Some painted shirts

family, paintings

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Way back when my boys were little, I used to hand paint tee shirts for them.  Then, later on, it became a business for me and I’d sell tees and sweatshirts wholesale to local boutiques and to Silver Dollar City.  After years of it, I burnt out and went on to other endeavors.

 When the grandfairies came along, I painted a handful of shirts for them, but not many.  

Funny, that I never took the time to create more than a couple for them.  I guess that burn out ran deep.

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Every once in a while, I do some as baby gifts because babies in onesies are about as cute as anything can be.  I love onesies, but they can be kinda boring as a gift, so I add something personal.  Like this fish for a nephew who lives by the shore.

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And this pup for another nephew who has two yellow labs and a new baby.  I painted a six pack of shirts as baby gifts, but forgot to take photos of the rest.  

The best part was that I really had a good time doing them.  Maybe the exhaustion from the year that I painted over a thousand has finally dissipated. 

 

 

 

Seashell fairies at Indian Rocks

fairies, Ryan, sea shell fairies, Travel

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 I had a restful, and much needed vacation with my sisters at the beach.

Indian Rocks is not my favorite beach, mostly because of the lack of shells.  But the ocean was beautiful, the sunsets were colorful, and the company was the best.  Plus, I managed to find just enough shells to make two fairies.

And I am being very precise with my words telling you that, there honestly were not many shells.  

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I was pleased to be able to make one fairy and felt very lucky to have scrambled enough shells together for her, then told myself on the last day that I wanted to find a heart and create an Angel for my Ryan before I left.  The wind was rough that day so I decided to walk into it for the first part of the stroll, knowing it’s always easier to return with the wind at your back, not in your face.

These bits and pieces came my way on that last, windy walk and I was able to construct this for Ryan, just as I’d hoped to.  I sprinkled a few more of his ashes, listened to his song again, and told him that I love him.

But he knows that.

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Here is the first sprite I made.  Her hair looks like she was battling the wind as much as I was, doesn’t it? 

I consider her more of a fairy, and the second one is an Angel.  But I guess it is all in the eyes of who sees them and what they think of them.  

That is, if anyone actually sees them.  But that isn’t the point of making them.  

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The beach fairies are a blessing and a thank you to nature that I make for the pure pleasure of crafting them.

My sissies took me to another beach, where I also gathered some shells to bring home.  I’m hoping to craft some shellfolk in epoxy with those, so will have some to share that aren’t just memories that wash away in the surf.

 

At the beach

family, Ryan, Travel

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Last week,  I spent five days at Indian Rocks with my sisters.  We had very pleasant, although a bit windy, weather.  

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And lots of time to sit on the edge of the water and let our toes wiggle into the disappearing sand that washes out with the waves.

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My niece was also visiting with her family, so we had good company to hang with.  I actually had someone there who liked getting in the surf, and at the same time that the temperature was ideal for swimming! The only trouble was that my head is still wonky from Sugar plowing into me, and I didn’t want to jostle my brain by getting flipped around too much while wave jumping.

So I mostly just waded out into about waist deep water and made the big girl choice of not body surfing back in.  

Ugh.  Being practical and safe sucks.  

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Indian Rocks is relaxing, which is what I needed.  My Dr. told me that I should be resting, so that is what I did.  Most of the time, I was sitting on the beach or the balcony wearing dark glasses and not reading.  

By mid week, I actually was feeling better.  I still avoided going out much, and stayed in when others went out to eat a few times.

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Typically, I walk for hours when in Florida, but this time, it was pretty low key, with shorter strolls.  On one trip up the shore, I came across this dead bonnet head shark, about 2’ long. That was something I’ve never seen before.  He looked about the way I felt, after dealing with weeks of concussion discomfort, fog, and kind of an overall flatness.  I simply have not been myself.

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Still, I  did get out to explore the area, it wasn’t all droopiness and exhaustion.  We went antiquing and exploring a couple times too.  The beach we stayed at had a serious lack of shells.  

I mean, sadly so.  I am always glad to find broken bits to use in my sea shell fairies, but dang, this place mostly had shapeless crumbs.

So my sisters took me to Passé Grille beach after I did some research on nearby beaches to hunt shells on.  You really can’t tell from this photo, but behind me are piles and piles of shells, like snowdrifts.  We went to the tip of the island, which was rocky and excellent for catching all the ones that washed up.

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Another morning, we played tourist at the Don Cesar.  We have stayed there before, but it’s pretty pricey, so this time we were visitors, not guests.  And you know what?  That works out pretty well.  Honestly, the rooms there, while being elegant, are too small.  Renting a spacious condo, driving to and spending time walking through the Pink Palace, strolling their beach, then having some ice cream is a better way to go for us.

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We were there before it got hot, then did some antiquing after. 
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Shelling wasn’t great, but better than Indian Rocks, (which could be said about any beach because Indian Rocks is about as bad as it gets).  I found enough to make a heart for Ryan.

 It was the anniversary of his death.

