Thrifty Miss Priss

Journal Pages

It's been a while since I've made time for Journaling.  I go in spurts.

 

paper doll is from Suzee Que on flickr-great images that she finds and shares!

"photographs back ground paper" from The Graphics Fairy-always so sweet to share her BEAUTIFUL images with everyone!

Little girl in photo strip above and my new blog banner is from Jamie at Art-e-ology.  Jamie gave me her blessings to use the sweet image in my blog banner too!

I was playing with contrast and brightness in Picassa....it's free and a decent photo editing program.

I heard this quote the other day and it stuck with me.  This one is in my "edgy" journal....the one where I try different techniques and don't really care how it turns out.  The Little GIrl Lost page is from my "pretty book" (that's what I'm calling it) where I do my "safe" stuff.

I opened a book one day and this little fortune was in it.  How I managed to save it without loosing it I'll never know.

Over atMind Wide Opena challenge is posted to take a piece of digital art and do what you want with it.  I've never played along before but sometimes I'm just stuck and sit there not knowing what to create.  Driving home from work one day I was at a light and I was looking at blogs on my iphone (I wasn't moving!)  I saw this challenge and immediately knew what I wanted to do!  It just started spewing out of my brain so fast I couldn't think fast enough.

The theme is "daughter"

This is the beautiful image you are supposed to play with.  I of course ran out of blue ink that night and I was bummed.  I printed it out and black and white and made the best of the situation.  I told myself this was just a practice run.

I liked how it turnout out so I'm leaving it as is!  I have to send it to Mind Wide Open for voting on 9/8/09.  I think I will check back more often for prompts to get me going.

I like to journal about my mom.  I miss her so much!  She is here but she can't really communicate with me anymore.  She acts as if she recognizes me and my sisters but who knows.  She might be putting on a good act.  When she tries to talk it comes out all backwards and makes no sense.  Usually I just talk to her and keep the conversation light.  We might watch the animal planet or look at a coffee table book.  I never know whats going on inside her mind.  She does try hard to get words out but it doesn't always work.  When I heard the song "Landslide" last year while driving with my mom it really made me so sad.  It's kind of become "that song" that I get so sad about my mom when I hear it on the radio.  I hear it MAYBE once every few months.  Saturday driving to the bridal shower it came on the radio......oh the tears started!  I tried to slap myself to pull it together........so the other night when I was making the collage.....guess what song came on?  Yep!  Is that weird or WHAT?  This time it didn't make me nearly as sad.  Maybe art is therapeutic.

 Have a wonderful THREE DAY WEEKEND!  Yay!

Introducing......

Bella!

My son and his girlfriend adopted one of my sisters Pomeranian puppies.  They have named her Bella and she's a tiny little ball of fur.  She turned 8 weeks old on Saturday, so after the bridal shower Bella got to go home to her new life with my son and his sweetie.  They brought her over the next day to introduce her to her aunties....Heidi and Sarah.

 My dogs have never seen a pup so small and it was quite the excitement at first.  We had to do it very slowly and Bella did not like it one bit.  She was patient and let them get all the sniffing out of their system.

She looks like a little kitten and is as playful as one too.  There were three other pups in the litter and believe me....it's taking every ounce of restraint not to rush back over there and grab one of them!

 Here are a few of them with their daddy, Baxter at the bridal shower. 

this is one of my sisters saying goodbye to sweet Bella

When Bella visited me on Sunday at my house, there were more cameras flashing than a White House Press Conference.  She is so adorable and we just couldn't get enough of her!

I think Heidi is coming in for a taste....at least thats what we thought....so she was sternly told "NO!" and she stopped right in her tracks.

so many new things to explore!

  After a while she got so sleepy.....too much excitement for one day.

I'm sure you will be seeing many more pictures of my new grand dogger!

Bridal Shower

My oldest daughter is getting married mid September.  Saturday my sisters hosted her bridal shower.  It was a lot of fun and we played some of those silly games that you hear about but they turned out to be hilarious!

my sister bought the cupcakeshere. The place is called Fancy Cakes by Leslie and they were fantastic!  I added the little flags but they were beautiful all on their own.

