I was changing the sheets on the bed the other day and look who showed up:

When he hears sheets being shaken out of a folded bundle he comes running. He must romp.

Do all cats do this? Well, I guess not, because Mercury doesn't. Do your cats do it?

It's not just cats who must get in on the bed-making:

Oh, Zeus. How can I resist your cuteness?

No, this is not an adorable-animal-photos blog, but when it happens, you gotta go with it.

He was looking so photogenic, and the bed was actually made, so I took the opportunity to get some shots to show you that quilt I made a while back.
Ok, fine, it's patchwork.

If you're wondering why the wall behind the bed is so boring, it's because this is a temporary bedroom, still in need of skimming, painting etc.

This is taken from the head of the bed:

You can see some of the back on the folded over part.  I didn't go to the trouble of washing of the dog and cat fur before showing you. I thought about it, does that count? I mean, at least the bed is made, right?

I do really want to make an actual quilt. You know, one that's quilted. Maybe I'll do a throw.

I have been cutting more fabric into strips so that when I am ready to sew I can just jump right in.

Hey, first strikeoffs should be coming in about 3 weeks!
I can't freaking wait.

 Estate sale shopping a couple of weeks ago:

When I'm at a sale and my arms are full of stuff, I am always on the lookout for some kind of container to carry everything in. I end up with some good stuff that way! That's how I got this blue basket. I know it's not special or anything, but I like the color and the size is perfect. I got a cute pink plastic dishpan the same way.

That pink fish (salmon?) was filthy.

It has since been had a bath in my pink dishpan.

These  toys will go on my bathroom shelf of vintage goodies.

I couldn't pass up these hand towels:

The applique and the 70's colors just charmed me.

...............................................................................................................................

I was tagged a while back for the '7 weird things about me' - I'm sorry, I don't remember who tagged me.
I'm not really one for following rules, so I am not going to tag anyone else.

I'm so naughty.

1. One of my canine teeth is growing out of the roof of my mouth behind the other teeth instead of where it ought to be. 

2. The leaves of rhododendrons make me sad and uncomfortable. 

3. I didn't go to college ( too scared )  and I haven't had any art or design training. (except a great art department in high school!)

4.  I recognized myself when  I saw this on someone else's list: I am box-opening challenged/impatient. If there is a cereal box with half of the top missing, you know it was me that opened it.

5. Since elementary school, I have been fascinated by a cement trucks. I smile when I see one, as if I just saw a hummingbird or butterfly.

6. I am high-five impaired.  Because of this, my best friend and I created the slow-5. First you say "slow-5" to let me know it's coming, then we each slowly (slowly, I said!) bring our hands together to touch . I don't like to high-five, please don't make me.

7. I love cover songs. I kind of collect them.

When I  decided to pursue designing for commercial applications, I started out with tabletop.

I'll explain more later about how I got into that, but for now I just wanted to show you a few samples that were made by Zrike a few years ago:

Can you see the bees on the strawberry vase?

You know that this one ended up being produced for Calyx Flowers:

I hope you can tell that these are not my photographs! They were sent from the factory.

Pumpkin vase:

And gravy boat! 

I don't even like gravy, but, man I wanted this gravy boat!  

Here is one of the handpainted designs  for a pasta set:

And here is the sample set:

It's incredible how precisely they replicated my hand. (my style of painting)

Here's another example of my originals and the samples made from them:

Yep, ice cream bowls. And here is the set:

I wish the pictures were better. This is all I ever saw of them. I know, they're big for ice cream bowls- but I really like  ice cream.

My fave:

I was so disappointed that this one didn't get into production.I want one.

Maybe someday!

I found  this can at an estate sale. It was in the garage, filled with miscellaneous  hardware - nothing great - so I emptied it and added it to my pile.

Tee hee:

Some more golden things: 

I don't know if those are bakelite knife handles or not. I don't really know about collectibles, I just buy what I like if it's cheap enough. These knives were fifty cents each.That was cheap enough. 

