i'm still alive!

I just planted these forget-me-nots in memory and my grandfather and mother but first...I have to say thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to all of you that have left comments and emails for me about my Grandpa and son! Such sweet comments from you all!

My grandpas funeral was last weekend. It was a beautiful day and have to say it was sad but also a celebration of his long life. It was nice seeing some family and friends that we haven't seen in a long time.

My son's pinkie surgery went well. You wouldn't believe it is just a pinkie injury from looking at the way his hand is completely wrapped up from fingers to wrist. Yesterday morning I was walking by his bedroom door as he was waking up. He was stretching both of his arms out when I looked in and saw...NO CAST!!! It came off during the night. I didn't want him to look at it and I for sure wasn't too crazy about seeing that little pinkie looking that way. There are pins sticking out of both sides and stitches form top to bottom...very frankensteinish! I wrapped it up the best I could and took him to the Dr. They said that because the swelling went down the cast loosened. The poor little guy can't even go out for recess or on his field trip next week. He also had to quit baseball. He's been a great sport and hasn't complained once. The little boy that gave him "the five" tried giving him "a bunch of money". I said to Michael that I hoped he hadn't excepted it and he said he didn't but, "it was A LOT of money". I asked "how much?". "A lot of dimes and pennies!"

Now on to more fun things. Has anyone gotten theirs yet? WOWZA....It is as wonderful as I had hoped (and thought) it would be!!! Every page is just full of pretties and fab ideas!!!! I haven't been very creative these days but looking at this book last night has me very antsy right now. Thanks ladies!!!!!!

I also wanted to mention a seller on Etsy that I cannot get enough of lately. One ripe peach! She makes these little journals that have me checking her listings everyday for more.
Just look at the yummy flower on this one...
She also has great supplies. Right now I have a stash that I've been saving and can't wait to get my hands on. I haven't had much time to work on some projects lately but hopefully will soon. But that is what I just love about Etsy. Fabulous artists selling fabulous supplies and inspiration to other artists. It so much fun isn't it!!???
Lastly, I thought I was putting these fish in a spot where the cats would never find them...on top of the fridge. Guess not...just caught her in the act a little while ago. Uh-oh!!!!!

we'll miss you Grandpa!

My grandpa passed away in his sleep Monday night while at the hospital. He would have been 95 next month. Up until 2 weeks ago he was still living alone, cooking and taking care of himself and was as sharp as a tack.

He came here (Ellis Island) from Italy when he was two. Lived in Brooklyn which is where my father and his two brothers and sister grew up. He owned a luncheonette (where the above photo was taken) until he retired. He was as cute as a button and always reminded everyone of Bert Lahr...the lion from The Wizard of Oz.

This photo was just taken at my nieces Baptism in January.

His funeral is Saturday...we'll miss you Grandpa and Great Grandpa!

While all this was happening the nurse from school called Monday afternoon to tell us that my six-year-old hurt his finger in school but she thought it was fine. When he came home and we asked what happened he said that his friend "high-fived" him in gym. By that night it was pretty swollen. I decided to take him to the Dr on Tuesday morning just to be safe.
From the Pediatrician to the Orthopedic who told me it was indeed broken...badly broken...so bad he needed to see a hand specialist. Tomorrow he is having surgery on his little left pinkie. The bone split, twisted and went up into the joint. He will reset it and put some pins in it. It kills me that his cute little pinkie will now have a long scar on it and he will have to wear a cast for six weeks...all from a "high-five". We told him that for now on he should just give hand shakes!

thank you...and a happier note...

I just have to say thank you so much to everyone that left me comments and emails about my post last night. I wanted to write so much more but it was hard to even write what I did. Maybe another day. But your thoughts were really comforting!

On a happier note. I wanted to share how I spent my Mother's Day yesterday. I really wasn't thinking much about what I wanted to do. I actually wanted to have brunch at my house but it didn't work out. When my husband asked me if there was anything special I wanted to do, at that moment I said, "I want to go into Manhattan and spend the day going to flea markets." And so we did! I can never get tired of going into the city. My husband and I both always worked in the city and always stayed in on the weekends. Since I started popping out babies, we weren't able to go in as much as we would like. Now they are older and they love it as much as we do.

One store I had never been to and I have no idea why is Shabby Chic. I felt like I was in heaven...just beautiful! When I realized I couldn't afford the $8000 sofa I liked, I knew I would be just as happy with a new cushion for my desk chair and a cute little mercury glass votive holder to add to my collection. At one of the flea markets I also found this great old white carved wood frame to add to my "frame with no photos" collection...drives my husband nuts!

