The Verandah

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T11:32:00.006-04:00

Baba Yaga

Baba's house with chicken feet

Happy Halloween

I finished her just in time for Halloween. She has a staff of purple heart and a gourd purse for collecting mushrooms.

Bear Shadow

2011-10-25T11:00:00.005-04:00

Bear Shadow

The Bear Shadow is here again in the mountains. He visits for a time in October and a time in February. It's the shadow of Whitesides Mountain which is sacred to the Cherokee. This area was all part of the Cherokee Nation in the 18th century.

Finished Plates

2011-10-14T08:39:00.003-04:00

In the Garden with Grandma

Monte and Jane

Finished!

New Witch

2011-10-12T18:25:00.004-04:00

Witchy head

Witch

This is the new witch I'm working on.
She will be a little bigger than Baba Yaga.

Baba Yaga

2011-10-05T17:18:00.003-04:00

Baba and her house

More progress on my Baba Yaga and her house with chicken feet.

Something New

2011-10-04T18:08:00.005-04:00

Old crone

Her better side

I decided to try something new and take a sculpture class. My friend is teaching it and we started yesterday. The assignment was to make a witch and I didn't know if I would like sculpture, but I love it! She is going to be Baba Yaga and I am making her house with chicken feet as well. I'll finish her in class tomorrow.

New Plate

2011-09-26T10:35:00.004-04:00

Monte and Jane

Detail

I just finished this plate and it is waiting to be bisque fired.

Empty Bowls

2011-09-05T23:00:00.004-04:00

Throwing bowls

Throwing bowls

Ready to trim

We are still working on the empty bowls.

Empty Bowls

2011-08-31T17:18:00.005-04:00

Empty bowls

Bubble bowl

Glazes

We are busy throwing pots at the Barn for our local Empty Bowls Event. We are contributing 600 bowls and have about 250 done. Here is the first load out of the kiln. I blew bubbles in the glaze to make the bubble bowl.

Nature Tiles

2011-08-21T10:22:00.002-04:00

Nature tiles

Mushroom tile

These are my latest tiles. I've been doing a nature series.

Walking in Bear Meadow

2011-08-15T21:01:00.010-04:00

When I was in Pennsylvania we went to Bear Meadow to pick wild blueberries.

Blueberries

Picking in the bog

We found blackberries too

Soon it will be time to pick these elderberries

We came upon this doe

We went to Whipple's Dam to hang out on the beach and paddle around in a canoe.

The path

Walking around Whipple's Dam in Pennsylvania.
This from my visit last month.

Sir Walter Raleigh

2011-08-10T08:26:00.003-04:00

Ship

Here is a plate I carved from a picture of Sir Walter Raleigh's ship. I think it was called the Falcon.

Sideshow

2011-08-08T18:54:00.004-04:00

Amazon Snake Charmer Plate

Behold the snake charmer! This is based on a sideshow banner by Fred G. Johnson from the 60's.

Pottery

2011-08-07T22:11:00.004-04:00

Treebeard

Bowl

Bowl

Bowl

My niece came to see me and we made some pots. She made this great face mug and called it Treebeard the Ent. It turned out beautifully. I decided I needed some bowls so I made these. The glazes turned out great!

Lily Pond Paintings

2011-08-06T19:40:00.005-04:00

Water Lilies

The lily pond

Water lilies

Here are the paintings of the lily pond. The first two are finished and the third needs a little more work. It was a lovely day!

Water Lilies

2011-07-30T13:40:00.015-04:00

I spent the day painting water lilies Wednesday. My friend M has a pond covered with beautiful lilies. Breathtaking!

Water lilies

Pink lilies

Clouds reflected in the water

Painting at the edge of the pond

Water lilies

The remains of an old dock

I spotted several types of mushrooms on the path down to the water.

Little bright orange mushrooms

I think this is a beefsteak mushroom

White mushroom

We were also treated to a lovely lunch al fresco!
Spicy shrimp, fruit and vegetables, vichyssoise, Parmesan toast, served with delicious Bloody Mary's. And chocolate eclairs!

Spicy shrimp

Flowers picked fresh from the garden

It was a perfect day.

Wildflowers by the pond

coming soon: my paintings...

My Grandmother

2011-07-25T18:30:00.003-04:00

Sitting with Grandma

I'm working on another plate. With me, my sister, my brother and our Grandma.

