Gathering Dust

Party Crasher

 
Today is the third annual Where Bloggers Create party, and once again, I'm party crashing.  There are hundreds of bloggers attending the on-line party, but I'm kind of shy about big parties- and my craft room is...messy.

But I haven't posted in awhile, and I know there are at least three people that miss me if I don't post, so here's a "checking in post", and a peek at one little place that I do some crafting.

Although I have a whole bedroom that I can use as a craft room, I looked around my house and realized that I do a lot of my creating in "my chair" in the living room. Just like how Archie and Edith had there own chairs, hubby and I have always had reserved seating- we always sit in the same place- me in "my chair" and he's on the couch.

 My knitting basket is on one side of my chair, and on the table next to my chair is a pin cushion and a little basket of trims.

The embroidery on the chair is a dresser scarf that had some holes, so I've done a little patching and stitching and I'm going to turn it into a tote bag.

 
This is a wrap I'm knitting out of a soft fuzzy yarn and a very thin yarn with little bits of sparkly ribbon every few inches.

 
I sew all my ditty bags in this chair- I have some new ones in the works that I've added images printed on fabric.

 
This little guy is sitting on a heart shaped candy box.

 
Sometimes, I do some cutting and pasting in "my chair"- I have a little lap tray that I use as a desk.

But no matter what I'm working on you can count on finding evidence of it - in the form of slivers of paper, snippets of thread or bits of yarn scattered on the floor around my chair- all signs of some pleasant time spent in "my chair".

I'm Knitting and I Can't Stop

 
Ever since I found a pattern for knitted gift bags in Last Minute Knitted Gifts I've been obsessed with making bags.  I've knit them in cotton, wool, boucle, and chennille, but I think my favorite are these satiny pastels that I've added a knitted flower to. 

I can knit one in an evening, and once you get past making the eyelet for the drawstring, you just knit- no counting or looking at a pattern.  Knitting for dummies.

 
The pastels remind me of an Easter basket or May Day basket for grown-ups.  I have them for sale in my Etsy Shop- SugarPinkMoon.

 
I did stop knitting long enough to finish a collage book- no theme this time, just images, colors and fonts I liked.

 
Fashion, Bingo Cards, Birds- the usual subjects.

 
On the right side- florals printed on dictionary pages- a trick I learned from Mary.  Yep, that looks like phlox right on top of Benjamin Franklin.

 
 
Available in my other Etsy shop- Gathering Dust.

 
If you'd like some good collage backgrounds, I found several penmanship books at an estate sale and have them listed here.

 
This picture doesn't have anything to do with anything else, I just though it was SO CUTE and it made me smile- it's my great niece Grace at Princess party for four year olds. Grace is the pink princess in the middle.

If You Can't Say Anything Nice....or Anything Interesting...

 
My husband talked to his mom this morning and she said "Tell Beth she needs to post on her blog".   It has been over a week since I posted.   I guess I just haven't had much to say.  Usually I don't have any trouble finding something to write about or show.  I'll make something, buy something or see something and think- THAT would be a good blog post.

 
The past week has been spent finishing up on last minute presents- like these cotton dish clothes that I knit.  I love the feel of a good cotton yarn.  I think that half of the fun of knitting is seeing a pattern develop and the other half is enjoying the texture of the yarn.  I've tried knitting with all sorts of weird things- strips of cloth, string, pieces of plastic bags- but if they don't feel good on the needles, a good part of the pleasure of knitting is missing for me.

 
I finished up a little pillow made from an image printed on fabric, an old damask napkin and some embroidery.

 
Do you ever start picking up around the house and instead of getting organized, you find yourself playing with things instead...rearranging and fluffing and leaning and draping?  That's what happened last week with my knitting needles.  I put all the old wooden knitting needles in this violin...thing.  I don't know what to call it- it's a violin that's fallen apart and I only have the bottom.  I originally was going to use the violin "shell" as a wall pocket, but ended up propping it in with this pitcher and bowl.  It looked a little bit monotone- and then the mail came with a package from Claudia with this patchwork heart- and it was just the pop of color the violin needed.

