At last, a chair that fits...

Because I'm short, it's always difficult to find furniture that is comfy.  A couple of months ago, I was headed into our local Ace Hardware when I instead went in the Goodwill store next door.  There's where I found my $17 chair.  It fit me, was structurally sound...all it needed was a new "do".  After painting with Ace's Royal paint in Banana Peel and making cushion covers with fabric I already had, my chair cost about $20.  Not bad, I'd say...

New card designs

Here are some designs I've been working on ... please tell me what you think.

What a great day

Two of my children, Jen and Chris, live in New Hampshire and I try to visit as often as possible.  Jen and her hubby Bob, and Chris and his wife Kristin are all artists with unique styles.  Jen is a photographer, Bob ties beautiful fishing ties, Chris and Kristin enjoy photographing my grandson Dylan and they also own a screen printing business.

Whenever I visit, we try to spend at least one day going to different places to take photos.  On this visit, Bob drew the short stick for driving duty.

I love New England for all its history; I've visited in every season and it's always beautiful...well... maybe the weather is a bit harsh in winter.  This particular mill is one that we tried to see on my previous visits, but never made it.  I can only imagine how beautiful it must be with all the fall colors.

Journaling on this scrapbook page reads:

August 16, 2009

What a great day to remember.  Bob, (our driver), Jen, Chris, and I (the photographers) spent the

day shooting historic sites in New Hampshire and Maine.  This photo was taken from the lawn of what we discovered was a private home in South Berwick Maine across the river from the mill.  The owners came out to see what we were doing and were very gracious to let us stay on their property.  They even took us to their 3rd floor balcony to get some different shots of the mill.   It turned out they they had both worked for National Geographic before retirement so we talked photography for a while.

Credits:

Joyce Paul -  Family Ties, Simplicity

Fei Fei’s Stuff - Plum Autumn, Serendipity

My newest treasure

I just bought this beauty from Isa at www.vintagecrossbottles.blogspot.com - they are having a special sale for readers of The Lettered Cottage blog through tonight.  Check out that blog if this is something you'd like too.

This bottles features dogwood flowers - the dogwood tree is my very favorite tree - and I just loved the shape of the bottle.  Their website description read's "A tumbled agate is framed by silver-hued dogwood blooms and vinery that have been oxidized to bring out the beautiful details. A vintage, thin glass bottle with a slight patina serves as the perfect base for this lovely cross."

A Walking tour of Denver

Ever take a guided walking tour of your town or city? I did that this past Sunday.

We started our tour at Union Station and ended at the Tattered Cover bookstore; in between those two sites we learned about places that are unique to Denve

r and the West. Being a history buff, I learned more about early Denver history in those 2 hours than in 30+ years of living in Denver. We heard about banks and stagecoach offices, bakeries and mercantile stores, fires and floods, hotels and spice companies. Probably the highlight of the tour for the men was seeing the antique MGTD roadster that was on display in one company’s window.

Did you know that at 17th & Wynkoop is the building that house the old Denver City Railway - a cable car company that used horses and mules to pull the cars. That’s not too unusual, but the fact that the animals were stabled on the third floor of the four story building is unusual. Imagine the poor office workers who worked on the second floor beneath all those animals. Our guide said that when the building was renovated the construction workers were nearly overcome with the "animal" odor when removing the floors of the stables.

Denver has an Elephant Corral on Wazee St. It was a livery stable where miners sold oxen used to cross the plains and bought pack animals for use in walking treacherous trails to reach Colorado mines.

Now I wonder why it took so many years to take this tour. I'm already searching for others that I can enjoy.

You Are a Banana Smoothie

You are friendly and popular without even trying to be. People just like you.
You are easy to be around and never offend everyone. You're quite mild.

You have a warm demeanor, and many people find you to be inviting.
You are sympathetic and kind. You have a soft spot in your heart for everyone.

My Fairy Name

Your fairy is called Feather Rainbowglitter

She is a fortune bringer.

She lives in high places where the clouds meet the earth.

She is only seen in the light of a shooting star.

She wears pale blue like the sky. She has multicoloured wings like a butterfly.

Get your free fairy name here!

Land of the Ancients

I love the colors of the Southwest - I guess that's why two rooms in my house are painted a green turquoise color! Using two of my photos (the adobe house and the pot) plus my horse stamp made from one of my photos, I created this page. Kits used are "Southwest Celebration" by Elizabeth Weaver and "Southern Life" by Cari Lopez.

Salmon Falls Mill

This once abandoned textile mill is now home to artists in eastern New Hampshire. My son and daughter and their spouses have artists' studios there. I love to imagine the hundreds of young women who climbed the stairs to their jobs.

Credits:

Lorie Davison - Rough to the Touch

Birgit Kerr - In Dreams

Her smile

Sleepy time

This page uses elements from my favorite scrapbook designer, Lori Davison. The page was ready made - I just added pix and a few extra elements.

Getting Started

Wanted to share some of the latest pages - this time using photo masks...