Beat The Heat & Some Summer Bling

Canton Countdown is ON!

It all begins in 36 hours!!

Here's a quick sample of a few of my new designs. It will all be in the shoppe this weekend at First Monday in Canton, Texas. We are located inside Canton Marketplace, on hwy 19 just before you get to the Original Grounds, where the air is nice and coooool!!....Booth 212 Row E.

Stop by and say Hi!

Also, I'd like to give a great big THANK YOU shout out to the super talented, super sweet Riki Schumacher of Romantic Relics for saving my hiney when I accidently deleted the link to her awesome tutorial on soldering rhinestones!! She was such a sweetheart and sent me the link again so I was actually able to finish the bracelets and brass cuffs I'd been working on!! Thanks so much Riki, you Rock!!

Ok...enough talk....onto the pics :)

My Vintage Bling Rings

I LOVE repurposing long forgotten clip-on earrings and turning them into one of a kind cocktail rings...ok, sometimes two of a kind :)

Antique belt and shoe buckles are one of my favorite finds and I love creating stunning wrist wear with them. This old belt buckle is particularly gorgeous. I actually squeeled when I found it!
 It's loaded up with various sizes and styles of chain, vintage rosary beads and my wire wrapped czech glass beads.

I'm so in love with this one.....

Another sweet bracelet. Vintage ladies watch faces, another clip-on earring, brass filligree, a few rhinestones for sparkle and lots of chain and wire wrapped beads. It's adorable.

Mmmmmm........big vintage rhinestones, an old button, vintage rosary beads and more chain in varying sizes and style. Yummy!!

I'm really proud of this little collection.....can you tell....sorry for the shameful boasting :) They're possibly my favorite pieces pieces ever.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Can't wait to see everybody this weekend!!

xoxo

jenny

I'm partying at two of my fav linky parties this week!

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

and

Faded Charm for White Wednesday

Won't you join me!!

My First Bead Swap!

Good Morning Blogville!

First up, I feel I need to apologize for my month of absence. Took a little time off with the family to finish up school and baseball, take a much needed vacation.......love that California sunshine......and just a little all around R&R.

Just before we left for Cali, I received the most beautiful little package in the mail from my Bead Swap partner, Debi from Life In My Studio. Let me just say that Debi is talented waaaay beyond words. Check out her blog to see the AMAZING necklace she created with the beads I sent her. I was speechless when I saw it.

This gorgeous little handmade tag was tucked inside with a sweet note.

Look at all these goodies! A vintage brooch, religious tokens, a sweet silver Paris charm and beautiful cream, turquoise and brown beads that remind me of the beach and our recent trip. There are even some little rhinestone rondelles and other sweet silver pieces.



Debi, thank you so much for such a beautiful, inspiring collection! I can't wait to get back in the studio and share what I create with these!!

Wishing you all a beautiful blessed day

xoxo

jenny

See You Again Someday MamaBobbie...

Today we bury my MamaBobbie....I know that's sort of a funny name but, as I was the oldest grandchild and couldn't say Mawmaw, and my parents wouldn't let me call her Bobbie (that is her name and for some reason I started calling her that), I came up with MamaBobbie and it stuck.

These were taken last year on Mother's Day

MamaBobbie with her two daughters. My mom is on her left in the blue shirt and my Aunt Carol is on her right.

I hate that this picture isn't very clear. It is my most recent picture of her though, taken at Easter just two weeks ago.

These two are from my Crazy Christmas Sock Party in December....notice my mom cheesing big time with her cute socks :)

This was a bottle of peppermint swirled lotion and once she figured out what it was, she wasn't about to let it go! She and my friend Shelly, sitting next to her, swapped it back and forth all night (it was a white elephant style party) but in the end, it went home with MamaBobbie. She was fiesty! Gotta love that :)

MamaBobbie was one of the strongest, most independent women I've ever known. She had to be. She experienced alot of loss and hard times through out her 83 years on this earth.

 

She was also one of the best cooks and gardeners anywhere. Everybody in my family would fight over her fudge at Christmas..... It was actually more like a race! haha But she always saved a few extra pieces for me in her purse :)

She raised the same Bearded Iris that my mom grows. Many of the ones pictured in my post from a few weeks ago were hers as well. Even at 83 years old, she tended her beautiful backyard gardens, dozens of potted plants and her roses and azaleas in the front yard. Only last year did she finally relinquish mowing duties to my stepdad.

MamaBobbie was blessed with good health most of her life and in the end, she passed fairly quickly and in peace. She was surrounded by her five children, several of her grandchildren and her niece. I am so thankful I was there.

Please continue to keep my family in your prayers. I know I've asked that alot lately but it  has truly been a rough year. In the past ten months, I've lost both of grandmother's and my step grandfather....all of them some of the best people ever to walk this earth.

Thank yall so much

xoxo

jenny

TGIF and Frugal Flower Arrangement

What a week it has been!

Thank you for all the kind words, thoughts and prayers this week.

Grandown went home to be with the Lord on Easter morning. His pain and suffering has ended.

My friend Kandi's mother in law has been found and is alive and well. Her home was one of only four in the entire neighborhood left standing after lastnight's tornado is Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Please continue to pray for those who have lost so much.

