Dreaming of warm sunny beaches

 Way back in the 80s, in order to escape Minnesota winters, my parents flew down to the very southern tip of Texas. When I could get off work and family obligations, I would fly down to visit them. Mom and I loved to go to Matamoros, Mexico and shell all day. Of course all our treasures came back with me to Spokane, and we've been hauling them from house to house every move since.

 Asked t.o.b. if he knew where that box of shells might be, and he knew exactly where it was in the garage, brought it in and the memories rushed back.

 Here are a few photos I took using the light of new snow outside my slider.

Pastels so soothing to the eye

Clam Shells ... I couldn't get enough!

Some were almost colorless

And I wish I had a dollar for every sand dollar we picked up

This is about one/tenth of my collection.  What oh what do I do with all of them?

 

Fascinating Trims

What I've been doing on these days where the temp has risen over 100 degrees ~

Digging in my boxes of tangled lace and trims and wrapping them on cards perchance to list them on etsy or eBay after summer is over. None of them are antique but many vintage pieces ... mostly yardage.  I've only separated a few of the many I've collected over the years.

Kept my hands busy during these days stuck inside!

Four Pin Friday ~ Old Books

Old books have a beauty all their own whether they have leather covers, yellowed pages or those soft deckle~edged pages.

I found a few decorating ideas on Pinterest of ways to arrange them artistically to show them off at their antique best.

I Opened a Book

By Julia Donaldson

I opened a book and in I strode.

Now nobody can find me.

I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,

My town and my world behind me.

I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,

I’ve swallowed the magic potion.

I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king

And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.

I shared their tears and laughter

And followed their road with its bumps and bends

To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.

The cloak can no longer hide me.

My chair and my house are just the same,

But I have a book inside me.

Anne Vallayer-Coster ~ Painter

Anne Vallayer-Coster was an 18th~century French painter best known for still lifes.  She achieved fame and recognition very early in her career, being admitted to the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1770, at the age of twenty~six.

I'm almost positive I've seen her paintings before but never attributed them to a woman.  And, on none of these examples of her work, do I see her signature.

 This one is signed V C

Could it be because, if they were thought to be created by a man, they would have gained more respect?

Calibrachoa

I am for sure going to plant these again next year!

Starshine Violet

She was blooming when I purchased her last Spring and she's as lovely today as she was then!

faded find

This past week the thrift store gave up this sweet old bucket with a bale handle.  It went so well with the old tattered quilt, doily, book and crocheted bag that they needed to be thrown together for a photo vignette!

I'm sure others would have passed up these faded old pieces but they are precious to me.

Takes me back to a gentler more kindly time and I really need that right now.  

Color Spot!

I have been eyeing this sweet Mexican hand~painted chair lately wondering how I could work it into my very staid home furnishings.

 Given to my daughter when she was small (because it caught her eye), my dear Mother~in~Law gifted it to her, so it came home with us after a trip back to Minnesota. Her tastes have changed over 50 years, and the little chair has no appeal to her anymore.

I love putting together vignettes and this morning with a bright Fall sun in my back yard, I gathered an old Native American blanket and a hand carved bowl filled with some of the tiny veggies we grew this summer.  Threw them all together for a bright and colorful photo. 

Hope it cheers you up as it did me.

Finally got off my backside

This is an idea that has been percolating in my brain for the longest time.  I had all the materials I needed . . .

 This little wooden footstool I picked up at the Thrift Store for 75 cents

 every color of the rainbow, and plenty of white, acrylic paint

  a roll of wallpaper border that I just knew would come in handy someday

While several coats of paint were drying, it gave me time to fussy cut these flowers from the wallpaper border

sponged some water on the back of the flower bouquet

and Voila!  finished. The final result totally exceeded my expectations.

Success in Life (a repost from 2012)

“That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and

 loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men

 and the love of children; who has filled his niche and 

accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found

 it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued

 soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to

 express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he

 had.” 

Robert Louis Stevenson

I find that the internet can be a fount of inspiration and pure joy

  

in times like this.  Came across the wonderful quote above and 

 

this happy photo by surfing around in just the last half hour. 

 

 Hope it expresses my "appreciation of earth's beauty" and helps 

me get through this day.

Welcome to my Laundry Room

Of all the household jobs, doing laundry is my favorite.  Can't wait 'til the days are warm enough to hang whites outdoors!

In the meantime, I have decorated the one bare wall in my tiny laundry room with some of my creations plus scrub boards, crocheted hot pads, a sweet vintage towel, blackboard slate and Hmong needlework.

the small patchwork framed quilts are my handiwork

as well as this embroidered girl from an old "sunbonnet Sue" pattern (below)

To get the whole wall, I had to scrunch in a corner and pull the camera into my body.

Four Pin Friday

It never ceases to amaze me . . . the ingenuity and imagination of artists!

They see potential in the strangest objects.  Take the old alarm clock for example.  Who knew it could be a whole new canvas for mixed media artwork?  

I'm loving these but supposing all the old~fashioned alarm clocks have now been sucked up from the thrift stores.

Always a day late and a dollar short!

Four Pin Friday

Again, Pinterest has enlightened me.  Look what you can do with bottle brush trees.  These little gems have been around for years and years and finally they've become a craft classic!

Just leave it to artists and crafters to take a humble green stiff bottle brush tree and turn it into a beautiful object!

Four Pin Friday

Really love those old kitchen scales!

Found these two on Pinterest . . . 

and these two belong to me (just posted to Pinterest this morning)

One upstairs and one downstairs, they are so very accurate and actually come in handy at times.

Four Pin Friday

I think it began in Art School, my love for still life and vignette.  An array of different shapes and sizes would be set up as a starting point for a drawing or painting.

I still like the randomness of similar objects thrown together in a pleasing way.

Such as these four found on Pinterest . . .

 

They inspired me to gather some of my vintage sewing items and my camera to give it a try