Life... Designed

Huge Clothes Pin

or, fun Garage Sale finds!  Who wouldn't walk away with this huge wooden clothespin inlaid with what looks like a mother of pearl design?  I know for a quarter, I just couldn't say no.  A little worn, yes, but with tons of charm.  I have not found a final home for this guy, but maybe it will be my glorified shopping list holder, or I could find a spot on my gallery wall to hold changing artwork.

Here's the entire haul from working at my Aunt's garage sale last weekend.

All right, from left to right starting on the top row, there's Harvey the owl.  Read more about Harvey's fate over at Prairie Hive.

Next, there is a little black leather clutch.  I have no idea if I'll ever use this purse as is, but just check out the clever pull-out mirror design.  I also have a soft spot for those triangle accents.

I have a habit of bringing home anything cobalt blue for the kitchen and these bowls were no exception.  I think these will be favorites for frito chili pie, stew and potato soup.  I'm sure they would be great for some chopped salad in the summer as well, but they are quite deceiving on how much they hold.

The cut glass serving bowl came home by default because it was pretty.  I had never seen one with the silver metal rim and I love the egg and dart motif that wraps around.  I'm sure you'll see this in a future table setting.

Oooh, books.  I always look through, even if it is a pile of romance novels, you never know what you might find hiding between.  I listen to Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac before The Diane Rehm Show on Public Radio Tulsa 89.5.  I've never read one of his novels, but I certainly thought it was time for that when I saw this book so I snatched it right up.  As for VanGogh, there is so much to say.  He has been a favorite of mine all of my remembered life.  I have always loved the movement in his paintings and own several coffee table books showcasing his works.  This is one novel about him that I had not come yet come across.  I would say that even if I was not a fan of his art, I would still pick this up.  The lives of artists are often fascinating and I could compare to some of the composers I've been studying from the same era.

Last but not least are the beautiful little paintings.  I imagine these were practice works by someone, does anyone have anything similar.  They are framed in gold plastic frames with traditional details, so I thought they could be spruced up and used for a pop of color anywhere.  They are small, perhaps 6"x8" total so you could fit them in all kinds of spaces.  Here they are before:

I do love the gold frames for the certain personality they bring, but probably would never hang them in my house this way.  So I painted them white and I think it really brings out the highlights in the paintings themselves and just updates them a bit.

As soon as everything finds a more permanent home, I'll let you know where they end up.  I always love to mess with garage sale and flea market finds.  I feel I can take some risks and not worry so much about the end result.  Here I have a little more fun, especially easy since everything was free.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Well, It might not exactly be a rabbit hole, but some of our backyard wildlife have been calling this baby home since Spring really kicked in around here.  While planting some new seeds in the garden, J and I just couldn't help ourselves and decided to climb on up and see what was happening.  You see, we feel vested in the fate of any baby birds that may be incubating in this hole.  I have a strong suspicion that the black birds currently calling this place home stole it from the much nicer birds that previously lived here.  I wish I could have stopped that from happening, but it was not to be.

So up this ladder we went, and mind you, I am terrified of heights.  Not in the oh-my-gosh-I'm-gonna-fall way, but in the I'm-all-the-way-up-here-and-my-body-is-frozen way.  Not really sure what that is all about, but I just reason with my crazy, non-responsive body by explaining how irrational the fear is and that I'm not even really that high and I could probably jump from this height safely.  That white arrow points to the hole and take note of the scar from the limb that had been removed on the opposite side of the trunk.

This is the view looking straight into the hole.  Those pointy pieces of tree are the back side of where the severed branch came in.  Not sure if you can make that out in the picture, but completely crazy to me.  This is where my inner nerd (J would argue that my nerd side might not be labeled as "inner") comes out and I think "Wow, nature is SO cool!"

And this is looking down into the rabbit bird hole, er nest.  Sorry, just writing that title sent my imagination into Wonderland and the whole time I've been writing this post I've been distracted.

Wow! Right?  I know you can see that beautiful blue egg down there.  And by down there, my arm can reach into this hole past my elbow.  If I were a bird, this place would definitely make it on my dream house list!  Does anyone think that a mean black bird could have stolen this nest from a seemingly much nicer brownish bird?  I know that question might be easier to answer if I had pictures, but brownish bird has not been seen for more than a month.  Well, all that being said, I do not have anything more to show for it, but if there are any developments in the story I'll be sure to post an update.

Birthday Bouquet

This is a stunning glass flower my sister made me!  This was so much fun!  Oh, you don't even know what this is.  Well, I knew I had a birthday surprise coming because I was forewarned and also I had to schedule it into my calendar.  So, I didn't really try to guess too much until the day of, and did not figure it out.  I knew we were going to be downtown, or close because dinner was planned for Yokozuna.  I had been craving sushi and try to always eat local.  I had not been to Yokozuna since the opening or the addition of sushi.

Okay, getting off track.  Long story short, my sis planned this birthday surprise to go to the Tulsa Glass Blowing Studio where me and my friends would each make a flower.  And then they all gave me theirs as a gift!  Guys, this was such a great idea and makes me sentimental every time I think about it or pass my bouquet of flowers.  Here they are, clockwise from top left, Kerri, Dana, me, Aunt Dee, and Mom.

I put my arrangement together and found a home for it.  I think my vase is a little too tall so I'm on the lookout for a replacement.  For now, at least I get to enjoy them every day.  Here they are all together.

And here they are on the mantle where I see them every time I come home (or when I walk over there just to admire).

My pictures do not quite do them justice, but I highly recommend this or just stop in to see the beautiful works already completed at the studio and ready for purchase.  I was really loving these blue pumpkins which would look wonderful with my white and gray fall decorations, but sadly I did not snap a picture and when I went back they were gone.  Here are the classes to take and on a side note, we also stopped at CFC Chocolatier on 15 E. Brady Street.  Yum!  And dinner was great too, certainly a night I would repeat.

While We Were Sleeping

I woke up this morning to a world of green.  The beauty of my yard was established long before me and surprises come up each year.  I'm excited to see what is new this year after so much change in our yard the past couple of years.

One of several red bud trees in the driveway.

The peony appearing out of nowhere next to some unknown bulbs.

Strawberries in a pot that came back from seeds planted last year. These just popped out from under a layer of dried leaves.

A Clematis my sister gave me with our new grass in the background!

All over Tulsa the sky present us purple and green.

There is something special about new growth and although I always say my favorite season is fall, I really think it is the season I'm living in that is the most special.  That clematis was my grandmother's before it became my sister's and I was so excited that it survived the transfer.  Now it needs a home, so hopefully I can find/ make a beautiful trellis.  Also, did you notice my new grass!  It is the star attraction around here and I will be planting more soon.  What a huge difference on my floors with three big dogs always tracking in dirt.  Here's to hoping the next round of grass seed is as successful as the first!

New Baby Boy Gifts

Lately I've been to an abundance of baby showers for new baby boys.  I always want to give something useful and recently have settled on this gift combo of a folding changing pad and tag blanket.  My thought is that it can be stuffed into the backseat pocket of a car and always come in handy while traveling/ running errands.  I also try to make them in fabrics that Dads won't mind because I have a feeling that they are less thorough when packing a diaper bag.  This gift can just live in Dad's car and be useful without creating more clutter.

I used a new dishtowel for the exterior fabric.  The dots are still fun without being too baby or feminine. (Sorry for the out-of-focus pic)

For the tag blanket I found a cute Alexander Henry fabric, 2-D Zoo in blue and backed it with a soft light blue mini corduroy.  I did realize that instead of a button, the closure needs to be velcro, otherwise the button ends up on the other side of the baby's back when lying down and I just don't think it would be too comfortable.

I had everything needed to make this at home thankfully, but will need to start replenishing my stash of appropriate baby fabrics and ribbons too!

 

Love

I just think if we keep our hearts together
I just think if we will build on this trust that we have for one another
Maybe we can make this last a lifetime

-Ray LaMontagne in "Forever My Friend"

The picture is the filament in a bulb my mom gave me year's ago and is reflected in the mirror above the mantle.  I would show you pictures of the mantle but my crocheted heart garland is still drying from blocking.  It should be up tomorrow!  As you get to know me you'll see this theme with my crafts and gifts and how they're just not always ready on time :)

Happy Love Day!

My Christmas Mantle

I am so excited to decorate my mantle because I didn't have one last year.  We don't even spend much time in that room, especially in the winter because the fireplace is not yet functional, but one step at a time, right?  This year mantle, next year... fire! Hopefully.

If you've read About Me, you know I just use what I have (and often if I don't have something I might be able to borrow it from my mom - she has the greatest collection).  So here's a shot of my decorating attempt.

