Details, dumpster diving, and the call that stops your heartbeat

We will start with the phone call. The graduate came by my work yesterday when she got off at her work. We were not busy at the time and she stayed a little while with me. When she left - she was going by the bank and then home.



About 15 minutes after she left - my cell rings - it's her number - the call goes like this -



"mom - I'm fine - but this guy hit me at the light." Well it was minor very minor - everyone is fine - little damage to her vehicle. Dad does not agree with my handling of it, but tough - I made a decision and having lost too freakin' much in my life - I was simply counting blessings that she was just fine. It has been a few tough days at the Atkinson household. Notice - mom gets the call. Wonder why that is?


Now for dumpster diving. They are gutting the old middle school gym and on Monday night while I hung out waiting for Abby's softball team to finish practice - I noticed that these locker baskets were in the junk pile out back - along with some other stuff. I dug through and got these 5 baskets out of the pile. Right now they are waiting for a location either in the studio or in the house. I have no idea where they might land.




Details - Remember this post - and this one. Well last night I knocked the curtain off the list using that fabric. There was cussing involoved. I washed this lovely fabric and these 6 foot panels emerged from the dryer in a basketball sized bundle. I'm talking steam, sprinkle, AND spray starch. But look - it is gorgeous covering the closet opening in the studio. I love the ruffled look against those whitewashed rustic walls. I also finished all of the wall paint over the cabinet and hopefully will finish the countertop tonight. I painted this wall a beautiful battleship grey/blue. I am loving the beachy colors as I add them in here.

There was an anonymous comment on the post yesterday about the thing with Liberty on it. Well here is the answer - it is a needle threader. A metal needle threader.

With the instructions printed on the back -- this is cool and will be displayed on my doiley stretcher.
I washed up some of the buttons out of the box I posted yesterday - here is a better picture of some of my favorites. All mother of pearl. I adore the heart shaped one and the shamrock one.
This tin was also in the goodies my MIL sent home with us on Sunday.
I know what's in it - yes you will be jealous again - but you are going to have to wait until tomorrow.
Have a wonderful evening -

Sorry - I went MIA

Warning - really heavy on the photos here.

The softball princess went straight from the orthopedic office yesterday to the surgery center. Two pins, a metal plate, all from the exterior (no incisions) are holding the bone in place. We go back on Thursday the 26th for followup and maybe pin removal - then a real cast. estimated recovery time ---- 4 to 6 weeks. To answer Carrie's question - just abby's season is over. Both the travel and high school summer season remains in full swing. She was feeling good enough last night to go and sit through the practice. (The softball coach let the football coach know that --- girls are much tougher than boys) Today her she says her hand aches and she is taking her pain meds.

You know that I have to include beach pictures.

Misty (l) and Molly (r).

Left to right --- Molly - Brianna - Misty - Britt K - Britt E. Notice where they chose to hang out (lol) IS THAT A GOOD IDEA OF A PLACE TO PICK UP BOYS?????
Misty - Molly - Britt - this was a fabulous trip for them - they even brought money back with them. In addition to the money they returned with - and sibling gifts - they all brought home ....

these - thank goodness they are only henna - the white toenails and the heart belong to Molly.

While she was gone, I started a baby blanket and because I had lots of time in the ER and then watching over Abby for the weekend. Then two college world series games to watch (Go Georgia Bulldogs) and a Dr's appointment and surgery - I finished it. A granny square adaptation of my own design - using yarn I had - for a baby boy coming to the church family.

The colors are so very soft, but still boyish - and the multi-hued yarn was a dream to work with.
Sorry - this one is from late last night - but it shows the center medallion - a granny with added on triangles. What do you guys think about it?

While we were visiting with Grandmother and Granddady on Sunday, we started cleaning out the old house. (the cabinet in MaggieGraceWorld came out of this house). I got lots to share from there as i put the stuff into use.

Anyway - Ann says to me - I have some stuff for you.

Does a box that has this kind of label make your heart beat faster????

It does mine - look what was in there......

Buttons still on their cards....
I love these graphics...... I may scan this one and use it for some other things. I pulled all those out and look what was at the bottom....
Loose mother of pearl and other mixed ones... Look at the shamrock ones.

I picked out my favorites - black jet buttons with metallic edges. I promise I'll get a better picture of these -

Now people - I will share the man at my address, but his mother I am keeping all for myself.

You can be envious - but you have to admit - this woman has me all figured out.

Have a wonderful day.

Granddaddy's Tomatoes

Granddaddy (the man at my address dad) is an avid gardner. All summer in the Georgia heat, he works in the yard and gardens. We all benefit from the wonderful results. (doesn't look like he is close to 80 either, does he??

