Cookie Blues

Cookie Jar here.

Pretty Jar here.

Humpty Dumpty here.

Miss Priss Kitty here.

Retro Mushroom Canister here.

Just wanted to share some of my favorite cookie jars on Etsy.  Cookie Blues.

Dress Season

Purchased this.

And this.

Hopefully, I can begin sewing again as soon as I have some free time.  Aren't these cute dress patterns?  I really like that coat dress.  Shopping for fabric to make these will be fun and most likely I'll find some more patterns while I'm browsing!  I can easily lose myself in the fabric store and before I know it two or three hours have gone by.

I slit my leg with the sheet rock knife this afternoon while boxing up an order.  Cut all the way through the flesh and took a bit to stop the bleeding.  I could have used a few stitches but didn't want to go to the doctor but did have to get a tetanus shot because I was long overdue.  Thankfully I didn't have to wait for that, they got me right in.  If I had gone to get stitches that could have taken up to two hours waiting and I sure wasn't about to do that so I taped it up with butterfly bandages.  Seems to be holding.  

Our New Shed

Our storage/packing shed is finished.  A long time ago, we bought two antique windows at the salvage yard.  Michael reglazed and painted them.  He made some cute shutters and painted those black.  Today he finished installing the windows and shutters.  Isn't our new shed cute?

Oh, and Michael hung one of his hand crafted barber poles on the front.

Another Cedar Waxwing Accident :(

Michael was taking a break (nap) in the recliner and I was sitting on the sofa with my feet up, working on the computer, when all of a sudden we heard a crash on the window.  I jumped up, knowing a bird just flew into our front window.  Sure enough, there were two big red spots (about the size of a dollar coin) on the window where the bird hit.  Peering through the glass, at first I couldn't see the bird anywhere.  And then, there he was on the grass with his wings spread open, just sitting there.  A Cedar Waxwing, just like the one here: First Cedar Waxwing bird that flew into our window.

Of course, I rushed out to see if my Little Darling was okay.  As I picked him up, he pooped on my fingers.  Not a problem, I think I'd have the poop scared out of me if I'd just crashed into some invisible object and then a giant person picked me up out of nowhere.

I was cooing and trying to calm him down while he sat there looking into my face trying to figure me out.  Michael had gone to get me a box to put him in and was just coming out the door with it.  When Little Darling got a glimpse of this square, white thing, he was having no part of it.  Off he flew into the tree.  Not sure if this is the same bird as before and I didn't have a chance to get a picture of this one to show you but he looks just like the first Cedar Waxwing.  But then, they all probably look the same.

Thank goodness he's okay.  I've got to do something to the windows.  Hang some kind of reflective thing in front of each one so they don't keep flying into them.  Precious sweethearts.

Remember When?

1960's Quill & Brush Paint By Number

Paint by number pages

Set of Three

The middle one from above is partially worked on.  I love the aqua colors.

Some paint by number sets I purchased today.  Going to try to get Angelina and Aiden to help me with the paint by pages set.  Thinking that would be a fun thing to do with them!  The other ones, I'll attempt on my own.  Thinking it might be good to practice using my arm again.  I'll try it out.

I've always loved the simplicity of paint by numbers but do know there is much more tedious work involved than whipping out a painting of a landscape on canvas with my oils or acrylics.  I remember my mother doing some of these types of paint by number landscapes many, many years ago.

Here is a portrait of the clown, Emmett Kelly, my mother painted when I was just two years old.  It is not a paint by number, it's her original painting she did from a picture of him, that I think, was on the cover of T.V. Guide or some such thing.  One day, I'd like to make a frame for it out of some old barn wood that I've whitewashed.

 

My mom was a smoker and when she gave this painting to me about 12 years ago, it was yellow with film.  I cleaned it with my oil painting cleaner and cotton balls, I think I used over twenty cotton balls soaked in the solution.  It sure brightened up after a gentle cleaning.  This painting has always been my favorite of and she gave it to me because of that and also as a little girl I loved circus clowns.  Thank you, Mom.  I will always cherish this, my Emmett Kelly.

I can remember another favorite painting of mine that my mother did of a bunch (about five or six) white horses.  They were coming out of some water and it was splashing all around them.  It was beautiful.  She painted it from a picture that was on the back side of a National Geographic Magazine back in the 1960's.  My sister's sold it at the flea market for $30.00 and oh, our mother was mad about that one.

Another favorite painting of mine that my mom did was of a bull fighter.  My Aunt Sandy has that painting.  I love that painting and would love to see it in person again.  Perhaps if I ever get a chance to visit my Aunt in Las Vegas I can do just that.

Goings-on

This morning I had eleven items to wrap, box and ship today.  Michael worked in the garage on some orders while I packaged them up in the shed.  Then we had a little lunch break and drove all the boxes to Fed Ex.

He's still not feeling well and has been sleeping in the recliner since we returned.  Mike doesn't have much of an appetite either.  We still have about seventeen more orders to do.  Tomorrow I'm painting and antiquing seven of those and we should be shipping them on Monday.   We have a friend coming tomorrow to hang sheet rock and put in a light fixture in the laundry room while we work on orders.