The blue bottles are a mixed collection. Two were gifts from my mom, the tall ones in back, and the other two were from a whiskey bottle collection of J's grandparents.  We have several more bottles from that collection that I should show off sometime, they have great patterns and shapes. The white poinsettia garland was borrowed from my mom, as were the brass reindeer stocking holders. You can also spot a Snowbaby from my childhood and the moravian star is my Christmas tree topper that I decided to use here instead.

This shows the full effect and the elephant and deer that stand amongst those bottles.  They are two of my favorite items in the house and always make me smile when I catch a glimpse.  The elephant came in a box of J's childhood goodies and I immediately snatched it for my own purposes.  The deer is part of my grandparent's pottery collection that was so vast I still can't believe it.  Grandma helped us sort through everything and still supposedly has the "good stuff". That may be true, but the pieces I received from her are pretty great and are my "good stuff".

I made Christmas stockings!

This is exciting for me because I've had stockings cut out and half constructed for more than 3 years.  These stockings, however, are all new since I had so much time to tweak my ideas! 

First I thought simple and soft gray would be so nice and convertible over the years to work with different colored trees.  Then I decide they should also be reversible and wouldn't it be nice if not only they reversed, but you could also have a cuff on either side if you wished.  This posed a problem for simple, quick construction, so although I do have finished stockings now, they weren't complete until the first week of January!

Here is a close up of my loop.  There are the loops which button onto each side of the stocking, or if you have a cuff, you flip the loop over and button to inside of stocking only.

Here is loop in position for cuff option.

This is what they look like with patterns out and cuffs turned down.  In the spirit of using what I have, I went ahead and used up some designer quilting cottons that I purchased with a birthday gift card and was saving for something important I'm sure.  On the left is Wildflowers in Navy and the right is Pressed Flowers in Turquoise, both from the Aquatic colorway in the Daisy Chain collection.

Oh and look at the button packaging for those I used on the patterned side.  I know they are probably nothing special, but these are the things that just grab me at flea markets and estate sales.

 

 

Favorite Ornament

My mom loves Christmas and I do too.  I think it captures the magic for us as adults that we had as kids every day and I tend to think about Christmas all year.  I love seeing the faces of my loved ones when they open gifts and relaxing and catching up with friends during the holiday season free from the burdens of every day life. 

One of my favorite parts is hauling all the decoration boxes up from the basement and reliving the memories each ornament presents.  My mom has been giving us ornaments for our whole life and many commemorate trips and milestones.  Every year I have one ornament that just catches my attention when I pass the tree.  In past years it usually is this one:

Unfortunately it was broken in a tree mishap last year, along with a few of my other favorites.  This picture is actually from Christmas 2008 taken with an old broken camera, but it seems to be the only shot I have left.

This year my eye is caught by a new ornament.  Surprisingly, also a bird and very similar, something I hadn't realized until I put this post together.

It almost feels as if these choices mimic my own growth and transformation over the years.  When I was younger, I didn't mind the spotlight so much and was colorful and bold.  Now I am more refined, calm and peaceful.  I know life is not always easy, but this world is so beautiful and moving every day.

We often have extraordinary sunsets here in northeastern Oklahoma and last night was no exception.  We just weathered a blizzard last week and still have most of the twenty inches of snow still on the ground.  As the sun retreated, the few lofty clouds in the sky turned salmon and it all reflected off the snow.  Our whole sky lit up briefly behind it before the night progressed.  Perhaps this will be a year of peace.

Christmas Wrap Up

Okay I know it's February and we've long since made it past wishes for the new year and January organizing, cleaning, purging and are more than ready for Valentine's Day and thinking about spring and growth.  However, since I will more than likely forget some of my wishes for Christmas and crafting by the time the holidays roll around this year, I'm going to take a week and look back on my favorite moments, gifts and hopes.

First off, one of the most well received and most loved by me gift given.  Every year my mom's side of the family gets together and we have a Girl Dirty Santa and Guy Dirty Santa gift exchange.  I knew I wanted to make something and I had some fabric taken from my Grandmother's clothes that I chose to keep after she passed away.  I will forever associate her with this mini brown corduroy and pink flowers (bottom end fabric).

I just used anything I had in my stash and thought some Anna Maria Horner - Chocolate Lollipop looked great with my Grandmother's fabric.  I realize these pictures hardly show the great combo, but no worries, there will be a few more coming.  I had several other cousins make requests after the gift exchange was over!

I can hardly explain how worried I get when I give handmade gifts and seeing this go over so well made me feel all giddy inside.  It was stolen first and most!  It boosted my confidence enough that hopefully I'll be a regular little elf next this year.