Her wedding colors are black and white with a red accent.  My sisters did a beautiful job decorating and making it all so special!  The little cups are filled with black and white gourmet jelly beans.  Tulle is tied to the top so they don't spill out.  These were little party favors that I put together.

I purchased the glass plates...then photocopied the napkin on to plain paper.  I then glued the round circle design on the bottom of the plate.  It was cute and matched her colors.  It was just a little nicer than using disposable plates.  When we were done we washed the plates and the design peeled right off for future use.

 It's hard to see here but I went with the theme "Happily ever after"  I stamped that on all the paper napkins and also made this little banner.

These flowers on the food table were beautiful!  My sisters did such a nice job!  They even had champagne with edible flowers floating in it

 

 

I just love her dimples!  I got her the tiara so she can practice for the big day :-)

Lets hope she's still talking to her mother after she finds out I've plastered her picture all over the world.

She presented me, the grooms mother and all the bridesmaids with these bracelets that she made herself. 

  She's been keeping it a big secret but she's been working away on these for some time now.  She's even sold some on line.  I'm so proud of her!  They are just beautiful and I will treasure mine always!  It will look perfect with the dress I bought for her wedding!

everyone had a different design.  She has promised to hold a mini workshop after the wedding to teach me and her aunts how to do this!  Although I think my eyesight is not good enough to be doing such little detail work.  My sisters and I will all be sitting with our little granny glasses on I'm sure!

It was such a wonderful day and I can't wait until the wedding day.  She has done all the planning herself for over a year now.  She has picked a fabulous place to be married and I know it will be special! 

She was my "spirited" child....the one that I went to the pediatrician with when she was two.....telling them to  "Please help me with this kid" I couldn't handle her spunkiness.  She was a wild child for sure.  Full of spunk and sass.  She always had the biggest heart ever and she still does.  She always thinks of everyone else before herself.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

I'm really behind on answering my emails and comments....I've been working 11 hour days for THREE weeks in a row and I just collapse at night and have not had any computer time!

I hope to be back in the swing of things this week when work will finally calm down a little!

This is what 16 year old girls do in the middle of the day when nobody is home and it's pouring buckets of rain.

she used the self timer.  I love how the puddles are splashing up around her!

In other news...I wanted to share this tote I made.  It's from a HUGE heavy curtain with a HUGE ruffle.....probably from the 80's.  I knew I'd figure something out.....I did not use a pattern or measure anything.  I just chopped it into a square form.....added the straps, stitched in the lining (an old sheet) and I was done.  20 minutes tops.

 apparently I'm not as good at taking my own picture as my daughter is!  Sorry for the blur-

Last night we had 5 16 year old girls sleeping in our house.  and two dogs. and one bird.....and us.....I think girls are draped over every flat surface right about now.

I'm on my way to see my mom....and carry my huge "over the top" tote (as my daughter called it -and not in a good way) and hopefully find a few treasures along the way!

Have a great weekend!

Beach Thrills

While we were at the beach I got bitten by the thrift bug and wanted to find some local thrift stores.  We had to drive in to Delaware but found a pretty good one.  We passed several cute little shops and we stopped along the way.  Lots of them were not open mid week.  The thrift stores closed at 3pm and were not open on Saturday!  So it was hit or miss. 

We happened to drive by this tent sale and I asked my husband to  stop.

 

 

These cute little ball jars were full of shells and sea glass.  They were $30.00!

 

This great doll house was nailed shut and not even usable.  The inside was just spray painted white.  It reminded me very much of the one Sue gave me that someone found and left on her porch. 

I still have not started on the makeover, but that all white beach house at the tent sale was certainly some inspiration.  Oh, did I mention that it was $200.00? (Sue, do you want your house back?!)

 

I loved the color on this mirror!

 

this little yard conservatory was made from cabinet doors and old windows.  It was $150.00.

I thought this little child's chair was cute with the "cottage" sign screwed into it.

We went to another shop

which was so cute.  It was full of cottage style and shabby decor.  The prices at both the tent sale and this little shop were super high I thought.  I walked away with nothing.  I complained to my husband that the prices were just too steep.  He said "You want a junk store!" so guess what?  we found one!

