Ink Doodle Quilt

Speaking of quilts, here's a paper patchwork quilt I made out of some ink doodles years ago. It's one of the first pieces I made which incorporated hand-stitching and has been hanging on the inspiration board in my studio ever since. Now that it's been photographed, I think I'll go hang it up with the backside facing out as I'm growing kinda partial to its blotchy, haphazard quiltiness.

Crazy Quilt Pillow

Yesterday I mentioned I had one more treasure to share with you from my weekend antiquing jaunt and here 'tis! This little (10" x 15") crazy quilt pillow with the most delicate embroidery sampler is mine for keeps. I could not bear to part with it and for $3.50 it was a lucky steal. For the sake of restraint I passed up another pair of crazy quilt pillows but neither of them sported such exquisite loveliness. Now I need to decide whether to leave it in its shabby pillow form or frame up the floral sampler.

Darling Objects

We were out 'n about on Saturday and stopped into a small town antique store. I'm thrilled with the darling objects I discovered and am currently hemming and hawing over which to keep and which to share in the shop. There is one other treasure that I'm keeping for certain--stop back by tomorrow and I'll show it to you.

Mellow Yellow

I'm back! I've missed you! Who knew I would miss tending my little, virtual garden patch SO much? Hope your past ten days have been pleasant. I'd have to describe my spring-break-time-away-thingy as quite "mellow yellow" (see pics!). We worked hard and played hard as a family. The "to-do's" didn't all get did but I breathed and was actually lazy for some portions of my days. As for the spring cleaning I deem it a success as every window in the house is spotless. There was even time to work in an antiquing trip and I can't wait to share my newly acquired treasures with you later on in the week.

Spring Break

1960's Children's Workbook Stickers

With the spring equinox right around the corner and Patrick starting his spring break from grad school I've decided to take some time off too. In order to clear up my daily "to-do's" and fit in other fun things like taxes, spring cleaning and park visits I'm going to sign off from this space until Monday, March 28th. Never fear--if you miss me you can still find me via Twitter or Facebook and both shops are still open for business. Take care of yourself and I'll see you back here soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

A Shamrock House by Lizzie Scott, age 6

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

~Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and yours with love from me and mine!

Collage Block Preview

Twenty new collage blocks will be posted in the shop during the next 48 hours--or as quickly as I can edit and post them! Enjoy the preview and let me know if you would like to reserve any for your own collection.

Fresh Goodies

Some fresh goodies were listed over at Sushipot Parts last night--like this sweet little mouse guy I thrifted last week.

Trio of tin toy pitchers.


A handy Handyman's Book.


Instant collection of old garden faucet knobs.

Happy Pi(e) Day

Happy Pi(e) Day Folks!



I say the only proper way to celebrate Pi Day is the most obvious way...



...eat a slice of pie!

Don't forget to pour yourself a cuppa coffee too! I must add that all these images are from a 1955 issue of Better Living magazine. Did you know that pie not only tastes good but pi sounds good too? I leave you with a little Pi Day music:

Butterflies & Brains

Butterflies In My Stomach


My Brains Are Fried

Body Parts & Crisco

Here's a peek at some scavenged body parts and a can of Crisco that will be making their way into new pieces this weekend. If all goes according to plan I'll have some fun assemblage to share with you on Monday (or maybe even Sunday night). We shall see. What are you doing this weekend? Does it happen to involve lard?

Paper Animals

I'm fascinated by these splayed animal figures I came across yesterday while clipping collage imagery. The bizarre silhouetted animal patterns are from a 1914 volume of amateur handicrafts for children. Thought you might enjoy them too.

Fabric Figures

These fabric figures were picked up at an antique store last year and have been quietly sitting in my studio since. I love the primitive, mummified form of the one and the more tailored, sculptural form of the other. They are perfect objects in and of themselves which makes it hard implement any changes however slight. That said, I've been having a nagging urge to tattoo the sculptural one with snippets of these. What do you think? I cannot decide.

Happy Mardi Gras

It's Fat Tuesday and there isn't a parade in site but we're partying it up anyway! If you have a wild hair and want to make your own mask we used this template. Wishing you and yours a Happy Mardi Gras!

My Box Of Books

My outing to our local library book sale this weekend was a big success. I spent a couple hours browsing and called it quits when I knew I couldn't carry any more back to the car.

I scored a good sized pile for Lizzie (mostly vintage!) including an Ed Emberley book (below) which I'll share in more detail on another day.

The one big purchase of the day at $5.00 was this 1915 publication titled Marvels of our Bodily Dwelling by Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D. The entire purchase was under $20.00 and I was given a Shiner Bock box to carry away all my loot.

Several books were chosen entirely for their flyleaf pattern.

As expected, I spent a lot of time in the crafty book section. The majority of my box was filled with books 'n booklets on a variety of arts n' handicrafts.

Check out this macrame couple! Someday I need a pair these hanging on my wall. Maybe Patrick would take up this crafty cause with me--I could totally see us knotting these up together (yeah right!).

Anyhow, now I have lots of new patterns to peruse and ideas to simmer.

Hope your weekend was beautiful too.