Merry Christmas

I wish you all the joy and peace of that first Christmas.

God bless you!

The Night Before Christmas

I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

May you have a wonderfully happy and blessed Christmas!!!

Train Ride To The North Pole

When I went to New York City earlier this month, I wanted to go to Macy's to see Santa.  Not that I wanted to sit on his lap and give him my wish list.  No, I wanted to see if the real set-up was as elaborate as it is in the movies!  I wasn't disappointed!  We took a train ride to the North Pole and walked through the village to see the jolly man himself!  The train didn't actually move.  When we walked through the door, it looked like the inside of a train car and the floor rumbled so it sounded and felt like we were riding the train!  The next door we walked through was our stop at the North Pole!

Have you visited Santa yet?

Happy Monday!!!

Silent Sunday

NYC lights

Have a spectacular Sunday!!!

Friday's Fabulous Finds ~ The Junquerie

Today's fabulous find is a new jewelry shop on Etsy.  The Junquerie opened a few short weeks ago by none other than Patty of My Life Under The Bus.  If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I refer to Patty and her blog pretty regularly.  We've not only become friends in the blogosphere, we are also Scrabble opponents on Facebook!  Her sense of humor keeps me smiling and her jewelry leaves me drooling.  Here is what Patty has to say.

What do you want people to know about you?
 I am the stay at home mom to four rambuncious boys.   I have been creating for as long as I can remember. I adore romantic sentimental Victorian jewelry, charm bracelets, colored pearls, birds, vintage hearts, padlocks and lockets. 

When did you start making jewelry?
I was an only child growing up and my mother worked so most of my free time was either reading or crafting something. We didn't have a lot of money so I got used to being creative. I think this is where my love of painting everything in sight comes from. Things instantly become new when you paint them ( or at least new to me!) I've been playing with jewelry on and off since I was 16 and discovered you could buy ear wires at the craft store! You'd think it wouldn't take 30 years for me to do something with it!

Who or what inspires you?
I have discovered I am a very visual person - I LOVE all of the Stampington publications - doesn't have to be about jewelry - a color or an image will do it. I have I don't know how many books on all different types of craft some of my favorites are:

Charmed Bracelets - Tracey Zabar
Rejuvenated Jewels - Amy Hanna
Enchanted Adornments - Cynthia Thornton
Pretty Little Things - Sally Jean Alexander
Semiprecious Salvage - Stephanie Lee
Bent, Bound and Stitched - Giuseppina Cirincione
Collage Lost and Found - Giuseppina Cirincione
Custom Cool Jewelry - Melinda Barta
Beyond the Bead - Margot Potter
Delight in the Details - Lisa M. Pace
and anything by Sherri Haab - too many to list here

Amy Hanna was a big inspiration for me. I found her through one of the Stampington magazines ( I think it was Belle Armoire) and discovered the idea of altered art jewelry. It was like a light went on and put together my love of jewelry and my love of vintage. I haven't shared alot of those type of pieces yet - they are still my babies and I'm not ready to let them go. I would like to expand my offerings in the coming year to include some vintage mix pieces. 
There are so many talented and giving jewelry artists I would have a hard time picking just one though. So much encouragement and team spirit amongst everyone on line - blogging has been such a blessing for this! I have also been entering and hosting creative challenges and find myself absolutely addicted to them!

Do you have a favorite piece?
I do have a favorite piece - it's not that fancy but has one of my favorite symbols which is a bird and it's made of mother of pearl and aquamarine and wire wrapping and it just looks like me.

Patty's favorite piece is not available in her shop

What do you like to do when you are not creating?
I love to decorate my house and enjoy renovating when we have funds to do it. My husband is a carpenter so half the time things are ripped apart and we live with them for a few years until it gets put back together!

I love reading - historical fiction, Jane Austen ( I could see the Kiera Knightly version of the movie 800 times and still palpitate over Mr. Darcy walking through that damn field) , Philippa Gregory, Patricia Cornwell ( Love a little science and murder mystery) - oh and a total Harry Potter geek.

I love slice of life movies - A Christmas Story is one of my favorite movies. Radio Days, Biloxi Blues and any of the PBS reenactments of Novels like Little Dorrit will make me pretty happy.

...and whilst I am movie watching, decorating or reading, a good coffee and some dark chocolate wouldn't hurt either!

Where can we find you?

 Etsy shop, The Junquerie

 Blog, My Life Under The Bus

 Facebook fan page

Check out Patty's sites...I promise you won't be disappointed!

What are your plans for the last weekend before Christmas?

Handmade Happiness

The tree is finally up AND decorated!  This is the first year I decorated by myself and it wasn't nearly as much fun.  In fact, it was kind of depressing.  The upside was that I got to see each ornament and recall the memories that came with each one.  In particular, I realized just how many ornaments are handmade.  Ornaments that I bought at crafts fairs, ornaments that wonderful friends made for me, ornaments that came from ornament exchanges,  ornaments that the kids made and gave to me.  Each and every one with a story and a memory!

Made by a local artist out of a crab shell

Hand painted on an oyster shell by a very dear friend

Hand painted by a good friend and local artist

From another good friend

From a school crafts fair

Handmade and painted by the same dear friend who painted the oyster shell

Made by a local artist

From a good friend and local artist

From a handmade ornament exchange

My son made this one when he was 12

From an Etsy seller who has closed her shop :(

There are so many more but I don't want to put you on ornament overload!  

What about you?  Do you have a favorite handmade ornament or decoration?

I hope you have a happy Wednesday!!!

Silent Sunday

I was taking a picture of a Christmas tree and an elf when the person behind me bumped into me.  I thought this was kind of cool!!

I hope you have a spectacular Sunday!!!

Friday's Fabulous Finds

I haven't done this feature in such a long time and I found some truly fabulous items while Christmas shopping on Etsy!  There is no particular theme to these findings...just things I like!

Vintage Blue Ball Canning Jar Sconce by Lamp Goods

Antique Set of Shabby Chic Glass Christmas Balls by Shane Lily Rain

Handmade Quilted Christmas Ornament-Silver Bells by Holiday Ornament

Heart of a Rose Inspiration Kit by strangenotions

SALE Burgundy Silk Pillow with Sweetheart Organza Appliques by MiCasaBella

Opal Blue and Brown Lampwork Earrings by anitabegley

Nursery Art Print-Mommy Owl and Son by MoanyandLallas

Soft Turquoise Pastel Pink Dreaming of Wonderful Things 8x10 Fine Art Nature Photo by Maddenphotography

I hope you have a fabulous Friday!!!

I'm hooking up with Never Growing Old for Follow Friday.  Click on button to join in!

Christmastime in NYC

New York City is a busy, bustling, crowded city every day of the year, with hundreds of places to go and things to see.  Come Christmastime though, it becomes even more so.  The lights, the windows, the trees, the tinsel are everywhere you look.  Tired old buildings seem to come to life again when the sparkle of twinkling lights and garland are hung.  And thousands of people fill the sidewalks to view the beauty of the season and prepare for the holidays.  It is all at once, energizing and draining!  I wish I could have stayed longer!

I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!!!