nice cheery colors

I don't know what it is about these colors together? They just seem HAPPY!
I needed a background for this group of dishes and called upon my vintage cookbook pamphlets. They were just the ticket.

Mid century graphics tickle me.
This is where you can find the 39 piece set for "cheap"
UPDATE: The set of dishes has sold and are on their way to live in New Jersey!!
Thank you!!

Flash Back- memories of Grandma

My Baby Boomer memories of my Grandmas:

I remember my Grandma having both of these kinds of really neat-o things!!!Probably from the 1950- early 1960s era. Green plastic powder box from the time that powder was always bought loose and it came with a fluffy powder puff. Wow!... I can't tell you how many times I got in trouble for playing in that!!!! I always loved the cartoon- I think it was Bugs Bunny- when he kept yelling "Make-Up!" and the giant powder puff would deliver a huge cloud of whiteness. My Grandma had one of these on the back of her toilet tank and I could never resist opening it. Could I help it that my Mom could have easily gotten a job as a CSI and never failed to know I did it??!

Pink telescoping plastic travel type cup. Grandma always had one of these in her purse among the other Grandma goodies I was always curious about in her handbag or pocketbook as she called it. It holds water-or whatever liquid you choose- and then collapses so you can tuck it away with the lid. Ahhhh...What joys could be found in a Grandma purse. A soft hankie with dainty flowers that has been washed so many times it seems so thin you could see through it. When I kept on sniffling that always came out eventually, even though I always repeated "no" each of the five times I was asked if I needed to blow my nose. Sometimes Grandma would tuck one between her wrist and the band of her watch or the cuff of her sleeve. Grandmas are always good for a piece of gum. You know the stick of gum that has been in her purse since the Cuban Missile Crisis?

These items pictured are in my shop. UPDATE: These items have sold. THANKS!

Oh, and by the by (which is also one of my Grandma's

little ditties she was known for saying), the clock desk you may have noticed in my photos today, or previously at some point, may need some splainin' (as I Love Lucy used to say). It is an original creation of mine. It was years in the making!! I acquired this desk curbside and decided h-ll or high water (another Grandma saying) I was going to fit it in my car, even at the expense of needing to tie a kid to the bumper to get home (just kidding. Well not really. Ok yeah I am kidding). The desk (and all three kids) made it home safely INSIDE the car. The only thing wrong with the desk=missing one drawer handle and the top was pretty sad. I saved every watch and clock image I found in every magazine and catalog and anywhere else I could find them. Fast forward=I decoupaged them all on top and coated it with uber (my teenage daughters' word, not Grandma's) amounts of varnish. Then just to be extra safe I topped it with a rounded edge piece of glass that just happened to be the right size that I found (serendipity) somewhere along the line in my curbside travels. I get many comments on it-- not all nice or positive, some include the words therapy and crazy-- but I love my clock desk!!

a mission

My kids are each going to get only one gift this Christmas. I am on a mission for A. She has the fortune or misfortune to have a birthday a few days after the holidays fade away.

I always thought it was fortunate because she could get better gifts since everything is on sale when December ends.

She thinks she gets ripped off since it is just a kind of continuation of Christmas and then she has to wait another 11 months until anything big happens for her again. I have to say, having a summer time birthday myself, I do not know what it is like to be in her shoes- and some other reasons I could not fill her shoes...

A is in 7th grade and has always been in GATE (gifted and talented education) classes. She is on the quiz bowl team and has been past student council president for her class. She has gotten honor roll ribbons and certificates every year. This year she tutors other students. Before you bore of my bragging, let me tell you that I always joke that somewhere her REAL mother is

desperately searching for her!!

The thing is, this year is that special first official teenage birthday-thirteen- for A, so I came up with an idea that I hope will make this Christmas and birthday be extra special. It does involve the dreaded reality of combining the Christmas and birthday gift giving into one event though...if I can pull it off financially.

A is quite a photographer and she was chosen to be part of the yearbook staff at school. I have been allowing her to take my camera to school each day. I am lost without my camera, I must admit!! I bought her a memory card to have as her own so we keep swapping out her memory card for mine -back and forth. Have you ever thought about how easy it would be to lose that teeny tiny memory card that holds 800 photo images that cannot be replaced? It could be vacuumed up or dropped down the heating vent (ok, maybe not that extreme or drastic)...but for a genealogist the possibility -even being a farthest stretch of the imagination- can make me contemplate taking up nervous nail biting.

I feel like I am rambling. To make an already long explanation not too much longer I will now get to the point. Have you caught on to the foreshadowing clues along the way?
I hope to get A her very own camera for her Christmas and 13th birthday. It could be a ticket to a future of possibilities for her.
Talent + The proper tools = Opportunity and success!
Now for the mission part. As many of you know, running an Etsy shop can mean you maybe get money to add into the pool of paying household bills and maybe some extra fun stuff. I don't know about your situation but here we have less delegated "fun money" floating around than we would like to have . My mission is to make enough from my Etsy sales to fund the purchase of a camera for a very deserving hard working girl.

UPDATE: This item has sold and is going to live at a house just a stone's throw north of me. Thanks a million Gloria!!! I'm sure it can't hope to compare to the art you do so beautifully!!