Gathering Dust

Coronado Side Trips

picture from the Hotel del Coronado website

While we were on our "heiress" vacation, it was tempting to just stay in the mansion and craft, but there are so many other things to see in the area that we had to take a few field trips. 

Coronado Island is famous for the Hotel del Coronado resort, a sprawling vacation destination built in the late 19th century.

One evening we took the short walk from the mansion to "the Del" for drinks and to see the sunset over the water.

Oceans, beaches and sunsets are good things.

Another side trip was to the Ocean Beach antique area.   My favorite shop was an antique store I've been hearing about for years- Vignettes.

The store is full of romantic elegance with a flair for the French.

I loved this Italian lamp covered in china flowers.

Luxury and romance.

Since I couldn't put a lamp or a chair in my suitcase, I settled for one small remembrance of the shop...

My take home- the little Bakelite Humpty Dumpty charm in the center of this picture.  I'm planning on incorporating it into a necklace that includes some Bakelite buttons.

One last get-away- climbing out of the bedroom window to the "secret balcony".

Some folks asked about the craft projects we worked on- I'll do a post on them just as soon as I finish.

 

A Downton Abbey Heiress Getaway

A couple months ago I posted about the "heiress" Downton Abbey themed art getaway that Karla and were going to in California, hosted by the talented Deb Hodge.  The retreat was last weekend and with the final episode of Downton tonight, I wanted to show you the California version of the Downton Abbey mansion we stayed at. 

It was incredible- the size, the details, the historical bits, the furnishings.  I've stayed at nice older hotels, but staying in a private home where you could come to breakfast in your jammies, and leaving your craft supplies spread out on a table in the living room was almost like living there.

The living room where we crafted.  The marble fireplace, full of candles, was incredible.  You could almost stand up inside it.

This was a favorite corner in the living room because the details captured all the special little things about the mansion.  The mullions in the window, the gilded chair, the decorative heat vent and the beautifully framed turn of the century family picture.

The treats started as soon as we arrived- champagne jelly bellies, almond champagne and fresh flowers on the landing going upstairs.

Picture by Deb Hodge

Our room was complete comfort in shades of green and black toile.  The special touches continued with personalized pillowcases "Keep Calm and Dream on Beth".

One of the best things about the mansion is it's authenticity.  Other than having wi-fi and big screen TVs, almost nothing has been changed from the 1920s, including this "to the period" bathroom.

You can see more detailed pictures of the house including the old fashioned kitchen with ice box refrigerator and cast iron stove here: The Hansen Mansion.

Another detail I loved- velvet rope hand railing with tassels.

Karla found a "secret" balcony off our suite of rooms.  I say it was secret because it didn't have a door, we had to crawl out of a window to get to it.  If you scroll back to the picture of the house, you can see it on the far right of the picture.  I took these pictures of the garden and the back balcony from the "secret balcony".

The house and gardens were beautiful from the ground level, too;

and even featured a koi pond.

Picture by Deb Hodge

I've got lots more to tell you about Coronado Island, our crafts and side trips, and if I don't get a hold of you, I'm sure you can ring Nadine and she can get you up-to-date.

If You're Going to the Desert, Do It In Style... a Trip to Bouse AZ

Three weeks ago, we flew to Phoenix to meet up with DH's family for a road trip to Bouse AZ, population 996.  Bouse is located about two hours west of Phoenix.  In between Phoenix and Bouse, there's a lot of....sand... yeah, sand and brush.  It's pretty remote.

Our reason for a family vacation to Bouse (instead of a Disney cruise) was that my father-in-law was stationed at Camp Bouse during World War II before he was shipped to Europe.

My father in law is the last confirmed member of his army unit, and we were there for the dedication of a monument to his unit. 

If you click on the link and scroll down past the article, there's a family picture on the right side.  I'm on the left side of the picture holding one of the umbrellas whining "I'm hot".  You can't see everyone, you know how some people always hid in the back of a group picture?  Anyway, there were 30+ of us at the dedication.

And how do you get such a big group to Bouse AZ?

You charter a luxury coach!

And the trip is even better when thoughtful family members have arranged for round trip full meal service and even acted as bus stewards and  stewardesses.

Nieces kept themselves entertained by bringing full backpacks that weigh more than they do. 

And this cutie kept himself completely entertained by looking out the window at the variety of semi trucks and trailers on the other side of the road. Since the bus was up so high, it was a different view than you get from a car.

We made a short stop at the Bouse Museum, housed in a former Assay office.  They had a lot of items related to the town's history as a mining outpost and to the army base set up during WWII.

