China painting

I need to get busy and find some new pictures for my blog, this is a section of my mantle. Pink and green, and china painted roses. I love china painting, it is one of the Victorian arts. Lady's of quality china painted to show their talent and their station in life. A lot of free time with the servants doing the work for the lady of the house. And then there was the poor single woman who painted china to support herself. Someone would drop off the plain china and tell her what to paint, pick it up and pay her a stipend, she never got rich and barely got by. China painting is still an art and many do it as a favorite pass time, and some do get paid to teach or sell their wares.
I think china painting is one of the more romantic creative pursuits. I dabble in it myself. I love the way the paint caresses the china, it moves so smoothly. When it is fired and comes out of the kiln it is like receiving a gift... That is if you did a good job before it was fired. :) The items below are on my pie safe, one of my great garage sale finds. So is the rose oil painting leaning on the wall. As well as the hand blown wine decantor to the right, it is from Belgium.

The large plate is a sample of my china painting. I took a class for this one. I call it my $300.00 dollar plate... that's right three hundred dollars, by the time I paid for the class in excess of $100.00, the china the paints and brushes she wanted us to use, it brushed $300.00 easy. Fortunately it turned out pretty good. The rose on the small oval was painted by my best friend. But that is another story.As you may be able to tell from the picture purple is one of my favorite colors. TTFN

35 years together

Well it has come and gone, our 35th wedding anniversary. We had a lovely evening at our daughters cute little apartment. She worked so hard, she hung snow flakes from the ceiling and had twinkle lights every where.

We had tons of presents, this is only the top half, the table was full and some were on the floor.

This is one I wrapped for my daughter, she went to Paris a couple of years ago so I added the Eiffel tower and a bird for flight. I really liked the contrast of the chartreuse paper and the dark aqua ribbon.My daughter has a chicken theme in her kitchen. I found this fabulous box, and filled it with chicken related items. I made the tag like a tiny quilt with an embroidered chicken and some yo yos. She loved it.

You would think we only gave presents to our daughter.... : ) but I just loved the way this one turned out. I made the cone and tag from a wall paper sample, from a book of wall paper patterns, I got at Goodwill. I made the cherries and leaves from some fabric scraps from the apron I made her. The huge fabric bow was left over material from the curtains we had made for her kitchen last summer.

This is one she wrapped for me. I really liked it. the navy blue bow against the brown craft paper was a real good contrast. The peacock, and the frosted fruit picks just finished it off. I think it had my beautiful Ann Taylor sweater in it.

This is the table I didn't do it justice with this picture. She had white Italian style dishes, with multi colored wine and water glasses. Yes we had to have champagne, it just wouldn't be the same without it. She cooked Cornish game hens with an apricot glaze, yumm, asparagus wrapped in phillo, scalloped potatoes, and home made cranberry sauce. I am so proud of her she did it all herself. And I must say I couldn't have done a better job if I had tried.

This is a closer picture of the table, the brown table cloth looks so good with the dishes and glass ware she picked out. The center piece was my contribution to the festivity's, I took a styrofoam ring and covered it with feathers and dried and fresh roses, there are 3 tiny birds all a glitter, you cant have to much glitter. Added the candle in the center and it looked pretty good.

It was a lovely evening, the food was so special, we had wonderful gifts, Don't laugh but my Hubby bought me a metal detector... I know.. But the thing is I asked for it. :) So if you see this crazy lady wandering around waving a funny looking thing around on the ground that will be me looking for my fortune.

This is our feast. Doesn't it look goooood... The hens were done to a turn, and everything else was just right. In the little green bowl is monkey bread, it is the best, full of garlic and herbs baked to perfect doneness. We had cake for desert but we didn't get to eat it because by the time we finished dinner and gifts the snow was really coming down, and she sent us home before it got to bad to travel.

This was our celebration, our "dress-up-sit-d0wn-dinner" our champagne, presents, and each other. And our favorite winter thing SNOW. TTFN

More Snow

This is today, more SNOW!! I can't believe it we never get this, well rarely. It is snowing heavily right now, I admit it is still pretty to look at... but I worry about my family who decided today was a work day. Hubby put the chains on and we have 4 wheel drive so he said it wasn't too bad, but there wasn't much traffic at 6:00 in the morning. Hopefully it will be the same when it is time to come home, as he has to go clear across town to pick up our daughter, and then back home.

