...What would YOU do with all of YOUR time??

Wed. Morning was rainy, but our Angel Trumpet plant still had a blossom, so I took that as a sign that it MUST be a 'DayTrippin' Day!

Met up with my partner in crime...

and we were off!

 

Destination:

SONNENBERG GARDENS!

 For a morning of wandering around the gardens,

 and daydreaming on what life was like before...

Electronics and computer and cellphone,

TV, Facebook and Blogs...

even grocery stores.

AND with a WHOLE staff of servants...

 

WHAT DID THEY DO WITH THEMSELVES??????

 

 ...enjoy the ever changing beauty of the gardens from day to day,  season to season?

 ...set up their easel and paint to their hearts content?

 

...find quiet places to meditate, write poems or love letters?

...find secluded spots to read inspiring works by Longfellow and Kafka?

 



Just walking these grounds I was transformed for a short while.  Maybe, just maybe, this is why I have such a preference for 'stuff that has lived a life prior to me'.  It has soul.  It can speak to us in a way 'new off the shelf' never can. 

 

*** ps.  I keep forgetting to update you on my latest (well, about a month ago...) ~

SweaterClip 2013 #12 (50¢) - sm child's



 

...NO other choice!



All signs led to Garage Sales on Friday, so what was I to do?
When this happens,
Is there any other choice??

Yes, yet another set of my favorites - vintage aluminum measuring cups, with the added bonus of a small sifter! (all for a whopping .50¢)

A set of TALL 'V' glasses which "PERFECTLY" match four highball glasses (one shown to right) we inherited from J's great granparents (.25¢ea - gotta Love that!)

an 'on-going' theme to the day seemed to be 'STAMPIN'.
NO! I'm not getting into STAMPING.
(YES. I did buy a couple of the punches for my own use -they are good for other forms of crafting and making tags!!)
The prices were 'right' on ALL of these items though, and I thought they would be good to try for resale or else I have friends that would appreciate them ;-)



Bag of wooden spools...

Just STUFF.

New Gallon of Citronella, Train Case ($1.), 2 Soldering Irons (future stocking stuffer's for Dad - .25¢ea!!), Galv. Bucket (Only $1 - but I 'HAD' to take the bird feeders and all of the garden tools with it!).  Oh, and the 'White Thing' - ?? - Part of an old weather vane? Road Runner? Pilated Wood Pecker? It was .10¢ and it was 'fun'...

It has been a LONG time since I have had a SALING FIX this good, but it just leaves me jonesing for the next!!

HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A GREAT WEEK!!
 

...the WOG of it all.

Wednesday was a picture perfect day!

I ventured out on a solo roadtrip to meet up with some old friends for an evening of play at a place that I've heard about for Y.E.A.R.S.!!

 

In preparation for this evening, I had played around with seaglass and worked on my wire wrapping techniques to form each of us 'girls' (old ladies?- no, I'm sticking with Girls!!) a token pendant necklace for the evening..

 

This was a BIG evening after all!

My First Trip to POLLYWOGG HOLLER ECO-RESORT!!

~No, we didn't pay those OUTRAGEOUS $$ to spend the night, we just went for band & pizza & wine

~YES, I would Definitely recommend it!

~In case you were wondering, those pendants were supposed to be Pollywogs, or WOGS as we so affectionately referred to them!

 

Thursday morning was another beautiful day for a roadtrip back home,  enhanced by the chance encounter of a couple of 'early-weekend' garage sales!!

 A whole spool of cording for my future pendants ~ How did the garage sale Gods know that I had just used up the last of mine on the WOGS???

...and a little concrete FROG for our garden.  Is that the perfect ending

to a WOG trip, or what?!

...27 STEP PROGRAM.

Anybody recognize these?

These are one of my true 'Achilles heels'...

 If you guessed 'Ceramic Mosaic Tiles' (CMT) - you are correct!

Oh, I DO adore them. 

 Glazed Ceramic Tiles (CT) follow in a close second...

 Okay, so just about ANY kind of tile I am a sucker for.

It's NOT my fault - REALLY!!

In my previous life I was an Interior Designer, and I loved adding special little 'details' to projects in the form of mosaics

 

This Reception Area 8'x10' 'Oriental Rug' design made of 1"x1" CMT was one of my favorite projects EVER!!

 

 When samples would become obsolete, I couldn't stand to see them sent to a landfill... so for the 10yrs I worked as a Designer, I lovingly hoarded the samples away in a 'small corner' of my Attic/Studio.

Over the years I have rehabbed SEVERAL tables by learning the art of tiling and doing mosaic inlays MYSELF!!  Then came the test - 15 yrs ago I redid the bathroom shower with 'sample tiles'!!  **(BEFORE MARRIAGE mind you!!)

I did EVERYTHING on this shower surround from carefully laying out my 'under water theme' on grid paper (once again using  my beloved 1" x 1" CMT), to sorting, sticking, adhering, cleaning & grouting the tiles!! 
ALL FROM SAMPLE TILES!

...and here it is, 20 years later still going strong ~ but feeling rather dated...

~BUT, I digress~

after ALL of those years of 'tile hoarding' for 'future' projects... this past week I was F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. feeling strong and the URGE to PURGE overcame me!!  I contacted a local Montessori school art teacher who was interested in some, and the rest are going to our community mosaics projects. So I am good with it, that none are going to landfills ~ just yet!!

