbalanced to me so I added a brown ruffle. My A-D-D kicked in and of course I couldn't make two identical tags but they're close enough.

I think the background is, like my memories, sepia toned and the sun and ribbon are the bright spots.

I don't know what the little girl is thinking but I was drawn to that image because she seemed happy. The bottom trim – no reason…it just looked summery to me.

Can you believe the year is half over – I'm really liking this once a month deadline – and I'm determined to finish out the year.

Have a wonderful summer – heading back to 2011 now to get those pig tails cut off!
See you in July butterfly! xoxo Nancy
I'm also joining Cindy @ My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and of course
The other "taggers" at the blog Elizabeth of Bluebird Papercrafts has set up for us here.

You Go Girl

2011-06-02T19:07:00.001-05:00

A few years ago I painted a couple of things for a friend of mine who is a diagnostician for a school district near Houston. She has these in their room where they do evaluations of preschoolers.

Using one of my scrapbook doodling books – I pretty much just painted kids like the doodle kids.

If I have something to follow I can pretty much do it.

And sometimes I surprise myself once a painting is finished. I have no good pictures of the girl painting.

Boy oh Boy – these are really big – I think about 4 ft long which is actually easier to do than a smaller size.

I did black and white checks around the outside of the canvas.

They work great for welcoming nervous little ones into a cheerful, non threatening room. That's my little share for today!

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and

Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.

xoxo Nancy

Three LONG Years!

2011-05-27T17:40:00.001-05:00

Along with a host of other Pink Bloggers I'm astounded to realize that we've been doing Pink Saturday for three years.

On behalf of - well – the following folks and then some….

we'd all like to send a huge Thank You to Beverly of How Sweet The Sound for faithfully hosting a weekly event that we all enjoy so very much.

Our Lady of Lourdes

2011-05-26T15:34:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting to share this and just today got some good pictures. My husband made this shrine from all vintage elements. This beautiful old chalkware statue of Our Lady of Lourdes stands atop a silver bowl. The gold cabinet is a clock cabinet.

He did such a wonderful job on this with the intention of listing it on Etsy but as you can see it's not there or in our antique store – The Roost.

I'm really attached to it and love the candles around it. There is lightly tinted rose colored French water glass behind the statue and it casts a pink glow on the wall.

He used an antique perfume bottle with tiny dried roses. I keep adding little things, too. The tree made of pearls and wire.

The little white crosses and gold angels are from my collection of vintage religious articles.

She's a comforting presence in our living room and welcome to stay forever.

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

xoxo Nancy – remembering those affected by the deadly tornados in our Heartland.

Mother's Day Hydrangea

2011-05-20T17:13:00.001-05:00

My husband gave me this gorgeous pink hydrangea for Mother's Day…I killed the first one. Hydrangea silly…not my husband!

Luckily the pink one has survived over two weeks so I was able to get a good picture of it posing with a few new pink things. The curvy candelabra found at a tag sale and

This cute little vintage Scotty dog that I found on ebay. Isn't he adorable???

He's joining the girls and me for Beverly's Pink Saturday! Here they are….Iris and Lillie…

The Real Princesses!!!!

Happy Pink Saturday from Nancy and her Royal Shelties!!!!

Dream Big

2011-05-13T15:50:00.002-05:00

Something I made this week…

to wish someone special

the happiest of birthdays.

An altered cigar box with bits of vintage laces and ribbons from family weddings, Purple for memories, Pink for happiness and Turquoise for adventure.

xoxo Nancy
Today I'm joining:
Cindy's Show and Tell Friday &
Beverly's Pink Saturday

Happy Diaz de Mayo

2011-05-10T12:05:00.002-05:00

For our Happy Homemaker TagAlong I'm celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Cinco has come and gone and here it is diaz and I just did my tag this morning – I still need to make my second tag for Scrap For Joy. Soooo – since I'm half done and today is overcast making it really hard to get a good picture I'll just post some hazy pictures and maybe do a little tutorial later this week. Es bueno??? Okey dokee!
Even though the tag elements are brighter than the pics I see a lot of thing that need improvement:
1. Ink the edges of the blue glitter banner 2. Add some yellow streamers

3. Put a little confetti on the M A and Y

This is the one thing I really like about this tag…the tiny ruffle on the bottom. It's a Mary Engelbreit cupcake liner trimmed to fit – I like the way it picks up the dark "May" header at the top of the tag.