 

my husband doesn't like to do these kind of things...so he waited patiently in the car.  This is where I found these frames

  

Then we found a HUGE church rummage sale....and again my husband waited in the car.  They had it broken down by rooms...kitchen.....linens...etc....it was very organized inside this wonderful church.

That's where I found this beauty that I showed you before

 

and I just loved those glass ball jars with shells so I found my own!  For PENNIES compared to what they were charging at the tent sale.

when the flowers are gone, I have plans to put shells and sea glass in these just like the display I saw.  We found a HUGE store called seashell city......it had every shell imaginable.

this place was so amazing.  I've been there before but never really appreciated all the beauty.  It probably deserves it's own blog post at some point because I took so many pictures in here.  I also laughed my head off because my husband was putting HUGE sea sponges on his head as if it was a hat.....and smelling the shells to see if they stink (they DO).

One vendor at the tent sale had made these mirrors....so pretty...but so time consuming and expensive!

 ok, back to my thrifty finds

The one thing I've been looking for FOREVER is a small chandelier for the hallway....it was the first item I spotted at the church rummage sale outside in a box.

I will shab this up and paint it.  It's tiny enough that we won't bang our heads every time we walk down the hall.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my thrifty deals from the beach!  The next time we go I'll do my homework ahead of time and dedicate more time to searching for junk.

Have a great weekend!

I was smart and took today off to unwind from my vacation....or in all reality to prepare my brain for going back to work.  I'm geared up and as ready as I'm going to be........

I worked all day in my art room...it's become the dumping ground for every yard sale/thrift store purchase.  I was making great progress and then I'd find something interesting.  I'd stop and play around with this and that, then get back to organizing.  Then I had to stop and take pictures of my thrifty finds........then I'd get back to cleaning........then I felt it necessary to cover a cigar box with pretty fabric......then I got back to cleaning.  I need to see a dr. soon for ADD i'm sure.

Here's some journal pages I did on vacation

  

Here are a few I did in my "Journal of Interest" book, which I will now refer to as my "pretty book"!  I'm using all my best papers and trims for this book.

 

I found this picture when we went to Lucketts in June.  I thought this little girl looked like she was up to something, in fact...she reminded me so much of my oldest daughter when she was a baby.  She was a little schemer and once when she wore me down from begging and whining for something..she walked away and told my husbands mother "Works like a charm every time!" so I thought this was the perfect caption for this photo!  The date at the top is my daughter's birth date.  I forgot to share this with her so I'll have to show her!  It's been a big family joke ever since then.....wear mom down and it works like a charm every time!

So after I was cleaning and throwing away today...I came across this picture of my mother in law as a baby.

Do you SEE the resemblance????  The little girl in the top photo looks JUST like my mother in law

so I had to dig out my favorite picture of my mom and do a two page spread dedicated to the both of them!

  The background journal paper is from Lori.  In fact, the little watch that belonged to my mother is glued on to a little decoration Lori used on one of the bags she sent me in our swap.  I like to recycle!

The lace is tatting that my grandmother did years ago and never used it for a project.

 

I don't like having to use the flash but I was in the mood to take the pictures so I couldn't wait for daylight.

 

while I was cleaning I came across this box of flash cards I got about TWO years ago....I know....the things we find when we clean!

I've been having fun with these all afternoon.

 see what I mean?  I copied the pictures of the mamas and now they're in my sight every time I sit down to play.

That little "k" on the bird picture came from Karen's shop at Lucketts (Karen is also the graphics fairy

Later this week I hope to show you all the great things I found on vacation!

Here's a sneak peek:

Have a great week!

Back to reality

We just got home from the best vacation EVER.  We went to Ocean City, Maryland, about a 4 hr drive for us.

We stayed in a penthouse condo right on the beach.  It was pure heaven.  Except for the whole elevator thing......

The condo was decorated so cute!  Pure beach style all the way.  The colors were a little bright and not what I'd choose to decorate but it was really done well.

This is the living room overlooking the beach. 

and here's the dining room

Master bedroom

and the second bedroom

   

this room was on the ocean side as well, with it's own private balcony overlooking the beach.  That little chase lounge is where the little one slept while she visited.  It was all slumber party style...we had cots, couches, and all beds in use at different times. 

