Garage Sale Lotto...

Good Morning Friends! Thanks to everyone's uplifting comments, I took your advice and spared some time for me this weekend. I ventured out and hit a couple of garage sales (which was great by the way!) and found some really neat things...

It actually felt good to be out and see the morning sunrise and walk through the dew in the yards. It's probably been about 6 weeks since I rummaged through people's goodies!

I love that feeling {sigh}

I can't brag about finding too much, but what I found was really like hitting the jackpot. So I sat on the floor (early this morning) like a little child at Christmas time and admired my little treasures. I thought I'd grab my camera and share them with you if you have a moment.

This neat little shelf. I'm debating whether to leave it the green whitewash that it is or paint it black. (Knowing me, after I give it a little cleaning, it'll probably go on the wall in my studio just like it is)

This little Avon soap in the cute little rusty western tin and the OLD suitcase, both for 50 cents!  Just had to have them I guess! Probably because the little old lady said that this was once her grandfather's suitcase...and she was old! Can you imagine where this has traveled? Oh if only it could tell us some stories!!!!

But these are what really caught my eye. OLD Board Games!!! (the top two are not old but I bought them for the wooden & plastic letters)...

The little old lady said that she played most of these when she was little. I believed it as I've never heard of Easy Money nor Boris Karloff's Monster Game. Nor did I know that they ever had a game of The Beverly Hillbillies!

The little old lady had the boxes taped up so that no one would be rummaging through the games. (you know how little children are at yard sales when they are not being watched by their parents!) She said all of the pieces were there and at 50 cents a game, I swiped them up hoping they would have some great game pieces to create some cool altered art with.

I know, I'm a little weird to be telling the world this, but when I bring anything home from a yard sale, I always spray everything with a bug killer and leave it set for the night.  Those of you who know me, KNOW that I hate any kind of bug, especially a roach. I will indeed break an arm or a leg running from one or total a car if a bug should fly inside. So therefore, I play it safe and kill all uninvited little creatures in my home, AND I do not drive with the windows down! Ever! ;)

Do you want to play some games? They are bug free...I promise!

Boris Karloff's Monster Game

And the little old lady was right. The games had all of the pieces, lovingly kept in pristine shape after all these years...

The game pieces are so cute! They are little colorful cardboard monsters that together can spell out his name! Too cute!

Easy Money

This must have been the pre-Monopoly game. This was before my time...but cool non the less!!!!

I love the shriveled paper money and tattered playing cards...

Please forgive my dark photos...the sunrise was blanketed by clouds that would slowly pass through the light of the front door.

Concentration

When I opened this box, I was just amazed at how neat everything inside was saved. This little old lady and her siblings surely appreciated their board games to keep them in such great shape...

I've never seen a game with the "rolomatic puzzle changer" and it still works! It's so much different than our Concentration game of today!

And last but not least...

The Beverly Hillbillies

Everything was pristine with this game too...

I don't know about you, but this was my least favorite show when I was growing up. Granny's voice got on my nerves so much and Ellie Mae was such a blond, not to mention Jeffro was so stupid! However, I did like old Jed...he was cool.

I'm so happy with my OLD board games but now I have a new dilemma. I bought these old games for the sole purpose of using the game pieces in my altered art. Since the games are in such wonderful condition and such a vintage keepsake, I hate breaking up the games now. I guess this is part of my POD (package opening disorder), mixed with my love for everything vintage.

What would YOU do???  Dismantle or Leave as is?

Please come to my rescue!!!

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

For those who live in the Louisiana area, mark your calendars for:

October 9th, 10th & 11th ~ the Fall Antique Fair at the Antique School House in Washington, Louisiana

Saturday, October 17th is the 7 mile yard sale from Grand Coteau to Arnaudville, Louisiana

(I posted about the Spring 7 mile yard sale  here and here)

These events happen twice a year (Spring and Fall) and are certainly some "don't miss" events! 

Let me know if you are going as I hope to see you there!!!!

The Saint of Charity...

St. Vincent de Paul

He was born of a very poor family in France in 1581.

He studied Theology and became an ordained priest in 1600. 

While on a mission, he fell into the hands of African pirates and was slaved for two years. After his escape, he continued to preach his missions and devoted all of his time and efforts to charitable societies for the poor, hungry, sick and those in need.

Charity was his predominant virtue.

I chose St. Vincent de Paul for the Saint Tag Swap hosted by Gina Grable. There are twelve members. Each of us had to pick a saint, make twelve tags and mail them back to Gina. In return, she will make twelve Saint Tag Books and give one to each of us at Silver Bella in November.

This swap is my third and final Silver Bella swap...whew! I am done! (where's that fork...) The deadline wasn't until October 15th, I'm so proud of myself for being a month early. I proudly pranced to the post office earlier this week and sent this off to Gina. Woo whoo...I feel lighter already!!! ;)

Emails, Comments & Phone Calls...

