There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends.
I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.
~ Jane Austen

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Happy New Year!


(¯`´•.¸(¯`´•.•´´¯).•´´¯)
 HAPPY NEW YEAR
(_¸.•(_¸.•´´`´•.¸_)•.¸_)

I'm wishing you a wonderful happy New 
Year.  May all your hopes, dreams 
and wishes come true for you!  

I am offering free shipping in my Etsy 
shop for the month of January.  
Please visit as I will be adding 
vintage jewelry, fabrics, 
and MISC vintage finds.  Use coupon 
code Sweet2013 for your free 
shipping at check out.

In the next few weeks I will be having 
my first giveway for 2013.

Wishing you a wonderful week!
Sharon

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Goodies

I hope you had a wonderful
Christmas holiday!

I am trying to get
caught up with some of
my December postings.
Deb (Garage Sale Gal) and
I exchange goodies
through out the year.
She sent me some wonderful
vintage Santa finds, 
handmade stocking collage
 and local chocolates.
The chocolate pretzels
didn't last too long.

Here is a vintage Santa
penny bank.  Love it!

She made the stocking collage
using vintage goodies. 

She also sent the vintage
Santa teacup.  Love it!

Deb, thank you for your
kindness and friendship!

I am trying to get all
the Christmas decor down
and packed by New Year's
Day.  AAHH nothing like
starting the New Year
fresh, clean, and
organized.  Well,
maybe not so organized!

What did you get for
Christmas?  I received
a new iPad 2.  I have
been playing around
with some new APPs.

Wishing you a wonderful
and safe weekend!
Sharon

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Christmas Past

Christmas is just a few
days away.  Are you
ready for Christmas day?

This evening while searching
for my "new" camera, I found
these family Christmas photos.
Hilarious!!

What is so funny?
First photo...take
notice of the little
blonde girl on the
right holding her 2
new dolls. Just look
at me all prissy 
with my dolls and
OMG I have my legs
crossed! No socks! 
The second photo take
a look at the outfits!
Who is out of season?
Me!!!

I can't stop
laughing!!!
The third photo is not
a Christmas image.
But just look at
my expression!
I think I was a
worrier at 2 years old!
The fourth photo is
of my mom.  This is
one of my favorite
photos of her.
Well I must get back
to cleaning for our
company to arrive
tomorrow.

This week I will
be sharing some photos
of Christmas goodies I
received from Deb.
She is such a good
friend.  We exchange
gifts several times
a year. Thank you
again Deb! 

Wishing you a wonderful
Thursday!
Sharon

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Our Home at Christmas

Hope you are having
a wonderful week.

Thought I would
share some images 
of our home at 
Christmas.  This 
year we kept the
decorating low key.

Morning views of
our kitchen area.



Photos of my
Santa collection








Our vintage tree top
~ gold angel & star.
Made in Italy. 


Some of my handmade
Christmas cards.


This weekend Don and I
will be volunteering at
the Memphis VA Hospital
to share Christmas goodies
to the vets.

Wishing you a wonderful
weekend!
Sharon


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Welcome December!


Where has the time gone this year?

I hope your Thanksgiving was
a wonderful time for
you and your family.

December comes way too early
with all the fuss for
decorating our homes and offices,
Christmas shopping, planning meals,
attending to our home nesting,
and not to mention if we have a FT job.

We have completed all of Christmas shopping.
 Just need to get those packages
 in the mail. Our Christmas cards
are made...just need addressing
and mailing. We have almost
completed our home decorating. 
I will share photos of our
Christmas cards and
home later this week.

Thank you for your visit
this week to my blog. 
I love hearing from you. 
I will catch up with some
of my favorite blogs this week.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Until next time, Sharon

PS the digital collage
is made by me using digital
art by Gina Marie Huff at
Weeds and Wildflowers.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!


Wishing you a wonderful
Thanksgiving Day with
your family and friends!


