Process

When it comes to describing my creative process, I can only say that I start with an intention and perhaps a picture or a sketch.  From there on, anything can happen.  At times I find it so terribly frustrating, and I wonder how many other artisans find this to be true for them also.  ...Sometimes, I get so far off course that I end up with a piece that is nothing like what I had conceived in the first place.  ...Sometimes, there has been an issue with the materials or the design, but often it is simply that the design takes on a life of it's own and leads me on a totally divergent course.

The talisman to the right that I completed, was to have been a single strand necklace.  I prefer the idea of layering strands instead of a single layered-look necklace.  However, as I went along, I found that the raw garnet beads were getting quite heavy, and so a shorter strand was called for.  Then, the look wasn't quite right, and other strands were added to give the design more weight and importance.  I also decided that the frame for the crystal and charms seemed too long and it was a choice between scrapping this one and making a shorter one or altering how it looked somehow.  I am groaning just thinking about it!  ...And I added another strand.

K.I.S.S.

Yaaah.  After the holidays were over, I was in severe lag time ...no mojo ...no studio creative juice.  It was awful.  I literally pace the floor when I am in-between creative projects.  If I could walk vertically, I'd certainly be climbing the walls.  My dear husband has learned these signals and patiently observes without comment.  For two weeks I would walk into the studio and diddle with picking up this and that and make no headway at all.  Finally, I decided I had far too many bits and pieces that had been around for ages ...perhaps had been given to me ...maybe I didn't even like them very much ...but kept them around "because."  It occurred to me that in my state of mind, and after so much time off, any piece I might work on was not likely to be something I was pleased with.  In fact, I spent a day trying to solder pieces, etc., and felt like my skills had been slipping.  ...Talk about frustration and despair!  The following morning, I came across a wonderful video by Ira Glass.  I had seen it before, but this video ought to be on the "watch this" list every time I start thinking my artsy creations are crappy.  The man gives a wonderful perspective for beginning creatives at any level.  His message is basically: our taste is better than our skill and it takes lots of practice, but improvement will come, and it may take years to get to our goal ...so be patient and keep on going.

 

So, with a renewed outlook, I began to do some simple beading , making  stretchy  bracelets with some wood beads I had.  I really enjoyed combining wood with brass beads, and made several. I will be taking them to the boutique to sell, and I hope they all go together.  As a stack they are quite striking in a casual sophisticated way.

 Then, I turned my attention to some unusual wooden beads of grape wood that came together beautifully with a carved animal charm that had fallen off an old necklace, and some less than lovely rhinestone rondelle spacer beads, a few other odds and ends, and it seemed to me that grunge magic happened.  I love this pair of bracelets and want to make a bunch more!

...And because I felt obligated...

I turned out a few Valentine hearts too.

As it turned out, January ended up leaving me feeling as if I had accomplished far more than I expected to and pushed me into February ready to hit the ground running again.

**MORAL OF MY STORY:  When I am challenged with being stuck in a rut, do something simple and just get moving and it will all come back before I know it.

Wine & Cheese

I have been selling some of my jewelry.  OK,

I stumbled into a fabulous little boutique that specializes in Interior Design and has some wonderful items for the home and features hand-made decor too.  I have often wondered how jewelry fits in ...but why not???  We women love our jewelry.  One for the house and one for me!

A few days ago the store held an open house with wine and cheese tasting and invited customers to come in and meet their artists.  I have never done anything quite like this and I don't do wine or large parties, and not so much cheese, but I am looked forward to enjoying a good time out of the house.  An event like this absolutely requires a "canvas" for showing off my artisan OOAK (one of a kind) jewelry, and I worked against deadline to make something to wear with an outfit I will be wearing for the first time.

For over a year now (I have had a very long "To-Do" list) I have planned to incorporate a knit lace edging for an old knit silk camisole.  It's OLD.  Old enough that I didn't mind once that it stopped right at my waist and showed just a little skin.  Now, the horrors of my muffin top would leak out of that gap and I ain't showing no one my muffin!  So, when I came across this gorgeous pink yarn that matched color perfectly I set yarn and top aside.  Now, finally, it is complete and I will be wearing that with my white linen pants and big shirt.  But what jewelry to wear?!!!  ...So off I went to Michael's and struck gold.  Beautiful slabs of pink dyed Imperial Jasper to make a "Pebble and Bam-Bam" style necklace, and bracelet too, but the bracelet didn't get done in time for the event.

