Dolls By Marie Antoinette

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE !!!

2012-02-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

I miss you all and want to make sure you all will attemp to have a wonderful day.
Please tell your loved ones how much they are loved. And lets pray that cupid has a field day...LOL
HAPPY VALENTINS'S DAY !!!
YOU ARE ALWAYS IN MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.
XX00 MARIE ANTIONETTE

Happy New Year

2011-12-30T23:40:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all A Happy New Year!!!
God Willing ...
XXOO Marie Antionette

Real Angels Are Among Us

2011-09-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

I'm like a bad penny...I always turn up...LOL
   Thank you for waiting for me. Its good to be back. I've had a very busy summer and I've made some new items, experimented on others.
I've had wonderful friends to come visit. I will tell you about that later. Right now...I want to tell you a story. Nooo, not a bar story. I'm saving a good bar story for Christmas. You'll just have to wait.

This is a story about Angels. Real Angels:
       I've been so fortunate To have made the friends I have since blogging. Some... and you know who you are...have come into my life to stay. You came when I needed you most. Each and everyone has made a difference. I'm going to tell you about a true Lady...an Angel.
                            Her name is Julie Marie of Idyllhours http://idyllhours.blogspot.com/hours
I was on the phone just talking to Julie Marie. We started talking about our dogs. Her dog Tessy...mine Hobie.
                            This is Tessy

This is Hobie

Snooty looking ...ain't she!
I was telling her that The blankie...not really a blankie, just an old shocking pink terry cloth robe I gave her to lay on when she was but 6 weeks old.
   We called it her Pinkie, was in shreds. After all Hobie is now 3 yrs old.
She carries her Pinkie everywhere. She would put one end in her mouth and roll over it until the Pinkie was on her back. Hobie walks all around the house like this, Sleeps with it,plays with it. I was telling her I don't know what we will do when the Pinkie is no more. She will grieve.
   FYI, Hobie is a 4th of July pup.
Julie Marie, the Angel that she is said ...I'll just make Hobie a new blankie. That is such a sweet  offer.
Those of you who do not know... Julie Marie loves all things living. She cannot stand to see anything or anyone suffer.
   She took in Tessy when she was left abandoned by people who mistreated her.
Tessy is so happy now.You can look into her eyes and see the light that shines.
   Julie Marie also take other hurt animals to her Vet...who also tries to heal these sweet creatures. At his own expense.
   So to help this Vet out. She makes animal blankets...and donates them to her Vet to sell in his office. In fact...in the picture above, Tess is standing in front of this very table.
This is truly an awesome thing Julie does. She does things from heart, She has a soul as big as the sky. She is and Angel in my book.
The New Pinkie:

Hobie and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I want you all to look at Hobie with her new Pink Blanket. Tell me if she is not a very happy dog baby.

Hobie looking at a picture of Tessy:

I don't know if I should call this next sweet Lady an Angel...LOL. More like partners in crime...LOL. Heaven help those who get in our way when we are together.
   Who else can I be talking about but Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic. For the pass couple of yrs..Sherry has come to my home and then I went to her home...then she came back to visit me at my home again. This time she brought not only her sweetheart of a daughter in law Chrisie...She brought her honey of a husband Wes.
To say we had the most wonderful time, would be an under statement. We did all kinds of stuff...including a trip into New Orleans. Most of you know I only live about 50 miles N. of the city where I was born and raised.
                                   GO Saints!!!!
I had to put that in these...sorry.
    We shopped till we dropped. Sherry knows I love purses and she made me the most beautiful one last yr. But she made me another and it is drop dead gorgeous. Wes was the perfect guest...LOL...he would not let me wash a dish. I do not own a dishwasher. I don't like them. That's just me.
    Wes and my hubby Bill got along so well. I never seen Bill laugh so much. He is the most quiet of men.
Here are some pictures of my new purse and some of our trip into N.O.

She also made me an awesome key neckles. I did not have a picture of it.

Here is my Bill teaching Wes how to eat Crawfish...LOL...look at the faces.

hehehe...Sherry acting silly.My friend Cheryle made her this small table covering and she is wearing it as a hat...to cute.

This is all of us in one of the many restaurants in the French Quarters.
That morning we did go to the Cafe' Du Monde.
Sherry what are we going to do for next yr. What ever it is ...it will be very interesting and fun.
Thank you Sherry, Wes, and Chrisie for a wonderful memory.

Right before I took my leave of blog duty...I had won a Flower Press and book from the very talented Grabriela Delworth. Fabulous!!!.I can't wait to use it this Spring.Thank you Gabriela.

Another Angel...Celestina Marie of Celestina Designs
    has helped me all though Summer with her wonderful advice and friendship. She just plain warms my heart.
               Thank you Dear
And my most precious Angel of all...My beautiful daughter...Alexia Antoinette.
    All the work she does for me. driving me around, creating beautiful banners not just for my blog, but for my Etsy Shop. And now she has created another drop dead gorgeous banner for this new post...and also the most lovely new business card.
I love you sooo much.

My beautiful new business card

That's all I have to say. I do want to say again, that I'm glad to be back and I really do hope I can visit most of you. I'm a little slower...LOL... it will take me longer.
          May God Bless you, and I hope we all have a wonderful Winter Season.
                  XXOO Marie Antionette

UpDate

2011-06-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Alls well everyone,
   I will be back to blogging this Fall.
You can still leave a comment and I promise...I will get back to you.
    I miss you all. Please everyone have a wonderful safe Summer.
                                     Hugs and Kisses,
                       Marie Antionette

I love Spring and All It Brings

2011-04-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad its Spring again. Winters down here are so drab.

Here are just a few pictures I have of this new begining.

What is this mess going to be?

Its going to be my latest theater doll...called Rose Bertin and Marie.
Rose Bertin was not only Marie Antoinettes friend, She was also Marie's Milliner. She also set alot of fashion trends. She was always known for carrying a hat box.

I know this post is so unlike me . Please forgive me. I'm creating ,but can't seem to do a decent post. I am brain tired...as we say down here in the South.
    I'm always happy to recieve comments and I will answer each and every one of you. You all mean the world to me.
                            HAPPY EASTER!!!
May God Bless and Keep You,
                               Hugs and Kisses,
                      Marie Antionette

A Little Of Everything

2011-02-28T10:11:00.000-08:00

Please join Gabriela Delworth on March 11...For her Book Release Party...
Congrats Gabriela!!!

As you all know I have not been posting as I should be.
Sorry for that...it cannot be helped.

I want to thank again all the wonderful talented bloggers out there for their prayers on behalf of my brother and for myself. We do know the prayers are working.

Since I have not done much posting...I have alot to show. I did another theater doll. I have not named this one yet. Got any ideas???

Thanks to Pat of Summers Darlings....I wanted to play around with my own version of paper dolls. Pat gave me as a beautiful gift... a paper fairy doll, which is just drop dead gorgeous. A picture of it is on the post before this one, if you have not seen it yet. I played around with paper dolls once when I did a theater doll. I was using a Victorian Cat family paper doll. Here it is.

This is my version of a paper doll, but if Pat don't mind. I'd like to explore this territory further. They are really fun to piddle with.

Thinking of piddling around with new ideas. Thanks to another great talent and a wonderful lady...Celestina Marie of Larearose... I am making paper flowers. She showed us how to make them on her blog.

She used vintage patterns. How kool is that? Here is one I made doing just that.

But I also made this flower using black and white toile tissue paper that happen to be on a gift that Celestina had given me awhile back. I sprayed it with silver glitter and put a gemstone in the middle. It came out gorgeous. I wish these flower pictures were better.

Some of you may remember my long time friend Shannon from an earlier post. I've known Shannon since the 2nd grade. She died about a yr after Katrina.
Anyway Her husban Butch has been giving me dolls and other things that beloned to her. She has no living relatives. Butch came over with what I really called a surprise. As soon as I saw the box, I knew what it was.

    The very first year I met Shan, it was almost Christmas. My Mother always took us shopping on Dryied St. in New Orleans where I'm from. I know I spelled the St. wrong, but its been along time. This was in 1958.
Anywho...I wanted to impress my new found friend, so I begged and begged my Mother to let me buy Shan a Christmas gift. She let me pick out something for a dollar. Well I picked out What I thought any girl would love to have. A small mini tea set.
When I went to her house to give it to her, she said thank you then set it aside. She wanted to show me her Christmas from Santa.
   It was...are you ready for this??? It was a mechcanical robot called Gargo. Its eyes flashed red and it shot flames out of its mouth...LOL. I just looked at her, like she was nuts. I realized right then that my new friend was not like me at all. For you who don't know what Gargo was.It was a monster like Gozilla.
   I never ever saw the tea set again, until the other day. Now... at least I know she kepted it. I just don't know how we became friends till this day.We were never alike at any way, any how, any time. She was always a dreamer and lived in another world. But she was truely loved by me. I miss her.    PS. The tea set was made in Japan

I started to remodel my rooms, by that I mean painting and a little redecorating. I showed you my craft room and the bath that was attached to it. Now here is my master bath.

Now here is my utility room:

Here is an idea I came up with. I could never find the kind of design I wanted in light switch plates, so I came up with this. I covered them myself with heavey scrap book paper.

I thank you for stoping by my hummble abode and hope you enjoyed this post. Please know that all of you are also in my prayers.

May God Bless you,

XXOO MarieAntionette

A New Year And A New Begining 2011

2011-01-04T11:09:00.000-08:00

                                        Hello to all !!!
Just wanted to let you all know that   Tracie of My Petite Maison      Is having a give away Feb 3. Go right on over there and join in.Tracie is a Sweet lady and she has awesome give aways!
                                                  XXOO Marie Antionette

Well, its over...2010. I'm glad. Thats terrible to say. But some of us has not    had a steller year. GRANTED!!! I did have some highlights.
                                  YOU !!!
All of you!!! You kept me going. Gave me hope for my ailing brother...which by the way, he is holding his own, and they were able to find a bone marrow donor. I know its not over, but with all the prayers you've sent out...I'm keeping the faith.
                            THANK YOU ALL !!!

A new doll I've already made and sold. I have not shown any of you yet .
   Its a bride theater doll.

I'm a winner of a give away that Celestina Marie of http://larearose.blogspot.com/ had a few week ago.
You would not believe the beautiful things I've won. A most gorgeous box that Celeste painted. And you all know how talented she is with a brush. When I opened the box...there was more beautiful things inside, then...and then to top it off was the most gorgeous ornament. Everything painted in Celestina Marie's unique style. I was doing the happy dance. Thank you Celeste I love every thing.

Now to show off just a few things I recieved from some of my friends. Pat of http://summersdarling.blogspot.com/ what a Sweetheart she is. I was outside when a big UPS truck drove up. I was not expecting anything. It was a big box from Pat. Now Pat is also a very talented lady, and makes everything.I bought a pillow and tags from her and her work is awesome. Anyway I opened the box and was stunned speechless...LOL rare for me. It was the most drop dead gorgeous BIG paper doll. If you could just see it in person. You would buy one from her right away. Just look at it!!! Thank you Pat...I will get you back by the way...LOL.

Everything I've got was awesome...just look at what Sherry http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/ my adopted sister sent me. It was a beautiful letter M with rhinstones on it. I just happened to buy a picture frame for only $2.50. I don't know why I bought it. It was such a bargain. Anyway something clicked in my head and I took out the front glass and put blue velvet in the backround and look at my M now!!! Gorgeous Right?

I wanted to make sure I showed you what my daughter Alexia gave me. Something i've wanted forever. A beautiful waste basket from Victorian Papers. She bought it to go into my new redone studio. I love you daughter. XXOO

    Now I started making these ornaments at the very last days of christmas. I did them really to past the time, then discovered I really liked making them...so now I've added ornaments to my list of things to make.

One of the sweetest ladies in blogland, She teaches French, plays the harp, writes beautiful stories, and does illustrations, Anita , http://wwwcastlescrownscottages.blogspot.com/ sent me a fab tag and thank you card . They are so pretty. I have them hanging with other wonderful tags and such in my new redone studio. Thank you hon . She also wrote the most wonderful things to me inside the card on the left.

     I'm going to start a new theather doll, and I want you all to know it will be really kool. I found a Marie Antoinette Type figurine in an antique store.Its really not that old, cause I've seen the same figurine on Ebay. Mine was cheaper.Anyway thats all I'm going to tell you about it. I will say it will be in the colors...red, gold, creams, greens.

     I will depart now, lots to do. Remember New Beginings!!!
Thank you one and all, your cards, prayers and friendship, means the world to me. May God Bless you all,
             XXOO Marie Antionette

Happy New Year Ya'll

2010-12-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

I wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year, and to tell ya'll how much I appreciate all of you.
As an old barmaid...LOL...for this is an old picture. To drink and drive safely.
Be careful of fire works.
May God bless you all,
XXOO Marie Antionette

Merry Christmas !!! And We Have A Winner!!!

2010-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas my wonderful blog friends!!!
   We are going to make this a wonderful Christmas...arn't we. Yes we are.
I'm so excited. Its been a rough year for some of us, but I'm full of hope and I'm passing it on to you...cause I loves you a bunch.

Ok, we have a winner of my Christmas give away. I just put your names in a hat and picked one.We did not have too many entries, but that gave you more chances. So the winner is:
   Anita of Castles Crowns and Cottages!!! Congrats Anita!!!
Anita is a lovely lady.
Here is a couple of things I've made.They are both Tree Angels. One is Marie Antoinette.I've made one kind of like this one.But they are different. The other is just an Angel, but very pretty.

Friends I'm going though several test this month,so this is going to be very short.I'll look forward to your comments and will try to visit all of you.
I'm going to leave you with the link to my Christmas Village. I know some of you always love to visit it at this time. Due to my test ...I will not be putting it up this year. But I figured it will be more exciting next year.
     Here is the video- click on it to get the full effect!

I wish all of you the greatest of holidays.Lets keep Christ in our hearts, and in Christmas. This is his birthday.
   Merry Christmas to all and as I always say May God bless you.
                  XXOO Marie Antionette

Fall! Yeaaaa! Holidays! Yeaaa! Big Give Away! Yeaaa!

2010-10-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

Isn't it wonderful !!! I love the holidays. It always a happy time. What better way than to start it off with a...very Big Give Away. I love give aways.

My give away will be December 1. All you have to do is come by and I will put your name down for the drawing. Please pass the word around. Its going to be a big one friends, so don't miss out on it.

I want to introduce to you my new line of Marie Antoinette Christmas stocking wall hangs. They are about 36 inches long. I have five made so far. I am not a very good embellisher like most of you. So anyone who would like to suggest anything for these or the future ones...Please HELP!!! Here they are!

Last year, Sandra Evertson sent me a half doll. It took me awhile but I finally made something with it. I decided to make an Art Noveau doll from it.

I painted the doll a victorian type green. I then did her face. You can see the rest of it for your selves. As you are looking at it...LOL...just remember I've never made anything with this type of material. Thank you Sandra. You are a very talented lady and so very sweet. And thank you for the very sweet note you sent with it.As you see I framed it.

While I was away from blogging,I did redo my Craft room.I did not take any befor pictures I'm afraid, but I will tell you that the room was my daughter Alexia's bed room when she was younger and before she decided to leave her MaMa and Daddy...LOL. This room has never been painted since this house was built.Really! Just plain old off white for over 20 years. Not even new curtains.I did redo her bathroom at one time so you will see pictures of it too.

The Gipson Girl plaque on the wall was a gift from my very good friend Celeste of Celestina Designs for my birthday. Isn't it just gorgeous, just like her.Thank you Dear.

Can I call it a Studio now???

Ok Friends. I wish you all a Safe a Happy Halloween and I will be posting again before My Christmas Give away.

May God Bless you Always,

XXOO Marie Antionette

Happy Halloween !!!

2010-10-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Well its that time of the year...The holidays. Are we ready for it? Well its coming rather we are or not. We will deal with it.
I do love them.

Thank you all for the continuing prayers. I wish I could blog more offten ,but right now my mine and time or else where.You are all really good friends.
Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic, has been going full throttle to rally all these wonderful prayers. I just know god is listening.

This will be a rather small post. I did make a Theater doll for the Halloween season. I call it Retired witches.

The witches under my big witches gown are indeed retired. This is a lighted doll. I realy did enjoy making her. Finding the retired withches were very hard to fine.

I have some exciting news to give you. I will be having a big give away. I will talk more about this give away on my next post.Be sure to spread the word. I wish I could stay a little longer,but I can't. Please have a safe and happy Halloween. Yes I no I'm not my jovial self right now, Just bare with me.
Hugs and Kisses Marie Antionette

Summer!!! Alot to Show and Tell

2010-09-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Friends,
Thank you ...Thank you...for all your prayers on behalf of my brother Woody(Jr.)and my family. I know its because of these prayers that Jr. is holding his own. He has Leukemia. He was having a grueling round of Chemo at Oshners in Covington, Louisiana. He did really well there. Now he is at MD Anderson in Houston, where he will hopefully have a bone marrow transplant. This is where my other brother Johnny and myself come in.We are being tested to see if we are a match. Being siblings don't make it so. But we are his best chance. So please continue your prayers that we will not only match but our bone marrow will take.
    I mainly want to send our thank you's to Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic. Sherry is a God send. She got a prayer chain started and like I said earlier...from your prayers to Gods ear. Thank you Dear One . I love you so much.

      Ya'll my birthday was in July. I got some of the most beautiful things. I was so thrilled to recieve these wonderful gifts in the mail. My blogging friends know no bounds.
   As you know I have not blogged for along time. So this is a very full post.
So I am so sorry I have not been able to show my wonderful gifts off till now.
First I want to show you what Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic sent me. A gorgeous bracelet You can't see it very good...but its silver and has crystal like stones in it. It came in a beautiful green and organza bag. I also recieved an address book, which I really did need. Of course it has a peacock on the front. It all came in a pink see though bag with a birthday card and one of those cards that tell you what your name means.

Next I got a very big surprise from a very lovely lady and wonderful friend... Julie Marie of Idyllhours. Julie Marie sent me the most elegant necklace. It is a Beautiful rhinestone dolphin. So so lovely. She also sent me a birthday card and a beautiful notebook. I love it . It was all wrapped up so pretty.I hated to unwrap it. I did keep the ribbon for something special.

