Collections....

Dear friends,

Are you a collector? What, in your mind, constitutes a collection? Is it 2 pieces of something? Or, do you have to have 3 of any one type thing for it to qualify? In my mind, where there are 3 like items, there is a collection.

I have LOTS of collections! Today, I thought I'd show you one of my most treasured collections (since I have zippity-zilch-zero stitching to show).

My Charm Bracelets.

I wear them all the time and always get comments and/or compliments on them.

When I was confirmed in our church, at the age of 11, my parents gave me a sterling silver charm bracelet with an ankh cross on it. This was the start of my charm collection. I have been collecting charms for it ever since. This bracelet, in many ways, tells my life story, which I suppose, is what charm bracelets often do and is what makes them so personal and loved. I am still collecting for this heavy weighted beauty and so it continues to grow and tell my story.

I have charms from when I lived in Korea

I have a charm from the Cowboy Hall of Fame

Charms from Disneyland and Disney World

A charm from England commemorating the Queen's Silver Jubilee

A hula dancer from Hawaii

A sunflower from when we lived in Kansas

A tri-corner hat from a family trip, when I was a kid, to Williamsburg, VA

Initials of the boys in those funky people figures from a recent trip to Williamsburg

There are cheerleading charms

An antique banjo from a trip Rob and I took to New Orleans

A baseball for Rob - he's a huge fan and should be your "phone a friend" should the need ever arise.

A hockey player for Matt

A Golfer for Tyler

This bracelet, more than any of my others tells my story. It is one of my most treasured items and could never be replaced.

~ click on the pics for a bigger view ~

But, there are more. When Matt was born, Rob gave me a gold charm bracelet with a baby buggy to represent Matt's birth. When Ty was born, he gave me gold baby shoes to commemorate him. I love this bracelet and it has continued to grow as well. This bracelet has a guitar from Nashville

my high school class ring

an Apple gifted to me by my mom when she and I went to New York

a "slipper" from Hawaii

a small basket to represent my days of selling Longaberger Baskets

hearts from Rob.

This is another of my most treasured pieces of jewelry and it means more to me than I can tell you. The bracelet that Rob originally gave me was a small, dainty one that was getting weighted down by my big charms. For our anniversary, quite a few years later, with the help of my mom, he found this big, chunky, antique bracelet for me on ebay. I had all my charms transferred to this one and I love it. It's big, chunky and jangly! All things I love!

You know, if I consider 3 of something to be a collection, there must be one more coming...

This next one was given to me by my mom (she is a part of all of these, isn't she?). She had started one for herself that represented my dad's army career. He loved the army, loved serving and would serve today, I'm sure, if they'd have him. They should take him - he's more physically fit than most 40 year olds I know. But, I digress..... This bracelet represents his wonderful career. I loved hers so much she did one for both me and my sister. We love them! Included on this bracelet are:

A jeep

a saluting officer

a paratrooper (he jumped out of a LOT of planes)

a pistol

an officers hat

a steel pot helmet and of course,

an American Flag!

Isn't this special?

What do you collect? I'd love to see it!

Rob and I went out and about yesterday in the thumb area for the garage/antique sale trail. I found a few things I'll show you later. This is what Rob found:

NO!! I wouldn't let him bring her home!

Thanks for stopping by and for reading and leaving me a comment. It's so nice to know you were here!

Have a great week everyone!

Peace,

Terri

Pretty in Pink, Prizes, and Pals!

What a fun week and weekend, I’ve had! I celebrated another birthday, heard from friends old and new, and I hosted a pink, girl’s party to celebrate my dear friend's Julie and Sally’s 50^th birthdays!

Do you remember how much I’ve been jonesing over the Franciscan, Desert Rose dishes? Oooh, I just love ‘em! When my folks were in town for Julie’s birthday party, they went out and about for a little bit and my mom happened to spot an Estate Sale sign. Being much like me (actually, I guess I’m just like her), she directed my dad to “Turn in there!” My dad, being used to quick maneuvering for just this sort of thing, put the car on two wheels and did as he was ordered asked.

You know what she found, right?

You Know it!

She got a fairly complete set of Desert Rose dishes, which became my birthday gift!