Swimming

2011-07-24T09:52:00.003-04:00

Swimming in Wolf Creek

Glazed!

Grandma's House

2011-07-09T16:38:00.006-04:00

Grandma's House - Janis

Grandma's House - Jane

Jonathan's Birthday Cake

I got these out of the kiln today! Very pleased with the way they fired.

Family Plates

2011-06-25T20:23:00.006-04:00

Swimming in Wolf Creek

Klinker Pup

Grandpa's Pickup

Playing Dress-up

These are some of the plates I made this week. Now they need to be fired and glazed.
Summer on Grandma's farm in Texas was the best!

Sombrero Sisters

2011-06-22T19:42:00.001-04:00

Sombreros Plate

This is the finished plate.

Brother and Sister Plate

2011-06-22T19:18:00.002-04:00

Brother and Sister plate

This plate features my Grandmother Thelma, her brother and sister, mother and Grandmother.

The Raven

2011-06-21T19:22:00.004-04:00

The Raven tile

This is a stoneware tile I just listed in my Etsy shop.

Cups and Vases

2011-06-18T17:20:00.009-04:00

Crow cups

Crow cups

These are some new crow cups that came out of the kiln today.

Grandma's House - Jane

Grandma's House - Janis

Grandma's Garden

Grandma's House is a vase that has a portrait of me on one side and my sister Jane on the other.
Grandma's Garden has a portrait of me and my brother with a basket of vegetables from the garden. These are still in progress. We loved spending the summers on our Grandparent's farm.

Crow Plate

2011-06-17T17:31:00.003-04:00

Five crows

Another crow plate - another murder!

Crow Cups

2011-06-16T08:28:00.003-04:00

Little crow cups

Crow cups

I hand-built these cups from porcelain. They have black crows with red interiors.

Sombreros

2011-06-12T13:49:00.005-04:00

Sombreros on sisters

This is a platter with a drawing of my Grandmother and Great-aunt when they were teenage girls. It's white stoneware with black underglaze.

Ship

2011-06-08T21:58:00.002-04:00

Ship

This is Sir Walter Raleigh's ship on a plate of white stoneware.

Crow Plate

2011-06-07T09:31:00.003-04:00

Crow plate

I've started a series of crow plates. They are about 18 inches wide and made of white stoneware with black underglaze. They are finished with a glossy clear glaze.

Murder of Crows

This is a plate in progress.

Sideshow

2011-06-06T07:44:00.006-04:00

I've started a series of cups with a circus sideshow theme. The designs are based on vintage freak-show banners. These are white stoneware with black underglaze ready to be bisque fired.

Sideshow cups

Snake charmer

Tattooed lady

Three legged chicken and Alligator girl

I also did the bearded lady and the fat lady. I'll post more when they are glazed.

Clay

2011-06-05T21:11:00.006-04:00

Starling tile

Chickadee tile

Batgirl tile

I've started working with clay again and it feels great!

Nature Walk

2011-05-21T17:23:00.011-04:00

It's been awhile since I last posted! It's beautiful out so I took a nature walk today.
I'm trying to identify the wild flowers here.

These little white bells are lovely.

White star shaped flowers

Clover

Pretty light purple flower

I think this is a mountain laurel

A tree that beavers worked on by the lake

These look like little teeth

A snake on the path

Happy Spring everyone!

I've Been Sewing

2010-12-08T21:00:00.004-05:00

Winter woods pillow

T-shirt bag

T-shirt bag

T-shirt bag

I've been doing some sewing and added these to my shop. All made from recycled materials.

Featured in Retro Handmade

2010-11-22T20:46:00.004-05:00

Red Mushroom Home

My little house was featured on the Retro Handmade blog today!
Thanks Lisa!

Pumpkin

2010-11-16T14:12:00.008-05:00

Pumpkin soup with garlic cream

Roasted pumpkin seeds

Baked pumpkin

Yesterday I got 7 pumpkins to store and last through the winter, and baked one today. I roasted the seeds too - delicious! I'm going to make some soup and a pie.

I just made the soup and it was pretty easy. Here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Soup

2 c pumpkin pulp
1 c water
1 chicken bullion cube
salt
pepper
curry
garlic
cayenne pepper
cumin

Heat the pulp, water and bullion on medium heat. Blend with a stick blender (if you don't have one put it in your blender or food processor). Then add the spices to taste. I just sprinkled a dash of everything. I topped it off with some garlic cream I had leftover from a party. Very tasty!

