Year of dreams

I've been dreaming about the same things for a very long time. And I've finally decided that this is the year. The year to stopped simply dreaming and to start pursuing those dreams. I want to be able to be home with my kids. Maybe not all the time, but a lot more. And more money wouldn't hurt at all. I'm barely making enough to pay the bills right now.... let alone any extra.

I believe that we have this one life on earth to live and we should enjoy it. It can't be all about work, even though some of it has to be. My goal for this year is to begin using my talents and doing the things I love to do, the desires God has placed on my heart, and to use these to pursue an income. I want to start my own business, for now in addition to what I'm already doing for employment, but with the "someday" hope that I can make it into a full time thing.

 So I'm working on this blog more often. I'm shining up my etsy page ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/BricABracShoppe) in preparation to begin listing items to sell. And I'm making things to list. I'm organizing my craft room, my house, my finances, my paperwork, my life - so that I can stop this constantly feeling overwhelmed thing (I'm sick of it) and start really living. I want to enjoy my kids while they're still kids. I want to travel. I want to be able to financially support the people and organizations I love. I want to develop my creativity - to see what I am really capable of.

  I don't know if this is even reasonable to hope for, but then dreams are necessarily supposed to be reasonable are they?

Christmas Crafties

I've been busy working my creative brain cells. Here are some of the crafty bits I've completed: 

Photo Frame & Embroidered Vintage Linen Pincushion/Brooch Holder ($6.95 meas. ~ 3 1/2 " x 4 1/2 ")

(Vintage Brooch $4.95)

"She Felt Pretty" Journal (4 x 6" Pages are Brown Handmade/Recycled Look Kraft Paper) $4.95 

                                   "Oh Deer" / "Be a Deer" (^/v) Reversible Pendant (meas. 2"x2")  $7.95

I made a series of these shadowboxes. They can hang as ornaments or on the wall, or sit propped up on a shelf. Each is made of white chipboard, measuring 3 1/2" h x 5" w

 Winter Girl ( I did add a nice ribbon to this and removed the fish line hanger) $4.95

 Gold House (Also added a ribbon) $4.95

 White Deer (The tree is lighter than it shows up here) $6.95

 Vintage Red Deer (trimmed with a lovely bit of vintage Christmas ribbon) $5.50

Wood "Toys and Dolls" Sale Sign. Reproduction Vintage advertisement on a high quality wood plaque that had been painted, distressed, and decoupaged with layers of paper. (meas 11" w x 15" h; sawtooth hanger) $19.95

My sister the Fairy

                                         Mushrooms (and a garden hose but I cropped that out)

Kelsey sitting on a butterfly stool. 

( I SO wanted one of these until I saw the $4,000 price tag- OUCH!) 

                                                 

Finished Photo 

This is a photo I did for the fair (I didn't win anything ... I think maybe it was a bit too much for the sweet little old ladies who judge to handle). I took two photos I had snapped at Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron -go there if you haven't already, it's a beautiful gem in a less than impressive city. Lots of photo shopping and two merged snapshots later and my sister Kelsey became a sparkly fairy.

Bric A Brac

Not much of a post, but I just realized that the definition for Bric a Brac (1830-1840) is not much older than my house (1850). So weird to think about how much things have changed. Wish my house's walls could speak ... the stories they could tell!

Home Tour March 2011 -Kitchen

 These awesome swinging parlor doors lead into the kitchen. My son calls them western or cowboy doors.

Open shelving on either side of the window. Strangely the window is situated over the stove, rather than the kitchen sink. Hmm... 

Green countertops - they actually don't match- they used two different types. The cabinets also don't match, and there is a door off. I want white cabinets and brushed nickel pulls and knobs.

Cabinets on the right side of the kitchen. They also are mismatched.

And the ugliest of them all- the white laminate cabinet. Ugh. I bought a set to replace this monstrosity. Now I'm just looking for countertops, a sink (this one had some big chips in it) and a new faucet. Note that the flooring is also carpet. Not cool!

In the Beginning

This spring I did something I have always dreamed of, since I was a little girl flipping through my Grandma's Country Living magazines for hours on end. I bought a house. Not just a house, THE house. My house. The old brick beauty that had woven itself into my meandering daydreams (and as a creative person with undiagnosed, but almost certain ADD, my daydreams were and still are wont to meander). I didn't know her details, that house - only that she would be big, and brick and old. You see to some things lose their value with age and wear, but to me age means wisdom, and faults - whether they be cracks, peeling paint, or colors fading in the sunlight, are like wrinkles in a happy old woman's face. They are well earned, from untold years of smiles and tears, and to be respected and cherished. A good person grows more beautiful to the ones she is loved by, and so it should be with the things we hold onto in this life.

I for one, am a collector of things. There is no set rule which dictates to me the value of a thing. It may be its color, or its texture, or its history. It may be an inexplicable pull that draws me to it. Often the price value is nil, but to me, I still see its worth. For a teacup with a chip may not hold monetary value, but if it brings a smile to someone's face, it has earned its keep.

This website, aptly named "Bric-a-Brac", which is a French term that basically means "stuff". Aren't the French ever more lovely with their terms than we? Anyhoo- this is a place for me to post the progress - and very likely the setbacks - of the transformation of my house, from an old storefront that has seen the peddling of everything from cabinets and coffins, European pastries, and quilting supplies, to now owning the dubious honor of being home to myself and my two children.

I welcome you along on my journey.