Way Back Wednesday - Back Next Week

Hello friends!

Well, I just got this little Way Back Wednesday feature started last week, but will have to pick it up again next week because we are on our way out of town - a road trip to Canton!!! Hubby and I and sweet little Maddie are heading up the road to "First Monday Trade Days" in Canton Texas today - you might remember we got derailed last month because I got sick - but I am ready and rarin' to go now!! I'm SO EXCITED!! It's one of the largest Flea Markets in the nation and has everything you can possibly imagine for sale. I am looking forward to picking up some more vintage goodies like this...

so I can make some more pieces like these...

...but more importantly, Hubby, puppy and I are just going to be headquartered here...

...enjoying ourselves thoroughly...fishing, sitting in the hot tub, star-gazing - the good stuff....oh, and for sure we'll be having some of this while we're away...

To me, breakfast is the best meal when you're on vacation - I guess it's because you have more time to leisurely enjoy it...aaahhhh...can't wait......

I'll take lots of photos, you can be sure, and I'll share about all our adventures when we return. Take care y'all...

Little Things Mean a Lot

I had a nice little surprise yesterday - you know, the kind that make you grin off and on throughout the day - the kind that make you pick up the phone to call your Mom and say "Mom, go to the "New Designs 2008 page on the Universal Designs Inc. website and you'll see my stuff there!!". So, my little surprise was to have a couple of my licensed designs featured on the Universal website - to my knowledge, they hadn't been before. The items featured here are called "Pass-It-On" cards and they are teeny little 15 cent cuties that are perfect for leaving with a tip, popping into a lunch box or greeting card, or even for use in crafting/collage.

For '08, Universal has also opted to use my existing designs, but translate the Scriptures into Spanish as you can see below...Cool huh..?

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." Psalm 37:7

God Thinks You're Special!
"The Lord your God loves you." Deutoronomy 23:5
______________________________

It was just a little thing, seeing my humble little designs out there, but you know - little things really do mean a lot. A smile, a kind word, a hug, a note of encouragement, or even a little surprise from out of the blue - these things matter, whether you are the giver or the receiver. For me, this was a little reminder from God that He is guiding me and I am doing what He has called me to do - and these little cards are out there like tiny seeds being planted in the hearts and minds of the recipients - who knows what might grow from them!!

______________________________

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." Zechariah 4:10

Way Back Wednesday - 1973

Welcome to the first installment of what I hope will be a weekly feature at Just Bee 'n Me: Way Back Wednesday! Each Wednesday I will travel in the way-back machine to a particular year from my past and share some personal memorabilia, photos, artwork, and anything else that might be half-way intersting with all of you - and invite you to share your memories from that year too.

The first inspiration piece for Way Back Wednesday was a no-brainer - my parents have been doing a lot of clean-up/de-cluttering lately, and lots of goodies have been turning up in the process - and this still life painting of mine, from 1973 (when I was 12) emerged, much to my delight. I had forgotten all about it... (I guess I loved robin's eggs, robin-egg blue and nests all the way back then too - here's my contemporary still life with similar elements)


I painted this during the year that my Mom and I took oil painting lessons together at the Parks and Recreation Department in Pasadena, Texas. Our instructor was a quirky, artsy, tad-bit flambouant gal who knew her stuff and was great fun. It was a wonderful time for the two of us - painting together in class...as well as at home, where we got to expand and experiment. Thanks Mom for ALWAYS encouraging me in my art!!!

Mom and I, circa 1973

A box yielding tons of painting instruction books, old calendars, catalogs, greeting cards, magazine clippings and other imagery that we collected for inspiration was also found and I've diplayed a few of the painting books here along with a page of written color formulas for a still life in my Mom's handwriting. Lots of great memories there... (in a future post, I will share some photos of my Mom's paintings as well as one my Dad painted when even he got in on the lessons!)

Since 1973 is the featured year, I thought I'd throw in one more bit of early 70's nostalgia - my hat, sash, and handbook from Girl Scouts - I believe the Spring of '73 was my last year in scouting. I LOVED being in Girl Scouts - the campouts, the crafts, the badges, selling cookies, wearing the uniform to school - good times....

SO - now it's your turn - what were you up to in 1973? (if you were even around then :o) I'd love to hear from you! Please share a comment - or if you'd like, make your own Way Back Wednesday post and share it here!