I was particularly interested in this display outside the museum.  To some people it would just look like rusty junk, but it's actually artifacts found in the desert, most left from the army base that was there over 70 years ago. The museum curator knew the history of all the pieces and if there were related to the army presence or mining activity.

My father-in-law was thrilled that so many of us were able to make it to the dedication, and it was an adventure for all of us.

When we got home, I had a letter from my Mom with a clipping of an article from my hometown newspaper that had just about my Dad's WWII service.

We're proud of our Dads and their service to the country, and the sacrifice and service of all of the Greatest Generation.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

A couple of days ago, we went to the baseball game (KC Royals vs MN Twins).  As we were walking in I said "Wait, I have to take a picture, this is one of the most exciting things I've done this summer."

Sad to say, but my life is borrrrring, and apparently I like it like that.

Other highlights of the summer:

Going to the pre-grand opening party of Scheels, which is sort of a sporting goods store and more.  It's like a cross between a shopping mall and Disneyland.  Yes, I said sporting goods, not antiques.  My bikeman husband works there.  He (along with a lot of other people) spent many many hours getting the 220,000 square foot store ready to open, so it was exciting to the results.

Another highlight of my summer- participating in the Leintz Family Reunion Talent Show. 

As far as I can tell, I spent the rest of the summer packing, sorting, rearranging and removing all the STUFF in my overcrowded living room so I could get it empty to make room for a new floor.

I love my new floor, it's from a collection called Antique Relics, and it's "pre-distressed"- in other words, if you scratch or scuff the floor, it fits right in.

I wish I had a "before" picture of my living room.  It's a big room, and it was packed to the rafters.  Not like an episode of Hoarders, but every surface covered, no empty space on the walls.

About a year ago I posted this on Facebook:

Home from my first ever visit to IKEA. I want to empty my shelves, clear my tables, get rid of my mismatched multi century furniture and go clean and Swedish. If I sit down for a few minutes and think about it, I'll realize how much work that would be and the idea will pass.

But I think it really has happened.  My living room has two Ikea chairs, one Ikea stool...

...one Ikea couch that looks like someone has been sleeping on it...

...and this cabinet that Karla painted for me twelve years ago, the last time I got new flooring. 

My living room looks very empty- even a model house would have more in than my living room.  I just don't seem to be able to redecorate. 

The urge to decorate will return, I'm sure.  In the mean time, I'll just be luxuriating as I listen to the echos in my empty living room.

So, in summary: very low key summer, really boring house.

I'm so boring, I really don't deserve a blog; and yet, I keep plugging away.

 

The Stockings Were Hung...

Once again Karla showed she is the hostess with the mostess at her Romantic Cottage Christmas workshop.  Her house is decorated in darling vignettes and themed trees and displays.  This one of little deer was one of my favorites.

Lunch was yummy with individial chicken pot pies and mixed greens salad.

The  house and studio were full of Christmas greenery.

Karla had three different projects for us to make, and a full table of other supplies to craft with "free-style" as Karla called it.  Supplies to make cards, paper mache ornaments, felted ornaments- all great vintage stuff, and enough to make a whole tree full or ornaments.

Instead of making three different ornaments, I made three of the same ornament for my niece Melissa's three little girls.  Baby Sadie was born in August and is pretty lucky to have two big sisters to help take care of her.

These are my finished stockings. 

(If you'd like a stocking kit, Karla has them for sale here.)

I personalized the stockings with the girls' names by cross stitching on perforated paper and using a scallop punch to make tags.

A fun way and a fun day to get the holidays rolling.

Handmade U: Souvenir Postcard Journal

A few weeks ago at Handmade U, Michelle Geller taught a full day class in making a souvenir postcard journal.  I've talked before about how much I like Michelle's journals, so I was just de-lighted to take a class from her.

The class kit was amazing.  If you've ever met Michelle, you know she is an incredibly generous person, and the kit showed it. I still haven't taken everything out of the kit because it's almost overwhelming. It's a little bit like Christmas every time I dig in to find something new to add to my book.

The book is made up of postcard signatures...

...bound in using what Michelle called a "criss cross applesauce" binding. I thought that was a fun name for a binding technique, but what Michelle really meant was that it was just something she made up!

Inside cover of the journal.

Did you notice that the words souvenir postcard journal are cut from the top of the class kit?  One thing I'm learning about journaling is NEVER throw out anything away that you might have a place for later in your journal.