The dancers are little tag type things I picked up at a garage sale – I got a bunch of them for 50 cents.

I wish I had some music note confetti – I think that would be cute glued all over the tag but alas – our host Elizabeth at Bluebird Papercrafts has challenged us to buy supplies only once so unless I run across some in my craftroom chaos I'm out of luck!
I'm hoping more of the bloggers who signed up for the TagAlong will continue. I've noticed several people don't have partners so why don't you contact someone who doesn't and pair up? I am so lucky to have the super talented Joyce at Scrap For Joy for my partner. Elizabeth is still our leader in this year long venture and even though she's not making tags she is busy with some new and exciting craft endeavors that I can't wait to see!
Hasta luego! Nancy

Mothers

2011-05-07T20:34:00.001-05:00

Wow - I've been gone awhile! What a week it's been - I don't remember Mother's Day coming so close to Easter before - 2 weeks? Plus our anniversary was last week and right in the middle of it my husband had chest pains! After a night in the hospital he checked out fine. According to him he knew he didn't need to go or stay there - just worthless. Really, now...what does make it worth it? Another heart attack??? And I have no idea why Mother's Day sneaking up on me made me panic as I no longer have a mother, mother-in-law or sister to send a gift to. So I'm just going to relax and remember the years we did have together.

Earlier this week Jeff brought me the most beautiful blue hydrangea. A few hours later I discovered it had completely wilted.

So he went back to the store and came home with the prettiest giant purple one I'd ever seen. After following the store instructions it seemed to be okay until I noticed it was beginning to wilt. So I did what I should have done in the first place – I googled "why is my cut hydrangea wilting?" Should you get cut hydrangeas for Mother's Day make sure the entire stem is covered with cold water. Take a push pin and puncture the stem several places and put some ice cubes in the water! It perked right up and has been perfect since then.

And it's the perfect backdrop for one of these beautiful vintage statues I've been collecting. Mary is pretty in pink and I just love her.

Like bluebirds – once I started looking at all the lovely '50s Japanese ceramics they become irresistible. So which one to put out?

It's Mother's Day and I decided that they all should be out. Aren't they lovely?

Even though I'm late I'm still going to join my Pink Saturday sisters and wish all of you a wonderful Mother's Day.

And finally from a few years ago a link to favorite post because it's just full of pictures of all the ones I love so much! To all the Mother's in my life – blessings. xoxo Nancy

Easter Bunnies

2011-04-29T18:30:00.001-05:00

I never did get around to sharing any of my Easter things last week so before it all gets put away here are a few of my favorite things.

I love all my little bunnies. This one from my best friend a few years ago -

and this one from my sister in law last year – made of hydrangea petals.

This is new to me this year – a Lefton piece from the '50s. For some reason I have developed a passion for these adorable pieces made in Japan mid century. It's like they jumped right out of the cute cards we love so much.

We had a wonderful Easter dinner – in the yard! I completely forgot to take any pictures beforehand but here's one when almost everything is put away.

I absolutely don't want to sell this set – I loved having dinner outside like this so I'm trying to convince my husband to keep it and just store it between uses! Hopefully we'll get the bed planted with flowers soon. Crazy weather everywhere though. Droughts, tornados and wildfires – I hope you were safe and had a wonderful Easter wherever you were.

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend. xoxo Nancy

Easter Fashions Through The Years

2011-04-20T17:10:00.001-05:00

Look.at.the.camera. Sit.up.straight. Sigh….

Amidst all the hopping and wiggling I finally got the gang together! Now aren't they cute? Chicks and bunnies, old and new gathered together for a family portrait. Don't you think they'll thank me someday when they remember the days when they all lived together? Easter pictures – it's a tradition for all of us…. don't you love it? New clothes and egg hunts!

1954? Jeff…aka Columbo and sisters Judy and Joan

1956. - My big sister and me. New dresses always made by Mother of dotted swiss or some frilly ruffled fabric and always a new hat and shoes.

1958? Jeff and Joan with Granny showing off new Easter shoes!

Zoom - Easter 1968 A new generation. Now I'm the one taking the Easter pictures and in charge of new hats and shoes.

1969 one year later a new hat, a new outfit even a new Easter car!

