~Lovely teacup & roses wreath on eBay~

Today my granddaughter Isabella & I made this lovely teacup wreath..

What fun we had! She was such a big help. She told me what to add and what not to..

Gosh what a sweetheart she is!!!

I love how the wreath turned out.

I have it for sale at IsabellasCloset on eBay.

Stop by and check it out if you are interested.

Thanks so very much! ~Mary~ :-}

~Chenille Christmas stocking on eBay~

I'm getting in the Christmas mood.

So I made this long vintage chenille stocking...

It's for sale at IsabellasCloset on eBay

~Way to go Sam and Dad~

Today the above photo was in our local paper

~2007 Flag Football Champs~

Sam & Jeff on T.V.


Sams football games.. Dad Jeff coaching

Anyone who knows me can tell you my grand kids are my world!

I'm one very proud Grammy when it comes to them.

Sam is truly the kindest, sweetest, most gentle little boy.

Sometimes I feel he's just a bit to good :-}

He's in the 2nd grade and gets straight A's.

I attribute this to great parenting and a good (catholic) school.

This year his team is our flag football champions.

What a thrill it was watching him play.

Dad Jeff was one of the coach's, I think he had even more fun then Sam did..
Congratulations to Sam and Jeff!

~Giving on-line Thanks~

I've thought about all the things I'm thankful for family, being alive, my cottage, my ? health , you know all that stuff.. but then I also thought about what I'll call "my online" thankfulness. Sounds funny but it's a part of my life, you are a part of my life. You my friends are very important to me....I'm thankful to you for your kindness, for the lovely comments you leave me. I'm thankful for the banners and patterns you have purchased from me, you've no idea how this helps me get by. I'm also thankful for eBay & Etsy. Along with them and my part time job I almost get my bills paid. So today you my dear friends are what I am thankful for.. God bless you and Happy Thanksgiving! ~Mary~ :-}

~My handmade Angels~

I made Angel #1 using buckram, vintage wallpaper, old glass glitter,

antique ribbon

Angel #2 was made using 30s vintage sheet music, old glass glitter, card stock, wallpaper, curly silver garland

Angel #3 was made using vintage linens, vintage quilt fabric & vintage fabric for her face.

Angel patterns were designed by me. They are about 7" tall. They make wonderful ornaments or small gifts tucked in a card.

Hope you like them :-}

~My handmade Santas & houses~

Here are a few of My Santa's.. all of the wood Santa's I cut out from pine using a band saw. I then painted them & glittered them.. Most of the patterns I designed myself. The plaster Santa's (ones on the right) I made using rubber molds. I used rubber liquid rug backing to make my molds. I painted the liquid rubber coat after coat over antique Santa's. When the molds were thick enough I then poured plaster into the molds let them dry and painted & glittered them..One Santa is from a wood spool..One Santa is from a metal tin can.. Most of these I made last year :-}

My handmade houses..I used tag board & corrugated card board.. I painted them & glittered them.. Great fun to make :-}

~Good bye to one friend and welcome to another~

This has been such a very upsetting few weeks for me. Yesterday was my friend Ronnie's funeral, how hard it was to say good bye. My heart went out to Jason and Sherryl, Ronnie's son & wife... What a wonderful speech Jason gave about his Father, there was not a dry eye at the service. Stop by Jason's blog and read his posts..What a very special young man he is. Both his Mother and I are so very proud of him.

~~ On a lighter note~~

Welcome Anna of My Flower Bed to the world of blogging..

Please stop by her blog and say hello. She's such a sweetheart you will just love her!

