Bling...

Deep down I am a very girlie girl. And I love me some bling. Not like diamonds and pearls. I want the kinds of bling you can play with. Create with. Add glitz and glimmer to other peoples goodies with. All of you crafty gals out there know the kind I am referring to. Sequins, rhinestones, beads and the epitome of the sparkly stuff ------


GLITTER.


The studio is getting closer and closer to being ready. I am unpacking boxes and bags that I have stuffed everywhere in my house. That is a party all on its own. Complete with multiple exclamations of "damn, I forgot I had that." (No laughter allowed, every one of you has uttered those words)

Another of my favorite sayings is slowly being eliminated - that one -- "dammit I know I had _____, but where did I put it."

I had no idea, that I collect glitter. But if you look at these pictures, it is quite apparent that I do.



Note - this does not included the spray glitter and glitter glue collections. Cheap glitter - got plenty. Slightly more expensive - yet way cool glitter - covered. Martha Stewart glitter (have to admit the lady does everything well) - got that too. Vintage glass glitter - yup.

I did not go back and find the post covering this cabinet, but I bought it at a yard sale for next to nothing. Look at the end result. Cleaned, polished, and full of glitter.

Pretty - yes. Practical - that too. Making the MaggieGrace Studio owner happy - definitely. Wonder how many more bottles I'll find????

Have a great weekend.

As promised..

Miss Molly put the dorm room afghan on her bed last night. Funny - I always pictured the stripes going across the bed. She is so happy. It actually turned out bigger than we expected. This is a double bed so it will hang off a twin sized dorm bed nicely. In my slightly romantic thought processes, I want her to be able to feel like Mom is there with her and wrapping this around her may help that homesick feeling.

About the bed. She fell in love with this on the 450 Mile Yardsale trip that we took when she was 6. Reading in bed is one of her favorite things and this bed was like 50.00 for the headboard and footboard. It was in pretty rough shape, but a few coats of paint and this has been one of our best purchases at a very decent price. Abby will be taking this one over after Molly moves to the dorm. The 1930's daybed will become Molly's temporary bed after that.

Just behind the bed on the far left of the art wall is one of her (and my) favorite self portraits of her. Made from snippets of magazine pages.

I made several more of those tiny flowers last night - there will be more tonight. No painting in MaggieGrace world. God - I hate to paint.

I have made several updates over at Christmas in Progress. Miss Vallen (who also is one of my favorite people ever) has been super busy catching up.

We are stocking up on things for her - things you really don't think about. Her own medicine box, first aid box, measuring spoons and cups (discovered this need when we were making those new microwave singles chocolate cakes ), nail clippers, towels, washcloths, soap, cleaning supplies. There is a huge box in the barn full of stuff. One of her slightly older friends even bought her a folding chair to keep in her car - and another friend got her a gift certificate for a coleman inflatable sofa. (picture at the top) Something she can keep under the bed for overnight guests to sleep on. After I though about it - this really is a great idea.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming

She's back -- MaggieGrace that is. Not really sure how this became the graduation family chronicals. Really I am fully aware. This blog is about me and the interactions with those around me. That includes those lovelies that are my children.

The graduate got her first paycheck last night - we laughed and laughed about her reaction to the taxes. Too funny. Today's order of business for her - a checking account.

I know I promised a picture of the dorm room blanket - did not happen. But I do have goodies to share.



A stamped tag with tulle and a crochet flower. I owe the winner of the leg warmer challenge a package of tags. I have not forgotten - I promise. This was a quickie project for a baby shower gift last night. I used a partial image from a large rubber stamp and simply tied it on. The flower is from the motif book I bought recently.

More of the little flowers. Made from thrifted bedspread cotton. I'll be making tags with these - and including them in a certain mailer I need to complete. Some will also make appearances on 5"x5" art quilts.

Loving the macro setting on my camera. These little 2 round flowers are about the size of the first joint on my fingers. Perfect little accent medallions. It takes only a few minutes to make one so there will be an abundance finished on Saturday at the softball princess' tournament.