I could put a couple of rocks for eyes and a carrot for a nose and it would look like somone sitting in the chairs. Smile

This is the bird house, a bit more snow and you won't be able to see it at all. Well that is the latest from the frozen P.N. W TTFN

Today and yesterday

This is what it looked like this morning, ICE.. it is about 1'' thick. very slippery. Our dog Wolfie went out to do what doggies do, and fell down the stairs, and couldn't get back up, I had to put on my boots, break thru the ICE and go rescue him. We haven't had this kind of cold, ICE, and snow for many years.

This is what it looked like yesterday! Very snowie and winter wonder landish, about 5" or so of nice fluffy snow. Pretty to look at, fairly easy to walk and drive in.. if you were careful. What a difference a day makes. TTFN

Grape plate

I really like this plate. It is a fine example of china painting. If you do china painting you know how many steps there are to getting a plate to this level of beauty. I do a little bit of china painting but it is not like this. If you look real close, you can see a couple of chips on the bottom. But that is no problem for me because of the quality of the painting. I got this plate at Monticello a wonderful shop in S.E. Portland in one of the antique booths. It is a great place to shop for found objects.

A little note on the weather it has quit snowing :( my family and I were looking forward to a little of the white stuff, for a while. But I understand how it can be a detriment to the economy. TTFN

Award

The Muse Honered me by giving me this award, for the coolest blog ever. How sweet is that.

So, the rules are as follows in order to accept the award, I need to:
Put the logo on my blog.
Add a link to the person who awarded me. (see above)
Nominate outstanding blogs that I follow. (Oh, how does one really choose?)
Add links to those blogs. (See below.)
Leave a message to those nominees on their blog. The nominees are:



Ashley Without Ashley this blog would be in great trouble. She is my go to gal when I don't know how to get something done. Plus she is my darling daughter, and I love her.

Tina Was one of my first commenters, we have exchanged gifts, e-mails and comments. She gave me blogging confidence. She also gave me my first award. Thank you Tina.

SNOW

SNOW!!!! It finally snowed here, we were so excited to have it snow most of the day!! I think we got about 3" or 4" it was so pretty. I took theses early this morning, I should have waited until there was more, but I had a lot to do today. This is the bistro table and a planter on the deck.

One of our seating arrangements on the deck.

My twisted tree, I really need to prune it this coming spring.

The play house, for those of you who saw the beginning of the play house, it is still a work in progress. Hubby has insulated it and sheet rocked, and is mostly done with the tapping. Then it will be up to me to paint, or, I have been thinking wall paper, with roses of course. Then the fun part, filling it up with all the treasures I have gathered.
Well, I am still excited about the snow. Maybe we will get some more tomorrow. You can see the snow falling in the picture.

A peek into my house

This is the top of my oak secretary, I got this lemonade set by helping an antique dealer stage her shop. I took it instead of pay because it was so pretty, and I had always wanted one from the first time I saw one but could never afford it, so I was pleased with the arrangement. And you can see how well it matches my wall color, the wall has 5 colors of paint and 2 colors of glaze. I really like it and it is a good thing because it was quite a job.

My clock is one of a kind, I know because I made it. I decoupaged all the roses and other things, after I spent hours going thru magazines and cutting out what I thought might look good. You really need a lot more than you think to do the job. The clock face is a copy of a Seth Thomas clock. I got the clock at a garage sale for 50 cents it was all broken, but the face plate was in great shape, so I took it out and had it copied at a copy shop. It worked out great. I put a crackle glaze over it and glazed it with gold paint to bring out the crackles. It is a 24" circle, I have it hung over our mantel. TTFN

Now open

This rather random group is now listed on my BRAND NEW ETSY SHOP!! I am so excited. My daughter the computer whizz, came over and got me set up and talked me thru it. I took notes and I added a couple of them on my own, hopefully I can remember how to do it the next time. These are semiprecious stones from my jewelry making days. I am closing out some of my stash. There is carnelian, rose quartz and Amethyst and others I am not sure of the names.

This beautiful Amethyst necklace is so pretty the picture really doesn't do it justice.

