...a shiny New Year 2024??

 Is there ANYONE still left in 'BLOGLAND'??

Well, if there is...  

Chez Chapman is sending you all positive vibes for the New Year!!

A LOT happened throughout 2023, chipping away at the 'tried, true & comfortable', but we are coming out on the otherside with a Stronger sense of what is Really important in our lives.

Traditions to be upheld...

GUMDROP TREE!

COOKIE BAKING w/ S.A.L.T.!

THE NUTBOWL!

Family to be cherished...

and everything that brings us JOY!!

enJOY!

S~

...LOBSTERS? Yes, Please!

Never fear, my passion for SWEATER CLIPS - GUARDS is still going strong in 2019!

The most recent 'Love' was found and gifted to me by J!

To date this is The.Only. signed 'SPAIN' piece in my ever growing collection.

and 

my first DAMASCENE piece

and

they are LOBSTERS!!

For anybody just stopping by, and new to my Sweater Clip / Guard passion - if you have an interest in our 'BACKSTORY', you can find it here!!

For anybody who has been on this crazy ride with me for a while, here are the latest pictures of our displays - my how they have grown since the photos of 2008!

(collection is at around 700 now!?)

'RHINESTONES & BLING'

'SIGNED' and 'Gold-toned'

'BEACHY" ...shells, souvenir, etc..

'PLAIN JANES'

'SPESHULS'

BUT WAIT

There's more!

(just not photographed.)

How is ALL of this possible in just 25 years?!!

Be Well

&

enJOY!

...Half EMPTY or Half FULL??

Our 'Chateau' is getting a face lift! 
T.W.O. "FULL" rooms have been cleared...
Soon to come: New ceilings, walls painted, furniture replaced...

Here are the before/Now of a small portion of the SIX pieces that were 'unloaded' in this process:

"WHAT became of all of this HAEGER??" you may ask...

...it was Carefully cleaned, wrapped, boxed, labelled and tucked away in ANY spare space in other rooms that could be found!!!

Contractor starts Monday a.m
It IS all good.

In conjunction with our 'Face-Lift'...

~The StarBurst clock went to the Dr's, and came back with a Clean Bill of Health, running like a champ and shiny as New!

~MEANWHILE... the tension lamp is on an extended stay at it's second 'Specialist' - verdict should be rendered next week.

ALL of this has left LITTLE time for 'the fun stuff'...

~but 'Where there is a will, there is a way!'

Stopped by the Co-Op the last week to 'FLUFF the BOOTH', before I left I went digging in one of the Vendor's 'box-o-gems' (A HUGE mis-match of jewelry in a tangled mess amidst 6-8 different boxes!!  ANYTHING is .80cents each!!)  I unearthed a sweet PANSY sweaterclip - but ONLY half - so I continued to dig...dig...dig in hopes of finding the other half...

2015 Sweater Clips (#5,6,7,&8)!

I ended up finding 4 other Sweater clip halves and 1 COMPLETE!!  ~Does the White one look familiar?

It is the missing end from a clip I found a couple of weeks ago!!

Remember this 1/2 sweater clip??

Went to TWO 'New-to-me' Rummage sales this week!!

~Neither one was anything to 'write home about'

~BUT they did take me to off-MY-beaten-path towns, in which I hit a couple of thrifts, which produced this FOUR LOVELIES!

(2015 VERA #2,3,4&5)!!

and look:

...one has it's original BUTTON!! (Yes, I did go Over my 'usual-VERA-price tag' for it!).

That's about my excitement, unless you count...

The morning I was cleaning out an old jewelry box that I 'thought' was empty.  Upon closer inspection I found these two 'gems' hiding in the bottom back, under the felt lining - a TINY religious charm and a...   a... Baby tooth?!

Okay, so that in itself was maybe not that 'extra-ordinary', BUT later that SAME DAY I found this at the seaglass beach...

...

...

...

...

?!?

...When it rains

I would like to say "When it rains, it POURS"...

but around here, it's just been Freezing as it comes down! (view from our back porch last Wednesday and VERY similar Sat a.m.)

Despite the weather, we have been on STUFF OVERLOAD this past week!

There was an Aunt's apt. that was being cleaned out, and we were able to take a few NICE pieces:

STARBURST CLOCK - not currently working, but we WILL find a way!!

HAEGER VASE (2015 #2) - You're allowed to bring 'certain banned things' into your home when they are from family -right?!!

and a MidCentury tension pole lamp. (The verdict isn't in yet as to whether this is a keeper?!!)

SAT. am brought NASTY weather, AND the first sign of SPRING-
A CHURCH RUMMAGE SALE!!!!

nothing monumental... just a GOOD.JUNK.FIX!
~and~

some FUN bling!
~and~

a VERA scarf (2015 #1 - REALLY?! this is the FIRST?? )
~and~

a sweet Child's SWEATER CLIP (2015#4 )
~that's all!!~


Oh, and did I mention that 2wks ago J signed us up for a spot at an Antique Co-Op??  

This is our new 10'x7' "home away from home"!!

..."puke path"?!

During these 'short', cold days of Winter, it takes 'little' to amuse me, but I 'think' you may get a chuckle out of some of my recent finds, too!
. 

The fabulous Miss R (my roadtrippin' buddy) joined me on Wednesday for a leisurely breakfast,  some 'errands' and a little Thriftin'. My Wednesday thrifting finds ran the gamut from the 'Usuals' (Part of a Sweater Clip -2015#3, some shell jewelry parts and enamel pins)

To GAME LAND.
NOT a place I venture often, but sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do. I had never heard of ANY of these games before...

The first game- 1971 'CAREERS' by Parker Bros.
The cover has Seriously Retro 'flower power' graphics - the box was sealed at the edges by 'someones' diligence with clear packing tape.  Thus, I couldn't check out the playing pieces, or actually know 'For.Sure.' what was within.
I came home and carefully sliced the seal.  As I was preparing to lift the cover, my thoughts roamed...
Did a previous owner do this, and even the Thrift has no idea as to the contents?...
Did the Thrift do this to keep a TON of UNIQUE playing pieces from getting pocketed?...
and here's what I found...

A COMPLETE game with fun cards
and
almost .65¢ ! (one penny is Canadian, so technically we can't count that as a full cent.)

The 2nd game 'MixMax' is missing it's dice, but has FUN GRAPHICS!

1982 by: OTTO MAIER VERLAG RAVENSBURG

 The third game really had me scratching my head ~ TIPSY LAND!

It has the rules of 'Shutes and Ladders', but instead of a 'shute' there is a 'puke path'.  The final destination 'BAR'.  It does have adorable GLASS shot glasses and a wonderfully graphic GLASS playing board...  But, really?  Mixing this many GLASS objects with intoxicated people can't possibly end good!!!