The End of the World party

 The end of the Mayan calendar sounds like a great excuse to have a party and I've created the perfect attire for such an occasion.

While the guys were chasing a little white ball all over the place and knocking it into a little hole in the ground, I was out shopping for unique tshirts for my upcycled clothing creations. Since I was shopping by myself, I couldn't shout out, "Eeeee! Look what I found"! I would have probably been hauled off to the looney bin. I just did a happy dance in my head.

Back in 2006, Jimmy Buffet had his Party at the End of the World Tour. Lucky me!! Thanks, Jimmy. It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Southern Hearts is having their grand opening on December 21 and I plan to attend and party like there's no tomorrow. LOL

Gone to the dogs

I am really having fun playing with my new serger. These have gone to the dogs. LOL

I'm on the hunt for tshirts that have dogs on them so I can make more!!

Upcycle your wardrobe

My sister-in-law, Patti made me an offer that I couldn't refuse: trade my old Baby Lock serger for her new, primo Bernina. It was like going from a 1993 Chevy Lumina to a 2012 fully-loaded Lexus. Do I have the best sister-in-law ever? Heck yeah!

I changed the spelling of Cedar Junction to make my own line of upcycled clothing. My labels read Cedar Junktion. Get it?

 

I couldn't have found a more perfect t-shirt for my project. If you are 45 years old, this one's for you.

Fredericksburg was FUN!

For my birthday, Howard took me to Fredericksburg and our first stop was lunch.

We found a cute German restaurant on the west side of town.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we ate outside. It was just like when we were in Germany last year. Brought back some really fun memories. The food was good, but it wasn't quite as good as what we had over there. The wine, however, did not disappoint.

photo courtesty of Shannon, Rusty and Redone

After our marvelous lunch, we drove over to Smitten so that I could check it out. I had seen lots of pictures on the internet about it.

I wanted to meet Shannon and fortunately she was working in the store. I even ran into her the next day when we went out to Fredericksburg Trade Days. It's a small world and she is such a pleasant person.

Smitten had lots of things that I love.

I took other pictures, but they didn't all come out very well. I am NOT a photographer. Not only that, I can't see the pictures on the camera without my reading glasses on so I don't know if they came out okay until I put the card into the laptop to see them big.

Shannon gave me a list of places to shop. I found lots of goodies at the Thrift Shop that she told me about. Thanks so much, Shannon!!

Inspiration at Renaissance Antiques

Last week, Joan and I took some time to explore the upstairs section of Renaisssance Antiques. It's like going to Austin, Texas without the long drive.

You never know what you will see up there.

I even found one of my Junk Queen pictures. See it over the door? It's good for the ego to see your creations here and there.

I really like these shelves. They are quite special.

I found an old baby dress near my jewelry display case, but I really didn't know what I would do with it until . . .


. . . I saw this clever light fixture. The wheels started turning. I have a nice floor lamp, but it had a very boring shade on it. I decided to marry the two.

I made it to take to my booth at Betty's, but

I may have a hard time letting this one go.

 

Magpie bait

After thoroughly exhausting my PayPal account by buying all kinds of trinkets and supplies, I decided that I better get back to making jewelry. It seems like everything I saw HAD to go in my online shopping cart. Of course, now, everyday is like Christmas when I go to my mailbox *tee hee*.

I went out to the workshop this morning and built a jewelry display then proceeded to fill it up. This display went to Southern Hearts in Kingsville.

Next, I will make up some pieces to take to Renaissance Antiques later this week. I wonder what the mailman is going to bring me tomorrow . . .

Creating a niche

Over the past 3 or 4 weeks, I've been pondering the design for these niches in my mind. I picked up the little round Virgin Mary frame at a yard sale which started the whole process.

About 3 years ago, I found a crib on the side of the road and liked all of the turned wood it had in it. I just had no idea what I would make out of it. One day, while riding in the car, I thought of adding the turned wood to the edges. I took the first one that I made down to Southern Hearts and it sold within an hour. Big old happy dance for me! I've also discovered the mark-down bin of paint at Lowe's. The color combinations are limitless!!

French Flea Market

Last year, my husband took me to Paris so when I read on Margo's blog that she was going to join the Red Shed Antiques French flea market tour, I had to check it out. Lucky for me, Valarie from Red Shed Antiques had a generous giveaway on her blog that I won!! Yeah, me!! My favorite item has to be the ledger page. It's handwritten with pen and ink, notarized and embossed. I plan to use this on a digital collage I have running around in my mind right now. I can't wait to wear the ginormous Mona Lisa watch. How did she know that I enjoy Mona so much? I love, love the postcards. They are handwritten in French and one is dated June 1, 1919. That's really, really old! There is also 5 pages from an old French novel, a notebook with Paris illustrations, a page from a 1800's book that is suitable for framing. Gorgeous! There are several pages from a French storybook and French music pages from 1931. She even included a nice necklace with bling and the Eiffel tower on it.

But wait! There's more . . .

She added lots and lots of Paris pretties. When I first opened the package, I could smell the lovely lavendar sachet. I don't know why, but that smell always takes me back to a historical park somewhere in Georgia that I visited as a little girl. The treasures include pages from a really old French prayer book, a tag with beautiful vintage lace wrapped around and around it, 4 French dinner napkins, a yummy box of butter cookies with milk chocolate (not destined to last long. I aready ate a couple of them) and a handwritten letter from April of 1918. Whew! That's quite a stash!

If you ever want to go on a shopping trip to Paris or Provence, you can join the Red Shed Tours and go with a bunch of ladies on a trip of a lifetime. They do trips twice a year; one in the Spring and one in the Fall.
 

Cherry Tree Tea Room

I was super excited when Amanda Cherry invited to be a vendor at the Cherry Tree Tea Room. I will be featuring my new digital art calendars there. I showed her one (it is the one with the beach theme) and she told me that she would like to display 5 of them. Five of the same would be a bit much so I spent the next 10 days working up 4 more. (without my son's computer help, I might add! He has taught me well)

These calendars are behind glass so you can write all over them with a Sharpie and erase with a little alcohol.

This morning, I went with my camera to photograph how they were displayed and learned that I had already sold one! Yes, I am doing a happy dance.

The Cherry Tree Tea Room is located in historical downtown Kingsville. Their chicken salads and desserts are to die for.

Right outside the tea room is the brick that has my husband's name engraved on it. How special is that?? He shares his brick with a bunch of Yaklins.

Goliad, Texas

Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

I had always wanted to explore Goliad so when my friend, Julie said that she would be staying there for a few days, I saw that as a wonderful opportunity to check it out. Several years ago, Julie and her husband moved to Tennessee so we haven't seen them very much since then. Her husband is working in Goliad for a few months and she came down to see him for a few days.

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

We met at Whataburger, then drove over to Courthouse Square.

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

Julie treated me to a very nice lunch. I had a chicken fried ribeye and she had some chicken and dumplings.

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

There was a very old piano sitting out on the sidewalk. It was one of those nice cabinet grands with a beautiful, deep sound. It seemed a shame that such a treasure would be out in the elements..

 Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart

A couple of the keys were sticking, but I am sure that they could be repaired.

One of the shops had a bea - u - ti - ful chandelier.

It's nice that friends can pick up again right where they left off. I hope that she can make another trip down here before her husband's job sends him back home; we have more catching up to do.

Photo courtesy of Julie Stewart