The ugly truth about compromise.....I don't like it...

not one little bit. At least I'm grown up enough to admit that about myself. Sunday afternoon dh was working in the living room and I walked in......he said, "At some point I'd like to talk to you about this room." I said, "How about right now, what's up?" He informed me that he has been less than happy with the migratory nature of items that had been in my studio but that had made their way (escaped, if you will) into other areas of the house.
Now, I try to be very judicial in what I allow out of my studio....taking care to pick items that I hope he won't hate....guess I haven't done a very good job of it. So I started to de-clutter our living room. No more hat boxes and suitcases on top of the armoire (ouch, that one hurt).

Out went some of my antique book collection from the mantel (another hurt). I did refuse to take out my stacks of luggage though, because I love them so.
It's hard when one of you is a collector of "stuff" and the other isn't, but then I know I don't need to tell most of you this! My dh loves antiques, just not always the same ones I do...but I must admit in this case I am enjoying the de-clutter and am even getting rid of a few things that I don't absolutely love.
I guess it's called editing your decor, and it's something I hope to enjoy more of in the future.

Some recent antiquing and thrifting finds.....

So I've been fortunate lately with my shopping (not that I "need" anything, but really what does "need" have to do with it, right?) The album above was found at St. Vinnie's for a ridiculous price and I love it because of the ornate frames inside..............very pretty, a nice alternative to the plain ones.

The egg shaped box was found by Melanie when she was here and she let me buy it because she knows I'm a freak for old boxes...didn't even notice what was written on the back until we got it home. OMG, the "Sugar Plum Candy Shop"? Really now, who wouldn't want to shop there. I googled it but unfortunately came up empty, nothing to be found online about it.The little boy and girl statue was 99 cents at Goodwill, not the type of thing I normally buy but thought the pale blue was so pretty!This victorian era book is stunning, wish I would have taken some pics of the inside, it's just beautiful in all it's taped up goodness.Melanie also found this group photo for me, it's signed on the back with all the students signatures...and the hatbox was so pretty it had to come home with me, I especially love the see-thru ones.

Well, gotta run and pick up dd from school, it's beautiful and sunny (for the moment anyway) here, hope you have some sun too! I'll be back soon with my shadowbox project I'm working on...

Is there a Doctor in the house?

So when Melanie was down visiting one of the places we went to was an antique mall in Springfield that she had never been too. I like it because it has a great range of prices, and we actually found quite a bit there of interest, in addition to meeting "Willie" who took us upstairs (What? I didn't even know there was an upstairs!) It was more a storage unit than anything else and he let us "shop" out of it and gave us some great deals. Mel was on the hunt for certain things, one of them being old Doctor's bags. I must admit I had seen this bag several times before when I had visited this mall but never bothered to look inside it. You can bet I'll never make that mistake again! She nabbed it and I saw it and thought, o.k., it's a Doctor's bag, not really what I'd buy, but whatever. Then she asked me if I had looked inside the bag. I said no.....and so she showed me..........

Then I started crying! OMG, just look at it. So from that moment on I basically made the biggest fool out of myself possible, lamenting the fact that I hadn't found it first, etc. Guess I was good at it because she let me have it. And now it's one of my favorite things I own...I'm now deliberating what to showcase inside it....it is pretty fragile so it can't take tons of "handling" but it's such a great smaller size case and I actually think this was a woman's travel valise based on the floral liner inside, don't you think so too?

Some days it just all comes together in a happy way.....

So my best friend Melanie came down from Portland on Monday and Tuesday...we had our usual great time thrifting and antiquing. Once again she told me (about the 400th time I think) that I needed some kind of comfy seating in my studio. It's not for lack of looking, but more the lack of finding "just the right chair". I'm sure you know what I mean....not too expensive, not too 70's looking, not too big, not too small..do I sound like Goldilocks?
Let's just say I had a "vision" of what I want....and yesterday I found it at St. Vinnie's. They were having a furniture sale and all the chairs were lined up in rows......mine stood out like a flower among weeds. She is so very lovely, great shape and legs, tufted back, muted color, no off smell coming from her. I knew she'd clean up great. Oh, and did I mention she was $14.99????!!!!! HUH? Couldn't believe my luck.
I also found a fabulous Victorian photo album ($3.75) and and huge wallpaper book that I almost passed up because it isn't super old but the papers inside are gorgeous and look hand-painted.
They truly look vintage, if I didn't know they came out of this book I'd think they were old.....
Have you found any fab bargains lately?

Some sweet journal love.........

I started this journal quite some time ago, wanting to use a small piece of wallpaper I had for something special, along with the vintage velvet flowers, and the crocheted lace. I can't remember where the ledger came from, but it's such a cool one that I wanted to keep it for special things. I'll probably use it for special pieces of ephemera that I like to collect but otherwise don't really know how to display.....
What would you put in a journal like this?