Last but not least...LOL. I recieved a gift that was just to much . I was so surprised, I can't tell you. Celestina Marie of Celestina Marie Designs, made me the most gorgeous Trey. She painted a trey in blue with pink roses on it. In the center was a picture of a Gipson girl. The very same image I use on my business cards. She has such talent. I have it now hanging in a place of honor, and I will be telling you and showing little later.

    It also was wraped beautifully.I already used the ribbon to hang this beauty up. I also loved my card .
    Thank you ladies for all my fine gifts. They made me so happy. You all make me so happy. I won't forget. I have been a little slack, but you'll see...LOL.

    My big summer trip!!! My friend Cheryle and I went to Ohio to visit Sherry of Edie Marie'sAttic . WOW!!! what a trip.You could have not asked for a better hostess than Sherry and her wonderful Hubby Wes! What a sweetheart. Wes did all the cooking...so that Sherry and her lovely daughter in-law Kris could spend their time with us.We did all sort of wonderful things.One of which we went to see an exhibition of the Titanic. It was just to fab.We could not take pictures of the inside of the exhibition. But there was a lady who took pictures of us on a replica of the stairway.That was so cool. We also went to a little German cafe that had the most wonderful food. I had a big big hamburger...really it was almost to big for my mouth .I ate that whole thing...LOL Sherry and the others did not think I could do it...LOL, I showed them. What a fun day.We also went to see a movie. It was Letters to Juliet.Friends...You have to see this movie. You will love it. Outside Sherry's town house is a very big pond, in it are the most beautiful pair of swans. My second best loved birds. also there were huge Koi fish.Which I also raise. Their Townhouse was just gorgeous. I love it. So warm and loving. I did not want to leave. I think I could live with them forever.
    For the sad news...We weren't at Sherry's an hour when my poor sweetheart got a call from her brother. Her Mother passed away.We told her we would just go on back home, but she told us she needed us with her. I'm glad we stayed. I guess we were suspose to be there.We have been each others Godsend for sure. Bless her heart. Sherry is a very strong woman. So gracious.
I will just put all the pictures up for you to see.The first pictures will be of the gorgeous things Sherry had for me. She also had gifts for our Cheryle. She gave me a very pretty box with all kind of things inside, but she also gave me an iroing board cover with blue toile print. I love it.Its so pretty.Oh...One of the things we did was going to yard sales.What a blast that was.Sherry found all kind of neat things and would you believe I found a doll for only $5.00.It was like new and it was from 2000, Heritage Mint. It had 7 outfits. She is so cute. I call her Sherry Pie .

There you have it.You can kind of tell we had a ball. Thank you for a most joyeous time in my life. I cannot wait to see to two again.

With that I would like to say I'm so glad I'm back to blog world.I missed all of you and will try to visit you all.I have other exciting news and creations to show next time and also a very big giveaway, coming Christmas.Till then my friends...God bless you All

XXOO Marie Antionette

Spring Pictures

2010-06-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi ya'll,

I want to show some spring time pictures of my yard, Also to let you ladies out there, know that....and you can take this to the bank...When your wonderful hubby retires!!! You Ain't !!!

Be warned, Be prepared.

I want to share some of my yard with you. I'm not going to comment on each picture.I'm going to put the pictures up starting with ...going though my gate all the way down my road to my house.

I want to thank ya'll for stoping by. I'm hoping in a couple of months, I will be able to post a little more. But I'm sure all of you understand with summer and all things don't go as planed. I will make sure I answer your comments. For your friendships mean the world to me.

You all take care this summer and please be aware of your surroundings.

Love you beautiful people

XXOO Marie Antionette

My Anniversary and I Had a Secret...UPDATE!!!... GOOD NEWS

2010-04-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

April 28,2010
Hello everyone!!! I have some good news to share.
    Remember Gabriella Delworth http://gabrieladelworth.com/ Marie De Fete Party last Nov?
Would you believe that party got picked up by the Artful Blogging Magazine, Summer issue 2010. And yes its on stands now. I don't have a copy as of yet, I had to send off for it...but Gabriella was good enough to send me a scan. I'm so excited!
As you know if you read my post below, that I sent in two dolls last Spring to Art Doll Quarterly. And yes they turn me down. I find that quite amusing that one of my other dolls got into one of ADQ's sister magazines. I owe it to Gabriella of course. Thank you Gabriella
                                                                            XXOO Marie
Hello good people of blogland,
   I had an anniversary, April 2nd. Yes!!! 38 yrs of wedded ups and downs. Thats right! Not all marriages are picture perfect. But I stayed in for the long haul...LOL.
We had a wonderful day. My hubby bought something for me i've been wanting for a long time. An antique baby pram. Ever since I got my old Tiny Tears doll and the vintage baby doll from http://idyllhours.blogspot.com/...I wanted to put them in an old pram.
We found one in the next town over in Slidell La. in an antique mall.
Its from about 1913. There is not much info on it. But it is in very good condition for wicker. All I did was clean it up for I did not want to decrease the value of it. I like it the way it is. I just made a linner for it. Can't let the babies sit on bare wicker, now can we.
Here are some before and after pics.

I took this picture outside in front of my blooming Wisteria tree.

I was going to post some Spring time pictures of my home, but something has happened and I wanted to let you know about it.
I had a secret! It did not turn out to well, but i'm not going to cry and booHoo about it cause it doen't change a thing .

Last June and August I had submitted to dolls to Art doll Quarterly. Those were the submission dates. I had two send in the dolls. My dolls are very big vignettes. So it cost me a pretty penny. You see you also had to send them the return shipping. I prayed and prayed they get accepted. I kept this from all of you because I did not want to be embarressed and I also did not want to put a jinx on them... just in case. Well just in case did happen and they were not excepted. Though they kept them for a long time. They told me they could not place them. So be it ! I will just put them on Etsy.
The first doll I submitted is different from all the others. It is not Marie Antoinette.
Its a Victorian lady, holding a tea pot and cup and saucer.
On the inside is a Victorian Cat Family. I'm sure most of you have seen these paper dolls.
What I did was after cutting them out and putting them on heavier paper...I repainted (glitzed them up), put lace and stuff on them.I arranged them in a room with Victorian toys and such.It was hard for me to take pictures of it.

The second doll actually my very first marie Antoinette doll. I just could not tell you all that.
This doll has two minuet figurines playing instruments. This is the first time I used the backrounds for these theater dolls. Its a print of a grand ball room and I made it into a panoramic view.The figurines , I got on Ebay.They are from Japan. Here are the two vignettes.

Well now my secret is out, and I can take a deep breath and say...I tried.
What more can you do but try again.

Till next time my friends ,Hugs and kisses all around.
XXOO Marie Antionette

New Marie Antoinette Doll and More

2010-03-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hi ya'll,

Yes!!! I'm still here.I'm sorry I cannot post as much as I want to, but things happen. But I want you to know you are always in my thoughts and prayers.

Here is my newest Marie Doll. It is a Marie... and a smaller Marie inside the curtained gown.The smaller Marie is sitting at a spinet ...looking over some sheet music. I bought the spinet on Ebay. It was so pretty I could not resist it. Its an aqua type color with a touch of pink roses on the top. When the chandelier is on...its so pretty. I wish the pictures were better. There will be more pics on my Etsy.

Now I want to share with you a special gift I recieved from La Donna Welter of LaDonna Welter Paper Cuttinghttp://ladonnawelter.blogspot.com/

She was kind enough to send me a magazine called Paper Cuts. As you all know LaDonna does the most amazing creations with paper. AWESOME work. She even wrote a very sweet thing and signed it. You all really should get this copy. Its a wonderful book with such amaging designs in it.Yes, of course LaDonna is it.

Thank you so much LaDonna, My magazine is sitting right on top of my coffee table.

Let me now tell everyone about another book that think will interest some of you young Mothers and Grandmothers.
Remember in my last post I had my Rottweiler Rip pose in mardi Gras beads? Ha is such a sweethear and will let me do anything to him. I have had 6 Rotts in the past and everyone was just like him. I know alot of people are afraid of this type dog, BUT as in all breeds, its how you raise them. Lots of love goes along way. The books I want to tell you about ,are about a Rottweiller named Carl. They are written and illustrated by Alexandra Day. These are picture books for a very young child. They are beautiful. Here is a discription of them that I found on Goggle:

Big and bullheaded, but gentle and intelligent—and with a mischievous streak a mile wide—Alexandra Day's Rottweiler Carl is the perfect companion for kid-sized adventure. It seems whenever Mother leaves them alone, baby Madeleine climbs on Carl's back and they scamper off together, having fun and getting into things they never could have done with Mom around. Yet they always manage to get tidied up and back in place before she comes back. This treasury collects six of Day's nearly wordless Carl books for prereaders, illustrated with realistic watercolors that are really portraits of Day's own Rottweilers and her granddaughter. At the end, Day offers color photographs of her dogs and the origins of the Carl stories.

I'm telling you ,that you really should look into these books. You can buy them used on Ebay or Amazon.

Do you remember in my last post I told you that I made little girl mdresses that go all over the world. Mainly to Africa and to Indian Reservations. Well I also make hats for cancer patients. I belong to a group of ladies call the Busy Bees, We do community work, and this is one of the things we do.This is just one type hat we make.

With this... I say Goodbye, till next time we meet.

May god Bless,

XXOO Marie Antionette

T-Shirts, Dresses, And Other Things

2010-02-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Hello! Hello! Hello!
I want to thank all of you for all well wishes you sent my way. You really uplifted my spirits. May God Bless You All !!! Do we not have some of the best people here in blog land or what?
I'm ready to go!!!

Isn't this a most beautiful award??? It was bestowed upon me by a most gracious lady we all know as
The Dutchess of Tea. I am so honored to recieve it. Thank you so much Dear. You truely are a Lady.

I now want to show you an old baby doll that Julie Marie of Idyllhours sent me awhile back. She bought it at an estate sale. He knew I just inherited a bunch of old dolls. She thought I would appreciate this old doll she had found, and I did. It did not have any markings on it, but you could tell it was old. I cleaned it up and dressed her. Here are the before and after pictures.

Thank you Julie Marie,XXOO
Now on to some football !!!
How about them Saints? I know you are all tired of hearing...Who Dat say gonna beat them Saints?
Who dat! Who Dat! But I am from New Orleans and its about Damn time we won something.
As you know Mardi Gras was at the same time. Which I did not get to go. Boo Hoo, Sniff, Sniff.
Anywho, I found this T-shirt with Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl Champs(De Saints) so I bought it.Here it is.Please excuse my squint eyes in these pictures.For once we had a sunny day.

My rott Rip wanted to go Mardi gras, but my little Aussie, Hobie wanted to play football.

He's licking his chops.

My Angel the devil dog.

For my birthday last year, Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic...one of my most loveable and of course... we adopted each other...Sister, gave me a football jersey from her home state of Ohio.I told her when I could , I would take a picture of me in it.Again Squint eyes.

One of you ladies had asked me about the T- Shirts that I had made for myself using the pictures off my flyers and business card. Let me explain about the business card first.
I use the image of one of the Gipson Girls...Afternoon Tea. I got these cards from Victoria Trading Company. Way back in 1998. I have been sponstoring my bowling team called the Tonidolls for years. I had t-shirts made for my team using this image. That was before Afternoon Tea got popular.
Here are just a few of the shirts.

I think the same lady who asked about the shirts...not sure...also asked me to tell more about the dresses I make for little girls.
I got started doing this by a lady I also bowl with. She is not on my team. This is a very giving woman. She not ony make dresses herself, she makes blankets, boy clothes, book bags toys and much more. All material and trims are donated. These clothes do not have any button holes or zippers. Only a little lace or rick rack. The dresses I recieve are already cut out. Some times this material is hideous at best. Like I said its donated and nothing is wasted. This is all done though the Mormon Church.
How I got into it ...I knew my friend made the dresses. She asked me if I would be interested in making just a few. I told her I did not know how to sew clothes for people. My doll clothes are just main circles, squares and draping. She said I'll show you. She came over and did just that. It wasn't to bad, just the sleeves and neck. Any way now my few turned into 191 dresses and counting. I truelly enjoy doing this , because I think of all the little girls faces when they recieve them. Did I not mention these dresses go all over the world, and to the Indian Reservations right here in the good old USA? Here are the ones I made this week.

Since I did not do anything for Mardi Gras, I am going to show a picture of my mini Mardi Gras tree, newly updated.

ATTENTION TATTING CHIC !!!!
This is for you dear friend...Here are a few dolls...I want you to tell me which one you like best, BECAUSE one of them is yours.You choose. It does not matter which. I want you to have one, and someday when your up to tatting the trim, I will make you the doll of your dreams. For now one of these will do. Its my way to show you how much You mean to me. I know how it feels not to be able to do the things we like due to a set back or illness. Love you Dear, XXOO

wishing well

VenusLady Anne

Thats all I got for my first post in a month or more. I will try not to leave you for such a long time. I missed all the sharing. Until next time...
XXOO Marie Antionette

Just A Note

2010-02-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my blogging friends,
I miss you all. Ihave been under the weather, but I am going to be OK. I get setbacks from time to time. I always rally and I will rally again. Its in my nature. I will post something new soon. In the mean time just leave a comment. I will answer.
If there is something you would like to hear about, let me know.
Love you guys and May god bless you all,
XXOO Marie Antionette

Lets begin a New Year

2010-01-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

Lets begin a New Year...WOW ! That hard to believe isn't it, that another year has flown by. For most of us the past year was met by alot of illness, grief, and some triumph....But we made it though. Yeaaaaa !!! Think of all the friends we met on the way. FANTASTIC !

I want to thank each and every one of you for the friendship and prayers you have given me. May God bless each and every one of you.

I have to say a special thanks to my very own precious daughter, Alexia Antoinette !!!

For without her loving help, my blog would not be possible.

Thank you dearest daughter for all the help and still helping hands you give me. Thank you for all the corrections you make before you set up my post.

I want all of you to know that Alexia makes all my beautiful banners. She also creates the most beautiful flyers for me. Some of these I use on my T-Shirts. XXOO Alexia !!! Here are 2 flyers she made:

Have you ever met someone for the first time, and felt like you've known them forever, So strange a feeling. Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic...Thats how it felt when we just commented on each others blog. We kept going back to each other.We had so many things in common ,yet from two wayyy different backrounds. Sherry is from the North and I'm from the very deep South. Sherry took a little trip though the Southern states and stop by my home in the woods...LOL. It was like something out of a movie. We acted like we have been friends and just was parted for awhile. Only difference between us is that I'm a tad more meaner...LOL. But don't let that sweet face of hers fool you...She can be the dickens. We consider ourselves sisters. There is no if, ands or buts about that.

Well let me show you what dear old sis made for me this Christmas!!!

She made this drop dead gorgeous crown for me. The picture does not do it justice. Sherry also made my daughter Alexia a crown just as gorgeous with Princess on it. How sweet is that. Here are pictures of Alex and me wearing our crowns. Alex wanted me to let all of you know that, she is very ill in her picture, She was, my poor baby girl. I have no excuse...LOL

Here are the other just fab things Sherry made for me.The first ornament was made by her using an old vintage broch .The second ornment is a beautiful Angel.Sorry about the picture.But the button also came from a vintage stock belonging to a family member.You can't see it clear...the button has a peacock on it.Its just sooooooo beautiful.

Here is my first story of the season. Its not a bar story, its a pet story.

My Lemon...The story of Rusty

Have you ever bought an appliance or a car, and discover it was a lemon right off the bat?

Well you can buy a pet and sadly discover it is a lemon also. Rusty was the 5th Rottweiler we owned. We always kept two at a time. It makes them happy.We bought Rusty to keep our then Rott... Buck company. He's another story.

We bought Rusty when he was 6 weeks old. Something about his face, kind of goofy or comical looking. He was very big for 6 weeks. We really love on our dogs right away. But Rusty was just as loveable as can be. So sweet and good natured.

about a week I started noticing little things...such as when he would bump into something he would yelp. I told my hubby something was wrong with the puppy, of course he dismissed me. You know how men are, we foolish women. Get got worse. So when he bumped into the rocking chair, well he let out a very big howl and sure enough Bill did notice that. So here we go marching ourselves to the Vet. AND of course its bad news. Our sweet loveable pup has very bad Hip Displacia on his left side. The Vet said what he normally would suggest is to put the dog down, because it is not only very costly, but very painful to the dog to put them though it. But the vet said we can try a give him meds to help control the pain. He said Rusty was such a beautiful dog and lets try and do that.YES!!! I said. I've already fallen in love with him. If it gets too bad then we will do what we have to. Well time went on, and he was doing well...

He was two and coping with the hip very well. He played with Buck...kepted real close to him in fact...I knew all along something else was wrong. LOL...Hubby again ...Your imaging things. There was a reason why he bumped into things Bill I said. I think he don't see very well. So Off to New Orleans to a Vet that specializes in eye sight for dogs. Very costly, but we loved him so much. MORE bad news. He's almost blind...Detatched Retinas. It will only get worse. We decided to not to put him down.

You have to understand...this is a dog that looks like he's always happy. He plays with us, plays with Buck. Buck would grieve without him. My poor baby...my poor baby. I can't stand the thought. So we kept him. You know what? I knew something else was wrong. I kept that to myself. Time went on . Rusty did not let blindness stop him from going anywhere he wanted. All of our ten acres is fenced in, Thats Scotty's and Niko's story. Rusty knew that ten acres very well. He always followed Buck around. Then Buck died( old age). Now Rusty was alone. He needed another dog to help him. We bought Rip...who we still have. Again...another story.

Back to Rusty. As I said...I knew something else was wrong. That sweet goofy look. Not coming when called, except when you yelled.Bill asked me,why are you always yelling at him. Well Bill...because Rusty is almost Deaf !!! Always have been , but its worse. So now Deaf blind and hip displacia. But still sweet and still he was the happiest dog I've ever seen. Happy go lucky Rusty. Amazing...By the way ...did I mention that Rusty was about 163 pounds??? So it was hard to move him around.And move him around we did, cause after Katrina...the woods were like matchsticks. We managed to clear the downed tres from our surrounding home, but there is the down trees still there today. (Katrees.) Well Rusty could not find his self around to much anymore.So we would have to go find him now. STUCK ...I'm only 4ft 11, try lifting his front legs over fallen trees or going to look for him when he got lost. But he was happy. Always happy.

