Whats in the box.

This is a new game, "Whats in the box", I love boxes, even as a kid I filled them with stuff and pretended they were for what ever was needed for my day dream of the day. Now this box is big bright and pink, it should contain fabulous shoes. Well, no, my daughter has the shoes and I have the box. Is there something wrong with that... :) So lets open the box......... TA DA! This where I keep my ribbon flowers, I love them they are so gorgeous, again my love of ribbon coming out. I made a tray to fit in the box so I could get more in and not crush the flowers.

Here I have mostly roses, but there is a big white silk pansy, silk really makes the softest and prettiest flowers, but it is a bit spendie.

Here we have the bottom section I made little areas to keep each type of flower separate, it makes them easier to find when I need them. I have pansies in one section, leaves in another, fuchsias , sweet peas, roses, and 2 kinds of fillers flowers.

Here is a close up of the top tray. You can see the little roses peeking thru, the hot pink rose is quite involved and takes almost 3 yards of ribbon, the same with the lighter pink one. The white and gold organdy roses on the left were made for a 10th anniversary cake for a dear friend, and I also used them on a wedding cake for another dear friend. Well that's what is in this box. There may be more to come. Do you have a box with fabulous lovelies in it? TTFN

Garage sale Saturday

Saturdays are garage sale day. Hubby drives and I buy. I encourage him to take a book because I never know what I might find and how long I will be. In the winter we don't have a lot of garage sales. So this Saturday was a nice start for the garage sale season. I got this lovely lace table cloth, it is real heavy lace, and it has a tea dyed look, it also has a few spots but, that really doesn't bother me because we layer a lot and they won't even bee seen.

I have my pictures a little out of sinc, but this is a close up of some of the wonderful sewing supplies I found at an estate sale. I love the blanket binding for sewing, but it so good for making outrageous big bows for gifts. And the embroidery thread was only 5 cents a skein, what a bargain that's almost free. :) I am a ribbon junkie, I LOVE it, and these two reels of it made me happy, only $3 for both and there is probably 10 plus yards between them, and the red ribbon is wired ribbon and you know how spendie that can get. It is great for making ribbon flowers.

This is a picture of all the booty, it should have been first but I have such a hard time figuring out the sequence backwards so it will list in the correct order. There are 4 finger tip towels, I am always amazed at how much detail people put into things just to wipe their hands on. The one in the upper right has appliqued morning glories on it.

More sewing supplies, seam binding, it is wonderful for making filler flowers for ribbon work. All of the doilies and finger towels and the crochet corners are from different garage sales. The cocktail forks were just black from oxidation but they cleaned up quite well, I got them and the lovely spoon and 3 of the doilies and some salt cellars ( I forgot to put them in the picture) for $5.

The crochet corners have a rose motif, I didn't notice that until I washed and ironed them. More sewing supplies, have you priced rick rac these days, it is quite spendy. The little thing on the lower left is a pin cushion I think, very cute.
This isn't the best picture but the lace on these pillow cases is knit, it is quite beautiful. You don't see a lot of knit lace, it is mostly crochet. I am going to take it off and use it on something else. The pillow cases themselves are a very rough cotton I don't think I will use them.

Lingerie! Do you remember wearing full length slips? I do, these were at a garage sale, I couldn't pass them up, they are in good shape, just a bit of perspiration stain on the under arms, I think I can get it out with oxy clean. The lace on the one on the left is awesome. The tags say average for the size, so how old does that make them, because they are more like a size 8.

This is the one with the awesome lace. this lady was small and short, I think she had to take up the length a couple of inches. But the lace on the bottom is 6" wide. Well, thats my garage sale week-end, I got a lot of fun things and as usual I really don't need half of it. But then that's what garage sales are all about. TTFN

Latest project

This is my latest project. It is the front panel for a tea cozy. I have used some old linen pieces and some lace and a doily for the background. Then I made some ribbon pansies, and some ribbon filler flowers, to make the nosegay on the right. Then I did some ribbon embroidery of pansies on the right bottom. On the upper left I did some rose buds with ribbon embroidery. I added some buttons and some semiprecious rose quarts beads. This is a close up, you can see a bit more of the detail.

I have been as slow as molasses in January doing this. I just can't seem to get my inspiration going. But I hope to have it done in the next week or so. I don't have a pattern so it is figure it out as I go, and I haven't been going much. TTFN

Crazy quilt

This is a 4 block crazy quilt I have been working on for quite some time. I take it out every once in a while and add something to it then put it away and wait for the next creative urge to hit and then I get it out and add some more. I think it is about 10 years old you would think I would have finished in in that length of time. But it is a work in progress and I really have no plans for it so I just work on it when the mood strikes. I think I haven't made it crazy enough. Most that I have seen are covered in stuff.

This one of the blocks I did the pansies on my embroider attachment on my sewing machine. Another thing I haven't touched in a long while.

This one is one of my favorites, I like the dragonfly, it is appliqued on, and the yellow rose is ribbon embroidery. The Block bases are of velvets , satins and such, I even use blanket binding.

This is a look at the center where they all meet, I like the little river of buttons, that spill from one block to the other. I have 4 more block in progress to add to my quilt, if I ever get it all together I will show the finished project... or maybe just show the other blocks that are in progress.

I am sorry I have been so long between posts but I have been busy and not quite up to parr.

Stenciled floral border

This is part of the stenciled border in our guest room. I used about 6 different stencils, and oil based stencil paints. There were 3 different stencils used here, one for the humming birds, one for the raspberrys, and a different one for the roses. I tried to blend the colors, like on the leaves which I tipped in yellows, pinks and a touch of blue. This wisteria is over the closet door and the window of the back wall. It wasn't as beautiful as I thought it would be, but it is O.K. I like how it trailed down the wall. I used lavender, blue and pinks and greens for the wisteria, and leaves.

This is over the entrance door. The little blue bird is from a vintage stencil from the 20's or 30's. It ls the same rose stencil but I added the rose buds from another one. The blueberries around the bird are one more stencil.

This is the raspberry stencil. It is on the wall with the closet door. I tried to vary the stencils so it would have the look of a garden. It was a fun project, and not as time consuming as you would think. I undulated the green border of paint so it would have a floe not just a straight line. I know it looks rather grey but it is a nice green.

This is what is just below the above stencil. I painted the picture, it is an oil on canvas. The hydrangea's are from my Pee Gee hydrangeas. The silver plate tray and the vanity jars are a garage sale find. The wicker chivarobe I found at a craft sale near my home.

I will show the bed and the rest of the room in another post. But I wanted to share the border first. I wish the colors were better because they are much prettier, in person. TTFN

Ode to my roses

I miss my roses! I so love to tour the garden and see all the beautiful pinks of the 20 some rose bushes I have. When they were planted, I put name tags for each one. But the sun faded the tags so I no longer know the proper name for each one. However that in no way diminishes their beauty, I have Wife of Bath, Isn't that a charming name? It could be the one below. I have some David Austin roses, Graham Thomas,double blooms in magnificent shades of yellow. Also Abraham Darby,very fragrant, in rich shades of apricot. Neither of these are pictured here.

I also have Eden rose, it is of the large flowered climbing variety. A beautiful blend of pastel pinks, creams and just the barest touch of the palest green at the base in the new buds. This is by far my favorite, it is the rose pictured in my header. Those are just a few of my roses, I think they are just about the most beautiful, and varied flower created. I must not be alone, as so many blogs I visit include the word Rose in them. Spring is just a hop away, and I can get started in the garden and get ready for the summers blooms. TTFN