• There are 27 steps from the first floor of our house to my Attic/Studio.
• That is actually 54 steps round-trip.
• It took me THIRTEEN trips to bring all of the tiles down from the attic (or 702 steps)!!

"and that is how I lost 560Lbs using the 27 Step Program!"


Behind The Scenes Footage:

 

4' x 4' CLEAR space in Attic/Studio
which 'used' to house the tiles...
Hmmm.... 'Empty Space'???!?

...yes. I DID keep one.little
box of Favorites for possible
future endeavours...
 

...back to the garden!


I did finally make it into the 'studio' on Sunday ~ OH, what a nasty massacre that was!!  Soldering still alludes me ((SIGH))...

I.

WILL.

NOT.

GIVE.

UP!
 

 

I did complete' two pieces ~ but NO EVIDENCE is going to be put onto this blog!!  Instead we are going to put PRETTY PICTURES of today's happy place 8-)



The Garden.

Where I can transform a pile of weeds
(aka: JAPANESE LANTERNS)...

...Into a BEAUTIFUL FALL BOUQUET!!




LIFE IS GOOD IN THE GARDEN!!

...dog-day DayTrippin'

Started off the new week of the 'New Year' with a Girl's Day-Trippin' adventure!   (Picked a local town/city that we had been wanting to explore more 'in-depth'... and did it!)

good sign.  First 'Angel Trumpet' blossomed in our garden on the eve of our journey...

R (my comrade in travel) is stamper / cardmaker extraordinaire!  I got lots of inspiration from her patient explanations of techniques as we visited every little boutique and shop that piqued our interest! 

 

Fun Garden nooks!



Primitive Local Art!



A beautiful, eclectic day.
 

...and at the ripe old age of almost 46, it's nice to know that I can still have 'FIRSTS'  ;-)
YEP!
I got my first parking ticket.
 

 After that FULL day of inspiration (and a bit of purging, as I did sell some clothing to a second hand shop!!) I was ready to hit the 'attic studio' for some creative work...

NOT.TO.BE.

~apparently the planets aren't quite aligned-just yet~



Craziness with 'real-world-work' sent

 me to my favorite beach for solace,

where I ended up scoring some

 beautiful specimens!!

 

Another day I joined my Parents who are camping in our part of the state, for a day of 'flea marketing'!  Dad had brought me an old metal spool (from his shop at home) filled with some copper wire - he thought I might be able to use it in my jewelry endeavors.  While saling I also found a vintage cast iron based 'solder clamp' which had been on my 'wishlist' for quite a while ($2).  The box of solder and the spool of Brass wire were also flea market finds that set me back a whopping $1.50!
If you are wondering,
Yes.
That is an arm.
just. an. arm.

It was a present from my Brother, (that my parents had delivered to me from him). He knew I was looking for one...(photo prop!!).   Now, it just makes me smile because EVERYTIME I look at it I have an 80's flashback, as this song goes through my head
"Let's hear it for the boy
Let's give the boy a hand
Let's hear it for my baby
You know you gotta understand"
Can you name that Movie/Song??
(can you get it out of your head now?)

 

Planets MUST be aligned now... right?
  Not quite. 

Meeting up with A (part of the college crew) for a girls' this afternoon! 
Then maybe!
...or maybe not.

...."HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

July sunrise on the coast of Maine

If 'everyone' can celebrate 'Christmas in July', then I guess by default that would make August 1, 'New Years Day in August' ~ right?

THANKS LINDA for saving me a 'few' .10¢ ornies on
the Route 90 Sale last weekend!!

 July was kind of CRAZY - just like 'Xmas' tends to get - so many sales, and festivals and shows to fit into so few warm, sunny, delicious days!!

SWEATER CLIPS 2013 #8 (.99¢), #9 (.25¢), #10 (.50¢), #11 ($1)



curb picked on 'Trash Eve' from a Seaside "cottage"
in NH (we were dressed to go out for a Nice dinner,
and J didn't even bat an eye when I yelled for him
to STOP! and he had to do a U-Turn to find a safe
pull-off spot ....true love <3 p="">

I have just.wanted.one.of.these.FOREVER!  He is in Perfect
condition B-)

Probably the Best TEN CENTS I have spent all Summer.  Hysterical book.
1950's.  Warped humor.  They put captions to classics.
I'll share in upcoming posts!

July led us 'over the river and through the woods' too... from seaside, to lakes to cities ~ journey's far and wide!

 

AND...New additions to our svelteSTUFF family!!

(if you're wondering about the Berry Basket...  at a couple of days old we found one of the baby Cardinals on the ground. I picked him up and put him back in his nest.  Next day the nest was upside down and Both babies were on the ground - J put the original nest back up and we put Both babies back in.  This kept continuing.  It got to the point that M/D cardinal would come to our back porch with their distress call for us to go put their babies back in the nest... something had to be done - NEW BERRY BASKET NEST!!  Lusch Condo with room to grow...  Amazing how quick they grow - just 4 days after this photo we got to watch them fly out of 'THE NEST')

 

Now, for some 'renewed' New Year's resolutions, a bit of purging (I can't bring all of this stuff into our house without letting a bit go!!).  Hmmm... maybe this is what all years need - TWO fresh starts!