They also had a matching table cloth and napkins so my table can be set beautifully. What a surprise! Only thing is, after she saw them, she decided that I do indeed have exquisite taste (LOL) and so she’s decided to collect them, too. Won’t we have fun giving each other dishes for our various gifting occasions!? I still need want more pieces so am still on the lookout but I have a really nice start. Thanks, Mom (and Dad, too)!!!

The dishes were just what I dreamed about using to set the perfect, pretty table for Sally and Julie’s pink birthday party but didn’t dream I’d actually have them! Here’s a picture of the table, set in all its pink glory. At each place setting I included a heart shaped tart tin filled with pastel colored chocolate (what else?) kisses. The plate without a heart is mine – I forgot to put one out for me….

Behind the table, on the cart I found in someone’s rubbish (previous post), I placed all things pink. Included were pink candles, more serving dishes, pink marshmallows stocked in mason jars, chocolate bars wrapped in white paper, stamped pink and tied with pink ribbon for s’mores, and other goodies. I served pink wine and our DF Linda brought the best strawberry frozen, vodka punch to coordinate with the pink theme. The weather finally broke and we had a beautiful evening - not too hot, not too cold, it was just right. I know, I can’t really take credit for the weather.

BTW, Sheila has now decided to collect these, too! They are just so pretty and she's a girl that loves pink, also!!!

For milestone birthdays, which seem to come all too quickly, we all chip in and get the birthday girl something special.

For Sally, we got a Troll Beads ™ Cross. I have a couple of Troll Beads bracelets and this cross, too. Sally had admired it a time or two, so we thought that would be a perfect gift for her. The bead in the center (although you can't really see it here) reflects her August birthstone.

For Julie, we got a clock made by a folk artist couple that she loves. Mo and Kelly Dallas create the most fabulous Noah’s arks. Mo does the carving and Kelly does the painting. We saw them last year at the Country Living Fair in Ohio in September. You can see pics of their stuff (and our fun adventure) on this post: http://chocolates4breakfast.blogspot.com/2009/09/lots-of-news.html

We fell in love with their hand carved, hand painted pieces. They do have a line thru a company that produces a few of their designs for a lot less money. But, the originals are fairly expensive. I contacted them soon after the fair to see if they would do one of their clocks for Julie. They did, they even signed the back, and Julie loved it. I asked them to carve giraffes for her animals as they are her daughter Meghan’s favorite! Isn’t it pretty!?

For this pink party, I requested that all the girls wear white and pink as their primary colors. Here's a pic of all of us together in all our pinkness!

So, another year has come and gone and in addition to Julie and Sally, I am also a year older. UGH. But, with the birthday came some extraordinary gifts. Take a gander at the beautiful gift I got from Loraine!

I saw this on the SB site when it first came out and she’s already stitched, finished and mailed it to me. Can you believe it? It is so pretty and I just love it and will treasure it. Loraine and I have become great friends over the course of the last year or so and I can’t wait to spend lots of time together in SLC, Utah in September (SB retreat, here we come!) She also sent me these great scroll rod covers, too. Thank you so much, Sweet, Loraine!

From my dear friend Robin in VA (no blog) I received the most wonderful pillow stitched from a Mary Garry design (I am a huge MG fan!). Although I didn't take the picture on my living room couch, that is where this pillow is happily residing. She also sent me these darling Hello Kitty accessories! How fabulous! Thank you so much dear, Robin!

From Jan, I won a giveaway (talk about perfect timing) – well, I came in 2 second or third place but I felt like I won. She sent the most wonderful 32 count fabric, a needle minder with a crown because, even if she didn’t know it, I AM the princess (at least in my mind), and this gorgeous silk floss. Oooh, what awesome treats! Thank you so much, Jan!

So, here is Loraine’s gift (scroll rod covers) and Jan’s gifts (fabric and needle minder) being used for my current project. Not much to show right now but this is a sweet A&E sampler called The Garden of Eden by The Goode Huswife. I converted the theads from DMC to AVS so we’ll see how it turns out. I thought I’d stitch the border till I couldn’t stand it anymore and I’m just about to that point.

I have more to show and tell but I’ve been told my posts are a bit long winded. I tend to write the way I talk – which is WAY too much, some have said, so I think I’ll stop here.