Ronald W. "Duey" DudekRonald W. "Duey" Dudek, age 57, of Massillon passedaway on Sunday, November 11, 2007 following complications from surgery. He was born November 16, 1949 to the late Ruth and George Dudek. He was a 1968 graduate of Perry High School and was employed at one job for 38 years at Beaver Excavating Company in Canton. Ronnie loved his family and friends and lived life to the fullest. His son and best friend, Jason, and his beloved nephews, Joshua and Justin Selogy lived for football any time, any place, he was ready. Ronnie proudly served his country in the U.S. Army, serving one year in Vietnam from 1970-1971. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his grandparents, Ralph and Eleanora Kerzan and Olga and Ignat Dudek; father-in-law, Louis Selogy Sr.; brother-in- law, Louis Selogy Jr.; and son, Zachary Dudek. He leaves his loving wife of 38 years, Sherryl (Selogy) Dudek, whom he married July 19, 1969; son, Jason Dudek of Massillon; brother, Larry Dudek of North Carolina; sister, Sondra (Dennis) Deeser of Perry Twp.; mother-in-law, Gloria Selogy of Navarre; special brother- in-law and sister-in-law, Rod and Judy Selogy of Navarre; nieces, Jessica and Kourtney Selogy; nephews, Aaron Dudek of Cary, NC, and Ryan Dudek of Fuquay Virona, NC; aunts and uncles, Rex and Nancy Kerzan of Navarre, and Jerry and Nancy Kerzan of Louisville, OH; and a special family member, Amanda Warrick Smith. Funeral services will be Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Reed Funeral Home Canton Chapel, with the Rev. David Dodson officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Memorial Garden. Calling hours will be Wednsday from 6-8 p.m. in the funeral home.

Ronnie has passed away

What a precious family photo of Ronnie, Sherryl, Jason

Ronnie has passed away.

He was such a wonderful friend, husband & father.

He will be missed very much.

I ask for prayers for Ronnie, Sherryl & Jason.

Ronnie now rests with God & his son Zack
Read the beautiful & touching post by Jason on his blog about this Father.

Ronnie's birthday is Friday Nov 16, he would have been 58.

~"You make me smile award"~

Thank you bj from SweetNothings for giving me the "you make me smile ward". What an honor this is for me. You are so kind to award it to me...bless you.
I am to pick 10 bloggers to pass the award on to. I will try and do this soon..
I'm glad I can make someone smile. I'm finding it very difficult to smile these days, so many upsetting things going on in my life right now.

~Ronnie is fighting for his life~

Dear blogging friends. I just got off the phone with my dear friend Sherryl, Ronnie's wife. Ronnie is not doing well. The doctors say he's fighting for his life. I'm again asking for your thoughts and prayers PLEASE for this kind man..... He 's still in the ICU with a breathing tube, his blood pressure has dropped and he has an infection. With our prayers I feel he will get throught this. Again I'm so very grateful for all of you for keeping Ronnie in your thoughts and prayers..

God bless you!

~My Victorian paper Ice Skates~

 I love these paper ice skates.. I used Anaglypta wallpaper to give these skates a delightful vintage Victorian look. For the blades I used my Grandmothers antique German glass glitter.. Fun decoration for Christmas tree, packages, cards, scrap booking, or Altered art.. The size of each skate is approximately 7 by 8-1/2".. Thanks so much! ~Mary~ :-}

~My Santa pattern on Etsy~

Are you getting in the mood for the holidays yet? Why not paint a vintage ironing board Santa? My Santa pattern is on sale at IsabellasCloset on Etsy if you happen to be interested in it.. What a fun Holiday decoration!

I love him in pink but he's also lovely in red or blue too :-}

~More prayers needed please! ~

My friend Ronnie's still in need of your prayers...PLEASE... more than ever. Last Fri he had surgery to remove a tumor, 4-1/2" of his esophagus, and his entire stomach because of cancer. He's been in the ICU since then. 2 days ago he was put back on a breathing tube. So please I'm asking for whatever prayers you can say for Ronnie. His wife my dear friend Sherryl and son Jason are so very upset. Sherryl stopped by my cottage again last night and we talked. I just wish I had words to comfort her. How my heart goes out to her!

My dear blogging friends thanks so much for always being here when I need you. What would I do without you? God bless you all!!!

