I’m dedicating this Vintage Inspiration Friday post to a truly inspiring woman.
Kevin’s Grandmother Bertie, who is turning 98 - so I guess this qualifies her as vintage!

Born in 1912 she grew up poor with only an 8^th grade education. 

 Bertie married young & raised 4 boys in Pampa Texas, a struggling oil town.  

She was green before ‘green’ was in!  

They were totally self-sufficient.  The family raised chickens, grew vegetables, had a milk cow.  Bertie made everything from furniture to clothing. Like all of us, Bertie wanted a nice house & pretty things.

What she lacked in finances she made up for in ingenuity & gumption. If there was something she wanted, she found a way to make it happen.  When she heard that one of the oil companies in town were selling a building used as a recreation center, she bought it, moved it & placed it on a foundation she poured.
She salvaged windows, doors, & laid sheet rock transforming it into their family home.  

At school registration each year she made mental notes of the style of clothes being worn.  Using flour sacks or castoffs she meticulously fashioned shirts & trousers for her boys so they would be dressed equally as their classmates. No better.
No Worse.

 

Grandmother even made my FIL’s prom tuxedo!

 

I was honored when she passed down her old singer to me. 

Her determination & strong faith in God carried her through many tough times, the worst of which was losing a precious son at 16 to cancer.

When she was 80 her husband passed away, but Bertie was still going strong.  She surprised the family when she announced she was going on her dream vacation to Alaska...Alone!

Her greatest legacy is her family & although Bertie had limited schooling education was important to her.
 

The surviving son’s went on to accomplishes great things in life.

Uncle Bill has a master in political science, served as speaker of the house in the Wyoming House of Representatives & traveled the world as a teacher in American schools.

Uncle EJ graduated from Rice University on a basketball scholarship, toured Asia as a Christian College All American & served on the Spring Texas Independent School District Board of Directors. 

My FIL Ted has masters in communication from TCU & has been a professor there for over 30 years. He is a published author & international trainer for professional development has spoken in 40 states & 6 foreign countries.

All 8 of her grandchildren graduated from college, many with masters degrees.

Bertie taught me to not let anything stand in the way of my dreams & that no one but me can make them come true. 

 Happy Birthday Grandmother!

I love you!

Thanks Debra for giving us the opportunity to sing the praises of everything & everyone who inspires us!

Check out Common Grounds for more Vintage Inspiration today.

Next week I'll be sharing some amazing treasures Grandmother gave to me & a collage made in honor of her birthday!

Witch 'Craft' - A New Class!

A long time ago.........

A cavernous house sat upon a lonely hill; broken & mysterious, a mystic ruin. There were rumors a coven of powerful witches inhabited the place.

Sometimes, when the moon was full and the wind was silent you could hear their chants as they conjured up trouble for their enemies.

From the Salem witch trials to the Wizard of Oz we’ve been both frightened & intrigued by images of witches. They’ve left a trail of superstition and fear throughout history, and have appeared in many forms.

Personally, I’ve always preferred the Dark Siren over prettier, more innocuous versions.

I’m a history fanatic- (aren’t we all?) I think it’s why I’m drawn to anything old. In middle school I was captivated by the story of the Salem witch trials. I remember feeling both fear & pity for the women, children & men who were accused & ultimately martyred to satisfy the paranoid bloodlust of a community.

A year or two later, Macbeth was required reading for new freshman. Macbeth’s witches were quite different; instead of victims, they were predators; they meddled & instigated trouble, cooking up potions and spells that spelled chaos for the wannabe King.

"Double, double toil & trouble"

- MacBeth

Created for The Wicked Tea, my assemblage titled

Witch-" Craft".

It was a challenge dreaming up a Halloween themed project in the middle of summer! The cabinet card with the ladies gathered on the porch has been in my stash for ages. Once I re-discovered it, the rest just came into place. 

I will be posting much more about this cool event soon!

But I gotta tell you, I am over the full moon about working side by side with Lesley Venable, Ann-Denise & Cindy.

Registration hasen't opened yet, but check out the

 Paper Cowgirls blog for information.

***creative credit to my niece Chelsea for the awesome word play in my post title***
~Lisa