...quick ((GASP)) for air...

Still running the HOLIDAY MARATHON, but enjoying every minute of it!!
Hosting a 'Holiday Cocktail Party' Friday, and then we shall resume our normal posting activities 8-) !!

A photo to prove that decorations DID get done this year!
VERA 2011 #23 picked up during a 'destress Thrift stop' while out last-minute Christmas Retail Shopping ((argh!!))... colors worked in perfectly with the Xmas scheme in our Dining Room!

Gifties from 'The Crew' during our annual Cookie Baking weekend... 2011 Sweater Clips #17 & #18, and Red Royal Haeger 2011 #14

Sweater Clip 2011#19 picked up while out Xmas Shopping... I spotted a 'New-to-Me' Antique Store that I had never been in before! Right in my own town! How had I missed this? Had to go!

and last, but not least, as this kind of looks like mountains on the horizon...

VERA2011#24.

That makes the final tally for 2011...

SWEATER CLIPS: 19

HAEGER: 14

VERA: 24

not a bad journey at all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

... it's a start.

Our 'DOORMAN' is 'decked' and ready for the season... Does that count?tie courtesy of J's vintage stash once worn in high school 8-)

...and my B-day Tri-fecta IS COMPLETE!

LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!!!!...I think they would have whether I gave the okay or not ;-)

Sorry... no 'smashing & stunning' decking the halls photos... Yet - but SOON (maybe?!!)

Hope everyone is getting behind in their holiday decorating due to a frantic selling season ~ isn't it WONDERFUL?!!

My parents came to visit Thanksgiving weekend for our annual Thrifted/handmade stocking exchange. Before they left, between my 'stocking' & b-day presents, my 'B-DAY TRI-FECTA' (started with the package received earlier in the week) was complete 8-)...

ROYAL HAEGER 2011 #11

HAEGER 2011#12

HAEGER 2011#13

and a couple of Very Dear sweater clips direct from Mom's jewelry box!! (Yes, she has been holding out on me!) 2011 #15 & #16

Sorry not much to show along the lines of THRIFT FINDS!! I'm starting to jones for a good 'fix' though 8-) !! I keep a ledger of 'purchases' (in blue ink) and 'sales' (in green ink). I guess it is a Good Thing when there are Way.More 'green' entries than 'blue' entries, BUT...

I did have one FIND! Know anything about these little guys?? Made commercially of wood beads with felt hats and heavy cardboard bases. About 3 1/2" tall from bottom of base to tip of hat, diameter of base is 1". They are OLD!! Came in a box, and all that is marked on the box is a stamped number '1-46*'.

...HAPPY 'T-DAY'

or in my case, HAPPY 'V-DAY'!!!I just received an early 'B-DAY' package in the mail, jam packed full of goodness (THANK YOU!!!), three of which began with the letter 'V'... can you guess what they were?!!

2011 #20

2011 #21

2011 #22

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

...I hold my fellow bloggers completely GUILTY!!

GLITTER and a HOT GLUE GUN are NOT part of my normal daily arsenal,

but what I like to think of as 'The Blog Bug' struck this weekend!! (You know, all those COOL things you read about on other blogs that just kind of float around in your head and suddenly SURFACE!!) - and The Only way to get rid of 'TBB' is to go with it!!

So, go with it I DID!

(glitters from Studio Stash... I've NEVER glittered before, but always pick them up at bag sales, 'cause somebody is always doing some cool project in Blogland with glitter that I may want to try someday...

A FRIDAY NIGHT spent glittering corks!?

Then SUNDAY spent rifling through the stashes...

wreath forms (picked up at sales, just because other bloggers are doing cool stuff with these!)

...and garlands (picked up at sales for the same reasons!)

...and tons of ornaments ('cause they are in GREAT DEMAND in Blogland)

(...and all of my tons of ornies are stored in stacks of vintage suitcases - of course!)

AND VOILA'

WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A TRIP

TO MICHAELS

OR

A.C. MOORE....

A 'Memory Wreath' for Mom & Dad this year, since they haven't put up a tree in numerous years and Mom has been kinda sentimental lately... I picked up ornies I can remember us having on the tree as kids, and that our grandparents had - plus added a copy of Mom's fav. cookie cutter

My version of a 'seaside' wreath... not done, want to add some seashells.

The Beat and Battered... all of these ornies were 1/2 step from the garbage - faded & scratched & Yuk beyond the point of anyone wanting them... perfect for a PORCH wreath that I don't care about!

A 'nod' to the Vine... for an older friend who adores her Wine and Camels - the animal - NOT Cigarettes!! (this is where glittering up the corks came into play!!)

Now, who could have possibly inspired me to glitter cookie cutters - Heidi? Shara?

...HIBERNATION?

svelteSTUFF has not gone into 'complete' hibernation... I have just been lacking in anything 'interesting' to post about~ not that this post is an award winner by any standards!! Just wanted to drop by and say 'HI!' Hope everyone in BlogLand is taking time to enjoy Life as the Holiday rush starts to creep in...

