Gathering Dust

An Early Birthday Present

 
What do these....

 
...have in common with these?

Well, the first picture is buttons, and one of the puppies in the other pictures will be MY puppy- and I'm going to name him or her "Button".

On Tues at our craft day, Karla surprised me by telling me I was getting one of her puppies for my birthday.  She and my husband had been planning the surprise for about three weeks.  Karla wanted to wait until my birthday to tell me, but my husband just couldn't keep the secret any longer.

We already have two dogs- Maddie, a thirteen year old golden retriever, who likes little dogs; and Buddy, a five year old Brittany, who has lots of energy and sometimes still seems like a puppy himself- I hope his new puppy brother or sister can keep up with him.

I'm excited about a little dog- I've never had a dog that I could dress up, or carry, or would fit in a purse, or I could lose in my backyard--- (note: get chicken wire).

 ...or would fit in my shirt.

I "borrowed" all the pictures on my blog (except the pink buttons) from Karla, because we don't have Button yet.  My husband is spending the next week on the BAK (bike across Kansas)...

... and I'm the lucky person who gets to drive him and his bike from the green dot that says KC on the right of the map all the way to the yellow star that says "Goodland" on the left of the map.  Then he'll spend the week riding his bike to Leavenworth KS.  Its an organized tour, so he won't be lonely on the plains of Kansas and there's help on the road if he gets a flat or his chain falls off.

Anyway, we decided that we both should be home when Button comes to live with us, to make sure that all of our dogs get enough attention, so Button will stay with Auntie Karla for another 10 days or so.

In the meantime, I'll be starting on a wardrobe for that little Yorkie.

Weekend Junking/Gluebook Leftovers

 
I don't have pictures of the small stuff I bought during this weekend's estate sales....

...because the window seat that I usually use to take pictures was taken over by a DOG with DIRTY feet.

But one of the favorite things I got wouldn't fit on the window seat anyway. Its the gold "french style" chair in the first picture.  I know, the fabric is missing from the arms, and there's a hole in the cushion- but I just fell in love with it.  It's just so ....tattered.

I really like the arms where all you can see is muslin.

...so I took the fabric off the back and the cushion.  I'd like to recover them in feedsack- but I think I'll need more than one 60 lb feed sack.

I'm still playing with my gluebook, too.  I used birds from Mary's Glue Book Class, a cabinet card from Mitzi, and Texas currency from Lori at My Faerie Window. 

 
Would have thought that play money would look so nice in collages?  (You can click on this to enlarge it and save it to your computer.)

More tags- using some Texas money, butterflies and birds from Mary, old magazine pages and patterns and cabinet cards from Mitzi.

 
Don't know where these scraps came from but she sure is purty lady...

...and now, a certain four legged friend and I have a date with a bath tub.

To The Dogs and the Garden

Yesterday, Mary and I went to  Karla's for a little craft day and playing with Twinkle's six little Yorkie pups.  They're a week old.

 
The pups were so sweet- I especially like the rogue guy with the stripe, but I think I spent as much time holding Twinks as her pups.  She's such a friendly girl.

 
While I was there, Karla gave me this big apothocary jar that she had made into a garden assemblage as a tribute to my Grandma.  It has a glittery bird, a bird scissor pin, a handmade tag and beautiful lilacs.  If my Grandma had seen the jar, she would have been embarrassed and said "Oh no, it's too much".

(But not me, I was thrilled to take home such a pretty gift).

Thanks so much to everyone who shared condolences on my Grandma's passing- I'm touched that you'd take the time - it meant a lot to me.

Speaking of lilacs, I've seen so many pictures of pretty flowers on blogs lately.  Our yard is still in the process of recovering from major excavation a few years ago along with replacing the sod and the deck.

My husband had put together a really nice landscaped area with birdbaths and pedestals I've dragged home from estate sales, and added flowers to the front.

But SOMEBODY thought the plants were put in the yard for him to dig - so up went the orange fence.  The fence kind of lessens the serene feeling of the garden.

 
While I was taking pictures of our orange safety fence, I wandered around the yard and took pictures of other bits and pieces of vintage junk I've hauled home.

 

For awhile, it seemed like I'd be adding a broken bit of statue, a rusty wheel, a broken stepping stone every other day.  Eventually, dear husband said "you need to stop bringing home stuff for the yard, its too hard to mow around".

This lady has seen better days, but I still like the contrast of her against the...well, whatever those green leaved things are...

An old plow, leaning against a huge piece of Kansas rock.  The rock is about the size of a small car, and it was one of the reasons we liked the house.  It seemed like it gave the yard some character.

Of course, the garden is a work in progress-- but isn't everything?

And on an almost completely different subject- while at Karla's, Mary was working on layouts for her upcoming Gluebook class.  They were just stunning- she uses great old paper and has a knack for layout that really draws you in.  Keep checking her blog for details on the class, I'm sure it'll be a good one. 

Warm Wool for Chilly Days and a "What's It?"

 
  
Brrrr...it got chilly over night.  I spent a little time winding a spool of this wool into balls and started knitting a market bag.

