The Last Day of My Birthday Month...

& Happy Halloween to all!

Today is the last day of my birthday month and what a hell of a birthday month is was...it was great to say the least! I was smothered in gifts (which is a good thing!), I've eaten out A LOT this month (& need some new clothes by the way!), I've went to some great flea markets, I had my 20 year class reunion and have been celebrating with friends I haven't seen in a long time!

And this is what I received in the mail that completed this great month of total celebration day in and day out...

I received my awesome sign I won from Heidi. I couldn't wait to tear into it but I restrained myself long enough to take pictures to show you how beautiful she wrapped it for me. Also look at the awesome flash cards she sent as a sweet little surprise (which I just adore!).

Isn't it just yummy???? Now my studio will be complete once it finds it's place in there. I just love it, it's so me!

I love my name everything vintage.

I must be what one would call an "old soul".

I know this sounds really silly to some, but my heart pours this feeling of utter joy when I am "junking" and come across something as simple as an old cabinet card, or vintage baby clothes, etc.

I go into this state of mind of wondering who were they and what was their story.

I hold vintage lace and tatting in my hand.

I admire the beauty of it just like any other vintage lover would, but my admiration is much deeper than the beauty of it all.

I stare at it and wonder who's patient and talented hands have done this and how long did it take them by candle light?

This is why I decided that I could only explain my feelings as...everything vintage.

Not just one thing or two, but everything vintage.

And with that said, that's why there is no caps & no punctuation of any kind because there is no beginning and definitely no end to my love for everything vintage.

Hopefully when I hang my sign from Heidi in my craft room/studio, I can look at it, smile and be reminded of where my soul is...it's in everything vintage~

Thanks Heidi for making the end of my birthday month so special! I can't wait to meet you at Silver Bella in a couple of weeks!

PS...Heidi sells these custom hand painted signs on eBay and in her etsy store. Click on her web site above and check her out, she's awesome!   They would make great Christmas presents! hint hint!

Come and gone...

 

I have to say, I have the best classmates in the whole world. In the past 5 days, we talked, laughed, ate, and danced like we were still in high school.  We were so happy. However towards the end of last night, it was hard to say final goodbyes to those we knew we wouldn't see again for another 10 years. The room was filled with hugs and kisses to those catching flights back to their homes far away from the small town we've grown up in and love so much.  E-Town as we call it will always hold a special place in all of our hearts no matter how far we are. Fortunately I still live here in this small town and was happy to help organize this fun filled weekend.  I should have took more pictures but I was too busy enjoying everyone's company. I did manage to snap a great shot of the Lady in Charge that couldn't have done anything more perfect in getting us all together...

       

Thank you Lauri for your hard work and dedication in making this the best 5 days I've had in 20 years!

Things that I am still going over in my head...

1. Nicki B. is looking so great at 9 months pregnant with her first child at 38 years old.

2. Wondering how Donnie managed his  flight early Friday morning after having 100+ people at his house just hours before.

3. I had no idea Dewey and Nikki were married for 13 years!

4. How can Helena dance so good if she claims she never goes out.

5. Why do I still love my husband so much even after he almost killed 3/4 of my classmates while driving our float in the parade?

6. How can it be that after not seeing Nancy in almost 10 years, she still knows and "gets" me after all this time?

7. I really love Andrea...she's our adopted classmate of '88.

8. Everything about Marleen, I am speechless. It's all good!

9. Patricia really did well in heels all night, no socks needed.

10. How the hell did I stay up past my bedtime (9:00) for 4 nights in a row?

The Winning Comment...

 

I said I wouldn't post again this week but I received some great news and had to share it with all of you!

Okay, here's how it goes...

Heidi of Everyday Cookies was hosting a give away a few days ago on her new/old/transferred blog. (She's a blogspotter now! ;) All that was requested of visitors was to leave a comment and a lucky name would be pulled on the 17th. I know, I never win but it's my birthday month and I thought, maybe??? So I did.

Well, I have been so busy lately. I posted yesterday that I will be out during homecoming week and all so I will not be  glued to my computer as usual. I checked my email yesterday and I received a comment from Heidi..."Come visit my blog... good news!" So I go there and...I'm a winner!