I do have a collection of these beehive honey pots. I'll have to dig those out and display them together in the kitchen, now that it's done.

And I just loved the embroidery on this pillowcase:

How about this:

Could that really be what it looks like? 

Found another awesome leather bag: 

Thor likes it. 

Here endeth the daily installment of estate sale goodies. You can wake up now. 

My honey and I are taking ballroom dance lessons. We took a beginner's session last year and promptly forgot everything, so we are back in the same class this time around. It's so cool to learn a new way of being together- a whole new thing to share, a new way to communicate. And it's fun! 

I didn't grow up with dance, or any kind of physical activity for that matter. No sports, no ice skating, no skiing, no ballet. In my early twenties I studied Middle Eastern Dance ( commonly referred to as bellydance ) for a couple of years, and have taken a handful of African dance classes and about 3 adult beginner ballet classes.
Have any of you taken dance classes? Do you like to dance?

Some old-school crafty goodness:

The tube of glue, of course, is totally dried up but the packaging is just so awesome.

I love these ladies:

I got all of the above at an estate sale this weekend.

And these ribbons, too:

And these ribbons: 

And this:

Oh yeah, and some cute fabric, too:

And a bunch of other stuff that I'll show you later.

We got our new countertop this week! Pics to come. It looks sharp.

We were so excited about the kitchen's transformation that we decided to repaint the living room. We got a coat of primer on it tonight. We hope to have it finished by the end of next weekend.

When we first moved in, we scraped off all of the wallpaper, skimmed the walls and painted  them this wonderful warm brown. But the room just doesn't get enough light so it was always too dark even in the middle of the day.
I'll post before and after shots, of course.

Our painting soundtrack:

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen
Quintette du Hot Club de France by Django Rheinhardt and Stephane Grapelli
Monkey Business by Black Eyed Peas

Oh, hey, I bought my plane ticket to Portland  for Quilt Market! Ahhh! So exciting.

Hey, I'm going to do a Frequently Asked Questions thingy, so if there is anything I can add to the list after "How do you design fabric?" and "How do you get a gig with Free Spirit?" please let me know.

 As promised.

Taken last summer, Madelyn Macedo's garden:

Ahh! Seeing that lush foliage makes me yearn even more for hot weather and long sunny evenings spent weeding.

Look at what Maddie did here:

She took a hollow log and planted succulents in it! Brilliant.

Madelyn and I share is a love of rusty things and a penchant for scavenging. She rescued this metal thing and put it to work as a support for giant sunflowers:

She's a creative genius, obviously.
That's another one of her ceramic sculptures in the background.  

Meeting  Maddie when I was but a wee lass of 16 certainly influenced my aesthetic. I already had a fondness for old and rusty things, but knowing a real artist who loved them too reinforced it.
Have a look at this shelf of rusty tool bits:

I love how she painted this windowbox that adorns her shed:

If you followed the link from my last post to Lucky Monkey, Maddie's etsy shop, you might recognize that chicken motif from her line of stoneware mugs.

Now let's go inside...

Collection of seed pods from the hallway:

I am painfully envious of this crushed rusty paint bucket :

And this marble bust:

and  sacred hearts... and.. well I pretty much  want every thing she has in her home!

And here is a shot of the living room which is filled with art and cats:

Those three torso sculptures on the left are Maddie's, as is that tile heart piece.

You guys, this isn't even a fraction of the inspiration that I take in when I visit her!
She's amazing.

 I finally photographed my collection of pottery made by friend  Madelyn Macedo.

I love being surrounded by her work. I know I have mentioned Madelyn before, but I can't remember, did I tell you that she was one of my art teachers in high school? ( I feel like I might have said this before, but I  looked back in my archives and couldn't find it. Please forgive me if I am repeating myself!) She was fresh out of college and I was 16 and we immediately connected. She only stayed at the school for a year, but we remained in touch and grew into lifelong friends.

You might remember some of these pieces from my kitchen redo. Here is that fez monkey sugar bowl we asked her to make for us:

Covered pitcher, mugs and serving platter:

Quartet of mugs:

I love the shapes and variations in size. She makes covered mugs, too, which are great for keeping your coffee warm and , as Maddie says, keeping cat paws out of your tea.

The colors are so soothing, and aren't her motifs awesome?

These are all high-fired stoneware with foodsafe glazes and iron oxide painted and incised designs. 

Of course, she has an etsy shop  -   Lucky Monkey!

The studio:

Most of these are planters with saucers- aren't they great? She makes hanging planters, too. I have some and I love them. Madelyn also is a sculptor and her home is amazing. Whenever I visit, I have to just walk around for a while and absorb it all. I have pictures- maybe that I will share those next time.

 Feeling kinda quiet, can you tell?

Here are some more pictures I took at the same time as those from the previous post.

Check out this one:

I don't even know what this building was originally. 

And a couple more from the rusty series:

And here is some rusty-painty-drippy perfection:

Reminds me of cocoa with melty marshmallow. 

Yesterday, a couple of people  commented  that my rusty texture pics have either inspired them to get out their camera or influenced them to notice the beauty in something they might otherwise disregard.
That truly makes my week.

Thank you.
xo

xo 

 You guys are like, yawn, right?

Well, I am sorry. 

I am going to try not to bore you.

But  I love to show you my goodies. Not those goodies, you cheeky monkey.

I will break up the endless photos of my estate sale finds with some actual , you know, writing- how about that?

I had a lovely weekend. As you know, I shopped.

I visited with a handful of good friends. Great friends, actually. Wonderful, vibrant women.

I watched Marie Antoinette with my friend Sue last night. She and I have been friends for years, but fell out of touch over the last few since she moved away. This week, I finally reconnected with one of the most creative people  I know- she's a real problem solver, an idea generator.

Sue wrote a book a few years ago, check out the title:
How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying To Kill Me.   It is just what it sounds like, her account of how she survived  suicidal thinking and multiple attempts. Though I no longer have suicidal thoughts, (that's right- I have struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life, and was prone to suicidal thinking when I was in my teens) I have found this book  helpful. I think it could be repackaged to address 'depression' and reach a wider audience- a lot of people are depressed but aren't suicidal, and therefore would pass this book on the shelf. But How I stayed Alive... is perfect even 'just' for the blues. And anyone who gets the blues on a regular basis (like I do) knows there's nothing just about it!

Oh, this is neat: I accompanied Sue when she had an appearance on Good Morning America in 2002. I'll have to dig out some photos of our trip to New York!

As for Marie Antoinette, we enjoyed it. The visuals, of course, were delectable - sugared almond opulence.  

Another friend I visited with was Erica- one of my best friends from high school. We, too, had been out of touch for far too long.  I finally tracked her down and we got together again last November, for the first time since the early nineties!  Perhaps  because the last time we hung out regularly was back when I was in that depression and suicidal thinking mode, spending time with Erica  is medicine for my heart. Seeing how far I have come- that I made it through that time, and seeing her happily married, a mom -  wow.I am so happy that we have found each other again. Erica is funny, smart and sweet and I just love how she is as a mother. We enjoyed soy lattes at Borders this morning. Erica's 16 month old daughter, Jane, had foamed soymilk.

And then there is Andrea, a complete doll that I met last fall when we both enrolled in  a yoga teacher training. I have since pulled out of the program ( but will take it again next session) but Andrea just taught her first class on Friday! Wowee, I am so proud of her! We went out for Indian food that night and had a ball catching up. Then today, we took a two-hour Jivamukti Yoga workshop, which was awesome! I have a crush on that yoga class now- we'll see if it blossoms into true love.

I hope I got you through all the photos with a minimum of yawning.  Now a little recap of my goodies : cool magic brain calculator, some plastic Marys etc, Thor's chicken, spice rack that we are going to spruce up, neat dice
( hey, now we know what those weird dice were, from way back!) and some beads. Whew!

