Happy Birthday Rachel!

My oldest "baby" turns 23 today! Unlike her sister who arrived three weeks early, Rachel arrived nearly three weeks late and I was HUGE! Seriously, I was big enough to qualify for my own zip code! She was such a pretty baby with milky white skin, little tufts of hair, not quite red and not quite blonde and the most beautiful steel blue eyes. Of course everyone kept  telling me, they'll turn, babies are always born with blue eyes but Rachel's never did and they are still the prettiest shade of blue.

By the time her first Birthday rolled around, Rachel was already forming two word sentences. "Oh look" she exclaimed as she opened each gift. 

She was always inquisitive and always wanted to explore her surroundings. And she was fearless! She would give me fits every time we went shopping or to a park. I would turn my back for a second and she would be gone. I was always hysterical by the time I found her and she would be completely oblivious to the fact that her mother had been frantically searching for her. She would come running up to me, recounting all the wonderful things she had seen on her little "solo excursion"! How apropos that Rachel's favorite saying is "Not all who wander are lost" J.R,R. Tolkien

Once Rachel entered school, it was obvious she was going to excel at Math and Science. When most kids would rather suffer through a horrible case of Chicken Pox than construct a Science Fair project, Rachel relished the idea. As smart as we all knew she was, there was a time in her young life when we thought she would never read. When we finally got the diagnosis that Rachel was severely dyslexic we were determined  this would never stop her from accomplishing what she wanted to do. 

She has overcome so many obstacles and today, she reads more than anyone I know. Rachel has grown into a sweet, kind young woman with an unwavering Faith, a wonderful imagination and an unquenchable thirst to learn. She aspires to get her Masters and do genetic research on plants. We often kid that she will probably discover the cure for some rare disease some day. 

 Happy Birthday my sweet girl! 

We love you and miss you so much!

Breaking News!!! Women goes Thrifting and actually finds something! Details at Eleven

LOL, sorry, I just had to start this post that way! You see, ever since I started reading blogs, I have marveled at all the wonderful thrift store finds my bloggy friends have shared. From cute kitschy housewares to dreamy vintage Holiday decor, I've found myself swooning to the point of jealousy over such fortunate finds and wishing I could be so fortunate. But alas, the thrift store gods have never been kind to me, finding no more than beat up crock pots and stinky worn out shoes. Now I'll be the first to admit, I am not a faithful thrift shop visitor, I rarely go more than once every couple of months. This week however; I had a little extra time to spend so I stopped in a thrift store that benefits the local Womens' shelter. I strolled the isles thinking to myself, another useless trip, then I noticed a room at the back filled with Christmas Items. My excitement built as I entered, then quickly deflated, I had such high hopes of finding some really cool vintage decorations but once again nothing. As I was heading out the door, something hiding behind a cracked candle stick caught my eye. YES!!!! Finally a treasure worth carrying to the checkout! This is the treasure I found....

I don't know anything about it, I'm guessing this little Santa might be from the 70's but he sure is cute! This is the only marking on it. 

Anyone want to take a stab at his history? 


     So now I'm feeling lucky as I headed to the children's book area where I found this...

The cover is a little worn but most of the pages are in pretty good shape. 

Aren't the illustrations sweet!




And last but not least I found these cute little chairs. 

I know they aren't vintage but I thought they would look really cute in my studio holding some buttons or small trinkets. So, after all the pouting and wishing I can finally say, I found it at a thrift store! Now I'm ready to try estate sales!

Scripture in Pictures Sunday - The Magnificat

The Festival Of Mary, Mother of Our Lord

As always, you may click on the picture to bring up a larger, SHARPER image
right click and save, if you like!

Pink Saturday! Ohio Art Pottery

Happy PINK Saturday!
Please stop by How Sweet The Sound and say Hi to Miss Beverly, our host for Pink Saturday!

Today I want to share something very dear to my heart. I grew up in East Central Ohio not too far from where most of the Ohio Art pottery was produced, the most popular being Roseville,  Weller  McCoy and Hull. Rookwood pottery was also produced in Ohio but in Cincinnati, a different part of the state. I started my collection about thirty years ago, quite by accident. My parents were combining two houses and were going to have an auction to get rid of the excess items they didn't need or want. One day I passed by the boxes my mother had stuffed with "junk" in preparation for the auction. I glanced down and saw a sweet little vase that once belonged to my Great Grandmother laying on top of one of the boxes. "Mom, you aren't  getting rid of THIS are you?" My mom looked up at me with the most bewildered look on her face, I think at this point she must have been overwhelmed, and said "Oh, I guess so". Of course my next question was "CAN I HAVE IT????"  and held my breath as I waited for her reply. "Yes, I suppose so" came the answer I was hoping to hear! To this day I can't believe she was going to get rid of it. And so began my collection of Ohio Art Pottery. My collection is small, only about ten pieces and all but one were Christmas gifts from my parents. I thought I would share a few of my PINK Ohio Art Pottery pieces with you today. This first piece is the one and only piece that I bought myself. It is one of my favorites because I just love the delicate colors. 

(as always, you can click on any of the pictures to bring up a larger view!)

It was manufactured by Hull and another interesting note about this piece, it still has the original HULL sticker on the inside. 

These next two pieces are part of Roseville's Water Lilly collection.

This next piece is by Weller. Weller is not as well known but along with Rookwood was considered somewhat more artistic as artist's were encouraged to develop their own styles. 

This last piece, also by Weller is very special because it is the last piece my parents gave to me before they passed away. 

If you would like more information on Ohio Art pottery, you can click on any of the company names above and it will take you to the Wikipedia article or just Google the names.Have a wonderful, Pinkalicious weekend! Nan

additional resources:  

http://www.carnegie.lib.oh.us/potteries.htm

http://www.wwcomponents.net/roseville/roseville.html 

Friday Freebies!

TGIF!!! That means time for some great FREEBIES!

 What a great idea and so useful! Crafty Staci has the pattern and a tut to make this passport wallet!

And check out this really sweet slumber party paper doll from Babalisme.

Next Elegant Bloggery  posted these really cute coloring pages that could be used as digital stamps among other things. Make sure you scroll down to the cupcake pages, they are sooo cute!

Living Locurto has these wonderful back to school morning routine cards waiting for you!

And speaking of back to school, Tricia-Rennea has the cutest BOOKMARKS,  BOOKPLATES, and

MINI NOTES free for you to download!

And last but not least, Craft Stylish has the pattern for this wonderful caplet, just in time for cooler weather!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! xxoo Nan

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Guess who's coming to Dinner?

First I had lunch with my Niece and her precious baby boy! I can't believe how fast he is changing. I saw him a month ago and he wasn't even sitting up. Now he is crawling and pulling himself up. 

 Is he not the cutest baby?!

Then last night I was in the backyard grilling and heard a little commotion. I looked up to find my sweet deer, you know... the ones that reek havoc in my garden! Well this little imp saw them at the same time and had a great time chasing them out of our HER yard! 

Not to worry, as soon as I got the bucket of corn, they were back, too hungry to let a little Jack Russell chase them away. There are four babies and the smallest one came so close to me, I could have touched her! 

Sorry the pic is a little blurry, I was trying to snap it fast before Hippy chased them off again. Naughty girl, I know she is saying "Who Moi?". 

Have wonderful bubbly day filled with JOY! Nan

Scripture in Pictures