Vintage Finds and Peaceful Words For A Winter's Day

A friendly welcome to my 

friends and new followers.

I'm so glad that you're all here.

Thank you for coming by.

I hope your week has been filled

with wonder and delight.

New experiences and a quiet

contentment with the familiar.

I do enjoy winter very much.

********

 Walks in the chilly air.

A good game of Fox and Geese

Campfires in the cold

Snow

Steaming cups of tea

 Neatly stacked fire wood

What good is the warmth of summer

without the cold of winter

to give it sweetness.

~Author Unknown

``````````````````````````

And another thing

that I enjoy is thrift store shopping. 

It's one of my favorite 

things to do.

Do you find it relaxing or exciting to look?

It can be both for me! 

A few months back,

I found these old hymnals. I like most old books

 and music is such a big part of my life. 

I am a gatherer..

  Sheet music or any kind of 

book that is related. 

I love the look of aged paper... 

especially with notes. 

I have seen crafters and artists 

   use it for creating many different projects. 

I enjoy using it for that as well and 

some I just collect.

These two are too special to take apart.

(I find it really hard pulling books apart anyway.

They just seem sacred to me...

 or something like that...am I strange? )

I have never seen a Psalter Hymnal..

I was very excited o find it.

The gilding and details on both of these

books are so special.

The edges and corners are so tattered  

and torn from hands taking them from

their place in the back of the pew. 

And possibly from falling to the floor from

the hands of little ones that are so

eager to read and sing along...

When I thought of these photos, 

 the colors of winter came to mind...

gray

blue

creamy white

brown... 

 and 

even green.

 The words still read the same.

Bringing peace and hope.

And the old scratched teapot. 

It's lid wouldn't stay on but it really

was a beauty to me with all of it's

scrolling details...

the pretty botanical handle and tarnished finish.

Winter days just seem to call 

to my heart to be still.

 Here's a handmade, cotton apron with it's 

corn flower-hued roses and 

vintage green leaves. I knew it was very old when 

I saw it and I couldn't resist bringing it home.

The cotton fabric is so soft 

and the added ribbons are so nice.

(The apron is tied on my thrifted wedding

dress that I found for a dollar. 

But she deserves a post

all her own and so that will come later!)

Hydrangeas from a family picnic last fall.

******

Winter is a time for comfort,

For good food and warmth,

For the touch of a friendly hand

and for a talk beside the fire:

It is the time for home.

It is no season in which to

Wander the world as if one 

Were the wind blowing aimlessly

Along the streets without a place to rest

Without food and without 

meaning anything to one.

Just as time means nothing to the wind.

Edith Sitwell

How many lessons of faith and

beauty we should lose,

if there were no winter in our year!

~

Thomas Wentworth Higginson

April Days, 1861

I hope you've enjoyed your visit.
Stay warm and be safe.

Blessings,
Tamara xo

Joining the party at:

Shabbalicious Friday Link Party

Vintage Inspiration Party

Sundays At Home

Grow Your Blog 2015

Hi.. My name is Tamara.

Welcome to my blog and thank you for 

stopping by.

I've never done anything like this before so I'm

a little unsure of how...

but I'm looking forward to being a part and

excited to make some new

"blogger friends" and share the goodness.

Thank you to Vicki and her helpers

  for giving me the opportunity.

*******

My blogging journey has been rather

slow-paced. I have a very large family. A mix of 

wonderful, adopted children and 

wonderful, birth children! And

though I love the connections I have made
through blogging, 
most of my time

has been happily immersed in family

life and church ministry.

We're a home-schooling family and 

the youngest will graduate this spring.

And with this exciting event,

there opens a door 

into a new season in my life.

It's very bittersweet.

(We do still have precious, little ones 

running about.. 8 grand children

and another coming in April!)

Just mentioning the blogging friend 
connections that 

I've made isn't enough.

I am very grateful to all of those in the

blogger world that have 

been so kind, 

and are so talented 

and inspiring. 

It's been so fun, encouraging,
educational...and well... just
 a real pleasure to get to know some 
 other creative souls to share interests
and passions and friendships with!

(I have spent so much time reading 
and watching artist/craft videos that I feel
that I've taken at LEAST a 101 course! :)

I 

HAVE

LEARNED SO MUCH

 from these wonderful, 

 gracious folks!

It really has taken me a long time to 
"find my style" and get to know myself.
I have learned so much and I'm
still learning to follow my heart
and listen to the little whispers
that lead me. This journey of crafting
has truly opened up my life in so many ways.

(I have an ongoing series called "Art Inspiration" where I share
more of my thoughts about my journey.)

It's been discouraging at times
and the encouragement that I have found from 
other bloggers..artists.. God and my family 
has been priceless.


I'm so thankful that I have a supportive husband
 that sees the beauty in what I do.  What I make
and the entire journey itself. He's so sweet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've always enjoyed writing and

 the name of my blog reflects my belief

that there are beauty and blessings everywhere.