1970 All dressed up heading for the egghunt!

1972 HA - Choosing my own hats now! New outfits and a new brother on the way! It's Easter so white purses and shoes are permitted! lol

Two years later One of mine is already out of the Easter outfit…much to the aggravation of Greg aka Tucker Carlson! Not only am I not taking a ton of pictures – I've begun to recycle Easter outfits!

This is more like it …no hats – old shoes – no pants for one of us – Easter with the cousins at Granny's house.

1998 - 23 years later….the next generation! Brandon's little Brandon aka the Bjer!

1999 - The annual egg hunt in McAllen - Barbara and the Bjer….. Cascarones!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

Joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.

Sick Sick Sick

2011-04-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

This is what I'm doing right now – sewing felt cherries on my bra…my Relay For Life auction bra, goof ball…not the one I'm not wearing right now! Since we're having a huge yard sale on Saturday I've been moving stuff and my back went out and since my back went out I took medicine and when I got up this morning I was sick and dizzy from the meds. I don't think I'm going to make it tonight – my bra will have to represent me! I love working at Relay – it's the best fundraiser ever. My team captain, Candy, works so hard and it's supposed to be really cold tonight and our group is down this year and I'm pooping out and there they will be in with the freezing wind whipping them around and I feel awful every which way. The winds are roaring outside at about 35 mph and we can't finish setting things up for the yard sale. I could at least lie in the recliner and direct. So what am I doing? Finishing my bra waiting on the glued on fringe to dry and posting on here.

Here's what we've done so far this week…

Painted a worthless sign but someone not me wanted this.

Made big signs for the corner

Here's the shed with dirty windows but I've got pink flowers!

Inside one end ( sorry – the outhouse behind the screen is Closed)

Chippy old shelves with

A set of darling old counting cakes.

The fancy

One tent

Another tent

The whole mess!

We have tons of tubs of stuff to put out and lots of quilts and linens but it's just too windy. If you live in central Texas we're in Old Town Pflugerville if you'd like to come. Email me and I'll send you the address – you can come help clean and decorate too and then shop! haha I have lots of pink things!

Anyway – back to my bra – what do you think? For a name?

Here's a little ME girl leaving home: "A Good Foundation"?

"Remember"? "A Cup of Kindness – Get a Mammogram"? I had another part of the transfer that said "Remember" so I ironed that onto some cotton knit and sewed it on.

I tried ironing on a tshirt transfer and the middle didn't transfer so I had to make a remembrance ribbon to disguise the big screwup! I made a hanger to match just to make up for it! I do love the raggy shoulder straps..

and I see a whole bunch of threads I need to clip and I lots of little details to finish…on the bra not the yard sale! Have a wonderful weekend. xoxo Nancy

I'm joining Sue Love Cherries for Rednesday. How could I not???

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday and you should, too!

For your listening pleasure I'm putting "The Boob Fairy" #1 on my playlist – seems appropriate, huh? You have to push play though.

DoNE!!!

April Happy Homemaker Tags

2011-04-08T21:33:00.003-05:00

June 10, 2011...Is this cheating? Recycling a post from April? Nah. I really wanted to join Stephanie's Wedding Party and I didn't get the Wedding Display done in my store so I'm linking to a post done a couple of months ago. Thank you Stephanie!

In my year long "Year of Celebrations" theme I decided that for April we'd celebrate weddings! I was married in April and even though my partner Scrap for Joy was married in July we're going to celebrate anyway!!! Do you need an engraved invitation? Well here it is!

You can't see it but the year is 1909 and we've been married 102 years – okay not really. 1965…Just as long almost!

When I got married we had a wedding about 3 weeks in the planning and that's a link to why! I had a silk brocade knee length sleeveless dress with a matching jacket. We never got any of our pictures from the "photographer" and this is one of about three we have. So what the heck – I'm giving myself quite the long ruffle-y skirt and Jeff gets a top hat and fancy pants! And we have a photographer!!!!
As you can see I've used the same elements on both cards but they're laid out slightly different. The same red headed photographer did both weddings!
This is how I initially lay out my tag to get the right proportions and print the elements I want to use. This is done in Scrapbook Factory – a program that is easy to use and has a lot of features. The blue is the exact size of our tags and I can adjust everything to fit like I'll want it.

