Tracy Keith

A Happy Momma!

Ever since I was a young girl I have dreamed of owning a Jet Ski.  I just love them!!  I love the freedom of one person flying across a body of water.  I love that they are portable and can go most any where.  No limit of water depth or how large a space is.

My husband does not share this love with me.  He thinks they are dangerous and quite frankly, pointless!  Each year on my birthday or Christmas I think " this will be the year that my dream will come true".

Well, this year it did!!  My 3 boys Neil, Blake and Aaron went together and bought me a jet ski.  They showed up at 9:30 p.m., drug me out of my bed to show me this...

I cried!!  I couldn't believe it.  They kept telling me, I know it's not new and needs work but it runs Momma.  We'll paint it and replace the seat and fix up the engine....It was all we could afford.  

The three of them have so much going on right now, financially and I know this was a huge sacrifice for them.  Even though it was a 94 model, it wasn't cheap.  I'm tearing up just writing about this.  They have always been so good to me.  They always make sure my mother's day, birthday and Christmas are special.  They do their best and that's all I could ever ask for.  I tell them not to worry about getting me things...but they always do ;-) 

This old Jet Ski brings me great joy and I wouldn't take a new one in it's place!  I look at it with such admiration and feel so loved by the givers.  They have truly made my birthday special.

 

They are my boys, I love them and am so very proud of them!! 

 

For the Love of Mercury Glass

I love Mercury Glass, in any shape or form!  I love the vintage look that it gives, and have seen a technique on Pinterest that tells you how to "fake" mercury glass.  So I decided to try it on an old window I purchased about 10 years ago.

 

First you purchase this paint made by Krylon

I found mine at Hobby Lobby 

Next you mist your project with water then spray the Looking Glass paint on top. I found that a heavy mist of water looks most realistic.  Since I was using a window I knew if I messed up I could scrap it off and start over, a good thing!  

 

I stil plan to embellish the window but wanted to show a picture of this technique first. Fun, right?!

I still have some looking glass paint left so I'm going to try it on a fake pumpkin. I'll let you know how that project turns out.

We are loving this rainy day and I hope you are experiencing the blessing of rain in your area!  It's just been so long since we've seen this wet stuff!  Just glorious...

My daughter and her BF Kaylnn have been filling their time today with painting family portraits!  So fun!  I'll leave you with a video of their fantastic art work.  Enjoy....

 

Toodles~~ tracy



 

 

Wow us Wednesday - Link up Party

Since quitting my job I have a lot of time on my hands and have enjoyed it tremendously!  I really enjoy blog hopping and seeing all the creativity that is out there.  I recently discovered "blog parties" or "link parties"  It's a great way to learn about various blogs AND discover some Urber talented Ladies!  It's just amazing how these ladies share their ideas and DIY tips for you to recreate their projects.  Love that!!

I want to be a part of all of this sharing ;-)  So here is my first attempt at a Link up Party.

I chose to use Wow us Wednesday from this blog

 Savvy Southern Syle 

We have been in our home for almost 4 years now.  I sit and constantly stare at our 2 story mantle pondering what to do with it!  I would never choose these high ceilings again....seriously!  I love the openness of them but they are so hard to decorate!

This is what I have come up with....for now anyway!  It will carry us through fall.

I have had the two wooden doors for a couple of years and wasn't sure what to do with them.  I think they may have come from an old saloon.  They are approximately 5 foot tall, have great rusted bars and metal accents and are HEAVY!  The fall wreath I made last week and it turned out to be to large for my front door - so it fits perfect on this oversized mantle.

In this picture you can see the vacant space above all the decorations.  What do you do with that space?!  If you have this problem and have solved it, I would love to see what you have done with your 2 story mantle.  This is my solution for now....and I am pleased.

Be sure to head over to this blog Savvy Southern Style for loads of inspiration! 

Better yet, join in the fun for next weeks

 

Toodles~~tracy

Round Top...what an experience!!

Dusty and I had a fabulous time in Round Top! We have wanted to go for many years but just couldn't fit it into our schedules. Sooo glad we made time for it this year! We each went with a list of items we hopped to find. We managed to find those items plus a few extra fun goodies ;-) Of course!! The afternoon weather was unbearably hot so we ended each day early. We're looking forward to going back in the spring and I certainly hope the weather will be more pleasurable then!

Here's a few pictures we snapped:

The place we stayed was a quaint little bed and breakfast in Fayetteville. It had one bed room and a little sitting area and was just perfect! The owners, Jerry and Jeanette Brown were fabulous host!

This is the only picture I took. Sure wish I could say I brought some of those FAB doors and windows home with me :-/  I did come home with two small tables, various baskets and some other fun items.  They all need a little sprucing up so I'll be posting before and after pictures of those as I go along.  Dusty is coming over this week so we can have a play/craft day!  Can't wait!  I love stealing her ideas ;-)

So, after all that inspiration and seeing all the beautiful Fall decor' I came home ready to decorate!  

I started by going to Hobby Lobby to stock up on Fall supplies.

It came out larger than I expected!  I plan to hang the wreath above the mantle and make a new one for the front door.

 It was so much fun to make so I don't mind making another *wink*

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and this cooler weather we are being blessed with!  It's Fall Ya'll ;-)  For today anyway!!

Toodles~~tracy

September...

I wanted to keep this blog for a personal journal.  I thought it would be easier than writting in a journal daily - which I never do!  Turns out, I'm no better at this!  I love the idea of a blog because you can go back at any time and see pictures and enteries of what you've been up to.  I need to be better at this, or there will not be anything to see or read about!  Seriously...

Anyway, to recap September since it's almost over!

I have been meeting on Wednesday's with a lovely bunch of ladies and studying this:

We are 3 weeks into the study and really enjoying it!  Love spending time with some old friends and getting to know a few new ones.