I'm sorry I haven't posted in 6 days...that is so unlike me. I have a lot on my plate at the moment and I thank you for always coming by to check on me!  I appreciate all of you!!! Please be patient with me if I haven't visited you lately.

Two things can happen in the coming weeks: My posts will be far and few between OR I will have short "happy" posts to "escape" here with you to take my mind off of LIFE (because in spite of all this, I still have great things to share with you!  :)

 I am learning to deal with my Dad's Alzheimer's.

Through my daily trials, I have learned:

There are good days and there are bad days.

There WILL be good days and there WILL be bad days.

I have accepted this.

I embrace the good days.

I lift up the bad days. 

And, I still have so much yet to learn.

To all of you who have sent emails and left comments, I have saved each and every one of them and I look back on them when I am down. Know that you have become a very special part in my healing and understanding...your words have given me great comfort. Thank You.

Blogger 101: Comment Reply...

Hello Everyone! I just wanted to share something really cool with you today. I've shared this neat little tip with some of my BBF (best blogging friends) before but I've had so many questions lately of "How do you do that?"  So, since you are my BBF too, I thought I would just TELL IT TO THE WORLD, that is if you're interested of course! ;)

Question is:

When I leave a comment on your blog, how do you reply back to me in an email?

example:  Dear friend leaves me a sweet comment asking me a question. I get an email notification of the comment. I click on that email notification, read it, click reply and answer her question. But! If Dear friend doesn't have her email listed with Blogger, then I am replying to a "no-reply blogger" and she will never get my answer...Then I would never know that she didn't receive it...She thinks I'm ignoring her...And we don't want that to happen do we? NEVER!

Instead, I want to receive the email notification, click reply, answer her question and hope to start a lasting friendship...that's what blogging is about right? RIGHT!

So let's make sure we are all set up and we aren't missing any replies okay? It's very simple. With a few clicks of the mouse here and there, I can have you on the road to meeting and greeting more friends out there on a more personal basis instead of leaving personal comments where "everyone" can see them.

**Note: this should not and will NOT take the place of comments as we all love to receive comments!!! This tip is only for that "extra" step to maybe say "thank you for visiting" or ask questions about a particular post, etc.

Let's try this out as I will explain it in simple "baby steps" to make sure we are on the same page. If you are interested, you can lower my blog, open your blog and work on yours at the same while I attempt to walk to you through it. Ready?

First things first, we need to make sure that your email address is properly inserted in several Blogger fields...

Sign in on your blog (top right hand corner) if you are not signed in already.

Click on My Account (top right hand corner)

Right in the middle of your screen you will see the column Personal Settings. Verify that your email address is in the Email Address Field. If it is there, we will move on. If it is not there, click Edit and type it in.  Save changes.

On the same page to the left of the screen, you will see My Products. Under that, you will see Blogger - Settings. Click on Settings. You are now in the Edit User Profile. Scroll down until you get to the Identity section. You will see Email Address. If your email address is not listed in that square, type it in. If it is, great as we are almost through! Save changes.

From this page, click on Dashboard (upper right hand corner)

Under Manage Blogs, you will see Edit Posts - Settings - Layout - Monetize. Click on Settings.

On the Settings page, you will see tabs that read Basic, Publishing, Formatting, Comments, etc. Click on Comments.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see Comment Notification Email.  If your email is in there, you are set up. If it is not, add your email address there. Save changes.

We are done :)

Now, when someone leaves you a comment on your blog, you will get an email notification. Directly from that email, you can reply to that person through email and answer any questions or go into detail about any topic discussed without feeling the need to hop over to her blog, comment, and leave information that is really too personal for "everyone" to read or leave a comment that is "off topic" of the most recent post.

I love to use this feature when someone leaves me a sweet comment and I want to go and thank them for doing so. Or when I want to add a little something personal that I don't feel comfortable about "everyone else" reading it. To me, it just lets that person know you went the extra mile in contacting them personally.

The only thing to remember is now that you are set up...not everyone is set up so remember: when you get the email, and click on Reply, always right click on the sender's name. When you do, you will either see a valid email address or you will see "no-reply blogger". When you see the latter, don't even bother clicking Send because they will not get it. This is what I'm trying to avoid by sharing this great tip with you so you can share it with others and we will ALL have a "no-reply blogger" free world! {sigh and smile}

Hope this helps as this information has helped many already and we are able to keep in touch so easily. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. My email address is at the top on the left. Oh by the way, that's awesome to have handy on your blog page too!!!! :)

Do you know how hard it is for me not to post a pretty photo in this post? Oh it is really hard. I don't think I can click Publish without doing so. I can't. So here's one for you for following my tutorial. You can right click and save it if you'd like! :)

So the question I'm asking YOU now is...

