New Teacups

Christmas afternoon, when all of the in-laws came over for dinner and the gifta-palooza, I spied this fabulous hamper placed under our tree and thought, "I am so jealous of the person who gets it!"

Ha! Wouldn't you know it, it was for me, from my mother-in-law, who is now infamous for finding the perfect gifts for moi.

(See my Magic Suitcase post for another super Christmas gift from my dear MiL).

Inside the basket were 7, yes 7(!) teacups and saucers (I have 6 pictured) and additonally, she also gave me this wonderful teacup stand. She owns a flea market so doesn't have to look far for the perfect gifts. I had exclaimed over these cups before (they were so reasonabley priced!) but buying for myself is rarely a priority, so I just admired them and let them sit for someone else to buy, little knowing that I would get them for Christmas! The hamper basket and stand were the frosting on an already rich gift. Yum!

So come on over for tea at my house! I'm equipped with cups for a crowd!

Footnote: The art stuff happening in the background of the photo is my oldest daughter customizing a paint box she bought with Chritsmas money. Our dining room table always has something going on! Paint water and beverages share the same space so we have to be careful where we dip a brush! :)

For more Tea Tuesday posts visit Kimmie's blog.
Happy New Year to you!

A Puppy for Christmas

Ever since we lost our basset hound, Scooter, to cancer, our oldest daughter has been obsessively searching animal shelter sites for a suitable replacement.

Meet Oscar Blue.

He is a five week old, miniature Australian shepherd, we got free from one of my husband's co-workers who breeds them.

The litter was born while the humans were away so did not get their tails docked.

Hence the affordable price!

Personally, I wanted to name him "Wags" because his tail spins like it's battery operated.

ha!

The name we all settled on is a compromise.

It's doesn't come to me naturally.

I keep calling him Scooter and Rebecca still insists that his name should be Dr. Socks!

Everything they say about the breed is true.

Oscar is so smart and fun loving.

We've had him only 5 days, but already his is half house broken.

Today he stood by the back door to show that he wanted to be let out

(he loves being outdoors),

and manages the stairs going down from our deck

(he struggles to be let down- he does not want to be carried).

He plays tug-o-war with socks and his squeaky toy

and undecorates the lower branches of the Christmas tree.

Our St. Bernard, Lucy, just barely tolerates him right now and stays away.

She does not take kindly to a young upstart trying to herd her!

I'm sure they will be better friends when he gets bigger.

Oscar has already wormed his way into the hearts of the kids!

They say not to give puppies as gifts at Christmas.

But this one had been on a wish list.

Not mine particularly, but he's wormed his way into my heart too.

:)

Caught on Film

Only one week left to do Christmas baking and writing out cards(!), and I find myself obsessed with experimenting with this 8mm film I found in my basement.

Inspiration rarely happens conveniently.

Today I decided that weaving it was the thing to do.

I did it on a clipboard to hold the ends in place and the board was also a nice portable work surface.
I added some sheet music for variety and as it happened, stumbled on some lyrics
that suggested a theme.

Done with the weaving, I taped the loose ends on three sides and slipped the piece off the clipboard.

The whole time I worked on the weaving part, I'm thinking,

"what next?"

I made this up as I went along and did not completely rule out the possibilty of trashing it in the end. A waste of time perhaps, that would have been better spent on Christmas preparations.

But I trudged on.

Fast foreward past stitching down the film weaving (stablizing it), rummaging for an appropriate photo, deciding on other assemblage bits and sewing them down too, on the sewing machine and by hand...

...And you have my mostly finished piece.

An homage to some of events and memories caught on film. First child, a beautiful spring day (or is it summer?), and maternal pride.

The photo is an original, already colorized, that I bought in a lot on etsy.

I chose to add metal snaps instead of buttons, because they resemble film reels.

Also a lot of baby clothes has snaps for ease of dressing and undressing.

I was tempted to hot glue the snaps on, but was too lazy to take out my glue gun and wait for it to heat up.

Needle and thread were quicker to find, although I was wishing for a thimble at times.
(Not easy pushing through layers of plastic film.)