Well my Lemon died around Christmas before last in Bill's arms. His heart gave out. What a heart he had, to endure all the obstacles he had in life. He knew he was well loved, for we loved him right off. That big goofy face.

Rusty about 8 wks old, and below picture about 6yrs old.

Guess what??? I inherited more dolls from my best friend(Shannon) who passed. Her husband Butch brought them to me. Pebbles and Bam Bam.They both still have all their geer and tags.They were in their orinal boxes, but the boxes were to water damaged.Yes they did have some mold on them, but it came right off.Bam's outfit has some tiny bug holes, I washed it very carefully. It smelled so bad. I had no choice. It did turn out OK.

This will tell you where my brain is. I won a charm from Joy at Cupids Charms, then forgot about it. Joy Asked me did I till want the charm...Well hellooo...Who would not want something made by Joy? Of course I want it...LOL. So anyway I did finally send her my addy. Here is my beautiful charm. Its in the middle. Between the pretty box and cards. I thank you sooo much for this charm.I had it hanging on my tree, I had several comments on it. Just gorgeous. XXOO Joy!!!
Here are more wonderful Christmas gifts I recieved from Kris of Lisianblue. The most beautiful stained glass ornaments. One is a Moon, with a little star and the other a gorgeous Christmas tree. Kris makes some wonderful pieces. Pleas go give her a visit. Did I mention she is also a wonderful friend.XXOO Kris !
Look at the beautiful soap I bought from Marie at Savon Marie's. I bought the white cameo type from Marie, Its smells wonderful. Marie also sent as an extra the soap on the left.Its oatmeal soap.Ya'll need to check these out.I won't use the picture bar,but the oatmeal soap is devine on your skin.It really does make your skin feel so good, and the lather...you can't even imagine. It all comes wrapped so pretty. Thank you Marie!!!
This wraps it up, till next time, I'm going to be workin g on a couple of projects. Hopefuly I will get at least one of them done by my next post. As you know Mardi Gras is near and thats a very big happening down here. That and the Who Dat Gang (New Orleans Saints).

May all your dreams come true this New Year, May ills get healed,

Happy New Year Ya'll

Marie Antionette and Alexia

Merry Christmas to One And All !!!

2009-12-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hello, and Merry Christmas. I did so want to show all of you new video of my Christmas Village, but that was just about impossible for this year. Many of you did not get to see it last year, so it will work out anyway. I do hope you enjoy seeing it for the first time and those who already seen it will enjoy watching it again. I did get some new pieces, and did take still pictures. To enjoy the sound effects of the video, please click the pause button of the music player (it is in red down the lefthand side of the page). Also you can enlarge the video or watch it in HQ.

I wanted to show you the new zoo pieces I got for this year, since I could not have them in a video for this year.There are Pandas, Elephants, Lions, and Zebras...Also there's a close up of my graveyard. You can see the hearse and the undertaker.

Here are some pictures of my Christmas Tree, but the first one is of the ornaments I bought from Celestina Marie of La rhea Rose Arn't they just beautiful ? Ones an Angel thats right above my peacock.There is a sled on the bottom left, painted with roses, so is the Angel. Right in the middle below the peacock is two of the most beautiful painted bulbs. I put them together rather than seperate them. I kind of made a vignette with them .

I want to thank a most wonderful young woman who has acomplished so much in her life. A true artist, who has been in magazines and she teaches in all kind of venues. Her name is Gabriella Delworth. You have to go and get to know Gabriella Delworth. She is amazing.

She put on a party called....Marie De Fete. A Marie Antoinette inspired holiday show.

She featured several of us artist, so that we may display our art. It was such a fun thing to do.Here are a few of the artist that were featured. Besides myself and Gabriella they were(not in order)
Nancy of Fete et Fleur

Joy of Cupid Charms

Tristan Robin Blakman of Enchanted Revelry
Kelly Lee of Lemon Tree Patisseire

Maria Elena of Tea at Trianon

Kimberly Shaw
Karen Harvey Cox

(apologies for the lack of links on some of those, the linking features isn't working right)

Here is the theater doll I made just for the show. This dolls gown is of a rich, blue green taffeta fabric. Under her gown is a beautiful peacock. I got the backround print off the computer,had it made into a panoramic view. I also glittered everything up a bit.

I just have to show you what I bought from Gabriella Delworth. Its a Marie Antoinette Christmas globe. Its so beautiful. You really need to go see her line of Marie Globes.

This is a new theater doll. It has no name yet. Her gown is of sage green velvet. Underneath her gown is a bridge with the cutest little Angel standing on it. Below her is a beautiful swan. In the back round is a Santa and a tree that lights up.

Look what I did, I added a horn to the pink plastic horse head(refer to post below). I made it into a unicorn. I happened across a pink icicle in my stash. It was even already frosted. Pretty kool huh???

Well its that time of year again. Time to say goodbye for this season- see you after the holidays. I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I pray all of you a safe, happy and loving holiday.

Until next year...

Merry Christmas, Love you guys

XXOO Marie Antionette

A Party To Go To...YEA!!!!!

2009-11-16T04:32:00.000-08:00

Lets Go To A Party!!!!

You must go to the Marie DE FETE!!! It is given by Gabriella Delworth

Its sure to be the place to be. She is going to have some special things going on...and a givaway.

Please...Please go!!!

Why can't Marie Antoinette be an Angel? She certainly should not have been taken from her children!!! Just because of court life...That wasn't her fault that she was told to dress this way and that. Of course it would go to her head to get new clothes and such....She's a woman for Gods sake. So I made a smaller version of my Marie Antoinette Tree doll (post before this one) but I made Marie an Angel.

This Tree Angel is not as fancy as the other one I made just for me. It was made with whatever I had laying around. She still is about 20 inches tall. The gown colors are off white and light green. She is holding a wreath in her hands and has... shoes, a harp, and a doll around the tree.

Here is a new Stocking wall hang. i wish you could see the glittery sparkle it has.The colors are so pink and mauve. It has Victorian family scenes for the print.

This is one of my redos...I say redo because....I found this plastic horse head at a yard sale for a dollar. Its hair was all matted and it needed cleaning. This is the before picture, but I cleaned it up some before I thought about it.

This is the after...I brushed the mane out, got it as smooth as I could , then rolled it up.I then put glitter all over the horse, I mean I coated this sucker. I attached it to one of my plaques. Combed out the mane and just put a organza bow with a pretty rhinestone and put a rhinestone on the forehead. Added some pink poinsettas around the base. This is what I got.

I want to thank Rattus Scribus of....http://rattusscribus.blogspot.com/ for this beautiful award. Its called the... Kreativ Blogger... award. Isn't it a lovely award. If you don't know....You must go visit his blog. He writes some very informative and funny stories. He is a hoot.

And he is also the hubby of our beloved Anita of Castles and Crowns http://wwwcastlescrownscottages.blogspot.com/

What wonderful people these are.

I want to also thank you for visiting me. I'm so sorry I have not visited much this last couple of weeks. Lots going on here at my home.

I will be starting to put up my Christmas village this week and this takes awhile, so when you leave a comment ...just know I will make my visit back to you. I always love your visits and comments. I would not like to miss out on them.

I want to wish all of you a Happy thanksgiving. Some of us has had alot of problems going on but there is always time to thank the things that do go right...blessings to share. The friends we made this year. Especially the new friends. I know I'm thankful.

XXOO Marie Antionette

My Daughter, Me and Halloween

2009-11-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hello my Ladies and Gents,

I'm going to get started by telling you about Gabriella Delworths big blog party and show. Its called Marie De Fete. Lots of things will be going on here. And of course a give away. We all love a give away, We all know it will be something FABULOUS!!! so please don't miss out on it. Please go to her blog and see more info on this big bash. It will be a big deal for sure:

Our Halloween Night!!!!

My daughter Alexia and I went out on Halloween nite, We had a blast. I did get to dance the Monster Mash about 8 times, LOL... I am paying for that stunt as I write. I can't hardly move to say the least. But I would do it all again. I have not dressed up or gone out in a couple of years. Alexia thought it was time for me to get out and going. She knows I love to dance.

I was so proud of Alexia...She made her costume (Simplicity pattern 3618) and it was just so darling on her. She was Little Red Riding Hood. Look how good her costume came out. Everyone was so amazed at the way she looked. To bad there was not a costume contest, I know she would have won. I took these pictures of her in my yard. The special effects were photoshopped by her.

Telling the big bad wolf to sit and behave. Poor little ole Hobby, didn't know she was a wolf today. LOL.

Crossing the log into the secret forest.

Gazing out of the Gazebo.

Looking for faries in the Fairy Well.

Alexia behind one of my trees.

This is a sad excuse for a cave woman but here I am. I called myself Marie An-stone-ette...LOL.

Silly huh?

I have really got to give one of the most gracious ladies I know a very big thank you. Julie Marie of Idyll Hours... She sent me a two boxes. One had this very old doll. She told me she found this doll at an estate sale, and thought of me and the old dolls I had. She thought I would love this old doll and the Gabbage Patch doll heads(below). And of course I do.We both looked for markings on her but could not find any. I did think I saw a very faint P, but not sure if it was just a scratch. But just in case,I looked up the P and did come up with what I think the doll might be. Here are my results. I think she is from the 50's. I also think she is a knockoff of Betsy Wetsy.I say this because I found a doll with the P exactly like her. The companys that use the P tried to make cheaper verions on the originals. I'm going to redo this little beauty and dress her.She will make a good playmate for my Tiny Tears.

I've never worked with these kind of heads before, but I'm going to think of something. I'll figure it out.I don't want to make a usual type doll with these. I want something different.We'll see, but it won't be till after Christmas.Thank you so much Julie Marie for your thoughtfulnes.You are truelly a wonderful person. XXOO

LOOK!!! I bought the most Fabulous Journal from Sandra Evertson. It is just devine and you all must go to her Etsy shop. The journal has Marie Antoinette on the cover , of course made by Sandra. See the beautiful card she sent with the journal. I bought this for Alexia, for Christmas but I could not resist and gave it to her already. And yes she was thrilled. I knew she would be.

Take a look at the inside cover of this journal ! Sandra drew a picture of Marie Antoinette ! Its so so gorgeous!!! She also puts a personal message below the picture. A truely talented Lady. Thank you Sandra.

Look what I bought from French Country. Some beautiful stamped ribbon and charming charms...The ribbon has chandeliers on one and Marie Antoinette on the other.These are just gorgeous. The the charms are so cute. I wish the pictures were better. Then she sent me an extra pretty. Four paper ornaments that will be pretty on my tree. Please go and check her bolg out.
I want to thank Tatting Chic, and we all know Tatting Chic.We all love her. She makes the most beautiful tatting. Her lace is just drop dead gorgeous. She bestowed upon me three awards. I'm deeply honored. I'm always proud to recieve awards ,but due to my limited puter skills, Its very hard for me to pass them on. But I do thank you very much Tatting Chic. XXOO

This first award is called the Arija Award, created by Ces.

The second award also created by Ces is called The Deborah Award.

The third award was created by Kathi of Mini Blessings....The Friendship award.

These are all beautiful awards.

Alexia and I would like to thank you all who visit us and I hope your Halloween was as wonderful as ours. Now its on to Thanksgiving. Christmas is coming upon us pretty fast.

We will deal with it...Won't we???
Hugs and kisses to all...XXOO Marie Antionette

Just For Me

2009-10-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Friends.

Before we get started, please lets take a moment to send one of our dear friends Sherry of Eddie Marie's Attic and her family our prayers. Sherry lost her precious niece to cancer the other day. She also needs prayers for her son Russ who is ill. I'm not going into detail about that, but Sherry is very upset of course as we all would be. She needs our prayers and support. Sherry has always been good enough to keep us in her prayers in our time of need. We thank her for that. We love you Sherry and May God bless you.

Natasha Burns of Artistic Creations by Natasha Burns has come up with a fun idea. She thought it woud be fun to do or make something for ourselves for a change. And yes it was fun, I did enjoy making this for myself. Here it is!!!

Some of you seen my Tree Angels that light up, This is a tree doll. I call her...........

"Marie Antoinette's Christmas".

She stands 20 inches tall. The base she is attached to is 18 inches long, 11 inches wide.

The porcelain head which I altered by changing her hair color and face, drapes a miniture Christmas tree. The gown that drapes the tree is made of organza. The color is beige and pink. I made the gown, hat, fan, hatbox. The fan and the hat both have a little fleur-de-lis on them. I put lights on the tree, and under her gown are shoes, the hatbox, a harp, presents, and I can always add whatever comes to my peabrain. These pictures do not do her justice, not to mention, I'm not a good picture taker...LOL. This is a pretty big Christmas display.

I am going to make another Marie Antoinette Tree Doll for my Etsy Shop, but it will be a different color and different porcelain head.

So with that ...here she is:

This is what is under her gown.Here's a story of how I made my very first doll.
Before I started making the dolls, I made T-shirts, sweat shirts and then the Christmas Stockings.
One day in Walmart in 1997, My friend Cheryle and i was looking in the craft department. Cheryle spotted a porcelain doll head and fell in love with it.She said it remined her of Monica on the TV show Touch by an Angel. Cheryle did not do any kind of crafts. She asked...Marie could you make me an Angel with that doll head? NO! I would not even know where to begin. O you can do it. NO! Please........I studied it for awhile, saw that they were using cones to make them so I said I would give it a try.

After alot of burnt fingers, alot of failures. I came up with my very first doll. Of course I gave it to Cheryle and she calls her Monica. She still has her to this day. Of course I replaced the feathers since then. As time went on I got better and more creative with the porcelain heads. So looking at my very first doll of 1997 she is not so good maybe,but she is the best one I've made in Cheryle's eyes.
Something of interest. These are my orange and satuma trees. I have two of each.

These are the satumas,They are lightly green, but ready to pickThese are the oranges,but they are still not ready.
Arn't these pretty?These are our Meyer lemons. Most are bigger than my hand, way bigger than the oranges.They are begining to turn yellow.They will be ready for Thankdgiving.
I want to thank you for coming by my humble abode. I want to wish you all a safe and fun fill Halloween. I will be hunting me a place where I can do the Monster Mash.

Ya'll be good!!! XXOO Marie Antionette

And the Winner is !!!

2009-09-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it !!! But I'm going to leave

you hanging for just a moment, so I can make this announcement for a dear lady. Her name is Nastasha Burns of Artistic Creations . Natasha is having a big ToDo about doing something for ourselves. Please go visit her, to find out what all the fuss is about. You will be glad you did.

This is my 15 year old grandson Courtland. Of course he can do no wrong in grandma's eyes. He is a very sweet and loving boy. He's always looking after me and his mom. He is helping me with the drawing. ARE WE READY??? HERE IT GOES... PICK THE NAME COURTLAND!!!

AND THE WINNER IS ......QUEENIE OF Vintage Finds and Treasures. I'm sorry that the name is so light , but its there. I'm so happy for you Queenie !!! Congrats. If you will send me your addy, I will get your gift out to you Monday or Tuesday. Hows that sound.Yeaaaaa!!! And I'm so sad that the rest of you didn't win. I wish all of you could have won, for all of you are winners in my heart.... Queenie my email is tonidolls@hotmail.com Of course,anyone of you are welcomed to email me. I would love that, just make sure you put blogspot on the subject line

Onward...
Here is one of my theater dolls that is a little bit different than the others. This Christmas theater doll has a panoramic view inside. The gown is of velvet and gold glitter snowflakes printed on it.She is holding a wooden doll. Its not on this picture, but I added a Christmas tag. So you would know that it is a doll not a baby. LOL...She has a smart little hat and a very pretty cape.

This is the inside of the curtain. Sorry about the glare. I made a panoramia print that wraps around the plaques and attaches to the colums that hold up the entire vignette. This print is elves in Santas workshop,putting up toys. I have a chandelier in the middle, shinning light upon Santa sitting in his chair,looking at the world Globe.The statue I udes for this ,is an Enestos figurine called Guidense. I think it was made in the late 90's. I have it sitting on a rug that I made. The panoramic view gives it a three deminal look. I t so different in person to view.

Again newbies to my blog. These are stocking wall hangs. This is how I make them. I buy Christmas prints that I know I will enjoy repainting with glitter paint. I repaint the whole thing which is about 36 inches long. I then cut a backing and batting , sew it up, put lace or whatever I think will be pretty to decorate it . In the certain lights,it winkles sparkles and just pretty to look at. I will be puting these and more in my Etst shop. I have other on Filckr, if you want to see how they all look.

I recently recieved these pictures of my best friend (no longer with us) Shannon and me dating back to 1966, yes 66. Butch, Shannon's sweet hubby, thought I might like to have them. He told me he found them in an old box. Butch is just now able to go though her personal things, like pictures and such. He gave me the pictures of Shannon that are below, and now these. Anyway I don't remember at all painting our faces up like this, for I never did go into doing that sort of thing. I guess she talked me into it somehow.

Shannon and I are ready to hit the teen scene. Also I really don't remember where we were going. I think maybe to see Black Oak Arkansas. That is the only thing i can come up with.They are from New Orleans, and were popular at that time.

It has been raining here every day. I feel so bad for the people of Atlanta Georgia. I pray for you all. May God Bless you and keep you as safe as possible. My heart goes out to you all.

Anyway,I thought since I had to use my cool umbrella,I might as well show you all a picture of it.It was given to me by a close friend. Its very very big, and has pictures of old screen stars on it.Clarke Cable, Elizabeth Taylor,Jimmy Stewart,and I think Greta Garbo.

While I was taking a picture of my cool looking umbrella,my dog,I call the Red Devil...just had to

jump up on my side table.Her real name of course is Hobie. And she really is a very sweet dog.

I want to thank all of you for stopping by and celabrating my first year in blogland. I've made alot of friends and hope to make more. I want to thank those who suported me and prayed for me when I get my ills. As you know I won't let any illness keep me down for long. Ya'll make me want to keep fighting, and as you know I'm a fighter. May God bless you all.

XXOO Marie Antionette

My Past Due One Year Bloggiversary

2009-09-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well, you know with all thats happened in May, I forgot all about my one yr blog annivarsary. I did my very first post on May 24, 2008. My but time sure flies by.