I used original German Scrap pictures for both tags. Joyce can replace the little couple with one of her wedding photos. Here's what they look like before cutting them. I carry these in my etsy store and they don't cost much so I used originals.

But I digress…. here is my tag for April.

What a coincidence. My husband and Mr. Scrap for Joy wore the same pants!!!
On the back of the tag there we are leaving…on our way to becoming "Happy Homemakers"!!!!

Thanks for stopping and I'll see you in May!!! xoxo Nancy

Snowbunnies

2011-04-07T21:10:00.001-05:00

The Snowbunnies caused a ruckus this week. They're normally quiet but they just sense when Easter's on its way. So out they came. Down the stairs…

out of their little boxes and under a big giant cloche! Do you know why? Well – Snowbunnies are really just Snowbabies all dressed up in little bunny suits.

They would just melt away! Sigh…is there anything cuter??? Actually, yes!

Lillie Louise and Iris! Aren't they darling? They're so sweet and so alike and so different.

Lillie assumes you've come to adore her and bring her treats and poor Iris assumes that you've come to eat her! Poor girl – she takes on every ones worries! She's always up for a treat and once she finds that you've not come to kill her she's about as determined as Lil to get more treats and more petting!

Shhh – did you notice how quiet it is here? I've set the playlist to not come on automatically. I've always figured if anyone was annoyed they just wouldn't come here and that's okay. However – the thing I do find distracting is going from one blog to another and hearing two playlists at once! So anyway it's there for the listening if you want! See you Sunday for the Happy Homemaker get together!

Today I'm joining:

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

Have a wonderful weekend. xoxo Nancy

Pink Saturday Scrabble

2011-03-31T15:04:00.004-05:00

I've got some great pink to share today! Have you ever seen this limited edition Scrabble game. Imagine my delight when I spotted this last week! I absolutely had to have it. And then...to top off my good fortune my package from the amazingly talented Elizabeth arrived just as my Pink Bunny made his annual trek down from the attic! Ready to take the Pink Scrabble Board for a spin??!!!
Meet the players: The Bunny...The Cake....The Twirly Swirly Girl and last but not least The Pink Birthday Bird.

I must admit I had to help the cake a little bit because - well, let's face it - cakes don't have a lot of brains! He chose C A K E for his word. I only told him how to spell it.

Another little problem he has? He's a bit unsteady on his feet but who cares because we all love Cake!!!!

Next up is the Bird and he is a smart one - he spelled his favorite word!

The Rabbit - a smart little guy but sorry Rabbit...you misspelled it! Oh I see - you're looking to the board for another N!

Someone cannot stop swirling! She spelled out...

The Twirly Swirly Girl wanted me to tell you that she's not the only one who twirls and swirls...so does the Scrabble Board.

And the next thing I knew...they all jumped on board to spin around and when they jumped off this is what they spelled!

Happy Pink Saturday Scrabble, Girls!!!

xoxo Nancy, Rabbit, Cake, Bird and The Fabulous Twirly Swirly Girl!

We're all joining Cindy for Show and Tell Friday and

Beverly for Pink Saturday!

Bargain Chicks

2011-03-24T15:43:00.001-05:00

Last year I didn't get most of my Easter stuff out. So this year I loved finding some little things that I bought two years ago after Easter. Isn't that chick the cutest? I think I bought four or five of that type for about twenty cents!

Had to have this pink chick because she looks so much like my bluebirds that I just adore.

She keeps hopping around – I think she's upset that I called her cheap! I told her to settle down but she just keeps saying "cheep" "cheep"!!!

I got the polka dot and check bunnies a long time ago. They are some of my favorites.

Aren't they the cutest guys? I love their little knotted ears.

I'll have to get some pictures of the whole little tree once I get the bows on. Maybe next week…or maybe not – I never seem to get anything finished anymore!

Have a wonderful week. xoxo Nancy

I'm joining two great blog events today:

My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday and

Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday.

Vintage French Newspapers

2011-03-21T11:21:00.001-05:00

What have I been doing lately, you ask? Okay you didn't but I'm telling you anyway. I've been working on our antique store The Roost. I just realized that I never really talk about it on my blog! I did some succulent gardens in vintage containers last weekend. ( Those are gorgeous French Crochet bed or tablecloths in the chairs)

I love how they turned out. A vintage silver serving dish with an old crumb tray to embellish it.