 
Then I started sorting the rest of my knitting needles- aren't they purty?

On second thought, maybe if you don't have anything to blog about besides your knitting needles, you shouldn't blog at all.

Thanks for all the positive feedback about the Cuttlebug ornament box tags.  The same day I posted about them, Mitzi had a similiar post about making tags from boxes- she had originally posted  it a year ago, and I'm sure that's where I got the idea.  I emailed Mitzi to tell her that I didn't intentionally copy her without giving her credit.  I had made the same tags last year, but didn't remember where the idea came from.

Mitzi's reply to my email expressed just how I feel about our blogging world:

I think all these ideas get swished around, and often I wonder if I am the creator or if I'm copying something I saw elsewhere.  The whole point of sharing is to inspire someone else to try something similar, so I'm good with that.

Mitzi always has interesting posts about crafts, collectible and combining the two- if you don't already read her blog, check it out.

On a completely different subject, one of many things that's fun about having a little dog is that he can wear clothes- he won't wear a hat- I had to add that digitally- but Button does look ready for a walk in the snow.  Button and I both wish you a "Merry Christmas".

 

Pre Dreaming of a White Christmas

 

By popular request (oh, I've always wanted to say that...), Karla and I are putting together another on-line crafting and decorating workshop zine- the theme will be something romantic, and something holiday and probably a lot of shades of white.

 
 
I've been digging through vintage postcards and made a preliminary trip to Michael's for some supplies.  Even though today is a beautiful fall day, pulling together some pretty sparkly holiday goodies has put me in the mood for some Christmas crafting.  More details soon...

 
In other crafting news- I have a FINISHED knitting project- a self patterning baby afghan for Karla's soon to be here grandbaby.  I tell ya, that self patterning yarn is  a no-brainer; you knit, and the design magically appears.

 

 

This Is Making Me Very Happy....

 
For some reason, this silly little pin cushion has made me very happy.  I bought it at an estate sale last week-   it was plain felt and bright  Christmas red.  I soaked it in bleach water until it faded and got kind of fuzzy, and then sewed on the lace, buckle & tape measure.

I realize I spent a lot of time on a quarter pin cushion, but I had fun "altering" it, and it's big enough that so far, I've been able to keep track of it and have always had a needle handy when I needed it.

 
On the other hand, this has made me sad.  It's the cowl neck hood with the ruffled edge that I thought was going to be so pretty, and keep my neck warm this winter.

 
It's been on the top of my knitting basket every since August, and I've finally come to realize that I have to "frog it".   In other words, "rip it, rip it".  I've started to pull it apart, and the yarn will live to see another project- hopefully one more successful than a turtleneck for a giraffe.

Even my dogs rejected it as a sleeping bag.

 
But after all, why would Button want to sleep on an itchy sweater when his big sister is always willing to snuggle with him?

...and the sight of them together brings me back to something that makes me happy.

Zoned Out in the Crafting Zone

 
I have a {small} stash of yarn- really, it is small compared to a lot of knitters- but it would seem huge to a non-knitter- and I could very well knit for the rest of my life without ever buying more yarn.  I've been taking some of my yarn, winding it into balls and gathering it by color in wooden bowl and baskets.  I've got the baskets and bowls on several tables throughout the house.

This bowl of blue and purple yarn sits right next to my chair in the living room, as does the book "Knitting Patterns for Dummies".

When I saw this picture and that bowl of yarn, I had to start knitting, right away.  This was the weekend with the heat index of 115 but that didn't detour me.  I loved that ruffle, and I loved plucking balls of yarn randomly from the bowl, combining them in different ways to see what kind of pattern developed.  

I was in the legendary knitting crafting zone....

I finished it and was so excited- the ruffles were in the very last rows and I was thrilled at the way they folded and rolled when I pulled the cowl off the needles.

I pulled it over my head, anxious to see it drap around my neck, imaging it peeking out of my white wool coat.