Even though we have begun packing for the big move, I've decided to keep my sunroom intact as long as possible. I need atleast one pretty room in the house to keep my sanity!! haha

Bringing a little nature inside always makes me smile and

I'm so loving this gorgeous arrangement!!

Just a cheapo little boquet from the grocery store. Brought it home and plopped it in my Grandmama's old enamel pitcher.

Was a little sparse looking though so I trimmed a few branches......some with a few flowers that have yet to open, some just leaves......from our beautiful hydrangea bush. I also snipped a stray ferns from the lawn. These little buggers are insistent and are always sprouting up where they're not supposed to be.

This simple addition gave it just enough "oomph"!

I'm linking up to these great parties

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Vintage Inspiration Friday @ French Country Cottage

Wishing yall a wonderful, beautiful weekend

xoxo

jenny

Our Easter Weekend

At the moment I am really tired and words to describe this Easter weekend are failing me. Holidays are usually a busy time for us......rushing from family to family......in laws, parents and step parents, grandparents...it can be a bit overwhelming at times. This time around things were a little slower, a little calmer (except for the kids entertaining us with their diving board tricks on Saturday....they were awesome)

Hubby had to work all weekend so the kiddos and I spent a Friday and Saturday hanging out at Mimi's pool. Temps are already in the low 90's here so it was a perfect way to relax.

I really should have done a little editing to this picture. You can barely see that sweet smile!

The boys even hunted their eggs from Mimi and Papa in their swim trunks!

Ok so Blake was too cool to hunt eggs this year...... :( growing up way too fast)

Brady found the prize egg!!

Me and my sweet Brady Boo....wow....should have done a little Photoshopping here too! Yikes!!

(FYI: I DO have another child but he is 16 and very camera shy!!)

Sunday morning I took the boys down to visit their dad's mother (dad was out of town and I know their Nana misses them. Even though their dad and I are no longer married, this lady helped me in more ways that I could ever begin to count over the past 17 years. Bringing the grandkids to see her for Easter was the least that I could do. She is a wonderful Nana to my babies.)

Here are a few pics from her beautiful country garden.

The jasmine was in full bloom and smelled absolutely heavenly. I love the way it completly covers this arbor. Next month the wildflower patch just beyond it will be full of Texas bluebonnets, daisies, Indian Paintbrush and many others.

Years ago a close friend got married in front of it and asked me to do the decorating. It's so pretty on it's own though so we simply draped a little white tulle and added candles.

I have always loved this old weathered birdhouse which sits atop another trellis in the yard.

It was a beautiful peaceful weekend.

 Even the passing of Grandown (my stepmother's dad) on Sunday was made better knowing that his suffering and pain were finally over. I have no doubt he was smiling from ear to ear as he met Jesus and his baby girl, Sue with open arms.

Wishing you all a beautiful week.

xoxo

jenny

Mama's Garden

Hoping you all had a wonderful Easter weekend

Today I'm sharing a few pics from my mother's beautiful garden.

You see, Mama's garden is in the most unlikely place.....in a once-empty field next to their manufactured stone business.....right next to Interstate 20. When my parents originally bought this property they planned to renovate the old house (which you will see in the background of some of the photos) and live there, next to the shop.

Well, that never happened and basically the house is a huge storage building but Mama had already started a garden here and figured since they spend so much time at work, this would be a great place to escape for lunch or a little quiet time, so it stayed.

Oh, I forgot to mention this. She said the only way I can post these pics is to explain that we have had two very dry years and that is why you will see some large empty patches such as the one above. And she hasn't replaced the pinestraw mulch yet that usually covers the black paths. :)

Love the deep burgundy and gold in this one!

I was a little late in getting pictures. They usually peak around Easter but I forgot Easter was a little later than usual this year. When the Iris are in full bloom it is absolutely breathtaking. You woudn't believe the customers and passersby that wander out there in amazement. It brings her such joy to share the garden with others. Most of them leave with a pot of plants for their own garden. You see, Iris must be divided every 3 years so in a garden this size, something has to be divided every year. The women in my family usually make a weekend of it. Everybody takes some home, gives them away to friends. Whatever is left, we plant in recycled nursery pots. These little guys eventually make their way to a new home throughout the year.

My sweet Mama

Don't think I was supposed to post this one. hehe. But it really shows the garden well

I know.....getting a little picture crazy

Last one I promise.....



All these pics and I didn't get a single pink one. Mama's not gonna be happy about that! Maybe there's still a few left and I can run over there and snap a few!!

It's warming up fast here in East Texas. Temperature was 92 Saturday!!

 So I'm trying to enjoy every last minute of spring  before summer hits us like a brick wall.

One last note, please keep my family in your prayers. My stepmother's dad passed away early yesterday  after a lengthy illness. He was 87 and lived a long happy life but as you can imagine he will be greatly missed. How beautiful though that the Lord chose to bring him home on Easter :)

May you each have a blessed day

xoxo

jenny

I'm So Honored

Just a quick little post to shout out a

Great Big

THANK YOU!!

Yall have been so generous with the sweetest comments on my sunroom redo and my little garden tote. I've also received the warmest good luck wishes on our search for the "perfect for us" house.

This morning I also found out that my garden tote project is being featured today on Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style!

How cool is that??!!

I'm truly honored and humbled at all the love :)

xoxo

jenny