Oh Ridley Boy

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It's starting to feel a lot like fall around us. The mornings have gotten progressively chilly. I've actually had to don a sweater or robe in the mornings. I'm really enjoying the changing of the seasons. It's a treat for us. If anyone's ever been to Southern California  knows that you can get a sweltering November day or cold July morning. It's great in it's own way but I'm loving the defined seasons here. I'm really looking forward to winter. I'm hoping we'll get more snow this time around. Last year we only got a couple of inches over night so I could play in it.
We finally looked a few used cars this weekend. There were a few prospects but we decided to wait it out. The hubby wants to buy something a bit new and I don't blame him. I think  we're going down to Cali for Thanksgiving this year and are going to look at cars while visiting. I think we'll get a better deal in general. He wants something sport and small. I really smaller trucks. We're not into bro trucks. All big and exaggerated. It's not our style.
My birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I'll be turning 28. Old according to my 19 year old brother. Lol. It's amazing how quickly time goes by. My in-laws are coming up to photograph a wedding and are spending the weekend with us. They're going to bring up part of my present. Oh yeah. Jess bought my present and decided to hide it. Like I'm some  5 year old that's compulsive and will search the entire house. No, I have much more self-control than that.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but for a while now we had noticed that Ridley had really bad cat breathe. I'm mean worse than normal. Like if he yawned you could smell it from a We were brushing his teeth and that helped a little not much though. I finally got an appointment at the local vet's office.     It turns out the Ridley has feline stomatitis . It comes as a surprise but makes perfect sense why he has such bad breathe. Basically, he has an auto-immune disease that causes his antibodies attack his teeth and mucous membranes in his mouth. Luckily, he hasn't had too much discomfort. He got an anti-inflammatory shot to help with the symptoms but they only way to treat the disease it to remove all of his teeth. Jesse and I are against altering animals like de-clawing and tail docking. He's doing good right now. So good in fact, that he gained a pound since his last vet visit.  We changed his food to something with a soft middle and he's doing a lot better. I did some reading too and am going to add some vitamins to help him out. They are all anti-inflammatory and help with digestion.  He's a happy, chubby boy who loves his mommy and daddy. He's eating well and behaving normally.

I've worked on a few projects over the last week and I'll be sure to post photos when I get a chance. I'm working on making Christmas stockings for Jesse, Ridley and myself. I'd love to find a vintage 1950's Chrstmas tree like this . They are gorgeous but there's NO WAY I'd be okay spending money like that. I'd rather put it towards our credit card bill. If I were to find it at a thrift store or a garage sale then I'd jump on it.

I'd leave you with a photo of Ridley  Boy but my email is misbehaving. So I leave you with this quote:

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. "
Robert A. Heinlein 

September is National Sewing Month

It's National Sewing Month! At the end of winter last year, I got a great deal on a wool blend fabric for a coat. I have a few coats that I really like but in some areas they need tailoring. This also gives me a challenge.  I've never made a jacket or anything quite that complicated but it should prove interesting.

Joann's had one of it's awesome sales this weekend and I bought a bunch of essentials: thread, buttons, bias tape, tailor's chalk and a few covered button sets. I wanted some fabric but promised the hubby I wouldn't buy any. I did buy some but it was online. I bought some really cute retro fabric and a chalk cartridge set. It's normally $15.99 in stores and it was $4.99 online so I jumped on it.  The refill sets are hard to come buy too.
Here's the fabric. Isn't it cute?  I haven't decided if I want to make a dress or a skirt. It'll moe than likely end up being a skirt. I do love me a good skirt.
 

Last week, I bought some vintage fruity beads and a floral bunch cherries and blossoms. I was very crafty this past weekend. I made a tutti fruity bracelet and a tutti fruity brooch. I had one saved to my Etsy Favorited but just couldn't bring myself to buy it. So instead I made it myself. I had contemplated buying these beads for a while. I was afraid that I'd buy them and have no idea what to do with them. That happens a lot with me and bead work.  I'm very happy with the way these two items came out. I like brooches but can never find any that I like. This one I used some lace, card stock, and felt. I sewed all of the beads onto the felt to make sure I didn't loose any beads. The bracelet I just stringed it on elastic string. 








 

I've collecting vintage buttons for a while now. I don't have a really big collection but I do have some buttons I really like. Most of them are from the 50's and have a great shape to them.  I finally got around to buyikng some earring posts and epoxy. Let me tell you, the epoxy bought stunk to high Heaven. Like a nasty skunk too. It was weird. I made two pairs and fixed a third. 

This pair was made from some vintage buttons. I had to  remove the shank and glued the posts on. They're a pretty hunter green color.