It was me! I won one of her hand painted signs! She is painting a custom everything vintage sign for me. I won't tell you the details but I will post about it when it comes in. She does beautiful work and sells them on etsy and ebay! Click on her link above and check her out...she's awesome!

I'm telling you, it has been an awesome Birthday Month!!!!

Class of 1988...Go Bobcats~

 

It's my 20 year high school reunion this week ... how time flies when you are having fun!!!

The good news is: We are getting ready for a wonderful high school class reunion and anxiously waiting to see old friends that we haven't seen in 10-20 years! We have parades, parties and most importantly, the #2 football team in our district and we are still undefeated so far this season!

The bad news is: I am not going to post here again until next week. It is homecoming week and it is still my birthday month, so there is still a lot of "partying" for me to do (before I really get old)...

I'll leave this picture of me as a lasting impression.  A very vintage photo of me straight out of the high school yearbook...

 

Once a Bobcat ~ Always a Bobcat...

I bleed Green & White.

Hope you all have a great week and you are enjoying the cool weather, autumn colors and of course,  FOOTBALL!

Show & Tell Sunday...

The theme today is "Vintage Art Bits" hosted by the wonderful Cerri from Little Pink Studio. This is the first time I participate in this event and although I really love to hop from blog to blog to see all the beautiful things that people collect and share with others, I just thought I might share some things with you today.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret before I start... the blog world is SO beautiful on Show & Tell Sundays!

Now if I understood correctly, I am supposed to show you my favorite vintage bits. But in my world, since I love everything vintage, it was very hard for me to find just a few to show you.

I don't want to hog up your whole Sunday so here's just a few of my favorites...

Below are some little bitty bauble bits displayed in a vintage pink aluminum Frigidaire  ice tray...

My favorite is an old printer's tray full of scrapping bits ...

such as brads and eyelets, charms and old letters, keys and tags, ETC...

Vintage inspired paper bits...

And of course ephemera bits...

And we all need embellishment bits to attach to those pretty papers and ephemera right???

Vintage seam binding, chenille trims & satin cording, beads & sheet music to share a few...

And of course vintage lace...what's a girl to do without her vintage lace?

And last but not least...beads!     ah yes, glass beads!       Feel free to grab a needle and thread to add some vintage bling to your project!

Excuse me, but what time do you have? Oh, I hope I haven't kept you too long, have I? Honestly friend, I tried to keep you all to myself and I would have loved for you to spend the whole day with me.  We could have made some really pretty things together you and I ... maybe later when you have more time?

I really appreciate you stopping by to see my vintage bits and please stop by Cerri's blog to see the list of other Show & Tell Sunday participants.

Remember our secret...it's a beautiful day today!

Day 13 of my "Birthday Month"

I have just signed up for sharing my "bits"...

Art Bits!

Cerri is hosting Show and Tell Sunday featuring...

Stash of Art Bits

on Sunday, October 19th.

This will be my first time joining so be sure to come by on Sunday and check out my artsy stash of vintage bits!

Day 12 of my "Birthday Month"

Good morning! I am having such a relaxing Sunday morning...the weather is beautiful and breezy and I am enjoying my little surprise I received in the mail this week. In preparation for my upcoming anxiously anticipated event of  Silver Bella, I ordered some glass glitter and some mica flakes from...

Heather at Pretty Petals Boutique

I fell in love with her blog (as you can see her link  on my side bar) and I truly love her style. Her vintage flair is intoxicating and is so inspiring to me. I can't wait to meet her in person in November and I am dreaming of the beauty she will bring to us for vendor night. I am...

Counting down the days to a dreamy weekend...

xoxo, Jodie

 

Day 11 of my "Birthday Month"

I thought I would share a picture or two of my newest birthday gifts I received Thursday night from Suzanne & Carrie. The seafood buffet was great and so was the company.  I was tickled with these fleur de lis ornaments from Suzanne. Don't they look exquisite in my autumn decor? I have loved the fleur de lis way before they became the latest fad. Now they are the biggest rage and they are everywhere you look! The fleur de lis is very symbolic here in Louisiana and always has been since the arrival of the Acadians in 1785...