Happy Father's Day to you Granddaddy and to the man too.

The graduate and her friends are back from the beach. More on that trip tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day.

the softball summer season is over......

This just in - the softball princess was injured in today's last game.

The good news - the girl trying to steal third against miss abby was out - and we won the game.

The bad news - her glove hand is broken - broken seriously enough to see an orthopedic hand surgeon for a pin to repair this break.

She is not in terrible pain - they splinted her at the ER and we see the surgeon on Monday morning. They also sent really good pain meds with us. She is incredibly subdued about the season - remember - she eats, sleeps, and breathes softball.

Pray for a speedy recovery and please send well wishes her way via the comments. I'll pass them on.

Lovely way to begin my weekend.

the game

the game
Originally uploaded by maggiegracecreates

I saw this on one of my daily blog reads and wanted to play -- do you see a pattern in the pictures????

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Teresa

2. What is your favorite food? Chicken

3. What high school did you go to? Franklin County High School

4. What is your favorite color? Green

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Nicholas Cage

6. Favorite drink? Margarita

7. Dream vacation? Alaska Cruise

8. Favorite dessert? Chocolate Cake

9. What you want to be when you grow up? Generous

10. What do you love most in life? My family

11. One Word to describe you. Fiesty

12. Your flickr name. maggiegracecreates

now wasn't that fun -- i was out of pictures taken ahead on the camera so this fills it in nicely.

have a wonderful weekend - the softball princess' team won all three games yesterday - as of right now they are winning the first of three today - she and dad will be home tonight - the graduate comes home from the beach tomorrow. Please help me pray them all home. I am ready to see them.

Lists

I am a list maker - at work - at home - at church. I leave lists and to do notes on the bathroom mirror. I have lists of customer orders at work. I installed roughly 20 foot of marker board as a back splash in MaggieGrace World to keep lists of projects I want to accomplish. Notes on the kitchen counter - those too. There is a list of items Miss Molly will need for her dorm room. All manners of lists.

The list pictured here happens to be my favorite list right now. The details for finishing up some things in the studio. Written on a piece of the marker board. I'll be keeping this board to mke lists as I am working on projects. A portable way to keep myself straight.

I have seen marker boards made from ceramic tiles and if I run across some light colored glazed tiles will probably put some of those together as well.

What you do not see on this list is what I accomplished in the studio this morning. I set up a little bubble gum for the resident mouse to chew on. Last night when I walked in there - the little beady eyed creature was in the middle of the floor - greeting me like the old man at the WalMart entrance. He scurried around and managed to make his way under my cabinet. I have no idea how it got in. I set the trap and baited it with bubble gum. (a trick we have learned in the warehouse at work) Hopefully I'll nail him by the weekend.

Abby's ballgame was cancelled because of lightning last night. They are on the way now to Augusta Georgia for 3 games today and 3 games tomorrow.

I'll be crocheting tonight.

Have a wonderful day -

Bits and bobs

Don't forget the art play along from yesterday's post. I made my sketches last night and I'll get started in the next couple of days.

There were some new commentors on yesterday's post - thank you both for coming by.

Roxie asked what I plan to do with the keys. The truth is --- I have no idea. Right now they live in a printers tray on my living room wall. And in an adjacent compartment these wonderful Japanese threads live. I love the textures of the windings and the muted colors of these. I picked them up in an antiques store years ago.

This next item lives in the same print tray. I kept this out of some of either Mama Norvan's or Grandma Simpson's stuff. The needles are still in it. It's only about an inch wide and maybe an inch and a half tall. Don't you love the graphics???

Today is a hammered day at work - then I have church - AND then Abby has two ballgames - I'll only get to the last one.

Have a wonderful day - I'm tired already.

Keys to the treasure chest....

A collection of skeleton keys slowly accumulated over time. I have more (somewhere).


Responses to some of yesterdays reality checks. ELLEN - I would love to be able to get my waist through the leg of my undies - the size of the rear end prevents that entirely. KAREN - Greece - I refuse to feel sorry for the state of your fridge - my brain is way too busy trying to figure out how to stow away in your luggage. MARYANN - okay - I shave my legs pretty regular all year around - the only reason is that I cannot stand the feeling of the stubble catching in my clothes or the bedsheets.

Okay now - the key to the post - I went searching back through my own archives. What a tremendous amount of fun that was. I reminded myself of growth - of improvement in my work and my photography - of changes in my girls - that we have been working on the studio for well over a year. All kinds of things.