I love my little project boxes - here is a picture of the WIP of the flowers. All different colors are planned. I have plenty more of the thread spools to use as well. The perfect portable project - and not too hot to carry with me.

Tonight there is no church - Maggie Grace will be painting in the studio. There's a shelf and some walls. We just keep plugging away on it.

Have a wonder filled Wednesday.

Photo heavy post follows....

Good morning all. Graduation accomplished. Lots of food family and fun for the weekend. Also lots of MaggieGrace work accomplished. Because of how blogger loads pictures, I'll be starting with MaggieGrace goodies.

Months ago, MaryAnn found a source for these lovely printer trays. I bought several and have them all over my barn. This one was not really sturdy enough to hang on the wall. I have collected Scrabble games at yard sales and had several boxes stacked up. So yesterday while I was working in the studio, I sorted all my letter tiles into this tray. Fun stuff.



I also finished the cigar divider artwork. Finished it last night, sorry the picture is shadowed. It was way late. I like this now that it is finished. I mounted it on a canvas that I painted dark copper, then covered with mulberry paper scraps. The vellum at the bottom is from the same box as the wood and the cigar band at the top was in a box of paper scrap I have accumulated over time. The edge is copper foil tape normally used in stained glass work. The heart that I have chosen to appear in all of my art is here too.


You remember the box I got at the store closing sale. These items were in it. These two have been embellished. Of course give a crafter access to anything with a way to attach stuff and she will attach stuff. Just for the fun of it.
I finished the wire frame and hung it yesterday in the studio. There is still a lot of work to accomplish but we are headed in the right direction. Just to give you an idea of the frame size, the wire mesh insert was 24 inches by 36 inches.

See blogger and loading pictures - just when I think I understand, it des something screwy.
Old fashioned wave clips. (and they are embossed with the phrase made in the USA) from that box.

I added a paper clip hook through the hole.

And hung them on the wire frame. The entire frame will be covered with various clips and inspiring items that I have accumulated. Cards and notes from my friends. What do you think about this crazy idea? The man at my address thought I had lost my mind.

I also finished the dorm room blanket - I'll have a picture of it spread on Mollys bed tomorrow.

Now graduation pictures. They asked for no flash so many of these are dark.

I look like my mom.

Molly was the very first speaker. She was a nervous wreck. She need not have been, she did a fabulous job. She speaks clearly and does not rush, skills she will use again and again in her life.

Sisters celebrating. God I love these girls.
Proud Daddy. He brought her flowers and in an unusual display of public affection told her in front of everyone how much he loved her and how proud he was of her. The words she longs to hear more often.

Saturday night we joined friends and partied these two best friends. Low country boil, swimming pool time, lots of laughter, a few tears, a ton of love and support, a celebration of a milestone for these two. Apparently icing makeup is the new fun trend.

Brittany is off to LaGrange College this fall and Molly is off to Piedmont College. Here's hoping the friendship will continue to prosper. We all need these kinds of friends in our life.

I wasn't ready for it - she grew up anyway. Now we just make our way through the next phases, the best way we can. Taking one moment at a time. Praying our way into and through the decisions of life. Choosing to love - choosing to stay the course - choosing to let her fly and watching her soar into success.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

NERD GEEK GEAR

Special thanks to Ellen for the sweet sweet note on yesterday's post. I no longer question the way this thing works. See - we would never have "met" without this blog and yet I consider Ellen a very special friend. That is the joy that is blogging. Yes - there is censoring in the writings - eliminating the coughs, farts, and sneezes from life - but the essence of me is here and the circle of friends that recognize this amazes me. Thank you agin Ellen for your kind words and friendship.

Just so you can see that MaggieGrace has been working. A WIP shot of the dorm room blanket. I have about 6 more color bands of varying width and it will be finished. She likes it. An easy, mindless pattern that has traveled well.