These are some of the religious things that I've started taking there. St. Theresa statue, some holy water fonts and a beautiful Infant of Prague statue. Notice how I've blurred the background? There's a manly vintage sign place across the aisle. She looked like St Teresa patron saint of motor oil. lol Next time I'll hold up one of those French tablecloths!

These Vintage French Newspapers sell so fast it's unbelievable. Last night they were gone out of my Etsy store, The Vintage Roost, an hour after I listed them.

Fortunately I still have a few more.

I absolutely adore these little clothespins. They're tiny little things and are old, old and brand new at the same time…old store stock. Actually, they're probably old factory stock made to include with doll clothes for the Ginny Dolls.

Anyway, I've packaged them in packages of 10 with the cutest vintage picture of a little girl hanging out her doll clothes.

They'll hold paper to a line or string and I think I'm going to make a spring banner with these holding each letter. They would be so cute holding the grandkids artwork, too. Hmm….that might be a ready made banner!

So that's what I've been up to – what's new in your neck of the woods???? xoxo Nancy

Super Moon Alert

2011-03-19T09:27:00.001-05:00

I see the moon – the moon sees me – God bless the moon…God bless me.

Did you learn that as a child? Did you teach it to your kids? Did you play "moon" games as a kid? Has the moon become "underappreciated"?! Well here's your chance to go outside and pay tribute to the moon.

Tonight will be the biggest moon in 2011 and for some the biggest moon since….well if you want the technical details you can go here and read all about it. I'm hoping for a Pink sky with my moon watching tonight!

it will be a good time to be "counting our blessings". Like our Pink Saturday friends!

This has been a public service announcement…(do they even have those anymore?)…and my contribution for Pink Saturday for which I'm late and I'm number six thousand five hundred and forty seven on the linky list!!! Let's hear some moon stuff from you guys because…

It's A Marvelous Night For A Moondance when you're looking at the "Blue Moon" xoxo Nancy…Goodnight Moon!

May Your Thoughts Be As Glad As The Shamrocks

2011-03-17T00:37:00.000-05:00

May your heart be as light as a song.

May each day bring you bright happy hours,

That stay with you all year long.

Pink and Green Saturday

2011-03-11T08:49:00.000-06:00

Happy Pink and Green Saturday. I'm always looking for a reason to use the pink page in my heart journal!

I made this banner last year. I started from scratch in my in my scrapbook program! Then I cut it out, did some minimal embellishment, double matted it, ran a ribbon through and hung it up. Just for pink Saturday I added some pink roses…digitally – haha. It took about 15 minutes once I printed it!

I think it's pretty cute. If you think so also – then I have a gift for you! I've uploaded the pdf to Scribd – you can download it, print on cardstock and make one for yourself!

I think you can print without downloading, also. You'll need to print in the landscape orientation.

Lucky Banner

Enjoy! Have a wonderful weekend.

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. Thanks, Beverly.

xoxo Nancy

Happy Homemaker March Tag

2011-03-09T13:49:00.001-06:00

Fellow taggers!!! and tagger followers….it's March and it's almost Spring! That's something to celebrate for sure and that is what I'm celebrating for my Year of Celebration. Looks like I'm making a set with a "month" heading for each tag. Have you ever seen the wonderful months of the year frames from – ~~shoot I can't remember~~ Exposures - that great online photo company from ages ago.*** Anyway…I start with a springy blue polka dot paper and some vintage wallpaper and a few ruffles and flourishes.

Then I added some tree branches and with some pink buds just waiting to bloom. Looking good but it needs more???

Hmmm…what could that be? Butterflies???

Online Photo Editor
Maybe a big flower??? Words???

Wait a minute – someone is trying to tell me something…

Online Photo Editor

Of course the perfect harbinger of spring…a bluebird!!! one for me….

and one for my partner Scrap for Joy.

I pieced these little blue (and green) birds from scraps and bits and pieces lying on my table. I hope spring comes to your town soon.

A lucky group of us are in this year long tag swap hosted by one of the most talented ladies you'll ever meet…Elizabeth at Bluebird Papercrafts. We are all chronicling our little artistic adventure on our Happy Homemaker website. Go visit right here. Thanks for stopping and I'll see you in April!

xoxo Nancy

*** The frames I always wanted back in the '80s

On sale for $220!!! They were that much back in the '80s! at Exposures

http://bham.craigslist.org/bab/2246523784.html

Here's a deal for someone if you live in Birmingham, Alabama! $30!!! I wish I did!

