CONSCIOUS STREAMS OF CREATIVITY

I LOVE ANTIQUING

The weather outside is "delightful".....living in SoCal...90% of the time it is. I love to shop at antique stores, thrift shops and flea markets. So a couple of weeks ago I went to one of my favorite antique stores in Whittier, CA and found a most unusual item.

Some crafty person decided to make a Christmas tree, inside a frame, and the entire tree was made of antique charms, earrings, buttons and keepsakes. It even had tiny christmas lights on the branches.

When I saw this dusty old piece of artwork, I was drawn to it...even through the dust, you could see a hint of sparkling items. As I drew closer, I could see all of the littles "treasures" this woman (you know it had to be a woman who wanted to keep her jewels on display) decided to use.

There were Crowns, an Angel, Shamrocks, Fish and Birds....and then I began to notice matching sets of buttons and earrings and large brooch items. I looked at the price tag - $10 bucks was the asking price!!! Oh yea baby....my mind started clicking - "I can use this stuff on my handbags and cigar box purses, maybe even some clothing!" That's all it took. I bought it and took that baby home. Without even knowing what, when, or how... I began dismantling the piece. I started from the back and removed the pegboard lighting display.

And then, like someone possessed, I started ripping the velvet backdrop cloth from the edges of the frame....and as I continued to rip, pieces of treasure fell onto my lap. I had believed that this person would attach the items with some kind of glue adhesive, but to my delight - she had used a glue gun. So the items were relatively easy to yank off.

I checked to see if the lights would work, but they didn't. If that was the reason for discarding it...I lucked out. Perhaps it was part of some loved one's belongings and the family didn't want to keep it. However it landed at the store, I was very thankful to find it. It was like a kid in a candy store...my eyes lit up at all these "shiny jewels...." :0)

I took every single piece of these items off, washed them in jewelry cleaner, separated them by categories and bagged them for future use. Just recently I found a use for the strings of rhinestones outlining the tree.

OOOH...SHINY, SHINY JEWELS

The "gift" to me was not only finding this item (that nobody wanted), but that some of these items are rare. I found all kinds of unusual items too numerous to name...I got more than my $10 worth!

"BOYZ II MEN!!! ABC!!! BBD!!!

Isn't that the chant on one of Boyz II Men's songs? LOL Well, my dear cousin Dena came through again with comp tickets to the Vault 350 in Long Beach to see this trio (the young man who sang bass is ill and no longer performs).

Some months back I found a CD at the library and really liked the entire CD. So I jwanted to go and see them. Besides, I just knew I'd hear a few of the songs at the concert. I heard "1" doggone song from that CD!!! But they did do a lot of their other hits so it was alright (I guess). They even did a few cover songs (Stylistics, Bobby Caldwell), but I enjoyed their songs more. They didn't even have a band, just a soundtrack. I guess when you're not a group of musicians - today's groups opt for soundtracks. After they got started, it didn't even matter. Boyz II Men got down! The Vault was crowded to the max too! I had no idea it would be that crowded. We were in the VIP Lounges, so it wasn't an issue of seating, but I like to see the performers up close, so I wiggled my way through the crowd and took these pics.

I'm short and couldn't get to the front of the stage....look at the sea of people in that joint!!

The Boyz have really changed to Men and some are a little heavier to boot (Wanya...put that ham hock down!!!). But they were getting their "grown & sexy" on anyway. Sean, the tall one, is still thin but he was looking quite "manly", sexy and stuff. This girl turned around and said that to me...I thought it was cute. She was like, "is it me, or is Sean getting his sexy on?" I had to agree. Sean, note to self...don't wear black baby. Dark on Dark = DARKER!! I love ya anyway.

We had a great time. I didn't take any pictures of us that night...too much going on...was tired of taking pics and not enjoying the show. I wasn't in the right mood I guess.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Since Halloween fell on a Tues., most people had their Halloween parties on Oct. 28th. Dena told me about a party she was going to and invited me to attend. The mother of Dr. Dre the rapper, was throwing a shindig out at her home in Calabassas. Well, I had one other invitation and that fell thru, so I decided to go with her and her friend Michelle.

The problem was what would I go as? OK, I've been saying that I have been out of control on the eating thing (under control now), and EVERYTHING was too tight. The one thing that I could pull off was an Indian girl costume. Since I had most of the stuff, and all I had to do was apply makeup and a headband...I was good to go! I found my Native American jewelry / beaded necklace, African cowrie shell belt (who knew the difference) and some jewelry I purchased in Las Vegas that was brass, and had a cowboy theme. Cool! I gave myself pigtails, added a piece of trim for my headband, painted my face with some war paint, put my "faux" suede fringed skirt with matching jacket and a fringed blouse. I wore a pair of camel ankle boots...and it was on!

The drive to Calabassas was about an hour. It's just past Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley. So we find the house and everything is set up very nicely. The decorations are great, and there's plenty of food and drinks.

We meet Verna Griffin, the host, and she takes us on a tour of her home. She lives in a gated community in a 5 bedroom house with pool, the works! The house was beautiful, and Verna decorated it herself. I did everything I could "not" to take pictures of her bedrooms and guest rooms. Awesome, awesome furnishings. She had this one piece that was the bomb...a bass cello styled dresser. And Verna even stained the wood to match the bed. This was a house I could retire in alright?

The party was mixed with young kids, teenagers, young adults and adults. It was nice though. Everyone danced and had a good time. We ate the traditional foods and danced, and mingled until around 12:00. That night was also Daylight Savings...so we actually left at 11:00. Since Dena had to drive to Long Beach and then drop Michelle off, we called it a night. Fun times! Check it out.