Oh yeah, tonight I spent a few hours working on a secret project! I'll be able to fill you in on that soon.

Thanks for listening - and looking.

xo 

And now for something completely different.

Not really.
Did I fake you?

More from yesterday's estate sale excursion:

When I saw these, I was sure I knew exactly what I would do with them: I would remove the pictures, paint the wood a glossy white, and use them to frame some swatches of my first strikeoffs ( not here yet, drat!)

But these silhouettes have enchanted me and I may have a hard time replacing them: 

Don't they look neat all close up like that?

Ah, we'll see.

This is cool, reminds me of a violin or cello with all the scrolly wooodwork:

It seems to be some kind of corner shelf, only the shelf part is long gone:

I love this neat old cardboard-y print thing:

So moody.

And with some great chippy textures. You know how I love that.

And a horsie:

Eeek, this is all looking quite dreary. How about a little color?

Oh, yes. Vintage Christmas ornaments.

Lots of pink!

Yummy candy colors. mmmm.

And how about some orange, my fave?

A cool covered tin!

Thor likes.

Even the lid is awesome and perfect all by itself: 

And oh man, when I saw another one? SCORE! 

It really couldn't be any cooler. I mean, unless it was filled with something crazy awesome. But it wasn't. Still.

The colors! The design!   The lid!

And of course, I had to see how they looked together.

Isn't it neat how similar they are?  And how gorgeous they look together?

Oh yeah, and the pie tins:

Table Talk pie tins!

And for some reason, I grabbed these funny little corn-husk dolls:

And then I set them up like a film still from Kill Bill:

xo, more soon.

nope, I'm not done yet. 

My honey and I went to two estate sales this morning and you will not believe the stuff we scored!
I have spent the last few hours photographing most of it.
You'll see, I had an assistant.

Some good old crafty books, and a cute dustpan:

I had the cat already:

Some cute trim ( love the packaging) :

And some cute appliques:

Smiling whales! 

Uh oh:

I rescued it before it went too far:

Flirtatious duck! You can practically hear her batting her eyelashes.

Some lovely embroidered linens:

And I'll tell you right now: I did not pay anywhere close to 12 bucks for these. 

Some doilies and lacey edged hankies:

Embroidered napkin:

Vintage tablecloth: 

Some Christmas-y linens:

Some ball trim, yo:

And this piece of pink perfection right here: 

Can you believe it?

More soon.

xo

Framing the entryway of my local quilt shop is this gorgeous wisteria vine, dripping with last year's velvety pods. 

Can't wait for it to come into bloom. 

My haul: 

Tumbleweed sells bundles of fabric scraps for $4.95- that's what that plastic bag is in the upper right corner.

Here's what was inside this one: 

Here, you can see it better when I lay it out like this:

Not bad for 5 bucks! 

Uh oh, here comes trouble:

You know what happens next:

.........purrrr......

Thank you for the kitchen love!

And no, we are not still thinking of doing a professional remodel. We didn't know how awesome it was going to come out; we just made it up as we went along!

I read all of the comments to my honey. He wouldn't admit it, but I think it made him feel good to receive so much positive feedback on the work he did.  The transformation was made even more fun and satisfying by sharing it with you.  Thanks, you guys! (More pics to come when we get the countertop.)

I took a few shots of some of the secondhand stuff in the kitchen that I hadn't featured before.

From a yard sale ( and now , the bird shelf ):

I love these little guys.

Their expressions.

The eggshell white, chalky blue, cornmeal.

The terra cotta revealed by the incised incised motif.

Feathery and leafy.

And this, oh man- I was psyched to find this ceramic lidded jar:

Stylized bees! You know how I love bee things. This is the stamp on the bottom:

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Since I started gardening seven years ago, I have been wanting to keep a garden journal.
Well, consider this is my first entry:

After my discovery of  spring bulbs popping up around town,  I went meandering  in my  yard,  hoping to find some of my own.

