Let the MAGIC BEGIN, Monday, September 29, 2014

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old…

We grow OLD because we STOP playing…”

I THINK that My Friends and I are going to be JUST FINE!  We have been playing.

My friend, Lynn, had the first elf that I knew about and it was not very long before several of my friends wanted an Elf…

Our friend, Miss Brenda Griffith, of The Rusty Thimble, is the maker of our elves, well except for ONE that Miss Ramona made when Miss Brenda had to take a break to care for her mother who had a HORRIBLE fall…so He is NOW one of us, TOO!

She has an etsy shoop and a blog, so be sure to get the links on her page and VISIT!  The Blog link can be found on the left side of my blog.   She is so very talented!

Click HERE to visit The Rusty Thimble on Facebook 

A funny thing happens SOMETIMES when the season’s change…our ELVES awaken and start to explore and to see what they have missed while doing other things in preparation to MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN!!

On Sunday, I heard chairs being moved, things being knocked over and a lot of scampering...This is WHAT I found...Poor Charlie…I don’t think he UNDERSTANDS taking a drive to see the fall leaves…He got the car down from the mantle, found some Flower picks, threw them on the floor and had Charcoal to take the picture of his FALL Sunday afternoon drive…He said he had HEARD me talk about taking Fall Drives on Sundays with my family to see the leaves…oh, Charlie, you ARE a Prince, and the FAIREST in ALL the Land, but this is TOO early for the leaves to change colors and this is NOT how we do it in the South…we go OUTSIDE to take a drive...sigh…Oh, Well, He DOES wish you all, Happy Fall!

Sheila’s elf,  Edgar, was helping her decorate on Sunday! He LOVES halloween! She is going to  have to make him a mask that fits!

Sheila is a WONDERFUL artist and does beautiful scroll work.  This is the link to her Facebook page and you can also find her blog link on the right side of my blog. 

 This is the Link to go to Sheila's Facebook Page

Levi Winston III was helping my friend, Linda, pack up an order last week. He's such a great helper! He helped her make a pot of pintos…we ALL hope he didn’t get gassy….eek! 

This is Willie and his first day of fall…Willie was created by Miss Ramona since Miss Brenda had to take care of her mother, but we love Willie and welcome him to our GROUP of Elves…He is doing his very best to keep the CROWS away…

This is the Link to Mindy's Website
She cuts wood for those who can't! 
This is the LINK to Mindy's Facebook Page 

Bernard,  is another member of the group…he was out RIDING the Flamingo’s (doesn’t EVERY ONE do this) on the first day of fall!

Wendy is one of the most AMAZING sculptures that I have seen…She specializes in gourds and had EDUCATED all of us in “gourd sex” to teach us how she pollinates the blooms in the summer…Oh dear me, the things I have learned that I NEVER KNEW I needed to know!  Please go visit Wendy’s page on Facebook.

This is the LINK to Wendy's Page

I’ve introduced all of you to Hinkley in a previous blog post…Hinkley has had a tough year…He was created to replace the original elf when he was lost in a housefire on Cape Cod…It has been a TOUGH year for Lynn, but it is WONDERFUL to see the journey she has shared with us to FINALLY be HOME AT LAST…You will want to visit Lynn’s Facebook page to keep up with her WONDERFUL documentation of the struggles and JOYS…You can also find her blog link on the left side of my blog…

This is the LINK to Lynn's Facebook Page 

No, there is ONE elf we are STILL trying to find…His name is HOMER, but oh dear me…This PICTURE shows his Momma, who is searching for him and NOW we KNOW why he is HIDING…

 

Don't expect to see Homer this year...can you BLAME him??

Oh dear me…My friends are CRA-CRA, but I would NOT have it any other way…

Have a great week and I HOPE that I have put a smile on your face…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte

Simple Hostess Gifts, Sunday, September 28, 2014

 I was raised to always take a gift when I was invited to someone’s house and WHEN we entertained for special events, we always had hostess gifts for those who attended.

