How I Spent My Xmas Money

I Love gift cards!

I am always thrilled to get that litle plastic treat, my ticket to choosing something special, just for me. My favorite thing to do is to use the card or cards to stock up on winter reading. I can buy the big glossy books my library will never own or bestsellers that won't be on the non-reserved shelves til August.

Pure indulgence? Cabin fever Rx? Blizzard protection? All of the above!

With this year's Visa gift card I was able to shop at BJ's (like Price Club or Costco, big container store, great books--ALL the newest releases and bestsellers, very discount!) and Home Goods, which sometimes stocks off-price editions of the latest decorating books.

My 2010 List, so far, because yes! I still have dollars left to use!

The new Joe Pike novel from Robert Crais: One Minute Rule. Any Crais book is a treat and if it features Joe Pike the entertainment is doubled. http://www.robertcrais.com/ for excerpts/ first 2 or 3 chapters. RC is very generous with his previews....

Two glossy decorating books from my two favorite designers:

Mary Emmerling's Beach Cottages: At Home by the Sea by Mary Ellisor Emmerling April 2008   http://www.myrelics.com/2008/03/at-home-with-mary-emmerling.html

Shabby Chic Interiors: My Rooms, Treasures, and Trinkets by Rachel Ashwell and Amy Neunsinger (Hardcover - Sep 2009) http://www.shabbychic.com/http://www.rachelashwellshabbychic.blogspot.com/

And while I was New Year's cleaning, undecking the halls and so on, I pulled out three old favorites and added them to my winter book stack:

Reminiscences: Grandma Minnie's Doll Clothes and Quilts, by Sandy McCray. Charming antique china head dolls in authentically reproduced dresses made with sprigged calicos and muslin. Double pink; turkey red, Lancaster blue; indigo;

chrome yellow, rose madder...don't you love the names of the old fabrics!

Needleworks, by Kindred Spirits. Antique make-do pincushions & needlework keepers.

At Home with White from Victoria magazine, text by Jeanine Larmoth. Inspiring, though I ca never stay 100% neutral, the blues of the beach always creep in.

How will I spend the last of my gift card, you wonder? While I was searching Amazon to see if these books were still available, I found some other verrrry interesting books about decorating with an all-white palette:
At Home With White ~ Atlanta Bartlett (Author), Karena Callen (Author), Polly Wreford (Photographer)
&
Living with White~ Gail Abbott (Author), Mark Scott (Photographer)
Or perhaps I will go all colorful and seek inspiration and order the newest Kaffe Fassett quilting book.

Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance: 20 Designs from Rowan for Patchwork and Quilting  (Oct 6, 2009) by Kaffe Fassett. http://www.kaffeefassett.com/

His stunning colors and design sense are a joy always and harbingers of hot weather ahead....remember, it is always summer, here at The Beach!

brrrr...

ps:all photos/ artwork are by me, my own version of tinkets, treasures and trash!