There it is:

The promise of spring.

It's not completely finished, but I am dying to show off the before and after of our kitchen.

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house in 2003:

We had originally hoped to do a thorough remodel and kept trying little things to perk it up a little until then: a coat of  paint on the walls, a coat of paint on the warped and water-stained wood floor, little rugs on the painted wood floor. We painted the cabinets. It still sucked. Yucky floor, dead space, that damned forest green counter top.

Eventually, we realized that a professional renovation is still a few years away. Cooking up our own homespun version of a  remodel was our only way to make the kitchen a pleasant place to be in the meantime.

Luckily, my honey is quite handy. He built a box around the perimeter of the ceiling so we could have recessed lighting. I have never had that - it feels so fancy!  Bought a new fridge. It's the side-by-side kind with filtered water in the door.  I never had a new fridge before either- what a difference. I feel like a princess. We covered the ceiling in textured tiles. We put down faux-marble self stick linoleum in a checkerboard pattern. Repainted the cabinets and replaced the hardware. Repainted the walls in a bright cantaloupe.  Added some overhead cabinets and a shelf where before there was just unusable space. 

And finally- the fun part: decorating! 

Voila:

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the crown moulding. 

I love my kitchen  now!

I hope you will appreciate that I didn't clear off the counter for these shots. It's not perfect around here, but it's perfect for us.

You may recognize a bunch of this stuff:

See that little  jar next to the mugs? That is a bottle of M.S.G. from the spice rack my mom received as a wedding gift a million years ago!

Today we ordered a new countertop - just formica from the Depot. But it's in a deep blue faux marble which is going to look so awesome with the paint color. For the cabinets, I wanted faceted blue glass knobs- which my honey found super-cheap on ebay. What a difference it made when we put those on. Once we get that countertop, it's really gonna pop!

Here are the blue knobs and new cabinets:

Those lanterns are just hanging out there until I figure out where I want  them to go. The bowl and covered pitcher were made by my dear friend Madelyn Macedo. You can get one for yourself at her etsy shop.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell  you: see the edges of the doors on the new cabinets? Well, my honey routered our old cabinets to look like that!

We picked up the red clock at a secondhand shop. My honey removed the cord and replaced  the mechanism but it still isn't working right, obviously. He set the date to Feb 14 because we like to say 'Every Day is Valentine's Day.' Please don't vomit. It's sweet.

Above the stove, the bird shelf:

All thrifted. I wasn't even trying to collect bird things specifically. As I was decorating the kitchen, I realized I had so many that I should group them together.

In the bottom right corner you can see our fez monkey salt and pepper shakers(we have a thing for fez monkeys):

Even the shelf thing is secondhand! We saw it at a yard sale for 2 bucks- it had a yucky blue paint job.

And it finally gave me a place to display my plates! These were  thrown and painted by me in Madelyn's studio, maybe 5 years ago?

Frida-inspired eyebrows and antlers, clearly. But anyone who knows me will tell you these are my eyes. 

Our awesome new fridge! 

If you look closely, on the butcherblock  you will see a purple-covered sugar bowl that I commissioned from Madelyn. It has a fez monkey on it. Lucky for you, she added this motif to her line of ceramics! Yep, it's another one of her bowls  on top of the fridge. ( I have lots of her mugs, too, but those are in the pantry.)

That cake stand I told you about last week, freshly cleaned and piled with vintage ribbons:

Prepare to be amazed:

Set of vintage ceramic chickeny canisters, yard sale.
Fifty. Cents. For the set. Yes.

We still have some work ahead, but we did what we set out to do: make the kitchen feel like us.

Wow, it took  me an hour and a half to write this post. I hope you enjoy it! 

I'm sitting here curled up on the couch, drinking coffee, looking at the cats as they intently stare out the window. (Cats love windows.)

Birds are singing! That early spring ( ok, late winter) chirpy chirp just makes my heart leap. On the drive to work the other morning, I saw crocuses peeking up through dead leaves. I was so relieved by this signal of the end of winter, that my eyes actually got misty. Really.

