10 1/2 months of 2009

2009 saw the birth of 52 FLEA and the beginning of my blogging life....
...just as Nana's red bucket, found on the farm so many years ago, started my collecting... a lifelong passion...



It has been a joy and so much fun...
getting to know my blogging friends, sharing my world and learning about yours...



sharing our love of nature...



our journeys....both personal and spiritual...



and sometimes our actual journeys throughout the world...
...to beautiful and exotic places...





...or sometimes just in our neighborhoods....
...our trips to the thrift store, church sale, flea market, craft sale or antique shop...
...or Anthropologie :)...



It has been fun to see your crafting and artistic creations...
...and fun to share my experiments and attempts at creating art...



...it has been a privilege to learn from you...



I have loved visiting your homes, going on trips with you and have enjoyed sharing my experiences....my friends, house tours, shopping excursions and flea marketing adventures...



Thanks for coming along and sharing our family joys...weddings...



and celebrations...



Thanks for letting me share things so close to my heart...



God's handiwork...



family and fun times at our beloved lake...



...thanks for listening...



...thanks for appreciating all my many funky collections...



my attempts at photography...



..even my love of calligraphy...letters and numbers!!
Thanks for accepting me just the way I am.



This was the only photograph in my very first post on February 15, 2009.
These were the words I wrote:

Good morning!
This is the beginning of my blogging....and sharing......hopefully it will be a fun journey....a means to share with my friends and family and reach out to other kindred spirits. This cold winter morning...the sun is shining...the sky is blue...and I am grateful that I have all that I need.

I feel exactly the same way this morning.



...and I had to throw this photograph in....

This is Evi's dining room where last February, my girlfriends gathered for a wonderful Valentine lunch and where they encouraged me to start my own blog.
I went home that night and did just that! And here I am today. Thanks girls.

Tomorrow, I will be back in this lovely dining room for a New Year's Day luncheon.
I can't wait. You never know what will come of it!

Happy New Year!
:) Laura

Knapsack Matches

In the same display case at Gather where I found the sweet silver perfume vial that I showed you yesterday...I saw this tiny brass colored metal matchbox. When I asked Deanna the cost... she gave me a look and then put it in the bag with my other treasures. Deanna's that kind of gal.
I knew just what I would do with it...



This tiny ceramic mouse has been kicking around since Kate, now 23, was just a little girl. She used to tag along with me on my flea marketing adventures and, as a born animal lover, had a penchant for all sorts of little animal figurines...
Over the years she collected an entire menagerie of tiny ceramic treasures...
This little mouse looks right at home!



Tomorrow night, I hope to fix a nice dinner, share a glass of wine...



...and then perhaps snuggle up on the sofa with Santa Baby and a good movie...
...I would like to watch a nice romantic comedy or a Jane Austen favorite...
Him? not so much...



I am sure we will be able to come to an agreement! :)

Hoping my replacement power adapter arrives before my laptop and battery fails...
...it's a bit of a race against time!
If I should disappear for a day or two...that will be why!

Happy New Year!

Playing with pretties

With Christmas behind us and the New Year full of promise...
inspiration crept in and I started playing with some little pretties...





I never used to appreciate glass or sparkle as much as I do now...



...some old glass inkwells and a knife rest I picked up at the flea market for a song...
...well, maybe it was a dollar....afraid my singing wouldn't buy anything...





I really hate to put away my vintage Christmas ornaments...
I didn't even have time to get most of them out!
It looks like next year I will have more time to decorate and bake...maybe even write and send Christmas cards!
Having time...that will be heaven!



Bits and pieces...



In 2010 there will be more time for my bits and pieces and playing with pretties...



Will I use my time wisely?



will I waste time?



Leaving the corporate world will mean...



less security...
... but more time for reflection, for spiritual and creative nurturing and artistic pursuits...



...what was that saying?

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams..."

baby steps...



