Queen of the Kingdom!

The Queen of Make-Believe

I am a Queen on the island of Make-Believe. This is a special and magical place I alone have conjured up. As the maker of this highly sought after mystical place, I hereby name myself Queen TLu I, and I am the dreamer and provider of this island for all women.

I have imagined this island just for you and I. It is surrounded by the bluest of oceans and bluest of sunny skies. The green gardens are lush and full of flowers that make you dizzy from one deep breathe.

Women seek my island from far and near every weekend to refill, rejuvenate and peel off the worries and work from their lives. They kiss hubby's and children good-bye and head for 2 days of sheer bliss. Not only have I created the island, but the long list of amenities and luxuries that make it my special Kingdom.All women arrive to their own bungalows where gorgeous man-servants await. Each morning is spent in meditation, yoga, a walk on the beach and a dreamer's breakfast. Oh Yes, the food! I haven't mentioned that all of the food on this island is incredibly delicious, with ZERO calories and ZERO guilt. So ring for your man-servant and order to your heart's delight. Enjoy your breakfast, but do not linger too long. Your massage table awaits along side a beautiful, rippling waterfall. Here you will melt your cares away while two man-servants take turns rubbing you down! (Please note that all man-servants are personally selected by the Queen to insure the highest level of "Eye Candy" quality)

Finish your morning with mani-pedi and a facial that magically removes the sands of time from your face. The rest of the day is your own. Pick a special place on the island and paint, craft, scrap, knit, crochet, jewelry make, write, read, sew; CREATE! All supplies are free and plentiful to all who come to fulfill their creative fantasies.

The evening arrives where you are tucked into the coziest of beds where you get 10 hours of uninterrupted, peaceful, restorative sleep.

Feeling refreshed and ready to face the world, you leave for home. When you arrive, the house has been cleaned, the grass cut and the cars washed. The children are cleaned, dressed and fed. Homework has been done and there are hand-made cards welcoming you home. The groceries have been bought and put away and a weekly menu planned. Your hubby stands at the door waiting with a Martini in one hand and your slippers in the other. "Welcome Home Dear, you look more beautiful then ever. We had such a good time this weekend doing all of these wonderful things for you, we can't wait until next weekend."

Now if that is not make-believe, then I don't know what is. I am just a Queen in my mind!

This little creation was a suggestion from a blog this morning for creating a page in your Art Journal. The suggestion was to draw your own crown on your photo and to imagine yourself as ruler somewhere in your imagination. I hope you all enjoyed.

For you Luz, my create something on Tuesday, moved past Whatever Wednesday and ended up finally creating something on a rainy Thursday. Thanks for challenging us to keep moving forward.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tammy

Bonjour Mon Amie

In my last post I mentioned the new book I bought Vintage Collage Works. I picked the birds on clothes pins as my first project. Here is my first birdie with a tag that I am sending to a friend. I modified the instructions a bit and used my Pazzle cutter to cut out the birds rather than drawing and creating a template to trace out the birds. My cutter saved me time and created a much prettier bird. I also painted the clothes pin and added other embellishments. It needed some bling! The instructions were very good and easy to follow. I highly recommend this book. The pictures and projects are wonderful.

Here are the rest of my flock.



I also recently bought this collection of rubber stamps from Cavallini and Co. They are Paris themed and they work fantastic. I just love this company's products. I also had to have the stickers as well. If you don't have a set yet, go get them!My last purchase this week was this sweet blue dish with the birds perched on it. I decided to put some of my bling on it for now. It is so pretty. I just love the color.Stay tuned for some more birds. I am going to make some black and creme themed ones with some of these Paris stamps to sell in my booth at the Carriage House and some Country themed ones in red, blue and tan for the 4th of July. My first month at the Carriage House I sold 3 jewelry pieces which covered my rent this month and left me with enough money to buy myself a Grande Iced Vanilla Latte from Starbucks to celebrate.

I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Tammy

Who Have You "Met"?

Who have you "met" this year? Like me I am sure that you have met many acquaintances, but you can sometimes meet someone that you just click with. My friend Luz recently made a great suggestion to her readers on her recent post to blog about someone new we met while blogging. Luz always has a way of bringing people together.That someone for me is Natalea at Kandeland! I found Natalea's blog from a comment she left somewhere that we both visited. I was immediately attracted to her blog and her post which happened to be about cupcakes, one of her favorite things. After blogging and emailing, Natalea got me involved in my first ATC swap which was great. We seem to have much in common, not only our love of vintage and crafting, but our daughters were born only 2 months apart. She lives in New York and I am in Georgia so getting together will be tough, but if I ever find myself traveling through NY to Canada again, I will look her up. Thanks Natalea for being a great blogger friend and for being such a sweet person. I am lucky to know you. Go meet my friend Natalea, tell her I sent you! I am sure that you will love visiting her and seeing all of her wonderful creations as much as I do.