By now perhaps you have noticed that these photos have nothing to do with what I am writing?

Oh well.

Is it weird to love a dumpster?

Back to the topic at hand: Spring is almost here!
We made it. 

I was chatting with a friend of mine about how when spring comes, I feel like I am in love with it.
My heart goes all fluttery with the  birdsong, I get misty at the sight of flowers, the sunlight on my skin feels like first kisses.

Nodding in agreement, she said:

"I know. When spring finally gets here, I feel like I want to make out with nature." 

Word dice from an estate sale -  a while ago.

I've shown a little bit of this trunk before. I got this at a yard sale for 75 bucks. I rarely make any purchase that pricey at a yard sale, but I couldn't resist.

.................................... .................................... .................................... ....................................

Last weekend, I did a little blog housekeeping:

Remember how I am freakish about my links? Well I changed around my blogroll categories, made a bunch of subscriptions public ( which I will list next time, so you can go visit) ,  and tidied up my little wave pattern I have going on with the link list. It takes time, but I find it oddly soothing and satisfying.

On the sidebar, I added a place  to subscribe to yummygoods by email. ( Krissi and Jooky, there you go!) I also linked to my Sugar Snap preview.

Last weekend was quite productive! Spent some quality time with my honey,  did my bloggy cleanup, worked on the kitchen ( which is looking so cute, it gives me flutters), did some great estate sale shopping.  

This is from last weekend:

This, too:

Last night, I was looking for some new music online and  found this adorable song:

Born to Hum ( once you get there click on the little arrow to the left of  the track name) by Erin Mckeown.

I hope you will listen to it, let me know if it makes you smile.

From yesterday's estate sale-ing.

You know how happy these made me. 

(for any new readers: I am not religious,  I just really like religious imagery)

I still kick myself over some statues I  passed up in the last couple of years. Because of that, now I just snatch them right up when I see them. You know, if the price is right.

It appeared to be a French teacher's home where (among many books en francais) I found this gem: 

Or should I say bijoux? A Charlie Brown comic book in French; Oui, c'est vrai!

A book on phonetics :

It is a white, woolly animal.

Oh my god, that reminds me:
My honey and I were driving around a few months ago, brainstorming names for the prints, colorways  and the entire collection.

         My Honey: How about Velvet? You know how that one looks like velvet?

         Me: Well... that might be confusing since the line isn't made from velvet, it's a quilting cotton... But, good  thinking, honey! Keep 'em coming!

         {A few moments of pouting.  Him, not me.}

         My Honey:  Maybe you should name it Lamb-y Something....

         Me: What do you mean?

          My Honey: Well, since cotton comes from lambs...

         Me:  Honey?

         My Honey: Yeah?

         Me:  Do you mean wool? Because cotton grows on a plant. You know, like in the south? Puffy cotton in fields?

        (half-heartedly trying to hide my smirk)

         And wool, you know? They shear the sheep and then spin the wool into yarn? 

         My Honey:  No, it comes from lambs.

         Me: (smirk, chortle) Okay, honey. Cotton comes from lambs.

         (snicker, snort)

Wow!
Thank you so much for your  enthusiasm for Sugar Snap!
What a treat it was for me to gobble up your  sweet comments. I think I'm going to print  out the pages  and display them on the fridge for a while - to let them really sink in.  I kinda still can't believe that I really have my own fabric line coming out!

The first day of March! I am positively aching for springtime. 

From today's estate sale haul:

These watercolors probably aren't usable; I just really liked the tin.

Have a look inside:

I wonder what images were painted with this set...

I was psyched to find this: 

A box of vintage cards!

No, they don't all have elephants on them.

I also scored a bunch of books, a glass cake stand and this gorgeous blankie:

It's in the wash right now, but as soon as it's dry, it will be wrapped around me.

Mmm, cocoa is sounding good right about now...