The pillow is on my blog but I thought someone might love it, and want it for there very own. :0)

And these Pansy pincushions will look so cute in any sewing basket. Please stop by and see. My ETSY is listed on my side bar. I got the patten for the pansies from "just Lilla's" blog, it is also listed on my side bar in the link list. SOLD TTFN

Anniversarys past

Since it is fast approaching-our 35th wedding anniversary- I thought I would show some pictures of our past celebrations. We have a nice dinner, we call it out dress-up sit-down dinner. My daughter and I wear pretty dresses and hubby obliges by donning a suit or something close. We usually move the table in front of the fire place and have a fire, it makes it so romantic. We always have flowers and candles, and what we call table presents. A table present is a present for each of us on our plate "on the table" hence table presents.

Each year we have a different color scheme, that year was red and purple and silver. I make the flower arrangements, and my daughter and I cook. We try to make each anniversary meal special. I don't know what we had that year.

This year was peach and gold with those fabulous orange and peach roses. There is champagne in the colored martini glass, we always have champagne. What could be more romantic I love the bubbles, and is there anything more romantic than fine food, family, fire light, presents, and champagne. Oh yes, we have other presents...lots of them, and we wrap them as pretty as we can. For all who may be celebrating an anniversary this month. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

TTFN

needle cases

I have always been interested in sewing accessories, I have found a few vintage needle cases, and it inspired me to make up one of my own. As a quilter I like Sun bonnet Sue. I love to look at the blocks on a quilt and pick out the dress combo I like the best. Well here are a couple of my SBS, needle cases, I just drew out a shape I liked and went from there, to open it you just lift it up under the bonnet and the needles are inside. I also made the ribbon pansies.

craft room.

I just listed all of these items on Craigs list. I bought a new computer yesterday and now I need to make room for it in my craft room. So I went thru my sewing and quilting and knitting supplies and came up with this basket.

This is what is inside the basket. http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/art/939181144.html

These are the scrapbooking supplies I parted with, there is a lot there. Lots of paper over 140 pieces, books, magazines, stamps, punches, stickers,2 Sizzix items, and glitter, embossing powder. And many other things. http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/art/939225063.html

Here, I went thru my jewelry making supplies, and came up with all of this. There are semi precious stones, findings chains and seed beads and so much more. I still have a ton of stuff, but maybe someone can get started with a new craft with one of these. time for a lunch break, I have been at this since 4:30 this morning. FYI, the cat woke me up scratching on the door to get out and I couldn't get back to sleep.:) SOLD...

Sooo, I got a lot done. TTFN

Yo yos

I am smitten by yo yos this is the results of a few hour of stitching. 2 different sizes and a bevy of colors, all from my scrap box. I just bought a plastic flower yo yo maker from my craft store, I can't wait to try it. I have made some heart ones from the heart yo yo maker, it is easy and it amazes me every time I gather it up and it goes heart shape. But then I am easily amused and amazed... This is the box I store my finished product in. The round balls are used in my ribbon embroidery and with other embellishments. They are made of satin and ribbon, unlike the cotton of the yo yos. TTFN

embroidered pillow

I got this charming vintage pattern from Needlecrafter.com, they have several embroidery patterns for almost any project. I chose to make this one into a pillow. I added some seed beads for flower centers (but you can't see them ) it adds a little sparkle. Instead of piping I just inserted a strip of folded purple material for a color break in the border between the blue and the embroidery. I have always been in love with the old fashioned look of thing from the 20s and 30s and even before that with the Victorian and Edwardian eras. What could be better than vintage lace and linens. TTFN

Pansy pincushion

This is my rendition of a pincushion from the http://www.justlilla.blogspot.com/ of Sept. 18- 08, she made hers from velvet and I made mine from wool felt. I think mine are probably bigger than hers, mine measure 5" by 4" I added leaves to the pink one, and left the purple one with out. The little heart shaped yo yo's are made from a template I bought at a fabric store. They are fun to make and look cute on country style things, they could be made from silk or satin and be more elegant. My daughter wanted one of the pansies for a sachet. So I made it the same way just added sent to it. You could add dried lavender or such to the stuffing and that would help with the sent. TTFN

Door hangers

This is one of my door hangers, it is hand dyed cotton with hand dyed lace appliques, hi-lited with seed beads and pearls and some crystals. The door hangers are about 7" by 6" and hang from a variety of ribbons and other fibers. This one has a vintage silk velvet ribbon hanger with vintage rick rack.