But wait-  why is it all bunched up?  Why doesn't it fit?  I followed the directions exactly.

Oh...it's because it was made for someone with a 15" long neck.  

Maybe if I pull it up over my head it will keep my ears warm.

Uh, no...this isn't going to work for anything except possibly robbing a bank- and even then it wouldn't be a good idea-it's too memorable- witnesses would tell the police "the robber was wearing a lovely blue ombre cowl that didn't fit well"  

What can I say, I was in that crafting zone, so caught up in the process that I was really blind to the outcome.

That's me pretending my camera is a gun.

Just an observation:  It's hard to take a picture of yourself with neat hair while wearing a cowl-but it's easy to take a picture of yourself with your hair all mussed up.

So, what happens to a cowl you can't wear?

 
It makes a dandy little sleeping bag for a dog....

Or even two little dogs....that's Rosie, Karla's puppy and Button's sister.  Rosie is staying with her brother while Karla is out of town.

I don't want to leave out my other boy- Buddy.  Here he is doing what he does all day- sitting perfectly still in the yard waiting for a rabbit or squirrel. 

I can look out the window at 9 and see him like this in one place, and then look again at 930, and he's sitting exactly the same way- he's just changed where he's sitting.  
  

The same weekend that I went on my knitting binge, I made my projects for Karla and my on-line class Romantic Gothic Ghosts.  Luckily, I'm a lot happier with those projects that my doggy sleepy bag.  The actual classes don't start until Monday, but the blog is open and full of images and videos for you to check out now.  We'd love to have you join us.

How Dare You Call That Redecorating? (and a contest)

Ok, I admit, when it comes to redecorating, rearranging a shelf of books is a pretty bold move for me.  When you start talking about painting and moving furniture, I'll be looking for a medal at the end of the project.

So, you may not think my mermaid redo of my bathroom qualifies as redecorating- but I'll still show you what I did.

This is the before- a shelf with hands holding crowns, some plastic shoes that used to be pin cushions and some framed magazine pages. (I added the mermaid to see if she would feel at home...)

Now- a collage on burlap, my sea pixie, a pail full of shells, my sea siren pillow and a framed picture of mermaids- all courtsey of my Les Sirenes weekend.

 
This is the wall over the commode. The only reason I bought this oval portrait was that someone told me it looks like my husband.  Looking at it here, I'm not sure that was a good enough reason.

The portrait was replaced with these mermaid prints by Danita.

I've had this sign in my bathroom for a while, too- I think its funny because my bathroom is so small.

I added this Atlantic City beauty pagent picture above it.

A piece of burlap, a shell "B", postcards and my keepsake project book are on back of the toliet.

While I had the hammer and nails out, I hung this antique picture of cupid in my guest room.  To the left is the beautiful collage that Lisa made for me, and the wallpaper collage that Karla made.

I probably don't deserve a medal for my redecorating hanging pictures, but I would like a gold star.

 
Estate sales this morning only get one gold star, too.  Part of the problem was the heat- I just got tired of getting in and out of the nice air conditioned car and facing the heat and humidity.

The butter pats are Meakin ironstone; the silver is quad plate- I love the etching; the books are a history of Opera and a history of composers- I bought them because they go with the red and blue cowboy boots I got a few weeks back; the bottle with a stopper came from a priest's estate and still had some liquid in it- I spilled it on some other books I bought- it was probably holy water, but not very lucky water.

This was probably my best buy- a boxful of yarn shop yarn for only $6- some yarns still had the labels, and most of them would have been at least $6 for a single skein...and knitting a nice warm cuddly scarf is good way to pass a 90+ degree July day.

THIS is a "what's it" I got this morning.  Can anyone guess what it is?  It's monogramed,  made of sterling silver and about 1 1/2" tall.

*****WE HAVE A WINNER!!!  Sandy correctly guessed that it is a PHONE DIALER for the old rotary phones.  It saved a lady's manicured nails*****

Leave your guess in the comments, and the first person to identify this not so common object will win this pretty blue rhinestone flower pin. 
  
