Pretty Fabulous!

A few weeks ago I ordered something awesome from Lotta's Etsy shop. I love reading her blog, check her out if you haven't already.. Mom-o-Matic.blogspot.com. I check in anytime I am on the web and have never left her site without laughing out loud, and sometimes spending some dough.
I ordered two of these darling charms. I told her I was giving a charm as a gift and that I didn't need the necklace, just the charm.. so she sent me the fantastic ring to make the price fair and then gift wrapped all my items! I love the packaging, all the details. What a fun way to shop! I know it's hard work, but I so appreciate it!


And, unrelated, but still exciting to me.. I found this fun retro malt mixer at (guess) the Goodwill when I was shopping with my mom quite a while ago. She fell in love with it and bought it and has since decided she has no room for it in her kitchen. So, it has come to live in my kitchen for a while. I love looking at it. I have yet to make a milk shake, but have promised my kids to have all the ingredients for some awesome recipes!

Busy Body

Buttons! I have been cleaning up the craft room and sorting through goodie piles. I have a button drawer that was originally my mothers. I got to take possession of it since I am the resident sewer/crafter and she has no room at the Hoffice. The L pin was my grandmother, LaVonne's lapel pin. I got that too, because my daughter's name is Lauren. I dug out the buttons the other day to work on a scrapbook project and also to see if there were any jewelry components floating around in there.. I was making a bracelet and the hunting gathering part of it is the most fun for me. I always have ten times the number of trinkets that I could ever put on one piece of jewelry.. but one doesn't want to second guess a creative spurt.
This tray holds the scrapbook piece, it is going into a project book that the girls at JCD get to create for Jackie to show as examples of the notebook cover pattern that is in her new project book, Sweetest Gifts, by Jackie Clark. Jackie and Beverly and I were making one inch i.d. tags for samples from each of her patterns and books that she is sending to be used as a display at market.. a "trunk show". With the tags attached, you can see at a glance what book the pattern came from. The stinkin tags were so cute that I fell in love with the idea of making charms out of them.
Then there was a frenzy of OOHs and OHs and we all dropped what we were doing to discuss how that could be done?? Beverly asked Jackie where her Sally Jean Alexander book was so they could show me her work. WELL.. it was hard to go back to work after that. I was ready to go out and buy a welding tool, some silver tape and a stack of glass so I could make these CHARMS! Thank goodness I remembered I can't take on EVERY craft project.. I have to pace myself as to how much equipment and junk I want drug through the house. I reasoned that I could find a pre-fabbed charm.. and so glad I did. They weren't difficult to use, they were reasonably priced and I loved that they were ready to go! The word charms were fun to add colored beads to and bring out the colors on the pattern covers. They say Faith, Create, Journey, Humble, Inspire, Wish, and Spirit. I couldn't think of better words to describe Jackie or her business or her mission. Beverly and Claudia helped me make decisions and helped me pay for the trinkets and bracelet. We gave it to her as a gift on Thursday last week. I so enjoy when we can surprise her and find something she doesn't already have! Within minutes, you could see the wheels a-turnin'.. Claudia said, she's gonna want to make it a necklace - you watch. And we spent the rest of the day working at the big table watching Jackie dig through beads and building an extension so she could wear it as a bracelet or a necklace. I love it!

Heirloom

This charm was among the jewelry pieces in the jewelry box that my Aunt selected from my Grandmother's belongings to give to me. I can't picture my Grandmother owning this. I know that I never saw her wear it. I don't know how she would have come to own it, it seems so unlike her style. I believe it was a gift from someone special to her. Many of the things in her jewelry box were gifts, some though you could tell she had found on accident and just didn't know what to do with. She never threw away anything that could be re-used or enjoyed by someone else if she could help it. There were about a dozen post earrings, just kid's costume jewelry that looked as though they had been set down by a friend, loved one or grandchild and when she found them, couldn't risk losing them.. she tied them together with string and they sat in her drawer waiting until the time when she might see the owner and could return them.
This was by far the most unusual, the most surprising in the bunch. It is two and a half inches long and two inches wide, not petite by any means. Each side of what looks like ivory colored shell are pairs of hand painted birds in vibrant blues, golds, reds with filigree shapes. It is surrounded by a rope of sterling and has a very thin and simple sterling loop. It is hand made in every respect and I find it fascinating! It was in GG's box with other trinkets and costume pieces. I couldn't wait to wear it, so I strung beads to create a two tier chain. It's loud, it's memorable, it makes me feel artistic and creative and flamboyant. I have worn it a dozen times since I received it. I am anxious to learn more about it, where it came from and how it came to be in GG's jewelry box.
I love when you learn something about someone you never would have guessed. I can hear her voice, seeing her carefully tie earring backings together, anticipating her next visit with their owner. Looking through the compartments, I see her as those who gave her those pieces saw her, each in a unique way. I love to be surprised at what I didn't know!