To celabrate this milestone, I am going to have a Grand Give Away, late but as they say A little late than never, Right!!! I will not tell you what it is, but I promise you it will be grand. Since I only post about every two weeks, I will begin today Sept 10, and end Sept 25th....

Just do as you always did, stop by for a visit and leave your comments on this post. I will then on Sept 25th have my grandson Courtland pick out your name from a big hat. I don't know anything about a online picker outer thingies...LOL. You'll just have to trust me.
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Here is my latest creation. Some of you saw these last year, and I do have some on Flicker and older post from last Christmas. For all my new friends, these are called Tree Angels. I did create them. They stand about 24 inches tall and do not come apart- are all of one piece. This is my first one for 2009. Her gown is a gold organza with snowflakes printed on it. The wings I made using the down of one of my white Peacocks....No I do not pluck the bird. I wait till I see them on the ground and save them up. During molting season they drop alot of them.

This is with the lights out.I'm not good at taking these kind of pics.
Anyway, I drape the gown over a 24 inch tree that I have lights on. When lit the lights glow though the organza. Its of course more beautiful in person. Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic can tell you just how pretty, cause when she visited me, I gave her one. I have been making several Christmas items, that I will show you a little at a time. Every one knows that I enjoy making Christmas creations more than anything else . Now here's a story....

My Tiny Tears Doll Story

A couple of posts back, I showed you the doll collection that was left to me from my dearest friend I ever had...Shannon. I recieved more dolls from her husband Butch. Here is the story.

Along time ago I had a two Tiny Tears dolls, when they first came out - one with the molded hair the the other the real hair. The one with hair, was lost in a move, I know that. The other I was able to save. Later In the early 60's I got one of the first Patty Play Pals also.

I'm telling you this part for a reason.

Years and years later, all grown up now. All of us married now. ..Shannon and Butch decided to move from New Orleans to Picayune. When I went to view their new home, I saw that it came with a barn. I love barns. I wanted to go in the loft. So I did. Lo and behold,I saw a big moldy doll. It was my Patty Play Pal. I knew it was mine cause Shannon never had one. How she got it will always be a mystery. I never ever told her I saw my doll in that loft. More years layer after her death, Butch is bringing me all the dolls. One of the dolls, I looked and looked.... Lo and behold, again it was my Tiny Tears doll. I know cause she never had one of those either, plus, I just knew my doll.

Of course it was moldy like the rest. I cleaned and removed the mold from her eyes. Then I knew for sure. It has the rare brown eyes. Its in pretty good condition. As you can see other than the discoloration of her face and hands, she's just fine. All her fingers, toes and ears fine. I'm going to try and buy the original bottles and clothes for her, then buy an old pram to put her in.

This is Shannon at different times in the 60's:

My old tiny Tears Doll

I'm telling you this story for another reason. My oldest brother paid me a surprise visit Labor Day. I haven't seen him in about a year. He is almost 70 years old. Way older than me. In the early 50's while he was at his after school job, I was in the bathroom using his toothbrush cleaning that very same Tiny Tears doll. He came in saw me. Was he ever mad. He took that toothbrush and proceeded to brush my teeth with it. It didn't really hurt, but it did make my mouth bleed. When he saw what he did, he grabbed me up and hugged me and told me over and over that he was sorry and that he loved me. Till this day he treats me like a child. You know how you sometimes give a child a dollar or two, he still will hand me money. Buddy I say, I don't need this, and he says, no you buy you something pretty. All my brothers do that to me till this very day, treat me like I'm still their baby sister. Yes I was spoiled by them. But most of my friends can't get over how close my brothers and I are. Oh...I have four remaing brothers left. My youngest brother died in the early eighty's. Buddy, Junior, Johnny and Michael. I love you brothers.

I hope all of you join in and celabrate my bloggiversary. I really do enjoy blogging with all of you. You have shown me friendship, love and concern. My heart goes out to all of you.

Love and kisses Marie Antionette

A New Tree, A Swap, A Buy and Another Bartending Story

2009-08-18T04:46:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends,

First I want to show you another White upside Xmas down tree, I just finished. This is not the same tree I did on the below post. I made that tree for a friend of mine. This tree will be going in my Esty shop. Its made with all clear ornaments. No clolor to this tree except some white. It stands about 26 inches tall.

I had the chance to purchase some really beautiful ribbons from Noelle Garret Designs

You need to visit her shop. She has some really great deals, not to mention how she packages her items she sells. Its worth it. She also included some extra pretties .One of the things was a very cute lollipop. A gorgeous tag. Thank you Carrie.

I kind of did these pictures backward.But this is how Carrie packaged the items. So pretty!!!Not to mention the extras that were in it.
I also was in a swap. I haven't been in a swap for years and this was so much fun. It was with Wanda of Roses in Winter
She is a fantastic lady, who does some amazing things. We decided to do a swap together. We both also decided to do crowns.We both never ever made crowns. This is the crown She made for me. Isn't it just gorgeous. I love it. She aslo made me the most beautiful wand. Then to top it off, she sent me a pair of paper shoes that were just fab. She sent them because I just happen to make a cooment on how beautiful the shoes were. Wasn't that just to sweet. A very nice lady and friend. Thank you Wanda...Please go visit her blog.

Now for the bartending story:

I know a few of you follow my past life as a redneck Barmaid. Although I'm not a redneck, A New Orleanian born and bred, transplanted in Mississippi, not that nothing is wrong with that. After all I married a redneck. A good ole boy...LOL...
For those who are newer to my blog, you can go read the first two stories first... if you like to. Here are the links: http://tonidolls.blogspot.com/2008/09/bartending-redneck-style.html

I was going to write another story about a very proud Lady. You see I read a story on Sandra Evertson's. It was about something and someone who changed her life. It reminded me of the same thing that happen to me, Except the proud lady was my very own Mother. I decided to tell that story another time. But you should go read Sandra Evertson's blog. It a must read.

Before I begin my bartending story, I must warn some of you that you may not like what you read It does have some violent content. Its not like the first two stories. My newer blogging friends don't really know me, that is why I wish you would read the first two stories first.
I don't want you to get the wrong idea.
I also want to tell you that I'm not a writer. I just tell the story as I would if I'm talking to you. Sherry of http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/told me that when she met me in person, that I sounded just like she pictured me in my blog. So with all that said .....This is a true story...

The Legend of the Pool Stick Incident
I use to play pool, was not great but I did win a few tournaments. I wanted to play a game of pool before I went home, and my hubby Bill came in for a beer anyway. He seldom came to the bar you see. Anyway, I put my quarters up... When it was my turn to play. I saw that I was going to play someone I did not know. A young man, that I now realize was what we call down here a smart a..... little punk. I have no use for punks. Because I have a gift of sizing up a person at first glance, I could tell this young man, (no names in this story) had no respect for older people, not that I was all that old. This happened only 12 yrs ago.

Since he won the table, he could decide if he wanted to rack or break. He wanted me to break. I know why now. When I broke, none of my balls went in. so it was his turn.... He ran the table, leaving me with no shots, Oh well, it happens. I said thank you, but all he did was turn his back on me. How rude. All I said to him was son... the least you could have said... Thanks for playing , or I'm sorry you did not get a shot. You see he did not want to play pool with me anyway. He was hoping for one of the men, anybody but a mere woman.

Do you know what that CRETIN then said and done to me???
He put his fingers in my face...wag them around gangster style....then said....SHUT UP OLD WOMAN AND GET OUT MY FACE!!!......Then he turned his back on me again. started to walk off.
I SAW RED.....Kids don't talk to their elders like that. NEVER!!!! I'm from an old school of licks. There is no such thing as time outs.
I still had my pool stick in my hand. I tapped him on his shoulder....(I don't hit no one from behind)....When he turned around he said WHAT!!! I came down with that pool stick on his shoulder, and from then on it was a blur. I kept wacking him still he was curled into a ball under the back ball table. I was still whacking him still my two honorary sons lifted me up and away from him. They told me later that I was still wacking away at him with what is now a broken pool stick.

My hubby was standing with his mouth open, because he never ever saw me do such a thing. I don't think he knew what to do.

The little punk was talking ...I'm going to sue you. Well he got rid of that notion real quick. One of my honorary sons told him that it would never get to court, because I'm one of the most respected ladies in town not to mention a friend to most of the police. Also if any thing happen to me, in any way shape or form....Well! he got the message.
The next day when I was working, The punk came in and apologized to me. To this day when he sees me... he calls me Ma. He is an excellent pool player.
I did have the pool stick around here, but could not find it. Some times attitude ajustments are called for.
Thats it till I'm asked for another story. I hope I did not offend anyone.

I now want to thank Sherry for putting the word out .She has asked everyone to pray for My friend Cheryle who is having a rough time with her famil, And myself. I'm still going though alot of health issues. I'm not worried for myself. I alway rally though. I don't let much get me or make me stay down long. But Cheryle really does need our prayers. She has been there for me many times. Sherry is the best of friends for all her help. She is another friend who is there for me and now Cheryle. I pray for all our friends out there in blog land who has had illness and troubles. These are the times we need to stick together. As one we are strong. God bless you All

XXOO Marie Antionette

Lots To Show You !!!

2009-07-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I don't post but maybe every couple of weeks, due to my ills and skills...LOL, But I do have a rather long post.....SO LETS GET STARTED YA"LL !
The BIG STORY of the Day! LOOK what I Inherited! A Doll Mess...YES a MESS.

Here's the story. My very best friend Shannon, A real Irish lass from The Irish Channel in New Orleans,La. we became friends in 1956. I was in first grade, she 2nd. Her Dad was a seaman who went all over the world. Brought back dolls from everywhere. Remember all this was in the 50's and 60's. So most these dolls go back that far. Anyway my dearest friend in the world ,(my sister)cause that is what we called each other for over all these yrs.

When she got married to her hubby Butch , he then became my brother inlaw. Also these two were my daughter's Alexia'a God parents. Shannon died just a couple of yrs ago. Butch has slowly been bringing me all the dolls. Trust me they are many more and some already went to Alexia. The sad thing is the dolls, most of them are in sorry shape. Their clothes are so frayed and stained. Their faces are frayed and stained. I'm really afraid to touch them. But touch them I have been doing. Little by little, I've taken a paint brush and getting dust, rat crap, roach crap bugs and you name it, its there. All of them just wraped in yellowed newpaper. I was able to save some, Some you really just have to leave be, other than dusting as best as you can. I've repainted faces that were made of cloth.The old plastic dolls you see , had thick mold in their eyes. The eyes are ok , but not great, mold gone though...I know one is a Shirley Temple doll from the 50's, A Tinyteen doll from the 50's and I think the one with the head detattached is a little Ginny doll. All I have to do for it is attach the rubberband, I hope anyway. I cleaned all the mold from all of those.

I don't have these pictures in the order I wanted them, but I was to lazy to correct it...Sorry. Anyway the Spanish lady on the very end, next to the Spainish man, was in the worst of shape. She is made of some kind of rubber. One half of her body was melted. Her left arm all about melted away.

They had these dolls in their attic. You know how hot it gets in an attic down south. I was going to just toss her out, But something stopped me, So I thought and thought. Well I decided to..Oh wait...I forget...What remained of her face was like them apple faced dolls. All cracked and wrinkled, so was her chest, neck, and right arm. So I decided to mix this pastestuff, don't ask me what, and smooth it all over her. I put back the mangled arm behind her and camo the rest with the lace. I then mixed paint, I thought would look good on her. I started painting, drying, paint some more, till most of the cracks were filled in. When I was semi happy with the results, Then I painted her a face, such as it is, better than before. I assure you.

So now I'm stuck with these dolls. I do not collect dolls. And they are in too bad of shape to sell. Some are from Greece, Iran, Japan, Potugal, West Germany, Spain, Egypt. I do appreciate him giving me all of Shannon's things, I even have old photos of us as teens to show another time. She did not have any family , just my family and Butch. Thats sad. But I'll do my best by these dolls, Heaven help me there is more. At one time he gave me over a hundred Barbies in their boxes. I helped him sell them all. I could have kept them if I wanted, but I told him to sell them to help himself. Shannon had a massive heart attack, She was only 56. God rest her soul. She is missed. PS: This is a creepy after....As I was cleaning some of these plastic dolls. I could have sworn that they were smiling at me...No kidding. They were happy to be cleaned somewhat, even if it was with Oxy clean.

I know its not Christmas yet, but You know you have to start some of these, so that they get made in time.This is my very first upside down tree of this 2009 season. Its all of Angels and a piano, harp, well you can see. Well guess what.I finished it last Friday and not only sold it, but shipped it out to her last Saturday, from Mailbox Fast Forward. You all don't know this nice lady, she doesn't blog. She teaches Piano. Its the same lady who bought my White Piano Angel doll from last year...Remember? I had that naming contest for her. Anyway she recieved the tree and just loved it. I had another white upside down tree from last year and sold it to Marie of Savon Marie's soap. Beverly the lady who bought this tree wanted that one at the same time Marie bought the other tree, I told Bev I would make one simlier, but not alike. . I don't make two things alike ever. Since she played the piano and her home is filled with Angels, no big theme guess there...LOL. The next tree will be a beige peacock tree. I have this beautiful beige peacock I I want to use. It also won't be an upside down tree. I have something special in mind.

I want to show you my big fella, His name is Rip...We got him when he was 6wks old now is 7. We called him rip because he would rip things up so bad. Bring logs from the woods we just took into the woods. He was the most active Rott we ever owned. We've owned 5 now. All our other Rotts were German. They were huge. Scotty weighted, No lie... 187lbs. When he died of cancer he still weighed 115. Thats a whole nather story I still can't tell. I'm now tearing up, from just that small thing. Rip is an American Rott ...lots smaller only about 130, wiry,not big boned and they are much more hyper than the Germans. But he is just as sweet, kind and a wonderful dog. I've never owned a mean or hateful Rott. We always took care to love them. My hubby Bill took these pictures.while Rip and I were falling asleep watching TV. We don't usually let him in much, but we now have a Austrailian Collie mix doggie baby and this is a way of letting him know , he is still top dog. Our Aussie is the love of his Rips life, Yes she is fixed...LOL...Her name is Hobie after another dog we own for a very long time. Hobie just turned i yr old on the 4th of July.

Well...Well...Well...Looks who's trying to turn me into a Yankee !!! Why its my dear old friend Sherry of Edie Marie's Attic Hummmm. Why is that Sherry ? Oh yes! It was my birthday ,and you decided I needed a Yankee foot ball Jersey from your home state of Ohio. Interesting chorise of a gift...LOL...But she knows me so well...I just died laughing when I pull it out of the package. I cannot wait to werar it.Its going to be so kool.I was going to take a picture of me in it,but My face looks like a balloon right now, so in a future post, when its cooler, I will do it. I did try it on and it feels so comfy.With a pair of grey sweats,Oh lala. I think I love some of you Yankees,Your not such a bad lot...LOL

But !!! Sherry redeemed herself, or should I say her hubby Wes and Sherry redeemed themselves by also sending me this wonderfully devine perfume . Its from Premier Design Perfumes. The bottle is so small, so cute. Sherry knows I love little perfume bottles, for remember....She came for a visit. I sure did miss her when she and her lovely daughter-inlaw Kris left. I still do. I love them so,and her little hubby Wes Too!!! Thank you for just the most fab Birthday gifts ever.

I want to show what what I got in the mail,the other day.My heart did a flip...Celeste of Celestina Marie's Designs sent me in the mail. Some of her hand painted ,beautiful,gorgeous,roaes, she painted on light blubs. She knew I just loved them and sent them to me. What a gracious lady,from the very top of her pretty head to the very bottom of her pretty feet, I love the so much. Did I mention these are for Christmas.They are to go on my tree.I cannot wait...Thank you dear sweet lady.

Look Ya'll what I bought !!! Its a PumpkinAntoinette T-Shirt that Cris of Designs by CK created with his talent. An originial piece put to cloth for me to wear... YEA!!!! Well anybody can purchase this T and more....He has wonderful things. You have to go visit his Cafe Press shop. I do hope I'm telling this right. Just go visit his blog and it will tell all .

I want to thank Lynn of Lynn's Lovies for this very beautiuful award. Its called the Premio Daros Award. I love it. I always feel honored to recieve awards..Thank you Lynn!!!

Thank you all for your kindness again, for you who follow my bartending stories, I will promise you one on my next post. I will make sure its a good one, just for you...Love you ya'll

XXOO Marie Antionette

Wanna Laugh ???

2009-07-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

Do I have a funny story for you...

I did something really stupid, so of course I had to tell sherry of http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/ And of course she said I should post it,so here it is.

The first thing I always do in the morning is put lotion on my hands and face. I did not sleep well,so I did not realize what I was doing. I proceeded to rub the lotion all over my face and arms, when I smelled something not quite right .Hmmmmmmmmm. What in the world (not exactly what I said). I looked at the tube, lo and behold ...instead of rubbing Avons Honey Lemon body balm...LOL...I was rubbing BOUDREAUX'S Butt Paste on myself...LOL. I don't know how many of you know what butt paste is, but down here, its a cream that you rub, where else, on your BUTT. Its for rashes and such as that. Most convalesent homes use it on their patients. Anyway I've been using it on my little dog Hobie. You see she has bad skin allergies. It kind of numbs the areas you put it on, LIKE IT DID MY FACE !!! I thought Sherry would never stop laughing. Anyway that is my tail, I mean tale of woe. It took me forever to wash that crap, dog gone it, I mean that paste off me.

I want to post a few dolls that I made a few yrs ago. I always wanted to make Asian dolls but never could find the porcelain heads to make them. So what I did was alter some of the faces of porcelain head I already had. I kind of sanded thier faces off and redid them as best I can. I'm not an artist, don't claim to be. Anywho... The first picture shown is not supose to be Asian , but more of the islands I guess. Any of you who have ever been to Bay St Louis on the coast might remember this. For its not their anymore. There were a couple of well known places on the Bay that got washed away during Katrina. I know all of you heard of the bridge that was completely gone. Well this is the spot I'm talking about. There was a bar called the Firedog Saloon ,a famous restarunt called Tripanies, great shops. In one of these cafes was a murial on one whole wall. The picture was of this doll you see here. I'm glad that I made this doll, because most records of it is forever gone. The elderly lady who painted this murial has passed also. She painted this when she was a much younger woman. She also use to teach belly dancing and was quite famous around our area. She taught my daughter belly dancing.