The part of the journal that I'm having the most fun with now (besides working on the pages) is that I just keep adding to it by attaching postcards using washi tape "hinges" to the pages that are already there.

The postcards accordian out.  Open a page and find out there's more underneath.  I left some postcards "as is", some I "altered" and some ugly ones I covered completely.

Here's another page that opens.  Pull the ribbon...

...and it opens to this.

I'm probably only one third of the way done with the book. It's a fun kind of leisurely project that I work on a little bit everyday.  If I have my way, I'd like to fill it up so full I can barely close it. 

That's a fun journal!

Adventures in Paper Marbling at Handmade U

I love marbled paper.  I've even been known to buy beat up old books just to harvest marblized covers or end papers. So I was excited to find out that Rachel was going to do a class in paper marbling at Handmade U.

Rachel showed us two different methods, one using shaving cream as a base and one using water and special inks.

(Check out everyone's very comfy Handmade U barn t-shirt.  We got them the night before in this cute personalized tote bag made by Rachel's mom who has her own quilting shop Acorn Ridge Quilting)

I was a complete wash out with the water and the inks- no pun intended. 

The process involves filling a pan with water, adding some little circles of special paper,  dropping  ink on the circles and using a skewer to guide the ink to float out.  You dip your paper in the water and when you pull it out the ink will leave patterns on your paper. 

A lot of people had results that were "ohh and ahh" worthy, but I just had wet slightly tinted paper.

(I don't have pictures of this because my hands were so inky the only thing they could touch was paper towels.)

I had much better luck and a lot of fun with the shaving cream method.  The method is pretty simple.  Fill up a pan with shaving cream, drop in food coloring, use a skewer to draw out a pattern in the shaving cream.  Dip your paper in, and when you pull it out, use an extra large putty knife to wipe the shaving cream off.  What's left is the food color pattern on your paper.

Then you use paper towels to wipe large amounts of colored shaving cream off your putty knife and hands; and, if you're me, shirt and face.

These are some quick examples that Rachel did during her demonstration.  Different papers pick up the colors in different ways.  I liked using the tags the best because the string worked like a "handle".

Michelle was marbling everything she could slide into the tray- sheet music, cabinet cards, tags, a vintage picture mat and envelopes.

Mollie drew a starburst pattern in her shaving cream and got this fun pattern.

I got a little carried away with the idea of slapping of shaving cream around and didn't always concentrate on trying to get a marble look pattern.

I'd start to wipe off my putty knife and think "I don't want to waste these pretty colors on a paper towel" and I slap the leftovers onto a piece of paper or a tag- so I ended up with a mix of marble look paper and just randomly colored paper.

Even though a lot of my papers look like a hot mess, someone pointed out that you don't have to USE the whole paper.  You can use part of a paper, or use a paper punch to make tags with the parts you like.

Paper marbling with shaving cream was a fun- like playing.  I definitely want to try it again, but I'll probably wait until paper towels go on sale. 

Handmade U: Crafting on the Farm

Last weekend, I drove to Rachel McGough's farm in Waverly, Nebraska to attend Handmade U, a crafting event.  I went for the crafting, but Rachel's (and her husband, Jim) have such an incredible property, and the food they served was so special, I'm going to devote a post to it, and I'll tell you about the crafting next time.

The picture at the top of the post is the view as you approach the farm- a perfect red Nebraska barn.  The barn was built in 1900.  The lower level has stalls for horses and Rachel's studio.  The upper lever, the hay loft was where we had classes.  The doors on the upper level open and you can still see the ropes and pulleys they used to move hay bales oh so many years ago.  The cupola still has its original bell, so when it was time for class to start, Rachel rang the bell.

I didn't get any pictures of Rachel's farmhouse, but it's remarkable, too.  It was built in 1895 in a Victorian "painted lady" style and even has a 3rd floor cupola with incredible views.

The grounds had plenty of picture taking opportunities.  These carved  animals caught my eye.  The ornate door is the entrance to the summer kitchen.  Back at the turn of the century, a lot of cooking was done in a separate building in the summer to keep the house cool, and cut down on the risk of fire.

Can you see the writing on the "tail" of the windmill?  It says "The Aeromotor, Chicago".  Amazing that the paint has held up.

This pump and pretty flower bed is at the base of the windmill.

Next to the barn is the apple orchard.  Even though Rachel and Jim have picked lots of apple and made lots of cider, there are still apples on the trees.

The McGough orchard supplies apples to Prairie Plate Restaurant, a farm to table restaurant just down the road.  We had lunch there- a deliciously fresh salad with chicken, apples, kale and nuts and the last fresh tomatoes of the season.

