As we get ready for Memorial Day…

I know that Memorial is a day to remember all that have passed that helped make this country great, I wanted to share with you the men in my Dad’s family that helped keep us free….

This is my great grandfather Jesso O. Burgess who fought in the Civil War for the Union. ( In this photo he is in his uniform) His letters speak of the horror and sadness he saw as this country was torn apart.

This is his grave in Waterloo, Iowa. I have since had a GAR star put on his grave. GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic, it was for Union Soldiers who survived the Civil War.

It was very important to me that he have one of these stars on his grave.

This is my Dad Charles Robert Burgess (left) and his best friend from Eau Claire, Laurnie Miles. Laurnie was married to my Mom’s first cousin Dode. They are in boot camp in Louisiana. Check out the duds! :) They are about 19-20 years old here.

Here is my Mom Lois, my Dad( on the right) and Laurnie and Dode Miles in New Orleans…I have a photo of me and my husband Wayne at the same statue.

These are some of the people in my family that I remember every Memorial Day….they survived the war, but came back totally different men.

I would love to see photos of some of your veterans in your families too!

Now on a lighter note…Wal-Mart has some really cute red, white and blue items for Monday and for the 4th of July…I only bought a couple of things, but they were great deals!

This is a great dispenser for a cold beverage! It is on the large side and metal…and only 10.00! I had to get one! :) They also had a matching handled tray and I think a big bowl with this pattern. A couple real cute quilts in cute little quilted bags for 19.00 also….

These are just a sample of the paper and plastic items they have, and they have a lot of fun red, white and blue cake and cupcake things too!

If you like them, you might want to go quickly!

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend! I am going to be busy getting some things done in my craft room….more on that later! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Rednesday at 521 Lake Street

It is another fun Rednesday in our Blogworld…just click on the fun photo above and you can see all of the fun posts on Sue’s Blog, It’s A Very Cherry World!

I love this day…red always makes me feel happy and paired with yellow…can’t get any better!

So this is my contribution this week!

Sweet little tea flower pot filled with hearts and flowers from my hubby for Mother’s Day!

This little guy came on a card in a batch on won on Ebay…the card was horrid, browns and grays, but he was so darn cute, his arm moves so he can swing at the ball. He is about 2.5 inches tall.

A favorite ME tin from Michaels from a group of items for a party. Love the see thru top! :)

An adorable pillow I bought from Etsy…a vintage table cloth and new repro quilt fabrics.

A fun shelf I made ( Goodwill buy) with my friend Cheri for the craft show, didn’t sell it, but it is perfect in my kitchen!

A wonderful little peg doll and her Scottie made just for me by my friend Elizabeth! She sent me a whole box of cute cute items, I will share a little at a time….the bright red pot with the pink flower moves back and forth when it hits sunlight! :)

2 Yards of fun red oilcloth that will get a scalloped edge and be perfect with my Fiesta ware!

OK…that’s all for today! I am on my way to see everyone else’s fun reds! :)

Elizabeth’s Fun Button Card Tags

If you have been over to Elizabeth’s blog Creative Breathing, then you know she has started making a tag a week from these great cards she found, see her May 20th post. Elizabeth is always so generous with her fun vintage cards! And this group is no exception…the actual photos of the cards are on a post dated April 16 of this year, but there are a LOT of posts with wonderful cards and ideas, and if you are new to Creative Breathing you are in for a treat!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth at Creative Breathing

Nan from Retired in Alaska was the one who got my creative juices flowing…I just loved hers!

Photo courtesy of Nan at Retired in Alaska

They are both so cute……

So, I got busy one night when I couldn’t sleep, it isn’t real elaborate but it makes me happy when I look at it, and that is what I want my paper crafting to do! :)

I use a new line of paper that Elizabeth told me about from Pine Cone Press called I think “Lizzie’s Garden”…and also some of the embellishments were from another new line, I hadn’t heard of called “Sweet Summertime” by Echo Park Paper Co. These colors are right up me and E’s and Nan’s alley! :)

Join us, and once a week make a tag from E’s wonderful cards….it is a great stress reliever! :)

I am getting ready for Rednesday…I missed it last week and I want to have some good photos….have a good night!

Oh to be a little girl…….

I am sure many of you have seen this ad this fine Sunday morning….Ashley furniture came out with this in their ad….

Is this not the cutest little girl furniture???? I know Potter Barn for kids is incredible, but who can really afford that?????

This is not practical, or a long term investment furniture item…but oh my gosh! I would like this in my bedroom now!!!!! :) Don’t think the hubby feels the same…LOL

I have one question….where is this house that has a room this size for a little child???? I really want to see the rest of it! LOL

I just noticed the letters on the wall above the one dresser that spell "CUTE" are backwards....I guess they reversed the photo for the ad......silly! :)

Have a great Sunday everyone! :)

Please check out this wonderful Blog!

I have a very nice woman who has contacted me before asking my opinion of a few things…I was so tickled as I consider her a real authority on vintage kitsch…Her name is Dianne Zweig and she has written two books, with more coming soon on vintage goodies. They are just filled with wonderful photos and information!

Her blog is just a feast for the eyes if you are into vintage kitsch…Here are a few of the cute photos she has on her blog in numerous posts….

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I wouldn’t care how much these were…they would be going home with me!

See the packing peanuts in the bowls??? I have a set I want to put up above my kitchen cupboards….now I know how to do that safely!

From a very recent post…..This is almost too cute to look at! LOL

Also…how many of those mustard tins have I had in the past??? You don’t want to know. :)

And with summer coming, who can forget these beauties??? Lots of imitators but hard to find the real McCoys….