About the doll...I made everything except the head and limbs.I did sculp the blue parot. Not the smaller ones. In fact thats what this scene is called The Blue Parot. The vignette I crated believe it or not is almost identical to the huge murial.

The other dolls I just made because I get on these kicks, where I like to make certain things for awhile. Do ya'll do that too?

I made the water and sculped the gold fish in the little pond.I used aittle tub and put the goldfish and whatever else in, then I poured some kind of hardening agent, can't remember the name,anyway it gets hard as glass.

I want to thank Nora Johnson of http://nora-johnson.blogspot.com/for honoring me with this award. I really do love her blog, its very interesting and very intertaining also. Please pay her a visit.Thank you Nora I do love getting awards.
I would love to pass this award to all my friends that I've been blogging with.You all deserve it.

As always I wish all of you a wonderful summer, try to stay cool and please be safe.God love you and bless you, XXOO Marie Antionette

My Trip to Bellingrath Gardens

2009-06-30T04:28:00.000-07:00

A very warm Southern hello to ya'll,

It sure is hot down here. Several heat records were already broken for the month of June. My poor peacocks are really suffering , not to mention my dogs. we have fans going everywhere.

My friend Cheryle and I took a trip to Theodore, Alabama a few weeks ago. Alabama is a very beautiful state and there is so many places to visit. But the most beautiful is Bellingrath Gardens. Of course the time we went,most of the flowers were not in bloom,but that was OK, it still was wonderful. I'm not going to sit here and type the history of the gardens, so here is a link. http://www.bellingrath.org/ It is a must read. Its very interesting.

The owner of Bellingrath was Walter Duncan Bellingrath(1869-1955) was into everything from the railroad to the Coca Cola company. Every nook and cranny of the gardens was breathtaking. There is a Christmas festival every yr and they say it is just a wonder to behold. Cheryle and I are going to try and go this yr. I cannot even imagine it. Here are a few pictures, but first I must tell you one of my stories.

This was not my first visit to the gardens. Cheryle , my daughter Alexia and I went about three yrs ago. In the gardens are giant bamboo. Well the bamboo looks like prison bars. I wanted a picture of myself in said prison bars, I thought that would be neat. Anywho, took the picture, seen the garden, but by the time we were on our way home, my face started burning. Got home, you could not see my eyes by then. The misery of it all...Moral of it all ...DON"T TOUCH THE BAMBOO!!! And to pour salt on the wound, the picture did not come out!!!When we arrived at the gardens this time.....You guessd it I wanted to take a picture of me in the bamboo, but Cheryle said that I better not go near that stuff...but Cheryle I won't tough it, I promise...I just want to stand inside it...No you are not...yes I am. Of course we were laughing so hard people were staring. Well yes I did get int the bamboo and this time CAUSE I didn't put my face beween the bars or touch it, I was OK and the picture came out to boot!!!

YEA!!! Now on to the pictures:

Now I want to thank a gracious lady that makes some of the most wonderful soaps,lotions and other fantastic products. I use them so I know this is true. Please try them. I recieved an award from Marie of Savon Marie and I did not even know it. I recieved it at the time I took my leave from blogging due to health reasons. I am supose to list 10 items about myself, but I've already did this with another award I was honored to get, so I will not do it twice....I'm going to take my award from Marie and run...LOL. Thank you Marie. I'm not going to pass it, but would like any of my blogging friends to pick this up for all of you deserve it. Its a very nice award.

http://www.savonmarie.blogspot.com/ Please check out Marie

I want to wish all of you a safe and happy 4th of July, watch out for the fireworks. I can tell you a story about that, so can Alexia. Just be careful around them!!!

Now I will bid you adieu

XXOO Marie Antionette

I'm Back !!!

2009-06-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all you wonderful people!!! I've missed you all so much. I'm glad to be back. I have been under the weather, but feeling better.I had what I called a near stroke. I'm OK. It did leave me with some numbness in my fingertips of my right hand , but not to the point I can't work or anything. Its just annoying to type for any long period of time. Also my short term memory is rattled I'm afraid. So please excuse any spelling and things like that. I intend to forget how to correct things and I do not want to bother my daughter to much , although she would help me in a heartbeat. She is working really hard right now. God bless her. It seems she doesn't get a break from it. I know most of you are being put though the mill also and know what I'm talking about .

I did have a wonderful visit from the two most perfect house guest ever. Sherry of Eddie Marie's Attic

and her sweet, sweet daughter in-law Chris. My hubby Bill even took off work and took all of us into New Orleans. We had the best time even if it was a quick trip. Sherry took some great pictures and I left the posting of them to her. So if you like, go on over to Eddie Marie's Attic and follow along with Sherry and Chris on their trip to our southern states. She met up with not only me but several other of our blogging friends. Go take a look and find out who. It was a sad day to see them leave. They did stay with me a couple of days. It was just to wonderful.

I want to show you all what beautiful gifts Sherry and her wonderful daughter in-law Chris gave me. First this drop dead gorgeous purse that Sherry made. Its just to fab.It fits me perfect.She knew I was short so she made it to fit me. Its so hard to buy purses, the best ones are so large, it looks like I'm carring suitcases, but this one is just right. Look at the broche !!! And all the pockets.The inside is just as wonderful.Pockets and a beautiful satin linning with bees printed on it. Amazing

This is the back of the purse, isn't it just gorgeous? I told Sherry she should make these purses and sell them. They are just to fab.

Look at these beautiful ear rings and Angel neckless Sherry gave me, are they not precious? The box they came in... ain't to shabby either. Thank you Sherry for all the wonderful gifts you gave me , they will be cherished.

This is Sherry and me siting out in the Gazbeo, I think we can talk for hours.Its really scary how much we are intuned to each other

OK ya'll !!! Look at this.Sherry is actually sucking a crawfish head. The best juices are in the head of this Louisiana muddbug. You don't know what it took for me to get her try this, but once she did...She was unstopable. At first she was convinced that the eyes would come out. But I told her they didn't. I'm telling you, she was eating these crawfish like a real southerner. I asked her ...Are you sure yor a yankee??? Her daughter in-law loved them too. So don't be ascared, come on down. LOL...If you dare. I'll have you sucking these crawfish heads and pinching their tails in no time.

Since this is June, and June is a month for weddings, I thought I would post these two older wedding dolls. I made these dolls, along time ago. But they are still two of my favs. The first one is of course a bride putting away her bridal wear in her hope chest for safe keeping and the second picture is of a bride in a gazebo all decorated for her wedding pictures. This doll vignette was actually used in a wedding as a center piece .

I want to say a special thanks to a special guy...Chris of Designs by CK. He gave me this Renee Award and it means so much to me. A truelly amazing artist. I'm one of his biggest fans and I count him as a good friend. I'm so sorry Chris that it took this long to post the award. XXO

I know this was kind of a short post, but I will try and do better next time.I will try and visit with everyone I know...LOL but it will take me a few days so bear with me. I want to see what all of you have been up to and also see what wonderful things that were made. Till my next post Buy ya'll and May God Bless You...XXOO

Marie Antionette

A Happy Mother!!! & A Furlough for Me!!!

2009-04-29T03:45:00.001-07:00

A Happy Mother's Day!!! & A Furlough for Me!!!

I want to wish all my friends a Happy Mothers Day!!! I hope you all enjoy your special day. Its hard work being a Mother. So you all deserve to have fun and rest, do whatever you want.I want to send out my prayers to some of my friends who have children who are ill or recovering from illness. May God bless these families. Now I'm going to tell you all that I'm taking a leave of absence just for a short time.You can't get rid of me that easy...LOL...If you noticed, I have not been visiting as much lately. Thats because I have been under the weather again. Nothing to bad, just something that happens to me now and again. But it does take me awhile to get over these spells I go though. I'm still doing my everyday stuff, just not as fast. However I am very excited because Sherry of http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/, and her lovely daughter-inlaw Chris will be coming to visit me for a couple of days in two weeks. This will be a most wonderful time. Sherry and I will take lots of pictures to share with you. I still would love to hear from you and will be reading comments and such. I will also be happy to recieve email. I will answer any of these and comments. My email is tonidolls@hotmail.com.
In the meantime I will leave you with some Mother's Day type dolls that I made awhile back and a Thank you .

I want to thank Pat of http://summersdarling.blogspot.com/ . Pat made me a beautiful pillow for a new old chair I bought at a Antiques mall. The pillow added just the right touch. If you could just see the pillow in person, pictures do not do her pillows justice. Thank you Pat for doing an outstanding job sweetie. When I'm not to poor again because of my new car, I would like another pillow with a Marie Antoinette on it...LOL...This picture also shows the extra goodie she sent me. A beautiful Easter egg , Its just to fab.

Now here are the few Doll vignettes I leave you with to celabrate Mothers Day.

I just had to show you this doll. I call it the ...Outhouse...You can't see it clear, but He has a sears catalog in his arms.Yes I made it myself...LOL...

I want to thank all of you again and I will be back soon, lots of hugs and kissesXXOO

Marie Antionette

Happy Birthday !!! My Very Dear Daughter !!!

2009-04-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

I could not think of a better way to celebrate my daughter's birthday than sharing it with our friends here in blog world.

I'm doing this on my own again without her help or knowledge, so there will be no bells and whistles. Some words may even be spelled wrong. You see, She is the brains behined the scenes. Oh I write everything she justs puts in the extras that make my post pretty and elegant. She corrects almost all my grammer. She tells me I use to many commas and such...LOL. But you see, Thats just an inkling of what my daughter Alexia does for me and her daddy. Me mostly. I'm the parent and she looks after me !!!

In this regard I just wanted to show and tell her how much she means to her Daddy and me. We call her Alex !!!

ALEX ! We love you so much, and we are so proud of you. You have become a strong young woman, Yes dear your still young. Without you in our lives, I don't even want to go there. You and I do everything together, shopping ,crafting, laughing and crying. We tell each other everything, well almost everything. I have friends who wish they were as close as you and me. We've always had a bond. I hope in all your endeavers, God will look after you, take care of you. I love you, your daddy loves you. so... HAPPY Birthday to our precious daughter !!!

This of course is a picture of her daddy and me while I was pregant.I was about 8 months along here.

Alexia Antoinette Whitman, born April 8...1973...She was born while my husband was stationed in Beauford,South Carolina, at the navel Hospital.Her daddy was a Marine stationed near Paris Island. I still have her little outfit, shoes and blanket. This is Alex and me when she was 3 months old.

Alex was a daddy's girl. Bill would not even let me bath her by myself at first. Even though I was a registered baby sitter back in the 60's. I've bathed more babies! I didn't say anything to him.After all he was a Marine.

All teenagers go though their , what I call bad years, she was no exception.Hers was heavy metal. Wearing black clothes, high hair, and Heavy Metal music. You know...Guns and Roses, Def Leapard,Motly Crew,Bon Jovi. I took her to so many concerts. Her little friends too!!! She had to have a MTV jacket. Yes I bought it for her, it cost a small fortune. She still has it too.Here is a birthday cake, with her favorite bands and a Black Rose completes it.

Thank God the dark Days did not last to long. All in All, she was a very good teenager. She never missed curfew. Did not get into trouble, not bad anyway.
Here are two pictures that Bill took. The first one is of Alex when she was 5. We were nose to nose.The second is one of us several years later. Bill thought it wouls be kool.Alex is about 20 I think. We are going to take another tomorrow.I hope I did not bore you all. But I'm glad you all came by anyway...LOL.

Now here is a thank you to.

I would like to thank Betzie of http://timenough.blogspot.com/ I bought some of the most wonderful soaps from her. They are gorgeous. The detail is so fantastic, you must buy some of her soaps. I'm not kidding. Thank you Betzie

April, The good and the Bad

2009-03-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

April!!! Such a beautiful time, most of it anyway. Its so sad for all the people who are going though terrible floods due to The march and now april floods. We are having floods ourselves. Thank God my house is on high ground but, just a country block its flooded.My neighbor is being flooded. The baracade starts right at my road entrance. Thats how close it is to me. So Alexia's and my prayers go out to all of you who are endanger. Please keep safe and May God bless you all.

April showers do bring flowers that bloom in May... as the great Al Joelson, which by the way is one of my favorite singers of all times and favorite songs, that and the song Beautiful dreamer. Yes I do love the oldies and real oldies...LOL. Everywhere I look its so beautiful. My peacocks all got their new long tails. They are strutting about, calling for mates. My flowers are blooming. We even chanced it, and took out some of the plants that were in the greenhouse. It did turn cool and got down to 42, but I don't belive the ones we took out were hurt.

Since its Springtime , here are some older springtime dolls.

I have been honored to recieved a couple of awards. The first one is from Veronica of http://bumblebearies.blogspot.com/The Sisterhood Award. I am greatly honored because Veronica has ask to adopt me as a sister, how wonderful is that. I never had a sister so I am very touched. Thank you Dear Veronica from the bottom of my heart.I am greedy, because I would love more sisters, so I am going to adopt:

Sherry of http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/....She is a very special lady to me. Sweet and lovely. And if you ever get to hear her speak, As I talk to her all the time on the phone, she sounds like an Angel. Her voice is that sweet.

Tracie http://mypetitemaison.blogspot.com/...Another Angel. I would gladly call sister. There are several others, you know who you are... that I adore, but its just to many to put down. Just know that in my heart you are all my sisters.

There is one other I would love to adopt above all things , but that person is a brother not a sister.

Chris of http://www.designsbyck.blogspot.com/...There is not a picture award for you. But I would be honored to adopt you for my baby brother. You have always been so sweet and supportive. I love you dearly.

Here is an award from my newly adopted sister... Sherry of http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/

Its the perfect Blend of Friendship Award.We are all a perfect blend and mixsures. You can't do do any better than that, now can you. Thank you Sherry for this award. I appreciate it very much, it came from you.

April is alo a month of renewal so lets all get out there and renew our faith that all will be well with the world. I know this is a trying time for us all. But there is good in this world. We can't let The things that are happening to over shadow that. May God bless all of us!!!

Hugs and Kisses Marie Antionette

PS:I want to thank you all for all your good wishes . I am feeling much better, just a few lingering affects. I'm sorry I could not do the blogging thing much . When I don't visit much, just know its because of reasons I can't help. I love visiting and leaving comments. I wish I could do it more offten.XXOO

A Little of This And A Little of That

2009-03-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Top of the mornin to ya Ladies and Gents!!!
I hope you all have a wonderful Saint Patricks Day!!!

This is truly one of the times that I miss living right in New Orleans. WHY? Because I grew up in the Irish Channel. In New Orleans,they have a name for different areas.I know you all heard of the 9th Ward, because of Katrina. The lower 9th was all but destroyed,its been on National news for years now. Well I lived in the Irish Channel, Lots of Irish people there. We had the most wonderful St. Patty's Day parades there. I'm not even sure if its still there, but there was also a famous cafe bar,called Parasols. All the green beer you can drink and the most delicious roast beef Po Boys. Have any of you tasted a New Orleans roast beef Po Boy? Nothing like them. Tender roast beef with gravy so messy , it runs down your arms, with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, all on a foot long toasted, hot french bread. If it don't run down your arms,its not a good one. Send it back.

During the parade, they throw cabagges and potatoes at you from the floats, They also hand out Green paper roses and carnations, Well... you had to give a little kiss in return of course...LOL...And the most gorgeous horses. I was at one such parade, with my share of roses and carnations ...hehehe. When this one very handsome guy in a green mask on a white horse, just scooped me up and carried me though the whole parade right up in front of him. You can't see my face right now, but I'm grinning from ear to ear. A day I'll never forget.
HERE! is the REST of the story..........

I was on a date with my future hubby Bill, when I got scooped up by the handsome horseman, right in front of him and he could not get to me till the end of the parade. To say he was mad is an under statement. He left that nite to go back to Mississippi. He did not call me for two weeks. You see Mississippi boys weren't used to things like that. Anyway he finally forgave me. And alls well that ends well .
PS The handsome horseman would have put me down if I wanted. But come on now,we're talking about me...LOL.

Now here is a vignette that I made a couple of years ago for a good friend of mine. She wanted a Leprechaun. Let me tell you how I made the wall the Lep. is on.I took a block of wood and I glued those really light weight railroad rocks,that I painted onto the block. That was a fun job, one by one.

Here is another simple doll I made.Not much to her,but Hey!!! I sold her right off. Her name is Erin.

Now I want to thank some very talented and wonderful friends for these awards.The ones with tags,I'm not going to do that part of it, but you all know I love doing tags. If you notice this post is rather short for me. I've had a terrible chest cold, although better, now for 7 wks. And I'm just not up to par just yet. I know alot of you are suffering with this crappy mess. I pray all of you and me get over this soon.

The first award I was honored with is the Angel Award. It was given to me by one of my most precious friends Sherry of http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/ She said I was an Angel but she is the true Angel.

The next two awards come from the same person, who also is precious to me.She is one of the most creative people I know.She never stops. I think she creates in her sleep...LOL...You all know her, Lisa Kettel of http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/

The first award is the Proximiade Award.This is a very nice award . Here are the words that come with it. I'm so honored.

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. "

The next award from Lisa, is the Kreativ Blogger Award. I don't know how creative I am, but I thank her for this award anyway.LOL.I'm honored that she thinks I am.

want to thank these two beautiful people for these awards.They mean so much to me. Love you both to pieces. My arms are around you both.

There's my old truck, a 1995 Toyota Tacoma. I did not have to get a new truck, and I got to keep my old baby besides. As some of you know I did not want to part with my old truck. It still runs as good as a new one, she may be worn a little but that does happen with age, don't it?

We went to the dealership with all the intentions of getting a new truck, but the newer ones (Toyotas) are made a little bigger and the seats sit lowe to the floor,than the older models.Well I'm only 4ft.11 so you can imagine that my feet won't reach the pedals. I've always drove a straight shift. But we ended up getting this Toyota Camry- automatic.

I thank you all for stoping by.You all take care, and enjoy some of this springlike weather. Maybe soon it will stay warm and not tease us with beautiful days then a cold day in between.
XXXOOO Marie Antionette

I's Mardi Gras Time! Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!!!