Now for the name of this post. Nerd, geek, gear - to wear with the traditional cap and gown. We have laughed at Miss Molly referring to this hanger full of accessories this way. There are medals and pins, stoles and cords - all meaning something academically. She laughs at the variety and we all laugh at her. She worked hard for everyone of these and will wear them with pride.

I have the hankies ready - tonight's the night. Hard to believe this little one - black hair and black eyes is graduating from high school. She was a little less than 10 weeks old in this picture and had already had a haircut. We brought her home from the hospital with a barrette in her hair. Not those little velcro ones either - a real clasp barrette.

She turned out rite purdy (don't you love to see redneck written out) didn't she. The picture from the article in yesterdays local paper. Molly is on the right. I am so very proud of her. Just for the record - she looks like her Grandmother (love you Ann)
Now a serendipity post. I do not iron clothes on a regular basis. I toss things in the dryer with a damp towel and they are just fine. The monsters know I'll be at the dryer every morning. Look what I found this morning. Stuck on the front corner of the dryer - right next to the pile of unmatched socks -- a scotch tape love note.

Guess what girls - I love you too.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.

babble --

In a very emotional place today - I have been looking through things of Molly's. Old schoolwork. Pictures. Yearbooks. Notes and cards. Looking for things to decorate the area around the table with.

Tomorrow is graduation - and the next phase of our life begins.

MaggieGrace has been busy though. I just have no pictures of anything to share - the Moo is getting a digital camera for graduation - maybe she will quit stealing the camera. The studio progresses. There is a dorm room afghan almost complete. The tree artwork is almost complete. Some CIP mailers in progress. Tags and cards. And a special gift for the pastor and his wife is being worked on.

Busy busy busy ---

The picture has not one thing to do with the post. Just a still life beside my bed. A reminder that even when things seems empty - there is still so much beauty to be admired.

Local best friend said yesterday that it is a parent's job to teach the kite to fly. My response was - it is such a pretty kite and I won't be able to watch her fly if I let go of the string. Others are going to try to grab that string and have her fly their way. I am caught in the middle of hanging on and letting go. Just praying that she has the tools to succeed at being her own person and trusting the winds of change to take her in the direction she needs to go.

My mom just called. Tears were already close to the surface. Mom and I have had stormy years. For oh so many - I just wanted her approval and validation. She called this morning about graduation and in the conversation she said "you have done a wonderful job raising her, raising both of them. Don't ever question your ability as a mom. " Now those tears are freely falling - while several of my favorite customers chuckle about me being emotional. Oh well.

Have a wonderful day -

Stuff

I have always been drawn to handwork items. Yard sales find me digging through the old linens looking for embroidery and crochet pieces. Now that I am creating many of these kinds of items myself, the appreciation for them grows even more.

My Nanny made potholders. Heavy duty, thick, quilted potholders. Thousands of them are around north Georgia. I have many of them and use them all the time. They are nasty, burnt in places, tattered and worn. All of us grandkids got some when we set up house keeping and we all use them all the time. A connection to our past. Those potholders, while handcrafted, are for use and not for show.

These, however, are for show.



I have no idea where they came from. Double layers of crochet, with these contrasting accents. I actually have the pattern for these somewhere, but have never made any.

Bright and cheery, I have used them only a time or two . Never where they might get burnt. I have used them for coasters when I serve iced beverages (maragaritas) in my glass pitcher.

I would love to have more of these to hang in the kitchen. Right now I just have the two.

And they hang on a cabinet in the kitchen. This will be one of my next projects painting the kitchen and redoing the floor. The entire house needs cosmetic work, and once MaggieGrace world is finished - that will all have to start.

Every one I know takes some sort of prescription meds. This is my favorite drawer in the studio. This was fun to make too - a huge mess. Drilling holes in styrofoam. Works great for beads. I have several more pill bottles to add - before I get this full.

A different angle. I covered the foam with some tissue paper that I like.

