Potpouri

Here is a post about several things. First up, above and below are finds from our weekend in St. Louis a few weeks ago. Don't you just love this little drum majorette figurine!
Here is a tin that Jane found. She called my name across the entire store and said this was right up my alley. She was right!
Last Saturday we had a mini girl get together. My friend Trish came over with her Mary Kay wares so that we could explore skin care, eye color, etc. Before we get to that; please note the book above. It was Trish's Mom's book when she was little and she gave it to me!
It has such sweet poems and illustrations! I might be favoring you all with one of the very sweet fairy poems sometime soon.
Here are my Mom, Jane and Trish. All with glowing and beautiful skin! I really like this Mary Kay stuff. It works, it is affordable, and everyone looks beautiful.
After Mary Kay time we commenced to fooling around with our stamps, papers, etc.
Upcoming I will have a post about my current form of art therapy; making little books for myself. I convinced Jane to try one for herself. This is the cover!!!!! Screams of delight!!! So cute!!! Also love the shape of this little book; there are tags inside to decorate!
Above is Trish's work area. I love those stamps of hers, "Dream Big" and "Find Your Passion."
Here is my Mom working on a card. She is using a very sweet image from a collage sheet from The Little Pink Studio.
Miss Jane holds up what promises to be a future masterpiece. She has such a way with color, ribbons, paint and vintage images. I am sure I will be going ape over this when she is done.
ooops, this is a blurry picture of Trish.....

Lastly, here is my Mom after her Mary Kay skin session. She looks radiant don't you think??? In case you want to know more about Mary Kay products, here is a link to Trish's site; she would be most pleased to help you.

Pure Magic!

Last night I was lucky enough to spend the evening with my husband, watching our big new great TV and watching the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It was stunning and moving; and all of the great things that the human spirit can bring to fruition. It was like watching a great opera, reading a great book, and seeing a great movie all rolled into one!
This is one of my favorite images; each child represents one of the 57 ethnic cultures of China. They carried in the Chinese flag.
This is a human recreation of the bird's nest; the building where the opening ceremonies took place.
This picture is of people holding signs up with pictures of the children of the world. A real plea for peace and harmony.
The lighting and movement of people was stunning.
Basketball player Yao Min who plays in America, but who is from China was the flag bearer for the Chinese team. Marching alongside him was this darling 9 year old boy. He survived the terrible earthquake in China earlier in the year. He crawled out of the rubble and then went back in to save two classmates. When asked why he did that he told people that he had to because he was the hall monitor and he was in charge.






So much fun........wish the sentiments of hope, peace, and harmonious living could become a reality. I guess all we can do is each do our part every day to make our own lives as hopeful, peaceful, and full of goodwill as possible.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Totally Extravagant!

We have been watching a bit more TV around here! We purchased a plasma screen TV that is BIG! As Mike says, the picture is so gorgeous and clear that it is "redonkulous!" Oh my, the movies on DVD! I feel like I am at a theater! Tonight we watched the National Geographic channel. They had a program about the construction of two new buildings in China for the Olympics. Above is the main stadium. I love it!
It has been nicknamed the bird's nest. Can you see the similarities?
This is what the swimming stadium will look like! Next Friday night are the opening ceremonies! I guess my TV and movie watching will increase! Never fear though, we went to the library today and got a ton of books! Some things never change.

Be still my beating heart!

I just finished watching the movie "Becoming Jane" on DVD. I cried my eyes out! Such a lovely and affecting movie! I doubt that it is very true, but I loved it all the same.
Anne Hathaway is simply gorgeous! James McAvoy is so handsome! He is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. Did you see him in Atonement?
Thanks to Lorie who suggested this movie! She is on a roll, she was the person who suggested "Across the Universe" too and what a movie that was!
I know I have lots of pictures of the movies on this entry; but I can't help it. It was so gorgeous!
I have a Penguin Lives biography of Jane Austen by Carol Shields. I will have to read that. Also, I may need to read some of Jane's novels....I have read Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility. All very good...and may I also suggest that you see the movie version of Persuasion...Wow! That was really great! I got this movie from the library...I am really loving that perk of citizenship! Look for Persuasion at your library, okay??

