Something I love....

I think it is so fun to take a lot of things that don't "match" but "go together"....things that are unexpected to be on the same wall, but reside well together...and make them work. These are things that you already have, but you have them crammed randomly in this closet or that dresser drawer, under this bed, or in that cabinet. Things you can't get rid of, but things that you don't really know what to do with. These are great things to make a wall collage with....and are quite delightful, unexpected joys! It's "scrapbooking your house", if you will....and we all know that I love scrapbooking!

This is Anna's room....minus a few new additions that have been made since I took this photo....and there are more photos of other walls I've put together to come....I think you'll like them! :)

If you are in the Nashville area and would like me to come scout out these random pieces of joy that you have and put them together for you, please let me know...I'd LOVE to come and play!

Happy Friday, ya'll!

Sometimes, I even impress myself. Really.

One of those times was today, when I paid $3.00 for quite possibly the UGLIEST thing I've ever spent money on...which was this unicorn. Folks, I mean UGLY. I wish you could all have seen Mr. Perfect's face when I said I *HAD* to have this "beauty". Especially since it was $3.00...which is thrice what I normally allow myself to spend on any one item, just as a game. It was gold...you know...pukey gold....and it was a clock. And it's HUGE. Like 2.5 feet long-ish. Have I said UGLY?!?!?! But then I told him the story about why I NEEDED to get this unicorn....and it goes something like this:

There once was a little girl who had a little sister who sometimes had a hard time falling alseep at night. And when her sister would crawl into her bed and tell her she couldn't sleep, the little girl with a not-so-great imagination would tell her little sister stories about rainbows and unicorns and princesses who lived in far-away lands where there was only ever bright colors, blue skies, happiness, and flowers galore. (This was modeled after a book that we had....about....you guessed it....a unicorn and the fairy tale land where the unicorn lived....) So when the little girl saw the very ugly unicorn, she knew she must have it for her little sister, and she knew in her mind what a very beautiful unicorn it would be when she finished breathing new life into it and made it look like it did in her mind....a somewhat scary place to be a lot of the time.

One of the very many reasons why the little girl with the little curl loves her Mr. Perfect so dearly is that when she told him the story about, and explained that she saw the very ugly unicorn as bright and beautiful in her mind, and that she would make the unicorn be beautiful like that if all turned out as according to her imagination, he very quickly stated that he had no doubt that that would be the case. Ahhhh...to be believed in is a wonderful thing!

So here is a sneaky peaky at the ugliest thing the little girl with the little curl has purchased for $3.00 in as long as she can remember.......

You'll have to stay tuned to see the final outcome. Cross your fingers that it is as neat as she hopes it will be! Her sister deserves it! *And today is her little sister's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Little Sister! I love you!!!!!*
And to follow up from yesterday, even though you slackers didn't help em decide on the color, here is THE ONE....up and ready to adorn some lucky person's walls by going to www.etsy.com and searching for the username: drawingandcoloring.

Good night! :)

Today is Wednesday.

And it is the day before my sister's birthday. Soooo...happy birthday, Sister, just in case I forget to tell you tomorrow. I have a fear of forgetting, since in my new life with the occupation of Drawing and Coloring, I do not have to write the date. Today, I transformed this cute little towel holder into a cute little towel holder. You see, when I found it, it was an ugly thing, and I thought about pitching it, or throwing it into the yardsale pile, but then the lightbulb went off, and this is what I came up with! I'm quite proud of myself, actually! :) It says...."My Mama said don't forget to wash and dry your hands...don't forget!" It comes complete with bubbles, even.

I'm working on this lil guy up there. I've been singing "Rubber Ducky, You're the One..." for like a week now. Just ask Kevin. And Anna....poor kids have had to listen to me belt that at the top of my lungs spontaneously 1,000+ times. For real. ANYWAYS...I'm taking a vote....which color do I use to write the quote with? I was thinking blue, as was Mr. Perfect, but then I was also thinking orange....and then Kate said yellow when I asked her. So, please, leave me a comment and help me decide what color to make it. In exchange, I will show you the finished product, almost guaranteed to be a cute one. (It is in my head, at any rate!)

