A sweet day

So anyways, yes I am showing you my latest..but before that, let's chat.
I have had the most wonderful day.
It was spend with hubby.
Well, the first few hours where spent with just me and my laptop, and the final episode of LOST.
The reason..I volunteered to work the day after the final episode, 12 hours, and turned the t.v. off after half an hour of it. But then I could not sleep and turned it back on a half and hour later, and then off again, and then on again..when hubby just kept snoring and keeping me awake, and then off again...Needless to say, I did not get any sleep that night, as the dogs then wanted to go out at four in the morning..and yes, hubby continued to snore, and yes, I kept thinking that I needed to fall asleep because five in the morning was coming so soon...so alas, I finally watched the ending online this morning. I thought it was very beautiful and thought provoking.
I watched it before any one awoke, other than me and the dogs!

Hubby slept in. When he awoke we made impromtu plans for the day. Lunch at a place on the lake, called "I Go Inn", and then some shopping at a few local antique shops along the way.
We had lunch out on the deck, overlooking the lake. A reggae band was setting up to play in the corner, cheerful music was piped over the speakers.
After lunch we stopped and did a little shopping. Hubby, who usually detests antique store shopping, made the most purchases. He found some very interesting bar decor.
One of the pieces he bought was really cool. It looked quite ornate and complicated, but was actually a picture and frame made of styrofoam. The frame looked gorgeous. It was an old advertisement for a beer called Koeling. The owner of the shop told us that it was made of styrofoam so that if it fell off the wall it would not break the glass bottles of liquor.

I found a lot that I wanted, but sort of held back. My main search was for shabby, vintage looking frames. I have an art show coming up, and love the look of old and used frames, as opposed to new and shiny. I did not find any, I did however find some sweet cameo pieces to create new jewelery with! More to come on those!
Ok..so about my newly pictured neclace..it is the latest in Distressing Delilah's Shop! It is totally created from vintage pieces of jewelry, absolutely upcycled! and can be found here....click.

I hope you all are having as enjoyable weekend as I!!! God bless, and thank you to all those who have given their time and more for our country and safety.

Half a Rogue Earrings

Well here I am..back so soon!!! Can you tell I have a little extra time on my hands lately?
So far it has been a lovely day...and productive! Washed the car, oil change, ran six miles....took some pics of these earrings and even posted them in my shop!!! Woot! Have to make use of my time somehow don't I?
A sweet friend at work brings me vintage jewelry she picks up here and there, I think she is like me..enjoys the thrill of a great find! Quite a while ago, she brought me a bracelet, that I used to make these earrings. I thought and thought about what to do with the links, they were so pretty..and green..which is an added plus, because I LOVE green.
I decided to make earrings out of two of the links, which leaves me three more to make something else with..yay! More pretty green and brass jewelry waiting to be revamped.

I named the earrings Half a Rogue, after a book I have by the same name. It is a vintage book that I picked up at a second hand shop. The copyright is 1906!!! It was written by Harold McGrath and has wonderful picture of a lady on the front cover. She is so elegant looking! Now to create time to read the book, one wonders what people wrote about in 1906.

Society of La Femme Necklace

Here it is..what you all have been waiting for...the first in a new line of jewelry!
The Secret Society of La Femme Necklace.
(shameless self promo)..can be found here for purchase..
Distressing Delilah's etsy shop.

Oh, it is so pink and sparklie!

Created totally from vintage revamped jewels.

One can only create stories about the femme fatales that may have worn the pieces making it up in another lifetime...
I hope all is going well for my bloggie readers! I have been getting ready for an art show.
It starts the end of June and runs thru August. More details to come on that! But, if you live anywhere near upstate N.Y..perhaps I will see you there!
It is my first "real" all by myself show. I am so excited! It will take place at "The Woods Inn", located in Inlet NY, and is under the direction of The Adirondack Lakes Center For the Arts. Any comments for a newbie to this are welcome!

The best birthday gift a girl could ask for.

Twenty years ago today, I was given the most precious birthday gift I could ever wish for, my youngest son, Casey. He was 6 weeks early, and did not do very well with his early arrival. Although his weight was a stable 6.3 lbs, his lungs were not ready for the outside world. There are not many things tougher than hearing you newborn's first cry, and not being able to hold him.
I watched him struggle for every breath that day, for what seemed like an eternity, until he was whisked off for his first (and so far only) helicopter ride.
He went to Albany Medical Center and was put on a ventilator.
I took him home a little over a week later, he was a bit smaller than when he was born..5.4 lbs.
Today he is over six feet tall and wears a size 14-15 shoe!
He is one of the strongest and kindest young men I will ever know!
Happy Birthday Casey!!

Can a girl just have her coffee!

A girl can be sooo unmotivated sometimes...that is ok, right?
I have a hard time doing nothing. It is usually so very unsettling to me.
Relax is not a common word in my vocabulary. Though I do at times...sit still.
Right now I am contemplating the day's plans. The fam is whining..we are out of milk, we are out of eggss..blah, blah, blah..lol! Really, they aren't whining..well not too much. Does it seem like you go to the store every day? I think I do! And I only have a hubby and a nineteen, (soon to be twenty) year old at home..oh and two four legged inhabitants. Is it me, am I a poor planner???
Am I rambling?.....

A touch of faith

Two of my favorite types of vintage jewelry to work with are cameos and rosary.
Each piece has its own character and history to it.

Now, I am not catholic, so I didn't know too much about rosary until some friends at work
"enlightened" me. With my newly found knowledge, I find I cherish the old worn pieces of rosary that are found in boxes throughout my studio!
I found myself wanting to create something different earlier this week, what I ended up with was both of my fave types of finds being melded together into this necklace.

I was also itching to use a new "tool" hubby brought home for me! He came back from doing some work at our neighbors' house last weekend and told me he had brought me something and that it was in the garage on his (MY!) workbench. I was very delighted when I found a piece of a railroad track sitting there! An old, metal, rusty and worn piece of track! Can you see that I am easily amused??
I had wanted a piece of metal to use for hammering and forging metal jewelry.
This was perfect! So, when all was quiet in the house, no appointments, no cleaning to do..(well, heck, there is ALWAYS cleaning to do, just nothing growing mold at that particular moment) I grabbed some copper and skipped out to the garage to make some noise! I could have hammered and hammered all day...but then I would have never finished my necklace..so I held back on the all day thing.

I do like how it came out..the rosary is a deep, dark brown and the cameo is black. The metal part of the rosary has been worn down so that you can barely tell there was a raised image there. If only these sweet findings could speak to us......

My "Culture with Corey" Day.

This past Saturday, I went to visit my son in Albany. An added bonus was the fact that my mom is in town also! We met at Corey's apartment and wandering off to a sweet little diner called "The Iron Gate". Your entered through a wrought iron gate into a beautiful courtyard garden. We sat in the courtyard and had brunch. Corey and I had artichoke and spinach crepes with hollandaise sauce over them(uhhm...way yumm!). My mom had crabcakes and Corey's girlfriend had a gorgeous looking piece of quiche.
Afterwords we strolled to Washington park, stopping at a few shops along the way.
The park was beautiful! It is the home of Albany's tulip fest, which takes place this coming Saturday. It was my first time there...I took lots and lots of pics! More to come...
On the way back to Corey's apartment, I HAD to stop at a coffee shop called "The Daily Grind". Sarah, Corey's girlfriend works here. I am in love with their Italian roast!...and yes, spoiled myself by buying a bunch of it!
The weather was beautiful, and the company was even better, and yes, Italian roast has been a pleasant reminder in the past few mornings of a very sweet day.