Garlic Cream

2 heads garlic
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 c parmesan
salt
splash of milk

Cut the tops off of the 2 heads of garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for an hour at 400. Let them cool and then squeeze the garlic out into a bowl. Mix together with the cream cheese. Add parmesan and salt and mix. I do this with a fork but you can use a hand mixer if you like. Add a little milk to make it spreadable. Serve with crackers (or put it on your soup!). I made water crackers with caraway seeds to serve with it.

Owl Cozy

2010-11-11T19:54:00.005-05:00

Owl cozy for french press

Keeping warm

Handmade cozy

I made this owl french press cozy from recycled clothing. It has polyfil and mylar sandwiched in the middle for optimum insulation. And I added magnets for the closure, they are sewn inside the material. It works really well and keeps the coffee hot!

Kale Chips

2010-10-31T13:13:00.009-04:00

Kale

Wash the leaves

Tossed in oil

Baked chips

I made some kale chips this afternoon. They are delicious! And very easy to make.
I bought two kale plants for decoration outside and decided to start eating them. If you pick off a few leaves everyday to eat, buying the plant works out to be much cheaper than buying a bunch at the grocery store. Next year I need to plant them in the garden.
If you need to eat more leafy greens this is a good way to do it.

Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tahini sauce
2 cloves garlic minced
dash salt
dash cayenne pepper

Wash and dry the kale. Tear into pieces and put in a mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients and toss together. Spread the leaves out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Making Crackers

2010-10-13T12:25:00.010-04:00

Homemade crackers

Mix the flour, water and oil

Add the cheese

Roll out the crackers

Swiss garlic, swiss pepper, and cheddar pecan crackers

These crackers are light and delicious! And very easy to make. Here is the recipe:

Homemade Crackers

3 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 c water
1/3 c oil
1 1/2 c shredded cheese
sea salt

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. If you want to add any herbs or pepper add it now (eg. 1 tsp garlic, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp dill, 1 tsp oregano, etc.)
Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the water and oil. You can use different kinds of oil for more flavor. I used Walnut oil. Stir with a wooden spoon. Then mix the cheese in by hand. Roll out very thin on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. I found it easier to roll out strips of dough than to roll out the whole mass.
Bake for 10 minutes (or until brown) at 350. Break into pieces to serve. Great with soup!
I added pecans to one batch - you can add 1/2 c of any kind of nuts for more crunch.

You'll be amazed at how simple and addictive these are.

Sweet Potatoes and Sage

2010-10-08T21:44:00.007-04:00

I made this dish today for lunch and it was yummy!

Sage from my mother's garden

Sweet Potatoes

Saute

Steam

Serve

My son was over for lunch and he is a vegetarian so I made this dish for him. It's really good so you might want to try it.

Sweet Potatoes and Sage

1 large sweet potato
6 sage leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 c water
2 tbsp butter

Shred the sweet potato - I like to use my food processor. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute the sage leaves. Add sweet potatoes to the pan and saute about 10 minutes. Boil some water in a tea kettle. Make a well (a space in the middle) in the sweet potatoes and pour about a cup of the water in the middle. This will steam the potatoes. Stir around until the water evaporates. Then add the butter and serve with the sage leaves. 2 servings

This is a great fall dish.

Getting Ready for Halloween

2010-10-05T16:58:00.007-04:00

Halloween - it's the most wonderful time of the year!

Scaredy cat

Young zombie couple

Mr. and Mrs. Pumpkinhead

Here are a few things I've been working on for Halloween. Some can be seen in my shop Picturama. It's getting cold here and the leaves are falling. I just hope it doesn't snow like last year!

Shopping

2010-09-22T11:10:00.005-04:00

I'm listing some new things in my shops today.

Vintage paperweight

Antique Lidded Soup Tureen

Linen pumpkins

The paperweight is charming. It has a picture of 2 ducks landing on a winter pond. The tureen is very nice and comes with a ladle. I made the 2 pumpkins out of recycled linen and gave them brown wool sweater stems. Feel free to shop!

Little Quail

2010-09-20T14:32:00.005-04:00

Little Quail Pillow

Quail detail

I just finished this pillow and put it in my shop. It's free-hand machine embroidery with hand embroidered accents.