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

Pink Patsy

2011-03-04T15:55:00.001-06:00

Come on – unmute your speakers and let's all sing with Patsy. You know you love Patsy Cline! Then we'll go have lunch….

Welcome to Patsy's Cowgirl Cafe. What a perfect place to lunch…especially when you're on the lookout for Pink!

Patsy's a long tall drink of water….from her pink hat right down to

her pink toed boots!

Patsy girl knows how to decorate a honky tonk! When they were passin' out paint she just said "Make Mine Pink!"

And what does she ride? A Texas jackolope, of course! They're the best for jumpin' pink hills!

If you're in Austin – check out Patsy's Cowgirl Cafe….it's not just pink – it's great food!

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. Yee Haw!

Lady of the Snow

2011-03-03T21:00:00.001-06:00

I bought this not knowing the history of Our Lady of the Snows. Isn't she beautiful? Made in Japan - possibly by Sanmyro – one of the collectible 50s or 60s ceramic companies she's is perfect shape. I wouldn't have cared if she hadn't been, though.

I know she's from Bellville, IL not far from St. Louis but I don't know the history of Our Lady of the Snows retreat house or why it was named that.

I'm just so happy to have this serene statue in my home.

I'm joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

The Latest Buzz At My House

2011-02-25T14:20:00.002-06:00

A couple of days ago I got the cutest package in the mail – a sampler made just for me by Debbie of Kitten Creates. She had looked over my blog and figured out some of my favorite things. Let's see….Pink? check…Teal…love it….Yellow Roses? doesn't any Texas gal love them… Buttons? of course….little 50s cowgirls? what could be cuter???? So Debbie mixed them all up and out came this adorable sampler. Look at how the lace makes the stems for the roses.

That's not just any little cowgirl in her little cowgirl outfit and maryjanes…that's Debbie herself. Aww – she dreamt of being a cowgirl or an artist. Guess which one she grew up to be? She inherited her Grandmother's sewing skills and

is also a jewelry designer. She sent along this beautiful pink necklace with another of my favorite things…bluebirds! I love it sooo much,

Thanks a million, Debbie. And while I'm thanking people, I wanted to thank, Dana for these darling Valentiney gifts she sent. I love the bookmark and look at this handkerchief. Soooo pretty. Don't you love RED???

Look what else came with the hanky and bookmark! Something Pink, naturally. The Stone Rabbit has his own personalized pens! He sent me two of them! It was nice of him to put Dana's name on there also but she does lug him around all sorts of places and that can't be easy. Well I just think it's so clever.

It's been a wonderful mail week for me. My little ceramic family is growing. Here's their latest family picture.

They are all '50s and '60s folks and I should never name them because…well…then they're family! So from left to right….The Snappy Snails, Silas and Sally, the three bees, Sleepy, Sting and Honey and the newest member of the bluebird family – Flora. The whole group wants to wish you all a happy Pink Saturday!
Thank you Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for this weekly get together. Let's go visit everyone else now!
xoxo Nancy

Love Is In The Air

2011-02-24T22:25:00.001-06:00

Have you ever seen such sweet little faces??? This adorable couple is saying it all with their eyes. They are Snappy Snails made by Enesco.

Can't you just see her batting those big beautiful eyelashes at her dapper little snail boyfriend?

I don't know if I can bear to part with them! They were originally supposed to go in The Roost but they love living right here with me! Oh sigh…what to do?

I'm joining Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home – be sure and stop by there!

xoxo Nancy

Low Tea With The Queen

2011-02-23T08:57:00.001-06:00

What would one do if the queen were coming for tea? and one forgot???

I'd quickly grab the closest teapot and hope for a miracle.

We'd need cream and sugar.

I'd set my table with all the royal purple I could find!

And hope the queen wouldn't mind drinking from a pretty mug.

I'd set my table with Bavarian plates and Holmes and Edwards Danish Princess silverware. And I would explain that I simply forgot that the queen was coming for tea! I'm sure she would understand!

I'm joining Laura at Decor To Adore for her High Tea Party!