my birthday purse

when you get to be my age, birthdays are not that big a deal. i mean i don't care how old i am, because i feel very young and better than i did when i was younger emotionally and mentally. you just don't do the big celebrations, and family and friends usually call or send a card with their birthday wishes. my daughters and my mom had lunch with me on my b-day at our favorite restaurant, Hunan, in Fortuna and it was nice to be able to just sit and talk with them and not feel the rush of life. my mom gave me this adorable vintage winnie-the-pooh book ( I ADORE pooh!) and i brought my grandbaby home to spend the night with her oma and opa. it was a nice day and we loved having a little one all night even though we were exhausted the next day. so....imagine my surprise when i showed up at Ruth's Room yesterday morning ready to sort through the bags of donations and Starla (grace and beauty abound in her) had a birthday package for me. let me just say that Starla is one of the most amazing people i know and i love her more than i can say. i have been trying to get her to open an etsy shop or an artfire studio and she is just about ready so when she does, you know i will be sounding the trumpet. okay, back to the package. so i opened the first one and it was a book that my Nana had owned waaaaaaay back, probably before i was born. the cover had been replaced and blinged up by Starla. i thought "oh that is soo sweet" but there was more! I opened the second package to find a book purse! made by Starla! with the cover of my Nana's book! it is adorable, gorgeous and perfect! Starla took something that i didn't know existed and made it into a double treasure. something made by her from something that will remind me of the awesome faith and strength of my Nana every time i use it. Starla, I love you and can't thank you enough...xxxooo p.s. Starls's creations are called "Refashioned Threads." you can see the name stitched on the inside of my purse in the second photo. and that eiffel tower print on the inside, BEAUTIFUL. i used to dream of going to paris....still maybe someday.

my "new" lamp

i recently picked up this old goose-neck lamp for the unheard of price of $0.00 and just couldn't pass it up. i had a vision of a white lamp perched on my desk so i could craft at night without having to use the overhead light. BunBun said he would sand it and paint it for me if i paid him a $1, so of course i quickly counted out some change (mostly pennies) and placed them in his hot little hands. i think it turned out quite well and i have already used it many times. oh, and by the way, don't you think BunBun is rather handsome? and he didn't really make me pay him a dollar, he does things for me cause i'm the spoiled queen.