Dreamin of Forth Worth Texas

I LOVE a lazy Sunday afternoon, don't you?

Having a late breakfast & hanging out in your jammies till noon...what's not to like!

But on this Sunday afternoon, I'm missing my Sweet TEXAS.

Maybe it's all the pics I've been seein of all my Girly Friends in Canton...

Sewww, I'm taking a trip to Fort Worth today, ya wanna come along??

There's nothin quite like the neon glow of Old Town Fort Worth & The Stockyards.

I dream that I'm rich enough to go into Leddy's to have

a pair of custom Cowgirl Boots made just for me.

What kind of design would I chose?

Would they fit me like a glove & not even kinda hurt?

Oh, that would be pure Heaven!!!

When I was there in the spring for the antique festival in Round Top,

my sweetest friends Charlene & Cindy took me & Karen

for a night on the town in the Stockyards & that red & green neon

has been glowing in my memories ever since.

The streets look like an amusement park, with one little restaurant & bar after another.

Can anybody say, let's party 'Texas Style'??  ;)

Now, partyin Texas Style requires two main courses,

Beer & Beef!!!

Can I get a Yell Yeah???

{sorry to all you vegetarians out there, my sister included}

Our chaperone's, I mean tour guides, took us to what has to be one of the

COOLEST spots in town, the H3 Ranch! We had an awesome meal there, but

do you know what I remember the most from that fabulous meal?

The BEANS!! Yep, those damn beans were to die for!

And on top of being the coolest looking spot in town with the bestest food,

H3 also has a little interesting history to it to.

Seems that Bonnie & Clyde hid out in that top floor, corner room in the hotel

attached to the restaurant after one of their murderous, robbing sprees.

How EXCITING!!!  :O

Here's The Wild Bunch itself...

Karen, Cindy, Charlene & Boyfriend,

My GANG!

We may look nice, but we're ready to RUMBLE!!

Are ya gettin a taste for Texas yet?

I have a little bit of drool in the corner of my mouth, just thinkin about it's yumminess!

OK, so where else can you go & see a possum hanging from the

ceiling & a Buffalo Butt sticking out of the bar...

Texas Baby, Texas!

OMG, I think that buffalo's butt has been violated with a rather large toothpick.

Someone has defiled that poor old buffalo's butt.

{just promise when I die you won't let anybody do this with my butt,

I'd turn over in my grave}

I just LOVED Fort Worth's Stock Yards, tooooo fun!

Now, we are really going backwards in time.

This was the very 1st place I made poor Charlene take

us after she picked us up at Love Field in Dallas.

I HAD to see the BOOK DEPOSITORY!

You know, The Book Depository in Dealey Plaza.

I'm a history buff & am fascinated with any kind of history, so there was no

way I could go to Dallas for the first time & not see Dealey Plaza.

As Miss Charlene said, "Not one of Texas's finest hours.", but regardless it is

an important part of American History.

And 48 years after a man stood in one of those windows with a rifle & killed our President,

after 48 years of speculation, conspiracy theories & the Zapruder film,

I got to see the Grassy Knoll for myself.

It gave me goosebumps...

My Charlene is sooooo GOOD to me!!

Sewwww Sweet Hearts, I hope you enjoyed our Sunday in Texas!

We got a lot of Fort Worth, a little Dallas, a whole lot of Woot Woot

& y'all just remember, my boots are out, my bags are packed & 

I can't wait to get me back there!

Even if it is Hotter then HELL!  ;)

XOXO

vintagesusie

The Bliss Guild

I just love the idea of 'Following Your Bliss', don't you?

It gives such a perfect imagery to living your passion, of allowing your BLISS to

lead you & watching the Magic that surrounds you when you do.

Many of you may already know Alice & Roxi, the co-founders of

The Bliss Guild.

I am so very honered & excited that my 'SPOONIN' line of jewelry

has been featured this month as one of their 'Favorite Finds'.

Thank you so very much friends for your lovely post,

for holding my hand & following along with me on this journey,

for always being there with a kind word or a tender gesture,

for helping me 'Follow my Bliss'...

for all of this sweet friends, I am truly grateful!

Take a moment to stop by & meet these inspiring women,

I know you'll be happy that you did!

XOXO

vintagesusie

Picnik Play & a re-design

Hey, Sweeties...

I've had a great last couple of weeks with so many new doors opening up for me, getting a chance to meet so many new friends that I absolutely adore & having a chance to spend some time with one of my favorite old friends, Jennie from Rustic Chic. I had fun designing a fresh, new makeover for her blog & we both love the results! {check her site out HERE to see a few of the changes we made}

Do you like to play with your photo's in Picnik???

I LOVE it, I have so much fun trying all the different photo effects they have.

This one is the Adjustable Threshold effect...

.

And the one above is the Cross Process effect.

My very FAVORITEST touch up ones are the Teeth Whiten & Insta-Thin!

By the way, did I mention I LOVE Picnik?  ;)

Saturday, my friends & I went to a local concert at a venue I had never been

to before, the San Manuel Ampitheater which is truly AWESOME & really close to my house.