Last night found me finishing the paint on the big frame. Church tonight - then I'll staple my wire mesh into place and get that frame hung. Getting closer.

Have a wonderful day all.

digging .....

Free Dover image. Sign up for your own emails images at www.dover.com.

I have spent the entire morning. looking at design and color trend ideas all over the internet. At my real job, it is time to redo some things and just freshen up with paints and "fluff".

I am leaning into adding some pantone blue iris accents into the store. And there is a lot of wall space that needs accenting with some artworks. It is all a very neutral brown and gold right now, but that has to change. So I am creating inspiration boards for a meeting with the boss. It would seem this is an easy part of the job and sometimes it is, but trying to sell these ideas to "a man" who really could not care less about it makes it all the more difficult. I also know what I like and often my style is more eclectic than staying on current "trends".

There are areas of the store that even I don't venture into unless I must. There is also a wall that blocks the view from the front of the store that I would like to partially take down.

This is taking all my brain power today. I actually have put this off for way too long. Now it feels like I am rushing to accomplish this. Any design, home furnishing, fashion, trend sites you can give me for inspiration????

Help.

So there you have it- a glimpse into the grown up girl job that I go to every day.

Have a wonderful afternoon.

A prayer for ours...

Senior recognition at Jones Chapel UMC. May 18, 2008.

Thank you God for these wonderful young people.

Thank you for family and friends who have journeyed with them on this path.

Thank you for the blessings You bestow on them.

As they move forward in life, continue Your hand of comfort and protection on them.

Let the foundation of the faith they have been given support their decisions.

Reassure their parents of the love you have for them.

Place comfort and peace in those parents hearts as they let go of their children and begin this next level of parenting.

Help them find a place in life that allows them to complete Your work and theirs.

Bless us all.

Amen.

Just a few of the lines of the prayer for our Seniors. I want to pass them on to all of you who have graduates.

This Friday night is graduation. Mom and Molly are both more than a little emotional right now. Hoping Grandmother and Granddaddy and Nomi - will all be in attendance with us.

Mom played hooky from life on Saturday. I fixed food just for me. I napped. I vegged on the sofa. Watched a lot of food network and HGTV. Piddled a little bit on the studio. Just a low key quiet day - to take care of ME. After last week - God knows I needed it. As I write this, I am drinking the first cup of coffee I have had in over a week. Things are slowly returning to normal function. Glad the upcoming weekend is a long one.

Have a great day all.

bit of a studio update and thrifty finds.

Good morning all. Yes I said good morning. The first one I have had all week. Turns out the horrible symptoms are an indication that I have a mild sensitivity to the morphine. That is the pc correct way of saying I"M ALLERGIC. I KNOW I am allergic to codeine and there is a bright red flashing notice on the screen at the hospital - a bright red sticker on the charts - and I told the nurse. Codeine and morphine are sister drugs - containing many of the same things - so just for safety's sake I need to add a morphine allergy to the dang list. (you would think somebody in the medical system would have thought about this) Last night I took a benadryl before bed and today the brain fog seems to be lifting. Still weak - no food all week has that effect.



My favorite line in the first National Treasure movie is when the young cohort says "look ----- stairs" well my version is "look - a closet". A MaggieGrace gonna be a fabric closet - and is one design feature that happened to turn out exactly like I imagined. When we remodeled the house - I made the man keep the doors. There will be no paint on this - Love it just like this. A deep russet red from the varnish oxidizing over time. A Happy Happy girl. The blue styrofoam is covering the ac/heat - hole in the wall. The great big frame is being painted pale blue with red and will become a wire board much like this one.

Now about the thrifty finds - this is a favorite - a 4 drawer chest/work surface. 30.00 dollars at a yard sale. It is a bit too tall but taking the legs off will make it perfect. The price was perfect too. I bought it for me for mother's day.

