Craft Heaven

It's windy today !! Makes it feel colder than it is.
Noisy, too, as all the acorns drop from the oak trees.
I've been having a great time sorting through my latest find.
Four large boxes of craft magazines, leaflets, instruction books, odds and ends of yarn ~ even a kit or two. There's
knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, needlepoint, embroidery,
smocking, sewing and probably some I haven't come across yet.
All are vintage and fun to look at. I wish I could knit fast enough
to make some of these sweaters!!

Art Books

I love this time of year with the changing color of the leaves and the smell of fireplaces burning. The crisper, cooler weather is wonderful after the heat and humidity of a southern summer. I even like the rainy days. It's a perfect time to think about passions and activities to pursue during the colder winter months. Books can be just the ticket - whether it's a good read, inspirational, self help or learning something new.

I also love books of any kind - but especially art and craft books and cookbooks. This is a lot of art books that I picked up recently. These are great books offering a variety of drawing and painting instruction. Most are like new.

• Countryside Sketching
• Starting to Draw
• An Introduction to Perspective
• How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs
• The Colored Pencil
• Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
• How to Paint Water
• Painting the Spirit of Nature
• Painting Wildlife Textures Step by Step

Hone your skills or pick up a new technique - you can find these here in my store. Pick up a couple and get combined shipping to save $$

Off to South Carolina

I set my alarm for 5:15 on Friday planning for us all to be on the road by 6am. Somehow the alarm got turned off and I never got up until 6:30. By the time we all (my husband, my granddaughter, Jessie the dog and me) got on the road it was 7:30 and in the middle of rush hour traffic. Around Atlanta that is definitely not fun. But we were all in high spirits looking forward to our visit and treasure hunting. Jessie, our adopted dog, sure enjoyed himself - all dressed up in his red, white and blue bandanna !

We arrived in Anderson at just about 10:00 am and my brother met us at the first sale to save time- high prices - but I did pick up a few things. After that we hit all the thrift stores and found a few more things - I don't think there's any home runs in the bunch but you never know. We finally arrived at my brother's house around 5 pm. very tired. He has two roosters and two hens that someone dropped off in his yard. They are fun to watch.

This morning we went to several yard sales and picked up a few more things. By noon it was getting warm and we were all hot and tired so we called it a day and headed back to my brother's house. After visiting for a while longer we headed home. Got the van unpacked but was too tired to unpack all our goodies.

Chessie

I found this great cup the other day - I believe it is a piece of railroad china from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. It has a picture of Chessie who was long the corporate symbol of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and is marked on the bottom O.P. Co. Syracuse China Patented.

An endearing kitten, she is loved by folks the world over. It is one of my favorite kitten images - I actually did a crewel embroidery for my daughter many years ago when she was a little girl.

Off on a Jaunt

We'll be heading out Friday morning on a trip to Anderson, South Carolina combining a little business and pleasure with a visit to my brother and cruising the yard sales and thrift stores in his area. Should be lots of fun! We haven't seen each other in a long time.