I listened to his song and sprinkled a handful of ashes. I always take a little bag with me when I travel.  I know, pretty weird, but Ryan was always such a good travel buddy.  Funny, he hated, absolutely hated to travel, but when we made him go on family adventures he had the best attitude of anyone there and was helpful, thoughtful and fun to be with.  

So I like to find a quiet spot, sprinkle some ash and tell him how much I’d have enjoyed having him with me.

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A lesson learned in the past, that I am remembering as I set up my Good Juju booth

antiques/junking, collections, Good JuJu, paintings, vintage paper/collage art

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Hmmm, now I am wondering why I spent so much time remaking my wall, when you don’t even see it.  Yep, this spot is FULL.

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Adding the “porch” awning allowed me to really overfill.  I love that structure that Rich built for me, even if it got buried and is now hidden.

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One reason that I am excited to join the Good Juju venue, is that while it is full of wonderful antiquities and awesome junk, there are also handmade items and lots of artwork.  

All of my favorite things, so right up my alley!

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I’ll be having hand painted furniture, vintage paper collage, old stuff, painted signs and canvases, and some jewelry.

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These necklaces are my “Recycled Charms”, pendants made of bits of jewelry I have collected over the years.

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This side of the door holds sterling silver with genuine stones.

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If all goes well, this can be a place where I can indulge my creative whims.

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While I am kinda rusty on the antique mall biz, and it’s been a while since I had a booth, I did set up my garage as a shop during Birdsong events, so I stayed, somewhat in the commerce world.

I’m hoping I’m just a little rusty, not completely out of it.

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No matter how long I’ve been away, there is one rule that will never leave me- I will NOT willy nilly buy things just because I think they will sell. I’ll only offer goods in my booth that I would want for myself, in my own home, and stay with my own sense of style. 

For one thing, you never know what you’ll get stuck with, so I have things I like just in case they do end up at my own home later on.  My house is furnished right now with leftovers that did not sell.

Also, with a small spot, I need to be able to coordinate the items and have a flow.  Although I do have to admit, that I’ve packed so much into this little corner that the flow could look more like a log jam, huh?

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I feel like everything I add to the spot should give me a little tug, one that says, “Hey, don’t sell that!  Think how great it would look on my living room wall! Or in the studio!  Or hey- I can make something with that!”

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Please wish me luck, it might take me a while to find my niche at this mall.  For now, I’m throwing all my faves into the spot and seeing how it goes. 
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Florida Friends

family, Travel

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As we always do, we had a good time on our Florida Sister Trip.

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We tend to meet interesting friends along the way.

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We are people who stop the car to make use of the delightful props the state of Florida provides for us.

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And this spot in St Pete next door to an antique mall was full of opportunities to mingle with the local critters.

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We also gravitate toward parking lot signage.

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By the look on this mermaid’s face, I’m not sure if she enjoyed meeting us as much as we did meeting her.

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The ice cream store mermaids at John’s Pass are always happy to have us visit, though.

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But I think my favorite new buddy is the 20’ tall flamingo at the Tampa airport. 

 

A redo at Juju

antiques/junking, friends, Good JuJu, redos

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I have been busy.  Way busy.

My upstairs spot at Good Juju was not quite the right fit for me.  Plus, my friends were downstairs and I wanted to be near them.  Beth offered to share, but I am not ready for a big space, so she offered me a sixth of her big area and that was just ideal! And she let me do some remodeling while she was on vacation.

She also got some solid walls added. Our friend, Sam, covered bare 2x4s with paneling so I could paint them, and I used some of the leftover colors to paint the back of this display too.

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The new walls are neutral shades of blue, green and grey.  On the back wall, to cover an old garage door, we hung a 9×12 canvas and way up high, added some homemade grapevine wreaths.  I covered the table this hutch sits on with a burlap skirt and added a strip cut from a lace curtain across it so the bright light bulbs don’t bother anyone’s eyes with their glare.

Beth also offered to share this spot, it is her craft supply corner, and I added a few tidbits to the display after setting it up.

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Here is Sam, hard at work, making the walls. They really add a lot to the area.

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Here is a before, or I guess, a during shot.  With Sam building wall to the right, and my darling husband building a shelf/porch awning for my wall to the left.

In the back, you can see the before of the garage door wall.

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This is a close up.  It looks a little sad here, but Beth is so good with displaying her great finds, that honestly, you didn’t even notice it before.  Still, I’m pretty happy with the streamlined look that the canvas drop cloth gave the room.  It was $10, and simply nailed to the wall above the garage door windows.  But, it let light shine in weirdly.  So I had to go behind it and nail cardboard over the panes of glass.

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Here it is with fresh paint, back wall covered, wreaths in place, and a picket fence hung from the ceiling to cover some grids.

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The wreaths are huge!  Sugarwings and Rich pulled the vines down from trees in our woods, and we wrangled them into shape together.  It was harder to do than you’d think, you really need to man handle those thick vines to convince them they want to be in a circle.

After the thickest pieces were twisted into each other, we secured them with a bit of wire.  Then, I started weaving smaller pieces in and out to fill in.  I don’t know if you can tell just how big these (very heavy) guys are, but the largest is about 4’tall.

