Sunday, October 28, 2007

This picture marries two of my favorite themes in my house...


Vintage sewing & vintage kitchenware - I just wanted to add it to my blog. I am good at looking at an item & then being able to copy it. Guess what is one of my next projects? Bellmore flea market - here I come!

Monday, October 22, 2007

The Little Things in Life


"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things" ~Antonio Smith

Had a wonderful weekend! Big Guy (DH) came home early from his yearly male bonding trip Upstate & on Friday night we ate out & Saturday we sailed (garage sailed) & visited all of our favorite thrift shops. Picked up a wonderful white enamel basin - about 20" round - chipped & rusty - PERFECT!! (LOL) I know just the spot for it in the garden filled with marigolds or impatiens! When we got home, then we barbecued some luscious steaks, built a fire and hung out on the deck all night. Sunday we walked the flea market & brought a cute cow cookie jar & cow teapot (in my kitchen, along with vintage red ware, cows are also the theme). While we were away, I had a big pot of Italian tomato sauce bubbling on the stove &when we returned feasted on a great dinner. Today when I woke up, I decided I needed a mental health day & let little Guy (DS) stay home too! We slept late, lounged and had a great day! Sometimes the little things in life make things great!!!!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

My Vintage Sewing Collection








I am mad about vintage sewing notions - from threads, needles, pin cushions, old buttons, etc. There is something so lovely & endearing about these articles - the loving & creative hands that used these things to create everyday necessities for their families. I like to imagine who they were & what they look liked - next to cooking, sewing was probably the most important thing a woman could do for her family. Back to school clothes, baby blankets, mittens, prom dresses - so many occasions made even more special with their wonderful creations. It's funny because I can't sew a button on straight! I can pretty much do or create anything - a lot of times just be looking at something I can create it almost exact. When looking at an everyday object, I can see at least tens ways I can alter it or incorporate it into my art - but I could not take up a hem if my life depended on it. Perhaps that's why I am drawn to these notions - it gives me a sense of connection to past generations of women before me.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

My Menagerie





Let me introduce you to my animal friends - there is Lucy -a 110# Rottie mix - she is 4 yrs. old & there's Teddy, a 100# Rottie mix - 3 years old (10 months younger than Lucy). They both think they are lap dogs - trust me they are not - not when your thigh goes completely numb after they sit on it for a while. Then there's Nalla & George - litter mates and they are 21 weeks old .

Outside lives Squittle (named after a Pokemon character - { I kid you not} ) & Oreo - for obvious reason. Also outside live about 18 gold fish (no pictures sorry!) they are all orange, about 5-8" long & look exactly alike except for who we call "Big Moe" - I brought him for .69 and he was about 2" big. He is now about 15-18" and VERY fat - orange with black & white spotting -he definitely king of the pond! We have indoor birds - but that's for another post. My husband thinks I am out of my mind, but I want to get a rooster & chicken for the backyard as well - maybe in the Spring!

Monday, October 15, 2007

We are getting spolied with all this nice weather!

Middle of October & it still feel like Spring - nary a chill in the air. I have mixed feelings - I love this weather - but also miss the Autumn crispness & that bit of chill you feel. The leaves have yet to begin to change color - someone at work remarked that he went to PA over the weekend & the leaves there haven't started to change yet either. It's sad actually, I feel we (mankind) have screwed up the earth (with fuel emissions, pollution & God knows what else we've been pumping into the Earth's atmosphere for the last fifty years) - the weather patterns have completely changed from even as little as five years ago - never mind up when I was growing up (oh sooo long ago! LOL).

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Guy's first boy girl dance


Last night was my DS first boy girl dance. He is in 7Th grade in a private school & traditionally the school has a dance for 7Th & 8Th graders in the beginning & end of the year. No he did not have date - he just hung with the boys & would not tell me if if actually danced! While the kids danced, the mom's went to Piccolo's - a local favorite Italian restaurant & ate, drank and gossiped. Then when we picked up the kids, we took them to Applebee's so they can eat - we left them almost on their own so they could feel grownup. It was a nice night.
I can't believe that he is 12 already & our SEAS (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School)days are winding down - that school has become the center of our universe - with all the volunteering & committees I am on - the wonderful friends I have made - even DH is super involved. I am going to feel horrible when he graduates - but that is two years away & high school follows that so it will be a new beginning.
On his first day of school this year, when he came down in his new uniform (7 & 8 graders change uniforms to make them feel older & different from the younger grades) there was a catch in my throat seeing him that way - older & handsome - I still have his kindergarten picture on the refrigerator - my what a difference - but I guess that's what motherhood is all about!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

I am Swapping Again



There was a time when I belonged to so many art swaps I could barely keep track. Then some crummy things started happening: I would send, never get any thing back, or what I got back was so below standard (yes I have to admit I expected decent work, not necessarily professional quality, but something without ink smudges or hair embedded in the glue - but that's another story!). It got so bad that I just stopped. I caught up on artwork & projects for myself. I gradually returned to my old forums and just recently joined four swaps. I feel better about things and hopefully I won't encounter as much negativity I did in the past. This is where I have been swapping at ATCards.com . & PaperCraftsMagazine.com.
I also joined a blind swap "Halloween Hat" on a site I stumbled on The Speckled Egg . Mine is the second one that I sent to my partner - made out of felted wool & the first one is the one I received in return.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Off to the Flea Market



Every Sunday, in the commuter railroad parking lot, in the next town, the Lions Club holds a flea market. I walk through it just about every week. It's funny, that through the years the themes of the "treasures" I look for have gradually changed. I was on a red, vintage kitchenware kick for the longest time - my entire kitchen is done up that way. Then it was vintage sewing - that is still growing strong, although I have become very particular in what I buy. Vintage ladies accessories (gloves, hats, purses) are still big, as I alter them - again they must fit into my altering eye or I pass them up. Recently I am looking for old jewelry - costume mostly - again looking for things that I can dissect & use as pieces in my art. But pretty much anything is fair game - garden art, something jaunty enough to fit my living room or anything that I know some day "I gonna need that" LOL!

PS - Two Of My Finds







Saturday, October 6, 2007

Selling my artwork


Last Saturday I finally opened my Etsy Shop & the next morning I sold a piece! Great encouragement! Although I did sell some pieces on E-bay aleady, I am anxious that I will stall & sell no more. I am adding a link on my forums to "advertise" - we shall see. Slow but sure as they say!