Waking up early to squeeze every possible moment out of every day.....

This was the stairway going up to the bedrooms!  We all almost busted our behinds more than once on this....but still it's just so cute and quaint.

We ate a ridiculous amount of good food....got an enormous amount of sun and sand and were out late whooping it up every night.  I've never laughed so hard for so many days straight in my life.  These two had a LOT to do with that.

 

My daughter and her friend that went with us.  They are both walking comedians. 

We went down to the beach last night around 7.....when the sun is gone...it's perfect timing for great pictures.  I made them do 100's of poses...they felt so silly but I kept telling them "you'll never see these people again in your life!  who CARES?"  they got into it and I got some GREAT pictures.

See what I mean?  One would do something to make the other laugh uncontrollably...and laughter is contagious!

see that CUTE blanket?  and that BIG pearl ring I'm wearing?  Yup...found myself some junk places!  I'll be sharing the loot later in the week but lets just say by Wednesday I was in NEED of some junk.  I did google searches and with the help of blogging friends...found a few places!  Went back a second time too!  I was LUCKY enough to find a Church Rummage sale...small town style...my favorite! That sweet blanket was $2.00!

I pulled it out of the car and thought "PERFECT beach blanket!"  It's lightweight and made of sear sucker.  My daughter thought it was silly to take it down for our photo shoot...but these were times I wanted to remember!

In the afternoon after we'd come back from the beach, I sat on the balcony listening to the roar of the ocean waves working in my journal.  I stuffed as much stuff as possible into this box, and only used what I had.

So now it's back to work, laundry, yard work and all the other things.  I guess all good things have to come to an end sooner or later!

Have a terrific week! 

This is where I've been and this is where I'll be.......

Doing way too much of this

 

 Spending a few days with this one before she leaves tomorrow

 

Seeing the wonder of amusement parks boogie boards, candy stores, all through the eyes of this one!

After she's gone I intend to open up a good book, hunt for some thrift stores and just relax

I hope you get a chance for a little relaxing this summer too!

Journaling again.....

Here's a few more journal pages I've made recently.

The one below is about my sweet mom....I was thinking of my visit with her on Saturday....gearing myself up for it Friday evening last week.  I start thinking about what we'll do for the afternoon while I'm with her.  Usually its lunch out and having her hair done.  Sometimes my sisters and I take her to a local park and walk thru the trails in the woods.  She seems to love this and asks to go back often.

She always seems so shocked when I walk in the door..as if she forgot about me until that very moment...then it seems like pure surprise and happiness to her.  I don't think she has thoughts of me or my sisters during the week...out of sight...out of mind...but she knows us when we're with her...and she is just so giddy and happy the entire time.  I often wonder if she'll call me by name.....and sometimes she does...

It's been two years now since she's been in assisted living, with the last year she's needed assistance with almost everything connected to daily skills.  Dressing.....eating, everything.  At first we were so depressed and sad over her diagnosis....but the pain has eased....for the most part.  I'm still so sad about what she's lost...and what me and my siblings have lost.  I see active vibrant seniors and wish it could be my mom.  I also know first hand what it's like to loose your mother (my mother in law) and how my husband would give anything just to have his mother for one more day.

One of these days I'll  do a page dedicated to my mom that's not related to her illness.  It's not that  I really need to document this.....believe me...it's something I'll never forget.

Now...on to other pages!  I've been following along in Teresa's "Journal of Interest" e-zine.  I'm having a great time trying new things.  The picture below was a challenge to draw something without looking at your paper.  I totally ignored the prompt for a few days because there was no way I'd draw something without looking.  I finally pushed myself to do it and was shocked at the way the bird came out.  It looks nothing like the one I used as a model.....(a print on the wall) but the fact that I could see that it was a bird shocked me.  I started at the top beak and worked my way around the head, and body...when it came time to circle around the bottom for the belly I had the BIGGEST URGE to look.....I kept on until I couldn't stand it anymore and I peeked.  So right about the spot where the bottom beak is where I finished it off while looking.  I added the details etc while looking of course!  I also journaled around the drawing. About certain teenage kids that think they know it all....ahem!