Are you a "no-reply blogger" free blogger??? ;)  Believe me, I'll find out if you're not...I'm off to do some right clicking! ;)

oh! and if you changed all of the above information and you want to "test it out", just leave me a comment on this post asking me to visit you. I'll then go to your blog, leave you a comment and from there you will get an email notification of my comment. From your email, you can reply back to me to verify that it works. Trust me, you'll love it!  ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

A Different Kind of Tag Book...

 

"May thy Birthdays be life's golden milestones"

Today was the birthday of one of my oldest friends. Let me rephrase that ~ she's not really my "oldest" friend, we've just been friends for a very LONG time. We've worked together, played together, laughed together, cried together, and have always been there for one another. She's that kind of friend.

Together we've watched our children grow up and start their own lives and we've watched our parent(s) become ill and pass away. She is always putting me up on a pedestal and always there with a shoulder when I'm down for whatever reasons life has brought me. She's that kind of friend.

She's old enough to be my mother, young enough at heart to keep me totally entertained. Crazy enough to make me laugh and wise enough to guide me and teach me. She's that kind of friend.

We can tell each other anything and everything like..."Jodie, my birthday is coming up and I need some new earrings. Can you make me some more?" I just smiled and said "Sure...anything for you, friend." Then frantically last night (yes, I do tend to procrastinate & I work better under pressure ;)  I whip up these earrings and cards and think...how will I wrap these for my special friend? Hmmm...they are too beautiful to wrap, how about I just punch a hole and tie them together for a different kind of tag book. If you've been visiting me here often, somehow I'm sure you know by now that I like to do things a little differently.

I have to say...she loved it  :) 

She's that kind of friend that just "gets me".

I hope God has blessed you with a friend like that in your life. I am fortunate since He has blessed me with many...including you!

Daily THOUGHTFUL Surprises...

 

Before we hit the road, she gave me this beautiful flocked nested egg collage of which I adore, not to mention the handmade Thelma & Louise card that was too cute...(even with the glitter)

Day 2 of our Texas road trip, I come out of the shower to find this on my pillow...

I start thinking...could this be a morning trend? Keeping my fingers crossed, I open it to find this little library pocket filled with a card of her handmade clay buttons!

Day three, I'm in the shower again...hoping there is something on my pillow. To my delight, YES...

Still in awe and excited about the fact that this IS a morning trend, I tear it open to find this burlap covered vegetable can wrapped with (my favorite) lace & velvet ribbon and bling!

After a wonderful day at Tidbits & Tassels, (Chantal Johnson's art retreat),  I just wanted to relax and put my jammies on, so off to bathroom I went, only to come out and find this on my pillow...

(sorry about the lighting, it was nighttime)

hmmm. Two gifts in one day? I'm starting to get a complex thinking these cute little gifts were her appreciation for me taking a shower. (raise arm, sniff...nah, I can't be that bad!) 

For whatever reason, a gift is a gift and I tore into this one to find this cute little bottle wrapped in lace with a pretty flower on top!

What's this number 4? Did I miss something? We're not on day 4 of our trip yet...am I stinky and stupid? I look at her and she laughs as she says she counted the days wrong and made 5 gifts! Whew! I realize that I'm not loosing my head AND I don't stink after all!!!

Day 4,  the morning before we leave, I thought I would "test" her. I went to the bathroom only to brush my teeth and dress.

No shower.

To my delight, I still found another gift on my pillow...

Just plain relieved that these were "thank you" gifts and not a shower issue, I tore into this pretty present to find this collage canvas detailed with stamped twill ribbon, ephemera and paper flowers...

Even though it had the number 5 on it, I chuckled and cherished it anyway.

You see, there's something about Sarah that always makes me chuckle when I think of her. She was a great road trip partner, she fit in with the Texas Bellas like a glove, she always has a smile on her face and she is a morning person...one of which I AM NOT.

Her family called her at least 15 times a day to see if she was okay because they did not know who I was and wondered if she was in good hands. I promised them that I wouldn't kill her, not on purpose anyway!   ;)  Then on the way home, her husband called her 16 times and we never heard the phone ring. She checked her phone (because she had not received a call in the past 15 minutes ;) and calls him back immediately only to find out that he was about to put out an APB on a black Corvette with a Louisiana license plate! She IS loved, no doubt. **Note: my phone never rang...at least not that often! ;)

She loves Dr. Pepper, pizza and KitKat bars. She doesn't eat popcorn. She's a good navigator and has a good sense of direction. She can read a map and see a road sign before I can and she can tell you which lane to be in at the right time.

