God is Good!

Thank you to all you lovely ladies for your words of faith and encouragement. It is truly such a blessing to have met to many beautiful women.

I've been away from blog-land much longer than needed.  Everything turned out well, after all. God is so good!  My son moved back home, though he is planning on getting "his own place", it will be her in San Antonio, or Austin this time. He's learned a lot, though not enough. At least this time, we'll be near by.

While I've been "gone", I've done some growing, a bit of traveling (to CA) and sewing.  I stitched up this tote for my sister-friend in CA.  It turned out ok, but it's not exactly what I had in mind.

 I had such a hard time picking the fabrics. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to match what the fabric store has in stock and what you have in your mind?  I finally had to just work with what they had.

I gave it to my sister-friend for Christmas and she loved it!

I'm back to selling on eBay which seems to take up so much time. I'll try to post regularly but I have a feeling I'll be visiting you all more than I'll be posting.

Thank you again for all your kind words.
Patricia :o)

"...Some rain must fall."

“…Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.”

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882, written in 1845?

I had a few ideas I wanted to share, but they will have to wait. There are ups and downs in life, and right now I'm going through a small "down."  Although it is a major change, it's natural and part of life.  One of my little chickies is leaving the nest. I'm not sure if he's ready, but he wants to try. It's hard for a mom to let go and I don't feel like myself, so I won't be posting for a little while. 


I have been so very blessed, that this seems like a giant glitch in the fabric of my life. I'm sure the sun will shine again soon, but for now "some rain must fall."


Patricia :o)

Cottage Chic Guest Room

We moved into our new home just a little over three years ago. It's much bigger than our old home and it's taking a long time to decorate each room. We had to purchase some twin beds almost right away for guests, but never really got around to actually decorating.

The bed spreads are actually queen size coverlets that I draped, folded and pinned on the twin size beds. They're pink roses, white chenille and quilted pink velvet blocks on one side and teeny pink roses on a solid white background on the other. I used vintage chenille pillow shams and pretty rose pillows I bought on eBay.

I found matching twin white "Iron" headboards for only $20.00 for both at a local goodwill store. Actually, a friend found them and told me they were there. I didn't waste any time to go down there and snatch them up. I couldn't believe my good luck! 

My hubby took down the builder's dim, boring light fixture and hung up my gorgeous white chandelier. There's actually two chandeliers in this room. I have another, much smaller one hanging on a bird cage stand. (forgot to take a photo)

I moved the window mirror to the other wall and hung an amazing vintage cut-work curtain on the wall. It's hand embroidered and hand cut with sweet angels and doves.

These photos don't do this wonderful linen justice. I might do a post entry just on this piece later. It's simply stunning!

This is my work room and I listen to lots of books on Cd's in here, hence the glaring piece of electronics. I forgot to move it out for the photos.  I love the little, chippy yellow stand it's on. The front apron is hand carved with little leaves. It doesn't really match the room, but I don't care. I love it too much to change it.

There's still a lot to do in this room. I have to hang curtains and add bed skirts. And, I might even get rid of the bits of pink and go in a more "French" direction.  But for now, I'm enjoying it. Hope you did, too.

Patricia :o)

Oooo! Scary!

After I had some fun with my Woof and Poof doll, I kinda had to keep going. I have a little niche in my entry hall that I thought would be fun to decorate.

There's lots of pictures, so I'll try not to talk to much. LOL!!

 Spirits of Ammonia!!

 Eye of Newt - (black eyed peas in hair gel and neon green food coloring)

 Yikes! Shrunken heads

The stair well is right across from the niche, so of course I had to decorate that, too.

 I coffee stained a piece of muslin so it would look old, and brought in an urn from the back yard. (the plant had died anyway). Topped it off with an old bird cage.

 I found this adorable little feathered owl at Michael's. I didn't know what I was going to do with him when I saw him.  Poor little guy probably didn't know he would end up behind bars.

Happy Halloween,
Patricia :o)

Thrifty HALLOWEEN!!!

Isn't it amazing how one little purchase can influence your whole decorating vignette?  I don't usually decorate a whole lot for Halloween, but I made a great find at a Goodwill store that got the ball rolling.

I found this Woof and Poof doll for only $2.99!! At first I thought she was kind of ugly and couldn't really figure out what she was. But I figured she was good enough for Halloween.

Then I got her home and noticed all the great detailing on her. She's wearing an orange, fuzzy jacket with a high taffeta-like collar, a black bow and big white rhinestone on her hat, a feathered purse, silver buckled belt, and a tulle skirt dotted with little bits of glitter. And, of course, the woof & poof button on her behind.

Then I bought a little witch picture at Marshal's and some black and brown burlap at the fabric store.

The picture is a reproduction of an old Halloween card and some embellishments.

I wrapped the black burlap around a pretty shade which made it instantly "spooky" and tied it off with a strip of natural burlap. Then I pinned it with a brooch I picked up at an estate sale.

It's really pretty and elegant in person, but works great here!

Then I looked around my house for more orange things. The only thing I came up with is this faux book, but after adding it to the vignette, I found that the only other thing I needed was a candle. I used a little ivory candle that I already had, found a free image of a crow on the internet, printed it, cut it out, and stuck it on the candle. I think it turned out pretty well!!

So far, I'd only spend about $11.00.....but then I needed the mirror....and I splurged.  I got it at a fair price, but not great. Still, I DO need a mirror on that wall. AND I did need a place to hang my hairy spider (see it in the upper right corner?)

Ta-Da!! My Halloween

Happy Halloween!!
Patricia :o)

I'm back - I think

The good news: I found out why I was having so much trouble with blogger.

The bad news:  It was my computer that ended up crashing!!

I bought a new computer, an iMac, which is both good and bad news. It's good because I've heard they rarely get bugs, viruses, worms etc. It's bad because of the cost AND now I have to learn how to use it.

I have a Halloween post that I'd like to put up before Halloween. Wish me luck! LOL

Patricia :o)

Is it just me....?

Is it just me, or are all of you having trouble with blogger?  I've been trying to post comments to several blogs and I keep getting this message:

Service Unavailable

Error 503
 
It's driving me crazy.
I'm having so much trouble either signing on, or getting into weird loops when trying to leave comments, or just that dumb message above.
 
Aaaarrrrrgh!! 

Patricia