 And as I try to focus on the

 positive things, I hope to encourage people

and bring inspiration to others,

if even in some small way.

What do I like to write about?

There are many things that I 

find inspiration in..

Music

Nature

Handmade treasures

Art

Photography

People
Faith 

Books or 

just words..

(my list could go on and so I'll

 say "just life in general")

I love life ...even in the hard things,

inspiration can be found..if I'm willing

 "There is such 
beauty and inspiration in 

the every day." 

I have to work each day at making choices
that allow me to take them in.

{The tricky part is having enough time to write 

about all of the things that i find 

interesting and inspiring!}

And one of my 

blog goals for 2015 is to...

add pages...

and write more..

(I guess that's two)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's another part to my blog....

and that's about 

making beautiful 

and inspiring things.

My main thing seems to be 

shabby and vintage.

But I love paper...string..rust..

chippy wood.. wire..

fabric, glitter... and more.

 Up-cycling or re-purposing.
However one wants to say it. 
It's a fun and satisfying way to create.

I love to thrift store shop and once found a 

beautiful wedding dress 

with a gorgeous hat...

for... a dollar..

I am learning to make all sorts of things..

weathered wood signs..

jewelry... paper crafts, 

 altered things..
 bottles..books..clothes 

and sticks.

Furniture re-dos 

and so much more.

I really love the neutral colors 

and very soft pinks

but there's 

somewhat of a gypsy in me also.. 

I love traveling and those beautiful,

vibrant, flowing, Bohemian colors!

(This will shed some light on my 
"venture" name.) 

I have been selling a few things here and there,

and now that I have more time,

I have given my venture a name.

The Shabby Gypsy

Here are some photos of some of 
the things that I have made ..
I apologize for the quality of some of the 
photos.. I am still learning.

 An altered matchbox. 
(a not so good photo)

 An altered antique bottle.
Another not-so-good photo

An altered book.

 My first attempt at a mixed-media journal.
It was a lot of fun but I was advised by a very sweet,
licensed artist friend of mine that it's 
too busy. There is too much to focus on! 
Very true.

I find myself very 
drawn to nature.

the quiet..

the beauty..

 and all the little
lessons of life.

The following are some photos of 
some of my wanderings.. 
and findings..

I live in the beautiful White Mountains of AZ.
It's not always this green. These were taken
after the summer rains.

And then..here are a few of my other projects.

My husband is excited to retire 

so we can do this full time.

But that won't be for several years yet!

So.. for the time being,

 I will be working on my projects

 as much as I possibly can.
Enjoying my family and life while

 learning more and being open to the

opportunities that I have.

 My creative space is a work in progress
and I hope to have it 

ready for Karen Valentine's next

"Where Bloggers Create" party in July.

Here is the link to last year's party.

Well, thank you so very much for stopping by.
I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

(I hope I did ok and that it's not too long.)

Blessings to you,

and I look forward to our "meeting!"

Tamara xo

A Salvaged, Weathered Wood Sign Embellished With Rusty Goodness

Making signs is one of my favorite ways to be creative.

I believe that I've mentioned before that we "inherited"

  a lot of wood when we bought our place. Which is 

perfect because I can use it for my wood projects!

 This piece has so much character. 

I wish now that I would have gotten some

close-ups of some of the details. 

But I'm sure you get the idea. 

I just love the rough edges and 

you can kind of see the broken knothole

on the left. The grain of the wood is 

so visible from the years of weathering.

I just dry-brushed the lovely gray with some

Antique White acrylic craft paint.

After that dried, I lightly brushed on some

Lagoon acrylic to add a little color. 

I really like that with the 

rust, white and gray.

And I didn't notice at first, but it actually matched 

the patina coloring in one of the rusty pieces that

I chose from my junk stash.

And I just happened to grab a shot of that

because I thought it was so neat.

There are some criss-crossed rusty nails

in one corner. (I'm sorry I didn't get 

more detailed photos. I get so impatient sometimes

that I forget that.) The rest pretty

much speaks for itself.

~ GRATEFUL ~

It's been one of my favorite words for 

awhile now. I just keep having so many reasons for it.

My life is so blessed. 

And in December, my husband, of

almost thirty years, survived a terrible

accident in which he totaled his pick-up.

He sustained only a few minor injuries and

was treated and released that same morning.

And that is just ONE thing.

And so I have 

adopted GRATEFUL to be

my word for 2015.

Here is one of my gathered quotes..

 Gratitude unlocks the fulness of life.

It turns what we have into enough and more.

It turns denial to acceptance,

chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast,

a house into a home,

and a stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sense of our past,

brings peace for today

and creates a vision (of hope)  parenthesis mine

for tomorrow. 

{ Melody B. }

I hope you've enjoyed your visit and 

found it to be inspirational.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Blessings, 

Tamara

Joining the inspiration at:

Sundays At Home