Carrie gave me these wonderful antique salt servers. Do you remember in the good ole days when Plantation Homes were abound and life was simple yet everyone pulled a long hard day in the field to put food on the table? Well, these little salt servers were placed at each setting so one could season their food to their own liking. What's special about these is that they once belonged to Carrie's grandmother. I was so touched when I opened my gift to see these little jewels and even more so when she told me they were her family heirlooms and  she wanted me to have them.  I have the perfect place for them. I will incorporate these little beauties on my table in my craft room. I am sure they will be filled with little baubles and embellishments very soon!

Day 9 of my "Birthday Month"

Well I am not lying to you when I tell you that I actually do have a "birthday month". When others only celebrate their birthday one day of the year, I am fortunate enough to extend my birthday beyond the 24 hours of the first day of  October straight through Halloween!

I received another gift today...a surprise gift at that! My sweet cousin Sonya (& my partner of all things pretty) dropped by to give me this little package of pretty fabric squares she found just for me! She said it was another birthday gift simply because she "loves me"...

Vintage pillowcase material, vintage  little roses, oh I love it!!!

I am off to eat seafood with two of my very good friends I used to work with in banking...Carrie & Suzanne. They are treating me out to a birthday buffet tonight but I was informed however that they are not paying for my liquor bill (ahem). tee hee

Still celebrating with 22 days to go...

Day 8 of my "Birthday Month"

The number 8 is my favorite number.  I really feel like today is going to be a great day. The cool weather is upon us this morning, even if it is only for a couple of days. Also, I went to sleep last night with visions of Silver Bella Pearls in my head as I hit a creative streak and actually started assembling my swaps!  

I don't know about you, but sometimes, I will start pulling out all my supplies and goodies because I have this big ultra great idea in my mind. I get so excited to start that I vow to myself that I won't answer the phone nor turn on the TV.     I start...then nothing. Nothing at all. I just sit and stare at the mess I made and get frustrated.  I  clean it all up and I tell myself I will worry about this tomorrow.  You are with me right? Please tell me I'm not the only one and this has happened to you too! Well, last night was thankfully not one of those nights. As I watched the Presidential debate, I sat in my craft room and was very very creative. While the two candidates were trying to win the hearts of America, my heart was in my hands creating a whirlwind of pearly magic.

All of these pictures are just a sneak peak of "stuff" that I am using in the Pearls, Pearls, Pearls Swap.

For those of you who have no clue as to what I am talking about, this is a  swap of 6 Silver Bella girls who will make 6 similar/same items with a pearl theme to be swapped on opening night. So therefore, I will come home with 5 wonderful pearly items and of course the item I made for me. It's all a surprise so I can't say what anything will be. I will show you pictures after November 16th.

Hope you have a "Happy 8th"

Day 7 of my "Birthday Month"

Just leaving you a picture...

Letting you know that I am still enjoying my birthday month,  getting ready for my 20 year class reunion, working on a stained glass order and creating my heart out for Silver Bella.

Day 6 of my "Birthday Month"

Here's a few of my jewels I picked up from my flea market and garage sale excursion this past weekend...

I think I got a good deal on these 2 old black general ledgers...the handwriting is beautiful and they are very very very HEAVY!

I picked up a box of thread...I'll never use all of this thread in my lifetime but she sold me the whole box for $5! I love to use these colorful threads for gift tags! Even the box it came in was cute!

I found some great vintage baby cards, however the lady who sold them to me wasn't so great...she was miss snooty tooty!

And at one of our stops, we encountered a shopper near us saying "oh, all of this stuff is junk..." Oh well lady, excuse me while I take this Christmas "junk" home with me...yippie postcards!

This one is my favorite...it is real...not reproduction...

It's postmarked 1937!!!

And lastly, I found this beautiful bone china plate...it was the perfect plate for this picture of my sister's gift I am sending her. I lightly tea dyed the white handkerchief, pressed it, placed her eyeglass chain in it and folded it like an envelope. I then wrapped it with seam binding, printed a vintage card and viola! Instant vintage love coming her way, without the plate!! :)

Well I hope you enjoyed my shopping experience this weekend and I didn't bore you too much with the last three posts. Actually I have one more flea market to post about...are you in for it? It's coming soon.