After shopping we went to City Crab and had a seafood feast. I had a lovely day!
I've also got some inquires about more stickers. I finally just listed some more in my shop and will try to keep them coming!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

This is a portrait of my mother from 1959. She was only 14. As much as I love Mother's Day because I am now a mother and have waited my entire life to receive handmade cards, frog magnets, bath salts, colored flower pot and a brick made into a butterfly...(yes, those were my gifts this year)I hate it because I miss my mother terribly! She was taken from us very suddenly and unexpectedly 7 years ago. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and sometimes it seems almost like she was never here. But not a day goes by that I don't think about her. I owe everything I am to her. Her life was us and it showed ever day. There is so much I want to share on this post about my beautiful mother but then it will never end. For now I will share these letters that she saved. I didn't find them or even knew that she had saved them until we were going through some of her things. But boy, do I remember writing them! She always kept a pad. She used them to keep reminders for herself, shopping lists, and thoughts. When I was 10 years old I a wrote to her in the middle of the pad. A few days later I checked the pad and noticed she wrote me a note back. For weeks this went on and neither one of us ever spoke about it. One letter she thanks me for helping with the dishes, another telling me she hopes that "today brings you all the happiness you want while at school". I wrote one thanking her for leaving me a smurf! But in every letter not only did she respond to what I wrote, she left me with some advice. Here is one that I will never forget. "...and remember, always act like a lady, but never stop being a little girl." I think it's beautiful!As hard as it was and sometimes still is to get over loosing my best friend, I realized what a wonderful gift I had been given. One day it hit me...I have all of these wonderful memories and so much advice that my mother worked so hard at. How can I not pass all of this on to my own children? Everyday I live my life as a dedication to my mother. Whether it's a recipe of hers or a game that she played with me that I now play with my boys. I do it as if she is watching me. I want to make her proud and show her that I hope to be as wonderful as a mother as she was to me! And you know what...I know she is watching! That is another post!

Happy Mother's Day to all of my dear blog friends who believe it or not, have helped me fill some of that void in my life!

finally...an antique show!

One of the things that stinks about living on the east coast is that because of the weather, there are only a few months out of the year for outdoor flea markets or antique shows. I know there are always shops to go to but unfortunately the shops near me are all slowly closing. From what I can see, the whole antique thing has changed so much over the past few years. Maybe it has something to do with Ebay but when I go to an antique show I want to see "antiques" not some stuff from the 70's! But anyway, yesterday we went to an antique show with about 60 vendors. I didn't get much but I was happy to see a dealer with lots of ephemera. Mostly Long Island ephemera but at least she had a nice selection of postcards. I love, love, love vintage postcards. Always have! Just another thing I've been collecting since I was a kid. I didn't realize until I got home that this one was an actual card. Look at the old ribbon...yum!!!Another thing that I didn't realize until I got home was that half of the cards I bought had birds on them. I think that since I started blogging that I have a new found love for birds. This one came with a package of coffee. Don't you wish they gave away beautiful things like they used to. My mother had a collection of carnival and ruby glass. Can you imagine going to a carnival or somewhere and getting something so pretty for FREE!!??? Found a bag of these old crosses. Have no idea what I will do with them...probably sell some on Etsy but still have enough left for one day when I learn how to make jewelry...just another thing on my to-do list!I also picked up some of these church hymn books. It's funny because the last few music books I have found have been these old hymn books. I love the music inside because it smaller and so pretty. These are from the 1870's. The covers are gorgeous!My last find was this little cement chick. I don't know what I will do with it either but just loved the chippy colors. I think it once belonged in a lawn set with it's mother, brothers and sisters.
So those are my finds for this weekend. Wish I could have found more but I am happy with them!

I have gotten some emails about the stickers. I will definitely be making more. Just need to find some time, but will!

Also, Ironman was really good. I enjoyed it more than I thought!

Have a good week everyone!

XOXO

Jennifer

Vintage Stickers

I have always loved sending a letter, card or gift with a pretty sticker on it but I am very particular about the sticker. Sounds silly but I just am. I buy tons of pretty stickers and most of the time won't even use them because I just think they are too nice. Did you grow up in the 70's or early 80's? Do you remember collecting stickers and making albums out of them? I sure did and you know I still have them. Whenever my cousin and I would see each other we would bring our albums and trade. It was serious business...you would think we were on Wall street!
For a while now when I would look at some of my wallpaper or a pretty piece of ledger paper I would wish it could be a sticker. It didn't occur to me until recently to just make them myself. So I did! I've only started out with a few small packs because it is a bit time consuming but I have to admit that I am loving them and already using some. So for now I've listed some in my shop.


Did I mention that my boys are also having a ball with this? So now my dining room table looks like an elementary school art room. Wish I had thought of this sooner!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far. We are going to see Ironman tonight...oooohhhh!!!!!

still here...

Well, I am still here (for the most part). I am having a strange week...my cute 95 year-old Italian Grandpa is in the hospital. They think it may be kidney failure or could be his heart. He is so strong so I am not jumping to conclusions. Up until this week he lives alone, cooks for himself and is in overall great shape. It happened on the day I had taken my dad home from some minor back surgery. Shortly after I got a call from his cell and knew something was wrong since he should have been home sleeping. At the same time my Uncle (dad's brother) is in another hospital with some intestinal problems. What is going on?

But on to other (more uplifting) things. I wanted to share some pictures that were in my camera from last week. We took the kids to a park near the city for a picnic. This was our view...

We also went to a cheesy carnival Friday night and have to say...had a blast! What fun! Chicken pitas and fried oreos....YUM!!!!
Also brought home three new pets. Junior, Rocky and Snowball. I am sorry to say that Junior has already made his way down the toilet bowl.
Had a lot of fun making these ATC's for the current swap or chain that is going around. I really love them. I took out my sewing machine a few weeks ago but haven't used it for anything special. Now I am on a sewing on paper kick. As you can see.


I will be listing some more in my shop when I get a breather. Also working on something else fun for the shop. Hopefully I will catch up by this weekend and get everything listed.
Sorry if this post is seems like it's all over the place but that's kind of how I am feeling at the moment.