Okay, just one more thing! Check out these pretty handled screw drivers I've picked up lately. Won't they make a pretty base for a pincushion or punch needle design? I can just imagine the strong man hands that worked with these over the years to give them such a beautiful patina. You want some too, don't cha?

Okay, that's really it. So, until next time, dear friends – much thanks for stopping by – thanks even more for your sweet notes and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

Peace,
Terri

Long, Picture Heavy (hopefully not too boring) Post!

Dear friends,

~ Edited to say what's going on with my paragraph and sentence placement?

I'm here! I'm alive! I've just been BUSY! Thanks so much for all the emails
asking about me. Life has been crazy busy with lots of stuff going on.
But, the garden is blooming, the tomatoes are coming in (and tasting
fabulous), the graduations, weddings and birthday celebrations are in
full swing, estate sales, garage sales, dinners on the patio and the
summertime livin', while not necessarily easy, has been BUSY! I'm going to
bore you with a few shots of my garden interspersed throughout this LONG post.

Remember, all pics are clickable to see in their full glory (especially the doll
house with all it's great furniture)!



I have absolutely zero stitching to show you - so, if that's what you're
here for, I'm sorry to disappoint. I, like a lot of stitchers out
there, am just too busy to find time to stitch right now. Truth be
told, when I do have a few minutes to sit down and could be stitching or
blogging, I prefer to sit on the patio, admiring or working in the
garden (really it's a yard with a few plants but I like to call it a
garden) and watching the birds flit in and out of the birdhouses and
back and forth between feeders. Add to that a glass of iced tea or a
glass of wine and stitching and/or blogging quickly become a distant
memory.

I do have some cool estate sale finds to show you.



An estate sale is really a glorified garage sale but it just sounds a
little more upscale, doesn't it?

Do you think Martha (do I really have to spell out her last name?) goes
to garage sales? I've heard her talk about "tag" sales, AKA estate
sales but can't recall hearing her talk about garage sales per se'. I
doubt they do that in the Hamptons and I doubt I could afford anything
in a Hamptons garage or estate sale anyway. Wouldn't you just keel over
if she got out of her car (would she drive a Bentley, a Jag, a Mercedes, or
would she have a driver?) and walked up your driveway and said, "OMG,
I've just got to have that bowl. Would you take a quarter for it?"
You know, rich people are rich because they like a bargain even more than us regular folks do!



I would probably say, "I' don't know, Martha. Fifty cents seems fair to me."
Do you think she'd buy it? I'd love to meet her some day. Do you think she reads blogs?
Good golly, I barely have time to read them, I'm sure she doesn't. She probably
has someone read them for her and report in.

Okay, sorry, I digress.... back to garage, I mean estate sale finds.

Do you like doll houses? How about doll rooms? I found this at an
estate sale recently and it was marked $100 to include all the
furniture. No way I would spend $100 for it but as it happens, Rob and
I were there the last day, near the end of the day, and they announced
that everything was 75% off so for $25 I took it.


I thought I could stitch a sampler, punch-needle a rug and just have fun with it.
I brought it home and it didn't really work for me but Sheila has a
doll house she's been trying to furnish so I let her have it. Well, not
really have it, I sold it to her for what I paid for it but I kept the
spinning wheel for my craft room as my finder's fee. All the furniture
was wood and was in perfect condition. The big organ is a music box and
all the doors open on all the furniture pieces and the insides of the game table
are lined with felt. Very pretty!!

They also had this cool door that had once belonged to a built in cabinet in the house.
It was marked $40 so I got it for $10 and just love it. I've just set it in my foyer
window for now but Rob will hang it for me sometime so it will hang in the middle of that
window. The light thru the yellow glass looks really pretty.


At the same estate sale they had a deal where you could stuff a plastic
bag with anything marked $20 or less and pay a whopping $5 for all that
fit in the bag. There wasn't a lot of small stuff left but I did pick
up these little dolls and a few other small things. I got the Scarlet
O'Hara doll because Rob is always quoting a line from that movie to me.
When I don't like the way something is going, or something he's
suggested he'll say "Don't turn your nose up at me Katie Scarlett." The
boy doll, while not Rhett, was cute, don't you think? The other doll was just too
cute not to stuff in the bag.