 

Loving spending more time with this little doll

Hard to believe our sweet little grand daughter will be 2 in December!  Time flies...

Briana is enjoying the "social" aspect of school, as always ;-)  It is still her favorite subject - wait, that's not a subject in school?!  We should tell her ;-)

We still boat every weekend.  It just never gets old!  This past weekend our kids (and some adopted ones) were home from College.  We enjoyed spending the day with them.  I still would rather spend the day with my kids and their friends than just about anything else!  We just always have the best times!

Our "adopted" kids Lauren and Tyler ;-)

 

Just love having our baby boy home from college for the weekend!  What a nice surprise when he drove up Thursday afternoon!!

 

Me and the girls ;-)

 

Blake - never misses a chance to be captain!  He does quite well at it too!

my love ;-)

 

Gorgeous sunsets!  

Always so relaxing when we return from a fun day on the water.

Enjoying the days spent with my faithful friend always by my side

After I drop my daughter off at school in the morning I'm zipping over to pick up Dusty. Can't wait to spend time with her and enjoy a few days antique digging!  We're headed to Marburger!!  We have both talked about going for years - so very excited to finally be able to!  I'll post pictures when we return!  I know we'll find lots of goodies!!

Enjoy the rest of your week and the rest of SEPTEMBER!!  It's almost gone....

 

 

 

Bad Blogger

I'm horrible at keeping up with this blog!  I decided to keep my blog more for me personally, to be able to look back and see where the year has taken my family.  It's just a modern day journal...  I love having all the pictures at my finger tips!  I really need to be better at updating or there won't be anything to look back at! 

 

So since my last blog....

We have officially sold By Design and the happy new owners are working hard to pull things back together for the Grand Re-Opening.  They are shooting for the last of August, which is coming around very quickly!

My youngest son left for college yesterday :-(  I have loved having him home this summer.  He is doing so well in college and of course enjoying it tremendously.  That young one is ready to se the world on fire and is trying to gain as much knowledge as he can.  It's really fun to watch him.

My two other boys are side by side with their Dad working at the family business.  I love the relationship that my sons have with their Dad.  They are constantly asking "hey mom, can I borrow Dad...." I guess it's because he's still very much a kid himself!  He's a grown man by week but has a bit of the Peter Pan syndrome on the weekend.  Never a dull moment!!

We just returned from a family trip to Destin Florida.  We had all 4 kids + 2 guest.  It was a fun time and of course went by way to fast.

My daughter, Briana just wants to sleep the summer away!

She will hate this, but this is what she gets for not getting up and playing with me!!

Stays up all night and sleeps all day!  Oh well, good to be a teenager.  This will all come to an end next week.  School starts back, and way to soon for me!  I love the summers and love having them all home.

 

 

By Design will continue...

It's official!!  By Design Scrapbook Boutique will continue.  We will meet with the Lawyers on Tuesday to finalize all the legal garb and two Ladies/Sisters will continue with the store.  I have already passed along the key so that they can reset the store and get it ready for a grand RE-Opening!

I hear there A lot of rumors floating around ranging from " there isn't going to be a store" to the "store is not going to be a scrappy store but something else."  This comes from a reliable source that shall remain nameless :-) So to set things straight - It is not closing and it will be a Fabulous scrapbook store full of everything you could possibly need for your crafting desires! 

The two sisters are darling ladies whom you will love!  They have some great ideas and fun things planned.  We will not release there names until all is final so please be patient. 

Stay tuned for more information coming soon!  

Have a great weekend ~tracy

DIY Project #2

It took me a couple of days to get back to decorating my lamps, and was glad the finished project only took 30 minutes or less!

Here's a before picture:

 

Super cute lamp but I think it needs Jazzing!!

 

Here's what I came up with....

 

I've had this floor lamp forever! Now it just looks plain boring in the room with my two jazzed up lamps.  What shall I do....

On a side note.  It's official, By Design Scrapbook Boutique will have 2 new owners beginning in August!  We are in the process of all the legal stuff now.  I am excited for the 2 sisters who are buying the store.  I know they have some fun things in the works and the first thing on the agenda is a crop!  

Keep watching - I'll try my best to keep you all in the loop ;-)

 

A quick little DIY project...

I'm finally finished unpacking boxes and putting away things.  Now to the fun part, decorating my new claimed space!! Since my youngest son is away at college and is only here summers and holidays, we moved him from his room to the game room.  It didn't take much to talk him into it!  It's bigger, decorated super cute and stays REALLY cold for some reason.  So now I have the upstairs living area + a small bedroom for my craft space.  It has been so much fun reorganizing and coming up with ideas to decorate both.

My daughter needed knobs for her desk drawer so we headed out to Hobby Lobby - they were 50% off, AND their lamps were also 50% off! SCORE!!  

Just had to bring these two home with me

I think they are adorable but still need a little extra embellishment added.  I went right to work on the grey one and here's what I came up with:

 

Some fun beaded fringe, 3 flowers from my stash and snap!  A jazzed up lamp!  I love how it tuned out....now onto the beige lamp!

I'll post pics when I'm finished ;-)

 

 

 

 

Art work by Riley

I'm trying to stay focused today - but it's really hard!  With the close of the store my house has become a disaster!  I kept so much from the store and there are boxes stacked everywhere.  I really don't know where to begin....This was a good diversion!

 

Our sweet little granddaughter Riley gave this to my husband for Father's day.  It just makes my heart smile.  Those tiny little hands, we feel so very blessed to have her in our life.  I remember so many little things my children would draw or paint - where are they now?!  I have kept some things, but now wish I would have slowed down and cherished it all. Why does it take us getting old to appreciate the little things.  

Children just grow up way to fast....okay, back to work now!!