Loading up... Visits and Flea Market Bound and..... Sweet Life Photos

Hello everyone..
Just a quick post this morning as 
we  pack up our 15 passenger van and trailer 
to pull out on Friday morning.
It's been pretty hectic trying to get ready to go!
But the loose ends always come together as we all work as a team
to pack, clean and load up all the while thinking 
of the adventure and reunions that are ahead!

It's hard to leave home but I told Jeff the other day
that someday I'm going to be very glad for  
making the 3600 mile trip to make those special memories.
My life is mostly about the people in it. 
I want them to know that I love them and 
that they're special to me.

This is my FAVORITE travel quote.

Spring is often the time of year that we travel back east.

My siblings are there and it's where I grew up.

I've posted about our Sugartree place before.

It's a wonderful little amish barn tucked back in the rolling hills

of  farm country in SE Ohio. I will leave this Friday to spend about

a month of treasured time with family and friends. 

So I will be checking in and out on my phone and laptop.

We'll be doing some thrifting and visiting the 

Washington Courthouse Flea in Ohio.
Here's a link if you want to read about it.
We've not ever been to one but the Junk Gypsies say it's
one of the best in the country!
It seems like a long way to go but we're going anyway
and the dates actually work for us.
And honestly a big plus to traveling there is the
prices are much more reasonable and there's so
much more available.

It's the first time we've taken our trailer.  

I'm nervous and excited at the same time.

We're pretty new at this so I've been doing 
research online. According to many,
 making a list is needful because it's so easy to
get caught up in all of the excitement and forget 
what you're there for.
That would be me!
I have been doing some research online
and here are some of the other suggestions that
folks make.

Such as..

*get there early
*bring a bag on wheels
*bring water/food
*carry cash
*make a list
*check items for damage
*make sure you really want the item by marking it up in your head
*wear layers and sunscreen
* don't haggle too much
(people have worked hard to get there)
I'm not good at that anyway.
I always feel badly about asking to pay less.
It isn't always about money.

I made up a little quote a few years back: 

Money talks but it shouldn't have the last say.

It's good to be sensitive.
(any suggestions on that subject?)

I do try to bundle a little though.
(Grouping things together for a total price which 
usually means a little bit of a discount. 
And most people are happy to do that for you.)



Maybe you have some other ideas that you would like to share.
I'd be grateful for any tips!

Here's what we'll be looking for:
   
*Vintage glassware for display to brighten up my dark kitchen.
*Unusual items pertaining to movies and theatre 
(We have a 30 year old Friday night movie tradition)
*Industrial pieces
*Corbels, decorative trim
*Urns, statutes,  
*Old rugs
*Items for re-purposing/re-loving to sell

What're some things that you would like to look for?
*********



Here are some photos of my life in the past few months.

A birthday bouquet..

So BEAUTIFUL... 
pinks and blues with cheerful splashes of green~

Out for a smoothie and a walk with three of my sweet, beautiful girls.
How I do love them and we have SO much fun together!

Making cupcakes and memories with sweet cakelets!

Their creations..
Oh my the hundreds and millions all over the floor! 

A place where hopes and dreams are swirling all around.
I'll share more about this later!

I've been playing some music.
Guess who wants in?
My little pal.  Sweet, Miss Liberty :) 

An early morning visitor.
It makes getting up early so exciting!
I DO love seeing them.
But unfortunately, she and her family are so destructive.

Awwwww... what a beauty.
I just want to pet her and let her stay forever.
I do love country living!



******

I will miss being in touch on a regular basis.
But I will be checking in as often as I can!
Lovely lovely wishes to you
and thank you for your visit!

Hugs,
Tamara 




Another favorite John Denver song that we sing~
and appropriate for our trip.

Take Me Home Country Roads

Denim Hair Flowers for Spring.. And a Little History

Hello.

I hope that you feel beautiful today because you are!

  One of a kind with special talents and an inner-beauty that is

unique to you.

Your story is special. 

I'm just learning this myself and learning how

 to really love myself.

It's slowly changing my life!

Not comparing.

Not doubting.

But just moving forward in the hope, 

inspiration and beauty of it all!

I used to think it was a little late.

But it's never too late to learn who you are, 

listen to your heart and follow those whispers.

*******

I have a bouquet of hair flowers to show you today. 

I was inspired to make them from my pile of worn, denim jeans. 

I love the look of anything made with denim. 

Dress is up or dress it down~

All of those different shades... 

And I love how denim is timeless!

 It's one of those styles that

crosses over into every generation

and has for decades.

To read some history about denim you can go here.

I find it fascinating!

Some materials that I used..

denim

old shirts

glitter 

beads

lace

yo-yo flowers

rhinestone cabachons

acrylic paint

buttons

flower dies from sissix

hot glue

craft glue

As you can see, I just layered co-ordinating pieces.

I did some edgings with glitter and dabbed a bit

of matching acrylic paint on some of the petals.

 I don't have a photo of the finished back.

I'm sorry.. I am a quirky blogger and sometimes forget to be thorough in my photo process :/ 

I'll try to do better!

To keep in the hair, 

I attached the double pronged alligator clip. 