This now adorns the wall in my bedroom. I've had the frame and mat for a while....the license just seemed to be what fit, and then I used some vintage wedding-y paper to cut the letters out. I'm in love. Mr. Perfect hasn't seen it yet. :)

For a long time...well, since Anna was born on Grammy's birthday in Heaven, I've taken special notice of all things breast cancer. When I saw this display today at the gas station, I knew it would be a part of my blog post. Of course now, not only do I think of Ang and RaRa and Grammy, and also my mom's good friend, Michele, but of Sarah. So many people this nasty disease affects. I hope and pray for a cure to be found every day.

And so as not to end this post on a sad note, here is a quote for you:

"It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black." Charlie Brown

Totally an uplifter, folks. :)

xo

a

She's Baccccckkkk!!!!!

Once upon a time, there was a girl with a little curl...right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was....EXCELLENT! :) The little girl with the little curl was a happy girl, always starting numerous sentences each day with, "Well, at least....." and smiling anyways, no matter the circumstances. But the circumstances kept piling up and up and up, and her smiles got fewer and farther between, and though she tried, life just sort of sucked her in for a while, and she withdrew from it, and from her friends, and she sort of (OK, very much so) quit living life....for about 4 years. One day, she was smacked into reality by some words that were said to her, and the ton of bricks was lifted off her shoulders, and she was determined to LIVE again by renovating her life. This took a lot of courage, by the way. (She figures her stubborn-ness really DOES pay off....mostly.) So, she started making a conscious effort to live. A lot of this was due to the love of some very dear friends, and to he who she refers to as Mr. Perfect. Mr. Perfect and the very dear friends (thank you, friends....) decided to encourage her to live her dream, and to be happy. So, she started working from home, if you call "working" drawing and coloring. She's trying her hardest to get back in touch with her friends of days gone by...her computer friends, her scrapbooking friends....those that uplifted her when she went through the most devastating time of her life while she was carrying her last baby, and when she should have succombed to heart disease, but didn't. She's hoping those friends will read this, and will tell other old friends, and soon, she'll be reconnected with all of her buddies, both newer and older. She really wants to share her life with all those folks and many more friends that will be new friends and then old friends. It'd make her REALLLY happy to share "phase two" of her life with them. :) She's so excited to be blogging again, to be creating again, and to welcome all those friends back into her life, and to be a part of theirs. She misses them so....even though they probably didn't know it, cuz she really didn't keep in touch. (She's sorry, too, btw.) So please leave her a comment with a link to your blog so she can continue to step back into the land of the living. She's excited to be alive and well! Please remember to bookmark her blog as she will be blogging daily again, old-school-abby-style....she is anxious to share her life with you like she used to. If you are so inclined, you can visit her website (it's not completed yet!) http://www.artbyabby.org/ or see her etsy site by going to http://www.etsy.com/ and then searching for username drawingandcoloring and by checking out her puppies at http://www.perrysparadise.webs.com/ . Drop her an email if you wish. She can be reached on her new email address: complexandcolorful@gmail.com. She's happy to be alive....and so thankful for each day given to her by her Lord. :0)

The day after....

I (heart) vistaprint. I just ordered all their free stuff of the day, and I got $100 of stuff for $4.99. Yay-rah. Now, if our Mail Man doesn't eat it, I'll have new free goodies. (Long story.) This is a pre-desined t-shirt they had...with the @ already on it, and I just added my info. I'm in love. I love when good little things like this happen.

At the flea market this weekend, I got in the crappiest of all crappy buildings, by the crappiest of all crappy vendors with a HUGE WALL that took up 2' of my 9'....hog....and so I made signs on what I could find to tape on the door. (She didn't like that, either.) I was pretty pleased with my handiwork, to be make-shift. :)

It was a pretty boring and disappointing weekend, and I entertained myself with drawing on paint samples....there's gotta be a use for them somehow...if not, then they at least kept me entertained while I was there. These are just a very few of the ones I did....yipes.

Off to go jump in puddles with the bay-bay! Gotta love puddle jumping!

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Thoughts of friends.....

When I found these, I thought of so many individuals I work(ed) with that it was sort of comical. Friends....feel free to guess which one(s) made me think of YOU! :) There are a few that fit me....like DON'T ASK....or....Here Comes Trouble....or Why be Normal!?!? And probably then some......

Just Random

These little gnome-y things are ceramic wall decorations...a fork and a spoon. They are about 18" long, and I want to put them on my wall...except I have no room! Aren't they the coolest?

Maybe I've shared this, but I love it....so here's some "free" eye candy for you.

