I discovered a wonderful shop on Etsy!   It is Altered Artifacts and it is owned by Inka Heaton.  She has great artwork and photos of vintage items.  Inka also has a blog which you can visit http://alteredartifacts.blogspot.com/.    She has beautiful projects on her blog.  She even has free graphics.  I was so inspired by her ideas and her graphics that I decided to design a few altered art bottles.  These are my summer bottles.  I cannot wait to try some Halloween ones with the graphics I just ordered from Altered Artifacts!

Sunbathing Girlfriends



Pink Sneakers




Angel Dreams



My deck in late summer

Late summer is my favorite time on my deck. The clematis this year covered all of the rail and moved underneath to my glass table. It smells so good! It is great to sit out there and read the paper or have a glass of wine in the late afternoon. I just wish I had more time to enjoy it!

Praols Story Bracelets and More

I just received my order that was placed at the New York Gift Show from a company called Praols. What drew me to this company was the theme "Women helping Women". All of their jewelry, accessories and ornaments are handcrafted in the USA by stay at home mothers and low income moms in dire situations. What a wonderful concept! I picked out a few things to put on my website. Each item comes with a little saying and an explanation of the company. Pictured here is the Wish Bracelet. Tie on your Make a Wish Bracelet, and wish with all the power of your mind and heart and believe..... when it wears off, you wish will come true!

You can check out their philosophy on their website - http://www.storybraceletsandmore.com/story.php

Snowed In!

It snowed over 2 feet on Saturday and today it is going to snow another foot and one half. I love snow! It makes you slow down and take another look at the beauty outside, the calm quietness and maybe allows you to get to the jobs you put off because you were too busy. I wanted to share with you a picture of a brave squirrel who appeared on my deck this afternoon in the midst of the snowstorm. Pickings most be very slim for him! When he left he had to skid down the snow laden steps and ran into snowbanks of over 4 feet. I am also sharing a picture of my backyard earlier in the day. Believe me it is worse now! I will be inside for the next couple of days but I am actually looking forward to it! Stay warm!

New York Gift Show

I just returned from the New York Gift Show. This is the first time in a long time that I am excited about the products that I found at the show. I was on a mission to find special products that were different, touching and made in the USA. One of my favorite finds was the handcrafted bubble wands by a company named At-Choo. When I entered the booth I was truly touched by the stories that accompanied each handmade piece. I wanted to buy everything! I kept thinking about the bubble wands the whole time I was at the show. It was the last item I ordered in NY and I cannot wait to receive them and put them on my website (http://www.awingandabear.com/). If you have a chance, please check out the at-choo website http://www.at-choo.com/!

I also signed up for a custom order signs and frame program from Danielson studios. You will be able to customize signs or frames with any personalization you want (including your favorite quote) and the finished product will ship within 48 hours. The designs are beautiful! They make great gifts for weddings, baby showers or special occasions. The link will be on my website in a few weeks.

I purchased more Dragonfly and Butterfly Earrings and Necklaces from Anne Koplik Designs. I have been buying from Anne Koplik for quite some time. The colors are beautiful this time. Anne Koplik does jewelry for Dancing with the Stars and some of the awards shows.

I placed another order with Kimono Kool. They make jewelry, hair items and other cool items from vintage kimonos. This time I ordered bracelets, hair clips and shoelaces. The shoelaces are so much fun! The colors are great.

Some of the other great products I came across are bracelets and necklaces from Findings. They are all handmade and made of vintage items like old jewelry, game pieces, etc. Each one is different.

Hopefully, if all goes well, I will have them on my website within a month.

Putting Christmas on hold for 10 months

This year I found that putting the Christmas decorations away was harder than ever before! I have one grouping left of Santas and a mantel of snowmen left. I find putting them away depressing. Christmas memories of family and friends are packed away also. Will it be the same next year? I know the answer is probably not. Every year I say the decorations will go up earlier so we have more time to enjoy them, but it never happens. Maybe the answer is to set the Days until ... app on my iphone with a countdown. 10 months from now!

Here is a picture of a section of my powder room. The powder room is decorated differently than the rest of my home. Kind of retro funky. The rest of my home was vintage decorated, but more of a tradional vintage Holiday decorating. I picked up the aqua glittered reindeer this year.

Hoping for a better year!

Happy New Year to All! It has been awhile since I have updated my blog - I hope to change that this year! The year started off badly - my little dog was diagnosed with Megaesphagus which means her esphagus is enlarged (forming a pocket) and the food cannot go down her throat so she regurgitates all of it back up. It is life threatening because particles of food and acid can back into her lungs causing aspiration pneumonia. The only treatment for it is for me to feed her several small meals a day holding up upright for the eating part as well as holding her upright for 20-30 minutes afterward. Luckily for me she is a small dog (9 pounds) which makes the holding part much easier! She is an energetic and happy dog so putting her down was not an option for me. Hopefully she will continue to live a happy and healthy life. When she was diagnosed the vet said one to one and a half years. The feeding and holding part is very time consuming and does not leave much time for my business. Hopefully I will get in a routine and find more time to devote to my website and retail business.