I Did It! My First Journal Page

Thanks to Teesha Moore and her fabulous videos, I finally started a Journal! Here is my first page - not quite finished and not quite perfect but I'm happy with how it's coming along.

I learned so much in the process of finding images and playing with them on this page. Fear and fun = exciting!


Now that I see the page near completion, I see how much of 'me' is showing up - my shyness for one thing - look how my subject is peeking out from behind those roses.
I can't wait to do some more pages.

A Few Attic Photos

As promised, I'm sharing a few attic photos. I can't seem to get the entire

space tidied up at the same time so I'm just posting the areas that for the moment aren't
buried in 'stuff'.

Simple Woman's Daybook for October 15th, 2009

FOR TODAY October 15, 2009

Outside my attic window... the trees swaying in the wind on this chilly Autumn day.

I am thinking ... how lucky I am to have this room to myself!

I am thankful for ... my cozy, warm house.

From the kitchen ... looking forward to homemade squash soup for lunch.

I am wearing... jeans, turtleneck sweater and vest - my cold weather 'uniform'.

I am creating ... a tidy room so I can take some pictures to show you.

I am going ... to my knitting group tonight. We will chat, munch on yummy snacks, have a glass of wine and maybe even do some knitting!

I am reading ... a good book, with romance and intrigue. Sorry,I can't remember the name or author right now.

I am hoping... I can take some photos of my crafting space once it's all tidied up.

I am hearing... my clock ticking which means it's quiet in the house which I love.

Around the house... my daughter is working on her computer and dh is making a cup of tea.

One of my favorite things... is being able to putter with no errands to take me away from home.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I'll go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow to buy some fresh vegetable, fall apples and cut flowers. On the weekend, I want to go to the Antique Market.

The dog photo is the picture I am sharing...it was taken on our summer vacation. This 'blues dog' belonged to a street musician who was performing in a town we visited.

Thank you to The Simple Woman's Daybook.

A Couple of New Button Things and a New Header!

Look at this cute yard sale find - a little burlap tote that was already covered in buttons - how cute is that.
And here is my latest cross-stitch project - The Button Tree from The Drawn Thread. Fast to stitch and fun to play with the button arrangement for it.

I love my new header - FREE from The Background Fairy - Thank you, Karen!

Behold my Button Bracelets!

Behold the first button bracelet that I made ! I wear it everyday and get a lot of compliments on it.

Here are two black bracelets that I made next - in the botton one I used black glass beads for the accent; the top bracelet has plastic buttons.

This next one is gorgeous! I didn't make it - my friend, Dianne did. She has a blog set up ready to go and will start posting soon (right, Dianne?). When she does I'll let you know. I can't wait to see what she shares with us! Look at those colours! This one is a lot of fun to wear too.

Vintage Button Bouquets

I was so inspired by Susan of T-Cozy's recent blog post with her wonderful button bouquets that I just had to get out my stash of buttons and make some bouquets for myself!
It was so much fun to dump out all my little button jars, boxes and suitcases and pick through them all, sorting and trying different combinations.
DH wasn't that impressed by the mess on the dining room table and on the coffee table and sofa so I tidied everything back up as quickly as I could and I'm happy with the results.
I still love the pearlies the best, I think.
And I have to say a few words about photography; I have the greatest respect for Susan's photographs. I totally lost patience with photographing these images. They wouldn't behave and all stay in focus or the image came out way too dark and the button composition was unruly etc. Pretty please, Susan, do a posting re 'Photo Tips'.
Check out Susan's photographs here and enjoy her lovely bouquets and studio.

Why am I ironing my pajamas ??

Those who know me know that I heat up my iron about three times a year and it's usually to press a white blouse or a tablecloth that is going to be used for a holiday dinner. There was one exception; a couple of months ago, I found myself ironing a pile of vintage handkerchiefs on a snowy winter morning. No idea what struck me but I just had a crazy, er, I mean unusual, urge to iron. Hasn't happened before, or since.

But ironing my pajamas wasn't an urge, it was a decision I made because I know I won't be able to sleep in London, England if I'm wearing wrinkled pj's ! Right, we're off to London for 8 days, 7 night. Can't go across the pond carting wrinkled pj's, that's for sure.

We have a list a mile long of places we 'must see' and do. The list grows every day and every time I speak to anyone who has visited or lived there. The owner of my local bookstore just laughed when I told him we were going for a week. That's when I started to get stressed. But wait, holidays are supposed to be fun and relaxing... I'm going to have to consciously decide that I'll see and do as much as possible in our week AND we'll fit in time for a relaxing teas and a pint in a cozy neighbourhood pub. After all, we can go back another time, right?

Some of my "musts": V&A, Tate Gallery, Harrod's, Cath Kidston's, The Button Queen, Kensington Gardens, Portobello Market for the vintage things etc.

One day, we're taking a bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. I know that day is going to be a whirlwind. Bath is our last stop and the place I am most looking forward to. Have to see the Jane Austen Center!

I just added a Marks and Spencer visit to my list this morning because Alison of Brocante Home mentioned it in her June 8th post. We used to have some 'Sparkies' (here, in Canada our nickname for them was "Marks and Sparks") but, sadly, they've all closed now.


Have you been and what was your fave thing about London? Do you have any "must see's" for me to add, especially where to find vintage items including ephemera?