Elizabeth Holcombe ~whimsies and words~

A Tidewater Weekend O' Fun!

Hello, Blogland Friends!~~~On Thursday I took Amtrak and rode down to see my Bff Suzy! I don't like to drive long distances by myself, and taking the train is very relaxing to me. Hubby dropped me off in Alexandria station and I waited in the early morning looking at this:

Alexandria, VA station is very old, cute, and quaint. It was also very quiet at seven in the morning.
But by one in the afternoon, I was with Suzy and we visited the huge quilt show held this weekend in Hampton. One of our favorite booths is run by the perky Maureen of Thoroughbred Threads. She and her pal are so FUN, and it was delightful to see her again!
Neither Suzy or I quilt, but we did find scads of wonderful vintage and new fabrics to use in forthcoming projects. Here is my haul:

Today, Friday, we hit a multitude of thrift and antique shops finding a few fun things. One place we visited is this crazy shop run by the local rescue mission. The dude behind the counter is a nice as could be and he pretty much prices everything for a quarter. I found three things and he charged me a quarter for everything. According to Suzy, he wouldn't take more money. The place is pretty wild and dingy but if you look under the layers of crud you'll find a few treasures!

The highlight of today was going to the lovely Tidewater town of Smithfield, VA (the town famous for it's salt-cured hams). We visited this cool shop:

And then we had a wonderful lunch of crabcakes (Suzy) and Brunswick Stew and fried green tomatoes (me), with coconut cake (Suzy) and caramel cake (me) for dessert. We rolled out of the restaurant and saw this fun statue~~~Here's one part of it:

Cool pigeons. But looky who they are visiting:

I really don't get the Benjamin Franklin connection in Smithfield, and perhaps someone could enlighten me. I like the statue very much though.

We came back to Suzy's house and her sweet Smooth Fox Terrier, Wendy, and I hung out while Suzy took care of some business. Here she is in the guest room:

And here is Wendy in Suzy's backyard:

She's a very photogenic dog as you can plainly see here.

Suzy has some fun things in her garden. I really like this Buddha, which she calls Jeffrey--don't ask :)
 
Well, my friends, tomorrow Suzy and I set out for a big adventure visiting some other delightful blogland pals and antiquing till we drop! Until tomorrow...!~~~XXOO, Beth

A Fun Craft Tutorial For A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

As a contributing editor to Vintage Indie, I come up with at least two DIY "Dime Store Chic" craft projects a month. Earlier this month Vintage Indie published my easy-as-pie decorative gelatin mold. Today they published a FUN birthday cake topper tutorial I created with vintage bits and pieces and a trophy top. This is super fun and what a great decoration for the cake top or tabletop!

If you don't feel up to making this cutie piece yourself, I have listed it in my etsy shop along with other trophy cake toppers for little or big boys!~~~This is a fun craft and can be made in so many styles to suit your birthday boy or girl!~~~XXOO, Beth

Thrift Shops Keep You On Your Toes

Last week I visited a neighborhood thrift shop only because it's next to my post office. I wouldn't go there otherwise. This shop used to be really cluttered but with great prices and cool stuff. However, in the last few years the shop has cleaned up their act and dramatically raised their prices. Last week I happened to be in there with my friend, Jo, who is no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing her opinion. While we browsed the over-priced wares, I spotted a diamond in the rough on the counter:

I was captivated by the lovely pink mums against the stark black background. I trembled when I looked at the price knowing that this beauty would be in the stratosphere. I had to blink hard when I saw "$4 as is" on the tag. As is, I later learned, was because of the rust on the tray. Rust??? I have NO problem with rust, do you?

Who cares about rust when there is so much loveliness? I happily bought the tray. My friend Jo had found a platter with a simple floral transfer design on it and boggled at the $30 price. She asked the ladies at the counter, who she knew very well, why the prices were so high. She gave the platter as an example. One of the ladies said, and I'm not paraphrasing here, "Oh, it's antiquy OLD, very OLD." In reality it wasn't that OLD, it was actually from the 40's or 50's. What the heck did they think about my tray. It's OLD too, but that's not why I bought it. I love the look of it. If it was made yesterday I still would have bought it for $4. These folks who price things high that are donated to them do so not out of any special knowledge, but out of misguided instinct. I know they want to make money for their charity, pay the rent for the shop, but they aren't working in an antique shop and there is a huge difference between how items are curated and cared for in an antique shop and in a thrift shop. I'm sure you regular thrifters know what I mean.

