Yes it is May Already!

I have some catching up to do.  Time seems to be escaping me altogether these days.  As I watch my
mother living in slow-motion, I feel as if I have been slowed to her pace and that is so unlike me.  I struggle with wanting to move faster, live faster, experience more and do more, yet I am caught in her web of Alzheimer's dementia.  The house is getting messier and we overlook that.  I will not beat myself up for not being presentation perfect, and I keep my own sanity by being creative when I can.  I tick off the months with my mantle changing.  May has heralded the arrival of many cardinals, and I feel as if I was given a special gift to be able to see there bright red beauty of cheerful crisp songs each day.  I fashioned my pair (and yes I know that I made two males) out of cardboard and pasted some old quilting scraps on and outlined with a Sharpee.  The birdhouse if also cardboard.  It was in my new waffle iron box, and just the perfect size to make into the house.  I fashioned after birdhouses my father used to make.  They were little crooked houses with an off-kilter roof and had crooked chimneys.  Very charming and he loved making them.  I wish I had one now just to place on a shelf somewhere.  My fiber art Earth mother is by an incredible artist friend of mine, Louisa Brown, who used my scraps to made her.  I have a house full of her early painting work, and this is the only sculpture project I bought from her.

The red necklace is done.  I finished it a few weeks ago, but consider it still unfinished because I want to make a few layers to wear together.  I delayed over decisions for a focal piece.  What finally won out was a design that my sister, Melanie Renn, did for a Valentine greeting card many years ago.  I scanned the card and scaled down the image to fit the matchbox, which is lined with a scrap of red calico and a snippet of paper doily.  The piece came alive at that point.

Ostebro.se

The strawberry tunic is still in the mental planning stages.  Sometimes having something you consider precious is a drawback to moving ahead with re-creating a new life for it.  The fabric is a quilt top that I began when I first learned I was expecting my first child.  I had grand ideas of creating an heirloom baby quilt and traced strawberry designs over nearly all of the yard and a half of fabric.  I was new to embroidery like this, and used ONE strand of floss to do complete cover of the berries and leaves.  It was a far from practical idea, and by the time I delivered, I had only finished two areas and part of another, and I decided that if I kept at it, it might or might not be done for a grandchild.  Since patience is not usually one of my virtues, and I like to complete projects in a timely way, the quilt top got packed away, and surfaced very infrequently over the years.  My son just celebrated his 44th birthday a few days ago, so this has been hibernating a very long time. I fell in love at first sight with this tunic I saw on Pinterest.  It looks as if the floral design was drawn on after the garment was made, and a dash of paint added.  It seems a perfect way to create the old baby quilt top into something I would consider beautiful and useful.  So, I am considering how I will be cutting into the fabric and making the best use of the embroidery.   My thoughts are to do a white tunic over a red petticoat.  ...Maybe throw in some green and embroidered lace trim.  A new challenge arose while I was shopping fabric a few days ago.  The white is not white any longer, it has yellowed a little with age.  Also, most fabrics are now being manufactured in China, and are "crap."  They are sleazy and feel terrible even when they are 100% cotton.  I do not trust the dyes and other chemicals they use at all.  Prices are high for this garbage, and I don't intend to use it!  I will do what I can with my huge stash of real cottons, linens, silks and wools from now on. 

Cursed!

How appropriate that my good friend Emma sent that card that arrived Thursday afternoon!  It is a special warm fuzzy message that asked if I was having a bumpy week? ...and a reminder that she's always there for me.  This week has been "one of those."  It was going well Monday and Tuesday, But Tuesday morning we did the commissary shopping for the next few weeks.  I loaded the frig with meats and veggies, fruit, etc.  Well, I was off to a great start on Weds morning, finally getting back to being creative after a few months of abstinence, and forgot to have my cell near and my Sweetie was locked out because I had the screen door locked and didn't hear the phone.  So, he had gone back to work and stayed there for his munch break.  I found this out after I had put leg-quarters on the grill for our dinner.  My mistakes meant he was at the kung fu school from 7 AM to 7 PM.  I really thought I would be in the doghouse and hear no end of it later, but he was very forgiving.  Anyway, as I was on the phone with him finding all this out, the chicken caught fire and was nearly destroyed.  Later that afternoon, I broke my coffee pot as I put it into the dishwasher, and had to clean glass out of the dishwasher.  Then my Ott lamp broke (trying to get some light so I could see if I could repair the toilet that was not flushing as it should.)  By that evening (WEDS still) it seemed that the food was not as frozen as it should be.  I was not overly alarmed as it often takes a day when I really load the freezer.  On Thursday morning, I realized that the frig was stuck in defrost, and our food was in danger of spoiling, so I spent several hours trying to clean the grills and use a fan to cool the coils and to jump it out of defrost.  I was having some luck, but it wasn't holding, so I had to use a cooler with ice to help out.