The following two images
were from Facebook this
week.  I cannot remember
who or what location I
found them.  But I just
thought they were great
for Thanksgiving cheer.




I am so behind in my holiday
creating and decorating!  But
I have almost completed our
Christmas shopping. Maybe
that is better...no crowds
at home.

Please accept my apology for
not posting as much on my blog.
I will be sharing some sneak
peeks of my handmade cards
and creative gifts.

Thank you for visiting!
Until next time, Sharon


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Getting supplies ready
for holiday projects!

I am not making Holiday
items this year for
my Etsy shop. If you 
have purchased from
my shop in the past...
and would like handmade
gift tags or Christmas
cards made for you. 
Please send an message
through my Etsy shop.

I will be sharing some
of my handmade holiday
greeting cards and gift
tags on my blog.  These 
goodies will be sent to 
family and friends.

I have scanned a few
vintage images that I
purchased in 2007.
Enjoy!  

 


More doctor appointments
this week. It seems to
never end.  But I do think
I have one week in
November so far with
nothing scheduled!

I finally got a new
camera.  I have several
mail goodies to share
with you next week.

Thank you for visiting
my blog and leaving your
kind comments.

Wishing you a wonderful
week!

Sharon

Friday, October 26, 2012

what a weather change!


what a weather change
in just a few hours!
yesterday is was all
about carpi's and t-shirts.
today it is all about
sweats!

it is cold and raining
here today.  so I am
taking advantage of this
weather to make some cards.

here is a vintage cabinet
photo I scanned for your
art projects.
ENJOY!


have you started your
Christmas shopping yet?
I have purchased a
few gifts for family.

I have so much to catch
up with house cleaning,
art studio organizing,
laundry (but do we really
ever get caught up?),
and garage cleaning.
so it is all about
"to do list"!

wishing you a wonderful
and safe weekend!
until next time,
Sharon

ps notice I changed
my format in typing?

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

I am still here!
I just don't have the energy to post as often any more. I miss visiting your
wonderful blogs. But I promised I will
visit and leave a comment!
Hope you are doing well dear friends.

Vintage Postcards



Here are a few vintage postcards from my collection. I will be sharing more in the next few weeks. These images would be great for holiday projects...
gift tags, greeting cards, and maybe a hanging garland.  Just a few ideas.

Wishing a wonderful week!
Until next time, Sharon

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Hello Fall


Hello Fall!

The weather here has been
beautiful for the past week.

I have posted a vintage Halloween 
postcard I purchased in 2008.  
I have not cleaned or altered
the image.  Please feel free to 
use in your artwork.  This image
would be wonderful for gift tags
on goodie bags.
Enjoy!

Not much going on here today.
Don is watching the college 
football games.  

Wishing you a wonderful
weekend!

Sharon 


Thursday, September 13, 2012

WIshing You a Wonderful Weekend!


I hope your week has been a good one.
Thank you for your kind words in 
regarding my earlier post this
week.  I didn't mean to say I 
didn't have any blogging friends.
I have met so many friends through
blogging.

We all get busy during different 
times of the year with work,
home, and most importantly
taking care of family.  But 
please remember to give
your self some special time 
for your personal pleasures!

I have included a vintage photo
I had purchased in 2007 for 
you to use with your art work.
Enjoy!

I wish you a wonderful
weekend!

Until next time,
Sharon


Monday, September 10, 2012

This Week is National Invisible Illness Week.

When I started blogging, it was a way to journal my digital art. It was intended to document my digital art and see how different I could express my art using Photoshop.

If you follow my blog, you know I have a chronic illness. Some days are good but most days are bad. Good days can consist of being able to run an errand, may be visit an antique mall, or even go to one of favorite stores TJ MAXX or Marshall’s, and now we have a new Home Goods store.

Bad days are different for me. Each day can be a different type of pain, different location of the body, or even spending most of the day in bed. Weather can really affect how my body reacts. Which could mean an additional medication for pain. These medications I take very carefully and only when I really take the pain any longer. When you are diagnosed with a chronic illness, it can become an “umbrella” to other chronic illnesses.