Rose Hips

2010-09-20T11:10:00.005-04:00

Rose hip jelly

I just finished canning a batch of rose hip jelly. It has a sort of appley taste and a pretty amber color.

Wild Grapes

2010-09-18T15:11:00.009-04:00

Wild grape jam

Delicious!

We found some wild grape vines in the park and brought home a bag full to make jam.
The grape flavor is so intense and reminds me of the beautiful fall day we looked up and saw all those grape clusters growing on the vines in the willow tree by the creek.
Go out and look for wild grapes in your neighborhood. If you find some make some jam. Here is the recipe:

Wild Grape Jam

1 bag of grapes (5 c juice)
7 c sugar
1 box of pectin

Pick as many grape clusters as will fill a plastic grocery bag. Don't worry about the stems, you will strain them out later. Put the grapes in a big bucket and cover with water. Let this sit over night, it will kill the bugs and they will float to the top. Pour off the water and rinse them again. Pick out any green grapes and the large stems.
Take a large stock pot and put the grape clusters in it, and just cover with water. As you go, pick out any grapes that are damaged or shriveled.
Bring to a low boil and mash with a potato masher for 10 minutes. Let this cool. Strain the grape juice into a bowl. Use the masher to try to get all the juice out. Discard or compost the stems, skins, and seeds.
Measure 5 cups of the grape juice and put in a stock pot. Stir in the box of pectin and bring to a boil. Measure 7 cups of sugar into a bowl and have it ready to pour into the pot all together. When the pectin and juice is all mixed together, pour the sugar in and bring to a rolling boil while stirring. Boil for exactly one minute, then remove from heat. Pour into clean sterile jars and process in a water bath for 10 minutes. This will make 8 or 9 half pint jars of jam.

Fall Foraging

2010-09-16T12:18:00.011-04:00

Fall is here and it is foraging season! My sister and I have been out in the fields and hedgerows looking for fruit to make into syrups and jellies.

Elderberry syrup

We found a lot of elderberries and made syrup. It has a beautiful garnet color.

Boiling elderberries for syrup

Mashing the berries

The syrup can be used in many ways. Over pancakes and waffles, added to club soda for a sparkling drink, added to white wine for a fruit punch, and I will make some of it up into jelly.
I used it in the Spicy Pear dessert I made for my daughter when she came for a visit and it was delicious! This is based on a medieval dish I read about. Here is the recipe:

Spicy Elderberry Pears

4 pears
3 c red wine
3 tbsp elderberry syrup
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
3 peppercorns

Peel and core the pears and place in sauce pan. Pour wine and syrup over them. Add the cinnamon, cloves, and pepper corns. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the pears begin to soften. Serve them hot and the pears will be pink, or let them cool and put them in the refrigerator overnight and the pears will absorb more wine and be dark purple. I like to serve them over Greek yoghurt.

Spicy elderberry pears

We also found a lot of crabapples and made them into jam.

Crabapple jam

Crabapple jam

This stuff is yummy! We found several different types of crabapples and mixed them all together. This jam is a pretty pinky peach color and tastes very appley.
We also picked wild grapes, highbush cranberries, and rose hips. Those will all be made into jams and jellies too.

I've Been Stalked!

2010-09-02T17:08:00.003-04:00

The blog Etsy Stalker featured my Meh Robot pin today.

Meh Robot

Thanks Beatrice and Violet!

Tree Pillow

2010-09-02T09:25:00.004-04:00

Tree pillow

I've been doing more free hand machine stitching. This is done on recycled linen in black thread and sewn into a little pillow.

Eggplant Dinner

2010-08-31T12:52:00.008-04:00

I have lots of eggplants now so I decided to try some new recipes for them.
Spicy Eggplant Rolls
Eggplant Stir Fry
Eggplant Bruschetta

Eggplants, plums and parsley

I grilled slices for the eggplant rolls

Eggplant rolls with spicy tomato sauce

Fried eggplant for the stir fry

I roasted the eggplant and a head of garlic for the bruschetta

Roasted plums

Everything was delicious! For dessert I roasted plums with a little olive oil and brown sugar and served it over greek yoghurt.

Peach Pie

2010-08-27T22:13:00.004-04:00

Pie

My daughter made a peach pie and sent me this picture.
Doesn't it look delicious? I can tell she was sitting out on her balcony overlooking a row of Oak trees.