Darn Good Gumbo & We Had a Great Time

It was chilly, and we walked everywhere.
With eyes peeled for beads, I found a few primitive bead strings too.

 I scored lots of interesting focals ... some of them vintage

I also found some great clasps for some multi-strand bracelets, and charms.....

Did I say it was cold?  One might think that Asheville, NC would be a good place to find warmer clothing bits and pieces.  I wanted to find some comfy sweater leggings to go with my new boots, but all I saw were synthetic yukkies.  There seem to be quite a few to select from online, so I will keep fingers crossed. 

(Yes, I am a fiber snob)

We had lunch the first day at Mayfel's  a New Orleans style bistro, and I had the BEST gumbo.  I have to make some now that I am back home.  There is a gumbo recipe that I found in my Grandmother's circa 1900 cookbook that I like a lot, but the DH won't eat okra.  Even though there is not a hint of goo, he has a mental thing about it.  It's darn good gumbo though!  I make mine with chicken and ham (or not), and Mayfel's cooked it up with Anduille sausage in it.  ...They also had beignets.  Oh yeah!  They are a New Orleans delicacy that are very like crispy fried doughnuts, served hot and sprinkled with powdered sugar.   I can't begin to tell you how decadent they are on a cold day with a cuppa hot chicory coffee.  Mayfel's didn't have the chicory coffee, but they did have darn good coffee just the same.

We had a few meals from Katuah, a natural food store's salad table.  Good stuff.  We got some smoked chicken thighs that were so good that the DH is thinking to re-create them here.  Our last day out, we walked around Black Mountain and mid-way through the afternoon we stopped in our fav restaurant and shared a devilishly fudg-i-licious giant slice of chocolate cake and hot tea.  What a warm up that was.

We usually wear ourselves out with walking and sensory overload, and we like to be back at the hotel by late afternoon.  I usually take a portable project.  Remember the BedSack Frock?   It had been stashed away for over a year waiting for the next inspiration.  It has been on my mind ever since I returned from Pennsylvania in September.   I had taken it along and got artsy there with leaves.  I painted fallen oak leaves with fabric paints and pressed them to the fabric.  At the time, I wasn't exactly happy with the result.  Fall colors are not really my piece of cake, and the colors seemed heavy on the muslin canvas.  The next step might have been patching over those leaves.

However, the idea of embroidered water struck days before we left, and so I went armed with blue floss and a trusty needle, and got a lot of embroidery done on the BedSack.  I was stitching the creek.  I like how it's going.  It reminds me of Gustav Klimt with its curls and spirals.  ...Not too much though, cuz its not a raging torrent.  ...Kind of fun to just do whatever with long running stitches and patches of French knots.  The darker blue seems to balance and hold the leaves now, so the plan is to keep them.

One thing I found interesting as we munched on cake and looked out the window of our restaurant, watching the passers by, was that several were carrying newly purchased snow shovels and coasters.  It was beautiful and sunny in the 50's and 60's.  Weather was moving in this week!  It will be below freezing here too.  We have already had snow which is unheard of, and it may be a strange winter.

The Art of Upcycle

The Treehouse at Creekview Country Cottage Bed & Breakfast

Have you ever had the urge to re-create yourself?  Maybe it was after a relationship breakup or a pregnancy came to an end, or you lost a bunch of weight?  Well, I have been feeling the urge since returning from Pennsylvania.  My sister and I stayed at the Creekview Cottage Bed & Breakfast during our two weeks there.  It was perfect in every sense ...a private little pocket deep in the woods and mountains and was exactly what I had been dreaming of during the long care-taking ordeal.  Our hostess, Andrea, is now a dear friend to us.  She is an indomitable force wrapped up in a petite lady who has a passion for living.  The three is  us are "senior-ish" but Andrea has so much vitality and spunk that it would be hard for anyone to accurately guess her age.  I was impressed with her fashionable yet practical attire.  She carried off her favorite magentas and pinks and studded sparkly skinny jeans with ease.  My sister has always been a fashion statement, even in her understated way with black and white and gray.  ...And there I was with my old straight-leg stretchy Lee's and plain long sleeve T's, with my decades old Eagle Outfitters boots.  One of my sneakers blew a sole after a few days, and my comfy old jeans had a blowout too.

