Ok folks – here is the unflattering “before” shot.
Droopy, droopy, droopy. With a wave of my wand……
Presto!
Ah, that’s better. All in all, I’m rather pleased with it. I was, at the start of the project, hoping for something that was actually more “tote bag” size, but quickly realized that it would felt up smaller than anticipated. And it did, but I saw it coming. The yellow flower was an afterthought. I’m on a big blue-red-yellow kick lately. (um, like in Isadora’s purse)
Voila!
Oh there’s a great wind stirring all about. Outside, it’s whisking up the millions of snowflakes that have given way to water vapor. Thank god. And inside, this great frenzy is manifesting in a panoply of ways.
Invader Japanese Beetles and Box Elder Bugs are being sucked away by the hundreds in short, sporadic battles over just who’s airspace this is, anyways. Being sucked away in a wimpy vacuum, the bagless, stick kind with the removable canister. Which presents a conundrum: if they’re still flying around in that canister, where to empty it? Inside the house, and they’ll fly right out of the garbage can. Outside, and they’ll find the nearest window sash and climb back in. Leave them there for awhile and think about it? Won’t they just climb out of the hose? The battle goes on. It’s one we’ve been waging all winter. Never, never have I seen the likes of these in such great numbers. And everywhere – under the covers of the bed, in my hair, and just now: pulled out of my mug of hot chocolate. At least they don’t bite, sting, make much noise, or give us terrible diseases. Just the heebie-jeebies when, in the middle of the night, a persistent tickle from the small of your back awakens me… as it travels up my neck.
Also inside, there’s a frenzy of Making. In the crock pot was a batch of pinto beans cooking away, under the careful tutelage of Rick Bayless. And that same day, the rooster mail holder got its new groove and this was born:
A lovely little Isadora-sized purse for stashing away god-knows-what treasures. I both started and finished it yesterday afternoon, giving me a sort of crafter’s high.
The yellow fabrics are both new, which is rather unusual for me. Most of the fabrics I have and use started their life as something else, like a shirt, tablecloth, BOXER SHORTS. Chill out – everything gets washed! The brown stripey lining here was from a child’s shirt. Anyway, I went through a crafty-blog-reading-induced panic awhile ago, when I thought that maybe my creative potential was being stifled by my lack of hip, new, fresh-off-the-bolt fabric. So I quickly righted that. Looks like I only needed a few new fabrics to breathe some fresh air into my collection. The yellows here are among those.
From the start, this purse was a hit with Miss Isadora. The first things to find their way inside: onion skins. Of course, the completion of the purse coincided with the rushed making of supper, and she is our Esteemed Peeler of Onions and Garlic.
And the frenzy continues today. Stay tuned tomorrow for the “after” shot of this aforementioned knit tote bag. An era has officially ended today, as I thought I would never finish this bag. You could write a history book to encompass the world happenings from the start of the bag till today.
AND NOW, this frenzy is forecasted to march right into the kitchen and do all of the dishes that didn’t get washed amidst yesterday’s flurry of making.
I’ve discovered a curious thing about myself of late. I’m irresistibly drawn to chicken/rooster decor. Not the run-of-the-mill pretty chickens that abound in any store. (once you start looking, you see that chickens are EVERYWHERE) No, no. I pass that right up without a blink of the eye. What gets me, though, are the more crude, folk-y renditions of the chicken. The teapot above is a good example. Kind of retro, kind of stylized….brilliant.
Which leads me to the next makeover:
I really had to think before putting this into the cart. Kind of crappy wood, and who needs another mail holder? Oh yeah. We do. But even if we didn’t… how great is this rooster? I’m thinking I may use that motif again. Keep your eyes peeled for it.
So, a little bit of paint, and a handy Daddy-o to distract the little girl, and we have a lovely mail holder. And the Teapot Rooster has some good company. With more to follow, no doubt.
Well Hello! Sorry I’ve been absent most of the week. I think I sort of wrote myself in a corner with this “makeover week” business. I had plennnnty of other things to write about, what with Spring! and Chicks! and Being Outside! But I promised this Makeover Week, so makeovers I shall deliver.
Before:
Here we have a lovely painting of some poppies, painted with love by AG Brintrup in 1979. I had to give this a serious double-take when I spotted it in the thrift store. I honestly can’t see that chartreuse color and NOT give it a second look, and here it’s matched with RED! Ahhhh. One of my absolute favorite color combinations, one I’ve been using for a couple of years now. (I know that sarcasm is hard to decipher in written word, but there’s absolutely none here -I am being completely sincere.) So, after this second look, I put it in the shopping cart, but reluctantly, as it was a bit pricey. For a thrift shop. Now, what to do with it to make it just a little less dated?
And speaking of my favorite color combinations… that brings us to this fabulous racket. I’ve mentioned before that my current favorite color combo is chartreuse paired with teal/green. (still got that teal in the bathroom, after all) So the moment I spotted this on the shelf, the cartoon light bulb went on in my brain and I had my solution.
And here it is:
Isn’t it great??! How the heck did I come up with this combo?
Well, I think it was that same day that I had just seen this post and LOVED the use of hand mirrors as decor. How great is that? Not too great a leap from a hand mirror hanging on a wall to a hand-mirror-shaped racket…
And I had already broken down the barrier to using sports implements as decor. In the teal bathroom where this racket now lives, I’d hung up some vintage wood golf clubs to use as curtain rods. The curtains, though, are still in the works – just a twinkle in my eye right now. And I’m not sure why there’s a retro-sports-paraphernalia theme going on in this bathroom. We’re definitely NOT sports fans, except for our beloved Packers. (it’s programmed into our Wisconsin genes). Nevertheless, this bathroom is chugging along quite nicely, morphing from “their” space into “ours”. Gotta get that chartreuse-colored paint on the walls, and finish the red rag rug. And obliterate all traces of painted teal…
A very happy Spring to you!
Happy Birthday Grandma!
These are the geraniums you gave me 2 years ago. They’ve been blooming CONSTANTLY ever since, in my house. I kept waiting for them to stop blooming, so I could take them outside for the summers, but they just kept right on going. That’s pretty good performance – I think I’ll buy from your greenhouse again.
And “Hello” to everyone else out there. Before we move on, how about a quick nod to Birthday-Girl-Grandma, perhaps one of the coolest ones out there, who 1. Has a computer, 2. Actually turns it on, and 3. Reads blogs! Or at least mine. Here’s a virtual toast of my wine glass to you…
Now, on to other business.
About today… I almost had to write the entire day off as a total loss. It started off with not nearly enough sleep (had to soothe a little sleeper after some bad dreams twice, then 3, then 4 times last night). Add to that a cold, very grey, very dreary day, too much sugar and lots of coffee too quickly. Any motivation that even had an inkling of showing up today very quickly turned around and ran far, far away. So we squandered most of the day in a vegetative state.
But I said I could almost write off the day. Ah ha! We did manage to escape the dreariness for about 2 hours with an emergency visit to our local thrift shop. And I made a haul, filled up a giant bag with loads of potential treasures. Though I left without the grand prize I was hoping for, embroidery hoops, (which are normally a dime a dozen, I swear!) the trip was still a smashing success. And Dad – would you believe they had one of your microwaveable bacon trays there?! I passed it up, since you now have three, 1 in use and 2 in reserve.
So in honor of these potential treasures, and as some added incentive to not bury this gigant-o bag in the nether regions of my studio, I’m going to host a sort of Thing Makeover this week, showing the transformations that I make with these diamonds in the rough. Who doesn’t love seeing the dramatic “before” and “after” shots of a makeover? I can’t be the only one to get sucked into these shows.
To kick it off, I’ll start with a nice makeover that I completed this weekend.
You may remember this pillow that I made a few weeks ago.
Well, I made it a mate. They’re to cushion the cold metal armrests of our futon, the bastion from our college days that hasn’t been replaced with “grown-up” furniture. So a mating pair they must be, but certainly not identical.
I started with a cheesy souvenir pillowcase like this:
(This isn’t even my picture, as I forgot to take one. You sure can find anything online…)
Now, drumroll…..
And the back:
Yee Haw.
Are you sad I took off the fringe/fur trim?
Just a friendly reminder: no matter how bad this winter seems, there’s always someone worse off. And here they are.
Back in the city, we grew accustomed to the intermittent drone of sirens blaring. They were such a integral part of our audio landscape that I really only noticed them when visitors (non-city kind) pointed them out. Regardless, I’m pretty glad to have left them behind. I don’t believe I’ve heard one out here yet. One made by an emergency vehicle, that is.
Turns out, we’ve got plenty of sirens out here too. Whoever said moving to the country would give you some peace and quiet? Not here. Not that I’m complaining – far from it. I’ll take these sirens any day.
Bear with me here, as I take technological strides and try to post some videos.
Siren 1:
Here are two Lovely Ladies taking advantage of the sun and warm temps. After a nice, luxurious dust bath, they’re both even lovelier than before.
The next video has nothing much to look at, but you can hear the neat rattle of what we believe are Sandhill Cranes.
Siren 2:
Please excuse the horrible, horrible sound and picture quality. I’m no filmmaker, that’s for sure.
I’ll close this post today with her:
A Lovely Silver Laced Wyandotte.
Here is a lovely bag I’ve been knitting since the beginning of time. When it’s done, it will be felted and will take the shape of a tote bag. What’s felting? It’s the shrinking magic that happens when you wash wool in hot water, with detergent. Or, it’s what happened to the wool sweater that you threw in the wash by mistake and now have hanging in your dog’s collection of sweaters.
In this case, I’m knitting a gigant-o bag, and rather carelessly, I might add. The beauty of felting what you’ve knit, I’m told, is that all of the little mistakes I’m making and not fixing will shrink and disappear. How cool is that? If only we could apply that felty magic to other things. I am a bit worried, though, that this felty magic will get out of hand and the tote bag I end up with will shrink too much. It would have been a shame to have spent all that time knitting a coin purse. We’ll just have to see. All I need to do is knit the straps and then throw it in the wash… Suspense.
Ok – the “oven exploded today” line was a wee bit exaggerated. I have an overactive imagination and it IS my blog. Here’s what really happened.
It was, in fact, the glass in our oven door that exploded. You may or may not know that this oven has only lived here for about a month. Prior to that, we were without a stove for about another month, after the one we inherited with the house decided to throw up the white flag. So we deliberated awhile and finally ended up handing over our tax return for this shiny new supposed-professional-grade model. And when it finally arrived, the birds were singing, a rainbow arched across the sky, and beautiful, delicious baked goods poured from its cobalt blue cavity. And lots of frozen pizzas too, since we had a whole month without to make up for. (A guilty pleasure of ours and also our “get out of jail free” card when figuring out what to make for supper)
And then, this morning, I decided to try out the handy self-clean mode. You know, the one where the oven heats to 10,000 degrees and vaporizes the melted butter covering the bottom of the cavity? Apparently, professionals must not use that function much, and some wise-guy just slapped the “clean” option on the knob to make it more appealing to a lazy don’t-want-to-clean-the-oven-myself sucker like me, never thinking I’d actually use it.
Damn it. Here’s what’s not coming out of our oven for the next 10-12 days:
more sourdough bread
cookies! sniff. sniff.
frozen pizza.
And everything else I was going to make for supper.
Back to our trusty little toaster oven.
Just got back from the mailbox. Today, it seemed more like the clown car version of a mailbox. You know, the kind where about 25 clowns fit into a joke car the size of a Geo Metro? It was just like that, surprise after surprise pouring out of the mailbox today. I’m still pretty giddy.
So today is Christmas. Here’s why:
1. I got the fabric I ordered to make the Emmeline apron by Montessori By Hand.
EDIT: Montessori by Hand is now Sew Liberated. Link has been updated.
2. I received these sweeties I ordered off of Etsy. Find more here. If you know me at all, you can bet I won’t be hanging these up until about 10 min. before our next guests arrive for a visit. Which would be Aunt Gin & Uncle Dan, this weekend. (Thank you! Who KNOWS how long they’d sit in the box otherwise…)
3. Our Pugs got their heartworm and tick meds in the mail. Not that exciting, but, hey – it was one of THREE boxes in the mailbox today. And who wants to pick engorged ticks off of their dogs for an hour again this summer? Not me.
4. Between today and yesterday, our Lovely Ladies made a whole dozen eggs. Including 2 of these extraordinarily beautiful pale green ones, courtesy of our resident Americana. You may, if you visit that link, recognize the chick as one of our Chipmunks, introduced here. I’m rather seduced by color, and what could be better than returning from the hen house with a whole basket of pastel blue and green eggs? Not much – I ordered a full dozen of the Americana chicks. You just wait till they grow up and start laying… And really, I do promise NOT to continue taking pictures of the egg tallies every day, but just look at those green eggs! And a full dozen in two days! There was no way I could resist.
If you’re bored with all the chicken and egg talk, chin up! I’m mailing my seed order today. Very, very soon, our attention will be riveted to our garden. But for now…..
5. I got a postcard kindly notifying me that the book I had special-ordered is in. It’s a How-To on screenprinting, or “How I’m Gonna Design My Own Fabric.” Drooool.
6. Could it really get any better than this?
book + eggs + fabric + handmade art + soft, tick-free bed buddies
Yep. Isadora’s napping like a rock star. Hence the 2nd post today.
Merry Christmas!
Thirty little sweeties, to be precise. Thank GOD they don’t require all the trappings of our OTHER chicks – food, heat, water… Note the wonderful variety of heirloom breeds in here: I see some Speckled Blue Sussex, some Pink Dream Orpingtons, and let’s not forget the Butter Cream Bantams. Sign up to get your own now – I’ll be breeding these in the spring. (I’m an advocate of preserving our rich poultry heritage)
Finally, we have some chicks that Isadora can drag around the house. Many, many thanks again to our Chicken Benefactors for this generous gift. You know who you are.
And what a lovely weekend it was, full of friends, food, and fun. My very first Sourdough Bread By Hand was born. It was eaten before I could document it in photo, so I’ll take that as a good sign that it didn’t suck.
Had a few friends over for a special dinner, and like always, having guests prompted some last-minute wall-decorating. I swear that we only hang things on the wall in the 2 hour window before guests arrive. Good thing we like to entertain – some of our best designs are born in that frantic time. Like these lovely “poppies”:
And the shelves, for that matter. This was a beautifully-weathered medicine cabinet that I picked up at an estate sale. In a moment of pure genius, I realized that the mirror I needed for above the sink in the bathroom was hinged to this cabinet, only a few feet away. I took it off, hung it above the sink, and exposed the lovely patina inside the cabinet. Oooh! The ambiance in this bathroom has improved ten-fold. (it is the only room in the house that’s not flooded with natural light, so it’s a bit gloomy.)
“Pure Genius” indeed – it’s not that big of a mental leap to decide to unhinge the mirror and move it 2 1/2 feet to the left, now is it?
Yes, it was a good weekend. And I hear that Spring is coming to our neighborhood tomorrow and staying the week.