A Sparrow

2010-08-05T14:00:00.006-04:00

Sparrow with color

Sparrow

A new embroidery I'm working on - free hand machine embroidery. It's black thread on linen. I'll add some color with embroidery floss.
I think I'll make it into a pillow.

Gray Woods Pillow

2010-08-05T13:00:00.003-04:00

Pillow - woods with a cardinal

I just finished this wool pillow - a commission for a friend. Charcoal gray wool with white and red felt.

Poppy Progress

2010-08-02T19:55:00.003-04:00

Poppy field

Done with the machine. Now to decide how to finish it.

Poppies

2010-08-02T13:47:00.003-04:00

Poppies in a field

Machine embroidery experiment

I've been wanting to try embroidering on my sewing machine, so I decided to sew some poppies in a field on an old piece of denim. So far I really like it. I'll do black in the center of the poppies and maybe add some black glass seed beads. More to come later.

To a Good Home

2010-08-02T12:39:00.004-04:00

The Tapestry chairs

Ready for their trip

The two tapestry chairs are ready for their trip today! They were sold in my TaffeeToes shop on Etsy and are traveling to Louisiana on a Greyhound bus. Very exciting!

A Walk in the Woods

2010-07-29T10:32:00.003-04:00

Red cap mushroom

Black mushrooms

I had visitors a few days ago and we went for a hike in the woods. It was a perfect day for it. We found wild blue berries and lots of interesting mushrooms. I'm trying to identify the black ones.

Chickens

2010-07-11T21:48:00.004-04:00

The Boalsburg Chickens

Here is another picture of our village chickens.

Becca's Party Updated

2010-07-11T14:06:00.002-04:00

The party

This is the updated party on the Verandah - for Kasey!
It was great!

Becca's Party

2010-07-08T07:58:00.003-04:00

On the Verandah

It's Arts Fest Weekend and we're getting ready to party here in Boalsburg.
This is how I see it, with Katie and Becca.

Pins in France

2010-07-04T15:57:00.004-04:00

Be Mine

Poe

Some of my pins traveled to France where artist Mary embellishes them with her crochet work, ribbons, lace and feathers. Sweet!

The Verandah Garden

2010-07-04T13:52:00.006-04:00

Queen Anne's Lace

I found some wildflowers in the garden. Queen Anne's Lace is one of my favorites.

Ox-eye Daisy

There are a lot of these too.

Red Nightshade

I was wondering what this purple flower was. When the red berries came out I realized it was Red Nightshade. They are going in the trash!

Red Nightshade

Red Nightshade

Visit

2010-07-01T08:12:00.007-04:00

Walk in the woods

My daughter came for a visit and we had a lovely time. We went for a walk in the woods, collected wild blueberries, went antiquing, and had a dinner party.

Ghost flower

Blueberry bush

Delicious!

Drinks

We made Watermelon Basil drinks and threw in a few of the blueberries. Very yummy!
It was over much too soon.

Container Garden

2010-06-10T09:44:00.005-04:00

Mint and Red Runner Beans

My little Garden

I started a little container Garden on the side deck. I have tomatoes, basil, mint, cilantro and beans. So far having it next to the house has helped to keep night nommers away. I also put some eggplant in the back garden. Hopefully the bunnies will leave me some!

Lily

2010-06-08T11:08:00.002-04:00

Lily

The lilies Katie planted last summer are coming back!

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T08:50:00.011-04:00

Boalsburg Memorial Day

Another beautiful Memorial Day in Boalsburg!

German Polka Band

Pizza

The Verandah

Family, friends, good food, live music, craft booths and a cookout in the yard.
Everyone had a great time!

The Boalsburg Rooster

2010-05-01T11:28:00.001-04:00

Mr. Rooster

My regular visitor - lately he's been hanging around in the afternoons.

The Past

2010-04-09T15:39:00.002-04:00

Boalsburg Village, 1895

This is a picture of the Diamond in 1895. The Verandah is the house on the left.

The Past

2010-04-08T09:03:00.006-04:00

Julia Swinehart and Katie Corl

The Swineharts owned the Verandah from 1845 to 1895. Their daughter Julia was born here and this picture was taken around 1865. I found a family member in Texas who had this picture and I'm trying to identify who is who. There are lots of Corls still living in this area and I'm hoping one of them can help me. Unfortunately Julia died young. She is buried with her parents 2 blocks away in the Lutheran Churchyard.