So, another use for the film I am selling in my etsy shop. :)

I haven't forgotten my promise to show you my 8mm film brooch idea, I just haven't wrestled one into being yet!

A Little Quiet in the Hustle and Bustle

You wouldn't guess from this tranquil vigniette...

...that this is the mess I create in.
Both art and etsy listings.
Or maybe you would, because you have a similar creative mess?
heehee
Don't ask me why a jar of dog biscuits share the same space with Mod Podge.
There is no correlation.

These beautiful bottle brush trees are from Patty and Linda
(2 of the Queen Bees- see my side bar),
who provided me with a veritable forest!
Strangely enough,
the rooster looks at home among the trees.
I get a mental break from my chaos when I look at this window sill.
A little bit of calm.
A little bit of bliss.
Then back to work I go.
Renewed!

I think I will keep the trees out all winter.

Bottles of Joy

I made some of these last year to sell at a Christmas bizaar and sold the two sets in no time.

This year's set is a special order for an aquaintence here in town.

I had the bottles chosen and the labels stamped from last year yet, so there wasn't much to completing their assembly.

Yet it took me a whole year to get around to it.

ha!

The bottles are a great way to use up cheap trinkets--

polyester lace, crummy pearls and cheap looking irridescent tulle.

These are last year's bottles in the photo above.

This year my supplies were a bit more limited, so I improvised.

Plastic buttons, a white feather, some cheap lace and even some

yellowed string made their were into the bottles.

The magic is in the faux mica-like flakes I pour in last.

It sticks to the inside of the bottle and gives the contents an ethereal shimmer.

I serioulsy need to make a set for myself.

I make stuff to give or sell away

and all I keep for myself are the photos

and the memories of creating.

Being Martha Stewart

Over the weekend I made curried pumpkin soup.

From pumpkin.

The real thing.

Not canned.

My goal was not to make soup

(that was a spontaneous improvisation),

but to cook up the pumpkins I bought back in October,

after the first frost brought them inside

where they cluttered our front entryway.

My husband was threatening to throw them out.

Because they annoyed him.

They clashed with the Christmas decor.

I was reminded quickly why I procrastinated.

(I have done this cooking pumpkin thing before- many years ago).

It took most of the day to cut up, scrape out, and cook up two medium pumpkins

(twice bigger than the one I have photographed).

Thankfully, Rebecca, now 7 and very helpful,

happily did the chore of scraping and sorting out the seeds.

She also washed them.

And spead them on the pan.

Now I have the satisfaction of not only having 6 quart sized freezer bags of pumpkin to put away for future use (harnessing my child's abundant energy in the process), but also toasted seeds, the afore mentioned soup and...

...several loaves of spicy pumpkin bread all ready for Christmas gift giving to teachers and neighbors.

It's a Good Thing

being Martha every once in a while.

Find the Treasure

Would you have bid on this box lot at an auction?

How much would you pay, and would you have gotten into a bidding war?

Well, you know I bought it.

But not because it had sewing notions in it.

Those were a bonus of sorts.

I bought the whole box because I saw this vintage red leather wallet in it.

They just don't make them like this anymore and this one turns out to be brand new, never used.

Still has the original papers in it (blank I.D. card, mock photo) which dated it to be the 1950s!
It's in my etsy shop now.

Now what else do you see?

I found another pair of scissors for my collection (!), some rusty and not so rusty tools (seam ripper, needle punch, awl, and screw driver) and a bit of serendipity--
red twist.
"No more twist" from the "Tailor of Glouchester".
"Cherry coloured" twist was used for the button holes.
The mice had run short before they could complete the waistcoat for the mayor's wedding.
One button hole short.
And here's the thread.
In my auction box.
ha!


I also found this lovely pink and green assortment which I plan to add to my shop.
Maybe need to dig into my own stash for a few more buttons, and trims.
Maybe I should add a hoop and it could be a kit of sorts.
One rather drab box can yield a lot!
I love the hunt!
Does it thrill you too?