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Here is another in progress photo, before the wreaths and picket fence. My wall is gray.

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And I am sooooo happy with how it turned out!  The porch columns give it a sense of structure, so I feel like I have a real spot of my own, not just a wall.  And the door on the front will give me space to hang jewelry that I have made.  

And the shelf!!!  

So much can fit onto that wonderful shelf!  If you don’t have much square footage, go UP.  Use the air space, right?

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Here is a cleaned, but not finished pic of the spot.  Beth and I were going to work on it after her trip, but she got sick.  So Angie, our delightful neighbor, helped move furniture with me, and I rearranged things as much as I could.  Beth will bring in more before the sale and add to it quite a bit.

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I had told myself  that I wouldn’t set up too much of her area, but hey- that’s the fun part!

So, I am guilty of doing a few displays… with the knowledge that she will probably remake them when she comes back.  But on the other hand, this way, she doesn’t have any pressure to come in if she isn’t up to it.  It’s okay as is, if she needs more time.

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My wall needs more work, there are changes I want to make.  I’ve kept a black tub underneath the table for storage, and the lace on it stands out to much.  I need a plain, dark cloth over it so it disappears.  And I probably have too much hanging from the shelf.  It went from full to cluttered. 

For now, I’m headed to Florida for a rare, springtime sister trip.  My plan is to rest my poor head and recover from this concussion.  My doctor says I have been over doing it and while I hate to admit that, I agree.  I have felt awful throughout this whole escapade and look forward to a quiet week with dark glasses on to rest up.

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Morels!

Food and Drink

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Mushrooms are not my fave.  That said, I do love a tasty morel!  Maybe it is the fleeting time frame, and treasure hunt aspect of them that make them so special.  Well, that part is fun, but I think it’s probably the crispy, salty crunch of the fried batter on them.  

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My husband not only adores mushrooms, even more so, morels- he was hooked on the treasure hunt and spent days out in the woods with his dogs searching.  I only went once, and that is the day that I got this horrid concussion that is still bothering me weeks later.

 And no, I didn’t find a single morel, either.  Plus, we lost Sugar’s Itag, and you’d think it would be easy to find, since that is what it’s made for, right?

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Well, my phone took me directly to the point along the river where it was pulled off of her collar in the brush.  But that was in the middle of a big deadfall we tried, but couldn’t get through.  After trudging five miles through the woods after my head getting clunked into by a full speed doodle’s head who had ran towards me as I bent to tie my shoe, I decided I was ready to walk away from that itag.  

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While dealing with the delay of trying to get my wits about me after Sugar smacked my noggin, another hunter made it to the secret spot we were heading toward and when we got there, his bag was full of the mushrooms we’d gone there to find.  So, not exactly our day.

Luckily, Rich was relentless in his hunt, and came home with enough for a few good meals, multiple times.

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He even found more than we had time to eat while they were fresh, so we have tried freezing some.  First step after soaking and cleaning was to cut them in half.

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Next, an egg dip and drudge into seasoned flour.  Then we spread them out on a cookie sheet to freeze, and layered with parchment paper in freezer bags after.  

We ended up with two gallon bags in the freezer, and high hopes that the experiment worked and they will be delicious when we fry them up.

 

A walk to see the horses

dogs, friends

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While our neighbors were out of town, we kept an eye on their five horses.

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It was a pleasant walk down the road to visit, so we thought we’d take the doodles.   And yes, the dogs LOVED going there.

Too much so.

Molly will not be invited to go back with us, after coming home green and smelly.  I didn’t care for having her on a leash to get home. 

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Along the way, we found this little guy in the highway.  Now he has been placed safely up by the pond.

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We have come across turtles in the road a lot, but never a tiny baby before.  I guess they are just so little they are easy to miss.  

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This memorial for Dusty was in the flowerbed of our friend’s home.  He was such a sweet horse. And his mama had lived with us for years in our old barn, so I kinda felt like I was his god mother, or an auntie of some kind.  He was such a mild mannered, good guy, that he was always a star in all of the local parades and Santa rode him for the holiday parade.  

Dusty will be missed.

New in the studio

cottage, Hens, studio tour

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Did I mention our new peeps?

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They arrived on the day before Easter, and it was right after I got whacked in the head, so I was resting and still in bed.

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Rich walked in with a box shaped like the kind Duncan Donut uses and I thought he was bringing me breakfast in bed since I wasn’t feeling so hot, quite a surprise!

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But these were an even better surprise.  They named after donuts because of my first impression of them.  

Eclair

Glazey

Cruller

Blueberry

Long Jane (I guess I could’ve named a hen John, but thought this was cute, I just call her Janey)

Maple

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We enjoyed the new peeps so much we promptly bought six more, this time “Olive Eggers.”

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Here is a more recent photo, they are starting to feather out and learn to fly.  We put a grate over then pen to keep them in.  While I do not mind sharing my studio with them, to keep them warm, I don’t particularly like the idea of them having free range of it.

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They have the sweetest songs as the peep and tweet all day.  It’s been such a relaxing sound to have in the background as I work.  I will miss them when they go to live in the coop with the big girls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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