This is the box of stuff that I scarfed up at the store clearance sale - 5.00. If you look closely, you will see the reason - I jumped on this. The graphics are wonderful - they will be used and copied and shared. But the REAL reason --- is that these were buried in the bottom of this box.
Unopened vogart patterns - three of them. Another happy dance. Bees are coming on some items. Had to have it.

Just wanted to share. Abby has a ballgame - I'm staying home - playing hooky from Mom duties - I need to. Today is Miss Molly's last offcial day of school. Awards - last night. Lots of laughter - a few tears.

Hope ya'll have a wonderful weekend.

Thrifty finds

Before the oh so dramatic. (dammit it hurts) and I feel like crap. (I now know why drugs addicts will do anything to stay high) Before the I am going to be sick ( and the feeling that my toenails were being sucked in through my guts) before all that -

two things happened

one - I told local best friend that my body was telling me it needed significant rest - that's what I get for ignoring that fact - three days of drugs and sitting on my rather larger backside.

two - I spent a wonderful Saturday morning with my mom - just goofing off. We swung by a going out of business sale in my hometown - an era is ending there. I bought two dresses (i'll share later) some ephemera - way cool - and these --------------


Curtains - fell head over freakin heels for this fabric. Had to have it. And I know exactly what it going to happen to it. As a matter of fact would have already happened if the dang kidney stone had not made it's magical appearance. Polished cotton - flowers - ruffles. This will soon become a skirt for moi.

I have several drawstring waist skirts - you know - those from Old Navy and Gap. Long, full, easy to wear skirts. And how easy are they to make - effortless - especially when you start with the ruffle already done.

Look below at the closeup of the fabric.

Isn't this embossed texture fun. Hopefully I'll be wearing this soon.

Oh there was more goodness - and the last piece of the MaggieGrace world puzzle was found too. More on that later.

About the drugs. I was given major doses of morphine in the hospital. I will try to avoid this in the future. Then they sent me home with Lortab and phynerghan (spelling?). This cocktail did an amazing job of keeping me happy, but the process of getting rid of this from your body is hell. I feel like my brain is swollen in my head - worse than any migraine I ever had. Night sweats worse than I had after the children were born. Nausea - morning sickness is no comparison. All of this is enhanced by the fact that I hardly ever take meds at all. Even after my surgery last fall the strongest I took was a percocet and they forced that into me. above everything - is the dizzyness - and slow motion feeling - like when you are really drunk and you turn your head and it takes just a few seconds for your eyes to catch up. I do have to say - the techinicolor dreams are kind of fun. Sure do wish I could capture the orangy pink from the seats in the dreams last night.

have a great day - mine is much better.

I'm back - not 100%

Sorry - that's a shitty picture. But in the morphine induced stupor I have been in for two days, it's the best you are gonna get.

Thanks for all the love and prayers lifted for me. I took myself to the hospital - I stayed in the emergency room by myself. Called the man at my address to come and take me home. Which he did and then promptly returned to work. Yesterday was senior skip day so Miss Molly was home with me.

I have done nothing but take drugs for two days. Now I have the hangover/headache from all these drugs. Morphine sucks. But the pain from the kidney stone sucks worse.

This thing hit on Sunday morning - then eased up - but I was nauseated. So I ate nothing for three days. I did have part of a cheese toast this morning.

There has been no MaggieGrace goodness at all.

I am better - I am just not 100% yet.

Have a great day all.

Still not sure if I like this. But it is improving. And I do like the effect I have come up with on the leaves. Look carefully and you will see the curls.


This is a tedious and time consuming process. After I glue the leaves, I then come back and curl them using two needles. I then prop them with a straight pin to dry.

The whole effect is of a 3d pile of fallen leaves.

One of the branches was just screaming for a critter. Something to hide the fact that there was a break in the leaf veins and the paper backing was showing.

Here is my critter. That is my index fingernail - for size comparison. A tiny owl.

What do you guys think???

I have a kidney stone- off to the emergency room.

Have a better day than I am.