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

I ran across this post and this post. I was a swapbot swapper for a long time and both of these were treasure hunt swaps. This was a lot of fun for me and I wondered if anyone out there would be interested in a challenge play along.

Not a swap - just leave your blog address in the comments to let me know you are playing. Post the link on your blog - then create something utilizing at least 7 of the items on the following list - post it and a description of what you used and come back here to post a link to your creation in the comments. I will pull all of the blog addresses and links to creations on the front screen of the post.

heres your list ----

something blue, ribbon, a button or a bead, something recycled, a safety pin, fabric, paper, something wooden, something sparkly, something from nature.

you can add other items to the creation - but it must include at least seven of these items.

come on ladies - please play - all of us are creators and collectors - you should have access in your stash to everything on the list - take a look and see what you come up with.

go back and read those posts to see what lists I worked from and what the finished items look like.

ETA - carrie wants a deadline - so I am going to say - post your creation and come back here with the link by friday june 27, 2008.

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

have a wonderful day.

**************************************************************
players

roxanne

carrie

the latest tray.....a wip story.

All of you regular readers know that I make trays as I start projects. I add to them and take away from them until an idea suddenly becomes clear or that lightning bolt of inspiration occurs.

Well a few months ago, I met Carrie for dinner. Of course in the blogging tradition, there were goodies exchanged. One of the goodies was this piece of vintage lace and mother of pearl buttons. Loving the flowers on this and they will be used for something in the future.



But the part of this lace that immediately caught my attention was this. The leaf shaped bits. I immediately saw them as moth wings for one of my button butterfly girls. Then one day last week I spotted this necklace by Bonzie. Go ahead - click and go over there - it is well worth the trip. Well that image has been percolating in my brain since I spotted it.

And now the layout in the tray looks like this. I still have a few technical details to figure out on getting this like I want it. (things like how to stiffen the wings enough to hook rings to them) Mind you - this thing is large - the wing span is almost 4 inches across.

All of the buttons are vintage mother of pearl. The flat glass bubble that will cover the face is about an inch across (maybe a little more). I think as I wire these buttons together, I may add a few seed beads. I'll see how that looks.

Anyway - this is well on its way to being a real project. I'll keep you updated.

In addition to this progress, I have also started a baby boy crochet blanket for a church shower - I am never going to get ahead unless these ladies stop having little ones. It was too damn hot for much work on the studio, so that did not happen. But for a reality check (verging on the definition of TMI) I cleaned all of my "dead" underwear out of the dresser - you know - those with stretched elastic, holes, the ones you refuse to wear because they crawl. It is so nice to see neatly folded and all wearable ones in that drawer. Come on ladies you know this is one of those things everyone deals with.

How about you share a reality check with us today.

Have a great Monday.

The bliss of a good nights sleep

The girls made it safe and sound to the beach. At 11 pm my time last night - they were eating spagetti. I spent the week dreading this. Tossing and turning in worry. I spent the day yesterday alternately worrying and praying (yes - I know that I am the "ye of little faith"). Last night when the graduate called and said they were there - I slept soundly all night.

Today - it is too hot to move too much - talking nap and piddling things around the house.

See you guys tomorrow.

WHY BOTHER WITH THE BOWL????

Okay ladies and gentlemen - most people would consider me to be at least somewhat intelligent. I have had a terrible time with the freakin' blogger picture placement. I do not know why, but I have had a terrible mental block about it. I have a college degree in computer applications - so what was the deal? Be ready to insert your roaring laughter where ever you choose. I have been blogging for over two years now and have NEVER clicked the little tab that says "edit html" on my entry screen . I did that by accident this morning and discovered that I can cut and paste the text and picture code and put those bad boys any where I choose. STOOOOOOOPID - Now I am on a quest to really learn what all that code means -- I see all those pretty blogs out there and I know the secret is locked in all those strange looking codes. Confessions of an html beginner.



On to fun stuff. I got my package yesterday from Raesha's Ribbon Swap. Goodies galore.







I loved all of the different packaging of everyones' ribbon. One even contained my very first incoming MOO card. I just ordered and received my first shipment of those based on my flickr photos - man are they fun.

I do not know who bundled up this little joy. Great presentation. I love that people pay attention to those kinds of details.

What I never expected to get in a ribbon swap ---- beads and buttons - what a wonderful surprise. The wave ribbon pictured here came with fish beads - now how much fun is that.

next - the monsters are at it again - playing with the camera.