I didn't realize how out-of-step I had gotten until I saw some photos from the trip.   OMG, I was the granny in the photos!  I couldn't believe my eyes!  For someone who had sewn prolifically, I was always a step ahead of fashion.  For 14 years I was a dressmaker for a European pattern company, and I got the patterns at least a year before they influenced the United States fashion scene.  However, for the past 6 years, I had not really been able to just go shopping.  Getting out of the house was a challenge, and because of that, I made due with what I had.  Meanwhile, everything was getting shabbier and as garments were cast off, they were rarely replaced with something really happening.  When I did get out, I grabbed anything simple that fit and hurried back home.  ...Eventually, I would have been a fashion zilch.  ...Now I have to stop you all right here, as I am not inclined to follow every fad and fancy.  I go for style, and my style was looking like granny's closet.

Well, this calls for a huge makeover.  One of the first things I have done is to look at shoes.  Although I still have not replaced the sneakers, I did purchase some drop-dead gorgeous boots I have been lusting after for the past year:

The BedStu Manchester boot!  I adore them!  They are stylish and yet very simple.  My head is filled with ideas for boot fringes

 and knit boot toppers

...and bracelets and to make.

As I was going through the closet, I came across a favorite magenta knit Henley.  The back of the neckline had separated from the binding and I was ready to toss it when I thought of a Free People favorite that has a patchwork look.  I spent the past few days altering the top and now I have a new/old Henley to wear that is very fashionable.  ...There may be no end to this!

Free People's Kyoto cuff top that inspired me

A Little Someth'n-Someth'n

Everything is different now  ...Better, but still feeling strange not to have my mother here with us.  ...Just taking things easy and trying to get caught up with life and that never seems to be the case for me.  There is always so much that I want to do and need to do.

Making and being creative has been taking a back seat lately, but I do have a beaded wrap bracelet to share.  I had started beading while my mother was fading away from us, and finally completed it just a week ago.  I am quite taken with this boho thing on my wrist. 

The inspiration came when I had to shorten a new pair of jeans.  As the old hem came off, I just knew it would be fun to upcycle into a bead/fiber sort of wrap bracelet.  I sewed over the double rows of stitching and then trimmed close to the stitching so that the edges would fray.  I sewed the beading down and added crochet cord wraps to transition and hide joins, and finished the ends with crimp beads and covers.  Eyelets were added and made perfect places to add in dangling baubles.  Its finished with a toggle clasp.

Choices & Facing Demons

I have not been posting for quite a while now.  I have not been creative either.  It seems they go hand in hand.  After the respite, I had to get ready for company.  Now, I hate to admit, but I am a messy artisan.  I get tunnel-vision and tear threw projects like  a tornado and make the biggest messes.  SO, getting ready for company is a "deer-in-the-headlights" moment for me.  Big reality check!!!!  To use another animal phrase, I had the "elephant in the living room" look.  Cleaning up after myself is fraught with decisions and such a bore because there is so much more fun to be had than the drudgery of housework.  However, once I got the living areas of the house looking company ready, I felt so much better about the view, and have determined that I am going to keep them clear and re-organize my everything room into a real studio.  I have been reading a very helpful book by Julie Morgenstern, named Organizing From the Inside Out.  I am such a hopeless case that I have to admit that I started this books years ago and never got beyond the third chapter.  For several years now, I have had a reminder on my bulletin board that "This will be the year that will end my clutter!"  I took it down this January 1 because I didn't want it nagging at me ANY MORE.  Little did I know what was in store for me just a few months ahead.

The thing I like about this author is that her story is just like mine.  She found a way to tackle her problem, and that gives me hope.  I also really really really really really want to have a beautiful clean and ready space to work in and to be able to walk into my studio without twisting and turning around piles and boxes of things that got there from previous quick clears for company visits.

Looking ahead, I have been planning out the new workspace on Pinterest and getting excited about having an optimum place to work with my supplies and tools all at hand with good lighting and and and and and.....

But in the meantime, I am struggling.  I pace the floors because I am not being creative and making jewelry, or sewing items I need, or knitting garments I want , and all those other projects that I have set for myself on Pinterest and that is just a start.  Julie suggests that we start setting up the space as soon as enough clearing will allow because it sets up a feeling of progress and reward.  This would be the solution for me, but I need to clear out the corner of the room, find someplace for all the clutter on the worktable and move a heavy 60" table, that has been used for paperwork, over by the window where it will be a craft table instead.

Anyway, here I am, publicly declaring to be a clutter addict ...resolving to change my ways.  I will post my progress every week until I get there, and be proud to share my new space at that time.  As I go, I will share my plans and dreams with you for my perfect space. 

