Rare Footage!

One morning, I was sipping coffee outdoors. . . . Enjoying paper lanterns hanging from our tree like earrings. . . . When my husband joined me, SUDDENLY, Rex, our adopted outdoor cat jumped on Doug's lap begging for attention! I ran for my camera to take these RARE photos of my-husband-the-canine-lover, feline-hater! I was able to capture this rare footage before Doug started sneezing and repeating his diatribe about how cats are finicky, flighty, and temperamental! One day I should devote an entire post to Rex. He's an ideal companion and he thinks he's a lap dog, maybe for Doug's benefit!

Summer Sale!

It's time for a sale at Cutepinkstuff.com! My husband insists I reduce the inventory that is crowding his garage! EVERYTHING is on SALE! Hope to see you there!

White Picket Fence Gone Wrong!

Welcome to our IMperfect home! I'm joining Linda at Restyled Home by sharing an imperfection in our front yard. This photo was taken in June 2005 before we installed our picket fence. The sod and sprinkler system were installed, but we forgot to plan ahead for placement of our fence. Sprinkler heads were placed at each corner of our brick walkway where the fence posts were supposed to be. It was too late to reconfigure the sprinkler system, so we had figure out how/where to place the fence posts for the front gate.Here's a little secret. . . . the ornate wrought iron sections of our fence were a quick fix for one of our many mistakes as homeowners! While shopping for other items at a local antique mall, I happened to find two wrought iron pieces, painted white, rusty and charming in a shabby chic sort of way! My husband had doubts, but I had a vision! I was certain they could be placed at a diagonal next to our gate thereby avoiding the sprinkler heads. We were blessed to find 2 of the wrought iron pieces!Now, the sprinkler heads water the flowers growing on both sides of our front gate. It's as if we planned it from the beginning!

Thank you, Lynn and Cielo!

Lynn, thank you for your thoughtfulness, friendship and The Brillante Weblog Award!
Cielo, thank you for your kind words, faith and special Blog of Distinction Award!

Catch Up!

I don't like playing catch up . . . with cleaning, laundry, mending, projects, weeding and pruning. However, I don't mind catching up with magazines! In fact, I intentionally let them pile up saving them for a special block of time when I can:
Country Home Magazine

Be inspired.

Home Companion April/May 2008

Have fun.

House Beautiful April 2008

Relax.

(Hmmm, I don't recall where I saw this one.)

And dream. . . .

God Bless America!

I love decorating for the Fourth of July! It reminds me of summer, barbeques, family and freedom! Hope everyone has a blessed and safe weekend!

AS IS!

This could be me someday!Who can resist rummaging through thrift stores for bargains? There's only one thing better than a vintage find. A vintage find requiring no work! A treasure requiring no fixing, rewiring, tightening, sanding, scraping or painting! Don't get me wrong! There's great satisfaction in turning trash to treasure.

HOWEVER. . . . I'm completely satisfied when I find a piece that is beautiful AS IS!

Recently, I've been blessed with a few such treasures. My husband is happy that less pieces are doing time in his garage awaiting rehabilitation!I purchased this corner unit in Agoura Hills. It fits perfectly in an awkward corner next to our fireplace. It houses my fire logs, tea lights and lighters. It was already pink and chippy, the glass knobs were included and it was move in ready! A few weeks ago, my neighbor sold me a glass front cabinet purchased years ago at a local flea market that she had in storage. It now holds my collection of Lenox Village spice jars. White and chippy, vintage and functional, on the wall and done! A couple of weeks ago I was driving to Burbank when I spotted a Good Will thrift store. I couldn't pass by without peeking in. On a back counter I found this stained glass light fixture barely showing pink under the many layers of dust. It had no price tag, no cracks or chips and no home. Awww...how could I leave without it! Cost: $8.00! It works, too! (I just have to find a perfect place for it in my home. Now THAT may require some work!) Thrilled with my purchase and while loading it in my truck, I saw a Jewish Women's thrift shop on the same block. I had some time left on the parking meter, so I stepped into the shop with only pocket change. That's all I needed to buy this silver sugar bowl w/scoop. Cost: $2.00. I love the rose detail and the little scoop! I even had enough pocket change to buy this domed cake server! Cost: $3.00.The tin or aluminum dome fits securely over the raised edge of the scalloped glass plate. It's in perfect shape! The kitchen table is another "as is" yard sale purchase for $5.00 featured in a previous post. My table cloth needs pressing, but who has time for such tasks when there's thrifting to do? Now it's time to enjoy my treasures. Thanks for stopping by!

Garden Party!

WELCOME to our Garden Party! Please come in! Everyone is invited to relax and enjoy. Just step over our cat, Rex, on your way in!

Cielo is our hostess at The House in the Roses. Stop by her blog to see everyone's beautiful gardens! Before you do, here's a peek at my Southern California summer gardens!

Please join me in the front yard! Our home faces North which seems to be ideal for hydrangeas, both mopheads and lacecaps.Violets Pink JasmineImpatiens And more hydrangeas! I never thought I would admit that I love hydrangeas more than pink roses! The summer heat is great for numerous and large blooms. However, the intensity of the summer sun can burn the blooms, so I place a large umbrella over the plants to shade my precious pink balls of beauty!
My favorite variety are the pink variegated mopheads! On the East side of our home we grow yellow roses in front of the wrap around porch my husband built.Please follow me around to the back yard where we planted 3 pink rose bushes.