Fresh new items added to my Etsy.........

So our big auction is over, it went really well (Thank the Great Lord above!) and now things can get back to normal......I've been working on my somewhat neglected Etsy shop and adding some new items..love these old baby albums, this one looks brand spanking new!
The beautiful tags I purchased in digi form from www.tatteredvintage.etsy.com so I've done all the work and she has the prettiest tags evah!
And again with the circus theme that I seem to love lately, this one was fun to make also.
I do hope you're all carving a bit of time out to create something lovely :).
Melanie is supposed to be coming down this week, can't wait, miss you best friend and sooo need your laughter!
Cheers for now......

Are you in need of inspiration...(and who isn't?)....

Ok, I will admit to being a bookstore stalker, I'm in there on an almost daily basis. What am I looking for? Well, I'm glad you asked! I'm searching for INSPIRATION!!!!!!

It's a longing that just rarely goes away......and it's actually been somewhat of a "dry" spell for moi in that department, for a myriad of reasons...my studio is a mess, dh and I have signed on as auction chairs for dd's school auction for the second year in a row, my studio is a mess (wait, did I already mention that?), lack of any real focus, being negative about my art because I don't (in my little bubble of a world) sell what I think is "enough" of it to even justify making more. And just how dumb is that?  I should be making art just for the joy of making art!
Today while perusing at a bookstore I came across this gem of a new book. My heart started beating faster because it's been exactly what I've been searching for....the direction I'd love to go with my art.
I just can't wait to really be able to sit down with this book and start creating...right after I clean up my studio (did I mention it's a mess?).
Thank you to author Annie Lockhart for writing this book!!! I need it so badly right now :).

What a sweetie pie she is!!!!

I'm talking about my dd of course....she's home with the sniffles today so we're getting ready for her big Valentine's Day party at school tomorrow. Then she wanted to also make Valentines for the Principal, the office staff, etc....she had some help from Mom but she did such a great job.
Is there anything sweeter on this earth than a child's valentine? I think not....I hope you all have a very sweet day!!

Circus fun........

So I've been wanting to make a "circus-themed" shadowbox for awhile now.....I went to altered artifacts on Etsy and she had these fabulous digital graphics for download......there is another image, I just haven't finished the artwork yet!
There's just something so fun about the vintage circus images. So much color and whimsy!
I'll be listing this either later tonight or tomorrow on my Etsy shop....hope you stay tuned:)

Thrifting, creating, and journaling......

So I went thrifting yesterday on a whim, and I guess if you go often enough you will find some items you covet....for me it was these three Ribbonette rolls of paper string.....they're so soft and just make for a great display...I doubt I'll ever use them. I also decided to create a Valentine just for myself! I highly recommend doing that every so often :).

I've also been working on an art journal, something I can use for my favorite ephemera pieces...the poem on the front of it is one of my very favorites. This journal is one that I found thrifting about a year ago and haven't used...it's filled with old accounting paper so I've been putting some gesso and paint down and then just gluing items down. I also want to be able to journal a bit in here so I'm trying to leave some room for that as well.
I hope you're all having a great week so far, I personally can't wait for Spring...these dark winter months can be hard to take at times....but lately we've had so many birds chirping, and my favorite of all, my daphne bush is blooming! If you don't have one, well I highly recommend them! It's my favorite flower fragrance of them all.....

A peek at a long overdue makeover........

So, true to form, this is a makeover without the "before" pictures. Trust me, it was ugly! It had paisley curtains behind the ironwork so that you couldn't see what was inside the cabinet (which is fine I guess, if what's inside the cabinet is ugly!) But I decided I needed to show off my prettier china, crystal, and silver, so I took off the curtains and lined the brown, that's right, brown shelves with old sheet music to lighten the whole thing up.
Why it took me this long (15 years) to do it, only God knows for sure, but I know He forgives me...after all, I've had a few other more pressing priorities to deal with...but now every time I walk by my dining room hutch, I smile......so it was worth the time I put into it.
I LOVE putting my personal, and usually unusual "stamp" on my home.
What have you done lately to personalize your home? I love Pottery Barn, but I also love going into someone's home that shows they've really used their imagination to make it their own, don't you?
Thanks for checking in with me...........:), hope you have a great week!

My new favorite old thing.........

So I fell completely and utterly in love with this old hat pincushion that I found on Etsy, from Kathyssewingroom, a lovely little shop with great old sewing notions...I love everything about it, the faded colors, the velvet flowers, the old tulle netting, the satiny fabric.
Almost swooned when I unwrapped it. It hangs right above my work table in my studio so I can gaze upon it each and every day...
Smitten I am......
What are you smitten with lately?