My idea of fun {as shown in photos}

by Cindy on June 23, 2011

Today was officially the first day of summer vacation in our house.  I woke up to my 10 year old son asking if he could make pancakes.  Well, of course! He makes pancakes from scratch that leaves everyone looking for seconds.  Not having to scramble out the door at 7:30 a.m. and breakfast being made for ME – I could get used to this!  The reality of filling the day with 4 boys at home caught up with me quickly, however.  It will all go by too fast though, I’m afraid.  I live for the summer and I’m going to savor every single day.

I finally uploaded pictures from the weekend – a dream weekend for us, really.  My Dad (bless him) took all 3 of the older boys to the beach. They surfed (and came home with bruised faces from being tossed upside down in the waves – my Dad included), played putt putt and went to Dumsers for icecream.  Meanwhile Randy and I packed our little guy, our pup, and our bags and once again headed to our favorite antiquing destination, Adamstown, PA (blogged about it here).  There is so much to see here that I didn’t even make it to all of the antique malls.

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This time around we found Crystal Springs (once known as Addams Spring), a source of pure water and frequented by locals for many years.  It is fascinating to learn that historians believed that an Indian village once stood in this vicinity.  While checking out the spring, an amazing retro truck pulled up (and what color!).  We got to talking to the nice owner about his 1958 Chevrolet Apache.  It turns out he is a trucker and saw this truck for sale while driving his route, sitting there on a farm.  He drove right by but later wondered why he had not stopped to inquire about it.  He told himself he would stop the next time if it was still there.  Sure enough, the truck was still there on his next run and he stopped to buy it.  He invited us to hop in.  It’s not every day that I get to sit behind the wheel of  1950’s classic!

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What could be better than stopping for ice cream at a local favorite?  A scoop of ice-cream, chocolate shake, and a rootbeer float were enjoyed by a stream while watching the ducks.  Now speaking of food, later that night we drove over to Lancaster and had the most amazing dinner at Miller’s…. anyone heard of this smorgasbord?  We are planning a trip back to Lancaster just to go back again!

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Adamstown has a few antique malls and flea markets that only open on Sunday.  The flea markets are open before 6:00 a.m.  I was determined to go this time, and we made it there not long after 7:00 – not too bad after staying up so late on Saturday night.  I found many treasures and spoke to nice vendors.  Our little guy spotted an old metal wheel barrow and had the best time wheeling it up and down the dusty rows.  Much to everyone’s amusement, he proudly filled his wheel barrow with sticks and rocks.

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Let’s now jump to one of my best finds – ever.  This one was a steal.  There it was, sitting in all of it’s old leather glory on the $2.00 table.  I couldn’t believe it.  I left it right where I saw it and went to find the dealer; surely it wasn’t meant to be on that table.  The dealer seemed almost apologetic when he told me there were no pictures inside the antique CDV (carte-de-visite)/tintype album.  I couldn’t pay for my surprise find fast enough!  I have an antique album collection (I’d love to share in a future post), and this tiny treasure is one of my new favorites.  I really couldn’t believe my good fortune.

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It was a lucky album day.  My husband spied this near-complete (missing one year) collection of Naval Academy Lucky Bag year books from the early 1930’s.  As a Naval Academy graduate, these treasured yearbooks always catch his eye when he happens upon them.  He truly appreciates that these pre-WWII era albums are quite rare.  We’ve found that albums this old can range in price from $75 to over $200 and he was lucky to purchase all 3 for $40.00.  The 1930’s era art found inside is remarkable.

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Here is a sweet old jewelry box (yet another collection) that I found.  I filled the box with some of the earbobs and pins that I collected over the weekend.  I can’t resist the romance of flowers and rhinestones.

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I’ll end this post with a couple of initial pins – one for me and one for a special friend.

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Thank you for visiting, so happy you stopped by!

-Cindy

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Give away winners announced!

by Cindy on June 20, 2011

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Are you here to see who won the “Back from B&B” give away?

Please check and see if you were one of the lucky winners!

1.  Mandy of Beads for Brains for Brains:  365

2.  Rebecca of Songbeads

3.  Marcy of Queen Marcy Originals

4.  Sally Anderson (of a new beading blog coming soon…right, Sally?? – no pressure or anything) 🙂

Please contact me with your mailing addresses so I can get your goodies out to you! Congrats!

*Don’t forget to visit Lori’s blog to see if you won there – she had a HUGE give away and you just might see your name listed as a winner! 🙂

Thank you to everyone who played along and left such nice comments on the Bead & Button post!

-Cindy

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With One Finding {a jewelry collaboration}

by Cindy on June 17, 2011

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The beautiful Summer 2011 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry has been on the newstands for a few weeks, have you seen it?  I’m excited to share with you a little about one of the articles you’ll find inside.  Late last year my friend Diane Cook, of Rosa and Josies, kindly asked if I would like to participate in a challenge with 5 other jewelry designers (oh would I!).  We were asked to create a piece of jewelry using one finding, the “Marianne” by Brass Bouquet. Oh the possibilities!  I hope you’ll have a chance to pick up a copy of this issue to see the end results by participants, Diane Cook, Diana Frey, Mary Jane Dodd, Riki Schumacher,  Molly Alexander, and Julie Pishny.  I am inspired by each and every design… it is amazing just how unique they all are.  Diana’s necklace incorporated 6 of the Marianne focal pieces!  Incidentally, if you visit Diana’s blog, you’ll be able to have a glimpse the entire article, page by page.

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For my design, I was inspired by the book, French General:  Treasured notions.  The romantic and detailed focal really lent itself to something rather delicate.  After I decided how I wanted to work with the filigree opening (resin?  rivet something inside?), I was on my way.  I knew I wanted to incorporate an old piece of linen.  I thought of adding some embroidery stitches to the linen,  but instead opted for pretty teal blue seed beads, and a brass bead cap that I flattened to resemble a metallic sequin.  I riveted the focal to a piece of brass that I had etched and cut to shape.  With some sparkly Swarovski crystals, a floral brass button,  and sari ribbon from Mudhound Studio, the piece was complete.  I sent my package off to Diane in Texas, hoping it would be suitable to join the works of the other challenge participants.  Diane wrote a wonderful article which includes questions asked of all of the artists, as well as the interesting answers.   I was amazed at the exceptional results and so happy to have had this opportunity to participate.

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If you happen to be a fan of Diane Cook’s beautiful jewelry like me, please consider joining us this September for the ArtBLISS retreat.  We are so excited that Diane will be making her way out East expressly to join us for a weekend of jewelry workshops.  Diane has a full line-up of classes, which includes Etched and Layered Cuffs, “Believe” Soldered Pendant Necklace, and Heartstrings.  Come learn from a nationally-recognized instructor, whose work frequently graces the pages of the prestigious Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine.  We’re all going to have a great time, whether you can come for an evening class or the full weekend!

-Cindy

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