Letter dated 1865

I found this letter in the walls when I remodeled and it refers to Julia and her mother Maria.

The Diamond

2010-03-26T10:57:00.004-04:00

The Boalsburg chickens

It's a beautiful Spring day and the Village chickens are enjoying the Diamond!

Red Bird

2010-03-11T08:59:00.002-05:00

Sachet

A little red bird lavender sachet.

Beaded Bag

2010-02-28T09:00:00.003-05:00

Beaded clutch

Beaded clutch

I just got this beautiful bag in the shop. It's from the 60's and in perfect condition. It's entirely hand beaded - one of those things I want to keep for myself!

New Slippers

2010-02-27T08:39:00.006-05:00

Wool slippers

Tea cozy

Tea cozy

The Diamond

I made myself some new red wool slippers. Trying to stay warm!
And I made a cozy for my teapot out of a gray wool sweater with cotton fabric inside. I put a mylar liner in it and the tea stays sooooo hot!
And it's snowing again:-)

Silver

2010-02-23T11:59:00.006-05:00

Cream and sugar

Salt and pepper - sterling

Sterling salt and peppers

Clam shells

Here are some new things in the shop. I really like old silver.
And the clam shells make great little plates for fish or dessert.

A New Class

2010-02-19T11:38:00.004-05:00

Wine glass charms

New in the Shop

2010-02-18T12:50:00.006-05:00

New window

Spring shop

New clothes

Hats!

We're changing it up here at the Verandah! I now carry clothing designed by Kasey at kay.em.kay. She designs and handmakes all the clothing herself using new and vintage materials. We also have her purses and hats. Come in and see!

In the Shop

2010-02-16T09:02:00.003-05:00

Changing the walls

Spring!

We're changing the shop - Spring is coming early to the Verandah!
Stay tuned...

Teapot Cozies

2010-02-12T09:27:00.006-05:00

Tea cozies

Tea cozies

I've been making teapot cozies out of felted wool sweaters. The padding is two layers of batting with a thin layer of mylar sandwiched in between. Mylar is the stuff they make space suits out of and it really keeps the tea hot! And then I lined them with cotton fabric. I made one for myself too. Nice hot cups of tea!

Sweater Blanket

2010-02-11T14:39:00.003-05:00

Sweater blanket

This is a new blanket I'm working on. Now I just need to bind it.

More Snow

2010-02-08T11:19:00.003-05:00

The Boalsburg Diamond

The streets are clear today but the snow is really piling up! Still, it's a beautiful day.
I'm doing artwork on the computer and trying to keep warm.

Snow!

2010-02-06T11:44:00.002-05:00

The Boalsburg Diamond

We got a lot of snow last night. Thank God my neighbor shoveled my sidewalk this morning because I couldn't have done it! I can't even open my back door. So the shop will be opened today. Yeah!

Buttons!

2010-02-04T11:57:00.003-05:00

Buttons

Boalsburg

I've been making buttons for the shop. And if we get all the snow this weekend that they're talking about, I'll stay in and make lots more. FYI my village, Boalsburg, is the birthplace of Memorial Day!

Kitchen

2010-02-02T08:54:00.011-05:00

My kitchen really needs to be remodeled so I've been looking at pictures online. I am really drawn to the candy colored confection that is the kitchen of the 50's.
I would love to have one that looked liked one of these!

Vintage kitchens

I could probably get everything I needed at the dump!

Buttons for the Shop

2010-01-31T18:09:00.004-05:00

Vintage

Vespa

Literature

These are some of the buttons I made for the shop.

Boalsburg Fire Co.

2010-01-29T13:17:00.003-05:00

Fire Co. buttons

Our village Fire Co. is all volunteer and Duffy's, the tavern down the street is holding a fund raiser for them next month. All the businesses are donating things for a silent auction so I made these pinback buttons for them. If you would like one come by the shop. They are $2.50 and the money goes to the Alpha Fire Co.

Pockets

2010-01-28T13:59:00.004-05:00

Valentine's Day Pockets

Valentine's Day Pockets

I made some pockets yesterday for small Valentine's Day gifts. Just put the gift in and hang it on their doorknob. Made from my vintage scraps and embellished with vintage buttons.

2010-01-27T15:17:00.002-05:00

Cards and gift boxes

Cards

Today I worked on packaging for my button shop Picturama. I wanted them to have a vintage carnival feel. I picked kraft boxes and tied them with red ribbon that has a white line embroidered on the sides. I really like the way they turned out.