Happy, Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day to You All!!

I hope each and every one of you are having a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day!! You truly have been an encouragement to me - and for that I thank you with my whole heart!!

I wanted to first share photos of my recently received goodies from my SWEET Vintage Heart Swap Partner Sarah!!

Such sweet vintage heart goodness!!

Adorable socks, doiley and pink candy cane ornament

Love these handmade Valentine cards (made from little white sacks - fun!!) Love the hand embellishments - and the "B" with cute buttons is wonderful!!

Candy is right for any occasion - but it's especially good at Valentine's!!

I LOVE linens!!! The beautifully shabby-sweet table scarf is PERFECT - and look at those embroidered dishtowels - great!!

This sweet, tiny heart box had a hand-carved beeswax heart inside with two tiny birds in the design. Precious!

These vintage finds and handmade tag are wonderful - my kind o' stuff!

The poem inside the vintage card is beautiful - I just LOVE it!!

Thank you soooo much SWEET SARAH!! I love it ALL and will treasure these lovely jewels forever!! You were a WONDERFUL swap partner!!

And thank you my BFF Dolly at From My Cherry Heart for hosting this awesome swap - it was SO fun. If you'd like to see more photos from the Vintage Heart Swap - check them out here on Flickr!
______________________________

And an extra-special thanks goes out to my sweet hubby for these oh-so-perfect Valentine goodies - you did REAL good Baby - I love you so much - it is wonderful spending our first Valentine's together as husband and wife - you rock my world. Thank you!!! And thank You Lord for bringing him into my life!! I am so very blessed!!!

ahhhh Roses....beautiful!!

and sweet bear and yummy chocolates - you know me SO well!!

Thank you Baby for being so kind and loving - I LOVE YOU!!
______________________________

Love is patient and kind.

Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

It does not demand its own way.

It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

My 10,000th Hit!!!

As promised a couple of weeks ago, I am sending a copy of my 2008 Calendar to my 10,00th blog visitor/link-hoster. I hadn't planned on doing such a giveaway, but one day a couple of weeks ago (before I got sick and got completely off my schedule) I scrolled down to my counter-thingy as I regularly do and saw that it was exactly at 10,000!! Cool!! So, I went to the details page to see if I could tell where the 10,000th person had been referred from - sure enough, it wasn't a random Google search as I figured it would be, it was a visitor from....."A Gathering of Friends" - Miss Paula's blog!!!! Now I don't have any way of knowing who exactly was the visitor (I'm not "big brother" enough to know such things) - but I definitely could see the referrer was Miss Paula's blog!! So, I decided right then and there that I was going to celebrate this milestone and send Miss Paula a calendar as a way to say thank you for hosting a link to Just Bee 'n Me at her place. Congrats Miss Paula!!!!!

I invite you to hop over to sweet Miss Paula's 'gathering of friends' and say hi to my sweet blog buddy. She loves the Lord, shares from the heart, is a big Beth Moore fan (like me), appreciates beauty, loves the simple things, and is just an all-round nice gal. Love you Paula!!

Vintage Heart Swap Partner - Howdy Sarah!!

I would be remiss - a bad blogger and generally lousy swap participant - if I went one more second without introducing you to my sweet and very smart swap partner: Sarah B. B. of experiment land!! I will share photos of our vintage heart swap goodies as soon as all have been received on both sides (and considering that I have yet to ship mine as of 2:52 CST Monday the 4th, it'll definitely be a few days yet...but still in plenty of time for Valentines!!). Say hi to Sarah for me, wish her a belated happy 3rd anniversary and congrats on her 100th post...oh yeah, and in your spare time, read a few books from her recommended reading list - I told you she was smart!! :o)

Hugs Sarah!!!

Much better now...

...the nasty germs have been crushed and I am feeling like a new woman!! Thank you Lord!! Many thanks for your sweet comments and well wishes and prayers while I was sick - I appreciate it so much!! BTW, my Mom is much better as well and is venturing back to work today (my Mom still works full time at 69 years old - she's such a trooper!!) Anyway, I will be back to the business of blogging today and throughout the week - so much to share and to catch up on - I hope you'll stop back by often to see what's new...

Many thanks again!!!

______________________________

"A cheerful heart is good medicine..."
Proverbs 17:22