Epiphany

There's nothing like going through life, passing Middle Ages and getting into the "Senior" category and still you don't really know what you want to be when you grow up.  In my case, I just enjoyed doing so many things that I haven't been able to decide.  So, the other day I made myself one of "those" lists and wrote down all the things I like that could be considered my Artisan ID.   In case you are head-scratching now, that's when you can be exposed to a created piece and know who did it.  Whether it is music or art or a fashion style, you just know who created it.  That's what I have been trying to figure out for months now.  However, even the list didn't help much to clarify my own definition, but the following morning whilst showering, I was hit with one of those thoughts that often come while I am relaxing and letting the hot water pour over me.  Why had I never thought of this in relation to my wardrobe?  My sewing over the decades has really defined me.  I know exactly what styles I like and will wear, and when I applied that same criteria to the jewelry making, my brain lit up like the fireworks on July 4th.  I have been excited about discovering myself ever since!

Inspiration hit me then too.  After looking over my boards on Pinterest for a few hours, I started to get ideas on what I wanted to put together, and here is what happened....  

Spring is here!

With every end of the month I take inventory and ask myself what I most want to accomplish before the next month sets in.  It's about completion and feeling good about myself.  March winds seemed to blow hard on us symbolically here and brought chaos and changes that were not expected.  Even though last weeks Bad Business was a nightmare, it held within it the opportunity to spend longer moments with my passion.  Interrupted too often with endless aggravations, concentrating on taxes was out of the question.  So, I worked on jewelry.  Not only did it keep me calmer and more in control, but it was possible to finish a piece I began several weeks ago.  

I have been lusting over the idea of a lime green bracelet for ages and this little birdie sang an inspirational song to me.  I can hardly believe that I created this piece because it is so very different from anything I have ever done to date.  I used new skills that I picked up in Stephanie LeBaron Lee's Homesteaders Metalsmithing e-course.  There was such a wealth of information in it that I have barely touched the surface yet.  Just get me through taxes and will I ever have fun!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you and my very intent wishes for all of us to have a fantastic and wonderful New Year!

I have had my hands full this past month, but I have a special project all lined up to share with you that I think you will like.  Stay tuned for my next blog on how I made these French script candles....

When Does One Equal Three?

XO Gallery bracelet by Kelly Conedera

For some time now, I have been in awe of XO Gallery jewelry artist Kelly Conedera's drop-dead gorgeous creations.  I adore the uniqueness, boldness and freedom of her jewelry designs.  Her use of color and shapes and textures and mixed metals just amazes my beginner's brain.  Although I like my own jewelry babies very much, I am still growing and developing my own style.  I want my jewelry to be more expressive and make a statement.  No run of the mill stuff will ever do for me.  My dear hubby used to buy me fine jewelry for occasions and I was always properly grateful, but they sit on their boxes never seeing the light of day.  ...Or night for that matter.  I get my thrills wearing artsy, rustic, natural pieces that have a personal meaning for me.  Wrap an uncut diamond in a rusty, soldered bezel and hang it from a piece of driftwood and you may turn my head.  I leave those cut and polished gems for the rest of you jewelry lovers!

I have been studying what Kelly's "Jewelry With Soul" has in them that makes them so wonderful in my eyes.  It has always been the case for me that I learn best by observing, and my builder brain will run construction forward and backwards figuring out how to DIY something I want to make.

In this case, I am pushing myself with this project as I am not working within my own comfort zone, but attempting to do this in XO Gallery style.  It forces me to use color more boldly and look at the texture of beads and how they interact in a way I am not used to doing.  These are the techniques I am guiding myself with:

•  Bold colors
•  Bold clasps
•  Dangles near clasp
•  Mixing metals
•  Large and small beads used texturally
•  Seed beads in strands
•  Large hole beads to hide wire end connections 

 This gave me a new learning challenge that was exhilarating and freeing.  The main beads are colors that I am not used to exploring:  yellow and black.  These yellow beads have been around for years, and I think they were part of a macrame purse that wore out decades ago.   I have thrown in some turquoise and red beads for accent.  Initially thinking of blackened silver metal, the decision was for antiqued and shiny brass instead.  This piece turned out to be a stunning one if I do say so myself.  It was often a struggle and a stretch as each element was tackled.  