Saleing has come to a standstill here in the NE - with weather that can change with the drop of a hat, few want to put all the work into hosting a sale, only to have it snowed out!!

Now, I'm spending my time sifting through my Attic~studio treasures... and MUCH to J's delight, actually spending time parting with 'some' of them!! Just a few.

(saw a clip on one of the Morning Shows that 'faux fur' collars were the fashion trend this season, so HEY!, I think I've got a stash of vintage collars - better get those listed!! We'll see if the timing is right!)

I should REALLY be spending my time getting ready for the HOLIDAYS!!

You know, baking... and cooking...

and cleaning...

and shopping...

and decorating...

(or at least pulling the decoration totes down from the attic!!)

...but a girl has to go find treasures wherever she can!!

...hooking!

Yesterday I went AWOL from work to roadtrip to my parents house. Spent the morning helping Mom clean the basement, then in the afternoon we started 'THE' hooking project that has been playing in the back of my mind for about a year now.

My Grandmother hooked rugs, and my mother 'used' to hook rugs - the last one that she did was back in the 50's (and yes, I DO have it, in all of it's ultra-moderne design!!!). I really have no interest in this primitive style of 'crafting', BUT, I figure if I'm ever going to learn - or may EVER have any interest - better do it NOW. Soooooooo....

~I have Grandma's shuttle style hook

~been gather 100% wool clothing in FUN colors at Rummage Bag Sales

~Finally was able to purchase a 'BLISS STRIP CUTTER' at a reasonable price

~Located Burlap to use as backing at Tractor Supply Store

~Dad is making us the proper size Stretcher

Let the good times roll!

If you would like to see some BEAUTIFUL examples of Rug Hooking done by a Pro (with proper materials!!) check out Cathy G's site!! http://orangesink.blogspot.com/

...'I bet you make some young strangers happy when we die"

On 10-27-11, J & I celebrated our 10th anniversary, so we decided to do what we do best... head to the seaside! This is the view of the ocean from our room, and the reflection of our historic hotel off ultra-modern neighboring hotel!This is the view from our hotel window... beach, ocean, and a reflection of our historic hotel off of the ultra-modern neighboring building!
daily beach walks in search of sea glass, this particular trip the tide was low enough that we were able to stroll under the piers...

...it seemed that all too soon we had to leave the glitz-n-glam, blue ocean-n-skies...

LITTLE DID WE KNOW WHAT WE WERE HEADING IN TO!!

*

*

*

IT WAS STILL OCTOBER!
*
*
*

!
!

Yep.

Welcome to Pennsylvania folks!

It took us 1hour to drive 15 miles.

Those trees that had been SOOO Beautiful, and at the Peak of their Fall Colour on our trip down, just couldn't hold the weight of all of their leaves AND the snow!! When they started coming down across the turnpike a little too close for comfort, we decided it was time to find a place to pull-off and stay for the night. Allentown, PA it was!

The next morning the sun was bright and the roads were looking MUCH BETTER!

Since our return, we haven't seen any more snow, but the realization that Winter isn't far off has settled in!

I have taken advantage of every sunny day with what I fear to be a 'last' seaglass trip (top photo is the yield of our Ocean trip, middle photo: FingerLake (Seneca); bottom/right photo: Great Lake (Ontario).

Reinforcing the realization that Winter is lurking in the shadows is the dwindling number of sales in the NE! Holiday Craft / Bazaars peaked this past weekend in our area. A bittersweet farewell to fall. My favorite of these 'Bazaars' excels in the vintage jewelry!! I'm sure that I have raved about these 'Church Ladies' in the past, but I M.U.S.T. do it again! All of the above jewelry came from them. They told me the amount. I'm sure that the ladies that do the pricing used to work at the local 'Five and Dime'. I gave them a five dollar bill. They started to count out my change, and I told them to keep it. They just stared at me with the strangest looks!!?! Then repeated what I owed them. If I had given them the three one dollar bills in my pocket, they still would have owed me change - that is how ridiculously low the prices are!!

They are all quality pieces too!! Trifari, Monet, Sarah Coventry, Genuine Copper, Coro, Lisner,

and....SWEATER CLIP 2011 #11

The other Bazaars of the weekend treated me well also...

SWEATER CLIP 2011 #12 ($1)

and

these two little beauties

that I am rather

fond of...

SWEATER CLIPS 2011 #13 & #14 ($1 ea)

wondering what is so special about them?

The LEAF sweater clip is a signed TRIFARI ~ finding a signed sweater clip is RARE!! I think that I only have about 6-8 of them in my collection!

The other sweater clip has a personalized pendant 'PAULINE'... nobody that I know, just kind of fun!

Now the sales are over for the season, time to get busy with some head-on, 'for-real' SELLING & PURGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But First, You H.A.V.E. to watch this!!

It's cute.

It gets kinda old after a while, but toward the end there is one line that I 'like' to think sums up all of our old 'STUFF'...

"I bet you make some young strangers happy when we die"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdDrrChPwz0