Indulge Your Shelf

Since mid-month I've been thinking, The best thing this month can do is end .  Yesterday, thanks to my buddy Rebecca, I spent the better part of the day here: It was like a mini-vacation.  I like to lay by the pool in my community, but this club she belongs to has a real "resort" feel at mid-day on a hot Tuesday.  I'm slowly beginning to come back to myself after what has been a really trying few weeks. The other day, I managed to finish up a journal I'd begun months ago. I especially like the back cover (above.) It's filled with the usual... ephemera... and playful touches. It's available now in my handmade Etsy shop . I'm looking forward to something tomorrow night: I'm planning to attend Jeanne Oliver's Summer Soiree ; she lives about an hour north of me is and such a sweet, fun person as you may know if you've ever taken a class from her or even if you just read her blog!  What should I wear? How about this?  (Wink!) (See?  I'm be...

I recently made the 90 minute drive up to Wheatridge, Colorado to meet my buddy Suzanne at The Brass Armadillo. It's the first time I've ever been to one of the Brass Armadillo antique malls . It was huge.  The store is so big that I couldn't see it all in the time allotted, but that's okay.  I wasn't really trying to see it all, just the best stuff. The first thing I saw that I found really inspiring was this wonderful embellished dress.  It was hanging near the snack bar they have in there, which serves very good coffee drinks, snacks, and lunch.  How convenient is that? This store's aisles are named for states; the store is a co-op, so all the booths are by different vendors.  This one specialized in Pyrex and vintage kitchen items. There were a lot of pretty displays, like this wicker chair that would have looked right at home on my back patio... and this lovely print, which reminds me of the art you see engraved on coins. This gal made cute button bou...

Take a look at some of the sweetness I've received in the mail lately: This twine on a lovely old wooden spool was a gift from Hope to celebrate 200 posts on her blog! This sweet little pink box was a little surprise from LuLu , another button lover! LuLu has recently discovered my other blog, Button Floozies ! And I've loved receiving cards and notes from so many of you, to cheer me after my recent loss.  It means the world to me -- you have no idea.  Thank you. I wanted to show you some of the unique antique wallpaper I was lucky enough to find at a recent estate sale.  The sellers had an inkling of its value, so I didn't get it for cheap -- but isn't it wonderful?!  It has a great texture and is quite delicate.  I'm selling a large roll of it in my Etsy shop . Then this one: it's scenes from what looks to me like a New England coastal village.  I love the little boats!  Jeanelle mentioned that you hardly ever see old wallpaper that's reall...

Summer's been over at our house since Ben went back to school on August 1, but I'm having trouble letting go.  Luckily, the weather's still been great around here.  It's Dennis' last few days at his old job, so he agreed to go out to a Sky Sox baseball game Saturday night, even though he knew we'd get home late and he'd have to be up very early for work.  How's that for a short -timer's attitude?  I love it! Dennis and the Garlic Cheese Fries Here we are all ready for the 3D fireworks show after the game!  Unfortunately, the game went into a tie-breaker inning (we won) and by the time it ended, the rain had started and the fireworks were cancelled.  Boo! I thought mascot Sox the Fox's little rain suit was so cute! We never made it to the beach this summer.  So, the other day I had the idea to put out some of my favorite beach souvenirs, instead. The candle holder in the middle is something I found at Goodwill -- it looked brand new.  Be...

I bought a very beautiful but very plain, vintage silk lampshade at the thrift store a while back: As you can see, it had a couple of tears on the inside and was a bit discolored from age.  I decided that I wanted to re-cover it, and have been working on it for about a week.  I just chose some vintage fabrics that I've had, cut it into rectangles, and began sewing it on by hand to the shade. After I got all the fabric sewn on , I embellished it with vintage doilies and needlework. For every other rectangular panel, I used the same vintage-look Martha Stewart floral fabric. Over the whole lampshade, I trimmed the top and bottom with vintage lace, and sewed vintage floral trim in between each panel. I'm very happy with how it came out!  It is now a fixture in my blue-and-white master bedroom!

August has been a tough month for us.  But finally some really good news: my husband Dennis has been offered a new job! Dennis has been under-employed for the past 7-1/2 years.  When we moved to Colorado 9 years ago, his job fell through and he ended up unemployed for the first 18 months we lived here.  It was a very tough time.  When he finally did manage to get a permanent job 7-1/2 years ago, he started at his company in an entry-level job.  He worked the overnight shift, 7 pm to 7 am, and was grateful for it.  But of course he had high hopes of advancing. He did get promoted eventually, and was able to get onto the day shift, too.  But he was still very under-employed.  Then, he was demoted again when his company (famously) laid off hundreds of people 2 weeks before Christmas.  That was a couple of years ago.  But at least he didn't lose his job.  He has been utterly miserable at work all these years but has never been able ...

Are you ready for a little challenge?  Tami at Vintage Connections is having a Creative Button Swap!  It's a very fun idea: she's having us create a piece of art from buttons mounted on paper and decorated however you like.  She has a few examples on her blog here . It's a great chance to get out your buttons and play!  I hope some of you will join in!