Happy Mothers Day

I have learned so much from being the mom of these two.

wear a shirt over whatever you put on - spitup happens.

potato chips are an okay food for a newborn (molly fed them to abby)

fruit basket beds is a fun game to play (we did this for years - everyone went to sleep in the wrong bed and at some point in the night Mom got everyone where they were supposed to be)

prayer time at church is an appropriate time to announce that mom and dad took a shower together this morning (thank you abby)

when the entire house has the flu - mom is the one who will pull it together enough to go get gatorade.

mom is the one who lays awake in the bed until 3am and the senior gets home - just to see if she had a good night at prom.

mom handles school, boys, emotions, and girl talk. dad handles laundry, sports, and cooking. seems like a fair trade off to me.

I had no idea how hard this job of being mommy would be.

nobody told me what it feels like to see your child fail - or succeed.

celebrating those first steps seems like it happened 10 minutes ago.

mom will study the rules of twelve different softball associations just to understand why the official called you out.

even now 18 and 14 years later - i wake up when either of you cough at night. and i can tell which one is coughing.

letting you make your own decisions (and mistakes) rips mom's heart out.

even when you think there is no more room for love - mom's heart opens and expands to include even more.

i signed up for this job - i would do it again - i am so happy to be your mom.

for all you other mommy's out there - may you have a day filled with love and reflection.

have a wonderful day -

work in progress

Got a little more painting done in MaggieGrace world last night. And I washed the nasty glass door in the entry. Afterwards - I was ready for a something a little more creative.

I bought this late seventies wall paper sample book at a yard sale for a quarter. All natural botanical compositions.


It includes grasscloth papers, some cork paper and these pressed leaves. All on different background papers. Why did I buy it???? Not a damn clue. But it struck my fancy and it was only a quarter - are those amens of other thrifters out there that I hear?

The cigar boxes have a super nice bonus occasionally. These wonderful thin sheets of wood. The grain on this one reminded me of the sun. I remembered the wall paper (dug it out of a box) andgrabbed this sheet of wood. I cut the veins out of one of the leaves and darkened the edges of the paper with a sharpie.

Sorry this is shadowed - this is a fairly accurate coloration of the wood grain. Some gel medium for adhesive and a little weight to keep it all flat to dry. There are other elements to be added.

I'll be honest - I am still trying to decide if I really like this as much as I thought I would.

I had to give you one more shot (this time with a flash) of that fabulous rounded and golden woodgrain. I know the smell will diminish as this stays in the air - but it does smell wonderfully like cigars right now.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Days are here again

MaggieGrace has been missing in action. She wasn't really lost. She simply took the turn that was labeled Mommy for a little while. But last night she magically reappeared, there was a vacant look in her eyes. Like a small bit of the fire has burned out. The embers were still there and with just a tiny bit of inspiration it was easy to fan the flames of creative fires again. The crinkle of pattern tissue, the sound of the scissors cutting fabric (vibrating against the wood of the dining room table - this is a sound from my childhood) the texture of the felt, hell even the heft of the felt. All of those fanned the flames very rapidly.

Remember these????????

Poodle skirts - I made a ton of them several years ago for an event at our church. Well a local theater group needed some more for a production. I got home last night after 9:00 and sewed like hell until 1:15 this morning. (I made three of the dang things.)

Red with a black and white poodle - blue with a black and white poodle - and purple with a hot pink poodle. These are full circle skirts. Since they don't have real owners yet, all are drawstring waists. The most time consuming part was the white piping trim. sewn on 1/2 inch in from the bottom edge. With this full circle design - there must have been miles of this. I did finally figure out a system for this. Of course I didn't figure it out until the last one.

Mentally I needed that creative time - plus this is a paid job - straight into the college fun money account. That is the agreement - all of the maggiegrace profits will be the extra money for the college bound lady in our house.

Am I tired today? - not really - I think the fact that it was creative was what my mind and body needed.

See ya'll tomorrow.