Gathering Dust

Paper Cowgirls and Kitchen Re-do (no relationship)

Last summer, I had such a great time at Paper Cowgirls and I saw how much fun Karla and Lisa had teaching, so I was tickled when head Cowgirl Cindy invited me to teach at this year's event.

My class is based on an article I did for Sew Somerset magazine that featured an altered baby dress.  Cowgirls in the class will have their choice of two versions of the dress- or they can mix and match elements from both of them. 

Paper Cowgirls is March 14 and 15 in Waxahachie Texas- which is just a darling little city with a real downtown with one of those grand old courthouses and  great shopping- gift shops, antique malls and a fantastic scrapbooking store- The Crafty Scrapper, where the classes will be held.

You can get more details on the Paper Cowgirls website and class sign-ups are here.

And onto something completely different.  Do you know what the best way to redo your kitchen is?

Have your friends do it for you....

On Friday, Karla and Karla painted my kitchen cabinets.  I wish I had a "before" picture, but imagine the cabinets looked like the door in the first picture.

I'm lovin' the clean light look.  I would have been scared to death to attempt it myself, but I trust Karla with paint like I trust my hairdresser with scissors.  I know everything will turn out just great.

The kitchen looks a little bare and spare, but I think that since so much of my house seems to filled with "stuff"- stuff to sell, stuff to sort, stuff to make other stuff out of, it's refreshing to have a room that looks like it could be in anyone's house.

Karla took quite a few close-up pictures and I think she's going to do a how to on her blog- but one of the best ideas she had was spattering.

She took some dark glaze, put it on a toothbrush, and then ran her fingers along the bristles so the paint spattered into little spots on the cupboards.

It's very similiar to what happens when a wet dirty dog shakes in your kitchen- so when that DOES happen, well, I won't have to grab a rag and clean up- (not that I would have anyway)- but now it will just fit right in.

I'm pretty lucky to have a friend that's a talented painter and can't resist a make-over challenge and another friend that just likes to paint.

More from the Old Summit Antique Show

Just so much to love and so much to share from last weekends antique show.  Beautiful old clock and even older needlework.

Ribbon work pillow.

A reminder that spring is almost here.

Complete with vintage seed packages.

Yo yo flower pillows.

I'm not sure what these are- I mean, I know they're balls made of  leather or cloth, but I'm not sure of their purpose....but I still LIKE them.

REAL history- a family bible with clippings, lace and locks of hair.

And of course, no group of pictures from a good country antique show would be complete without a cupboard of ironstone.

Next weekend, I'll be selling at Bottoms Up Antique Market.

Here's a little peek at some of what I'll have to sell. It would be great to see you- if you're in the Bottoms, come by and say "Hi".

Old Summit Antique Show Part 1 (sigh...)

The Old Summit Antique Show that I sold at on Saturday was wonderful. I sold very well.  I've got great customers who get me and the sometimes weird things I have to sell- scissors, flash cards, eye glass lenses. old tool chests and string...things that in their time were meant to be functional, not collectible, but today they make us "sigh".

Before the show starts, I like to get some pictures of things that make me sigh- like this big old pile of doorknobs from Chris & Diane Ripper.  Just like candy to an antique dealer.

Or this stone fruit- which is just like... stone fruit to antique dealers- and more expensive than organic fruit at Whole Foods.

The simplicity of this little vignette caught my eye.

Beautiful hearts made from old books by Ginger Schrader.

A whole bowl full of beaded whimsies.

Melinda Dennis of Tres Melinda always has an eye catching set-up to

compliment her pendants made from repurposed materials.

A stool stack, wonderful crazy quilt and an owl perched on concrete table.

I've got more pictures- there were so many pieces and vignettes than made me....sigh...

Take a Stitch Tuesday and French General Necklace

In December I posted about Take a Stitch Tueday, a stitch along project that would feature a new embroidery stitch every week.  The challenge is to learn the stitch, or if you already know it, take it a step further. 

I played catch up this week and did the first three weeks.

Wk 1: The fly stitch - along with some cross stitches and straight stitches.

Wk 2: The blanket stitch- along with some straight stitches, cross stitches and French knots.