Pink Scraps

2010-01-24T13:33:00.005-05:00

Pink scrap ball

Pink cuff

Today I got out the pink cotton scraps and made a scrap hexagon ball and a cuff. The cuff is from a western style shirt and has pink roses and an olive green vine pattern. I sewed a yellow cotton flower with a pink wool center on it. It also has a vintage red button on it.

Another Pot Holder

2010-01-22T10:50:00.002-05:00

Pot holder

I made this square holder to go with the two hats I made already.

Cat Toy

2010-01-22T10:36:00.002-05:00

Delicious fish

Ummm

I made a new catnip toy - a dead fish. It's Kitty approved!

Pot Holder

2010-01-21T11:04:00.003-05:00

Pot holder

Hand stitched

Made from a vintage shirt

I needed some new pot holders and found a tutorial here on Mairuru's blog.
She makes beautiful stuff. Mai calls these fairy hat pot holders. Love it!
I'm making these out of a vintage cotton men's shirt and padding it with fiberfil batting. Completely hand sewn! Thanks Mai!

Valentine's Day

2010-01-20T14:52:00.007-05:00

Wearables - cuffs and pendants

My new line of cards

Felt flowers

Felt flowers

Getting ready for Valentine's Day in the shop. I'm using my vintage buttons for the flower centers.

Cuff

2010-01-20T12:12:00.004-05:00

Floral cuff

Vintage button

Here is another new cuff in the shop. This is one of my best vintage buttons.

New Floral Cuff

2010-01-19T14:46:00.004-05:00

Floral cuff

Floral cuff

I started working on some new cuffs today. Here is one made from a vintage western style shirt embellished with cotton and wool scraps and a vintage button. Very Springy.

Fabric Scraps

2010-01-18T11:31:00.004-05:00

Scrap ball

Scrap ball

Yesterday was dark and rainy all day. I thought working with my scraps might brighten things up so I made a ball out of pentagons. I used the old fashion method of paper piecing - slow but exact. I also started some bags made with hexagons. I'll post them when finished. Today I'm off to do some thifting...

Makin' Bacon

2010-01-16T12:59:00.005-05:00

Bacon bag

Bacon bag

I got this red messenger bag and wanted to paint on it - it said I want bacon!
So I cut a stencil and got out the white paint. The bacon is done!

Wine Charms

2010-01-15T12:25:00.005-05:00

Wine Charms

Wine Charms

More wine charms for the shop.

Charming

2010-01-14T17:45:00.004-05:00

Wine Glass Charms

Charms

I made some of the small pendants into wine charms today. Now your drunk friends can keep track of their glass. Just doing my part to cut down on flu transmission!

Buttons

2010-01-13T13:58:00.004-05:00

Be mine

The Owl King

Valentine's buttons

I'm starting to get ready for Valentine's Day and these are some of the buttons I've made. I've been wanting a button maker for awhile and I thought this would be a good excuse to buy one. I need it for the shop! I also had some cards printed. Now I need to cut out some hearts. Just like third grade!

Denim Purse

2010-01-11T09:49:00.003-05:00

Blue Jean purse

Sewing it shut

I decided to turn the weaving into a purse, so I turned the corners up to the top and sew them up with a strip of denim. I had a knit blue belt that I attached as the strap and embellished with buttons. Now onto the next one!

Weaving

2010-01-10T14:09:00.010-05:00

Woven denim jeans using a triangle loom

Denim weaving, getting started

Denim weaving

Denim weaving

Denim weaving, half done

Denim weaving, done

Denim weaving

My daughter is going to start weaving so I got out my triangle loom to show her. I haven't used it in about 10 years so I had to relearn everything. I made a couple of pieces with yarn first and then I decided to use the denim scraps I have left over from the denim vessels. I really like the way it turned out. It's really heavy and I think it would make a good rug or place mats. I need to make some more and piece them together.

In the Shop Today

2010-01-09T14:28:00.003-05:00

One of Kitty's favorite things - wool

Cam visiting the shop

I'm unraveling a sweater and Kitty is helping. She loves wool. This is the same sweater I used to make the neck warmers.
My daughter and her friend Cam came to visit the Verandah and Boalsburg. Above he is modeling one of the vintage illustration pendants.