2009-02-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

A Happy Mardi Gras to one and all!!! My beautiful daughter Alexia and I invite you all to our Mardi Gras celebration post. Her And I are in this together...LOL...Of course she is in all my post one way or another. We will have lots of info and lots of pictures. And a couple of Acknowledgements. SO!!! Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!!! That means: LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!

America's first Mardi Gras (found on MardiGras.com, this is only an exerpt)

"The explorers eventually found the mouth of the Mississippi River on March 3, 1699, Mardi Gras of that year.
They made camp a few miles upriver, named the spot Point d'Mardi Gras and partook in a spontaneous party. This is often referred to as North America's first Mardi Gras.
A couple of decades later, Bienville founded New Orleans and soon Carnival celebrations were an annual event highlighted by lavish balls and masked spectacles. Some were small, private parties with select guest lists, while others were raucous, public affairs.
Collectively, they reflected such a propensity for frolic in the local citizenry that historian Robert Tallant wrote in his book "Mardi Gras" that "natives would step over a corpse on the way to a ball or the opera and think nothing of it."
Parades officially began in 1838.
On Ash Wednesday of that year, The Commercial Bulletin read: "The European custom of celebrating the last day of the Carnival by a procession of masqued figures through the streets was introduced here yesterday. "

Mardi Gras was a LOT different when I was a kid growing up in New Orleans- it was a family event. Here's some footage we found on youtube (this is not my footage- I do have some but it has to be converted to digital yet!) that gives a better idea of what it was once like:

Here are a few of my personal pictures from Mardi Gras past- from late 1970's or early 80's, and then there's one from the Mardi Gras before Katrina.

On the above picture, I am standing below the balcony of Patout's on the 500th block of Bourbon Street, across from the world-famous Chris Owens strip club. We had rented the balcony, and my husband took the picture of me down on the street from up there.

Here's a Mardi Gras ball doll I made a few years ago:

And here is a Mardi Gras tree I made last year:

I want to make a couple of acknowledgements- first to Tracie of My Petite Maison:
I want to show you some thing I won from her blog, and she went above and beyond with what she gave! This gorgeous bottle she made specifically for me; also, the Paris picture book and the Porch magazine (which Tracie has some lovely things in, btw) were both wonderful. The tags and antique papers were also just fab- and the whole package smelled divine, what with the real lavener buds in there. Thank You so much Tracie!

Last but not least, look at these gorgeous and sweet smelling handmade soaps i bought from Savon Marie: They were simply the best smelling soaps and so very pretty! I know I won't be able to use them, just to smell and look at! You simply must go and check her out, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks everyone! - Marie Antionette

My Darling Valentine

2009-02-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish all of you a very warm and loving Valentine. Just close your eyes and imagine me hugging each and everyone of you.

I want to share a few pictures of my darling Valentine and me, and the first card he gave me. Its old and worn. I take it out alot and look at it...

You know, he never ever signed it. I guess he just thought I'd better know who it came from. LOL... Maybe its a man thing, who knows the working of a man's mind. I don't think I want to know. He did however put a little white card with the alfabet listed on it. He then put beside each letter something he thought about me...

That made up for not signing it, of course. (Note from Alexia about the letter "x" here- Xantippe was the scolding, nagging wife of Socrates. She is in fact best known for pouring a full chamber pot on the poor henpecked philosopher's bald head. The incident was referred to in the Canterbury Tales - the Wife of Bath's Tale, not surprisingly: "The hapless man sat there as still as dead, Then wiped his head and dared not to complain, But said, 'Ere thunder stops, down comes th' rain."

Anywho, We are still together after going on 36 yrs of marriage. No one thought we were going to make it. Even his own family, on our wedding day tried to stop me, every which way they could. Believe me, some were low blows. Good thing I had more class. I didn't even talk back or made any kind of remark. Anyone that knows me can tell you ...thats not me. But here we are, like alot of marriages you have your ups and downs. We love each other, thats what counts.

Here are three theater dolls I made for a lady, that wanted them for Valentine's day. They are for her daughters. She wanted all three done in pink. I think I'm though with pink for awhile. They are all different themes. One is ballerinas , one angels and the other a carousel. The other two dolls are older dolls that I made a few yrs ago.

Guess what??? I've been tagged by My very good blogging buddy,Well after this huge tag, maybe not so good buddy...LOL...Pearl of http://pearlssentimentaljourney.blogspot.com/

Are you ready for this whopper? Here goes.....You answer 46 questions.

1.Are you named after anybody? Yes! My Grandma. Her name was Marie Antoinette. She was French and Spanish. In Honduras she was called Marie Antonia.

2.When was the last time you cried? The other day,You know how it is you start thinking about lost people things like that.

3.Do you like your handwriting?No! Its chicken scratch.

4. What is your fav lunch meat? I love livercheese.

5. Do you have any kids? I have one daughter, alot of you know as Alexia (Genteel Poverty)

6.If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Why certainly.

7.Do you use sarcasm? Look at Q #6!!!

8.Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

9. Would you ever bunggee jump? Hell No!!!

10. What is your fav cereal? Anything sweet.

11. Do you untie your shoes before you take them off? Yes I do,Call me lazy.

12.What is your fav Ice cream? I love pepermint or vanilla.

13. What do you notice about a person when you first meet them? I notice their eyes.I can tell right off, if they are "off". Its a gift,that has saved me countless of times.

14. Are you red or pink? I am red.Thats all I am going to say.

15.What is the least thing you like about yourself? I don't like the fact that I'm impatient.

16.Who do you miss the most in your life? I miss all my loved ones the same ,but I do miss of course my parents and younger brother. He would be an interesting story, remarkable in fact.

17.Do you want everyone to complete this? I feel this way.i will finish this tag,I like tags ,but this is a long one...LOLI wouldn't get upset or press anyone to finiah this.If they can ,they can,if not its not a big thing,just something to do.

18.What color pants and shoes are you wearing?.None,I'm still in my nitegown.

19.What are you listening to right now? I'm listening to my show, Days of our lives.

2o. If you were a crayon,what color would you be? I love all the victorian type colors ,but my fav is dusty rose.

21.What are your fav smells.All the creames,such as vanilla and lavenders.

22.Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My hubby called to check on me.

23.Do you like the person who posted this? Oh yes!!!I've been kidding about this longggggggg tag she gave me to do ,but I really think she is fab. She' has always been here for me and I hope we become even closer friends.

24.What sport do you watch the most? Really ,not any ,but If I did ,it would be horse racing or the rodeo.

25.What is you hair color? Well it was dark brown,fading to gray.

26.What is your eye color? brown

27.Do you wear contacts? Yes,only when I go somewhere nice.

28.What is your fav food? I like fried Chicken and cream potatoes.I like a good rare steak with baked potatoes.

29.Do you like scary movies or happy endings.I love happy endings.

30.What is the last movie you watched? The last Templar.

31.What color shirt are you wearing? I'm still in my nitegown.

32.Are you summer or winter? Summer

33.Are you hugs or kisses? I am both.

34.What is your fav desert? Cream cheese pie.

35.Most likely to respond? Respond to what????I will respond to anything ,all of us do.Unless your an idiot.

36.What book are you reading? I am reading a historical romance novel/short christmas stories/with fav arthur Mary Balogh.

37.What color is your mouse pad? I'm not using a mouse pad

38.Where did you watch TV last? In my living room.

39.What are your fav sounds? Outdoors and soft fifties music.

40.Rolling Stones or the Beatles? Neither.

41.What is the farest place you been away from home? I lived in Honduras,when I was little then visited a couple more times.

42.Do you have a special talent? I used to dance really well.

43.Where were you born? I was born in New Orleans,La.

44.Who's answer's are you most looking forward to getting back? I would appreciate anyone getting back to me.

45. How did you meet your spouse?He was a friend of mines date, but she was engaged to another person,who happen to be out of town. He came home early and my friend said,What am I going to do about Bill?,I said I'll take care of Bill for you. And i have been every since. You see Bill was on his last three days of leave ,when my friend met him. He just finished his tour in Viet Nam.

Well thats that ,I'm finished.If anyone would like to do this tag,just pick it up and don't cuss me to much.

I also was tagged by Kris of http://vintagewindow.blogspot.com/.I am supose to name some facts about myself,but I've already done this twice,so I am not going to do it.Instead i want everyone to go and visit Kris,because she has an outstanding blog.There is so many pretties .Kris is also an outstanding person.Friendly and sweet.Lets all give her a hug.Thank you Kris.Hugs and kisses Marie

I want to thank all of you who visited me,and again Happy Valentines Day to all...Marie Antionette

A Barmaid's Story

2009-01-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

Because so many of you enjoyed reading about my bartending days, and asking to read more about my days as a barmaid, I decided to start the New Year off with a story about some of the other barmaids that I worked with. Now for those who never read the first story, you really need to go read it, so you will know what I'm talking about. Its title is Bartending, Redneck Style, it was posted 9/5/08. I really do wish I could say things that would be very interesting to you, but I cannot risk offending some of you or the ladies I will be talking about. Any of you who have worked in a bar will know what I mean. Some of the more colorful stories would be off the wall. LOL...

First I wanted to let you all know I did find a picture of Alice. Alice is the lady on my left in the picture below. And since Debra is one of the Barmaids I'm going to introduce to you and is also in this picture, we will start with her first.

Debra!!! (She's the gal on my right.)

Debra,Debra, Debra! AKA: Raby Baby, that is what she goes by in the known world. She is rude, crude, and sociably unacceptable, can drink any man I know under the table... LOL. But you cannot have a bar without a Debra in it. Did I mention loud to boot. When you walked into Clydes, its the first loud voice you hear. The party has begun. She started working a few weeks after I did. She was only 18, where I was in my 30's. She was tall and lean and very pretty. Debra and I are still the best of friends. Like sisters. She worked mainly at night so that she could go to college during the day. I admire her, because she got pregnant, went to school, worked at nite, had her beautiful baby Brooke, still worked and still went to school. That takes strength and courage. How hard that was for an 18 yr old. Not many in this day can do that. Most would live off welfare. I'll tell you about a fight she got into one nite. This woman was pestering her. she asked this person to leave her alone, but she just wouldn't, next thing I knew they were tangled up like spiders on the pool table.You see this other person was also tall and lean. I laughed so hard, it was the funniest thing to watch. It only lasted a few seconds. Rocky, our 6 foot 5 bouncer broke it up. We never saw the persterer again. Anyway Debra has her degree in deaf edcucation. She still is rude, crude and sociably unexcepable. But I sure do love her.

WENDY!!!

Everyone knows its Wendy. Beautiful, very beautiful. The men came in droves to see her. A wonderful barmaid. Can keep a party going in any way shape or form.Witty and so much energy. I knew she was going places. I knew she was going to climb the social ladder real fast. And she did. But like me she loved Clydes. She always came back to work there. I told her one day, Wendy you always have reminded me of somebody but I could not put my finger on who. One day when it was cold, I wore my brother's old military sweetshirt, that had COLEMAN on the back of it. She asked me, why are you wearing a shirt with Coleman on the back? I told her it was my maiden name. She said to me...Thats my maiden name, I said ...Well, I'm from New Orleans. She said, I'm from N.O. I said... I have an Aunt Ethel, She said... I have an Aunt Ethel. I said...,I have an Uncle Dean, She said... I have an Uncle Dean. We started talking and come to find out, Wendy is my second cousin. Small world, no wonder she looked familiar. She is the spitting image of my Aunt Ethel.

Wendy is a big Real Estate broker and is married to a man who owns a very large business on the Gulf Coast. She lives in a mansion on the water. I myself would never live by the ocean, considering what Katrina did, but what ever floats your boat. Lets pray for no more Katrina's.

Cheryl!!!

Before I start on Cheryl. None of these pictures do anyone of these ladies justice. Alot of my pictures were destroyed during Katrina. Cheryl is very dark complexed. Everyone thinks she is Native American, but she is a Samoan from Hawaii. Very beautiful, very bright. Real young with 4 children.Works real hard for those children. But because she is so soft hearted and believes everything, said to her, she was an easy mark for some. We are like sisters too. I worried about her the most. Men try and take advantage of her. I try to keep my eye on her, but I could not be there all the time. She really was one of the best barmaids. She truelly loved working the bar, we all did. She's had many jobs, even went to school to me a mortician, she even went to school to do people's taxes. Now she reads meters, and she still bartends sometimes at our local VFW. She's doing well and I wish I could see her more offen, but now she is a Grandmother and she visits her children who live in North Carolina. I forgot, she also worked in the Indian Casino. They thought she was a Cherokee, When they found out that she wasn't they kept her on anyway. She was good at her accounting job. And who could tell. God love her.

All of us are grandmothers now. After all we all started working together about the same time. There are a few more of us who worked steady at Clydes, but I could not write and tell you about all of them. For the most part, barmaids came and went we had many. Some lasted a year, some a few months and alot one nite or a day. It takes a lot to be a barmaid, especially a redneck one. Its mentally taxing , trying to read the many different moods of customers. The ladies I was just talking about are the very best and we stayed till the doors closed down. Clydes was not just a bar, it was our place.

I want to thank you for reading this story and hope it wasn't to boring. Now I want to add an award and a tag. Hugs and kisses, Marie Antionette

Every one, I recieved the Faerie Steps Blog award from Denise of http://couturedepapier.blogspot.com/I was thrilled to get this.I am supposed to tag 7 lovely people, but I also was tagged by the lovely Kris from http://vintagewindow.blogspot.com/.Both tags were to state facts about me, so here goes:

1.I hate to drive,but can't seem to get away from it.I have to go places after all.
2.Love going to the movies. I know i can wait for the DVD to come out,but its nothing like watching a movie on the big screen.
3.I love making CD's for people.I love sharing music of the 50's and 60's.
4.I hate roller coaster rides.They terrify me.
5.I'm terrifyed of heights also,so that means no ferris wheels either.
6.I love cotton candy and pepperment ice creams.,but you can only get them during the holiday season, how cruel is that I tell you.
7.I love to read any historical romance novels.Thats why i never get anything done sometimes. I read for hours at a time. Mary Balogh is my favorite author.I love the Regency period books the best, Go figure that, LOL...

Well thats about it.i'm not going to pass these tags around, because Its hard on me to do so, but I do love playing them. So if any of you ladies would love to pick these tags up and play, please do. Thank you all - Marie

Acknowledgments and an Award

2009-01-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

Hi ya'll, I sure do hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I know I did.
I am working on a special post for you all who enjoyed my bartending story that I posted awhile back. But in the mean time, I would like to thank a few people .

I recieved this most honored Christmas award from Denise of http://couturedepapier.blogspot.com/. The Christmas Spirit Award. I'm going to tell you 5 things I like about Christmas, but I'm not going to pass it, because we all deserve this award. We all have the spirit. Just know from my heart this award is going out to all of you.

1.Knowing the true meaning of Christmas. I find that rather important.

2.Being with family and friends.

3.I love Christmas Music.

4.All the goodies,Food,candy,candy,food.....

5.This is a combo of two things.I enjoy putting up my tree. Christmas trees just make me so happy. Then after the tree is up.I start puting my Christmas villageThese are what make me happy.

I also want to thank Denise for practicaly giving me my beautiful pink clown,so that I could make my pink gift box decoration.It was so beautiful under my tree.

Here is a very special thanks,not that my other thanks yous arn't special...LOL...Its just I was so happy when Chris of http://www.designsbyck.blogspot.com/sent me these two oringinal prints with Certificates of Authenticity,signed dated and numbered. What a special person, a very talented artist he is.He has really supported me and I count him Friend. Thank you Hon.Here is another talented person,and all around sweet lady. Nancy of http://feteetfleur.blogspot.com/. I am so happy I bought these shoes.They were just beautiful hanging on my tree. I know it was hard to see them on the video, so here is a better picure of the shoes

I won some beautiful Christmas tags from this lovely woman Kris Hunt of http://lisianblue.blogspot.com/.We've emailed eack ohter a few times and enjoyed her so much.I want to tell you how much I loved thses tags and will never put them on a prent ,because I'm greedy and want them for myself. LOL...

Hello Lili M of http://lilimsadventures.blogspot.com/I haven't forgotton you.The cancer survivor braclet I won from you does have a special meaning for me. My very best friend,like a sister to me had her left breast removed not to long ago .She is now growing her hair back, she was so upset about loosing her hair.I thought she looked beautiful bald.The best of all is the news that she is now cancer free.We got that most wonderful news right before Christmas. This was surely the best of Christmases.

Now I want to acknowlage Kris of http://vintagewindow.blogspot.com/for puting the link on her site to my Christmas Village. That was a sweet thing to do.Thank you

Thank you all again. Love you guys XXXOOO

Marie Antionette

Merry Christmas to All & May your season be Bright!

2008-12-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

From my home to yours, Merry Christmas!!! May your holidays be safe not only for the season, but thoughout the year. I have been blessed since I've been blogging with you dear friends. I hope to make many more.

I hope you enjoy my Christmas surprise: My Christmas Village! Be sure and stick around for my personal holiday greeting at the end of all the village film. Roll it ............

I put up this village every year, and it is also added to every year with more buildings, features, people, etc. It takes a few days to assemble and sits on several tables. (You can imagine the maze of wires underneath, but even so it's very steamlined, where I can flip a switch that controls most of it.) When completed, it takes up most of our 8 x 40 glass porch. I don't stick to one particular name brand of buildings, I have all sorts of manufacturers represented here- it makes for much more creative freedom... and Some of the features are miniatures I tweaked to have a holiday spin.

What makes it even more fun is that there are a few elements in my village that are not usually found in a traditional Christmas village; such as a graveyard, a harbor, a haunted area, and even a "wrong side of the tracks".

This video was filmed, edited, and uploaded by my son-in-law- Thank you, Chris for taking the time to do this for me!

Thats all folks,I will see you in the New Year. Merry Christmas, Love you, Marie Antionette

My Tea Cup, More Christmas Vignettes, & an Award

2008-11-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

My tea cup arrived from Sherry at http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/. To say it is beautiful ,is not enough to discribe this cup and saucer. I love it soooooooo much. I never was into China, although I always thought they were beautiful, I think I will start collecting tea cups now. My cup and saucer has apple blossoms on it,so very eleagant. Thank you Sherry again, believe me it will be cherished.I am going to post some of my Older Christmas goodies ,because I've hardly ever exposed them to anybody.I usually make an item and it sits on my doll shelves till someone notices them are I have company.Some have been on picturetrail,but thats about it.