This is her latest post…children’s cooking utensils!!!! She has a link to a site that sells these kits….not cheap but oh so vintage and sweet!

She also has posts about using fun vintage items in your paper crafting and such:

Bottle Cap fun!

Anyone for paper dolls? :)

Photos courtesy of:
http://shessewpretty.typepad.com/
http://katiebeecreative.com/

When Dianne does a post there is always links and great ideas for using your items that we are so lucky to find! Someday I am going to her neck of the woods (Connecticut) and checking it all out!

So please go over and introduce yourself…Dianne is a wonderful blogger and she knows our passions for vintage kitsch really really well! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

My scanner was smokin' !

No...smokin', not Smokey! LOL

I have started to feel better and decided it was time to attack the mounds and mounds of vintage cards that I have bought over this last year…..

I have scanned in over 250 of them, and donated the ones that didn’t work at all…not my style, damaged, etc……it took me about five hours, maybe six!

I still have about 50 more to go and am looking everyday for more.

This is just a small portion…I am going to be putting out at least one , if not more CD’s…I would like some input from all of you please….should I do them by holidays and then Misc.???? ( birthdays, get well, etc)…or should I mix them up??????

I have a whole lot of Christmas! So I think that is going to be one CD on it’s own….

Just a little sample of the fun items I have! So many bright fun vintage children’s cards! I did some of my family’s last night too, what fun that was! To see the card my Dad bought my Mom for Mother’s Day from me…and lots from my brother…too cute!

I haven’t done a lot of the baby cards, as they all start to look the same after awhile…but I have enough!

So, I will be getting the CD’s put together and in my Etsy shop as soon as I can. It is never too early to start thinking about Christmas crafts, right?? LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

A Hard Re-Entry

For some reason I am not completely sure about I have had a hard time readjusting to Arizona after being in Wisconsin. I really was ready to see my husband and sons and Maya, but on the way home from the airport I could feel the tension come back.

When I am there I just feel “right”….like this is where I should be, in one of the sweet little houses, in a much quieter town than Phoenix. It was almost painful this time trying to readjust…I am so dreading the hot that is coming and what it does to me. I get so lethargic and so tired of being indoors! I am sure all of you who have bad winters know how I feel, because believe it or not, it is the same lousy feeling of being housebound and day after day of the same thing.

Yes, you do not have to shovel “Hot” but it zaps you in a way that the cold just can’t…..you can always put on more clothes to keep warm, sometimes you just can’t take off enough to keep cool.

I also miss my family, and I know vacation is different that being there full time, but I am hoping that we can summer there in a few years…

Until then I can dream….so here is the house the is next door to my Aunt and Uncles house! I have always thought it was so cute!

This is the side view, it has a large yard to the right of the garage….

This is the other side of the house….

I could just kick my self that I didn’t take my camera in with me!!!! It has so much potential! The main floor has two bedroom and one bath, a great foyer and living room, formal dinning room ( that would be multi purpose for sure), and an incredible eat in kitchen…The cupboards are hand made and a terrible color, but I see a sweet pale butter yellow with my fun decals, and of course a red Formica countertop! I even saw a 1940’s Formica dinette set that would have been perfect for 125.00 with the chairs. Granted the chairs need redone, but how perfect! And a sweet little sun porch on the back that I could put the washer and dryer on….The attic already has electricity and plumbing done, and the stairs are in the dining room, you would just have to put a landing at the top….The basement is huge and could be used for storage or even a pool table, which is already there….the poor woman who owns it is in a nursing home and her niece does not think she will get out and they will have to auction off the house to pay for the care….so sad…..I know the timing is all wrong…but my husband wants to be by water…we can walk a block and a half to a lake to fish! But seeing as how we aren’t going to need a summer home for at least another 8 years it is just not the right time… and so I will keep dreaming…and figuring out what we will need! :) Thanks for letting me share this with all of you, it feels better just talking about it…..I have never been a patient person, I am beginning to learn how to be! :)

This was too much!!!!!!

Warning...a lot of Photos! :)

Or another reason to Move to Wisconsin when we retire for our summer home…..

My cousin Mike loves to garden….it is something he is really good at and he really does a great job! I can’t wait until he can help me with my garden….a few years down the road.

Mike and Linda took me to the sweetest little Nursery, it was on a street corner in a residential neighborhood!

This is the sweet lady who runs it…

They had two smaller greenhouses and these wonderful vintage signs were on the fronts:

I wanted to buy the signs!!!!!

I bought some OLD’S morning glory seeds.

I went inside one of the greenhouses and it was just wonderful how beautiful these baskets and flowers were!!!!

This was the first one, a lot of 6 packs and such. Then I went into the next one….on my gosh!

This is my cousin Linda! :)

I know they are just baskets but I could never grow them this beautiful in the summer here…or some of the flowers they have….I felt so… I don’t what…maybe frustrated is a good word, but it wasn’t good feeling when I left this sweet little nursery…I so want to be there!

look at this odd greenery…isn’t that unique??? Never have seen it before…

I also took some photo of the garden next to my Aunt Rosemary’s….

Can’t grow tulips here…and I would love to have them!

There used to be a white picket fence between the properties when I was little, all that is left of that is this GREAT gate and arbor!

Little pieces of my past are so fun to see again!

Oh, and you see this house?????

This could end up being our summer home someday….can’t you just see all of those lovely flowers in the front…and side and back….

but that is another post for another day….:)