This is my Bakelite earrings. They originally had screw back posts and I am terrible at keeping those on. I used to hate clip on earrings but now I can wear them with out a problem. 



These buttons I bought at Joann's. I liked the pearly sheen to them and I don't have any pink earrings.



I went on a bit of a craft shopping spree and bought a few bunches of cherries/flowers. I've been wanting to make a cherry floral hair clip. I can never find cherries that I'm happy with. That or they are WAY over priced. I made a couple of hair clips and one cherry brooch.



This is my brooch. I've seen a lot of awesome cherry brooches especially the Bakelite ones but they are much pricier than anything I'd spend. I mean, if I found a bag of money I'd definitely buy it but not at the moment. I took a spray of cherries from one of the bunches and sewed it to felt that was sewed to the brooch pin. Then for good measure I glued the top of it and the leaves to the felt. It turned out pretty nice.


                                                                                                                                           

Today is my hubby's birthday. He's 28. I'm making him a cake and I think we're going out to dinner.  It'll be my birthday in a few weeks. I really don't feel old. I feel like I'm just starting to live my life. It's probably due to the fact that we're both on our own for the first time. I'm enjoying my time with my husband. It scares me to think that at some point in the future we may have children. I'm so afraid that if we have children we'll end up too stressed to enjoy ourselves. We're in no hurry to have children.

I leave you with a photo of Ridley in my petticoat. Every cat we've ever had has loved being in my petticoats. It's like a crinkly, crisp hideout.

Car Problems and Knitting

lately, I've been really involved with my knitting. I bought some round knitting needles and had to give them a try. I made my mom's Christmas present. I had her a cowl since she tends to get easily cold and a cute hat. I'm thinking of making her some mittens but being in Southern California I don't think she'll really need them.
This pattern was pretty easy to follow once I figured out that it was an alternating pattern. It's so much easier to work on round knitting needles instead of on double pointed needles. Stitches don't fall of as easily and it's a lot smoother.



 

Last post I let you know that we were and still are having car problems. Saturday the husband was going to work for some overtime. Well, he never made it. The car never turned over. We checked all the basic parts and then saw that one of the parts was fried. I mean literally. It had melted crusty plastic. I was pretty upset since all we have done lately was put money into the car. Jess loves his car but you come to a point where you have to decided whether the car is worth it or not. I've been having my mom and brother check out cars in California. Used cars are cheaper out there and  better quality.  It's bee a frustrating process not because  of the distance but because of my husband. We found a couple of small SUVs that looked in good condition but the husband was very blah about it. It's like he didn't like them but didn't want to say no. I told him that he needs to make a decision whether he likes it or not and let me know. I don't like indecisiveness. It slows downs processes and makes people waste their time. It's a pet peeve of my. Anyway, after putting more money into the car we finally got it running. Sort of. Now we need to replace some hardware on the battery. le sigh. More money. We're going to check out cars at used car lots this weekend. Since it's Labor Day weekend we may find some decent deals.


Here's some of the awesome clothes that I've found lately. Here's something you didn't know: I love old man sweater. I have since high school. Their comfy and warm.I very rarely buy new sweater. They dont fit well and are kinda pricey.

This sweater i had to dig out of a pile of sweaters. It was a 6' wide round table with a HUGE pile of sweaters on it. It's a wool/alpaca/acrylic blend so I'm betting it'll keep me nice and warm in the winter. 


Have I told you I love Orlon sweaters. I seem to be drawn to them and find them rather easily at thrift stores. I have a collection of five or six Orlon sweaters. I've had one for 12 years and only recently had to fix some minor holes and loose seams. I got both of these at less than a buck a piece.





I've been trying to find more feminine cardigans for my vintage outfits. The first cardigan is very soft and has that awesome beading detail. The second sweater I got at the same thrift store and has a golden sister. My husband said that it looked more like a Christmas sweater. Pfft. Like he knows. Dressing up for him consists of a nice button down shirt, jeans and sandals. Yeah sandals. Then he worries I look better than him.





This baby I've had for quite a while. I'm not really sure how to wear it. I've tried wearing it with leggins but it's not long enough to reach my hips. I've imagined maybe going for a beatnik outfit.



My mom bought me this guanengo. It's totally gorgeous and doesn't fit me.It won't go past my boobs. I have to find some similar fabric so I can add a strip to the side. I love the detail and colors of guanengos. Not to mention the fact that they are comfy and airy.






I found this vintage Vanity Fair nightie. I got it at an estate sale for 50 cents. I had to make the armholes bigger because of my arms but other than that it's in great condition.





I leave you with a pic of my beloved Ridley and his new toy. I knitted this carrot for him and he seems to like it. I found it near our bed this morning.