This is the bottom of the bag and about 3" of the sides.  Actually, I'm not sure that it IS wool- it's more like a flexible twine.  Anyway, I think this bag will be a nice alternative to some of the not so pretty bags from the grocery store that are full of advertising.

And now- a guessing game. 

 
Do you know what this is?

It's Buddy, waiting by the front window for his Dad to come home.  Buddy can hear an increase in traffic and starts looking out the window for a car turning into the driveway.

 
Actually, my question is, do you know what this is?  I bought it because I thought it had "sculptural qualities".

I'll give you a minute to think about it.  In the meantime you can look at pages from my fashion ladies tag book that I finally finished.  Karla made the book cover and added shipping tags to it and bound them together.  I took the book apart and added wallpaper and pictures from old fashion magazines.  It's in my Etsy Shop.

 

And this...
  
...it's a primitive pot scrubber.  Swish those metal links around your cast iron frying pan and watch the pot get clean.  An early version of the SOS scouring pad.  I just think it's cool- and I'm not keeping it in my kitchen.

Buddy Was a Very Good Boy...

 
Look at all the toys he got for Christmas.

 And all his sister Maddie wanted was a nap.

Hope your holiday was everything you were dreaming of!
 

What I'm Bringing to the Antique Mall

 

The title of this post should have been "What I BROUGHT to the Antique Mall".  I turned down a craft day at Karla's because I thought I just had too much to do this morning- errands for work, UPS, flu shot, trip to the antique mall, Costco.  What I actually got done was...nothing.  There are still boxes in the back of my car, stuff to price on my couch, my cupboard is bare, and I am uninoculated.  Now, after a two hour nap, I'm ready to start my day.

The guys at the top of the post are part of a pin cushion collection.  They need to be restuffed, but I'm not sure what you stuff a pin cushion with.  Any suggestions?

 

• A pretty little English bone china pin dish made by Shelley.

I recently read that using sheet music and books in general as a background for your pictures is overdone.  

So, I apologize for being less than cutting edge in my photos....

 
...but I thought this was kind of funny- "expressly composed and carefully fingered for SMALL HANDS".

 

• This is my new label for packaging buttons.  It's part of Mary's  collection Vintage Graphics and Text.

  

• Books, and more books- I have  big cabinet at the antique mall, but it can be really hard to fill- small items tend to get lost.  My solution- I'm bringing in stacks and stacks of more or less neutral colored books to make levels to use as backgrounds and platforms.

• the lunchbox- I just thought it was cute, but it works the same way.  I can use it in a stack and put something on top of it, or open it up to create a little vignette inside.

 

• Even though this book is NEW, it's about Kansas City history, so I think its a good fit for the antique mall.  I really enjoyed it- I didn't really read it as much as studying the pictures.  I love looking at the clothes, the street signs, the old building and window displays.

 

• My favorite find to take to the antique mall- brown and white transferware...

...appropriately named "Quails".

Sarah of My So Called Junky Life was the winner of the wallpaper giveaway.  Thanks so much to everyone who left a comment- I do enjoy your comments.

I suppose I should get going on that "to do" list since I'm about eight hours behind.  Or maybe I should be more like Buddy- he's doing the same thing he's been doing for months- on the lookout for squirrels.  So far, he hasn't caught one, or even scared any away from the yard that I can tell- but it doesn't seem to bother him a bit.

Here Comes the Bride...and a Wallpaper Giveaway

 
Well, if it's Friday afternoon, I bet you can guess where I was this morning- at the estate sales.  But my favorite find of the week came from an auction.

It's this circa 1910 wedding dress.  Such beautiful details.  I think it's a lovely addition to our deck and backyard.

(Just kidding, the dress is back inside now, its been so dark and gloomy lately that I had to go outside to even try to get enough light to take a picture.)

There are pearls on the top of the neckline and bugle beads on the bottom.

And the skirt is beautiful French net lace.  And, can you believe it- at the bottom of the box were the shoes.

I know it's silly, but I was so excited about finding the shoes, a little tear came to my eye.

The down side to wedding dress- the OTHER stuff that came with it.  That's how auction lots are...

Several of these full faced furs - with little buckles and snaps underneath them so the fashionable lady could wear multiple faces at once. 

Even though I wouldn't want to actually wear most of it, I really like vintage clothing- but this is one style that I just don't get the appeal of. The eyes and those little feet crawling around my neck....ick!

If I'm going to have a fashionable fur accessories, I'd rather it be one of my puppies.

Maddie resting in fresh mulch.

Buddy- on squirrel patrol.

(These pictures are for their Nana, who always asks about her granddogs)

I really lucked out at an estate sale this morning and got a LARGE box of vintage wallpaper for $3.  There are several different papers in it- but these were my favorites- but the lack of sunlight makes them a little blah...

 
I'm going to give away a wallpaper pack - and I'll include a few brighter and floral papers, too.

Like this one, taken from The Brady Bunch bathroom.

But really, I will add some more pretty papers.

If you'd like to enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on any post between now and Sunday evening and you'll be entered.

Isn't it Nice....