Click here to watch a tutorial on how to line your clip.

This isn't a necessary step, however, it gives your

finished bow or flower a clean, professional appearance.

 I made these to sell and so I had to make a way to display them.

I used a piece of wired, burlap ribbon that you can find in

most craft stores. I attached it to this plastic ring that I had.

I glued some white ribbon on the sides to decorate it a bit

and it was finished! It was perfect for attaching my flowers to.

 The photos also show some little felt

hair-flowers. They are SO easy to make! 

Don't they look like mums? I'm sorry I don't have a

photo how-to for these but they are so super easy 

that I can explain the process.

Decide what size you would like to make. These are 

about 2 1/2 inches wide. Cut a felt rectangle about

3 inches wide and 7-8 inches long. 

Fold this in half length-wise and then cut small strips about 3/4

inch through on the fold. This makes the petals. Take care 

not to cut all the way through.

Then just roll this slowly while gluing it as you go.

It makes a lovely mum!

These were all fun to make. Sometimes I just get inspired to make something from my pile of jeans. I've given some to my

grand daughters at times.

Do you have spring plans?

To take a trip or work on a project? 

Maybe it's time to garden or do your spring cleaning.

We're preparing for a trip. I'll share 

more about that later this week.

I hope that your Monday is wonderful. 

Thank you so much for stopping in! I always

appreciate your visits and your comments so much.

Blessings,

Tamara xo

I'm linking up at:

Share Your Cup

a Rocky Mountain bower of blossoms ... and Bluebird songs

Hello lovelies

clusters and clusters of these sweet, 

beautiful blossoms have created 

a bower of goodness over our humble garden

 area outside our door

fuchsia and white with tiny splashes of yellow

the bees are humming and buzzing about madly 

trying to get to each blossom

it's the musical sound of nature filling the air

and the aroma is SO sweet

don't you just love the

 the wonder of it all and just

stopping now and then to take it all in?

it reminds me of a song I sing..

"I've been watching the sunrise,

I've been listening to the rain.

I've been taking my sweet time and

letting the blue skies carry me away."

I love this time of year 

as the scents and sounds of nature surround us

 here at the foot of Flat Top mountain..

as harsh as it is sometimes, 

I still love being here

 anthers and anthers of sunshiny yellow!

 it's easy to see why the bees 

are buzzing about so madly

I hope this finds you well

what have you been doing?

this morning I was busy planting lilies and dividing

some hens and chicks

it was a deliciously cool 40 degrees

I was thankful for the warm fire in the stove when I came in!

I've also been

working on the rock pathway and buying some lovely

star lanterns for the gypsy camp

you can see them here

transplanting herbs

(trying desperately to grow some green!)

now that I've finished learning Rocky Mountain High

 on the guitar, I'm enjoying playing it often

do you enjoy playing music?

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

here are some blue bird photos that I thought

 you might enjoy

I was so excited to be able to capture the 

Mountain Bluebird and the Western Bluebird

in the same photo!

(these beauties are one of the reasons that 

I love living in the mountains) 

 a Mountain Bluebird in flight

if you'd like to hear the Mountain Bluebird song, click here

 a sweet pair

and to hear the Western Bluebird song, click here

I hope that you enjoyed your visit!

thank you ever so much for stopping in

I hope that your day is a joyous one

I'll be sipping some tea, taking a walk

and working on a project

Blessings to you all

Tamara

Vintage Patterns Make a Pretty Package

Hello and a beautiful Monday to you! 

It was a gorgeous weekend here

although at one point it would snow..

then the sun would shine!

It was cool and breezy and perfect for

working long hours outside

raking, hauling rocks, planting and planning..

and trimming back a very large poplar tree.

I hope you had a good weekend.

Do you have spring fever?

And all of the hopes of dreams that

come with pouring over the seed catalogues...

and taking walk-abouts around the yards and gardens to

see what's coming up!

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

Today I wanted to share a little something that

I do with vintage patterns that I find 

at the thrift shops. 

I really like the warm color of the paper and 

it just has that vintage look to it.

The pictures are so charming. If you like to

draw vintage clothing, these are perfect for

 reference pictures to practice from. 

You could even cut the pictures out 

and make sweet vintage tags for gifts!

 I  think I might want to try that.

The patterns can also be used for mixed media 

art for texture and filling for mailing packages.

I have used them in gift baskets and in place of

 tissue paper in gift bags.

Do you like using them for something?

Here I used one for a simple, victorian-style gift wrap.

I tied it with some seam binding, thin ribbon and lace. And then I added a little angel charm with a tag that I had made.

You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.

Amy Carmichael

Are you a gift-giver? I am.

There are many kinds of gifts.

Kindness

Understanding

A listening ear

Compassion

Time

And then there are the ones that come in a package.

It's something that I can do to make someone 

feel really special. They're a wonderful way

to express appreciation or to say I love you or

I'm thinking of you.

 And I really enjoy dressing up the packages.

It seems to make them a little more personal.

Sometimes it can be simple.

Sometimes very fancy.

It depends on how much time I have.

Thank you so much for coming by.

Wishing you many good things for your week!

 Blessings,

Tamara