I hope everyone has a great weekend.

It's Been a While

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I want to start off by apologizing about the lack of posts. I've been wanting to post more but have been having a rather creative streak as of late. I don't mind it but sometimes it seems like I don't have enough time for everything.  I love it when my Muse visits me so I can't really complain. I've made a couple of pieces of clothing and have been working on some knitting. I'll make a separate post about all the goodies I've made.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it but our car is old. And it's dying. The last couple of weeks we've noticed that it's not getting enough gas. We had this problem one year ago. We had to replace the gas tank and straighten out the up-take lines. it cost us over $200. The car is 25 years old. The hubby seems to think that it's okay just needs some work. I think we need a "new-to-us" car. We've be seriously talking about it and my mom is willing to give us a loan. Interest free. What more can we ask for. And on top of that she's willing to wait until we pay off of AmEx to start making payments to her. We've looked at buying from private parties but the used car market out here is ridiculous $7500 for 1990 Honda in okay condition? No thanks pass. Hopefully we'll be going to check out some of the used car lots this weekend.  We actually did the math on renting a car vs owning a car like if we decided to visit family. It's much more cheaper to buy a car and make payments then to rent it. If we rent a car for the weekend it runs us like $350 plus gas. If we buy a car our payment would be $200 a month and it would be ours.  The good thing about Nevada is that insurance is way cheaper. We paid $125 for  6 months. Sure it's liability but my in-laws were paying $300 for the same car.

Anyways, sorry for rambling on. The last month I hit thrift store gold. I had a couple of weeks where I found a ton of great things. That was before the car was having trouble.

This was one of my finds at the annual St. Gall Rummage sale. It was hidden under one of the table in the gym. He's super glittery and totally awesome.  Let me tell you. I thought that the rummage sale was going to be small and very dinky. Boy was I wrong. It was HUGE. I was told by one of the volunteers that people plan their vacations around this rummage sale. It was pretty awesome.  I also bought some silk Christmas ornaments, a few bowls, a vintage Gloria Vanderbilt umbrella, some terry cloth, and a packet of hair combs. It was all under $10.






I've been having really good luck finding Carmen Miranda style jewelry. This set I bought off of eBay. It's a neckalace and earring set from the 1940's. It's got some damage to the earrings but the necklace is in great condition. I really like this set especially since the necklace has jalapenos on it. I  haven't  seen very many sets with jalapenos on them. Now i want to make a floral fascinator with roses and chile peppers. Pair it with an off shoulder blouse, my red leather sandals and a black skirt with colorful ric rac and I've got one colorful outfit.









These beauties I almost passed up. There was a new booth at the local antique store. It's a huge two story building. It's old enough it doesn't have any kind of air conditioning. They have to keep fans running during the summer and that's just barely tolerable. I found these earrings hiding in the top of a dresser under some scarves. I've gotten in the habit of looking under things since sometimes that's where the goodies are hiding. The fruit on these earrings are in great condition. The wiring and beads aren't. I've had to apply some glue to prevent the beads from breaking off. Other than that I love it. The colors are still vibrant and smooth.



I've been lusting after Lucite jewelry however since we're trying to save I can't justify paying $25 for a pair of earrings. I usually have a budget for how much I'm willing to spend on jewelry. So far the most I've spent on any one piece of jewlry was $15 for the necklace and earring set earlier. I've been luck finding vintage earrings for under $5. The first two pairs I got $3.50 each and the shell earrings were .75 cents.




Gold flecked Lucite earrings.



These tested positive for Bakelite with 409. These are also riveted in the back which makes me believe they are Bakelite.


These are cute and small. I like sea shells but never really knew how to work with them besides just gluing them to boxes or frames.



Last but not least is this vintage leather tooled shoulder bag.I bought it at one of the local charity run thrift stores. I like that thrift store a lot. I've found 1960's circular knitting needles in package for $1. Pretty sweet deal. This cost me $8 out the door. It needs to be cleaned up a little and some mending on the side pockets but it's a  Maraf leather bag . I have tried to look into how old it may be but I can't seem to find any info on the company. It's really comfortable and has lots of pockets to organize you things in. I'm super happy with this. I've been wanting a leather bag but didn't want to pay $40 plus for a bag in okay condition.





 And as always, I leave you with a pick of Ridley being cute.  Thanks for reading.

