Pink Roses

more suitcase treasures...

here's another set of suitcases that I have in my house-these are small, and sit next to my fireplace in the family room.  The top case is what started my whole suitcase thing to begin with-it belonged to my great aunt Nellie, who never married and lived in Atlanta her whole life.  She worked at Rich's department store in the silk department-If I didn't have her business card, I wouldn't believe in such a thing as a silk department!  When my aunt died 20 years ago I got this little suitcase.  Inside it was filled with lace-little bits and pieces of lace taken from dresses and slips, or possibly samples she got on the job.  I guess she is also responsible for my scrap-of-lace obsession!  Here's a peek...

suitcase #2 is one of those I left just like I found it at the flea market...

PINK DOLL CLOTHES! could they be cuter?

 I am loving the pink dress with lace trim, the little knit sweater with pink sequins, straw hat with pink grosgrain ribbon, and tiny white patent leather slippers. The whole case is lined with this circus paper-so cute...

and in case #3...

  alas, it is empty.  I will have to think of a fitting collection to call this little suitcase home...it looks like it should tie up a collection of old love letters or postcards...

 it's a great weekend for a flea market-happy hunting everyone!

bits & pieces...

I have plumbers and carpenters in my house, and their noise & confusion, sweating and swearing is keeping me from having a single normal thought.  So I will give you bits and pieces of my life today...

I was at the grocery store (Trader Joe's) and they had these little pink rose bushes, in these cute painted tins for just $3.99!  I bought 2-and have one in my kitchen, and this one on my dressing table in my bathroom.  The tag says they can be planted outside-I'm going to give it a try after they finish blooming...

I bought this chair at Goodwill on Saturday for $40.00-it's super comfy, but needs to be recovered-I'm not sure where it's going to go, so I'm not sure about fabric.  I like the look of chairs that have different fabrics-like a floral and a check, but that might be too busy.  I'll probably go neutral, so you notice the woodwork, and add a fun barkcloth pillow.  Speaking of barkcloth...  

I bought this old window frame at the flea market next to my goodwill-there is no glass in it, but every pane has a different piece of barkcloth fabric in it. It was so cute, I had to have it! I love old barkcloth...

So that's a few bits from me-and although the chaos is keeping me from thinking, it's also keeping me from missing my college girl.  Next year when they BOTH go to college I'm gonna need one HECK of a project!

pieces of home...

I've been gone a few days-moved my daughter back to school-a JUNIOR in college-where does the time go?  She did a great job packing this year-she tried to be concise, efficient-we'll get it just right in time for her to graduate!  As she was packing she gathered a few things that would remind her of home.  She fit everything in a vintage metal biscuit tin.  I didn't see what she put in it until I was helping her unpack...

a vintage tin, a china cup with a pink rose on it, a tiny lady head vase(with pearl earrings) 2 vintage hankies, enamel pins, a turquoise purse, a pink spaghetti poodle, and a a little wooden number 4 with angels on it. 

 everything was so sweet, and this is what she picked to remind her of home, to remind her of me.  What reminds you of home? or your parents/childhood home?  What would you pick to be a visual representation of someone, or someplace special...This has me thinking of my grandmothers house-I want to capture the feeling before I forget it-I feel an art project coming on...oh yes, and she also packed these...

 Aprons! Just what you need in a TINY little college dorm!  Ahh-pieces of home! I miss you already baby! xoxo mom

hidden treasures...

I have lots of little hidden treasures around my house-sometimes when I go to a flea market I buy a purse or suitcase and stash my finds of the day in it-then when I get home I keep it that way-like a little time capsule of the day.  I don't always do it on purpose-it can come from being lazy, or not having a place to put things right away. Sometimes you find things that are perfect the way they are, with the previous owners things in them (like little doll cases) and you CAN'T take them apart.  These suitcases sit on top of a cabinet in my sunroom... 

 and they all hold treasures. The littlest one is a doll case, and I left just as I found it...

I love the way everything on the inside, is the exact perfect color of everything on the outside-the tiny pink doll comb and mirror, and the powder and perfume that might have belonged to the little girls mother..

I love this, and could never change it.

The largest suitcase holds a different surprise...

evening bags and gloves I have collected through the years.  Every time I open this suitcase I am surprised again-my daughter and I use the purses on occasion, usually at the holidays.  I sit this on a small children's chair, propped open, near the Christmas tree every Christmas. The lights of the tree make the beaded purses twinkle and sparkle, and for me it adds to the magic of the season...

I have MANY more hidden treasures that I'll share another day-as my life as a pack rat continues...

pretty in pink...

A contractor friend came to my house the other day to give me a bid on re-tiling my bathroom.  As he walked through my bedroom he said "it looks like Barbie lives here"

I guess that's a manly way of saying it looks pretty, or feminine, hopefully he didn't mean it looked plastic. I made my headboard out of 4 shutters that a neighbor had at their curb for trash pickup.  My friend Andrea was taking her morning walk and called me in a panic..."hurry, there are shutters in the trash-they aren't rotten-I know you can do something with them" I hopped in the mini-van and drove over and picked them up.  They sat around for a while, but after painting and sanding, they have been my bed for 9 years.  I hung some flea market plates on them with regular wire plate hangers.