Thanks for hanging in there with me during my "Birthday Month" series. It's going to be a busy month for me with football and all, It's my 20 year reunion!!!! Go Bobcats!

If you haven't noticed yet...I love birthdays...even mine and........ I love the month of October!

Day 5 of my "Birthday Month"

Okay...I want to finish posting about my little flea market excursion from yesterday. Since I didn't get to photograph my purchases yet, I will just leave you with these photos from the Worthmore 5 & 10 (the old "five & dime" store) ... enjoy!

                           

Day 4 of my "Birthday Month"

All day garage sale-ing and flea market-ing!

First stop was a city wide garage sale in Breaux Bridge, LA (pronounced brO-bridge for you non-cajun speakers :))

  The shops were all open for business and the sidewalks were covered in tables full of goodies and shoppers from all over!

We walked and dug, walked and dug, walked and bought, and finally we stopped and snacked...yum yum...there is nothing like a sausage po-boy straight from a vendor's trailer & a real Coca-Cola!

                     

I was lucky enough to find lots of little goodies.  Thanks to my wonderful cousin Sonya, she is a "digger" of all unopened and unpacked boxes and "jewer" of anything with a price tag. After we figured out how much she saved me by asking the vendors "what is your lowest price on this item please?"... we both ate for "free"!

I will try and post all my goodies tomorrow (or soon) on my "birthday month" series!

After hitting every table in Breaux Bridge, we traveled about 20 miles to Rayne, LA (pronounced rain)...

The above brick was laying around an old flea market back door and I just couldn't resist staging it for the perfect vintage photo!

Our first stop in Rayne was the...

Have you ever heard of this chain or remember it when you were young? Well, I do and we called it the old "five & dime" store. They have mostly all closed now and I think this store is the only one left in Louisiana! As for the owners, they seemed to be 100 years old (I think they are the original owners). I snuck a picture of him doing book work in his office in the back of the store...he has NO computer!!!!!

Oh how I envy his simple life and love his vintage-ness!

          

I have to mention however how very sweet they were to let me take pictures so I could share this wonderful little time capsule of a store with you. Get ready, there are lots of pictures ahead...keep your eyes open and mouth closed so you don't drool all over your key board! Ready? Here we go...

For the love of ribbon & buttons, any and all ribbons & buttons... 90% vintage new old stock! (NOS as I call it!)

Are you okay so far? Take a breath... Do you love seam binding?

Seam binding so vintage that you can see original package pricing and his white price stickers with the mark up of inflation!!!! (He forgot to price the top fourth green one from 75 cents to $1.55!)

Embroidery and crochet thread...now let me tell you, if you can't find the color you need here, you just don't need it!

Okay, if that didn't get you excited, here are a couple more little snippets of the store...if you want more, just email me!

Let's not forget about the inflation of curlers... (25 cents to $5)

Some things are still cheap but do you know of any kids today that play Cowboys & Indians?? I know mine didn't...he was stuck behind his X-box! And soldiers? Let me not go there!

   

And I was out the door with bags of goodies only spending a little over $16 . The vintage cash register only registers up to $9.99! Now a days, they must use an adding machine!

This is a close up of the note on the register...

And finally, this is their shopping bags at the front door for your shopping convenience...

Note how the linoleum floor is totally worn out at the entrance/exit of the store...I just love it!

I have about 23-25 more pictures of this store alone, but I think this post is long enough. If you would like to see more pictures such as vintage toys, vintage baby clothes, or vintage kitchen items, just let me know and I can email them to you. On the other hand if you have patience, I am sure that when I won't have anything to post about at a later date, I may post about this five and dime store again and show some new pictures!

We also visited a huge flea market in an interesting old downtown building today, but again that will be another post on another day!

Thanks for sharing my Saturday with me and hopefully I will get around to posting my purchases soon!

I am off to a hot bath...what a day! I am pooped out!