Times have changed quite a bit, but there are SPECIAL times that warrant a little extra something.

DecoArt has a Full line of products that make crafting SO EASY!

DecoArt has a product that I LOVE.  It is Americana Clear Chalkboard Coating.  It turns a surface into a Chalkboard! 

I bought these cut-outs from Cabin Crafters (Click HERE to go to the website)  and painted them as a VERY simple Pumpkin…I followed the directions on the bottle and NOW, I have these cute pumpkins that I can write the menu on each of them and place them across the plate…When the meal is finished and your guests go home, they can take the pumpkins with them to use as a decoration for their fridge since I put a magnet on the back!!  It would be a handy item to jot down a short message…

This idea could be used with any SIMPLE shape for most any holiday…Snowmen would be ADORABLE…just use colored chalk!  And REALLY, even though you might not paint beautifully, most everyone can paint a pumpkin cut-out orange, the stem brown and just take a permanent marker and make some marks around the end to give it a FINISHED look…Simple is GOOD…Or you can always make it prim by sanding it off!!  OR, you can ask your “crafty friend” to paint some for you to have on hand…YOU can add the chalkboard finish!  =) 

You could use this to make a PIN into a name tag also…STOP ME NOW before I start listing more ideas…ROFL!!

These would also make cute little gifts for School teachers, Sunday School teachers, Co-workers, students or to TAKE as a hostess gift…The possibilities are ENDLESS!!  Cutouts are easily found and I can almost bet that there are people in your community that could cut the wood for YOU!!

It’s time to start thinking about these SIMPLE things that YOU can do to make an occasion a bit more special…Put those thinking caps on and get to work…

…Blessings to YOU…charlotte♥

What were you doing on THIS DATE through the Years? Saturday, September 27, 2014

My mother kept a journal for MANY years…oh, it had nothing to do with her feelings, but mostly with WHAT was happening in our family and in our community.

 

I’ve told you MANY times, that Mother LOVED…She LOVED with her whole heart and soul and she LOVED people who did NOT like her…She did EXACTLY what she was MANDATED to do in the Bible…

I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the journals and see WHAT was happening in Springfield, Tennessee on This day in several years…

 

She kept track of who died, who was having a birthday, and YES, you BETTER believe that SHE sent them a birthday card!  She was remarkable in her correspondence with people…On this sheet, she had Bob’s (my oldest brother) address and the address and name of his dorm   AND she had when Bob would have ROTC drills…she had the phone number of a friend whom she invited to CELEBRATE with us upon Bob’s return from Army Basic…it was a VERY tough time for him and she was SO PROUD of his accomplishement!

I even found a journal that Daddy kept in 1962.  We had sharecroppers and he would document DAILY who worked for whom and what they/he did…I find it interesting that on this day, Daddy Electioneered and THEN stopped buy calf feed!  I WONDER who he electioneered FOR…I can bet my bottom dollar that is was a DEMOCRAT and that it was probably for some local election!  I just wonder…

In 1998, Mother was having a CRISIS because she could no longer get the journals from Clinard’s that she had used for years and so she just made do with a notebook…BOY, This week was FULL!!  The 27^th was on a Sunday and I see that she went VISITING as she often would…Bob was to fly to Baltimore…She installed CPW officers at church (CPW is Cumberland Presbyterian Women)…And Carney Bell had a tragic accident…Carney was the long-time funeral director at Austin & Bell…He was a VERY pretty man and very personable~~aren’t most funeral workers?  He was amazing in that he would cut out articles about people from the local papers, laminate them, send them to the people in the community and write a short note…he PROBABLY had his secretary to do most of the work, but I always was VERY impressed because he did NOT have to do this!  I also found it very funny that Mother spent a great deal of that week base coating for me!

I would Pay her $5/hour to base items so that I could paint the details when I got home from work…Our First BIG SHOW was always the first weekend in November!  YIKES…boy, she and daddy were a lifesaver for ME!