Love & Hugs~Mary~

~Happy Birthday Lisa!~

Today is Lisa of Pink Paint and Roses birthday!

Stop by her blog and wish her a great day :-}

~Trick or Treat....Oh what fun!~

This adorable photo Halloween wreath greeted us as we entered my Daughter Michele's house

Halloween photo of Michele at age 2 with costume I made her

Some of the treats being passed out

My Daughter Michele's house

Ghost peeking out side of porch

*

Samuel as Jack

Isabella as Sally

Our local police handing out candy

*

Each year we all go to my Daughter Michele's house for trick or treat.. she gets a huge number of kids and we all love it! We either hang out on her front porch or walk with the kids.. Michele's hubby Brian has the fog machine going and the spooky music playing..I walk with the kids and Mothers for an hour then come back to watch the candy, toys & dog biscuits being passed out.. Oh what fun I had! Then after the treaters are all gone (3:00-5:00pm) we rest and eat. This year it was home make Chili with all the fixings ...cheeses, onions, sour, cream.. crackers, olive bread.. also dips, Cheese Queso , drinks, and desserts..Oh it was all so yummy!... This year Peg Michele's Mother-in-law tried counting all the kids she got to 650 when she stopped counting! Hope you all have and will have as much fun as we did. Happy Halloween!

~Isabella Samuel & the MRSA staph "super bug" infection~

Isabella and her rheumatologist Doctor Mary Toth

We're so lucky too have these precious children in good health again! You see both Samuel 7 and Isabella 11 had the MRSA "super bug" staph infection just 2 months ago. At the time we did not know that it was MRSA. Not until Isabella ended up in the hospital did we find out. I remember one of the nurses at the hospital telling us to read the article in Readers Digest about what Isabella had, but not until Isabella went home. Samuel got MRSA from attending a football camp..then Isabella got it from Samuel. Isabella ended up in the hospital see my past posts. She had to have emergency surgery on her leg. Isabella who suffers from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis went to her rheumatologist this past Fri. for her regular check up. Doctor Toth told Isabella's Mother (my daughter) how very lucky Isabella (& Samuel) are to have recovered from the MRSA infection. I'm sure many of you have heard on the News about the children who have recently died from this drug resistant staph infection. How awful...Samuel did not have the problems Isabella did. Isabella is immune suppressed because of some of the 6 medications she takes like Enbrel and Methotrexate for her JRA. All this started from a tiny piece of artificial turf stuck in Sam's leg. We through it was just a splinter at the time. Isabella's infection got in via a skinned knee. It's amazing how something as simple as a skinned knee can be so life threatening... I'm so glad Isabella & Samuel's Mother is always on top of whatever goes on with them. Thank you God for healing my precious grandchildren!

~Postcard from Mary who's in England~

Today I was so thrilled to receive this beautiful postcard from Mary of Across The Pond. Oh what charming cottages! How I'd love to be with her and Bob right now..

~Ronnie's surgery~

My friend Ronnie is in ICU and doing fine so far after surgery. Surgery lasted almost 9 hours! They removed his entire stomach, 4-1/2" of his esophagus, the tumor and some lymph nodes. It will be a few days to see if the cancer was also in the lymph nodes. He will be in the hospital for at least 10 days, with a feeding tube. They are concerned about bleeding and infection.
Will you please continue to keep Ronnie's in your prayers..
Thank you all for your emails and concern. What would I do without all you wonderful blogger friends. I love you all! God bless you~Mary~

~Ronnie's in surgery right now PLEASE pray for him~

My dear friend Ronnie has esophagus cancer and is having surgery right now.. 10:45 EST
Sherrly just phoned me from the hospital to tell me they have taken Ronnie to surgery early, it was scheduled for this afternoon. Ronnie needs our payers right now. PLEASE....
Ronnie, Sherryl, and their son Jason all need our prayers..Thank you so very much. God bless you~Mary~

~Here are the 14 give-a-way banners winners! Enjoy :-}~