Thursday afternoon, the "yard guy" came to clean up and mow, and when he was
using the weed-whacker, it threw a rock into the front glass door and shattered it.  At that point, I retrieved the mail, and on my way into the house through our side door, the screen door didn't want to close for some reason ...seemingly out of alignment..  At that moment, I opened the mail and read Emma's card.  What a moment it was!  I had to laugh and take a big inhale/exhale.  Friday, the battle with the frig continued, and I had to cancel clients to make an emergency run to a friends freezer with boxes of food.  As a last resort, I had to unplug it and let the thaw begin. ???????  So, ya think my week has been "bumpy?"






I would like to add that this morning the frig is back to normal.  Thank you God for small wonders!  I avoided an expensive repair bill, saved my food, and felt the love of a good friend who wanted me to know she had my back.


So, next week just has to be a whole lot better, and everything is better when I can be creative.  This time, the creation is a study on red.  It will go with a garment that is being created from a very old quilt top I started decades ago.  However, that is another blog, and I will take you all through that process soon.

April Showers Us With What???

The air is fresh with Spring.  ...And pollen!  Once again the air is thick with a floating golden mist.  I ache to open doors and windows to the warmer air and fresh clean smells of Spring, but everything in the house will be coated with pollen and we will all be sneezing and rubbing our eyes and uncomfortable with clogged sinuses.  Oh well, I must be satisfied with early morning fresh air before the pollen surges.  I am sorry to say that I missed the March mantel.  I did start to decorate, but fell short when I discovered that I had no green paper to cut shamrocks from.  Part of my mantel challenge is to change each month and decorate with what I have on hand, so a bean pot stuffed with gold sequined fabric, that was meant to be that Leprechaun's pot of gold, sat dismally lonesome until April.  I got busy a few days ago with the mantel and made use of the profusion of azaleas that are filling the yard right now.  Stuffed into a few saved wine bottles, and interspersed with a few cheerful yard ornaments, it seems to me that nature's creatures are rejoicing that Spring is finally here.  Never mind that the weathermen are predicting snow-showers for tonight!

The New Look

Hey everybody!  I just wanted to let you all know that I have re-designed the template.  I am already missing the black background, but I was not able to respond to comments because I had used a template from a site "not Blogger."  I intend to play with it more and over time I will make sure all the posts are readable.  Anyway, now we get to talk!

Shabby Chic or Turning Vintage

Recently, one of my virtual friends described achieving a certain age as "turning vintage."  I love that phrase "turning vintage."  It has such wonderful connotations of getting better with age just as fine wine does.  Along with the aging process, those bottles may gather dust and labels may fade or scratch.  There is a bit of the shabby chic in that description too.  Isn't that a great way for us to describe things that fall out of place and get comfortably rearranged?  Just out of curiosity, I Googled "shabby chic" and found a decorating site with guidelines for styling Shabby.

1. The first rule is to "go white."  Well, my hair is doing that quite well, and even skin tone begins to pale.  What can I say?  ...I stopped sun worshiping years ago, and I really detest hot steamy southern summers.  I'll choose the air-conditioner any day.
2. Second is the extravagant use of slip covers to hide wear and tear.  So, as with furniture, so I have started to drape myself with various garments designed to hide muffin top bulges and body parts that have been drooping, as well as all that other stuff like veins and scars that seem to have accumulated out of no-where to paint my body canvas.
3. The third criteria is tea-stained fabrics.  Ha!  Tea, coffee, spaghetti, grease spots, everything I eat seems to leave a mark down my front as though I am keeping a food journal.  Ummm, what did I eat earlier?  I don't even have to try to remember, I just look down at my belly and there it is!
4. Next up is "over-stuffed" upholstery.  Hahahaha! " ...Comfortable, slip-covered, rumpled, ruffled, and rounded, ...Muffin top?  ..."  'Nuf said!
5. Then they talk about distressed paint.  Anyone "vintage" that wears glasses and tries to apply make-up knows how hard it is to apply just the right amounts so as to look natural.  Oh the sad stories I can tell about the rouge-cheeked old ladies that looked like Boopy-Do dolls to me.
6. What about "Architectural Details?"  Well, go old.  Yeah, what worked when we had lovely chests and firm fannies,slim bodies, and various parts we were taught to showcase, paired with growing incomes to supply all sorts of cute little outfits, has all changed.  The closet has been slowly clearing out of those cute little tops that show it all off, and the tight little jeans have been replaced with baggy.  Incomes slowed down and and so did we.  Contentment set in with our well-loved old shoes and comfy clothing.  Now we are becoming authentic!
7. Old and imperfect.  Jeweled accessories are turning with patina, and styles have changed-over many times.  If a chain breaks then we hang a locket from a ribbon.  Rhinestones fall away, yet the beloved adornment still holds a memory and feelings for you.  We don't see them as other do, and nor should we.  We hold on to these and love them still.
8. Gravitate to comfort.  Let things get rumpled and unsorted.  Don't worry about complete order and shine and perfectness.  It's not quite possible now anyway.  I love my former mother-in-law once telling me:  "It's something of a blessing that our eyes start to go as we get older.  ...We can't see all the dirt then."  I can't tell you the shock I go through every so often when I put on some strong readers and visit the bathroom and see dust everywhere, or the spatters in the kitchen.  It really does take Herculean efforts to keep a house perfect and tidy.  There is nothing wrong with a lived-in look around here!
9. The site's author mentioned that metal makes it all look better.  So, draping myself with original metal-work has been my mission lately.  I love my crude wild jewelry.
10.  Patchwork!  I have always had a reverence and love for patchworking.  Those crazy quilts of Victorian times amaze me with their charm.  Now I am becoming a walking patchwork design.  