Thanks for playing!

Spring Flowers Gardens and Antique Shows

 
It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that Friday night was date night in our house.  Now it seems like Fridays are exciting if I can make a dent in sorting and tagging the stuff I've bought during the week.

I've been pulling stuff together for my next antique show- it's a garden theme show on April 9 (evening) and April 10, 9- 4 at Bliss Plaza in Greenwood MO.  Greenwood is about 20 minutes south of Kansas City and a great antiquing destination.  

 
Last weekend, I found a really fun PACKED "Little Old Lady" estate sale.  When I say "little old lady", I mean French provincal furniture, chintz chairs, barkcloth drapes and rooms full of old books, greeting cards, wrapping paper, lace, linens & corsages and hats.

These corsages were smushed- I used a trick I learned from Heather- I steamed them with a tea kettle and it was like watching them open up and bloom.

After I was done "plumping" them,  I found another bag of flowers.

These are "unsteamed"- they're pretty enough now, but I think they'll have a lot more personality once they get a little beauty treatment.

The sale had lots of religious stuff, too- like this 1910's French prayer book.

And a "Prayers for Girls" book.  Maybe I should keep this one.

When I opened the book, it went right to this page, because there was already a little marker there- a prayer against complaining...wouldn't hurt to use the prayer against worry, too.

 
This green patina dolphin soap dish actually came out of a bathroom- I think its days of holding soap are long gone, but I still love the look.

 
And it works for buttons and jewelry.

 
The picture brooches were actually pin backs that the cameo or stone had fallen out of, so I added an old picture and covered the picture with Paper Glaze to protect it.

I was talking about knitting in my last post...I found these OLD "knitting pins" at a sale- they're steel and look like long needles- not long knitting needles, just long needles.

If this was what I had to knit with, I think I'd just be reading more...

 
It seems like in every box of junk merchandise I buy, I come up with some things that have no earthly purpose but are just too pretty to throw away.

 
Like this handle that used to be a brush.  Right now, I'm using it to prop up my keyboard for a better typing angle...a use I'm sure its original owner never imagined.

Back to tagging and pricing for that garden show...

  

Passing of Pasttimes- Knitting Stitching Reading and Cooking

 
I have always been a reader- Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume to Dan Brown, David McCullough and Doris Kearns Goodwin. If I can take a book with me, I'm never afraid I might be bored.

I've kept a reading journal since Jun of 1983- writing down every book as I read it, and putting a star by the ones I really liked.  The picture of the clocks above was supposed to be a picture of my reading journal- actually just a three ring binder I covered in fabric in college- but my new computer ate the picture.

I know- I only read 10 books in the last half of 1983- but I was in college and working 25 hours a week besides...

When I got out of college, I added cross stitch to my hobbies. And for the thousands and thousands of x's I made I don't think I have a single picture to share.  But I still kept on reading- at least a book a week.

 
When I got tired of cross stitch, I added cooking to my hobbies.  This was way before the Food Network, and one of my favorite shows was Natalie Dupree on PBS.  I even joined one of those cookbook clubs, and collected cookbooks.

My interest in cooking ended about the time I THOUGHT I was going to cook my way through the Paul Prudhomme cookbook.  I started with breads, but couldn't get anything with yeast to rise.  The last major cooking episode was trying to make a fish stock from what seemed like a thousand shrimp peels, heads & tails.  This was way before Julie and Julia- and I didn't have anywhere near the culinary fortitude of either of them.

It was about that time that I started serious antiquing and didn't have time for cooking, and eventually didn't have time for reading either.

But this past weekend, I read a whole book during the day- instead of just a few pages in bed before I fell asleep; and crafted; and more or less took a vacation from the antiques and the vintage and the whole buying and selling thing, and it was kind of nice.

I thought this book- Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult- was great.  And then when I finished it I read some other reader's reviews on Amazon, and they said it didn't measure up to many of her previous books.  I've read a lot of her other books (in bits and pieces before I went to bed) and enjoyed them, too.  I guess I just got so caught up in the page turning plot that I didn't care that there were some literary loose ends.