I see that I set this page down in a blob of pink paint.  That's ok......I don't care that there's a little blob of pink in the middle of the text!

Another page......

Here I used some of the vintage ephemera that Beth sent to me.....and some bits and pieces of fabric that I had laying on my desk.

So another Friday is upon me...and again I think of my mom and what adventures we'll have tomorrow when I visit her with my sister (it's always a duel visit...she gets "two kids for the price of one" and my sisters and I get to visit with each other more than we ever have!

Have a fun, creative, treasure filled weekend!

Thats what I love about Sunday....

I spent all day Saturday yard sailing in the rain....and then I still didn't quite get my fix so I went to my favorite thrift store.  The one that had MY DINNING ROOM set for $250.00 back at the beginning of May.  Yesterday was 50% off furniture so I got there when it opened never even thinking I'd see the table and chairs.  I walked in and there it was.  It had been reduced to $200.00 and still had not sold.  So I got it for $100.00.  I was quite happy.  I'd thought about this set SO MUCH since the first of may...and here it is almost 45 days later

 

 

 

I plan on distressing this and painting it white.  I wanted to start on it SO BAD today but I had to see my mom and have fathers day festivities at my house..so it has to wait.  I picked up a huge bolt of grayish white linen at the thrift store a few weeks ago thinking I'd make a few pillows...now I have the perfect fabric for the seats.    My daughter can not understand why I spent a few thousand dollars on a dinning room set five years ago...but now I want this shabby set from the 70's.......she longs for a Pottery Barn style home...but that's not my style anymore.  Who knows...in five years I'll be wishing for ultra modern....(nah)

So after a wonderful visit with my mom and two sisters..it was back home to get ready for fathers day.  My father in law came over and brought me my usual six pack of Corona...and treats for the dogs....

I went out into the yard and cut some pretty blooms....

 

 

 

My little $8.00 table (from the 50% off sale) and my kids' little silver baby cups....not stuck in a cabinet..but looked at and handled often.....

 

 

Their pop-pop ALWAYS brings them each a bag of treats (along with my Coronas) when he comes.  This one kept doing random stunts all day hoping for more.  Heidi is a little bored with it all (in the background) If we yell out "pop pops here!" the dogs go CRAZY!  One time Sarah ran off like a wild woman and wouldn't come back...my daughter yelled at the top of her lungs....."POP POP's HERE!"  and she turned around and made a bee line towards us at full force!

I also got to end the evening with this one......

 

apparently all day she was beyond excited about "the cook out at Robins"  then she fell asleep...she had to be woken up to come.  I showed her my new "art room" which looks NOTHING like the last picture.....I have totally trashed it.  Can't even see the bed.  She immediately wanted to do art......I felt bad because I had nothing planned for her to do and I was supposed to be out back cooking the steaks......so I showed her my Journal...since she has her own that I made way back when.  She seemed pretty impressed....her favorite pages were the collage...with all kinds of random things.  Watching her run her fingers over everything was so sweet.  Kinda like how I felt when saw Hopes Journal

 

she was itching to get her hands on my journal.  She found a page where I was not finished.  A page I copied almost verbatim from "Journal Bliss" and she begged me to paint the bird.  I'd spent quite a bit of time on it....but I felt so selfish for not indulging her in her creative mood.  I quickly gathered up a few paints and let her have at it...

 

 

She quickly finished that and wanted to keep going (you can see her pink bird in the journal at the top of the photo)  So i quickly drew her one of her own..that she could paint and take home....

 

My daughter came through and said "Uh...are we supposed to be cooking or what?"  OOPS!  I got so involved with Lily that I totally forgot about the steaks!  I promised I'd be there in one more minute!  She snapped a picture of Lily and I working....

 

Lily told me all about "don't forget the peek a boo spots"  (that's areas that are not completely colored in) and she wanted orange...for the beak....I told her I didn't think I had orange...but her solution was "don't you have red and yellow?" DUH!  She was great at mixing and knowing what made what colors....something we forget about 40 years later.....

Then it was out to walk in the woods to find mull berries......picked right off the tree....this little city girl as a little apprehensive to do that....but she saw me do it and guessed it was okay.

 

 

thats what I love about Sundays