Bayou Santa

Puppet Show:The Pupets really do work.This is a shadow box that winds up.It also has a drawer.

Santa's Secret Treasures of (Unicorns)

Trimming the Tree

Cowboy Santa:

I was just awarded an award from CK of http://www.designsbyck.blogspot.com/ This award is called the Marie Antionette award. A lovely award it is,yummmmmmmm, I wonder why. I'm not going to pass this award because I see so many of you lovely ladies have one already.I know you all deserve this award,so congrats to you all,And Chris I am honored you bestowed this award on me.You are a very talented artist,whom I enjoy visiting so much.Thank you sweet Chris.

Guess what!!!I was just awarded the Marie Antoinette award again. This time by the very talented and very beautiful Jenny of http://wondersofwhimsy.blogspot.com/She makes the most wonderful Doll art,beside other wonders.Thank you Jenny.

I hope yall enjoy these Christmas vignettes and stuff. I do have a surprise , for all of you coming after This Thanksgiving. I will not be posting until then. As you all know ,this is a very busy time.I do want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving Day.Don't eat to much ,like that isn't going to happen. I'll be stuffing my face ,while going for thirds. LOL... XXXOOO Marie Antionette

The Winner Issssssssss !!!!!!!!

2008-11-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hello my good ladies. Its Nov.8, and time to tell you who the winner is.I'm so happy to say, it is, Laura Ingalls Gunn!!! The name she chose for my Angel is, A Heavenly Note. Isn't it a beautiful name? But all the names were beautiful, so I'm saving everyone. AND whenever I make a new Angel,I will pick a name from this list,with your permission of course. I want to thank all the wonderful ladies and Gent, for partisapating in the drawing.It was the most fun and I'm looking forward in doing this again.

Now to tell you about the most fab. award I recieved from sherry at http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/. Its called, Awarded to a Lovely Lady. It was created by Joanne at My Little Cottage. Isn't it a very pretty award? Thank you Sherry. You are a most fav lady yourself.I had the pleasure of talking to Sherry on the phone.We could have talked all day,thats how much we have in common.What fun we would have if we lived near each other.Knowing me,I would have gotton us into something.Her Hubby Wes is also just the koolest guy.I have recieved a teacup, I will be posting it soon for I want to show it up right ,nice ,and pretty.Thank youuuuu !!!

The rules are that you are to choose people you blog with the most. So I'm not going to pass this award ,But any of the ladies that I blog with ,Please pick this award up. I love blogging with you all.you are my lifeline, and I appreciate each and everyone.Now I've been tagged by, La Donna Weller: http://ladonnawelter.blogspot.com/ This is a most talented lady as most of you already know.

The rules are to name 6 boring and quirky facts about myself. That will be easy for I bore my own self and I also have alot of quirks. I'm not going to pass this either,but if you would like to play .Then by all means take this tag.I love to play,but I know alot of you are busy and this is the holiday season.The days are shorter.There just don't seem enough hours in a day.

Here are my quirks:

1.I don't like change in anything.I won't change my hairdo,its been this way since I was a little girl.I listen to the same music and dance the same way,a bit slower of course.

2.I only eat good old southern country food or local fair.

3.I still belive children should mind you ,or else.No free range children for me.Just ask Alexia my daughter.

4. I like staying home .I like quiet most of the time.

5.I still have and wear old clothes, I've had for ever.

6.My hubby wants to buy me a brand new truck,but I can't give up my old one that I had since 1995. I even ride it though town with peacock poo on the hood.In fact I did that yesterday. My friend Bunny from bowling just shook her head. WHAt !!!I said.
Hey its paid for and my old truck may not be a beauty anymore, but it will run when your breaks down. Its a toyota !!!
Thanks you all again Hugs and kisses all around, Marie Antionette

Welcome to My Petit Trianon...

2008-11-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

Bienvenue, Mademoiselles (Et Monsuiers)!

Many thanks to our hostess, Joy of CUPID'S CHARM, for the tres' amusant idea of a blog soiree' in honor of the birthday ofMarie Antoinette, last queen of France- November 2nd. After our visit, be sure to promenade' back over to her palace to visit the next lovely blog in the programme.
Everybody put on your most flaboyant wig, the taller the better... and away we go!

Me voici! (Here I am!) with the latest in Paris fashion ala' Photoshop...

Of course the event is catered by the délicieux LADUREE' of Paris... won't you have some macarons?

It's been said that the spectacular costumes from Soffia Coppola's 2006 movie Marie Antoinette were inspired by Laduree's gorgeous pastel colors- I think these shoes prove it:

Oh look, there's my daughter, the Princesse Alexia... Hey, isn't that my necklace and fan?!
What's that on her wrist? Oh, that is the M.A. ribbon bracelet she made last year- it is embellished with French silk ribbon and Swarovski crystals:

All of this grandiosity brings back memories... when I was a little girl growing up in New Orleans in the 50's, we sometimes went to masquerade balls- specifically, Mardi Gras balls of course! In the photo below, I am the little girl. I was a lady-in-waiting. The man in the middle is my father, and my little brother on the other side. They are dressed as 18th century pirates. Would have fit right in at one of Marie Antoinette's costume parties.. Wish this photo was in better shape, but it's been through a lot:

Now, who is that over there- what a flamboyant gown! It's a doll I made quite a while ago, not long after I first began making dolls. (LONG ago, hence the scratchy quality of the photo. Back then we weren't as careful when photographing my work. Sigh! Well, we've updated her for this soiree':

With what do you gift the Queen that has everything? Perhaps a trove of pearls, gems, and cameos? Silk roses? Slippers and fine textiles imported from the Orient? Limoges porcelain?

Or maybe a heavily embellished crazy quilted doorhang for the boudoir, inspired by M.A. colors?

Before you hop over to the next destination on the Soiree', allow me to remind everyone that I am having a givaway- help me pick out a name for my newest creation and you'll get something special from me... here is the post with all the details:
http://tonidolls.blogspot.com/2008/10/peacock-red-on-tree-thats-upside-down.html

Once again, many thanks to Joy of Cupid's Charm for coming up with and hosting the Marie Antoinette Birthday Blog Soiree. Au Revoir!!!

Peacock, Red ! On a tree thats upside down ?

2008-10-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Yes indeed, I made a tree thats upside down and has a beautiful peacock that is red, sitting on the very top. I hope you enjoy the redness of it all. LOL, This tree is about 23 inches tall, the plaque it is attached to is 20 inches long, and 11 inches wide in the middle. This is only the second upside down tree that I've made.
Here it is with the room lights turned down:

Now this heavenly Angel has no name yet ! Any ideas ? I'm open to suggestions.
It sits on a plaque, 11 inches long and 11 inches wide.The wings are made from my very own white peacocks.To view my white peacocks go back to post called My Peacocks. The piano is a music box, Not a jewerly box. It plays several different Christmas songs, I forgot how many but it is quite a few.It runs on an adapter.The keys on this piano really do move up and down. The piano is 6 inches tall, 10 inches long, and 9 inches wide.
You let me know any names you suggest,I'll put them in a bowl and let my grandson pick one name out. That will be the name I use. I just may have to send the winner a little something.That date would be.......Nov.8

Now let me tell you about the award I recieved from my very good friendhttp://tattingchic.blogspot.com/.This lady is just one of the most wonderful talented people I know.It is called the One Sweet blog award.

To quote the creator of this award who is Diane Evans:
she says, I have a special award for all the sweet blogs I visit...I am giving this award to all the wonderful people that I visit almost every day.... they have inspired me and shared their wonderful lives with all of us....I only ask that you nominate some of the wonderful you visit everyday. I'm not going to select anyone,because I think all my friends that I blog with deserve this award, instead, I'm going to share it with everyone. So if you would like this award , just pick it up with my heart felt thank you's to all of you. You have brought so much joy into my life. I think I would have sunk very low last June, before I started bloging.XOXO Marie Antionette

Now here are a couple of the most lovely things I've recieved in the mail. This is a beautiful pierrot doll I purchased from Denise at Couture De Papier:

I am going to use him as a decoration under my tree.I made up this box as a present and attached him to it. Didn't it come out just lovely. It sure is going to look beauitful under my tree this year. Denise is such a wonderful young woman.She sold this to me for practily nothing.I know she made nothing on this deal, What a sweetheart.

Would you believe that out of the goodness of her heart Veronica of BumbleVee sent me this gorgeous ,gorgeous material. Look at the colors!!! Isn't this peach lace to die for?

Now this is the lovely Angel, I've made with it. Its an Angel you can hang on your tree or on a doorknob or anywhere else you wish to hang it. I am so thrilled with this.
And a closeup:

I want to thank all these wonderful ladies.You are very dear to me.

I also want to take the time to let all my friends know that I am sorry for not visiting or posting anything new until now.I have been a little ill, but I'm trying to take care of the matter. Again, If it wasn't for my daughter editing and posting these pictures ,I couldn't have done it. It took me awhile to get these items made. Most of them were premade already,I just had to add this and that. Hugs and kisses all around, Marie Antionette

A Birthday Blog Soiree' for the Famous Queen of France...

2008-10-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

Joy over at Cupid's Charm has come up with a great idea: a blog birthday soiree' in honor of France's most stylish and admired queen!

So sashay on over to her lovely blog to get the details, I just know it's going to be tres' chic!!!

Tale of the Ghostly Ride.

2008-10-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

Gather around my blogging friends, and listen to this spooky tale.On a hot muggy Halloween night, I live way down south, so yes, muggy. I was walking along,when I beheld a sight I'll soon not forget. I couldn't belive my Near sighted eyes. In the north forty I saw this vision sitting on a motley white horse. I wasn't sure,but it had to be a Ghost. It called to me in my peabrain. Follow MEEEEEEEE, Follow meeeeeeeee. I did.

It lead me to a very creepy grave yard. I didn't see it at first. I was to spooked. Then there crouching by a grave stone, There it was. Looking for all the world, so sad and forlorn. Poor little Ghost.I tried to go to her, to see what I could do to help the poor little lost soul, but she disapeared. Till this day I never knew who she was. The grave did not give up any secrets, for it was so old that the name wasn't there anymore. And whatever happened to that poor old motley horse?

From here I'll let my daughter Alexia tell you.....The rest of the story.

Boo! But the ghost was just me, Alexia, when I was 12. It was probably the first costume I ever made all by myself with no help, and boy did folks get a kick out of it that Halloween night. The fabric was some old curtains I found in the attic. The horse was our Arabian mare, Touche', and she was actually a beautiful critter- but she totally did not appreciate being pulled out of her stall at sunset to have some wooleybooger jump on her back for a photo-op. She hated the swooshy sound of my curtains. And lucky for us, she backed her ears and eyes and looked super spooky for the picture.

So after she got too onery for more pictures that night, we quickly jumped in my Dad's mustang and drove out to Turtleskin cemetary, one of the spookiest in the area, for more photo ops. You may find that odd of us to do; but our family outings were always to places like Indian mounds, old falling down, rotting houses, and yes, even the DUMP. Don't ask. Disneyworld? HA! Six Flags? Forget it! Creepy old forts by mossy, abandoned graveyards? Color us there!!!

Anyway, not to toot my own horn (TOOOT!!!) but i'm pretty good at theatrical makeup. I totally missed my calling. Other kids used to come over and have me do their make up before trick-or-treat. Speaking of, I found this horrible lil' zombie in my living room last year...

Oh wait! That's just my son Courtland after a dose of my mad makeup skillz. Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, Marie Antionette & Alexia Antoinette

I was Tagged by a Beauty...

2008-09-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by the beautiful Priscilla of Casa Bella Chic. I know everyone has been tagged, at one time or many times before, and at this busy time may feel they just can't deal with it right now.

So I'm not going to pass it.This is what I'm going to do, if you don't mind Priscilla. Anyone who would like to play this wonderful tag, cause I think its a good one, please feel free to do so. And if you want to pass it, just pick some folks who you think would get a kick out of it, and tag em.

Here are the tags:

Name 7 things,you would like to do before you die.

1.Make sure,Im around long enough to see my grandson grown with a healthy, thriving, and loving family.

2.Make sure my daughter is secure in her life,because thats what parents do,make sure they had more than you did. I want her happy.

3. I would love to go to Ireland or Austrailia.But I don't see that happening, because, I won't leave any of the Southern states.

4. I would love to sew better.

5. I wish I could have another horse,but I don't know how that would happen either. Its hard to take care of them proper these days.

6. I would like to see my pond built real soon, so I can enjoy it now, not when I'm to feeble to walk out to it.LOL

7. Well of course,If I were Queen of the world. There would not be all this crap around the world, that includes the states. As Queen ,I would know the truth and one wrong move, because I can be the B word and not give second chances. Lets just say it would not be pretty. Its peace or no peace for you!!!

7 things I do now:

1.I love my family of course.

2.My husband of 36yrs is still the love of my life.

3. I love my home and I don't mind staying put.

4.I have great friends and made new ones blogging,this brings me alot of joy.

5. I love raising my peacocks and Koi fish.They bring me peace.

6.I love my bowling, although I'm not good at it.

7. I love my music of the 50's,60, and of course a few of the others, country.I love my TV shows and movies. And I do love creating.

7 things I can't do:

1.I can't carry a tune whats so ever. (note from Alexia: think of the sound of a cat caught in a bag of tacks ridin down a gravel road in a rusty Wal-Mart shopping cart with 3 squeeky wheels and you'll get the picture. HAHAAA!)

2.I can't dance like I use to, this makes me very sad.

3. I just can't say I'm going to Florida and visit my family, cause I can't drive that far.

4. I can't be a barmaid anymore, cause who wants an older women waiting on them. Even if i still have my looks somewhat LOL .This world is only geared up for the young as far as I'm concern.

5. I can't take hiking or fishing trips into the woods, anymore. Afraid I would fall and break something. I use to be able to walk on logs that layed across the creeks when we would go through the woods fishing. Hubby and me would walk miles along the creeks. looking for fishing holes. It would be nothing for snakes to crawl on top of our boots.

6.Can't find shoes to fit me, that look good. I have to buy them in the kiddie section.

7.I can't make the world better,because I'm not the Queen of the world.

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

1.Tall dark and handsome,with blue eyes.

2. Must be a duke or something. LOL

3. Have a wonderful personallity

4. Clean shaven, nicely dressed.

5. Don't wear colone that smells like watermelon or fru fru. I like the old time smells. English Leather, British Sterlin, Old Spice, Aqua Velva. I want a man to smell like a man.

6.Don't get me wrong, there are some great looking rednecks. So I love those too.

7. He must be military or was once in the military. My hubby was and always will be a Marine. I met him when he first came home from Viet Nam. He had that marine core figure and looked like he could take care of me in all ways, And he still does. He is a man. I've always been around men, so I know a man when I see one. Although Rock Hudson fooled me.LOL Drat him..

7 things I say most often:

1.Dog it:they use to make fun of me when I was tending bar, for say that instead of cussing

2. Thats to die for, or thats drop dead gorgeous

3. I can't win for loosing

4. To bad, so sad

5. Don't make me mad,you won't like it.

6. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place

7.Crappyoileo, Geezum
NOTE FROM ALEXIA: One time after a nighttime hurricane, when the electricity was out, she said "It sure is dark when the lights are out." HAHAHA Oh man that was hilarious. We'll never let her live it down. She's always saying things like that, and I still call up my best friend since childhood to pick about it when she does. (Uh, yes, we're 35 years old but that don't stop us.)

7 Celebrities that I admire:

1. Sean Connery- Always handsome, still is at his age.His voice is to die for.

2.The great Paul Newman, what a sad thing his passing is.I will miss him.

3. Sarah Palin,because my way of thinking is.She is a very strong woman,who is not ashamed of anything she does ,why should she be. I don't believe in hunting, but men hunt all the time. Moose is not an endangered speices. So she is a woman who hunts so what. I don't understand the hype,Well yes I do. I don't think her daughter should be brought into the fray. She made a mistake.Who hasn't. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. I admire her parents for sticking by her side. Leave the children alone.

4.David Archeletta- I admire him ,because he sings like an Angel and looks like one too.He stayed sweet thoughout the contest on American Idol.He should of won.The other David was good, but he sounded exactly like Hootie of the blowfish, I mean exactly. Who needs another Hootie?

5.Carrie Underwood,who I new would win American Idol as soon as I saw her. She was not only a talented singer, but remained gracious,and still is gracious. Faith Hill has always been my fav, but she disapointed me when she made that face and remark during an award show that Carrie won. She did not know she was on camera. That was very ungracious, Just like another lady did once, Could that be Hillary C??? What B's.

6.Of course the great John Wayne

7.And the great Walt Disney

7 Foods I like:

1.Fried Chicken

2.Steak.

3. A beautiful green salad with ranch dressing

4. A big baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream.

5.Greens, mustard, turnips, Cabbage anything like that

6.Any kind of veg.

7. Of course any deserts.

Thats the End! XOXO Marie Antionette

Fall Here Already?!

2008-09-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well I know we are all busy getting ready for the fall season. One lady asked me if I went from summer straight to Christmas. Here is the answer. I usually make a couple of items for each season, but because I was kind of ailing for awhile, I did not make much. Especially for Halloween. Since I love Christmas more. I started making my stuff or whatever comes to my peabrain to make. Sometimes, I come up with the lamest creations. LOL Anywho, I don't have much to show for this year,so I decided just to show you a few things I made before I got illing.

I am working on a couple of Christmas projects, but it takes time for some of the things I do, mostly because since I've started back to crafting. I cannot find some of the items I need . On that note, I hope you enjoy what I have to show.
I want to take this time to thank all of you for the support and outpouring of the most wonderful comments I recieved on my blog about my bartending days. And the concerns about the storms that have hit our southern states. May God bless each and every one of you. Hugs and an abundance of kisses..Marie Antionette

More Awards !!! I feel so loved.