More Missouri Goodness

Here are some more finds from last weekend's trip to St. Louis. The ephemera that we found was nothing short of amazing. We found a good amount of these valentines from the 1920's. The design and illustrations on them is just right up my alley.
The shocking thing was the line drawings on the inside of the card!!!! We can blow these up on the copy machine and use them in cards and journals!
What a dear little red-headed girl!!!
The most expensive Valentine we found was $2, most were 50 cents or a dollar. (This never happens to me!!!)
My Mom found these bathing beauties and bought them for me! Only $2 apiece!
These are pages from a book that was really dirtied up, but the illustrations are just so good! I won't feel guilty just cutting them up and using as is!

The back of this photo is marked "8th Grade Graduation, 1922."
The back of this picture is marked "Lucille Harris." She is a beauty!

I am so hooked on vintage cards, photos, sewing patterns, and books!!! They just bring me such joy!

Vintage Finds! Fun at Red Lead! Hanging with my buddies!

Last Friday we hit the road and drove down to St. Louis. Jane drove myself, my Mom, and our friend Liz.....we stopped at antique shops along the way (a four hour trip turned into eight!). Our final destination was Red Lead Paperworks, which as you may know is just my idea of heaven!!!
Above and below are pictures from their website. I think you can get an idea from this picture of their store just how much inspiration there is! Whenever we go to Red Lead we spend the entire time the store is open just walking around and around soaking it all in. Chris and Sharon are always such gracious gals and let us bug them all day.
We were able to stay in a Hilton Hotel thanks to Jane's husband's business trip points. It was totally luxurious! We all had a great time, relaxing, shopping, and laughing!
The only problem was that I did not take my camera out of my purse. I was too busy "being in the moment." We struck vintage ephemera gold at all of the antique shops we stopped in.
I included my favorite finds in this post.
This teen book is hysterical with lots of ideas about fashion and boys, boys, boys.
We felt very lucky to have three days to just do what we wanted and go where we wanted to go. It was fab!

Current Obsession

This is my current obsession. The movie "Across the Universe." We watched it last night and it was a total masterpiece. Thanks go to my friend Lorie who made sure I saw this great piece of art.
I think the Beatles were a force of genius. They rank equally with Mozart. Their songs are timeless and do not sound dated.
This movie is from the artist Julie Taymor. I don't know too much about her except that she is a choreographer. She seems to be a total genius.
Every minute of this movie is bursting with creative energy and art. I highly recommend it.
I really can't put into words how special this whole experience has been. Thank you to John, Paul, George, Ringo and now Julie Taymor. And Lorie!

Saturday

Today is Saturday....Mike and I are about to embark on a shopping trip for some work clothes and bathroom fixtures. Of course, I would rather embark on a shopping trip for books and vintage ephemera (but that will be coming up next weekend!!!).

I wanted to post something though.......Above is the little page I made for a collaborative project through Red Lead Paperworks in St. Louis. The project is called the Itty Bitty Friendship Book and was thought up by the wonderful Linda of the Red Lead Yahoo Group. I am anxiously awaiting my book to return in the mail....there will be 32 pages in it! Hope it comes today!

This week I have been positively obsessed with a book website, Good Reads, that my blog buddy Relyn told me about. It is so much fun and so easy to maneuver around. You start a bookshelf, ask friends to join, and then you can browse other people's bookshelves and make comments. Last night after a rough day at work I came home and spent an hour and a half on the site just adding books, looking at other people's books, and it totally relaxed me. Better than a highball!!! (If you don't know what a highball is, let me know.)

Also this week I stumbled on two new blogs that are wonderful....

Mommy Time - by my friend Michelle Peterman. This is a stamping blog and Michelle has wonderful creations. She is on a couple of design teams and you will see why when you visit. Very inspiring!

Sleepy Hollow Craft Company - by Jenelle. Talent!!!!!!! Beautiful blog! Inspiration! Fun!

Have a good weekend!!

Beach Reads (without the beach)!!!!!!!

I think Mike and I might be the only two people who have a 4th of July tradition of going to the bookstore! Yesterday we were at it again. We went to Barnes & Noble and just browsed; taking down titles of books we might want to check out at the library (part of our new austerity program).

Today we had to go back to B&N for a birthday gift for a dear friend and I succumbed! I got the book above on the recommendation of Kim and the magazine below because it is just too much eye candy not to be able to drool over in the privacy of my own home!!!! So, life is good over here! Naps, reading, cats, etc.! Also, so far I am on page 32 of the book and love it!!!!