I worked a little bit on my freestyle sampler, but it's so big that it's hard to see any difference.

The biggest change was adding a yo yo and some little filler stitches under the applique rose.

On my "vacation" weekend, I also started one of those inchy samplers. Inchy, not itchy- because the squares are 1" x 1".

And added quite a bit of length (and dog hair) to my lacy white wool scarf.

But today it was back to (desk) work and junking work- I've added some new old stuff to my Etsy shops- the links are on the left.

If you'd like to jumpstart your spring crafting, check out Mary Green's

 
Garden Party Artist Class. The class consists of twelve projects with lots of extras- something new is posted everyday of the four week class.  The cost is $49, and if you use the code "gatheringdust", you'll get a $10 discount, making the cost $39- about $1.40 a day- way less than a Starbucks, and a lot longer lasting.

Valentine's Day = Vintage Red Jewelry

 
Valentine's Day seems like the perfect day to wear my favorite vintage red plastic jewelry- and show off a few buttons, too.

This bow pin is my favorite- whenever I wear it, I get compliments- or maybe just comments.  It is kind of unusual to see vintage plastic jewelry- it's much more common to see vintage rhinestone style jewerly.

 
Bakelite jewelry is one of the most popular plastics.  This carved dress clip and half of a buckle are both Bakelite.  (I'm not sure what the flower pin is made of.)  Sometimes you can identify Bakelite just by looking at it- it has a "chunky" look and is usually thicker than other plastics. 

If I'm not sure, I'll use the "Simachrome" test.  I put a little bit of Simachrome polish on a piece of jewelry and wipe it away with a tissue. Simachrome polish is pink.  If, when you wipe it off the jewelry the tissue is yellow or gold- the piece is Bakelite.

Bakelite was invented sometime around the turn of the last century, along with a lot of other types of plastic- celluloid, Catalin, Pyrolin.  What most of these plastics had in common is how brittle they were- and flammable.  If you've spent any time looking at antiques, you've probably seen vintage celluloid dresser sets-  a combination of trays, hand mirrors, powder boxes or hair receivers- and you've probably seen dark gold spots on them- that's a burn.

This anchor is a newer piece- 50's or 60's. It's transluscent and I think might be made of Lucite. Lucite is another collectible type of jewelry- but I don't really know a test for Lucite.

 

(These buttons don't really have anything to do with jewelry, I just LIKE them.)

Plastic jewelry became popular during World War II, when so much of the metal produced was going towards the war effort.  I'm guessing that the bright happy colors of the jewelry were also a "distraction" to the war, much like the bright and cheery linens and kitchenware of the time.

This isn't jewelry, it's a button- but it sure is sweet for Valentine's Day.

So, that's how I'm spending my Valentine's Day- it all looks really nice with my pajamas.

And now I have a question.

 
I knit- a lot.  I LOVE to knit.  As much as I sell on Etsy, I've never listed anything I've knit, because I live in the The House of the Shedding Dogs. I had an Ebay customer complain about finding a dog hair on the outside of a box, and how it caused to her eyes to water and sneezing attack to start, so I added this to my Ebay listings.

My home is smoke free, but I do have a big hairy Golden Retriever named Maddie. Maddie isn't allowed to play with Ebay items, but sometimes her hair ends up in a package anyway.

I don't know if I've lost any sales because of this, but at least I don't have to worry about causing health problems.  I have gotten several emails from customers saying they really like my message and to please give Maddie some scratches from them.

 
  
But this pinky plum scarf is so pretty, I thought I'd give it a try on Etsy- and I added this to the listing:

I do have two dogs, and although they are NOT allowed to try on, help with or model my scarves, it's entirely possible that you could find a dog hair in the scarf. I generally do my knitting on the couch with a dog beside me and a dog at my feet, and I consider it good karma to knit near my dogs-but you may not, so I think its only fair to warn you.

So my questions is- would you buy something that came with that kind of warning?

...I could switch to knitting sweaters FOR dogs.