I'm hoping next week I can go see my mother soon.  I haven't driven very far since my surgery and this will be a real test for my shoulder if I'm able to go next week or not.  When I hold my arms up on the steering wheel, the very top part and deltoid of my right shoulder begins to ache and bother me.  So, I have been avoiding driving long distances.  The farthest I've gone is the next town up.

I've been wanting to see her and I have something very special to share with her.

Day Off for Michael

Michael woke up this morning not feeling too well.  By lunch time, he was running a fever.  He's been sleeping pretty much all afternoon.  I'm going to give him some homemade chicken soup tonight, hope it makes him all better.  

I painted the stripes on a custom barber pole order today, getting ready to ship that tomorrow along with some other orders that came in.

Cleaned the whole house this morning (and added a cap full to my laundry) using Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Lavender All Purpose Cleaner.  The house never smelled so clean and fresh.  I love this product and cannot wait to try the other ones, too.  I have many chemical cleaners that I do need to use up, but once they are gone, this brand will be one of the main household cleaners I'll use.  Trying to be a lot more earth friendly around here.

Shed

It's so much easier, I can't begin to tell you, to wrap up our packages in our new shed.  Everything is nicely organized, tape dispensers, bubblewrap, styrofoam sheets, boxes easy to get to the size needed, postal scales are handy as is paper, pens, pencils, scissors, etc..  Michael and our friend, Greg, installed a lighted ceiling fan and light switch.

Mike also installed the upper shelving for storage and today I went outside to organize some things and clean off the back porch while he worked in the garage.  He tore down and moved the laundry room wall to open up the garage workshop.  We needed more space!   

Sure is looking spiffy around here!

100 Year Anniversary Titanic

Wikipedia: Titanic

Purchase here.

I wouldn't mind trying some of the recipes from this book from the last dinner aboard the Titanic.  I have it on hold at the library so I can check it out before purchasing it.  

Here's an interesting PBS text excerpt from Lost Liners.

Organizing Day!

Michael built these nice dividers to store our boxes.  I've never felt more organized!

While he was out back doing this, I was busy inside the house cleaning and organizing a closet.  I don't know what got into me, but on a whim I took everything out of a small closet (which was sort of 1/2 my pantry storage) and next thing you know, I'm painting the whole inside of the closet a pretty cottage pink.  The walls, shelves, everything.  Yes, pink!  It's lovely.  (Overworked my shoulder a bit and ended up paying for it afterward.) 

Most of our boxes, styrofoam sheets and bubblewrap to the right side.
Doesn't it look so nice and organized?  So much better for pulling out the correct box size.  The way we had it before, all the boxes were stored in the laundry room, very difficult to get to.  Love our new shed!! 

Michael is building nice upper shelving to go around the perimeter. 
We're going to start doing all of our package wrapping out in the shed instead
of the kitchen.  Going to have to buy a little space heater for winter. 

Small Quilt Transformation

Finally finished the little quilt I had begun all those years ago!  Turned it into my sewing machine cover with just a eight little pink ribbons to tie at the sides.  Now my machine will stay clean and dust free.

Perfect fit.

This small quilt was started about 1993 or 94 with some vintage and new fabrics I had on hand. 

Lampshade I made.

A long time ago, there was a lampshade that got splashed with something and got badly stained.  I ripped it off and put some wire and beads around it and for a few years, that is what it looked like.  Until today.

I removed the wire and beads and decided to redo my lampshade.  First I ripped strips of a thin cotton fabric to the width of approx. 2.5 inches and sewed each strip on the end so I had one continuous super long strip.

Then I wrapped the frame beginning at the top and wrapping it around and around nice and taut until the entire shade was covered in overlapping fabric.  I tied in a knot on the inside and hand sewed around the top to hold in place.  This lampshade was fairly easy to do and didn't take too much time.

Unlike the rosettes.

I cut lots and lots of circles freehand out of the same white fabric approx. 2.5 to 3.5 inches in diameter to make rosettes.  As you can see, my circles are not even, nor perfectly shaped and slightly tattered which is the look I'm after.

Many, many circles.

Start with one circle in your hand.  Then slightly crimp fold a second circle and place on top of the first flat circle and hold in place firmly.

Take another circle and do the same crimp fold and place on top of the first two at a slightly different angle so the folds aren't in exactly the same position.

Continue until you have a total of four circles on top of one another to make one flower.

Four circles = one rosette.  Hand sew each flower and end with a knot on the back side to secure.

Almost halfway there.

Twenty more flowers needed to complete.

Nice and full and frilly and pretty.

I love my new lampshade.

Shed Day

The tree is gone and the new shed was installed today.  They had to build it at an angle jutting into the path ever so slightly to give themselves room to maneuver around.  The shed we picked is the Garden Tall Barn by Tuff Shed.  What's fun is that you can play around with the paint, trim and roof colors on their site.  We chose Antique Sterling for the siding, Wentworth White for the trim and Estate Gray for the roof color.

Before.

First the foundation.

Tar paper over the subfloor.

Back wall.

Lunch time.

Plywood going on the roof.

Moving it in place.

Finished!

For the windows, Mike is installing a pair of antique windows that we've been saving.  First he needs to build the storage loft though.  Then he'll make some wooden shutters for the windows which we'll paint black and I'm going to make some curtains.  I'm thinking a cute check fabric with some cheery color.