Where's my pot of gold?

View behind my mom's house tonight

Kinda cool--the clouds look like a man's face...
like the North Wind maybe, or a Genie in smoke.
You could see the rainbow's beginning, the full arc, and the other side, plus a partial double on the left side.

Raining dogs at Fiesta

Today was a perfect day for a walk in the rain.
The weather is a far cry from Monday's triple digits.
Today we had rain, thunder, and lightning.
I went to Fiesta Island with my friends Cindy and Renee, and their dogs.

It was Roxy's first visit to the beach!
One of my favorite things is seeing the kind of joy the beach brings to dogs--there's nothing like it


Duke


Rudy

Bedroom corners

Interior Design isn't fluff--your home really needs to be your sanctuary.
And that means surrounding yourself with colors and art and items that scream who you are.
Forget trends in style or what some 'expert' deems appropriate.
I used to date a contractor, and he had clients who filled their homes with the latest imported whims...but why?
Just because something is currently trendy doesn't mean it's applicable to you or what you love.

I admire minimalist design, but I could never live in it.
It's often beautiful, but I personally find whimsy and a bit of clutter holds more character.
That's just me.
My own style is sort-of Shabby Chic and Romantic Home magazine combined with an artist's studio.
Maybe cottage style at the beach.
I like making little vignettes.

I figured I'd share a couple corners of my bedroom, just for fun.
Just because they make me smile.
Yeah, they're probably an interior designer's nightmare.
So what.

I bought the mirror at a thrift store, intending to mosaic it, but the color was such a good match to the dresser, it looks like they belong together.
Encaustic crow atop mirror is by Jennifer Conway.
Vintage tiered metal basket displaying a collection of vintage seed bracelets.
The dresser is covered with a scarf I bought at H&M that happened to be the perfect colors of my room.
One of my favorite books, The Tarot Garden, features the art of Niki de Saint Phalle.
Fun, whimsical.
Wire man made by a guy I sat next to in sculpture class (I wish I had kept more of the items he left behind).
I made the flapper potholder.
Joy angel a gift from Mary Ann.
Top tier holds the card Jen made, and a magnet I love
The chihuahua statue is a like a Magic 8 Ball!An interior designer would say there's too much clutter, and it's too juvenile.
I say if it fuels my inspiration, then it stays.


Vintage enamel bowl by Catherine Holm.
Architectural book in Spanish. Cookbook by Tessa Kiros.
Sparkly candle from Indiana--a gift from my friend Michelle, to have something beautiful in my room.
One of the several metal banana leaf-shaped trays that I collect.
The bracelet is blown glass.

Anthropologie cabinet from a garage sale, over a smaller dresser, featuring some of my collection of seagull items.
Note the 'B' that I posted about yesterday.

Along with two saints ;)

Vintage photographs,
handmade ceramic seagull planter (ebay purchase),
and blue bird vase/planter by Haeger.

Sculpture/fountain of Saint Francis of Assisi.
The metal seagull was a hood ornament (I'm told).
Vintage postcard from Folies Bergere, with a woman dressed as a mermaid.
Vintage books, including Rebecca (still on my "to read" list), and Aunt Jane of Kentucky.

Easy transformation

I found this brass 'B' hook at the Thursday Club rummage sale earlier this year.
Ironically, they also had the initial for my last name, but I only bought the one.


I'm not really hip on brass or gold, so I roughed up the exterior with some steel wool, and used a nickel-colored spray paint with just a touch of sparkle to transform the hook into something a bit more modern (and a bit more 'me')


Ta da! Silver hook with new silver screws, holding an ornament I purchased at Rogers Gardens


It's amazing what a little bit of paint can do!
Tomorrow I'll show you more of my bedroom

Well excuse me...

I have been posting photos on this blog via Flickr, but so many "upgrades" to that site has really made it not user friendly.
So my aim is to take all the photos since 2005 (my God it's overwhelming) and replace them with a permanent copy.
You see, if you delete a photo on Flickr, it evaporates from your blog.
Poof! Gone.
I intend to exit Flickr altogether, though I will miss some of the groups there, and the comments, and the social interaction.

I have a lot of vintage patterns posted on Flickr (and many also on the blog), and I get so tired of people asking for copies, or if they can buy the patterns.
What gets especially old is the people who "just seen (sic) it" and demand a copy.
No "please", no "thank you", just "gimme gimme gimme".
Okay, some people are polite, but the end result is the same.

I mean, I've given a lot of the items away, and the rest are in storage, so they're just not accessible.
I try to help people out when I can, though I'm not always successful.
Even if I could find the pattern, it means a trip to the copy center (if it's even possible to copy the big pattern pieces found in clothing patterns), and then the post office...
and I basically just suck at getting it done.

I had a lady contact me yesterday asking for a pattern, saying she wanted to use it for a noble cause, to help disabled kids.
I directed her to ebay, to the library, to amazon, and gave her search ideas.
I mean, that's all I can really do.
I have no clue where the pattern I posted a few years ago is, or if I even have it anymore.

She responded "thanks anyway, obviously you don't want to share, so you should really take this book off of your blog, It really isn't helping anyone is it?? And Thank you for compassion also, this would have been for a very good cause. But I will continue to look further, I'm hoping to find someone that will be helpful. Good bye and Have a nice day!"

Okay, really?

First off, I didn't even have to respond, but I tried the best I could.
You really need to slam me for not wanting to be compassionate?
Geez.

Blogs and Flickr are, in my opinion, fun places to post vintage stuff that we can all admire.
People post vintage collections of things like old needle packages, old apron patterns, maybe old cookbooks.
They're not posted to "help" or to sell, unless it's on etsy.
It's just a hey, look what's out there...look what once was.

Birthday Whimsy

My gosh, so long since I've posted!
Well, thanks to Ben, I have my laptop back and repaired.
Actually, it's better than that--he replaced the laptop he gave me with a newer model.
I feel like I've been reunited with a fond friend, and it's true.
Initially I was a bit disappointed that my first laptop was gone, because I'm just not good with change.
I never will be good with change.
I was just laughing with a co-worker today about how she initially returned the coin counter we were given, insisting we were just fine with counting by hand, thank you very much.
Geez, what were we thinking?!
But I'm glad I'm not the only one who accepts change kicking and screaming.
(lol, change and coins...pun not intended)

But I digress.
I have a lot of catching up to do here!
Let's start with a belated birthday gift that I received over the weekend.
Three of my friends and I got together on Sunday for the first time all year (how did the time zoom by?).
My friend Tracie handed me a gift bag which held a rectangle wrapped in tissue.
I opened it to find a Willy Wonka chocolate bar, its label saying it may possibly hold a golden ticket.

Tracie sort-of nonchalantly said, "see if you won".
I opened up the candy (yummy, by the way), and look what Tracie had done:
Eek! $50 gift card!
(she sliced the back open, inserted the card, and carefully re-sealed)
I absolutely LOVE whimsical, creative ideas like this.
How fun!

To add fun to my friend Jen's 7-year-old daughter's birthday, I decided to make some cupcakes that looked like her.

The recipe made a dozen, but, um, one disappeared for a quality control check ;).

The blonde hair is made with vanilla chocolate wafers, just like the cupcakes I made for my friend debs last year, only these were less sophisticated.
I think they're fine for a little girl though, and Callie seemed to like them.

I pride myself in baking from scratch.
This time I chose a recipe from Cooks Illustrated Magazine for Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting.
Very good.