Thrifty Finds

With Spring Break behind us, it's time to get down to business. I have so many irons in the fire: there is a special project, projects for Flourishes, then collecting for summer flea markets! I know they are coming because I've been getting registration forms in the mail all week! It's time to get out there and shop!!! Woo-hoo!!! Speaking of shopping, I stopped at a couple of favorite thrift shops at the coast last week. I didn't find lots of wonderful, but the wonderful I found was perfect.

I'm not usually a "pink" girl. I usually am attracted to the creamy whites and sepia tones. For some reason, there was pink that was calling me to take it home. The soft, soft wool blanket (that will probably be fashioned as stockings at Christmas), the Alfred Meakin platter, a sweet floral plate, about 8 packages of old, faded, pink crepe paper (still in its old box) and some beaded earrings! Not a huge haul, but everything fits in somewhere.

For the first time, I've actually begun planning what I'm going to make for upcoming Christmas shows! I usually don't start on Christmas until I have finished making Halloween. Which is weird since I'm a planner/organizer type. It really goes against everything else I do when I'm working on pieces for specific events. I don't begin early-on. Needless to say, I work better and create more when I'm under pressure. I'm not saying that I'm making anything yet, but at least I'm planning and gathering!

I stepped into the back yard this morning to let Miss Zoe out. I was appreciating my husband's hard work yesterday. He tackled the first mowing of the yard. Never an easy job. It is very thick and heavy and you hope that you have found all of Miss Zoe's "land mines". Just as he was finishing the job, it opened up and hailed so much that it completely covered the ground! So there I am this morning, standing in the French doors admiring the freshly cut lawn and the daffodils -- then I notice that we are having snow flurries - again!! The sun was actually shining at the same time! Wow, never a dull moment. Hope the sun shines on you today and warms your week, M.

Spring Break Flakes ?!?

Spring Break of 1993 there was a mild earthquake in the central Willamette Valley. It was quickly nicknamed the "Spring Break Quake." This spring break, the weather has been a little bit of everything: sun, rain, wind, sleet, hail, snow. Earlier this week, my husband and I went to Neskowin on the Oregon coast. It was actually really nice the first two days. I sat on the balcony of the condo and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine.

Our last day, it snowed and hailed. It's the first time I've ever seen snow at the beach. Kinda weird. After returning home, more snow off and on. This morning we awoke to more snow that had acutally stuck to the ground. I took the liberty of naming this year's break ---the Spring Break Flakes! Ha, ha, ha! Yuk, Yuk, Yuk! I know -- how corny.

Anyway, it has been a nice week with my hubby. We had some R & R, found some good restaurants and shopping. He has been enjoying NCAA basketball and a good book. I have a couple more days to work on a special project that I'm kind of keeping a secret. I'm afraid if I talk about it, it will jinx it. I'll fill you in on it sometime later. Hope you all have had a good weekend and I will start posting more spring things that will go to Flourishes in April. M.

Happy Spring!

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a very happy Easter ! M.

My Hero

Don’t let the picture fool you. This isn’t going to be one of my happier, lolly-la posts. Most of the time I limit my posts to events, etc. related to my creative outlet. Sometimes I throw in things about my home or family. Then, every so often, I have to vent about something that just… gets… to… me. This is one of those days. I’m going to keep it vague, since I don’t want to embarrass my husband or offend his employers. We value his paycheck and I know he loves his job – most of the time. My husband was previously employed in an area related to juvenile corrections. There were many times (probably more than I care to know about) where he was placed in a dangerous situation – like removing a firearm from a youth. Hated finding out about that one, but explained the bruised ribs. Anyway, he certainly is my personal hero after yesterday.

This is the story. He is now an educator in a public high school located in a relatively quiet, sleepy community. Yesterday afternoon, he and two other teachers found themselves in the school parking lot with members of the local police department. The police had received a call that someone was on school property with a rifle. They responded and were searching the school grounds. My husband was told to get down and take cover. But before the police were notified, the school determined that it was a hoax (somebody “fessed- up” to the principal) and released the students from lock-down. In the meantime, my husband and the other two teachers were in the parking lot taking cover with police officers when students started to pour into the parking lot. My husband and the other teachers went into action putting themselves at risk to get those students back into the building. You see, no one had told the police or the teachers that it had been a hoax. The police were still there looking for a gunman with the student’s coming out of the school building to leave for the day. My sweetie put himself out there to take care of those kids and see that they were safe. I can hardly stand to think about what might have happened if it hadn’t been a hoax. I’ve been thanking my lucky stars it was a hoax or I could be a widow today. I’m not annoyed that he put himself at risk for the kids, but I am annoyed at the way the administration handled the situation. There isn’t a darn thing that I can do about it, but sharing the experience with all of you makes me feel better. Thanks for listening and a great, big hug for my sweetie. On a lighter note, Miss Zoe will be modeling her Easter bonnet for you tomorrow! She won’t like it, but she will humor me long enough to get a picture. TGIF & Happy Spring Break! M.

