Wishing everyone a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

  
   Well, I've been trying to type out my post, but the letters are moving all over the place, typeface is changing, etc... Perhaps I have a mischievous visitor from the Spirit world? Or a computer gremlin? I'd prefer the first.
   Anyway, I'll make this quick. Went and had a reading..... what else would I do on Halloween?! chuckle    Next year ought to be VERY interesting for me. And that is a good thing.

   Dressed for fun and comfort today. Trying to get a good photo of the chiffon bow on this straw hat! Not that easy considering my arms aren't very long! chuckle    Its nice and lightweight, perfect for our warm temperatures. The vintage Lucite earrings are one of the pairs I converted to pierced this week. The black sheer blouse with embroidered roses is a recent thrift shop find. LOVE red roses on black!!!!   And the Baltic amber nuggets were one of my best scores ever on Ebay. I'm also wearing several red bracelets of varying hues. Oooh, and I found some navy mascara too.
    Anyway, I intend to have more fun with my appearance from now on! A change is in the air and I sense something colorful this way comes...... y'all have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

http://stylecrone.com/2016/09/30/hat-attack-39-louise-green-millinery/

Freyja's Day........ so many earrings to convert! ha ha

   Honestly, after my first batch of earrings turned out so well I decided to do just a few more! Then I thought "Oooh, what about those light blue celluloid ones that I love so much?". Then I thought "And those big brown swirl ones with the brass wire?!" Then...... "and those blue swirl ones and the rectangular moonglow" and.... and.... and.... you get the picture.

   I managed to restrain myself a little bit, but not much! I have to admit its been great fun! And now I can wear these babies ALL DAY ! Before I'd have to take most of them off after a few hours, some didn't make it that long.

  
   As usual Ronan assisted me in my work. Oh excuse me! He SUPERVISED my work!

   And I thought I'd include a photo of my neighbor's trees. This is what passes for Autumn colors here in Florida. chuckle   Bougainvillea Golden-rain tree. Koelreuteria bipinnata. Native to Asia, lovely tree but doesn't do that well in high winds and storms. Those are actually the flowers.... not the leaves!
   

Freyja's Day...... converting clip earrings to pierced.

   Started off the morning cutting and moving limbs that had fallen in the storm, by afternoon I wanted to do something a little more fun!  So I decided to convert some of my earrings.

   The red moonglow are screw backs... can we say "torture devices"? The yellow and the lions are clips. First thing is to remove the old... gently! Some folks just cut the metal off and leave the disk behind. I've found that if you gently, but firmly, pry the older fitting then it will usually come off in one piece. If its being stubborn, just relax pressure for a moment and then apply again. Repeat as needed. Just takes a little patience.  The only time that has not worked for me was when the metal was so old that it just broke under even the slightest amount of pressure. I usually scrape the old glue away as best I can. Love my trusty old pocketknife.
    Important step! Hold the earring up to your ear. How or where do you want it to hang? Take note of where your earlobe is pierced, measure if you have to. Using a fine point Sharpie pen I mark where the pierced post will be glued. With these earrings, the red ones needed the post to be affixed in the center in order to look right. The yellow ones are larger so I measured and put a mark off center at the correct distance from the edge. For my ear lobe it was 7/16ths of an inch. And yes, this does make a difference when you are done!

   Of course, Ronan kept a close eye on the work being done. He said he was supervising, but every once in a while he would try and swipe one of the pieces!  Just too tempting for a cat.

   Then Fearless Fergus joined in! Actually was heartening to see because he hasn't been feeling well lately. The mischievousness was a good sign.

   The lion faces presented me with a problem I hadn't encountered before. The pieces are concave and the "post" that the clips were attached to is quite small. I decided to cut the clip and leave part of it behind in order to have a little larger spot to glue onto. Hoping this works!  If not, then I'll have to put them on a fish hook earring.

       I like to use good old E6000. Haven't heard anyone raving about any newer glue that supposedly works better. Try not to use too much. It can get messy in a hurry! I use a toothpick to even it out a bit and then swirl it a little when I place it on the earring back. You can wipe away the excess with a toothpick.... if you have a steady hand. If not, then you might want to leave well enough alone. No one is going to see it anyway!

   So here they are! Sitting for at least 24 hours.   And yes, those red ones got scratched pretty bad when I was trying to remove the old glue. I blame that on my pocketknife blades being dull. And I didn't take the time to sharpen them.  Shame on me!    
    Also forgot to photograph the backings. Definitely get the ones with the larger silicone disks. I think that earrings hang better with those. And some of the vintage earrings are pretty large... and heavy! Your lobes will thank you for the extra support!  
   Both posts and backings can be bought at your local craft supply/fabric store or online. They come in bags of 60 or so pieces and run around $3.00 per pack. And of course, you can convert from pierced to clips too. So have fun and enjoy wearing all you vintage pieces!!!

Thankful to be on the Gulf coast!

   So this is how today looked...... ALL DAY!!! Sometimes a little darker. Every once in a while the tiniest ray of sunshine would peek through and then rapidly disappear! Very little rain. The winds have been high ALL DAY!!! But I'm so thankful that I'm on the west coast of Florida.        Went out on an errand and met quite a few folks who had evacuated the Atlantic side. They weren't happy about it but they were safe and that's what counts!
    *Had a palm tree throw some limbs at my car while I was driving. Luckily there was no damage. So for future reference, being safe also means not driving around in high winds!     But heck, what do the people in Wyoming do? I've driven through that state on several occasions and the wind never seems to stop!  hahaha
    Seriously, prayers to everyone in the Caribbean that was affected by this hurricane. He was a rough one!

The clouds are heralding the approach of the hurricane.

 

Calm before the storm?

The clouds are just starting to roll in on this side of the state. Have had a few wind gusts, nothing of any consequence. Went down the beach to take a few photos. Very peaceful with a very light
rain!

So it will have to wait!

   Well, the other day I finally arranged  a date to have a friend do some photos of Autumnal hats and outfits........ and that date would be tomorrow.   But this being Florida, I shouldn't have been surprised or disappointed to learn that I'll have to postpone said photo shoot because of an approaching hurricane!!!
   Yep, that's the way life is here. I'll be sure to take some photos regardless of what kind of weather we get. Luckily we're on the dry side of the storm this time. At least we are now!!! Things can change pretty quickly.  One report said we could experience wind gusts up to 60 mph....... definitely NOT vintage hat weather.    We will wait and see.       
    Everyone take care and be safe!