Friday, April 29, 2011

Greenery and Wedding Silliness


Squeezing far too much into a patio planter
last weekend



And enjoying the sight of fresh green leaves
stretching to fill the space in their new home.

I think the thinning will occur naturally with the resident critters (dog, cat)
and volunteer critters (lizards, toads, insects) already taking good interest.

Will attempt to keep up with the watering.
Summer seeming to come in early this year
And the rainy season another month away.

Meanwhile, tho' I can't claim to be one of the early risers to catch all the Royal Wedding coverage on TV
(I woke in time for the vows and hymns and procession back to Buck. Palace)
I did get amused by this Wedding silliness hitting the web...

A friend on Facebook is encouraging us to make up a Royal Wedding name for the big occasion.





Start with Lady (or Lord)

Pick the name of a grandparent for your first name

Use the name of your first pet for your surname

and 'of' should be a street where you lived



So, for today, I'm Lady Rosa Buddy Bert George of Barberry
(curtseying deeply)

and he's Lord Otto Crooked Neck of Old Inlet Bridge
(bowing from the waist)


What's your Royal Wedding name?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Back to the Bag

Thrilling you with my fabulous in-process photography here....


Heh heh

I mean this one....

Structure preview

OH yes...


LOOK at that professional quality backdrop,
that inspired table covering...


Back to the intent, now.....

I'm testing out the structure of this bag with the newly chosen handles.
It's a bit soft and will need some beefing up to "handle" the weight.
(Sorry, couldn't help myself)

That'll require a bit of deconstruction...

Or Frog Stitching...

It's a technical term for removing stitches.
You know,
"Rip it, Rip it"




Monday, April 25, 2011

Closet thrifting - Thrift Share Monday


I have been known to be challenged by too much stuff.
A bit cluttery by nature.
And prone to sequestering the last passion in the closet as I delve into the next passion.



Then there are the moments of frantic tossing away in frustration
of over-stuffed closets.
Which often leads to the big Ooops of "shouldna' done that" and I lose a precious item.
(or two)




Found treasures this week include the bone china poodle (terrier?) Japan figurine
and the melamine creamer/sugar set
from the thrift shop.



And a bigger find...
with the help of my daughter hunting for the camera tripod deep in the bowels of the craft closet...
the fabrics I thought I'd lost!!!

Especially the Heather Ross Lightning Bugs collection,
with the doggies and banana-seat chopper bikes.
Yee Haw!!

(love her fabrics!)

Joining in this week with Selena's Thrift Share Monday

and

You can follow my fledgling etsy shop progress here





Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Greetings...









Playing, today, with some editing software. http://www.picnik.com/

The photos of some Easter cards from family collections.

Happy Easter, folks! Hope you enjoy the egg hunts and chocolate goodies.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Venturing out

My picture taking skills are getting a workout.
I'm improving!

And while chasing the natural light recently, I took great joy in the translucent nature of china (not the country - the pottery material) and how it glows when lit from within!

See, I'm venturing out into the Etsy world with my items for resale (and later on my handmade items). And for that, I felt the need for a different style of photography. A new learning curve!

And so, if you will, take a peek at my fledgling efforts as I expand from my eBay store into the world of Etsy.

Look!!! I even made a button...

www.etsy.com/shop/VintageBitsToo


Monday, April 18, 2011

Three bags full



Baa Baa Black Sheep....well, the nursery rhyme would apply if I'd found wool at a church flea market this weekend.
Instead, I found quite a bit of fabric related bits.



A multitude of piping, binding, rick rack packages (and a cheerful oversized mug).



Including these older versions. I'd not seen the lawn bias trim with included matching threads before.



Vintage set of valances with that washed in softness. I can see them hanging in a camper van - or repurposed into bags.



With an early Easter gathering on Sunday, I found these Otagiri salt and pepper cuties for display.



Along with a slew of Christmas swatches, the $1 bags of fabric included some bigger pieces - like the Robert Kaufman screen print palms and the cartoon plants and insects.



Mostly, the weekend was spent with visiting family - (look how the granddaughter has almost outgrown her grandmother!)

Linking in with Selena's Thrift Share Monday

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

UNCLE!!!!

Inside

Yup - I'm crying UNCLE for today.

My brain is on the fritz with measuring and cutting thrice then making splices - anything to make what I have fit the bag!

And that's besides deciding whether I even like the look resulting from the fabric choices.

Lining installed

Now I'll be going back to tweak the serpent panel. Hand work. Heh heh...

DOH!!! What about the handles.

Sigh....

Next week perhaps!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

conventional little bag


conventional little bag, originally uploaded by jckirner.

Hurriedly assembling today, the outside of this little tote bag. (That's an internal feeling of hurry, elapsed time probably 5 hours!! Which includes staring in indecision, snarling at the overheating sewing machine, forays into email...)

I can feel the weariness in working on the River Serpent. And not wanting to have another little snippet of half-worked stitching hanging on the bulletin board or languishing in the drawer, I've worked on assembling it "into something".

Or at least the outside of something! A rather conventional little tote bag.

And tomorrow - perhaps the inside and handles. Could even finish it!!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Little bits of time

 
Multiple Post Office trips this week meant almost daily tours around the Goodwill shop and bringing home little finds.