Quite obvious - the softball princess loves applesauce. Hence the name of this post - I do not know why she even bothers with the bowl -- she brings the jar, a spoon, and a bowl to the sofa. Her justification - fewer trips to the fridge for refills. Because of this type of eating habit - exhibited by both of them - I buy duplicates of many of their favorites (2 rolls of cookie dough to eaten out of the wrapper with a spoon, etc). Just random babble you probably have no interest in knowing.

Ya'll have a great weekend - my plans include a softball tournament AND worrying about a group of teenagers driving 6 hours alone to the beach on Saturday. Please remember them in your prayers.



See you Monday.

message from the universe

I signed up for messages from the universe long ago. Each weekday I get an uplifting and empowering message in my in box. I have collected many quotes from these emails. No matter what the message - I always take a smile away from reading them.

Here is today's message.


Inquiring minds want to know, teresa:
Have you ever felt so down you wondered whether or not you'd bounce back?
Were you later surprised by how quickly you did bounce back?
And then were you surprised by how far you went?
Did you promise you'd never forget how amazing that was?
We did.
In awe, The Universe
And, did you really once celebrate by dancing on a tabletop, teresa, to Barry Manilow?

The early part of this I was so very familiar with - losing people I love, being diagnosed with cancer, being laid off work early in my career. The part that made me smile was the last line.

I have danced on a tabletop - just because it was fun. Barry Manilow was not the choice - being a redneck southern girl - Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers were the choices. I would also like to publicly add - I was fully clothed. Unlike the young lady who dove into the pool a little later that night - I kept my clothes on. Not really the kinds of memories I wanted to bring up when the new graduate is going - UNCHAPERONED - to the beach with her friends.

I have other confessions to make too. But we will just have to drink margaritas and handle all that face to face. (SHHHHHH - my mother in law reads here - I really would hate for her to decide I was unfit to raise her grandchildren.) (LAUGH PEOPLE - IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY)

Oh my - thank you from the center of my being for all the nice things you guys said about the shelf. I wish I had taken a before shot. That shelf had been outside on a carport for years. It really was horrid and I will add - I am so very very pleased with how it turned out. Sunday will have me finishing up painting everything else that is clad and ready for paint. I have taken some shots to use for next week while the graduate is at the beach.

Now for some more shots just for "red week".

I collect ragged - beat up things and I repurpose them all the time. I like nicer stuff too. One thing I have collected for many years is Coca-Cola items. Here are a few that I have(had) not figured out what to do with yet.

An old coke cooler - metal and missing it's top. Just big enough to hold a six pack and ice. My mom found this for me. - I have used it for flowers in a centerpiece - it has held goody bags for a birthday party - I have put rolled towels in it in the bathroom. It just has not found its home. I will not use it for ice or food, because I am afraid there may be lead in the lining.

What in the world could this be? Edges. A thank you gift from a customer who happened upon thousands of them - she has an entire wall in her house covered in these .

They are screened wooden crate sides. More than likely the ones that did not pass the inspection process (all of them are slightly flawed). When the coke bottling plant here closed, things were left in the building. A developer purchased the facility and renovated it into wonderful - loft style - condos. As they were gutting the building - an entire room of these was discovered. They were sending them to the dumpster and my friend took them home. I have about twenty of them. They are stacked neatly between the washing machine and the laundry room wall right now.

Every every now and then, I have a flash of brilliance. The man has framed in the inside of my studio windows (salvaged from my grandmothers house) and while I have no idea what the sides and top trim are going to be, look at this......

A perfect fit for the window sill. I'll be centering one in the space and then filling in the ends with pieces of one. A total of three will complete both window sills. The man will have to finish the sides and top - I'll finish the paint around the window - blue again - then finish the window sill.

I love it when these fun little details start coming together. The studio has such a fun - collected - eclectic vibe already - and these kinds of things are adding to that everyday.

Hope this finds all of you having a great day.

Always be Prepared

Ray is obviously younger than me. His last name starts with an "M". He was a Webelo Scout in 1983. (the year I graduated from high school) I have his scout manual. The den leader's initials were DJ. That is all that I know about him for sure. I can assume he was an athlete and wanted to earn his Woodsman badge. (all of the blanks were initialed for the athletics and most for the woodsman). I really hope he doesn't see this and want that book back.


See at 8:00 pm last night - this is what his scout manual looked like. Deconstructed and spread out on the counter in the studio. The final step between me and a finished bookcase. I thrifted the book because of the graphics. When I painted the shelf, this was in the back of my mind as the covering on the back of the shelves.

I love working in the studio. Now that I have power out there and a small tabletop fan, it is bearable even when the daytime temps are now in the high 80's here (sorry Mrs G. - it is beautiful here in the sunny south) I have not even turned on the radio while I am working. Quiet, peaceful, productive, relaxed. How cool is that????