2008-09-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

Yes I do!!! I have made so many blogging buddies .To me you are not just blogging buds. I really feel that we are becoming wonderful friends. Thank you all soooooo much. XOXO Marie Antionette Here's some extras XXOO !!!

Here is an award I recieved from http://ediemariesattic.blogspot.com/, It is an, I love your Blog award. Thank you so much Sherry, you are always a good blogging friend, and so very talented. You are a blessing. PS. Edie Marie's Attic is having her 100th post anniverisary. to celebrate this occasion, she is having a grand give away. Just go visit her and join in the fun.

Rules are:

Here are the rules for this award:1. Please put the logo on your blog. 2. Link theperson from whom you received the award.3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs. 4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog. 5. Leave amessage on their blogs to tell them.

I am so happy to pass this award to 7 of my very good friends who 's blogs I love to visit.These are very talented ladies and a gentleman, and a must to visit. Each one is very unique.

1. Nancy - Fete et Fleur

2. Denise-Couture De Papier

3.Chris-Design by CK

4.Donna-La Donna Blog Welter

5.Pear-Pearls Sentimental Journey

6.Connie-Magnolia Street Style

7.Lori-Faerie Windows

Here is the second award from another talented and gracious lady.This lady can do some tatting,let me tell you.You should see her work.Please go and visit Tatting chic . She has not only helped me, She also given tatting guidnce to my daughter Alexia Genteel Poverty This award has no rules,s o I'm pleased at punch, because I just learn how to do all this today, now I'm gave out. LOL I'm not as gracious as Tatting Chic, who passed it anyway. Love you guys Marie Antionette

An Award for Me !!!!!!!!

2008-09-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

The Blogging Friends Forever Award...

I want to thank Lavenia of Birdhouse Chronicles for giving me this wonderful award.I always appreicate these awards that are given to me.You are a very sweet lady Lavinia.You always show your support.I appricate you. So thank you again.

The Blogging Friends Forever Rules are: 1. Only five people allowed. 2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog. 3. One has to be someone new, or recently new to your blog, or live in another part of the world. 4. You must link back to whoever gave you the 'Blogging Friends Forever' award. I really don't know any newbies so I will have to kind of guess at that one.

1.Constance of Rochambeau:You are a gracious lady.One of my favs.

2.Darly of Daisy's Little Cottage. You were the first to offer your support. You sweet thang.

3. Kellie of Paper Cat Designs: What a cutie you are. Always there supporting Marie.

4. BeBe of Peaches and Dreams:You have become one of my bst buds on this blog.

5.Penny of Lavender Hill. You were also a great lady and You always have a kind word.

If any I have chosen feel they have to many of these, or cannot find the time to retrieve this award, have no fear. I understand if you cannot do so. This is a busy time. Thank you and May God bless you all. Marie Antionette

Bartending, Redneck Style

2008-09-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

First let me say, nobody calles me Marie around here except a few friends and family. They call me Toni, short for Antionette, as they've called me since I was a preteen. Now!!! I can't tell you the more colorful stories about my bartending days, because it would offend some folks, but I will tell you about a couple of chararters that I know.

I started bartending, or "barmaiding" as the local rednecks say, about 1984. (Around here, you're not a bartender unless you're a man. You're a barmaid.) The bar I worked in was called "Clydes", named after Clyde, my boss. Clyde is a local WW2 hero who faught close with Audie Murphy (a world famous actor and later country music composer)- so the story goes. This is Clyde. He's holding a sign that says, "Will Work for Sex". He's such a card. The tiny christmas tree with dollars to the right is where we would hang our tips during the holiday season- a gentle hint.

I've known Clyde since 1965, when I first moved here to Picayune MS. from New Orleans. When I arrived here I thought I was in an alien world. Where the hell am I? This town only had 2 red lights. OMG!!! Clyde had the only car garage that I knew of. I dated and went to prom with Clyde's son, Little John. (Yes 2 names. Everybody has two names here.) Anyway , I digress. Clyde's garage, in the years to come, became Clydes Bar- one of the most notorious bars in this part of MS. I wish I had a picture of the bar itself: It was a plain square, blue cinderblock building- except that on the front was a huge mural of Clyde's face morphed into a frothy beer mug, with the froth being the beard and mustache. It was sooo tacky, but a landmark nonetheless. I will add a picture of this when I find it, it's a must-see-to-appreciate thing.

He kept asking me to work for him, but I refused because I never in my life did anything like that. I could not even run a register! Well something tragic happened in my life: I lost my younger brother in Germany on that damn Autobahn. Enough of that part. When Clyde asked me to work one night again. I said no, but my husband said: why not, it may take your mind off your brother for awhile. Well that awhile became 18 years. I started working when I was about 33, working till I was about 51.
At that time, when our town was still tiny, I was different looking than most women around here, maybe somewhat exotic looking. I'm Spanish, French, & Scotch-Irish decent, of course some Native American thrown in. I Also dressed differently than the other barmaids. I would wear dresses instead of the ragged T-shirts and holey jeans. Of course I wore the raggedy stuff at home, but... I figured Men like a woman in a dress and thats who really does the tipping- men! I never cursed or smoked. In fact, I never smoked in my life. I learned most men don't like that either. Everyone came to see me, when word got out.

Would you believe I became a very good barmaid. Clyde's being the neighborhood bar and knowing most of the people cause I went to school or the local dance center as a teen, where I was a GoGo dancer, white boots and all. I made alot of tips- More than any of the other barmaids. My daughter Alexia use to stay up and wait for me so she could count them. She got a kick out of that and it funded our trips to the mall or water parks. I learned how to play pool pretty good, so I won a few tournaments, that was fun. I still could dance. I also became known for that. Not a hoochie mama dancer- I mean the same dancing I did when I was a teen gogo dancer. I had a blast. I loved going to work. Barmaids came and went, but I was a fixture, became known as the top barmaid around.

I learned right off to keep my mouth closed and not reveal certain things. I could write a book, on some of the things I saw and heard. I had dirt on local bigwigs who were supposed to be "pillars of the community" that would make a rockstar blush. Trust me, that dirt will go to my grave with me. That discretion got me respect and protection. The other thing that got me respect was the fact that everyone knew I didn't put up with shenanigans. If someone got too rowdy and bothered me or the other customers, or was doing something illegal, I'd give them one warning, and then I'd call the police. Period. This kept them in line. It also got me notoriety on the local police dept, and kept the police from hanging around outside as much as they did other bars- they knew i'd call them if anything was out of the way! And I think being on good terms with officers may have kept me from being pulled over a few times when I had a lead foot.

Below is a picture of Mr. Joe Dollar. He is no longer with us, May God bless his poor tormented soul. He is about 88 here in this picture. Living in a shack on a lake with no electricity, He never changed with the times as most people do. He tried to dicatate my life at work, when some man or someone he did not like became too familiar. First he started with little notes, or newpaper clippings, he'd say, "You should not talk to so and so, stay away from so and so" things like that. Then he started sending me little gifts, like bottle openers or Mardi Gras beads, just little things like that.

I knew things were getting out of hand, but I did not want to hurt the old man's feelings. My husband said I would have to put a stop to it. Finally I had to tell him he could not come in unless he stopped what he was doing. I hated that. He started out at first like a sweet old man. But he eventually showed that he was such a bigot and said the most hateful things about people. So enough was enough. To be a good female bartender, you have to put a certain distance between yourself and the customers, no matter how friendly.

Below is a picture of Mr. Paul. He is about 67 here. But let me tell you- If I was older and single. I would have snapped him up. He was the most fun to be around. He told me stories and jokes, making me laugh so hard, I really did wet my pants one time. I'm not kidding. He is from N.O. too. He told me things he did in the French Quarters, that would turn you purple. I wish I could tell you a couple of stories, but I can't remember them- only the WAY he told them. He would start every story with, "...This is a true story..." or sometimes he'd pause in the middle and say, "you know, this is a true story..." and then go on. The thing is some of the tales were unbeliveable, but you knew they were true somehow!!! I think I was a little in love with him. He's not doing so well right now. He should be in his late 70's. What a good looking man for his age. He is the one who cut out my plaques for me on some of the older dolls I made. But his hands started shaking too badly, so now I just cut them myself. Note the sign on the pole that says, "NO ONE ON THE BAR AT ANY TIME." Heehee!
Let me tell you about Alice. She was the barmaid who opened with Clydes. I've known Alice since I first moved to Picayune. She was one of the first girls I met there. She just died a couple of weeks ago. Alice was, well, Alice. She never changed except she did find the Lord in her last year. She had a very rough life. I can't find a picture of her- but when you picture a redneck barmaid, you see her. The song "White Rabbit"... by Jefferson Airplane, that was her... "Go ask Alice, when she's 10 ft tall..." She was into everything that was bad for her. As soon as she taught me the basics of bartending, she just didn't want to work anymore. Even the local police never stopped her when she was acting out.They didn't want to cope with her! I've always loved Alice and it brings tears to my eyes, when I know the kind of life she had. But for all of her roughness, Alice had a very deep soul. She was very kind hearted, would give you her last penny.
I could go on and on. There are so many who came into my life while working. Some are gems, some are the scum of the earth. I will tell you this: NEVER judge a book by its cover. Because some who came in looking like bums turned out to be the most decent hard working people, who today I call friends. And some of the best dressed and smooth of tongue were the lowest form of humanity I ever had the misfortune to meet.

Hail, Hail the Gang's all here.This is most of my diehard, never want to leave customers. All in all, a bunch of good people who just want to have a few drinks after work and a good time. The guy in the camo jacket is my husband of 37 years, Bill.

Eventually, Clyde least the bar out to a very young uppity girl, who thought she was going to change it all... make it more for "her crowd". She certainly did that! She got rid of me and some of the older paying customers, so that she could turn Clyde's into a yuppie bar- with the under 25 set who nursed their drinks all night, didn't tip, and were there to have a different kind of good time. The bar shut down in less than a year. Clyde never reopened due to his wife's illness. That was that. The End. There were alot of in betweens... But Isn't there always? Hugs, Marie Antionette

Note from Alexia (Genteel Poverty): I also tended bar for several years at an equally rough but not as notorious local bar. It used to irk me so bad, my customers would refer to me in third person as "Toni's daughter" and sometimes when addressing me directly, "Toni Junior". LOL! I never quite was able to garner the respect she got, but I know why. She enjoyed her job so much that she was just a natural at any situation that cropped up, playing things off lighthearted while getting things done right. One day I will tell you about the time when she broke a pool stick over a (very disrespectful) young man's head without getting a hair out of place or a wrinkle in her shirt. It's a local legend.

Gustav is a coming !!!! I'm not afeared...LOL

2008-08-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends, I just might not be able to post for awhile. After Katrina my power was off for almost 4 weeks. But if everthing goes well , I"ll post right away to let you know. Anyone else that is in direct or in the cone, good luck to you and May God bless and keep you safe.

XOXO Marie Antionette

My Newest Very Big Santa

2008-08-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

Hello fellow Christmas lovers, and all round crafting buddies. Let me show you my Santa. I call this vignette, Santa's Christmas Village. This is only the second big Santa I've ever made. He is 16 inches in lenth, 11 inches in width, and 18 inches tall. Santa being the tallest point, and he is sitting down.
My santa is sitting at his bench and putting his Christmas village up. I made everything except his head, hands, boots, and of course the village pieces and props under the table. As I said before, I'm all about the scenes.
Speaking of Christmas villages, I can't wait to put up my very own village. I will make sure I post it.
On that note,A few people have requested that I write something about my bartending days. My next post, if all goes right, will be about that interesting time of my life. Please take care and good crafting. Marie Antionette

My New Shoes, An Award, and a Fun Song Tag

2008-08-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I recieved a pair of paper shoes, that I purchased from Nancy of Fete et Fleur. You can imagine how happy I was to get them...

They are so pretty and going to look great come this Christmas on where else, my tree. I always decorate it with vintage looking ornaments . I love to collect shoes, swans, angels, unicorns, and peacocks. I want to thank Nancy, for the time she took to prepare and ship my pretty little shoes. She also inclosed something extra. In New Orleans we call that Lagniappe - "A little something extra." . A pretty little bunch of roses. How sweet was that?

Thank You Nancy. XOXO Marie Antionette...

Now for an award from Connie at Magnolia Street Style:

Thanks, Connie!!!

Here are my Nominees:
1) Wonders of Whimsy
2) To dwell in Primitive Time
3) Vintage Tea
4) China, Chintz and Roses
5) Wild Rose Cottage

The rules if you'd like to participate...1. Please put award on your blog. 2. Add link to the person who awarded you. 3. Nominate 5 fellow bloggers for this award. 4. Add links to recipient. 5. Leave a comment so the recipients know they have received an award!

Now, the Song Tag I got From Rebecca at Ladies Historical Tea Society!

The rules if you want to play along:1. Post the link to the person who tagged you and post therules on your blog.2. Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others thatyou like and tell why. 3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post.

Here are my songs *blush*:
How much is that doggie in the window by Doris Day
Does your chewing gum loose it flavor on the bedpost over nite by Lonnie Donegan
Me and my arrow by Harry Nilson
Hang down your head Tom Dooley by Kingston Trio
The unicorn song by the Irish Rovers.

And here is everyone i'm tagging:
1) Wonders of Whimsy
2) To dwell in Primitive Time
) Vintage Tea
4) China, Chintz and Roses
5) Wild Rose Cottage
6) Birdbath Chronicles
7) Confessions of an Apron Queen

Thanks for the tag, Rebecca!
Yall Have Fun! Hugs! Marie Antoinette

Tree Angels!

2008-08-05T03:52:00.000-07:00

OK my fellow crafting friends, Just like the stockings, I'm pretty sure I invented this- let me know if i'm in error- I came upon this idea by accident. When I craft, I usually do two or more things at a time. I was sitting on the floor checking out Christmas lights for the theme trees I make. At the same time I was looking at some organza material I was going to use for an angel I was making. I left the lights on while doing this. I was tired.

I just threw that organza material, it landed on the lights. Would you believe I thought the glow shining though was so beautiful. My pea size brain went into overdrive. I looked at the lights, the organza, the mini tree, the angel head. Well the rest is history. It's sometimes hard to get a picture that shows the lights as they truly are, but here is a tree angel that's a good example:

Here's how I make them: First let me say, I 've tried using different kinds of see though fabric. That certain glow only comes though on Organza types of fabric. It kind of twinkles. I cut out a 10 inch diameter plaque. I always use ponderosa pine... sand and painted it. I use a 24 inch miniture Christmas tree. I secured the tree to the plaque. I drilled holes very close to the base of the tree. I glued a dowel in that tree. I then secured the tree to the dowel. This is to keep the tree from wobbling.

I cut the material to fit around the whole tree as you can see in the picture. Frill it up a bit. I put together the angel, by dressing her head plate and arms to match the dress. Now!!! I drape the gown I secured the head with glue. Make my wings , using my own white peacock feathers, frill it up . Turn the lights that I forgot to tell you to put on the tree. Below is a candy-themed tree angel:

My tree angels stand at least 27 or more inches high. It is a one piece item, and it don't come apart.Once the head is attached , its there to stay. There you go. I've sold and donated a bunch of these. But its really getting very hard to find the printed organza.

And a close up of her face- they often hold ornaments or jewels of some type:

I haven't made any new ones this year yet. I will soon , so I'm showing you what I have left. And of course you should all know by now the camera does not let the glow show as it really is.

Thank you all very much .Your friendship and the support means the world to me. Hugs Marie Antionette

Sparkly, Christmas Stocking, Wall Hangs

2008-07-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

I see alot of you like sparkly, glitzy, and glitterery things. Well I have something to show you. I don't just make doll vignettes. I also make other things that I will introduce to you. One of the things i want to show you are my Christmas stocking wall hangs. I've been doing this since 1996. Before that I made T- Shirts. I think I'm the only one who does stockings like this, but I wouldn't know for sure. I've never seen anyone do it. (Below is the starting fabric, in it's plain form):

Here is how I got started: I saw a stocking wall hang, and thought it was pretty. It was very big, at least a yard long. I cut it out to sew it, then thought it needed brightening up, so I thought and thought, Hummmmm. I use glitter on my T-shirts. I'll do that. Well, I went overboard. It had alot of gold outline. I took my fine tip and started to outline everything in gold, let it dry. Did I mention how big this stocking was? That took two days. Then I started with one color, I started with blue. I painted everything that had blue on it, with blue glitter paint. Then I chose another color, and repeated the process. See where I'm going with this? (Below is the fabric cut to shape):

The end results were a very bright, Glitzy, and sparkly stocking. It was beautiful. I cut me a pattern out of this, before I sewed it up. I've made at least 100 of these since. I also make other wall hangs, other than stockings as well. I recently bought two pieces of Christmas Fabric on Ebay, cut, painted, and sewed it up. Here are before and after pictures, so that you can see the difference on the fabric. Of course the camera will not show all their brilliance. If anyone would like to know more about how I make these, Please email me. (Below is a complete wallhang):

P.S. These do have batting and backing, and also uses about 2 1/2 yards of lace. Some of my stockings or a little bigger than the others, depending on the print I buy. Here is a cardinal fabric, and it's end results...

This cardinal stocking took longer to paint, because it had a lot of gold outline. All the birds and right down to the smallest berry, and greenery.

Thank you , and all of your comments are appreciated. Hugs Marie Antionette

Piano Doll, Jewelery/Music Box

2008-07-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Its me again, with something new. I just finished this, doll vignette, piano/music /jewelery box. It plays Beethoven's Fur Elise. The piano is, 6 inches tall, over 8 inches wide, and 11 inches long.

How I made it: I cut a plaque shaped like a piano of course, from a 1 inch, by 11 inch, ponderosa pine board. I drilled small holes in the legs of the piano, and matching holes in the plaque. I put pegs to hold piano to plaque, plus a very strong glue.I did the same with the bench, that I made.Then I made the doll up and drilled a hole in the bench. I put a long peg up the dolls wazoo and attached it to the seat.

You can turn the whole vignette upside down and it will not fall off, I promise you. I do not make dolls, like a true doll maker. I make scenes. Dolls do not move from their given places... The plaque this vignette is on is 14 inches long, over 7 inches wide, As the doll is the tallest part, it is over 11 inches tall.

Thank you for stopping by! I so enjoy your visits.

Hugs,
Marie Antionette