Happy Sunday Before Christmas!

A Vintage Cowgirl Christmas, courtesy of Adrienne at
The Flying Bee.

She's the wonderful friend who gifted me with that darling cowgirl ornament in the lower left corner of my collage above, as well as the beautiful Christmas card in the upper right.

Friends like Adrienne make the rough times (like two days ago) a whole lot easier to bear!

Love ya, girl! (or as my vintage Texas cowgirl says above, "je t'aime"! ;-)

The Happiest Time of the Year?

Yes, it should be.

And usually it is.

But this year, as with several recent Christmases past, has been fraught with family related drama. Drama which rears its ugly head, just like clockwork, always just in time to ruin the holidays for me.

Today was that day.

I feel a heaviness of heart, and anger mixed with a sense of helplessness.

I do not wish to hurt those close to me, which is why I will refrain from going into details here.

Suffice it to say, I feel very 

tired, defeated, and bereft of any sort of interior peace.

I will pray, I will rest, I will persevere.

This too shall pass.

On the Sales Front...

(Vintage Embroidery Hoop, Fiona & Twig on Etsy)

I've been doing pretty well with my Etsy Shop, but contrasting that with my booth....as with most brick and mortar shops these days, the booth hadn't been doing quite as well. Oh sure, I'd been moving lots of smalls, but I hadn't really moved any big pieces yet.

Until yesterday!

Remember these? My killer vintage theatre seats? Well say goodbye to them, bid them farewell and wish 'em happy trails, 'cuz they're heading to a new home this week! I got a call from the antique mall yesterday saying a gent was really interested in them, but they couldn't find a price tag. I swear, I think gremlins come in during the night and remove all my tags, because I am forever getting these sorts of calls! Anyhoo, this was a pretty large ticket item, so I did a little happy jig around the house.

I'd been struggling with whether to continue with the booth after my initial 3 month lease expires in January...my sales have been steady, but nothing stupendous. Etsy on the otherhand, has been a ginormous moneymaker for me, so I debated whether I should just channel all my efforts that direction.

(Cinderella's Glass Purse, Fiona & Twig on Etsy)

A good pal in the booth over is throwing in the towel after this month. She isn't even making enough to cover her rent, so after three months, she's outta there. It gave me pause, until the phone call yesterday afternoon announcing my big sale.

So I'm staying put.

Bottom line, I love what I'm doing. Selling stuff and making a bit of money is great, but none of this has ever been about the money. I'd miss the people at the antique mall, I'd miss having my "playhouse" to dress and foof up whenever the urge hits me, I'd miss the chance to move to a first floor booth and test the waters closer to sea level...

(Chunky Vintage Gold Frame, Fiona & Twig on Etsy)

I haven't taken any booth photos recently, but here's a reminder of what my little playhouse looks like...

If you're ever in the area, I'd love to meet up with ya at my booth and grab lunch!

Have a great week!

Chairs of Welcome...My Christmas Decor, Part Two

I've been following a really wonderful blog party
these past few weeks called

Doors of Welcome at Some Days Are Diamonds.

There have been some really gorgeous examples
of warm and welcoming Fall holiday decor, but to be honest,
my front door ain't all that welcoming these days, so I sat this party out!

Sat being the operative word....see how sneaky I am?  ;-)

I just so happen to have a marvelous collection of
vintage-antique-primitive chairs that I like to "do-up" to fit each Season,
so I thought I'd give y'all another quick peek
at four of my dressed-up, scruffy beauties...

If you're in no hurry, sit a spell and I'll whip ya up
some hot cider or hot chocolate. If you're extra good,
I'll even bust into my private stash of Pennsylvania Dutch nog!

Blessings to All!

Just a bit of Christmas...

I'm trying to come out of my shell a bit
.
when it comes to photographing mine and Mr Twig's home.

Baby steps here, so I snapped a couple of small Christmas vignettes
which are still very much evolving.

Keep in mind that practically anything Christmas-sy in these photos
was purchased at the amazing, incredible Dollar Tree!

 

 

 

More to come in the days ahead...in the meantime,
stay warm, enjoy family, and remember The Reason for the Season!

Happy Weekend!

Just a quick little hello before bed to wish all of you
a happy and blessed weekend!

My beautiful, brand new, 50¢ reindeer
wanted to make an appearance, too...

Dontcha LOVE him?!?!? And he's really BIG, too!

St. Vincent de Paul kicks A!!!!

Oh, and I redesigned my business cards, tell me whatcha think.

 

OLD CARDS:

 

NEW CARDS:

 

Better? I think so.

I'm working all weekend, so y'all remember pitiful me 

whilst you're out hitting the sales and just living it up in general!

Where THIS Woman Creates...

I'm not overly big on snapping and sharing all sorts of shots inside my home.
We have a very nice, roomy, comfortable dwelling,
but there are  aspects about it I'm dying to change....swap out the carpeted areas for wood floors, finally get moving on some window treatments, etc.

I also cop to feeling a bit intimidated by the absolutely mad decorating skills
of some of you ladies and gents! No need to name names, you know who you are...

There's a really wonderful publication called Where Women Create,
and it's filled with image after image of the workspaces of inspiring, creative ladies.
I'm always fascinated to see where my blog friends whip up their magic,
be it a studio, office, or like me, a desk in the living room
and a workstation in the computer room.

Today I'm going to give you a glimpse of my tiny little creative space
just off the front door in the living room.

 

Not loving the green carpet, but oh how I love this desk! 

Found at a garage sale about a month and a half ago for....get this...$7.50.  

I recall a tale from  Stan Williams, The Elegant Thrifter himself, 

of a much beloved desk he rescued in the early 80s for $10, which you can read about here. 

That's exactly how I feel about my utilitarian beauty, 

and I'm not even going to brag that I beat Stan by a whole $2.50! ;-)

This is really an amazing piece of furniture, 

heavy and sturdy and save for some wear on the desktop, in absolutely stellar shape.

The gorgeous chair was purchased from my bestest guy-pal junkin' buddy 

Troy of Junk Exchange, and I can't imagine 

another chair fitting quite so perfectly, can you?

My antique mail sorter, and I know for a fact that it is 

fo shizzle a true antique, this baby is OLD!

I use it to store craft glue, paper clips, stamp pads, glitter, and the odd tchotchke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a bird's eye view of just one of the areas I like to spread my creative wings.

Hope you've enjoyed the tour!