The handbook contains a wealth and huge variety of information. I started with the full pages that I just loved. Randomly glued them into place and then worked out from there.

It took me a few hours - one bottle of white plain ol' Elmers school glue - a cheap cruddy paint brush, a glass of sweet tea and two Miller Lights. There is no photo, but the apron that Carrie made me has become the studio uniform constant. I go in and, like Mister Rogers, don the studio uniform - then I am in work mode. I like having that separate space a lot.
A zoomed view of the top shelf. Yes - the graphics are fun. I have asked the man at my address to get a coat of paint on the floor tonight while I am at church. Then I'll move this into it's final location and attach it to the wall.

The great thing about the project. It was cheap -

bookcase --- free

primer --- already there (pennies)

paint --- a miss mix at Lowes (3.00)

glue --- 1.00

thrifted book --- free (it was damaged)

less than 5.00 for the entire shelf. Now that qualifies as a bargain.

A bonus feature of the shelf -- the shelves are spaced far enough apart to hold my big paper/mail sorter shelf. So one shelf of this lovely will be designated just for paper storage. All of your other paper whores will surely understand how important it is to have all that paper in one place.

By the way - finished this at around 11:30 last night.

A happy dance happening again.

Have a wonderful day.

Just fun stuff ...

A few random images - some to fit themes going on in blogland. Some just because. I know somebody starts these themes, but I did not follw the links to find out. Sorry.

I left a comment on a blog for a new shop in Barcelona and won a little prize pack from them. (that is always so much fun) My package came yesterday. White pear tea, Chocolate, and a little beaded something. Go to www.vonblum.com to see the shop. Looks like a fun place.

A picture from work on Monday. In my grown up girl real job, I am a plumbing showroom manager. Yes - I sell toilets for a living - no - it was not what I always wanted to do. Yesterday a young couple was here to pick out the fixtures for their house and Jeremy chose to try on the tub. I know this couple and took the opportunity to snap this shot while he was sitting there. If you must know, lots of people get in the tubs, and many actually sit on the toilets to try toilet seats and heights. In 20+ years only twice has a child "used" a non working toilet in the store.

What I was doing last night at 11pm. I started earlier in the evening, and managed to get two coats of blue on this bookshelf for the studio. The top three shelf backs will be decopaged tonight with pages from an old boy scout handbook. The bottom shelf won't be noticed, so I simply painted the back of it.

Playing along - studio storage. Fun metal typeset dies in one of my printer trays. Loving the macro setting on the camera.

Another playing along - seeing RED -- a tiny bit of bright red crackled paint remains on this folk art flag hanging on my barn. This was painted by Liz Lampe - a wonderful friend of mine - many years ago on a salvaged piece of tin roofing.

Busy planning the graduate's beach trip - the softball princess is in the heat of summer workouts - playing the travel ball tournament schedule - working on the studio - summer is our busy time at work.

Miss Molly will be taking the camera to the beach next week. I need to plan some pictures ahead - any requests for things you would like to see around MaggieGrace World. Or even some open ideas for photos I'll be needing 5 ideas ------- help !!!!!

Hope this finds all of you having a wonderful day.

bouquets for you ....

Because I like all of you so much, here is a Monday morning fresh batch of flowers just for you. These tiny little flowers are really quick and easy to do. I managed to finish 50 of them this weekend. There will be lots more of these.

Loving the colors. Made from punch embroidery threads, bedspread cotton, pearl cotton, the colors and textures are wonderful.

Last night I drug out the sizzix, the box of paper scraps, brads, punches, etc. (brought this all in from the studio to the kitchen.) Knowing that the resulting spread on the island would be a reminder to the man at my address that the studio is not finished. All of these pictures were taken after 10pm last night - so the lighting is very flaky. Yes, I am incredibly messy when working. (the glass was full of sweet tea)

At around midnight, this was the view on the counter. 50 sweet and fun gift tags. It was a load of fun to do this project. (One of those almost instant gratification things) And every bit of the paper - including the card stock backings - came from the scrap box.

The every loverly MaryAnn sent a stack of papers with a note that she just knew I would find a way to use them. You know - there is so much truth in the adage another man's trash ....... I love getting fun packages with a few torn pages. Anyway - took a side trip there - this paisley was one of the papers in that stack and it looks wonderful with this little gold flower.

Take a look over at CIP for another idea that I love.

This little assortment is for Lori over at Laeroport. Sorry it took so freaking long to get these done.

I hope all of you have a wonderful day -