 SO, ...to give you the answer to the question, when one equals three could really be turned around to "when does three equal one?"  ...And the answer is a stack-able bracelet set!  It was supposed to be one bracelet yet as work proceeded it made sense to be three instead.  Here is my stack-able creation

*****...And, as an added bonus, I have a finger-saving tip for anyone out there fighting the "flying jump ring" battle.  As a beginner, I am still working with rudimentary tools.  Jump rings are cut with flush cutters and filed into shape so the ends meet.  It is a grueling job and hard on fingertips.  I discovered that if I use a tiny scrap of paper around the jump ring to protect it from gouges, I can use the front oval of the crimp pliers to hold the jump ring while I file away.  Not only does it save my fingers from bruising pain (that happens when you love chain) but it holds very securely and keeps those rings in place.  It even works wonderfully for fidgeting those jump rings into closed position.  
 

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!

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.

Just a Little Cabin in the Woods

Memories...

the old cabin

 Sometimes I get obsessed with an idea that just stews in my brain until I do something about it.  For months now, I have been obsessing about Amanda, the grandmother I never knew.  One of the things she accomplished was to supervise the construction of a cabin built in the "Endless Mountains" in Pennsylvania.  Long ago, Native Americans named the a portion of the Appalachian Mountain chain as the "Endless Mountains."  Building a cabin had been a plan that she shared with my grandfather before he passed on, and in her strength, she saw the plan through so that the family would have a place of respite.  It was a time when people still rallied together to raise a home for a family, and she was fortunate to have "Great Uncle Barney"  to help out. Great Uncle Barney was a builder of barns, and he knew how to put strength into a cabin.  It could have lasted forever.  I say "could" because we lost the cabin several years ago.  A fraudulent contractor, who was hired to put new shingles on the roof, left his old faulty truck to  catch fire and sent the cabin into destruction.  Since then, a new cabin has risen in the old one's place, but the memories and the feeling of the original will be with me always.

My favorite view in all this world ...from the cabin porch swing

I loved nothing better than to sit on the front porch swing and "zone" as I gazed out into the beauty of nature.  It is a bountiful view full of life and sound.  A shallow creek flows by, happily gurgling it's way over rocks as the sunlight sparkles over it.  Damselflies with the deepest iridescent indigo or jade green bodies and lacy black wings dance off it's surface.  Crows add their voices in disrespect of the peace and quiet as they call back and forth, asserting their territory.  Beyond is a field of tall grasses occasionally dotted with scarlet-red bee-balm, delicate white Queen Anne's Lace and daisies.  Across the old dirt road, deer visit an old gnarled apple tree (it's in bloom in the right center of the photo) in the field where I gathered mint, yarrow and other wild herbs.  I would harvest them in the early morning, wash them and then hang them in bunches over the kitchen's old wood-burning stove to dry.

It has been many years now since I was last there.  It used to be an annual two week stay when my mother was living nearby.  Over a decade ago she sold her home and has been living with me, my sister, and now me again.  Her health and my care-giving will not allow for travel.  So, I travel in my mind to this haven of peace and regeneration.

Recently, I took into my head to honor both the cabin and Amanda with a soldered pendant.  My first effort at soldering leaves much to be desired, but I am making the best of it, as is.  After all, there is a sense of acceptance in shabby chic style, and the cabin exemplified that.  I was in too much of a hurry to play to take photos throughout this project, but it was easy to do.  I had the scanned ancient photos of the cabin and of Amanda on the computer, and scaled them to fit in between two glass slides from Micheal's craft store.  Making sure that the glass was thoroughly clean, I placed the trimmed photos back-to-back between the glass.  Then, I used copper foil tape (Micheal's) around the outer edges.  It needs to be pressed down smoothly with a burnishing tool to avoid any lifting or seeping of solder into the frame.  Now the fun begins!  I am no solder expert, and encourage anyone interested to search out good videos on the internet to learn this skill.  I fluxed the foil and then applied solder to it's surface until it was coated.  Then, I fumbled, wishing for  a few more hands, until I managed to add the rings to the top and bottom edges.  I will not lie, I ruined the tip of my soldering iron, and had to re-do the piece a few times before it was acceptable.  Now, I am playing with making chain and beads of old buttons, rhinestones, glass beads, and old nylon curtain cord that I had dyed the perfect shade years back.  I love it when I can use old things I have lying about.  I am making the chain of galvanized steel.  It has a tendency to rust, so it's aging will be interesting.  I do plan to coat it with a sealant when the piece is finished.  Not in this photo is an old key from the old cabin that is sitting in some salted ammonia to age it with patina.  This necklace has a  way to go yet, but I will keep y'all posted!