King Midas Of The Buttons

I saw an estate sale listed as having fabrics and notions.  A LOT of fabrics and notions.

So off we went.

There was a slight chance of snow.

Lake effect near the lake

We are not near the lake.

We got to the sale and there were people standing outside.

Normal.

Once we got inside I scooped up some laces and odds and ends.

Then I headed upstairs where the fabrics where.

There, I found buttons.

TONS of buttons!!

Bottles, bags, and envelopes of buttons.

They were very inexpensive.

There were also old antique buttons.

I didn't buy too many of them.

But then I went back the next day.

Half price the half price they were already marked.

Some are truly amazing!

These are some of them.

I love the large middle one.  It's stunning.

We drove further north and east to a few more sales.

The snow started to come down.

We stopped at one and I found this cool pocket watch.

I paid .50 for it.

FIFTY CENTS!!!!!!

I was thrilled beyond words.

Also this sweater closure thingy.

Pretty isn't it?

They had some newer jewelry that had huge price tags on it.

By the time we left it had snowed several inches.

Lake effect snow comes down fast and is huge flakes.

By the time we got home to our town

there was nary a flake to be seen.

I've lived in the Chicago area for 20 years

and I still am not used to the weird weather fluctuations.

I made jewelry this weekend, too.

And this is the back side:

The best part of this is the back.

I found this teeny tiny Marshall Field's tags on Ebay.

Marshall Field's was a HUGE department store in Chicago.

It was taken over by Macy's a few years ago.

Macy's in the same building.

But

It's not the same.

I loved this on the back of the gun.

What little girls are made of.

Gunpowder, Lead and Marshall Field's!!

More steampunk
This time I added octopuses.
I thought the plural of octopus was octopi.
It's not.
I looked it up.
You know.
In case you need it for
Words With Friends
I'm here to help...

And another Oz necklace.

A colorful pair of hippie/ gypsy earrings.

The sun has been shining a bit more.

Color looks really good to me right now.

Have a colorful week!!

We Got Us Some Valentines

Last year this was a key chain.  I never listed it and decided to remake it into a necklace.

It cracks me up. 

 It was cut out of an old Harold Robbins novel.  

He was the "hot" romance/trash novelist of the time in the 60's and 70's.  

Pretty racy stuff back then.

I added some fun old beads.

It's really long, too.

I have no idea WHAT this woman is doing.

I thought the picture was great, though.

More Romance.

This came out of a less trashy romance novel.

Romance novels are very popular at the library where I work.

The funny part is so many of the women who read them

apologize for checking them out!

This always makes me laugh.

And I say,

"We just check out your materials.  We don't judge."

Then I wink and tell them to enjoy it.

The sweetest library story about romance novels is this one.

An older woman who has long since passed on used to 

check out a lot of them.  She was so much fun.  I really miss her.

She was very outspoken and would just blurt out the most 

hilarious things.

One day, she says,

"Do you know why I read this junk?"

I didn't know what to say.

So, I kept quiet and smiled.

She said,

"Because

I want to remember

what it was like."

That always brings a smile to my face.

And

A little tear to my eye.

She was a wonderful lady.

And that - is a wonderful memory.

I Fear I'm Completely Bonkers

I've said this before.

But,

Sometimes I look at what I make and think,

"Lordy. Lordy.  I'm Sybil"

I did not make this.

My friend Cameron did.

She has a blog called

Paint Myself Pretty.

Her art is gorgeous.

She does the most magnificent eyes.

She has a style.

I can spot Cameron's art from 500 miles away.

 Me?

I'm all over the board.

I wish I had a style.

My style seems to be:

"Um. Mmmm.   Girl. You is one crazy mess!"

That's not the style I want to be.

But, apparently

it is who I am.

Sounds like a song cue doesn't it?

I was going to plug in the song

"I'm Sexy And I Know It"

because it makes me laugh.

But-

I couldn't get it to fit into this blog.

So I'll post some lovely jewelry pictures.

I like buttons and old stuff.

See.

Old stuff.  Buttons.

But then,

I need to shake it up.

And I end up with this:

Or these!

Dragons breath (Mexican Opal) 

GORGEOUS to look at.

And then the next thing you know

I'm making these.

For Valentine's Day.

?

I did make some nice Valentine earrings.

I did!

See!  

I can do pretty.

But then the dragons begged to be made.

And the frog asked so sweetly.

He looked ever the gentleman in his debonair top hat.

And before I could say

in my best Jim Carrey voice,

"SOMEBODY STOP ME!"

We were dancing and singing and grooving  to the movin'

Go Here

So there you have it.

I'm completely

Crackers.

New Year Smiles

So, here we are.  The first of the year.  Paraphrasing the Christmas song by John Lennon: 

"And so it is New Years.  And what have you done?  Another year over.  A new one just begun."

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87200230/4-dog-puppy-west-highland-terrier

I've been looking on Etsy.

Here's what I've purchased or had purchased for me:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDecoratedHouse

Beau Bunny!

I adore him.  He sits in my family room all year.

Yes.  Even with the Halloween pumpkin.

It's kinda weird next to the Christmas tree but we aren't going to go there now, are we?

http://www.etsy.com/shop/collageOrama

Squeaky The Samurai Squirrel

He's waiting for a frame.  He's going on the wall in my office at work.

My co-workers all have photos of their families on their desks and office walls.

I will have Squeaky and this guy:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ara133photography

It's not that I don't like my family.  I love my family.  

I just have a thing for rodents.

Don't ask.

They make me laugh.

Actually,

so does my family.

And really,
I ask you.
can you look at these faces and NOT smile?!

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I've been MIA

I could tell you that I've been to the islands.

Or

I was invited to the White House.

Or

I was appearing on the Martha Stewart Show

but that would be all lies.

The truth is...

I have this Etsy shop.

It's great!

Who knew Christmas was the busiest time of the year?!

This used to be my dining room table.

Then it became a shipping table.

Now it's just

well,

frightening!!

My dining room looks like a room on those newscasts 

where they remove the children 

from the deplorable living conditions.  

Yup.  I've created deplorable living conditions.

There's no pizza boxes.

No garbage.

Just mounds of tape, bubble wrap, postage paraphernalia and so forth.

But, I survived.

I met so many wonderful people that

it was worth every late night and early morning

that I spent creating the 

deplorable living conditions.

This is the pile of fun today.

I finally made it out to my favorite antique store for more buttons.

My daughter said,

"Really.  You really need more buttons."

Just to show you that I did actually 

sort of 

clean the counter up for breakfast Christmas morning.

My daughter refused to make cinnamon rolls for us

if there was any broken glass or staples.

Spoil sport.

I did get a nifty new Ott light.

It helps SO much.

There's no reason for me not to be making jewelry

well into the wee hours of the morning.

That's what caffeine is for isn't it?

I've been making these:

And 

and

So..

and

and don't forget to have fun.