A few years ago we planted Morning Glory around the back fence. It grows like a weed and quickly gets out of control. Ask our neighbors! Several years ago we planted a Sally Holmes antique climbing rose on each side of an arbor my husband built over our back deck. It's finally climbing over the top. I look forward to a summer when the two Sally's meet in the middle of the arbor. I tease my teenage daughter that by the time she marries, the Sally Holmes' will cover the arbor where she will say her vows. She thinks I'm kidding!In the days before our pool, we had a small vegetable garden, a swing set and later, a giant trampoline. Now, there is limited space for a vegetable garden so we have only squash, tomatoes and corn. Yes, corn! I'm so excited to serve fresh corn on the cob this summer! We planted 60 stalks hoping for an abundance to share with family, friends and neighbors! After harvest, the corn stalks will be a festive fall backdrop for the Pumpkin Carving Contest I've been planning to host for years! Maybe it will happen this year!
Please follow me to the deck where we enter our home from the garage. There I have a flower box filled with pink petunias. It sits under the shade of a Crepe Murtle tree. On some mornings, I sit at a bistro set I purchased in Mexico sipping coffee. . . gazing at paper lanterns purchased at Big Lots last year, and . . . feeding our resident squirrel. She's a female squirrel we affectionately call "Mama." Mama has been eating sunflower seeds and peanuts from our hands for at least 5 years!Please follow me upstairs! Just outside our master bedroom, we have a small deck/patio. An old tree that came with the house shades this area and the deck below. I hang paper lanterns from the branches almost all year long. I found my paper lanterns at Big Lots, the 99 Cent Store and Cost Plus Imports last summer. Some are battery operated and light up at night! This year I planted pink petunias in sap buckets and in the flower boxes surrounding the rail. I also added a water feature with potted plants (more hydrangeas!) I squeezed in a "nap time" area featured in a previous post using a $5 metal cot purchased at a yard sale.

Well, I'm out of gardens to share! Thanks for joining me! I think it's time for a nap under our shade tree. . . . Thanks, Cielo, for hosting a fun garden party!

A Piece of Heaven!

We all know the feeling. One step in and you're breathless! That's the feeling I had when I visited a special shop in Camarillo, CA.A couple of weeks ago, Jennifer Grey from The Old Painted Cottage, took me shopping at some of her favorite hot spots. Yes, lucky me! My favorite shop was Posie's Boutique where Jennifer and I shopped for hours! The store is absolutely filled with shabby cottage treasures magnificently placed in the most alluring vignettes! Beds and linens. Wardrobes and mirrors.Vintage and new.Papers and textiles, pinks and whites, crafts and crystals, aromas and music. . . Posie's has it all! I bought a few items at Posie's. Jennifer had more self-restraint and bought nothing! The gift bag alone was worth the trip! You can't go wrong with pink and white stripes and brown polka dots! The sweet little flag was FREE!

Jennifer, thank you for sharing with me your time and hidden treasure spots!

Arte y Pico Award

Thank you, Lynne Laura, for this award! Lynne Laura has a charming blog at A Romantic Nest and is so kind to faithfully stop by mine to brighten my days with her kind words! Be sure to visit her often. She will warm your heart!

The origin of the Arte y Pico Award...
"This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity. In them I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few, the people I will name today deserve this prize, as do the very long serious list of bloggers I also enjoy to read, but I will name the first 10 and will leave the rest of the work to all the bloggers that visit other's blogs and are nourished by them."
~~~~~
There are 5 rules for this award:

1. Choose 5 blogs you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogging community regardless of the language.

2. Each award should have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner should show the award and put the name and link to the blog that presented him/her with the award. I know it says this is a rule but I also know that not everyone likes to do this. I won't be hurt if you don't.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the award should show the Arte Y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. Show these rules.

I pass on this award to Lynn at The Rose Cottage, Cielo at The House In The Roses, Rene at Miss Gracie's House, Debbie at My Vintage Daydreams, and Jennifer at The Old Painted Cottage!

Okay, I hope I followed all the rules to accept this prestigious award! Thanks, again, Lynne Laura. Talk to you soon!

Vintage Marvella Rhinestone Jewelry

This a short tutorial on Marvella jewelry. The only signed Marvella jewelry I own are these pearl and rhinestone earrings my mom gave to me.Marvella was founded by Sol Weinrich in Philadelphia, PA around 1911. The company changed names over the years. As of 2000, it was owned by Liz Clairborne, Inc.
Marvella specializes in simulated pearl jewelry. Before World War II the designs were mainly simulated pearls, plain and faceted beads and rhinestone roundels for spacers set in gold plated metal. Marvella also used the best quality aurora borealis beads.
Marvella had many trademarks. My mom's Marvella pearl earrings are marked "MARVELLA" in block capital lettering. I was unable to match the marking used by Marvella to determine the production date of my mom's earrings.

I have a few more posts on vintage rhinestone jewelry coming soon. There have been some inquiries about whether my vintage jewels are for sale. Sooooo. . . . I listed a new category on my website where you can find some of the pieces you've seen on this blog AND MORE! Hope to see you there!