And Miranda's cup o' love.......on a file folder.

And, sometimes, you just have to buy yourself a crown because others haven't gotten the message yet that you ARE, in fact, a princess.....

Happy Thursday!

Here is the rainbow chair, all completed and ready to make its debut in Nashville! :) And this is a sand art wall deco thing that we found in Gatlinburg....it is really neat and I love the personality of the lil Indians. It's wayyyy neater up close. It's also going to Nashville with me, since I don't have a house as big as the world to put it in! :)

I think on Monday, I am going to start bloggin here "Old School Abby"....it's time. (Miranda, I know you'll be thrilled!)

Give Us This Day....

I had worked on this tray/platter a while back, painting the plain wood grain purple, but it was too harsh, and it kept wanting me to make it fancier and different. When I thought of the Bible verse to go on it, I knew it would be perfect....so here it is. I'm happy with it now.

I found this guy while in Gatlinburg, and I love him, but then, I love all the things I find, and I don't have room for them, soooo....he'll be accompanying me to Nashville this weekend, sadly for me.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

This has part of the words from the hymn...."all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small....the Lord God made them all....." There's more to it than that, but you get the idea, and I'm too tired to use all of my brain right now to list the whole thing.

I painted this on Sunday while my building was being constructed....I love the outcome. This treasure will be going with me for sale at the flea market this weekend...wish I had a house big enough to keep all this neato furniture I'm finding.....

xo, @

Lucky to be MEEEEEE!

So, my dreams are coming true...my studio now has shelves, and mostly the walls are up, my abby-height workbench is there, I have a door....hey, I even have a DOG that stays in there with me while I work! I canot believe that this is happening for me, and I cannot wait to see where it goes!!!!! I'm so excited to be doing the flea market next weekend, but it is supposed to rain for all three days. Please join me in praying that the rain decides to stay away so that this can be successful...I really NEED it to be successful!

About the lil sketchy sketch up there....I drew that while waiting on Kevin to get his hiney handed to him at one of his games when it was too cold to be out and watching....his number is 6, and this is just what I sat and occupied myself with.....I like it.

Gotta get busy...lots to do today, and I have my lil "helper", NannaBaby, with me! Woot woot!

Today.....

I can't remember if I put this on here or not, but I'm thinking I didn't.....it says, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life...live it well. Enjoy." This idea is from the kenny Chesney song he sings with Dave Matthews, Alive and Well. I LURRRRVE that song. Love the message. Try to live by it....the breathing part of the song really caught my attention and I LOVE Dave's voice....I could listen to this song on repeat shore-ebberrrrr (Anna-speak for "forever") and never get sick of it.

Have a great week....@!

More Inspiration....

This was just a pull-off spot where we stopped to enjoy the view....I want to move here and create by the stream each day!

There's so much eye candy around here. I can't turn off my brain to sleep! (And this bed was worn out in 1962, I think.) I actually took the picture of this guy on the way here at a gas station...I like him! :)

It's raining today here, and the high might reach 70....that's a shame considering I have a slight suburn from the last two days....it amazes me how the weather can change so much in such little time!

Off to enjoy some more vroom vrooming! :)

Halooooo!!!

So I *mean* to log in here each day!!! Really, I do! I'll do better, I promise. This is me, writing from GATLINBURG, where I am surrounded by hotrods, colors, and CARS!!! Lots of inspiration, lots of ideas, lots of fun and bargains to see! I can't wait to get home and spend some computer time and some creating time!

The above is a plaque I found while here in the mountains. I have a ring like it that says "love the life you live" on the outside and on the inside, it says "live the life you love". I'm trying. It's hard. The butterflies above are a find that I LURVE just the way they are....love that vintage aqua color and the scrolly-ness of them. They will be up on the website if they don't sell this coming weekend at the Nashville flea market...wish me luck!

I took the "Life is Good" sign for Dad...I think that's where I got my rosey outlook from! :) Thanks, Dad!

And I absolutely LOVE the lil purse above...I didn't buy it, but I wanted to! Unemployment has its perks..but shopping isn't one of them!

And this is a work in progress...I started it before we left to come to the mountains, and it will be finished in time to be on display and for sale at the flea market this coming weekend! Woot!

Off to look at more cars....ah.....vroom vrooooom!!!!! :0)

In the meantime, here is a lil bitta eye candy for you.....