(Above, a FireKing mug with bird graphic.)
 

 A cheerful International China Chop plate - Linda pattern, absolutely pristine condition.


 A Bordallo Pinheiro Xmas plate


 Unused Flower Fairies game - such sweet graphics!

And a bit more organization in the guest room warehouse! (oooo, you can see the floor) PLUS, I cleared out 1/2 the closet and added shelves in there. (Yes, that smaller wooden bookcase is a thrift find)

And a wee little thrift story about the quilt in the background of those pictures above.

It almost made the Thrift Ooops list, but there's a happy ending ;-)

Up at the South Florida Fairgrounds Big Garage Sale one summer, friends and I had trolled the aisles for a good couple of hours. Now this is an indoor affair, something that's important when you're living in Florida, especially in the height of humid, rainy , hot summer. That year they'd just doubled the exhibition space size and we'd found ourselves wandering in circles with the new layout.

We were getting weary and ready to hit the road, that "thrift shop" smell was starting to get to us - you know what it's like - a little musty, moldy smell, with a touch of cigarette, the smell of things stored too long, the smell of closed up Florida house with no a/c. Even me, with my greatly compromised sense of smell, had had enough. But we had a few designated dollars still to spend and stuck around.

Yep, I found the quilt - and it was in brilliant unstained condition, no wear. I was ecstatic and scooped it up. Then we packed up and hit the road, stopping at a nearby Quizno's for sandwiches.

Returning to the car 20 minutes later we opened the doors to a wall of stench. Something we bought was stinking. It was the quilt -- reeking of part dog, part cigar. YIKES. How we didn't notice the smell at the point of purchase, I have no idea. I can only put it down to the fact the whole place was smelly and our noses had over-compensated. We just didn't pick out this particular source of smell. Driving home in the heat with the windows down we were certain we'd wash away the smells later.

I did manage to get the smell out. But it took a loooooong time. After 5 washings with regular laundry soap and no improvement, on a whim and last chance effort I flung the quilt in with a bunch of vinegar. TA DAAAA - no smell! Amazing. And another thrifting lesson learned. Do the SNIFF test!!

Joining in, today, with Selena's Thrift Share Monday.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Un-pausing

Un-pausing

Bit by bit - making decisions on what to cut away...

1. off with the white tissue
2. no tissue and the design is subdued
3. Gold stripe silk revealed now what to do with the edges...?
4. Little peeks of the magenta silk
5. More peeks
6. Tweaking the edges to fray
7. Stopping point until later!

I'm not the only one?


Am I?

Who can while away an hour or so...


Ironing out the wrinkles in a length of sari salvage.


Relishing in the shining colors and interplay between strands of flat fabric shards
whether piled on the table


or wrapped around a core.


It can't just be me who gets lost thinking about those who made the fabric, culled the leavings from the factory and huddled over some machine to create this color-joy for me to play with again and again?

Go peek at http://www.leilaniarts.net/ , a vendor at a local quilt show. Supplier of wonderful fibers.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Pausing Before I cut

Pausing

Before I cut

to reveal silk

And reveal the silk below.

Design changes on the go!

This is all scrap-craft. Not scrap as in "garbage"! It's more thrifty usage of some handpainted fabric leftovers, and sari silk salvage.

Thrift and salvage is part of my family's history and way-of-doing-things. Pretty typical for those brought up by WWII era folks that lived with rationing and Victory Gardens. Yep - always had a compost heap at the bottom of the garden for creating that 'black gold' dirt. (Heck - my family in the UK still have their Bomb shelter from the war years down in the garden. Now it's a slightly damp tool storage spot.)

But I'm digressing....more on the little bit of salvage craft then...

So here's the thinking that made me pause:  IF this is to be my River Serpent - Protector of the Waters, THEN perhaps the attack is more Vaporous and less like Fire.

Perhaps I'll leave the tissue paper on for awhile and have a think! The white against all the color background just looks good. (except for the hard line where the tissue is in 2 layers). and I think cutting back to reveal the shiny silk will be color over-kill. Maybe. Perhaps. Undecided.

I think I think too much.

Heh heh.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

River Serpent

Facework 1

Running a little behind in my postings here!

The paints came out of the drawer yesterday morning to work on the face above. This is my River Serpent - protector of the waters.

I worked a bit on that when I had scheduled some photography for eBay and doing some listings. More creative procrastinating!

Belatedly chiming in for Thrift Share Monday below...



With small finds in the Goodwill this week - some mismatched Mikasa and Lenox cup/saucer combos, a wedding swan, and colorful book with great graphics.

Makes me wonder what on Earth I did last week with my time? Where did it all go? Sheesh!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Harry Potter Camping


8 a.m. Saturday morning we hopped aboard the Hogwart's Express


Entering at Platform 9 3/4



Wands were picked...



...and we were sorted into Houses.



Cauldron's were chosen to fill with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.



Yup - a Girl Scout camping event that the sponsor troop themed to Harry Potter's World



where we leaders shadowed the troop through their events.



 (A sacked out camper in her Invisibility Cloak)



Quiditch!!



Campfire, S'mores, and Singing...

A classic outing.
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