It's a quiant, midsize arena with a beautiful outdoor settting! You can purchase grass seats & sit on the greenest grass you've ever seen & there's a lovely little lake on the hillside below it as you walk in. It was very cool, I don't think there's a bad seat in the house! And guess who we saw??

Drum roll please...

The opening act was, The Band Perry

then...Luke Bryan, who not only is an amazing artist, but SUPER funny

& the Main Attraction... 'Tim Macgraw' on his 'Emotional Traffic Tour'!!!

Yeah, I was mainly attracted to him alright...he was FANTASTIC!! ;)

What an amazing performer, if he comes to your home town GO!!!

You will NOT be disappointed. Tim Rocks his Country, Just Right!!!

Gotta Run Friends...there's something I need to do,

I just forgot what it was!! LOL  ;)

XOXO
vintagesusie

The Vintage Marketplace in Rainbow, CA

{Sharon, Lydia & Jenelle, my new bestest friends...I'll get to them soon!}

Happy TGIF Sweetie's...

The work week has ended, the weekend is about to begin & I know exactly

where you should head...that is if you live in the So Cali area.

The Vintage Marketplace

4815 5th Street, Rainbow, CA 92028

I just got back & it was Fabulous!!!

The Vintage Marketplace is organized by

Christie Repasy and Rita Reade & takes place every 3 months,

June 3rd and 4th

September 9th and 10th &

December 2nd and 3rd of 2011

& it is HEAVEN!

It's located in delicious surroundings, in the little country Cali town of Rainbow, Ca...

an oasis away from all the chaos of city life & the PERFECT place to go

for a relaxing day of Junkin & Lunchin & Shopin

in a Vintage Funky kinda way!! ;)

There are so many Amazing Vendors,

so many Fabulous & Luscious Displays

& so much Creativity & Artistic expression,

it's hard NOT to be AWED by the entire event, it's that GOOD!

I loved this little vintage baby swing.

This is my Sweet Friend,  Rita Reade's booth...

Mammabellarte .

She is the co-organizer of this event, an amazing artist & teacher

& I ADORE her beautiful Italian accent.

She's absolutely CHARMING!

One of the classes she teaches is soldering & we all know how badly I need to take that class! lol

I haven't picked up my soldering iron, since my last failed attempt.

What a yummmmmy bed, right?

Oh, & I need to tell you a much known fact about my friend Rita...

she's the QUEEN of Signs!!  ;)

My dear friend Jennie of Rustic Chic & I, loved this designer we discovered at

The Vintage Marketplace...

Lexa of Wings of Lace.

Y'all know that since I've been to Texas I've been Doilified...

well, everything Lexa had was right up my alley

made out of gorgeous vintage doilies, can I get a Woot Woot!!

Here's my friend & artist Lisa Loria's booth, filled with whimsy & wonder...

one of her new creations is this adorable little dog made from everything vintage,

except the kitchen sink!  ;)

Isn't it sooooo CUTE?

This vintage mannequin by Denise of White Horse Relics was GLORIOUS!!!

Check out the wings & shoulder-pads, crown & chicken wire...

what a STUNNING display!

{thank you Sara} :)))

The Two Wild Roses, Lori & Jamie, were there with their new baby,

a completely decked out Vintage Shasta Travel Trailer with

WINGS!

It's ADORABLE!!

The interior of this vintage trailer is AWESOME & my friends,

Shawn & Jennie Olson of Rustic Chic

did all the custom design & construction on this beauty.

You will LOVE IT!

And right next door to them is Miss Tricia of Vintage Bliss with her booth full

of Goodies & her too cool for school Vintage Canned Ham.

I am LOVING this, a taste of Texas right here in my own backyard!

{Lydia, my sales rep for SPOONIN & Jenelle}

And now here we are, back at the very beginning of my story.

Not only did I go to this show because it was a beautiful summer day

& I wanted to see all of these glorious sights & creative friends,

I was also going to meet some new friends too!

I recently did blog designs for both Lydia of Lydia Says

& Jenelle of Fa La Vecia.

They are great friends who art together & inspire each other & they introduced me to

Sharon, {pictured in the 1st photo} creator of Launch Your Creativity

& owner & designer of Pansy Cottage & Garden.

There is sooooo much more to this story, which I will tell you about a little later,

but for now, let me introduce you to my new Sales Rep for SPOONIN...

Miss Lydia Reza!

Do the words, I am so DARNED EXCITED, mean anything to anybody??

Friends, I'm so darn excited! Thank You Lydia for taking my jewelry on as one of your

product lines & believing in me enough to think this MIGHT actually happen!

Your confidence means everything to me!!!

Sooooo, if you feel like venturing out this weekend & want to do a little arting & antiquing,

grab your camera & get yourself to

The Vintage Marketplace

& tell them vintagesusie sent you!  ;)

XOXO

vintagesusie

Yippppeeeee...I'm in Belle Armoire Jewelry!!!

