Vintage Monday - Smiling Faces

I want you to meet two of Penelope's best friends...Betty and Bisquit.
Do you remember Penelope? I introduced her to you here. ....and by the way, she and Farmer Piggy are married now and have 3 little pigs and are living happily ever after.

This is Bisquit.....she's a vintage "bisquit jar"....I suppose she could be used as a cookie jar also but she's quite small....about 8" tall. These were used to hold crackers or bisquits in the 1930's era.

She's a cute little white mouse with a pink nose and rosy cheeks and x's for eyebrows.

The handles are held on with these yellow flowers on each side. Wouldn't she make a cute purse?

This is the cute yellow bow on her head which doubles as the lid handle.

If you take off her lid...you can see that she holds sweet treats inside.

I found her at a garage sale about 15 years ago and I fell in love with her vintagey sweet face.

I really didn't know what she was or would have been used for but I loved her and bought her anyway.

I did a little research after I brought her home...that's how I found out about the bisquit and crackers.

This is Betty. It's obvious what she is...cute!

I named her Betty because she looks like a Betty to me.

She wears ruby red lipstick and Maybelline mascara and always does her hair up in tight pincurls.

She's actually quite appalled that I make her hold my pink bubble gum.

She thinks bubble gum chewing isn't very lady like and that I should have outgrown it years ago.

Sorry Betty...

Penelope, Bisquit and Betty all live in my studio with me. I think they go together and get along nicely beside each other.

It makes me happy to see thier smiling faces while I work.

Sterling's Summer

Well...now Sterling's summer is officially over. He started school today. That's not the only thing that's over...Elementary School is a thing of the past for him because he started Junior High today....I don't know if I'm ready for this....he is growing up too fast.
It seems like yesterday that it was Ben starting 7th grade...and now he's 27, married and Sophie Belle's daddy.
Above is Sterling in one of the apple trees in our backyard. He is doing his traditional "THE THINKER" pose that he usually does everytime I try to take his picture ...(he thinks it will be funny to have a bunch of pictures with the same pose and this is his chosen favorite) ....he's a typical 12 year old...he likes to tease his Mom.
I know I'm gonna love this picture forever...even with the thinker pose...a kid should always like climbing trees, don't you think?

Last week I was in my studio which overlooks the backyard and saw him on the swings with a few of his buddies. I thought I would capture some of his summer on film.
I asked him if I could take a few pics for his scrapbook pages...and the posing begins.
It's really hard to get a serious picture of Sterling because he is rarely serious!

Obviously he has outgrown our slide...he thinks it's funny to use it anyway...anything for a laugh.

I caught him by suprise on this one...no silly grin.

See what I mean about the posing?

And the silly faces?

He's jumping here but you can't tell because I didn't get his feet in...too tall for the camera...really too tall for a 12 year old - he's 5 foot 8.

This is Matt and Mark...two of the six 12 year olds that regularly hangout at our house on a daily basis.

They decided to join in the photo session.

Good friends are a good thing.

Crazy friends are even better.

They're ALL too big for the swings...I think that's kind of sad...these 3 have been buds since 3rd grade and I can remember back then watching them play in the backyard through my studio window, they fit on the swings then... ...big sigh.

Don't get me wrong...it's exciting to watch them grow up but remember, I've been through this before with Ben and I now know that as I am watching Sterling grow up....I'm also watching the end of his childhood....sad but true.

I enjoy having Sterlings friends here but now it's the end of summer and I must say I'm looking forward to having the house to myself during the day...which means a little peace and quiet.

No loud video games...

No deafening electric guitar playing...

No running up and down the stairs and in and out of the house about 50 times per hour...

No air soft gun wars with all of the battle gear left everywhere...

No basketballs banging against the garage door...

No tents, tables, chairs & yes quilts strewn all over the back yard for huts

No bikes piled up behind my car...

No girls screaming because the boys are teasing them...

and I might actually have some food left in my freezer, fridge and pantry at the end of the day.

All that's good right?....I'm still a little sad.

Vintage Monday - More Silver and a Shoe

I wanted to show you a few things that I have found a couple of weeks ago to add to my
never ending collections......I went to an antique shop in my area called
The Lavender House...everything there is 40% off right now....so of course I had to check it out...(a couple of times!)

I found a pink sparkly shoe...now isn't it just adorable....Do you remember the old crochet shoes? Did your Grandma crochet them? Mine did.

A little bit of a closer look.

I've collected shoes for a long time and most of them are in my bedroom but here are 3 that are in my livingroom which is where the pink shoe will go.

Now for the silver....as I told you before, we use vintage silver in our kitchen and I pick up a few pieces here and there at thrift stores as I find them.

I have never bought any at an antique shop before as it can be pricey.....

But I fell in love with these 2 tiny silver pickle forks mainly because they each have an "H" monogram....and with the 40% off, they were a bargain.

And two matching silver bud vases. I think it will be fun to cut flowers from the garden and place one on each side of the silver candlestick (with candles lit) from my last thrifting trip for the Sunday Dinner table....look how graceful they are.

I also found this very heavy & very wonderful vintage silver box...I love the shape of it and it will go next to another one that I already have in my livingroom.

Do any of you out there like silver like I do? There's just something about the patina of vintage silver that I love...it can be plain or elaberate...I like the fact that it comes from the earth and we have been making it into beautiful and useful things for centuries...now thats Vintage!

Flower Show

Summer is just about over for me and I'm trying to get every minute of enjoyment out of it that I can. For me, that means the garden.
As you know, my flowers bring me so much pleasure...I hope this post will give you just a taste of why.
I love to plant for color and size and texture in a huge variety...just like my quilts! Yes, I definetly have a patchwork garden....that's the way I like it....very cottage.
Over the weekend we had a very nice rain and the flowers recieved a good drink.
As soon as the rain stopped, I took the opportunity to take some pictures to keep for the long winter months ahead......these are only some of them....enjoy.

Along with an abundance of flowers....I also have an abundance of weeds...but look how beautiful even this dandilion is close up....I want to give credit where credit is due.

I am constantly amazed at the beauty that our Father has created for us to enjoy on this earth...so breathtaking with every view, even down to the tiniest of blooms....thank you to the creator of all.