A Little Fright Here and There

Wow so this week flew by yet again. It always amazes me that I can loose track of time and not realize it until it's the end of the week. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm doing much better. Last week I had a bit of a a fright. Last Thursday, I was sitting on the recliner chair playing with my boob. Before you get the wrong idea I was rubbing the top of my boob. I get boob pains sometimes from sleeping on my chest so it's become second nature. I find it soothing and don't realize I do it 90% of the time. So I'm rubbing my boon and suddenly I feel a lump. I freak out go to our bedroom and give myself and exam. Yep definitely something there. By now, I'm almost in tears. Thankfully there is no history of breast cancer in our family but you never now. Luckily I was going to the OB/GYN  the next day to get my BC pill refilled. My mom keeps trying to talk me out of taking them so I can get pregnant. What is it with people hinting at having a baby when you closer to being 30? I'm a few years away but still everyone is pushing us to have kids.
Friday I go to my appointment but they can't see me since there booked solid so I schedule an appointment for early Saturday morning. Thank God all is good. Apparently I've drinking to much coffee. My body is sensitive to how much caffeine I take in. I've had this happen before. I had to kick the caffeine for several months. What was funny was that my boobs when down in size but then bounced back. So I have stopped drinking coffee. It's been one week and I do miss it. I love the smell of coffee and the perkiness it gives me. However, my breast health is much more important to me. I've noticed that it I drink or eat anything with caffeine I get a migraine. It's rapid and lasts until I go to sleep. I'm so glad that nothing bad is going on with my body.

I was going to make a post of all the goodies that I've bought at rummage sales and thrift stores. I haven't found my camera. I don't remember where I put it and haven't really remembered to look for it. I think Jess may buy me a new camera soon. That would be nice. Mine's over 5 years old and it shows it.  I'd also like to get a newer iPhone but we don't know how much that is going to set us back. We've been considering it since we've been going $40 over on text messaging. Yeah, it adds up and we don't need to waste money on texting.

The other day we sat down and finally figured out how and where we were spending our money. Let's just say we were spending WAY too much on eating out. Once you actually write it down and add it up, it's a lot. We decided that if we're going to eat out, we're going to make a nice dinner date out of it. It's more personal and you enjoy the meal more that way. Also, we're going to cut down on things we don't need.

This weekend is Hot August Nights in Reno/Sparks. It's a HUGE annual event that is centered around the 50's and 60's. There will  be hot rods, shows, food, and shopping. We're suppose to go tomorrow. Jess thought it would have been nice to rent a room and hang out in Reno. However, most of the hotels were sold out. That should give you an idea of how big of an event it is.

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Random Burst of Energy

I hadn't really felt like working on my sewing table these last couple of weeks. It's been on the hotter side of the thermometer and the fact I've been working in a garage doesn't help much. Today I was cleaning around the house and suddenly decided to work on sanding the legs. It's weird I get sudden bursts of energy like that sometimes. Not that I mind unless of course it's in the middle of the night. Then it's no fun because hubby needs to sleep. It makes for a restless night.
Anyways, back to woodworking. As I was sanding the legs, I noticed that they were numbered. They were all out of order. They're now back in order and a little bit steadier. I did a lot of sanding. I did a few different grades of grit from a rough to a finer finish. It's really something when you take a rough piece of wood and turn it into something smooth and beautiful. Here are all the legs smoothed and waiting to be sanded. i decided to stain the wood although it's not all solid wood. There are some parts of the table that are wood veneer. It's a good veneer  because it's not just a thin sheet glued to the front of particle board. It's about a 1/4" thick and nice hard wood too. I'm sure it'll look nice once it's stained.


 


This week started out with me wanting to do something different with my hair.  I've always wanted to do different things with my hair but have never really had the courage to do them. I've always been afraid that  I wouldn't be able to pull it off. Lately, I've been thinking that I'm going to try and be the person I was once I graduated from high school. I wasn't afraid of wearing what I wanted to; even if it didn't match or looked odd to other people. I miss being carefree and not worrying about what others think of me. So here it is: my new hair color. Don't mind the weird look on my face. I have a hard time smiling if I'm not laughing. I like the way it turned out. It's definitely different. The hubby liked it too. He actually picked out the color. He's always asking me to try blonde but I can't pull off the color. I look pale in a weird way. I guess sallow would be the best way to describe it. So I stick to colors that flatter me.



I don't know if y'all remember but several months ago I bought a couple of strawberry plants. I got one str5awberry from it and then the weather nearly killed it. Once the weather finally stopped being bat-shit crazy, they started to come back beautifully. Right now there are several little flowers waiting to turn into sweet tangy berries.




Isn't gorgeous? It's amazing how in a few days it went from a pale green to a beautiful red. I love to have hair that bright.

Here's a photo of Ridley-boy being all cute as he sleeps. Until next time, Ta!

Giveaway Alert!!

I just wanted y'all to know that Jessica over at Chronically Vintage Is having an awesome giveaway. Please check out her blog. Here's a link  to the giveaway.
Thanks and I hope everyone is having a great weekend.