Happiest New year!

with a bit of 1890's advertising

"...and unto us a child was born..."

Merry Christmas!

Do Your laundry!

Why is the IDEA of laundry so appealing,
and yet DOING laundry so...not?
Here are a couple of fun etsy
offerings with the laundry theme.

It's Not Your Mother's Tupperware Party

What fun! My home was turned into a store for a day this weekend as I hosted an art show for my virtual community on etsy, the NCTriangle Street Team. The theme was Handmade for the Holidays, and shoppers were invited to feast on Christmas treats while browsing through the tables of 15 sellers. I love living in a store! Stop by our team blog, http://nctriangle.blogspot.com/

O Christmas Tree! (and the husband with issues)

There are so many things you don't find out about your man until after you're married. Tiny, irritating habits, wonderful, deep running character traits, things both good and bad. And some revelations don't quite fit into either the good or the bad categories. This is one of them.
My husband has Christmas tree issues. The problem surfaced during our first Christmas, 11 months after we were married, on a bitterly cold afternoon in Connecticut. We went to a tree farm to find a tree. I was dressed for going to a tree farm to find a tree. My husband, as it turned out, was dressed for a Quest, as in The Quest To Find The Perfect Christmas Tree. Oh sure, it was romantic and fun- for the first 3 hours anyway. Then as the cold from the frozen tundra beneath my feet crept into my brain, I began to get a little sarcastic. "How about this tree, HONEY?" I would say, jabbing at a two foot Charlie Brown Christmas tree look alike. He was undaunted. 47 hours later we tied The Perfect Tree on top of our Just Out of College Married Poor People car, and headed home. In the years that followed, I tried all types of intervention to help my husband, all for not. The Quest resurfaced every year. I gave up, and began producing children who could take my place accompanying my husband, while I stayed home and made cookies. "You go on ahead," I'd say in my martyr voice. "I'll stay home so you can have hot cookies when you return."
Our marriage was saved.
We moved 5 years ago to a house I fell in love with because of its big and beautiful kitchen/sun room combo, with a 14 foot ceiling, and in doing so, unknowingly added another dimension to the Quest: not only is it to be perfect, but it must be as tall and as wide as the White House Christmas Tree.
Perhaps I'll convert to Judaism...

Winter Pale

Just my mother's wedding nightgown, and some soft etsy finds!

A Simple Christmas: decorating your home when time, patience, and money are lacking!

After Christmas, 75% off little trees deocorate the bath and foyer. Vintage Christmas postcards (literally shoved on the tree- I was in a hurry!) can be found on etsy, ebay, and in junkie antique shops for a dollar or two. Oragimi boxes (okay, these take a little patience!) made from vintage sheet music add fun to a bowl of 75%off ornaments from Pottery Barn, along with a giant jingle bell, which was also on sale (of course!) at a local boutique.

Sepia and Frosted Blue- my Treasury made etsy's Front Page!

It was quite fun!

Christmas Birds

Lovely winter offerings from
VintageScraps.etsy.com
siskastudio.etsy.com
ara133photography.etsy.com

Christmas Reds- etsy's front page, and I was on it! (whoo whoo!)

And there I am, the bird in the lower left corner.

The Vintage Man Gift

"For the man that's hard to buy for" is misleading, as it implies that some men are NOT hard to buy for! Here's an idea for a manly man gift: go to your parent's house, steal tools from the garage that are 20 to 60 years old, and create an assemblage from them, using an old parts manual and vintage ads for background. This example shown (tools stolen with permission) is for sale at VintageScraps.etsy.com

How to Craft instant Vintage!

While Halloween themes are expensive and hard to find, antique and vintage postcards with Christmas themes are out there in abundance! You can pick up inexpensive, beautiful postcards in most antique stores and flea markets. These pictured have been turned into tree ornaments using vintage seam binding and Shiny Brite (a little harder to find) mini ornaments, and a hole punch, easy enough for even the craft-challenged individuals. The Christmas greetings on the backs add a little history to your holiday celebration, with charming old handwriting and hopes of peace and joy.

Happiest Thanksgiving!

enjoy a holiday sale on me! Visit
vintagescraps.etsy.com

Shop for Haiti

Yesterday I was introduced to a lovely shop, Collaborations.etsy.com,
that donates all its proceeds to Haiti, and thought the story was well worth sharing, and their shop worth visiting! Here's what's going into the beautiful jewelry pictured:

"My husband and I have recently been very compelled to find a way to impact our world. We became very interested in clean fresh drinking water, especially for children.
'Coincidentally', we also reconnected with an old friend who had begun a ministry in Haiti and had started a well project in conjunction with that ministry, that is dedicated to providing easy access to clean, fresh drinking water for schools, churches, and surrounding neighborhoods in Haiti.
And then, on top of that, we also became very interested in creating beaded jewelry and found ourselves inundated with necklaces and bracelets that needed homes."