Wk 3: You guessed it- the Feather Stitch.

My sampler is very simple compared to the work of some stitchers- there are some really incredible pieces of art.  You can visit their work by clicking the links in the comments of this post, or see some highlights here and here.

And now, on to the French General necklace.  When I posted the first picture of what I had put together, I thought it might be kind of a running joke- every week I'd be showing another set of three beads linked together.

The joke was on me-last Tuesday, Karla showed me an easy way to make the little links. Yesterday, I started playing with my necklace, and I couldn't put it down.  I finished, and even wore it to work today- and NOTHING fell off or came apart. 

It was so much fun, I might try to string a few more beads together.

An Antique Show? NEXT Weekend? Really?

On Friday, I went to my datebook to write down an auction I wanted to go to next Saturday, and saw that I already had an engagement- the Old Summit Antique Show that I do every January. 

It seems like the older I get the more important it is that I write things down..

I had tucked away a few things to sell for the show before Christmas, but there hasn't been an abundance of junking since then, so I've been scrambling through the house to find stuff to sell.

Like these vintage floral corsages.  They really aren't my first choice of what to sell at a COUNTRY style antique show- but they are old, and a little bit beat up, and I put them in an old cheese box lid- that makes them country right?

When I was going through my own shelves and drawers, I figured if something had dust on it, it meant that I hadn't used it in a while, so that must mean I didn't really need it.  Like this beaded piece- I had to Swiffer it before I packed it to sell.

Look at the workmanship- wow.

Of course, if I decided to take everything in my house that was dusty to the antique show, I'd need a MUCH bigger vehicle.

One thing I'm selling that isn't dusty is this mechanical Valentine.

The fold out mechanism is just paper, and the piece is fragile.  I save pieces like this for antique shows where it's less likely that someone will start playing with the Valentine, opening and closing it, seeing just how far those honeycombs will open. 

If I put it in my booth at the antique mall, it wouldn't be unheard of to find it in several pieces.  Not that anyone would intentionally do damage- but, you know, stuff just happens.

UPDATE: The French General necklace- I've made a little bit of progress.  All of these pieces have other pieces attached to them that weren't there before.  I just have to keep putting one headpin in front of another, and it will get done.

Chirp with Us: Birdsong II

Last year, one of the most fun times I had was the weekend I spent at Karla's Birdsong art retreat. Laughing, crafts, great weather, great decor, great scenery, old and new friends- it was wonderful. I wrote about it here.

Karla is doing it again and this year and I'm excited (and nervous) to be teaching a class.  This a peek at my project.

If you'd like to attend, there are still a handful of places open.  You can find more information here.

Lisa will also be teaching a class and Karla will be teaching two classes.  Here's a look at one of Karla's projects.

Karla's other project most likely will be jewelry- the last time I saw Karla, she was playing with beads- she has a plan for a beautiful and one of a kind piece.

If you're on the fence about attending or haven't been to an art event, feel free to email me and I'll try to answer your questions.  I think those last few places will sell out fast.

Blogging Yips

I haven't posted in what seems like a LONG time for me. Blogging used to be easy, but the longer I went without posting, the harder it seems to be to find something to talk about.

I'm calling it the blogging "yips". I think the term yips actually means something like a golfer who loses his ability to putt or a surgeon who's hand starts shaking.

So I'm starting back with something easy- what I got for Christmas. The "other Karla" got me this beautiful journal and a bag of felted balls. You wouldn't get (or give) felted balls to just anyone, but I love them. Clearly, Karla "gets" me.

Karla "gets" me too. She knows how much I love the French General books, and she got this jewelry kit from the actual brick and mortar French General store when she was in California before Christmas.

However, she may have over estimated my skill at putting together jewelry. I can attach a charm to a chain with a jump ring, but that's about it.

See all those pearls and pins- they all have to be cut bent and strung to make chains like the one in the upper right corner that took me an hour to make.

I'm going to have a beautiful (and fun) necklace when I'm done...which will probably be NEXT Christmas...but I'm up for the challenge.

I'm lucky to have friends that "get" me.

Ok, that post wasn't too hard- hopefully the only "yips" in my future will be when this guy looks out the window and sees a cat.