This is another one of my door hangers. I hand dyed cotton and the lace appliques. I added a little collar of seed beads under the writing, and here and there for a shiny accent. If anyone is interested in them let me know. I would be happy to give more details and price. TTFN

return of the links

O.K. so I panicked for a minute... well hours actually. My daughter was on the phone talking me thru the add the link process, it went well :). I managed to get some of the links there but I keep shutting down the add link window. Don't ask me how if I knew how I wouldn't do it. But this morning doing what she told me to do I have re added my links. I am not to sure how I did it but they are there..hooray!! Now if I can just keep them there. TTFN

What happend

I am just stunned. My daughter was trying to help me get a new back ground for my Blog and I lost all of my links. How could that happen. Now I can't get them back. I have no links, how very sad. :( ....TTFN

My award

This is my BFF award!!!! It was presented by Garden goose. I know there are 5 other people this award is supposed to be past on too. But being so new to blogging I don't think I can fulfill that criteria. Soooo.... If you have visited my site more than once, consider yourself awarded. And if you live anywhere else in the world and have visited my blog you also are awarded. And Tina at Garden goose is also awarded for even thinking of me in the first place. I hope this is acceptable even tho it wasn't in the full spirit of the rules. However this way there is a potential for many BFF'S too get to know. TTFN

My first craft post

This is my first craft post. I make these baby sleeping door hangers to enclose in baby gifts. the mothers love them and use them too give a gentle warning to shh while baby is sleeping. I make them to sell as well. They can be made from any material, I usually do a bright patchwork for boys. I prefer the more famine ones. I also made the velvet strawberries. I will post others in the days to come. If you are interested in having your own or one for a gift, just leave a comment and a way to contact you and I will see you get one, the price is very reasonable + shipping of course.TTFN

My first award

I have been given my first award by Garden goose.blogspot.com, I have tried everything in my limited knowledge of computuers to transfer the logo of the award but I simply don't know how. So Thank you Tina for the award maybe someone in my family can help me post it. It was the BFF gold card,blogging friend forever, award. if and when that happens then I will try my best to figure out how to pass it on. TTFN

My linky goodness

Well, it finally happened, with the help of my brilliant daughter ( actually I couldn't have done it without her) I now have a list of the lovely places I like to visit. I hope you like them too. For my next trick, I will learn how to open and close my digital camera. :) It is now sitting with it's lid popped open and I can't close it. How can one person be so inept with technology??? After that I will move on to getting the little picture card thingie out and trying to get the pictures on the computer. Then if I can figure out what the computer did with my picture files maybe I can post some new pictures. That has been the main reason for my big delay in posting. Right now I have a headache and need a lie down...maybe a a glass of wine... and chocolate... TTFN

goodby garden

This didn't turn out like I wanted it to. I listed the tulip picture twice. But I don't know how to delete it without deleting everything. So please enjoy it twice.
My plan was to show my garden from spring to late summer, but you know about plans"the best laid plans of mice and men" I am not sure where that quote is from but I think it means that plans don't always succeed. Any way these are the first violets of spring and of course the tulips.


The tulips again. they are at the arch that leads to the veggie garden.

This is the Gram Thomas rose it is so beautiful but it doesn't hold up as well as some others in bouquets. But it makes up for it by blooming all summer into fall, in fact it is still blooming.

These are my foxgloves, they grow wild here, I just gathered some seed from one along side the road several years ago and they seed themselves in every year, you never know where they will pop up, these chose a great place by the bird house.

This is an area at the south end of my garden it looks so good in the spring, but in summer it looses some of it's beauty.

I don't know the name of this rose but it is so full of petals it makes the stems droop. It has such a deep pink color it is beautiful in bouquets.

This is a close up of one of my blue berry plants, it produced for over a month. They were very tasty. I am going to move it and its companion, which didn't produce quite as well to the south end of the garden. Well that is a quick tour of my garden thru the spring and summer. It doesn't include the veggie garden which wasn't as good as past years. Too all of you south of the equator enjoy spring and all it promises for the year to come,we are going into fall and it seems like it is coming quickly. TTFN