Combinations of everything I love and hold dear now are taking precedence in my home and on my person.  DO I care what you may think if you are to visit here?  Maybe a little, but not like I used to.  Now it is about what I like and makes me feel good.  I have always wanted to surround myself with things I have made and love or that have meaning for me.  So. now more than ever I slap colors on the walls and have an eye for what makes me happy rather than all those rules of design and proportion.   I pull arrangements together that no-one but I understand.  Vintage me understands this and glorifies in it.  Yes, what better time is there to really get to know myself and honor that?  It takes a lot of forgiveness and acceptance as well as patience and self-knowledge and what really matters.  Call me Crone, call me Vintage, or call me Becoming Enlightened.


* This blog was inspired by this site:  10 Elements for Shabby Chic Decorating

The Twelve Month Mantle

I have slipped up!  I though that I had already written about my mantle challenge, but I see that I had not even posted at all about it.  Ah how sad that it got away from me.  Well, no time like the present to catch you up on that.  It occurred to me as I was putting away the Christmas decorations how much I miss the color and sparkle of those decorations.  The house suddenly seems less magical and alive.  Because we spend so much time in the living room, and our view is directed toward the fireplace, the mantle is a prime focal for decor.  ...What?!!!  I never shared a photo of the Christmas mantle?  Well,. here it is...

This was standard for years, and this past year I decided that it would be nice to tweak it a little.  I had been saving a fallen branch (I am just compulsive that way) and decided it would be interesting to use it in some way.  I dabbed white paint over the branch, and used nails that usually hold pictures, to hang the branch with fine fishing line.  Then, I cut stars out of those pieces of cardboard that you find in various retail products.  I could have used cereal boxes, but this kitchen warrior does not buy that sort of processed food.  I used a punch to make a hole for hanging.  Then, I spray painted them silver and when they were dry dabbed them with some Gesso.  That was not necessary, but I wanted to get some texture and maybe relate them to the white branch.  ...Kinda like clouds and kinda shabby chic too. Next, I strung the stars to varying lengths of invisible nylon thread and wrapped them to the branch.  Wrapping the branch about three or four times held just fine, and when dismantled was easy to remove.

 My plan included adding a string of tiny lights, but they refused to light this year.  ...But never mind!

SO, when January came along and Christmas went back into boxes, I just couldn't bear to hide all the cheer away.  There was one box of decorations that had been ignored for many, many years.  It held old wooden shapes that my father had made from a craft project in some woman's magazine.  It was a table centerpiece with cookie cutter trees and children.  Somehow there was never room on the table for that.  Yet here they were, and perfect for the mantle as a January scene of starry forest night. 

I liked that so much that I decided to challenge myself to keep the branch all year, and change the decor to honor every month of the year.  Now, here we are into the last day of February, and I must share what happened this month before it's gone too.  

So what is in store for March?  Dunno yet, but I suspect it will have something to do with Leprechauns and shamrocks, pots of gold or maybe the first hints of spring and nature shaking off the winter.

Necklace Update!

I have finished the necklace and have been wearing it all day.  I love the lightweight feel of it, which is a complete surprise.  I thought it would weigh me down with the weight of the glass, solder, galvanized steel chain and beads.  Pleasantly, it is not even something that I am aware of. 

You can barely see Amanda's photo on the flip side.