Who have you met? Go post about someone lovely!

Speaking about finds, I was in Barnes and Nobles again and found this great book.This book rocks. The artwork is so pretty and it is displayed on such beautiful backgrounds. Here is a little project with birds on clothes pins that I am going to try.I hope you all have a great weekend!

Love,

Tammy

Wish Me Luck!

A new shop opened up in my downtown area called the Carriage House of Gray. It has both antiques and gifts. My SIL Judy told me about it and also told me that they were looking for vendors. So, up I went, rented a space and quickly put my booth together. My Hubby and I hauled a small hutch that I had upstairs in my studio downstairs, into the truck and into the store a couple of Saturday's ago. Here is the store front. We are waiting for the sign to go up on this quaint street, called Atlanta Street.

Here is my booth and the display case I decorated for my jewelry. When I saw this, I had to have it. It has two glass shelves in it for displaying items. We added the bow and bird to the top and placed a flower in the bottom to pretty it up.

I have a mix of both vintage pieces and some button jewelry I have made. Here are some new pieces I added today.
These are Czech glass button earrings with vintage turquoise Japanese glass twists.
These are blue glass Czech buttons with glass bead drops. Since opening, I have sold 2 pieces of jewelry and have covered half of my rent so far. It is a start. I have added a few more things to the booth since I took the last picture. I hit an estate sale and flea market this weekend and added a few finds this week. My BFF, Lee also sent me a box full of things to put up in my booth to help with the cause. She rocks!
To make my things stand out and to have a professional look, Amada at Digital Paperie made these custom ordered tags to use in my booth. They came out so pretty.

Here are some more pictures of the shop and what some of the other vendors are selling.

Each vendor is required to work one day a month at the shop. Today, I worked there for the first time and it was fun. The shop is too new to know if it is going to fly, but I am having fun. It is all a learning experience and a branch out. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Until then, wish me luck!

A Dream and a Deal!

Are you chasing your dreams? For some of us that have turned 40 something, we have begun to set our sights on making them come true and limiting the number of regrets we throw on the pile. When I say we, I am specifically speaking about myself and my best friend, Lee.

Recently, Lee and I made a decision to make one of our dreams into a deal and finally into a reality. We want to go to France together one day. That day was chosen to be the year that we both turn 50. Both of our children will be much older and easier to leave at that point. So, we have approximately 8.5 years to plan this dream vacation oh and yes, to save for it as well!

We have hopes to spend days strolling in and out of antique shops, cafe's, art museums, getting lost in the countryside and making fools of ourselves trying to speak the language. Until then, we will hope, dream and plan.

In honor of our recent deal, I put together this sweet little bucket of goodies for Lee for Mother's Day. I just love the black and white theme lately, as you can see.

Time waits for no "Woman." Make your list of dreams to chase after, today!

Bonjour!

Love,

Tammy

Dear Mothers...Dear Friends

It has been such a wonderful Mother's Day. It started early last week spending it with my Mom and it has lasted a whole week receiving lovely gifts from friends and family. Here are some of the wonderful gifts I have been treated with.My Mother picked out this beautiful piece of artwork while she was here for my new studio. It has all of the things that I love; the old bird cage, the crystal chandlier, the ferns and plants and antique figures make this a site to behold. The picture does not do it justice. It is over 4ftx4ft in size and will be the first thing to be hung in my studio when it is finished.Here is a close up of some of the detail. I am planning on painting the walls a soft shade of blue, so this should look outstanding against that.

Later in the week, I got a surprise package in the mail from Lee. Lee always remembers me on Mother's Day. Here are her gorgeous cards and creations to me.

This quote couldn't be more true, Lee. When we get together, we laugh sometimes until we cry!

Thank you, dear friend for these wonderful gifts that I will always cherish. I'll never forget all of the love and support you gave while I was trying so hard to bring Shelby into the world. You were there for every tear and every hard step I had to endure. I have always been lucky to have you and now Shelby is lucky to have you as her Godmother and Aunt Lee. XOXO

My next surprise was a knock on the door this morning from my friend and neighbor Annette. She had this cute package and gift for me.Annette gave this beautiful card along with this monogrammed purse mirror. It is so cute and so Summery. I may have to go and find a new Vera Bradley Bag just to match! Thanks Nette for thinking of me and for being such a great neighbor and friend.

