need to lobby for my hobbies....

hi all....the coffee is trying to work, so hang in there with me bloggers. i should be a fogger and not a blogger. i can fog all day...lol.
the wind is insane outside!! i remember texas now. oh yes....the state of wind and i don't mean gas. i mean the wind that blows down your pretty garden displays and messes up your hair. the wind that blows open your car door so hard, it blows all the pretty goodwill linens on your car seat into the parking lot. the wind that blows down all the cute orange porch ghosts into the middle of the highway. that is the state of wind in central texas. she is angry...this wind. what does she need? i don't have any trees for her, but i can give her some wind chimes and heavy garden statues. other than that, i guess i'll live with her wrath and hope she doesn't blow away any of my pretty garden plates. i can take the messy hair, but i don't want to lose a plate! howl!
so...i have to admit i haven't shopped a HOBBY LOBBY in over 3 years. hard to believe, i know...but it is true. i thought maybe i would forget how to navigate thru cute silk flowers and rows of hobby paint, so i took the plunge and went face first. when did HL get so expensive? it is hard to figure what is half price and what isn't. if you aren't careful, you will get a cart full of last week's 1/2 merchandise and have to put it all back. ugh. anyway....i bought a bunch of dresser pulls on sale for less than $2 and used them on our school work dresser. i spelled the word junk and just used random glass knobs for the rest.
i bought a bunch of other stuff i didn't need of course and now i need to lobby my spending. this is why i thrift!!!! i hardly ever go over $40 when i thrift and usually i keep it to around $20 and walk away with a bunch of stuff!!! oh well...sometimes ya gotta splurge and eat mac and cheese to make up the difference. i must admit....i blew the craft budget.
oh....and a hobby lobby find for $6 (1/2 price after the cashier told me they weren't and i SHOWED her the sign. then she tells me it is last week's sign. and??? it was still up!!!) i bought 2 and now don't know where to put them in my house. see....if they were only $1 a piece, i wouldn't stress so much. i'll figure it out though....right after i recover from the shock of retail prices!
but.....i DID NOT blow the craft budget with these cute hats!!! 50 cents each!!!! so sweet and hand made by someone that had way too many fake pearls and purple fabric flowers!!! these are cute!
and dresses galore!! look at the fabric on this!! so sweet!!!! all booth bound!!!
50 cent dotty purse that is just adorable!!!

how wonderful is this top?? only $1.25. so sweet. mac and cheese costs more than this shirt!!!!
that is all. just random blah, blah, blah. nothing important...no theme really. just that thrifting is so worth it when it comes to finding bargains!!! i love junking...hands down...for unique, cheap stuff. no need to lobby for that hobby.
now if only i could lobby for the wind to stop!!!
thanks for stopping by and hope you all are having fun thrifting at whatever lil haunt you love the most!!!
take care
lol

what's on the visual stove today!!!

i'm having a mid afternoon slump....which means i could slide off my computer chair at any given second and slumber until the school calls to tell me i am WAY overdue for child pick-up. what is it about the afternoon and sleep? i'll blame texas for the dry air and mellow heat, but i think it goes much deeper than that. my brain is sending signals that i'm old and i need to rest....like a worn out dog at 14...on a big open rug in a cool corner of the living room.
it would be so easy to go walk a lap or turn up some music to snap out of my melatonin high, but i'm too far gone for that. therefore, i will take shallow afternoon breaths and blog.
WELL...i'm back at CRAFTER'S CORNER in copperas cove, TX for those of you that live near this area!!! i am SO EXCITED to be back!!! i have a small booth, 044, 3rd isle, and lots of funky vintage goodies all set up!!! i took the small booth route this move, and have decided to help out sweet diana with the shop a little. i will be working on visuals and displays and can't wait to be part of her team!!!! it really is an honor!
that said....what has been visually filling these days....and physically filling too...
i made a potato soup that was so easy, it almost made itself!!! the kiddos actually ate it!!
smooth and creamy potato soup!!
4 potatoes
chicken stock and water
onions, garlic fresh, butter all sauteed and dumped into the crock pot with the chicken stock
chunky taters
lil chopped carrots
chicken bullion cube
salt/pepper/dash nutmeg
tumeric and curry powder
CROCK IT FOR A FEW HOURS UNTIL SOFT
use one of those hand blenders and blend! add lil half/half, milk, grated organic cheese to a flower/butter rue!
blend together and salt to taste!!!!
FUN PART! croutons made from store bought sandwich bread....
toast, cut, toss with butter and salt/pepper and lil bit spices....BROIL ON HIGH for 4 minutes and top soup!!!
eat 2 bowls and wish you had a stout ale to accompany it!!!!