Before being diagnosed, which took about nine years, I worked as a Senior Contract/Cost Manager. Traveled a lot which was not always fun. Could concentrate…meeting that deadline that was needed last week really was my favorite part of my job. I enjoyed my job very much. It was challenging, having to research historical accounting/budget information, analyzing the data, and prepare current and forecasted budgets for senior management. To most of you, that may sound so boring, but for me was a dream job. Most importantly about working, were the friendships made all those years.  An identity.

Now to the present ~ invisible illness.

Since diagnosis, I have years spent on many daily medications. These have altered my appearance…weight gain, inflammation, fatigue, “moon face”, “moon stomach”, and skin rashes just to name a few. Doctor appointments are too many to count each month. A near death medical episode where I was in ICU for a couple days, and many more hospital stays than I would ever wish on anyone.

When I do out or we go on a vacation, the whispers of “she is so fat”, really hurts but that is why it is called an invisible illness. They don’t know the amount of medications I take daily, the house work I cannot do, the meals I have no energy to cook for my husband, missing social gatherings, or even taking that morning walk.

I miss not working. I miss having friends. Life is very lonely.

I have always been creative. Just now I spend more time in our home creating. The past few months I have been gathering art supplies. I will continue to make my holiday cards and gifts tags. But I have told myself that this illness will not keep me from learning and going outside my comfort zone. I am hoping in the next few months to take some art classes.

I just wanted to share with you some insight what living with a chronic illness means and what it takes to manage this illness.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Slowly

I am getting order back
my to art room.  Word
emphasis on slowly!

I have been working
on some new designs
for the holidays.
So those may be in
my Etsy shop in the
next couple of weeks.

I still have too many
doctor appointments
these days. So there
is a lot of frustration
with traveling to them,
arrive on time, and you
wait sometimes for 2
hours before you are
seen by the specialist.

The above cabinet card
that I am sharing with
you today is from my
collection.  It was
purchased in 2007 I think.
Please enjoy for your
art projects.

We have been busy with
house training a very
stubborn girl ~ Abbie!
So Jake and Gracie are
feeling left out a bit.
Don takes Jake for car
rides.  I give Gracie
some alone time of
playing and hugging.

Wishing you a wonderful
week dear friends!
Hugs,
Sharon

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Introducing Abbie


This is our new addition!
Introducing Abbie.
She is 10 weeks old.

Our niece was here over
the weekend. She is on a
road trip with a college
friend.  It was great
having them visit us.

I have been getting my
art room ready for some
creating!  I have purchased
some beautiful vintage laces
and buttons for both art
and sewing projects.

Hope your week has been
a good one.  Thank you for
visiting my blog dear
friends!

XO,
Sharon

Thursday, August 2, 2012

I am still here...


I am still here.
I really haven't had much to
share on my blog.
I am hoping to get some
art and sewing projects
completed starting in
September.

I am hoping to visit
your blogs and leave
comments in the next
few weeks.

Blessings,
Sharon

Friday, June 8, 2012

A Winner!


Fran is the winner of my summer blog give away.
Congratulations!

Thank you to all that entered my
summer give away!

Wishing you dear friends a
wonderful weekend!





Friday, June 1, 2012

As promised, a give away!

Hello dear friends!
Sorry I have been MIA lately.
But life does get the way
sometimes.

I hope your holiday weekend
was a nice for you.

As promised in an earlier post,
I am having a blog give away.



This is a great set of vintage goodies
for your creative projects.

I have made a small shabby
altered journal for this give away.


I will be adding some extra
goodies to this give away!

To enter this give away
just leave a comment about
your favorite summer activity.
Simple as that!

Give away winner will
be announced on Friday,
June 8th.

Wishing you a wonderful
weekend with your
family and friends!
Sharon