However she didn't know the name of the town we stayed in and I didn't realize this until Day 2.  I'm driving and she's on the phone with her mother. We are trying to find the thrift shops and I hear her say "We are trying to find the Goodwill store here in Ro-tel." My eyebrows crinkle as I don't believe what I've just heard. There is no place in Texas called Ro-tel...no wonder her family doesn't trust me...now I know they are really wondering where have I taken their daughter! Then, I hear her say "Yeah Mom, you know, we are staying in Ro-tel and there is supposed to be a Goodwill and a Family Thrift Store here." If I ever came close to wrecking, this had to be it as I was laughing so hard and hollering to her mother "We are in Rowlett, Texas!!!" When just minutes before, she was taking pictures of the Rowlett water tower! You can't help but chuckle when you read that right? That's Sarah!!!

I'll always have my memories of my and Sarah's Texas road trip to Ro-tel, oops I mean Rowlett...

  Thanks Sarah!

And, this is THE END of the Texas Road Trip posts.

Now I have some boxes that I received in the mail last week that I need to open and I finished another Silver Bella swap that I want to show you sneak peeks of...no more Texas talk...I promise!  ;)

Full of Inspiration & Creativity...

This is the second to last post of my weekend at Chantal's for her Tidbits and Tassels art retreat in Texas last weekend. For those who have followed me this far, thank you! I appreciate all the comments, all of the followers, and all of the lurkers too! (you know who you are, I used to be one too! And it's okay!!!  ;)

Anywho, today I want to show you what we created. IF I could tell you how much fun we had while creating, you wouldn't believe me!

Well just look at the photos, maybe you will...let's play! Shall we?

Above: Tassel made by Chantal Johnson

This is our lovely hostess, Mrs. Chantal herself...

She's gearing us up for the fun ahead! See that basket on her left?

Oh okay, now you can see it right? On the left in the gold goody bags were the sweet little notions to make our cards. On the right in the clear bags were some beautiful ribbons to make our tassels! She had everything we needed...and more! Lots more! Let's go play outside shall we???

This was our wonderful table outside under her beautiful patio...

And this was the sweet place setting, one for each of us. Underneath the welcome note was a paper tablet to use as a craft mat...how neat!!! I just loved that idea! Details, details, details!!!

Then if that weren't enough, she had this cute little side table set up with more tidbits available for us to use! Isn't that so generous of her?

AND, she offered us anything out of her studio too!

Paper, ribbons, sheet music, book pages, and bling...

Wood letters, type writer keys, and cork crowns...

Metals and crystals all arranged beautifully in glass on silver trays! Simply set for creative Queens!!!

Oh, and let's not forget the birds and scrabble tiles!

Our first project, we were to make precious little cards like these...

and these...

So we opened our little goody bags filled with this...

Broke out our creating tools...

And with a little creativity, my card soon looked like this...

And, our sweet little table began to look like this...

And Chantal's studio table began to look like this...

Which ONLY proves that we were having FUN!!! Oh dear...you don't believe me?

Well then, just have look at Chantal's mom, Maryse...

And Susan...

And Rita...

And Heather...

And Sarah...

And Chantal (left), and Ann Michelle (right)...

And me? Well of course there is no photo of me but I can promise you that I am happy right here behind the camera!!! This way, I get to snoop and see what everyone else is up to. Trust me, I'm through with my projects...see? My little corner of the table is cleaned up with my card and my tassel lying there in the bottom left corner...Now you KNOW how much I really suffer from OCD!  (look at the rest of the table...I can't bear it I tell ya!)     ;)

So here's a close up of my projects. See the "P" typewriter key on the tassel? I made that tassel especially for my little niece Payton.

I wanted to thank her for being such a wonderful niece and for being such a wonderful creative partner with me. I think she's the only person in the world that can make me stay up past my bedtime and I don't regret it in the morning! Little did I know that when I would return home from Texas, she would call me and tell me that she made HOMECOMING COURT at her high school!!! So I was even more thrilled and even more proud of her! Not to mention she's a 4.0+ student...wait...can I be more proud of her than I already am?  :)  I'm just a VERY proud Auntie! Can't you tell?

Okay, now you know I have ADD in addition to my OCD...I tend to jump off the subject so let's get back to the play time with the girls ;)

Final photos of the creative Queens with the goodies...

back row, left to right:        Jodie, Maryse, Chantal, Sarah

front row, left to right:       Ann Michelle, Heather, Rita, Susan

Some eyes were closed? Let's try another one...

Yay! ;)

Well friends, soon after this photo, we called it a day. What a wonderful day it was indeed.

I hope you had fun coming along with me for the past three posts. It was a pleasure sharing my fun with you too!

Thanks again to Chantal for a wonderful weekend!!!

ps...if there is ever a Tidbits & Tassels #2, I am so there! ;)