  

...when you go shopping, come home and unpack and find that everything kind of goes together?

 

A little bit of lace from one sale: some sweet little leather coin purses and a bunch of ironstone- kind of chipped, but so what, from another sale, a brown transferware plate.

 

A big box of crochet thread.  For now, the crochet thread is just decorative- but I'm STILL trying to learn to crochet.

  

I found website with videos-Nexstitch.com and it does help to WATCH someone actually crochet, instead of just looking at still pictures.

So, maybe, the next time I show pictures of lace, it will be lace that I've made...well, I can hope.

 

This little bride doll is standing in a field of crochet thread with an ironstone plate in the background.

 

This is the mark on the back of the plate- I think English ironstone has THE BEST marks- they make the back almost as decorative as the front.

 

 

This art nouveau jewelry casket is missing its lid- but it's still pretty- and so are the books its perched on- the bindings are kind of loose but that doesn't take away from the great marblized covers.

 

At one sale, I found something BRAND NEW that I had to get- two leather journals with hand sewn signatures.  If you've wanted to try a journaling- check these out- they are in my Etsy Shop.

 Also in my Etsy shop - four sweet dolls, to add to or start a collection, or to "makeover'.

 

And, changing the subject with absolutely no transition, my mother in law told me that her favorite part of my blog is pictures of her grand dogs.

So, here's Buddy, waiting for me to open the door because "There's a squirrel out there- HURRY".

 

And sweet old white face Maddie.  I wish I could get a picture of both my dogs together, but the dogs don't cooperate.  If I can get them next to each other and they aren't biting each other's ears, they're usually in front of a garbage can, a pile of shoes, or a dirty floor- and I don't want blog readers to see how we really live.

Brown isn't the New Black- Journaling is the New Black

 

I can't take credit for saying "Journaling is the new black"- Mary told me that, and I thought it was pretty funny- because it does seem like everyone is talking about journaling.

I've been a fair weather journaller for a long time- what I mean is, if I have some spare time, I might make a few journal pages- and then six months later, I'll make some more.

When I had a chance to look at, and write in Hope's journal, I got interested again.

   

Last week we were away from home for five days for a wedding/family reunion.  I always bring some books and knitting on trips, but I decided to bring a journal, too.  I challenged myself to limit my supplies to what I could fit in a gallon plastic bag.  I had scissors, glue sticks, colored pencils and some paper scraps that I grabbed from my craft table.

I kind of liked working with the limited supplies- and found I wasn't wasting any time digging for supplies like I do when I'm at home.

 

I didn't finish every page- someday I'll find something to add to this page.

And I tried some doodling.  It was fun, but took more time than I realized.

 

I thought "Once You Start"  was a good phrase for my first doodle page- the next page could say "you won't be able to stop", or "you'll throw away your pencils".

  

Another fun thing was passing the journal around and letting family at the reunion do their own page.  This one was done by my six year old nephew Caleb.

On a completely different subject, Caleb is really glad his older brother is home from college for the summer, and Caleb told me he's sleeping in his brother's room on a crouton.  He means FUTON. Caleb cracks me up.

Once we got home, inspired by Mary's ephemera book, I created one of my own with a floral theme.

  

I've included botanicals, postcards, and pages from a 1900 wildflower book.  It's in my Etsy shop.

Can This Bowl Be Saved? I Heart Pink Lusterware (and Auctions)

  

Wow...another great day at an auction.  This bowl was the last thing I bought from a kind of grimy shelf in a kind of dingy basement. It's kind of a mess, but I know that at one time it was BEAUTIOUS- and it was only $2. 

Two dollars is what I paid for a Diet Limemade at Sonic on the way  home and then spilled before I could drink it - so, easy come, easy go.  The bowl is  soaking now- we'll see how it turns out.

Another pink goodie- this vintage vinyl billfold with ballerinas- and inside-- a 1950's calendar and...

 

...a coupon for an Arthur Murray Dance Lesson.

 

Maybe I'll wear my lace "glove-ettes" to my dance lesson. I don't really know what these are called- they're like gloves that only cover from wrist to elbow. Remember those fake turtleneck- dickeys?  These are kind of like a glove dickey.

 

Anyway, they'll also be lovely to wear as I eat caviar with my "new" old mother of pearl caviar spoon.

 

I'll be sure and let you know if the caviar tastes better when you use the correct utensil.

(But don't hold your breathe waiting to find out.)

 

Some old sewing packaging with great graphics.

 

When I go to the moon, I want to ride a needle.

 

Another fun thing- a sales sample Knox hatbox.

 

With a tiny little hat inside.

 

A tiny little hat that your dogs will only wear for about 3 seconds.

 

This box says "Stag- fine writing paper...for Men".  I wonder what will happen if I try to use it?

 

I got a box lot of smalls, too.  I haven't really looked through them yet- I'm "saving" rummaging through them as a reward for getting some other work done around here.

 

Thanks for all the comments on the last post- it's nice to hear from so many people.  Comments on this post count towards the drawing for the Victorian scrap, too. I'll pick a winner on Sunday night.