So if you are looking for a beautiful, handcrafted gift, here's an opportunity to give twice :)

Frosty etsy.com!

Paris Flea Market

The one time I had the opportunity to visit France, we did not make it to Paris. I can hardly complain, as we were on the French Riviera! But I would so like to poke around the flea markets of France, sipping a dark roast, taking in the atmosphere as well as filling a market basket with vintage treasures! Oh well, until then I'll keep dreaming and creating assemblages like this one, inspired by Rebecca Sower's collage art and her recent trip to Paris. See her amazing work at RebeccaSower.type.com
This was also inspired by my niece Emily, and her love of all things French (but don't think that means I'm going to give it to you, Em!)

A Vintage Favorite

And I sold it!
Which was the
point after all.
But how silly,
I miss it :(
Just a little
vintage, dresser,
hand made and
distressed
in the 60's
or so, antique
wooden ABC
blocks, and
handmade vintage
clay animals.

a bit of vintage victorian, cottage, and shabby chic for free!

I stumbled upon a great site for free vintage images, the last photo shown, who also happens to be having a give away! Visit The Vintage Moth for details
http://www.thevintagemoth.blogspot.com/
The other 3 shots are of my victorian cottage creations, which are also available, but alas, not free :0

Vintage Fashion

I can still remember the first book I read that was set in the 1940's and contained many details about daily life. I was mystified by the single women who had jobs at the "Button Counter" or were "Ribbon Girls." But of course as everyone sewed their own clothes back then, such jobs were common place, and while I dislike sewing, I love vintage dress patterns, and have a passion for collaging them into journals. These gems hail from a later date, 1967 through 1970, and were a gift from a lovely etsy street teammate named Hope (many thanks Hope!) Her store is loaded with vintage goodies, so check it out sometime!
http://www.tripletrouble.etsy.com/

1950's Madame Alexander (a.k.a. Bridge is the new Poker!)

My first contact with Madame Alexander's delightful dolls was her collection of Little Women, property of my older sister, which I was not allowed to touch, but of course did! They were beautifully crafted and delightful to the eyes. This bit of original 1957 vintage pictured was one of many ads from a collaborative between Madame Alexander and Yardley perfume, featured in Ladies Home Journal magazines, and is for sale until I come to my senses and keep her for myself!

thinking ahead

I know it's too early to talk about Christmas. It always is, every year! But since my retail stores wanted their Christmas items in August, posting Vintage Christmas photos in November seems not only timely, but rather late! Pictured are a tree garland and card crafted from old, beautiful postcards which I collect and love. The garland is strung with vintage seam binding, and is a great way to keep and display your favorite old Christmas cards!

I was on Etsy's Front Page!

I was so excited to see my work featured
in three different etsy Treasuries this weekend!
Here is a favorite that was on etsy's front page Saturday night,
showing off my Paris Office Girl journal
(second down on left.) The Treasury was curated by 3Squares.etsy.com
and the journal is for sale at VintageScraps.etsy.com

Rocks Papers Scissors

A sample of fun!

Vintage Miniatures

In the early 1970's my mother and her best friend were part of the growing frenzy of adults collecting miniatures. Over the course of a year or two, they each collected and furnished a two story house complete with electricity! Being in grade school at the time, I was enthralled with this mini world and began a modest collection of my own, ranging from tiny hand crafted wonders to inexpensive hobby store finds, some of which I kept and (finally!) turned into these trinket boxes. And if my parents had a computer (how is not having one even possible?!) I would have had my mom send me shots of her mini house, which she still has, and into which I still gaze, pretending I'm small, wandering around its wonderful treasures.
(Okay, so maybe I don't do that part of it any more, but it sounded so blog poetic!)

Midnight Snow Flurries

It's becoming delightfully chilly here in North Carolina! I'm just not a hot weather person, having been raised in the Chicago suburbs and all. So to celebrate the end of Hot, I picked some favorite, dark and snowy looking art pieces from a few beautiful etsy.com stores. (Please contact me if you would like more information on these pieces.)

VOTE!

Election fun from etsy shops MinorThread.etsy.com, RememberMeEmily.etsy.com, and MullishMuse.etsy.com