The food was great, but I think everyone was just as charmed by the table decor.  Vases full of greens, rosemary, peppers and herbs.

If Prairie Plate was "New American Cuisine", dinner was old fashioned farm cooking.  We had "cream can" dinner.  I'd never heard of it.  Creams cans are filled with beer, sausage, cabbage, corn, carrots and potatoes and cooked on top of the fire.  Or in this case, a gas burner.

When the cream cans were open, dinner was served in galvanized tubs.  It reminded me of a midwestern lobster bake.  And ohh was it good on a nippy night.  You can see the steam coming off the pots.

Lunch the next day was another treat.  Rachel had told us we'd have a "box lunch"; and everyone did.  All of our lunches were served in vintage lunchboxes.

We ate at picnic tables in the fall sunshine. Of course, every lunch box had a just picked apple from the orchard.

It already seems like a full weekend, but there was more.  Antiquing, crafting, swaps, swag bags and lots of laughs were also part of the Nebraska weekend. But I'll save that for another post.

 

Remember That Time When I Was in LA and Saw Warren Beatty

When I first saw pictures of the hotel that Kim Caldwell's An Affaire at Downton

would be held at, I was a little in awe.  The Millennium Biltmore website just oozes old style glamour. 

I already knew the event itself would be fabulous.  Every detail at Kim's events is perfection.  Karla has some great pictures of the table settings,  ballroom and the beautiful mural she painted on her blog.

The hotel exceeded our expectations. This ornate wrought iron balcony looked down over the tea room complete with fountain and grand piano.

Am I starting to sound a little bit like a rube from Kansas? 

It gets better.  Warren Beatty was directing a movie at the hotel.  The main concourse of the hotel was full of actors, techs, extras and equipment.

Occasionally the hall was blocked for a few minutes while they were filming, but no one seemed to mind.  How often do you get to see a movie being made?

Mathew Broderick is in the film, which is rumored to be about Howard Hughes.  I didn't actually see Mathew, but Tiffany posted this picture on Facebook.
But I did see Warren Beatty.  I was on the elevator, the door opened, no one got on or off, but a ruggedly handsome man looked into the elevator and smiled.  As the doors were sliding shut, the three of us on the elevator screamed "That was Warren Beatty".  So, I was 10 feet away from Warren Beatty for about five seconds.

(This tops my previous best "brush with fame", which was selling millinery flowers to Sally Struthers at an antique show.  I already told you, I'm a rube.)

Through out the Biltmore you can see the "Biltmore Angel".

I didn't spend a lot of time looking for her, but she showed up in several of my pictures anyway.

The Biltmore angel even showed up on dessert.

The spa is modeled after a 1920's cruise ship.  Teak deck chairs and beautiful tile work are everywhere.  I especially like the drinking fountain with the seashell motif.

Here are a few more pictures of the lavish decor.

All in all, a perfect place to bring out your finest duds.

(The walk in closet in our hotel room.)

Bits of Spring Decorating

Last Saturday, Tami had a group of us to her house for a craft day.  This is the third time she's entertained a group of us.  The last two times were before Halloween and before Christmas, and both time she had her house decorated for the season.  This Saturday, everything was decorated for spring.  She has cute little displays all over, the kind that make you want to wander around her house, just taking in all the details.

I hadn't brought my camera, but I wanted to share some of her spring decor so I used my phone to get some pictures.

Like this topiary made from a vintage floral hat.  Cute idea, huh?

I love this black and white Easter postcard displayed on a black shelf.

Groupings of birds and flowers in spring colors everywhere.

This is such a great idea- a lacy hanky peeking out of a vase.

Tami's craft room is full of cute vignettes and tons of supplies. 

One of my favorites- this "hat tree" full of floral hats and tiaras.  What a beautiful tribute to some of our favorite things!

Tami is also a button collector extraordinaire, she's a member of the National Button society and she knows more about buttons than anyone I've ever met. 

AND she has a WHOLE ROOM devoted to buttons.  I could do a year's worth of blog posts just about her button room.  The first time I saw it, it literally took my breath away and left me speechless.  If you're a button lover, check out her blog for some of her posts on buttons.

As far as crafting, I did something different (for me).  I put away my needle and thread and worked with paper and glue to make some tags.

And I worked a "vintage fashion book" that I started who knows how long ago, and just unearthed in my recent craft room clean up.  I have a few more pages to finish- and I'm going to do it!