Our Hopeful Home

Vintage Jewelry Giveaway Winner!

October 23, 2010

FINALLY, it's time to anonounce the winner of my Vintage Jewelry Giveaway. I'm so excited for the winner..........drumroll, please........................and the winner is:

#180, Mindy who said, "Beautiful! Thank you for the giveaway opportunity!"

Congratulations, Mindy!

I'd like to thank you all for your super-kind comments throughout the giveaway ~ you really made me happy that I decided to share this treasure with you! Ironically, I started this whole thing to celebrate 200 followers, and now I have almost 300! Who knows ~ perhaps a 500 follower giveaway is in the making?

Hope you're all having a great weekend.

Rosaries, Pearls and a Prayer

October 20, 2010

My latest creation is a pair of earrings ~ I don't actually WEAR dangles, but I'm moved to make them from time to time. I put together two of my favorites to make these ~ rosaries and pearls.

The two crucifxes are from barn sale rosaries, and they hang from freshwater pearls and topaz beads.

The findings and earwires are sterling silver.

I tend to use crucifixes in my vintage necklaces, although I do like how they seem to make a statement here. And as with all of my vintage religious pieces, I feel a sense of wonder about those before me who used them to pray ~ while knowing they can hold that same power for me, or whoever ultimately becomes their owner. They should be in my
Etsy shop by the end of the week.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already (Friday deadline) and I hope you're having a great week!

Vintage Necklace Giveaway Update and Quest for Missing Followers

October 19, 2010

Just a reminder that my vintage necklace giveaway will be over at midnight CST this Friday, October 22nd. You can still enter here.

I'll announce the winner some time on Saturday. Some people were under the impression that it's a bracelet, but alas, it's a necklace. If you'd rather not be entered in a necklace giveaway, please click on my profile in the right sidebar and then e-mail me from there. I'll then take you out of the running since I know many entrants who would be happy if I winnowed down the list a bit lol!

Also, some weird things have been happening with people's comments on the giveaway.....more than a few comments say that the commenter has become a follower, but their profile button never shows up on my list of followers. (Some of them do have me listed in THEIR profiles as a blog they follow, some don't....) The main reason I mention this is that if my blog is actually having technical difficulties with adding followers I need to let Blogger know. If you ARE a follower and you can't find yourself in my followers' box in my sidebar, please let me know by commenting on this post! The more I know, the easier it will be to straighten things out.

Also, because I'm using Random Number Generator to pick the winner, just a reminder that there should be a separate comment for each item you complete ~ i.e., one generic comment, one follower comment, one I-posted-about- your-giveaway comment and one I-have-your-button-in-my-sidebar comment. If you've already put it all in one comment, DO NOT COMMENT AGAIN TO FIX IT. I'm just mentioning this for any future entrants and just in general because I may be hosting another giveaway next week!!!!!! (I must be crazy, I know....)

More details on that giveaway coming shortly.

Hope I haven't bored you all to death with this blah blah blah stuff. And I hope you all have a great week!

Do You Know This Woman?

October 14, 2010

I'm so embarrassed ~ I frequently snatch up vintage religious icons and medals at flea markets and tag sales and I just made a necklace with a medal/pendant I LOVED ~ but I didn't know for sure who she was! Does anybody know this woman?

Okay, so that's not really a close-up. Let's try again.

Okay, so any ideas? Well, I found out this morning pretty much by accident. I stopped at a local religious store to pick up Guardian Angel prayer cards for my son's first grade Sunday School class (they'll be learning about it this Sunday) and it occurred to me that the store owner might know who it was. And of course I was wearing the necklace so I asked him if he knew and he said, without missing a beat, "That's St. Theresa." Well, 12 years of Catholic school education clearly did not serve me well in this instance! I was embarrassed that I didn't know it was her. Her name is actually St. Therese of Lisieux France, and she was a Carmelite nun who died at the age of 24. You can learn more about the "Little Flower"
here.

Well, I guess that's enough of the religious history lesson......all I know is that when I wear it I feel VeRY BLEsseD.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spooky Monday on Tuesday with a Twist

October 12, 2010

Life has been SO getting in the way these past days that I even missed Spooky Mondays last week and, obviously, I'm late for it this week! Sorry, Wendy, of Wendy's Adventures in Wonderland, our Spooky Modays Host. Now, on with the show....

Cute in an eerie sort of way, don't you think?

Perhaps it's the oddly disproportionately sized heads that push the eerie envelope? Gotta love the candy corn though! My ~~weakness~~ favorite!

Frick and Frack

I also love vintage Halloween images, and picked up these wood signs for a song a few years ago.

Okay, so I've shared even more Halloween decor (who would have thought it possible?). The twist, however, is that I couldn't post this without adding a little fall goodness by way of my son's first grade field trip to the apple picking farm.

Such etiquette! I mean, who knew?

I'll restrain myself from showing you pictures of the hayride, but forgive me because I can't resist sharing with you this picture of the apple of my eye (no pun intended).

His pick? Why, Jonathan apples are the best!

Happy Spooky Monday on Tuesday to you all ~

and I hope you're all enjoying the spirit of the fall season in one way or another

no matter where you live, whether it be

picking apples or visiting the pumpkin patch

displaying mums or stuffing scarecrows

hanging skeletons or eating candy corn (!)

raking leaves or giving thanks

it's all pretty wondrous, don't you think?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Marvelous Mom on Etsy Mom's Blog

October 11, 2010

Have you heard about the Etsy Mom Street Team? You probably know that Etsy has MANY teams, or communities, of like-minded handcrafters. I’m a proud member of the Etsy Mom Street Team. Their mission is dedicated to promoting women artists and crafters who also share the joy of being mothers. And today their blog, Etsy Mom, is featuring me and my jewelry designs. Check out their blog, read the review, then leave a comment there so I know you stopped by.