...another pretty...
...a tiny silver perfume vial found at Gather in Ivoryton, Connecticut when visiting with the girls a few weeks ago...
...we all loved this little treasure when we spied it in the glass display case...
(these girls are so good to me...they let me take it home...I really love it!)



...and another collage created by layering one of my photographs with a scanned antique document...
I printed it out and used it as a background to take pictures of these pretties...
...it's fun to play with my photographs and pretty little bits and pieces...

One more day to this short work week and then a long weekend with plans to spend quality time and shop a little with my sister and niece...
... a quiet New Year's Eve at home with Santa Baby...
and then a luncheon on New Year's Day with special friends...

How will you celebrate the beginning of the new year?

This is a nearly white post so perhaps it qualifies for White Wednesday...to view other participants visit Kathleen at Faded Charm...

2010 Cometh!

Well, 2010 is right around the corner now!
The New Year will be bringing changes...
...but hopefully the time is right and it will all work out ...



I am hoping that 2010 will bring the blithest season of my life that I ever knew!
... That's the first time I have ever used the word blithest....
(try saying it three times fast!)



In a way ...I am grateful for the opportunities that often come with change and am gathering faith that I will be able to do as my friend Ange says, borrowing words from Thoreau...

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams"...

Ange is full of inspiring words...click here to see her Etsy shop!

The images of the vintage postcards are for your use...enjoy!
Good night! :) Laura

Layered Images, Layers of Thoughts

Remember that box of letters from the late 1800's that I found at the flea market in November? Well, I started playing with my new printer (my birthday/Christmas present from Santa Baby and layered a few other photos over one of the old letters...



I am such a novice at photography and my free photoshop program...
but it is fun to be a little creative...and I think they look interesting...kind of pretty...
...what do you think...are you laughing at me?



Perhaps if I print them out...I could use them for backgrounds for other art projects...
...you know all those projects I'm going to get to in 2010!
Any suggestions?

I have a lot to learn and hope to take some art classes and learn new skills this coming year!
...yes, I hope to do that and also I hope to get more organized...to clean out, get rid of stuff ...
...and also...I am determined to live healthier, to start exercising faithfully...to lose 20 pounds...
...and I hope to be a better listener, a better wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend....

Just a few things I'm hoping to accomplish in 2010...
...thought I'd mention that.

Luck of the Draw...

The time has come to announce the 3 winners of my
300th Post Give-Back!
Many thanks to all who stopped by and paused to take a chance...
...I wish it were possible to send you all a little something...
but please know that you have my heartfelt thanks for your interest, support and comments...

...And the winners are...

1. Manon of Manon 21 .....the gift certificate to Anthropologie

2. Sandi of Wayside Treasures .....the hand towels from Anthropologie

3. Melinda of Alabaster Rose Designs ....the glass plate from Anthropologie

Congratulations ladies!
You had the luck of the draw today!

Please email me the address where you would like your prize mailed.

If you did not win today...I am sorry...but check back again with me in February as I will surely have to celebrate with another Give -Back for
52 Flea's One Year Anniversary!

Hmmm...I will have to come up with something good!

:)

Pink Christmas Boots

It's hard to believe Christmas day has come and gone!



We had a relaxing day, visited good friends with their three very excited little girls (ages six, four and one) and then had a wonderful Christmas dinner at my sister's home...



Just wanted to share these pepto bismal pink cowboy boots that I found at the thrift store a few weeks ago...they were a perfect fit for the 4 year old and a big hit when I gave them to her today!



Last call to enter the 300th Post Give-Back!
If you have not entered yet.....
...you have until high noon (EST) tomorrow!
Click HERE to enter!
Winners will be announced tomorrow night...GOOD LUCK!




Hope your day was happy and that the week ahead brings more joy as we countdown the days to the end of 2009 and the beginning of a New Year!
:) Merry Christmas!

This is such a pink post that I thought I would join the other participants in Beverly's Pink Saturday....