I can't forget Shelby Girl's present. The wonderful teachers at her preschool put these sweet little gifts together for each of the students to being home for their Mommies. I will cherish it always.They hand painted this tile with a cute Spring scene. It will grace my studio always.

Here is Mom during her visit spending time with the girls; Shelby and my niece April. Mom, always loving, always giving!

Thanks Mom for all the things you continue to do for me. Your love is so endless, always so generous! I cherish you all the days of my life. You have always been my twin soul and truest friend. Sharing you with Shelby is one of my best gifts to her.

(BTW, since your recent visit she is now calling everyone "sweetheart" which I know she got from you.)

Today, we spent the day with Don's family celebrating Mother's Day at Mom and Dad Lucik's lake house.

Here is my MIL, Mary Lucik with all of her gifts. Thanks, Mom for all of the before, during and after work you had to do to make this day wonderful for all of us. Hugs and Kisses!

And of course, the best gift of all, my Shelby Girl!

So proud of you my love!

I am so lucky to know so many wonderful Mother's. You all inspire!

Love to all,

Tammy

The Perfect Mother's Day

Mom has been visiting for the last two weeks, but will not be here this weekend for Mother's Day. So we celebrated Mother's Day together a little early. Last Saturday, we set out to spend an entire day together; no husbands, no children, just us! I haven't lived close to my Mother since I left for college. The closest was 1 hour away, when I lived in Staten Island, N.Y. So, whenever we can we like to steal a little time away and do the things we love to do. SHOP, LUNCH, LAUGH!

We started the day out by grabbing our favorite Starbucks and headed down the road a piece to Smiley's Flea Market in Macon.This flea market is split out to include the yard sale tables and then the flea buildings with the regular vendors. The yard sale tables are by far the best.

Here's Mom with her "flea bag". This big blue IKEA bag is the perfect bag for junking. We could have sold so many. Everyone wanted to know where we got them. When we said, IKEA we just got these blank stares. The country folk out here didn't know what that was. The nearest one in GA. is Atlanta. It was kind of funny.

We got a few goodies (which are below a bit) and then left for Trish Ann's Tea Room for lunch.Mom and I enjoyed a great lunch and then we had tea over opening Mom's gifts.

I hand made several gifts for Mom and decorated the boxes. She loved them all. Here are her special gifts.

This lovely card I found at The Paris Market in Savannah. I added the pearls with ribbon and pretty button. It is a wonderful keepsake.

This started out as a lovely covered box that I found at Michael's. Then I added the pretty ribbons, velvet millinery flower, hat pin and crown brooch.
In the box was this necklace that I strung with japanese glass pearls, vintage glass twist beads, pink glass buttons and this charm. The picture is an old photo of me from my first birthday. The card it is attached to is also an old picture of me and Mom together.

The next box was her second gift that I decorated with this tag from Digital Paperie and an old button from my grandmother's collection.
These are earrings with the same glass twist beads and beautiful glass buttons. The buttons were purchased from a girl in Belgium who found them on one of her travels to Paris. They are so ornate.

After lunch, we then headed to Milledgeville to visit a couple of Antique shops. Here are the pics from the days spoils.

This is a sweet little end table that an artist painted a lovely little nest with blue eggs and a few feathers. It even has a few lady bugs, too. What a find for $16.00. I will be adding this item to my studio.

This awesome little cabinet with three shelves is earmarked for Shelby. I plan on painting it white and adding some decorative wall paper to the back. I am carving out a space for her in my new studio (more info on that later) and this will keep her art supplies and toys, etc in her little corner. She has already taken it over.

When I find Shelby a table and chair for the studio, this little box will be for her to put on it. She can keep her little treasures in it.

This beautiful figurine was on an old shelf at the flea market covered in dust. I scooped it up and brought it home. It is in mint condition and so lovely.A beautifully stitched pillow case, a colorful doilly and this sweet old wisk broom that I plan on putting on my craft table.A great old photo of this lovely girl and lots of Bling!

Last, but not least are these really sweet baby dolls. The one on the left is celluloid and is in perfect condition. She even has a white painted diaper. The larger doll is porcelain and she will be getting some clothes soon.

Well, thanks for sharing our day with us. I hope you all get to spend a little time with your Mother's and remember to Savor the Days.

Love to all,

Tammy