making signs out of discard boards....making silverware collages out of discard books....
tags made from scrap fabric.....
love to find these discard 25 cent frames!!! i printed out some clip art and used chalk and briwax to make look aged....
cut out...framed...embellished!!!
current magazines!!!!!!
loving my cheap contemp lampshades on a pair of $5 vintage lamps!!!
awesome top compliments of cindy rongey!!!!!
pinky display......25 cent roses with handmade necklace and cast off s/p shakers!
mill flowers!!!
the yummiest AVOCA dress for $15!!!!!!! score.
$5 flea mart bowl with vintage beaded fruit and the most scrumptious rose tablecloth from sara at MANTOFEV!!!
way pretty $7 rug from WINSTON BRAND collections at amazon. com!!!
pictorial kitchen fabric from cindy rongey!!! i love this so much, i think i will just stretch it on a canvas and hang it up as is!!!
baskets full of fluff!!!

the brightest cottage floral fabric!! i used it for tags, a pillow and have some left over for another project!!! so nice!
wall junk that has become sculptural....
and that is it!! i must go find a candy for my onion breath and walk around the block a couple of times!!! i can't believe how hot it is and it's almost the end of october!!! ugh.....where are the snow cone trucks????
thanks for stopping by and come on out to CRAFTER'S CORNER if you haven't visited for a while!!!!! lots to see and tons of shopping galore!
thanks for stopping by!!!
lol

up close and artful....

i decided i needed a break from the boxes and plates i keep thinking about hanging on my wall. each time we move, i uncover collections that were once particularly important to me. when we lived in columbus, georgia years ago, i was smitten with folk art. if you've never discovered the lust of deep southern art culture, it is one that not only lodges itself in layers of self-taught freedom and expression, but one that consistently stays true to art as a narrative and a guide for lessons and human condition. I LOVED going to folk art festivals when i was an art student at college. what drove me wild about this untamed art was the freedom involved in putting it all down....raw, unpretentious and very expressive. i not only think that folk art is a driving force of american culture, but a necessity of our visual history and expressive heart.
i wish i would have collected more. i bought several pieces when i lived down south, but i've given some away over the years and hidden other because of the scrutiny i sometimes fear when i move into a house on a military post. i know i have eclectic taste and that warrants a certain mindset from viewers, but i don't mind when i blog. that is WHY i blog. i do it because people get it. i don't have to feel shame or embarrassment or even harassment when i blog. i know bloggers with the junking spirit have big open minds and see potential in visual chaos and reinvention.
i know not everyone gets it. i am feeling that a bit right now. each time i move, i feel i must explain myself....what i like...why i like it and why it drives my soul. i wish i could be conforming and not combative and expressive with my crazy collections and wild sense of style. it has been this way as long as i can remember. i trash picked my first good find when i was 6!
i enjoy the life i give to junk and i enjoy the life it gives me. i love to seek treasures and art that fills my spirit with imagination and a sense of playfulness. i enjoy finding something for nothing and using it to my advantage. i don't always have to have the best of the best. actually the pretty good does me just fine! do any of you have those same feelings from time to time that you question what drives your need for things that are different, inventive, fun and crazy instead of conforming, functional, new and expensive?
maybe i am just feeling those new neighbor jitters....the kind like my kids feel at a new school or my husband feels at a new job. maybe i need to fit in first and then slowly become myself.....or maybe i should change so i don't have to justify myself.....
or maybe i should just rejoice in the fact that i can be completely who i am....like it or not...just like self-taught folk artist who don't always follow the rules or make up their own to represent their story....so they can have fun, paint, create, imagine and be honest about what they believe, see and want....

i think i will choose to be me.....common folk.....up close and artful!!!!
like it or not, this is who i am.
lol

casa progress....

i almost forgot how to load pictures with blogger. has it been that long since i've worked this blog? guess so....
just a quick post with random pics of the new digs....we never quite know how big, small, old or new our next military home will be. we got lucky this time!!! house is super fine...big, bright and new!!! first time we have ever lived in a new house. i know it is fleeting, so i will enjoy it while it lasts!!!
i've decorated some, but i can't really junk out the house since it isn't mine. i love decorating overkill, but i will have to keep it simple for a couple of years and that is okay. a little goes a long way.....
i plan to fill the pots with fake flowers......
been here a week and found my first yard sale dig.....cabinet above for $25!! i gave it a coat of briwax and put some glass knobs on it.....functional and cheap!! looks like $400 pottery barn furniture at the cost of a large pizza!
big den....i call this the grandma room....lots of florals and vintage linens!!

crap..i mean craft...room in progress.
pretty dining room with my trash picked chair. hey...whatever.

long hallways....

more of the grandma room....
living room area and my cowboy hat tip to texas.....the shelf below with lots of cream colors and rusty junk......


i even hung some art from my college days......lots of cool art for cheap or trade!!!! if you want cool art but can't afford it, check out your local art students at colleges in your town. great way to collect art for cheap!
awesome kitchen and big pantry....
better run....kids are fighting over my camera. i used to fight over the last piece of toast when i was kid and arek and zoey fight over iphones and home computers. they don't know how good they got it....
if you have any stories of moving lots of stuff and/or staging a new craft room, i'd love to hear them!!!
take care and thanks for stopping by....
lol