PS. The other part of this story is that during all of this happening, my husband locked his keys in his truck. The reason he was in the parking lot in the first place was that he was preparing to leave with his tennis team for a match. I had to drive 30 minutes to take him a set of keys. I didn't mind - I was glad I was home to do it. Then, after driving an hour to the match, they cancelled because of rain! Some days you shouldn't get out of bed.

PPS. GO KANSAS STATE!!!

Nice to be Home

I have had a few days off to be at home. It has been really nice to be able to get caught up some "chores". I got a little behind in January and it's taken me a while to get things done. There is bookkeeping and taxes, house cleaning and dog cleaning (on going), and general organization of stuff. I cleaned out my closet, cleaned up my work room, changed the sheets on the guest bed, scrubbed the bathroom really good. It feels good. I even made some cupcakes and got out my Easter eggs and nests. Believe it or not -- I finally changed the winter collage in my spice cabinet to something more springy. Let me explain 'cuz that sounded funny. There is a blank wall behind my kitchen sink. I have a very small kitchen with little storage. To save space, my father-in-law made a spice cabinet that is mounted on that wall. It's door is a picture frame and I can change what is in the frame whenever I want. This weekend I wanted a change! This is the new display. I am so into eggs and nests this year. Can you tell?















Since I was on a roll, I got out a few more eggy/nesty things. Even if it is still chilly and cold outside, I can feel like it is Spring inside.

Will it ever stop raining and warm up? My daffodils are in suspended animation. They know when it's too cold! It's back to work tomorrow and later this week I need to start working on pieces for the next event at Flourishes. There will more nature-inspired things and maybe... crowns made with "Mothers" in mind! M.

Flourishes!

My friend Joy and I left her home at 6:30 this morning and made it to Flourishes at Mt. Pleasant just in time for early buying. What a beautiful combination of antique furniture, accessories and artistic creations! Owners Bill and Aleta Breese have created a warm and welcoming venue. There were so many wonderful things to see and so many of our friends to visit with that we were there two hours before we knew it! It was delightful. I came home with great little finds from some of my favorite vendors and a couple of new ones. Here are some pictures, but you really need to visit it and see for yourself. The next event will be in April. (See the list of events in my sidebar.) You won't be disappointed! M.

SOS

Always, always after working frantically to complete projects for a specific event (this time Flourishes), I have to do a major tidying-up of my workroom. I should have taken a before picture, then you would fully understand what a mess it can be. Anyway, last night I cleaned-up. It feels good to start again with a clean slate, or at least cleaner. I hope the vacuum doesn't reject all the stuff on the carpet. Yes, carpet. It is my son's former bedroom and it took a beating while he grew up here, so my abuse can't hurt it much more. One day we will rip it up and replace it with something else. Sorry, I'm off track.

The reason for the SOS is: I end up with a pile of scraps of various papers used in recent projects. They are all piled in a wire basket, (I cleaned it up a bit before I snapped the picture.) and need to be organized in some way. At some point I will go back and use most of it. In the past I have just moved the stack to another larger basket that is in the closet. However, it is over-flowing. Especially if I add this new batch to it. Does anyone out there have any suggestions to deal with this mess I have created that won't require a huge amount of time to utilize? There are tiny bits and pieces of vintage papers that I don't want to dump 'cuz sometimes that is all I need and I will never find that exact item again. There are also larger sheets that I can pull out and put back where they came from. Regardless, I would welcome any helpful hints. So put on your "Heloise" hats and let me hear from you! I won't take offense if you just come right out and say I'm a lazy slob and should just put it back when I'm done with it.

I'm closing with another project that is available tomorrow at Flourishes. Hope to see you there and have a great weekend! M.

A Flurry of Activity at Flourishes!

It is one day closer to the opening of Flourishes at Mt. Pleasant. I am looking forward to seeing all the beautiful things for sale on Saturday morning. My friend, Diane, and I are planning to be there bright and early! This is a picture of one of my pieces that will be for sale on Saturday. Hope to see you there! See my sidebar for more information on this new venue. M.