The embroidered pillow is from my favorite store-Shabby Chic...

 

Candle and vase on my nightstand are from Anthropologie- the floral dish was from a thrift store in London-I paid 50p ($1.00)- it holds my earrings at night.

 

Pictures of my children-so nice to go to sleep and wake up with their sweet faces next to me! The bottle brush tree and German paper egg are from Tinsel Trading in NYC-I know it's not Christmas or Easter, but they are pink, so they get to stay!

A favorite garage sale chair I had recovered, and a barkcloth pillow.  This chair is usually piled with clothes- I have such a problem hanging up my clothes...and as long as I'm being honest, I should probably say, that Barbie actually does live here...

my original, from the 60's, she came with 3 wigs-blonde, brunette & redhead- I only have the red one left.  She sits on a shelf and makes me happy-

still stylish after all these years- once a Barbie girl-always a Barbie girl!

outside in

I worked in the yard early this morning when it was still cool, and it felt so good.  It has been 100 degrees plus here for weeks, and I miss not spending time outside.  I was looking for something to cut in the garden that I could bring inside.  No hydrangeas, no roses, no gardenias.  I was disappointed that the yard was so wilted and sad, and then I walked to the side of the house (where I hardly ever walk) and boom...

the eight crepe myrtle trees on the side of my house were blooming their little pink hearts out for me...  I was so happy! 

I cut a few bunches and put them in an old green sap bucket

and brought them inside...

nothing like flowers to cheer up a room!

the (last) first day of school

Today is the first day of school, and for me, the last first day I will have with a child at home.  He's a senior.  How did that happen?  A friend said to me "but there will be first days of college"  No, that's different-that's a HEART WRENCHING NIGHTMARE that I will post about next week when I take E back to college.  The first day of school is usually a bittersweet time when you reflect on all the other first days, and how much they have grown. You are happy and sad at the same time. 

It is a tradition at my kids school that the senior girls all wear black dresses and Hawaiian leis on the first day of school.  The senior boys all wear Hawaiian shirts.  (Don't know why-we live in GEORGIA, but it's a 25 year tradition) We have been looking at thrift and vintage stores all summer, trying to find a cool original Hawaiian shirt.  We found one, it was O.K., but the boy felt SO cool wearing it this morning, as he DROVE to school for the first day (a senior privilege).  He was too happy for me to be sad...I guess my red convertible didn't hurt his mood either...

To all the moms out there who have sent their children to school, or are getting ready to, whether it's kindergarten or college, I feel your pain, you are not alone, they do return, and it does get better. Hugs to you all......

*WARNING*

This is a *warning*...this post contains GRAPHIC images of extreme clutter, disorganization, and total chaos.  If you are a neat freak, organizational wizard, or if the sight of disaster makes you weak, you may want to log off now...

or now...

I'm serious, it's that bad...

 

O.K. here goes...

"MY STUDIO"

 

I use the word "studio" loosely, because not much has been happening here lately in the way of creativity...but that's about to change.  The "studio" has been cluttered with extra junk (weight machine, ping pong table, BOXES of stuff for Goodwill) and that has all been cleared out...now the ugly ceiling has been removed and will be replaced next week with a beautiful bead board ceiling, like I have in my adjacent office...

 

So when the construction and painting is complete, I'm gonna try and get all Martha Stewart meets Rachel Ashwell, and be crazy organized, yet vintage chic.  A place to inspire my creativity.

It could happen.

I hope. 

It can't get worse! 

I'll keep you posted...

I took a nap today...

I took a nap today.  Curled up on the sofa in the sunroom, and slept.  Just 30 minutes did me a world of good.  When I woke up this was the view in front of me.  Books and junk on the coffee table.  It made me happy, so I took a picture.  An hour later I walked back through the sunroom and something made me even happier....

My baby girl and the cat-taking a nap together, in the very spot where I had been.  It was a napping kind of day...

boys I love...

This is the first boy I ever loved-my brother. Since the snowy January day my parents brought him home from the hospital, he was mine.  I was 4, and old enough to sit on the sofa with a bunch of pillows and hold him.  A little mother I was. 

We visited him last week so that he could take some "casual" senior pictures of my son.  My brother is (among other things), a professional photographer. We went to lots of different locations, with lots of clothes, and he got some really fun shots...

I LOVE this one of him...he wasn't ready, he was cracking his knuckles, but it is SO him! Kind of James Dean with the undershirt and the rusty metal siding...

I love this boy of mine...

 these are just some proofs...

barefoot in a cornfield...

the photographer in action...he looks so tall...brother is 6'4", but son is 6'1"..guess it is the perspective...I love these two boys...Thanks again B!