1991was another busy week…On this day she went to a retreat at church and made peach cobbler and tea…BOY, it does NOT get much more Southern than that…A friend of hers died that week and of course, she went to the funeral…She did her BEST to attend funerals of those she loved!  AND I had a craft show in Greenbrier that Saturday…YIKES, it was so SLOW, but Mother and Daddy stayed so I could stay at home and paint!

Oh, my cousin had a birthday this week in 1969 and that is my middle brother’s writing…Notice that Mother wrote with a Blue fountain pen…she used that pen for EVERYTHING and for YEARS until it could no longer be repaired.  I see that on the 25^th both Brian and I had sleep-overs…I can GUARANTEE that we got up in the middle of the night to take Julie home…she ALWAYS got homesick!  And sadly, the guy that spent the night with Brian was arrested a few years ago for domestic abuse…What bad decisions we sometimes make in life…sad..

1962 was the year I was born…Mother was VERY VERY pregnant since I would be born on October 30…She did not have very much written, BUT I think it is funny that she went to visit her twin sister in Clarksville with her friend, JoNell, who was ALSO very pregnant…She would have her daughter, Marcia, 2 days after I was born!  I also find it interesting that I randomly chose the year 1998 to show you since she went to visit Marcia on the same date years later!  hmmm...I guess it just proves again the NOTHING happens by coincidence...

I was sick this week in 1971 with strep throat!  I remember Mother boiling all the plates, bowl, silverware that I used to eat…It hurt my feelings and I missed school…Can I get a BIG BOO HOO from YOU!!  

1965 made me sad.  It tells that they found Uncle Bud on the floor when they got up the morning of the 27^th…But it shows that Mother had The David Moore’s for lunch on the Sunday before this happened and how we had visitors.

I think this is an amazing part of history…No, none of my family has changed the world and probably NEVER will, but I DO KNOW, and this is proof, that We have made a difference in some people’s lives and THAT is SUCCESS!  I have a great heritage and this is just more proof…

I hope you had fun seeing a little bit of what happened on this date in my community…I plan to share more…Have a GREAT day, and why not start keeping a record for YOUR family to have one day…maybe they don’t care now, but one day, they just might!

…blessings to YOU…~charlotte

Folkart and Primitive Free Pattern Offer, Friday, September 26, 2014

 I belong to the Folkart and Primitive Etsy team.  It is a WONDERFUL group of people who make being on Etsy FUN!

We share our joys and our woes and encourage each other, both personally and professionally.

We have some of the MOST AWESOME leaders who are knowledgeable and who help us with our blogs, our facebook pages and our Etsy shops...I HOPE they know how much they are appreciated!

We have a team blog where we are trying to get more activity.  We share decorating tips, treasuries, awesome gift items, free patterns and tutorials and YUMMY recipes!!  We NEED YOU to visit and to start following us so that our AWESOME posts will be viewed by more people.

Click HERE  to visit our Wonderful Blog and PLEASE follow us!

I have offered a FREE PATTERN on this weeks blog and would like to offer it on this blog ALSO if you would LIKE to have it.

You can send me an email  or leave me a message on my facebook page and I will send you the pattern.  It is a quick and easy pattern that would make a PERFECT Hostess gift!  It paints quickly and can be adapted to most any surface...So let me know if you would like to have it.

My email address is: romaland2.1@juno.com and PLEASE put FREE PATTERN in the subject line or I might delete your email by mistake...I get LOTS of emails...LOL...

This is my Facebook Page Link 

Where you can also leave a request to send you the pattern.

To Find our items on ETSY, type FAAP in our toolbar or visit TEAMS to find us...we are FOLKART AND PRIMITIVES...

Also, please visit MY ETSY SHOP (Click HERE)

I would LOVE to sell you some on MY TREASURES...LOL...I have 97 patterns to help with your painting NEEDS, too.

I hope that this design has made you smile and that you will SPREAD that smile to EVERYONE that you encounter TODAY...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte

Please note:  

this FREE Pattern Offer expires on 

October 31, 2014