I hope you all had an AWESOME, Relaxing & Joy Filled

Memorial Day Weekend!

Here in the mountains of So Cal, one could never expect that Saturday & Sunday

of this holiday weekend would be entirely yucky, cold, rainy & foggy.

Now, I'm not complaining...well yeah, I kinda am,

but Thank the Heavens above, Monday made up for it...it was Gorgeous.

The children were gone, the house was ours & hubby & I spent

the entire day making 'SPOONIN' Jewelry in the sun, PERFECTION!

And to make life even Sweeter...

today is the day my first, four page spread in

Belle Armoire Jewelry, comes out.

Can anybody give me a HECK YEAH!  ;)

I am sooooooo OVER THE MOON, I just want to share everything with you!

Ever since I picked up that very 1st Artful Blogging magazine almost 2 years ago in Baltimore, I knew I wanted my art to one day grace the pages of a Stampington Publication. It started with a little, simple encouragement by my dear friend Diane Cook from rosa & josie's.

She & her gorgeous jewelry design, have been published many times. At some point while

we were working together, I told her my dream & asked her how she went about submitting

her work. Diane was completely generous & supportive & emailed me this link...the Stampington Submissions. It gives all the guidelines needed to submit your work & be

considered for publication & then she said "Go for it & don't be defeated if you

don't get in on your 1st attempt, I've been declined many times!"

What, Diane declined...well, that's all it took for me to BELIEVE I too could TRY!

I choose my beloved Heirloom Jewelry to send in & I really did focus on my Presentation.

I tried to incorporate some of my favorite vintage elements into the design, vintage photo album pages, antique lace, old frayed fabric ribbon & a crocheted flower pin. The last day for submission was January 15 & I couldn't get it together until the 18th...but I sent it off anyway with my fingers crossed. It took a couple months before I heard anything from them, but then I received an email

that started with, 'Congratulations'!  

And to make a long story even longer...lol

there were some more wonderful surprises in this edition.

Diane Cook also has a beautiful article called,

'With One Finding'

A Jewelry Collaboration Between Like Minds

& the ad I designed for 'ARTBLISS' is nestled comfortably

next to all the other ads, as if it's no big deal.

Now...what is the point of this post, just to toot my own horn?

There's a little tooting going on, but the bigger picture I'm trying to paint is,

JUST DO IT!

JUST GO FOR IT!

It wouldn't be Brave if it wasn't Scary, you can make your DREAMS happen.

I LOVE the last lines of 'Under the Tuscan Sun',

"Unthinkably good things can happen even this late in the game. It's such a surprise."

That it is Sweet Hearts, that it is.

XOXO

vintagesusie

Dreamin of Spoons & 'Spoonin'

{fly free bird}

Evenin, My Sweetest of Hearts.

I would LOVE to introduce you to my newest & latest business & passion...

'SPOONIN'!

Now actually, it's not JUST any old spoons I'm in love with,

it's Vintage Silverplated Spoons & Flatwear with ornate handles

that Sing to my Soul!

{honky tonk angel}

So, where & when did this passion take hold of me you may ask?

It happened in March before I went on my 'Crazy in Texas Tour' with all my bloggie buddies. I knew there was going to be about 8 of us & I knew that I wanted to make something special to give to everyone to wear while we were out shoppin the fields, but WHAT?

{just hip stuff, live life with love}

That's when my muse settled in on makin something with SPOONS.

So, off I went junkin for some vintage flatwear,

bought myself some metal stamps & an anvil

& started a HAMMERING!!  ;)

{wild at heart}

My design was simple to start with, a pounded flat spoon that said,

'Crazy in Texas' 2011 with a little amethyst bead.

The gals loved them, I loved mine & as serendipity would have it,

{and y'all know how often she's worked her magic in my life lately}

while I was sitting under the lunch tent at Zapp Hall drinkin some sweet tea,

I got my 1st custom order from Kelley of Just Hip Stuff.

{definition of junk, cheap worthless unwanted trashy}

She wanted her company name on the front spoon & the words,

Live Life With Love

on a small butter knife in the back, it turned out lovely!!

{fly like a free bird}

That one order gave me the confidence to BELIEVE that maybe, just maybe, I could make a little business out of this Vintage Spoon Jewelry Design & thus was born 'SPOONIN'!

I'm getting my new & improved etsy shop stocked,

I created a new Facebook Fan Page,

I designed a 'SPOONIN' Facebook Website,

I've been working on designing a .com

& I've been DREAMING BIG!!

You know Sweet Hearts, I was thinking...

don't you think it's time for us to spread our wings & FLY?

I'm ready to say 'YES' to everything that comes my way,

I'm ready to pack my fears in a vintage suitcase & slide it under the bed,

I'm ready to Live Large, Dream Big, Work Hard & wait.

To wait & see what amazing possibilities might lie just over there,

a little out of sight, off in the distance, waiting on the horizon for me.

Come on...Let's Fly!

XOXO

vintagesusie