Sparkle Factory

A Token of Our Affection

2008-02-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

A Happy Valentine's Day to all of our Sparkle Factory customers!

Ladies and Gentlemen, It's Time. . .

2007-11-29T22:44:00.000-08:00

for me to share my retro Christmas goodness with the rest of the world! I will begin posting many of my vintage Christmas treasures starting today. Because I know there is someone out there who will appreciate them as much as I do. Here is a beautiful mod Santa Christmas card from my vast vintage card collection. Love him! Doesn't he look like he belongs on the Isle of Misfit Toys!?

Sequential Card - #3

2007-09-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Get those dust bunnies, man! Very thorough job!

Sequential Card #2

2007-09-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Sequential Cards - #1!

2007-08-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

This past spring I ended up at the yard sale of a long time schoolteacher. As a mother, there is nothing more promising than the prospect of boxes of untouched teaching suppies. My mind immediately began to fantasize about golden-lit moments of mother/daughter bonding and educational crafting.

Yes, I could have spent much longer perusing that yard sale, but my husband and two-year old were waiting patiently for me in the idling car. I had to grab and think fast. I am so happy I scored these brilliant "Sequential Living" cards made by "DLM Teaching Resources - Allen,TX" This series is called "Independent Living" and features all kinds of groovy looking retro characters as they do their household chores. Soul bro here is my fave. I love that baby fro! And OMG, does he have an eight ball applique on his shirt?!

Wow, such retro fun! At 51/2" x 6" in size, they are quite large. I have thought about framing them and putting them in sequential order along Nova's bedroom wall. Although I might have a hard time figuring out the right order myself. More sequential cards to come!

World Wisdom

2007-04-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

This awesome and somehow mystical vintage book was recently scored at a yard sale for $2.00! It was published in 1886 by "F.B. Dickerson & CO." The Inside page reads "World of Wisdom; Encyclopedia of Valuable and Indispensable Information for Everybody, containing Tables and Rules for Daily Reference, Historical Tables, Biography, Business Forms, Recipes for the Household, Etc., Etc. Embellished with Numerous Illustrations and Colored Diagrams. "

In small quotes is also reads "Look within, you will find it." which is such a profound analogy for a book published in 1886. Maybe those people back then weren't as dumb as we like to think they were.

Happy Easter from Sparkle Factory!

2007-04-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring from Polaroid in the 1960's!

2007-03-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

2001-05-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

Agnes De Mille said, "No trumpets sound when important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently." Tonight I believe this is true.

2001-05-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Black Holesare so cool!

2001-05-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

I discovered this other site called Blair #6: It's awesome! The design is beautiful and I love the puppetry page. The article is called, "Madame vs. Lester vs. Lady Elaine Fairchild. Rock on, Lady Elaine!

2001-05-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

MykoWeb: Mushrooms, Fungi, MycologyThis really takes me back to my Southern Illinois roots of mushroom hunting. We searched in cool, shady forests for the little white devils, peeking under logs and trying to find the payload - enough to take home and fry up for dinner.

2001-05-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

Lite-Brite This is a lovely site. It's a time-waster-dream-come-true!

2001-05-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

This Gnome Liberation thing cracks me up. I want to join. I swear that sometimes I dream about yard gnomes. I can't escape them. They are all over my living room.

2001-04-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Garden Gnome Liberation Front strikes Paris showApril 13, 2000Web posted at: 8:25 a.m. EDT (1225 GMT)PARIS -- The dormant Garden Gnome Liberation Front has sprung back to life, stealing about 20 gnomes during a nighttime raid on a Paris exhibition. "We demand ... that garden gnomes are no longer ridiculed and that they be released into their natural habitat," the Front's Paris wing said in a statement following its weekend strike.
France's first garden gnome exhibition in the exclusive Bagatelle park on the outskirts of the capital opened last month and has been a hit with the public as chic Parisians develop a taste for kitsch culture. The Garden Gnome Liberation Front vanished from the public eye in 1997 after a northern French court handed its ringleader a suspended prison sentence and fined him for his part in the disappearance of around 150 gnomes. The only suspected sighting of the organization since then was a mass suicide of gnomes at Briey in eastern France in September 1998, when 11 of them were found dangling by their necks under a bridge. A letter found nearby said: "When you read these few words we will no longer be part of your selfish world, where we serve merely as pretty decoration." Now, the sight of 2,000 of the gaudy, colorful creatures dotted around the Bagatelle gardens has clearly proved too big a temptation for the group to avoid. It warned that it would strike again unless the show was closed and all the gnomes released. Organizers told the daily Le Parisien that they had no intention of bowing to the Front's demands. Copyright 2000 Reuters.

2001-04-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

This computer seems so slow. Maybe my perception is exaggerated.

2001-04-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

Check out these rubber stamps!

2001-04-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hello. Well, It's another work day. Trying hard to get motivated to look at the big "Things To Do" List.

2001-04-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

Bust - a cool site

2001-04-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Successfully added the "Hickory" pictures. This definitely inspires me to conquer html.

2001-04-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

This is such a great learning experience.

2001-04-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

I also have my own website Sparkle Factory. To visit, click here: www.sparklefactory.com

2001-04-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is a test. I want to edit out my real name. I don't like the idea of using my real name to post. It scares me. I guess it makes me feel too exposed, vulnerable....

2001-04-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hello. This is my first blog. I am so very excited about it! I can't wait to utilize this outlet for my writing explorations! I've seen so many great blogs already. It's inspiring to think that I can make this be about anything that I want it to be. I can shape it any way I want to. Exhilirating!