But I got my tray, and it is so lovely on our coffee table with the crown I won from delicious Shabby Fufu and the sparkly Irish lass is from dear Debbie at Bayberry Cove.

Thanks for letting me step onto my soapbox. I hope you have inspired thrifty finds this week!~~~XXOO, Beth

A Special Treat for #500!

Hello, Blogland Friends!~~I am so honored that I have reached 499 sales in my etsy shop! How exciting! So to celebrate what will be my 500th sale, I've got a special surprise package of extra goodies for my 500th customer! If you have a minute take a look at my new offerings in etsy. I just listed a new series of cutie pie petite pin cushions! If you're into miniatures you'll like these and you may be lucky number 500!~~XXOO, Beth

Well, as of 9 a.m. EST, Miss Julie is number 500! Thanks, Julie!!!~~~But, you know, I have gifties aplenty and will be happy to give them to numbers 501, 502, and 503 :)))))

I'm Ba-ackkkk!

Hello, Blogland Friends!~~~I am so thrilled to have my 'puter back! The dudes at the computer hospital called and said I could pick it up by 7:30. The man said they weren't open and to knock on the side door to be let in. Hubby went with me saying he wasn't about to let me go into some "side door" alone. What a guy! Well, my 'puter is all better with some wonderful new protection and the cost was WAY cheaper than the big box store would charge. Thanks Suzy for the heads up about "mom and pop" establishments!

I finally got to list more goodies in my etsy shop tonight too! Here's a peek at one of the "mini-pin cushions" I put in the shop tonight:

Good to be back! Now I can cruise blogland again with no worries!~~~XXOO, Beth

Computer in the Hospital

Hello,Blogland Friends~~~~

The other evening I stupidly did not renew an anti-virus program on my computer. Yes, I am an idiot. Within an hour of my anti-virus expiring, a NASTY virus infected my computer. It was horrible! Popups came every second.Badgering me to the point of insanity. Even capable hubby couldn't fix it. Yesterday I took my ailing laptop to a computer "hospital". The man there knew exactly about the virus. He also said he could FIX IT! I will have my laptop back on Saturday and can list new items in my etsy shop and post on my blog with photos! Happy day!

In the meantime I am borrowing my son's laptop which has a barely working space bar and all of these strange things which look like aliens on it.~~~See you all again on Saturday! And my advice to you is renew that anti-virus thingy when the time comes!~~~XXOO, Beth

Black and White World

Hello, my Friends~~~

I am taking a night class in digital photography. Our talented and very knowledgeable instructor is teaching us to use settings on our cameras other than "automatic". I thought I would share this week's homework with you. The assignment was to use the exposure setting on our cameras. We were to take photos of black objects and white objects. With the black objects we were to underexpose the picture to bring out the rich darkness in the black objects. With the white objects we were to overexpose to bring out the brightness in the white objects.

Here is my black photo, underexposed to bring out the darker tones:

The main subject is a Scotty napkin ring riding an emu egg. I like to inject a tone of humor in my photo as you can see.

For the white photograph, I used a similar theme as in the black photo:

This bird looks really tired to have laid that egg!~~So there are my assignments. Now to send them off to the teacher. Thank goodness we don't get graded!~~~XXOO, Beth

Happy Valentines Day and A Winner!

Happy Valentines Day, my friends!~~~The random number generator has spoken and the winner is Deb! Congrats Deb and a huge thanks to all who entered!

And here's pretty much what Valentines Day in our house is like...

Have a happy day filled with love!~~~XXOO, Beth

A Sweet Valentine's Day Give-Away!

Hello, My Friends!~~~In honor of Valentines Day this Saturday, I am giving a little love away! My dear friend, Debbie, of Bayberry Cove gave me these two adorable Jennifer Murphy critters from Midwest Imports of Cannon Falls to give to one lucky winner! The mouse is Little Lulu and the bluebird is Sweetest Song. So CUTE!!~~~Please leave a comment on this post, and I'll draw a name on Saturday morning~~Valentines Day!

International comments welcome too!~~~Now go get your Valentine on!~~~XXOO, Beth

Gelatin Mold Make-Over

Happy Tuesday!~~~If you have a minute, take a stroll over to Vintage Indie to see how to make this very easy and glittery craft! I found this sweet gelatin mold and knew I had to give it a new life!

You can find my super easy tutorial here!~~~Happy crafting!~~~XXOO, Beth