I did hit a garage sale a week or so ago and while there was not a thing
there I wanted, the lady that lived there was charming and I sat and
talked with her a while. She asked what I was looking for and I told
her that basically I look for vintage linens, glassware etc. She asked
me to wait and came out with this beautiful tablecloth and these
wonderful hankies.


Isn't the edge of the tablecloth pretty:

The pretty hankies:


The table cloth was one her family had used every year for Christmas but
she no longer hosted the Christmas dinner so she'd love for me to have
it (for a price, of course!). The hankies, her great aunt had tatted
years ago. I snatched those up, too. There's something so much more
elegant about a hankie than a tissue. Don't you think? Well, as long as it's
not full of... you know....
Anyway, I went to a funeral a few years ago and an older, very elegant woman
had a gorgeous hanky she was using to blot her tears (not blow her nose - yuck!).
I knew at that moment that I wanted to do that as well and I've collected them
ever since, but these are my favorites. I ended up carrying one
of these to the wedding I went to last weekend and it came in quite handy.
Not for any tears I shed but for the heat induced glistening showing up on
my face!

I also picked up a TON of Tupperware at an estate sale in my subdivision. All this on the
table was less than $10. After I got home, washed it well and was putting it away,
I was kind of sorry I didn't buy the cake cover thingy they had for 50 cents.
I don't bake much but when I do need one, I'd have it. So, I ran back to the sale
and they had put out even more Tupperware. I ended up with a great amount for
well under $20. I gathered up all my junky stuff and sent it to Goodwill. Yeah!



Here's another tablecloth I picked up recently. Sorry for the wrinkled picture,
but isn't it pretty!? I think this was all of $3. I just love it for a summertime
table setting.







Here is my little family all dressed and ready to go to the wedding I mentioned
above. Matt has been cut out. The heat was sweltering and standing outside in
the heat to take "dumb pictures" was not making him happy and his face showed it!


The bigger event for ME over the past few weeks was planning and throwing
a surprise birthday party for Julie at my house. Julie's DH, John
wanted to give her a surprise party so I volunteered my services and
house. I am nothing if not a deal maker so I told him, if he foot the
bill, I'd host the party. He graciously accepted and off we went.
Trust me, it's really fun to host a party when you don't have to foot
the bill for the food and booze!

I love throwing parties; big or small doesn't matter. This was a moderate
sized party, I guess; about 50+ guests. Julie's parents
came in from Wisconsin, her sister came in from Minnesota, another
sister and her family live in the area and her sister's MIL and DH came,
a brother and his wife came from Pennsylvania, my parents came from
Virginia and Julie's closest college friends and her closest high school
friends made it in for the party, too. The party was a big success, Julie was
surprised and it was a lot of fun. I didn't get a lot of pictures as I was too busy
but here's a shot of folks sweltering in the heat:

This is Julie's son Josh (center) and her nephews Benjamin and Matthew sitting down to eat.




I went to my friend Sheila's son's graduation party on Sunday in Grosse
Pointe. If you've seen the movie Grosse Pointe Blank, you may recall
the gorgeous homes in this area. Very wealthy, old money. After the
party, Julie and I decided to take a little tour of the area. Guess
what? Sunday night must have been trash night and look what the rich
folks threw out and I picked up!

Free. Off the street. Gotta love it!

I am hosting another party this Saturday for my friends Sally and Julie who
are both turning 50. We have a group of 8 gals that get together as
often as we can for a girls night and we celebrate each other's life
events as well. I told them all this was going to be a pink party so
everyone has to wear some combination of primarily pink and white. I'm
hoping for a lovely picture of all of us together. I'll post more on
that next week.



I hope you're all having a great summer - ours has been busy with not
much stitching for me - but it has been good. I have started something new
but not much progress yet. Pictures and details to follow.

Last but not least - I took a walk the other day through a cemetery near our
house. This little angel was just beautiful and sweet and sad, too.



So - in a big nutshell, that's what I've been up to.

Thanks for stopping by, thank you for becoming a follower (if I haven't
visited your site, I will soon, I promise) and thank you for your sweet
comments.

Peace,
Terri