My thanks go out to Kimberly for featuring me. {You should stop by her Etsy shop, Cinnamon Spice Papercrafts, and check out her fabulous handcrafted papergoods ~ cards, tags, embellishments and more.} If you’re an Etsy crafter, for a full list of possible Etsy teams you can join, go here. There's currently over 450 of them, so my guess is you just might find a team that's right for you.

Have a great week everyone!

Vintage Dragonfly's Halloween Giveaway Winner ~ Me!

October 8, 2010

I was lucky enough to win my friend Joanne's Halloween giveaway over at Vintage Dragonfly. I swear I never used to win anything but I guess the tides have turned for the better!

The delicate, pretty package. Excitement! I LoVe to get packages in the mail, don't you?

A lovely note card with special sentiments on the back!

And here's Grandma Skelly in all her spooky glory! She fits right in with my Halloween decor. But that's not ALL she sent me! Take a look!

Joanne is so talented! I'm totally into these tags.......

Look at that vintage lace!

Something wicked this way comes.......

Witch in training.....

And what a spectacularly decorated vintage Bingo card! I think I want to be HER for Halloween! Fabulous. Thanks again, Joanne. I am honored to be on the receiving end of your gracious and generous Halloween giveaway.

Now all of you head on over to her blog and check out her many other amazing talents!

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend everyone ~ and Fall frolicking is mandatory!

Citrine Charm Necklace and Black Friday Boutique

October 6, 2010

Okay. I know the name of this blog is CHARM BRACELET DIVA. But I'm guessing you all have noticed that I'm making quite a lot of n-e-c-k-l-a-c-e-s these days, not bracelets! I'm still the CBD, believe me, but for some reason I feel compelled to create vintage charm necklaces. Problem is, I make them and want to wear them. Put them in my Etsy shop? Nah......maybe another day. Is anybody with me on this?

Anyway ~ surprise ~ I just finished yet another necklace. I'm a very Fall Colors sort of person, and that's come out in this necklace.

I'm calling the glass beads citrine since that's the closest color I can compare them to. Or is it topaz?

You tell me. Anyway, it feels good to create something rather than just sit and tool on the computer, which is what I've been doing a lot of these days. Now if I could just get some charm bracelets made in time for my Black Friday Sale I'll be in good shape.

More news to come soon about the Black Friday Sale, or Somewhat Simple's Studio Boutique. Also, if you haven't yet entered my giveaway do not despair (sigh). The giveaway ends on October 22nd!

Oh, and am I the only one eating gobs of candy corn?

Pink is One of My Favorite Colors

October 5, 2010

You all probably know by now, but in case you don't, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In light of this, I wanted to share with you a great resource for breast cancer awareness blog buttons. Yes, BLOG BUTTONS! My very talented friend Sharon over at Plumrose Lane has been so kind as to create some "going pink for October" buttons with a Halloween twist. You've got to head on over there and check them out, as well as her awesome blog. She also designed some going pink blog backgrounds that are simply fabulous! And they're free with code for you to copy and paste, easy peasy. Check out the buttons.

So hard to choose, love them both. But I went with the spider web!

The cause is close to both our hearts, our moms having had the disease. I'm a firm believer in annual mammograms and urge all of you who are delinquent in making your annual mammogram appointment (and you know who you are!) to MAKE IT NOW!

I've placed my going pink button at the top of my blog, in honor of my mom, and Sharon's mom. Will you be joining me? Please do!

Thank you Sharon for once again unselfishly sharing your talents with us.

And for those of you who haven't yet entered my giveaway, go HERE and enter! It's not too late ~ Bonne Chance! xoxo

Ode to Fall in a Small Town (or The One That Didn’t Get Away)

October 1, 2010

Have you ever been to a flea market, antique store or estate sale and found a treasure that makes your heart go thumpety-thump? And then your heart drops because you see the asking price? This has happened to me more times than I can count. But s-o-m-e-t-i-m-e-s I’ve been able to haggle the price down and bring that baby home.

The first time I saw this painting at a local church barn sale it was way too expensive for my wallet. I left without it and hoped that it would be there the following week at a reduced price. My prayers were answered because against all odds it was! Well, the price hadn’t been reduced, but I knew they wanted to unload it so I haggled them down to a third of the asking price! And it's HUGE, exactly what I've been waiting for to hang above our family room fireplace.

I LOVE THIS!

Now let me explain why…..

We live in a “village” of around 2,900 people. This bucolic and historic village is known for its horse properties and 76-year-old riding club. The village itself will be 176 years old this year. Each fall, fox hunts are a mainstay in these parts (don't worry ~ no foxes are injured!). It’s quite common to see the riders in their red or black blazers trotting down the street or on one of the many horse trails in town. This Sunday is the annual Blessing of the Hounds ~ an event where the pastor of the village church blesses the hounds who participate in the fox hunts. The blessing will be followed by a hunt, and we’ll know that fall is officially here! This painting portrays polo players but the overall homage to horses remains the same.

Look at the open book, the wire-rimmed glasses (which may be hard for you to see), riding gloves, riding hat and the vintage clock.

And I really love the "paintings within a painting" thing that's going on as well. The frame, not so much. But I guess that's going to be a whole other barn sale!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my

Ode To Fall In A Small Town.

And thanks so much

for spending time with me today!

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