3 Friends = Lots of Fun and Treasures

What started out as an experiment, turned out to be a great success. My three friends, Cindy, Diane and Joy coordinated a trio of wonderfully unique sales. Each one perfectly demonstrated each person's style and personality. Each one offered a treasure trove of antiques, collectables and one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces. My sister and I ventured forth, making our first stop in Silverton at Auntie Joy's! This little shop just bubbles with Joy's energy and her infectious laugh. If you need to get charged up or perked up -- Auntie Joy's is the place -- no caffeine needed!. Joy provides an variety of wonderful finds. I bought a rusty iron table base that will be the perfect base for my next mannequin and a clock face from a grandfather's clock. It just says "Halloween"!! I'll tell about my plans for it later. Molly Mo's in Sublimity was our next stop. Owner, Diane Kaser presented the sweetest collection of collectibles. Her vignettes were superb and inviting. I found an old wooden typewriter table and a old clipboard (I know there is another name for it because it doesn't have a clip. It has two "things" that paper threads onto and you can flip it over.) It has an old millinery flower on top and a unusual picture of a woman mounted on the center of the board. Iwill display it in my workroom. After having a cupcake and visiting with friends, we left for Salem to visit Tarte! This was Cindy's first sale at her new location -- her home! She has fashioned the most wonderful little shop from her sweetie's former wood shop. It just drips with French ambiance, fluff and unusual little finds. I hope Cindy will continue to treat us to her unique sense of style every month. Also featured were new creations by Karen Otto of A'musements. Fabulous paper wreaths, sparkley blue birds and unbelievable tiny paper slippers -- all meticulously handmade by Karen.
Regretfully, it was time to go home. I still have several projects to complete for Flourishes' grand opening next Saturday. Venture to Flourishes at Mt. Pleasant (east of Washougal) it will be a feast for the eyes and a fix for all you collectors! M.

TGIF

It's Friday!!! The week has flown by - again. I am trying to finish little details on all the pieces that I have made so far for Flourishes. There are always hangers and gluing paper on the back of an unsightly board, etc. You think you are done, but - no. Always one more thing cuz I'm so picky. That is my agenda for today. That is, after I meet Diane (Molly Mo's) to drop by Cindy's and see her sweet shop Tarte. She and Diane are part of the 3 Friends antique shows this weekend - see the sidebar for more info.

I walked out in the front room a bit ago and couldn't figure out where all the light was coming from from outdoors. It was like a huge spotlight was being shown into our bay window on the opposite wall. Lo and behold -- it was the sun, yes the sun --shining on the neighbors front window and reflecting back across the street into our front window. Wow, that was weird, especially since the sun wasn't even over the roof of the house behind us. We've lived here 15 years and I have never noticed that happening before.

I take stock of what is going on in the back yard everyday when Miss Zoe makes her rounds. It seems like the daffodils are taking forever to bloom. They are up, but not wanting to expose their blossoms to the chilly March weather. Can't blame them. I don't want to spend much time out there either. The bulbs in the basket pictured above have been at this stage for a few days. I am so excited. Atleast there is some color! That is about all that is happening. Hopefully one of these days soon, the sun will warm this part of Mother Earth. Then we can celebrate Spring and its promise of warmer days that will bring a burst of color to our yards. I can't wait for the flowering trees that line our street. The will look like pink cotton candy!In the meantime, Miss Zoe prefers to snooze - well almost. She always seems to know when I have the camera out and has to peek. Sneaky pooch. That ear must be her antenna! M.

Inspiration

Wow! The weekend has flown by. It took me a while to remember what I did yesterday. Hmmm --I worked -- that's why I couldn't remember. Anyway, Friday was a day of shopping for little treasures at the Portland Antique Expo. I went with my friend Diane to help our friends Joy and Cindy set-up their booths. After the work was done, we could do some early shopping. Our friends Isabel, Lisa, Maryann, and Shannon were also in the same row of booths. It was great fun. These gals are the best and so much fun. I had never attended this event before and there was so much to look through! I found old pictures, pages from old ledgers, alphabet game tiles, old beautiful laces, collars and trims. Even a couple old bird nests with eggs! I love them! One of my favorite vendors, Randy of Madison Park was there. His friends Diane and Donna will be merging with him at his Sellwood location beginning April 1st. They have the same color palette that I do, so I could have just moved into their space and stayed there. It is so calming and restful to me - sepia and cream. Ahhh... After closing up the place at 6 p.m., Cindy, Joy, Diane and I went to Pastini's at Bridgeport Village for a yummy dinner and lots of giggling and laughs. It was a long day, but so worth it. They are such a talented and sweet group of women. I feel lucky to get to hang out with them and call them my friends.

My hubby seems to have the virus du jour - again. I guess that is what you have to deal with when you are in a classroom with many, many kids. Hopefully, he will be feeling better tomorrow. He never takes a sick day. I hope to knock out a few more projects before returning to work on Tuesday. I am inspired with all the new bits and pieces I purchased Friday. I'm posting a picture of a mannequin I made from various odds and ends. She is one of my most favorite pieces, but she will be off to Flourishes next week! Hope you have a great week! M.