Monarch Post

crafty me and my crafty dog

  

Last Friday, between Dr. and vet appointments, and a baseball game, I managed to eek out this little choker number.

I'm lame, I know. It's just that this time of year with all the kids sports goings on, life turns into December busy for me. And last night, after the ballgame, we were in charge of organizing dinner and making ribs and baked potatoes for twenty-five eighteen-year old ravenous baseball players. Do you know how much food that is? About the same, I think, as dinner for the Norwegian army. Sheesh. So hang in there with me, pretty please!

When we went to the vet last Friday. Dear Dr. Nancy took one look at Winston and said, "Winston you are fat!" Ouch. Glad she's not my doctor, I'd be needing to find a new one. But Winnie has gained two more pounds since winter. Dr. Nancy said he needs to come back in six weeks for a weigh in. It's doggie diet time.

We came home after the hard news, and this is what he did for the next hour.

 

If I didn't know better, I'd think he was bummed.

So it's time for more dog walking. And less sneaking out the dog door devouring that large bag of potato chips, (Winston) or a bucket of KFC (Winston)... Naughty dog. Yes, he's done both lately. I freaked out when I found the KFC bucket empty. He ate half a bucket of fried chicken-- bones and all! I called the vet (who's getting used to my guess-what-the-dog-ate-this-time phone calls ) and she said he should be fine. He was. Although he didn't eat a thing for two days after his KFC shenanigan. Good grief. Your chunky monkey figure is not entirely my fault, Mr. Winston.

Well, I'd better run... I have a few crafty hours before the baseball game tonight!

Take care and lots of love to you,

xoxoKelly

emergency preparedness

    My sweet Sophia came to me a few days ago with something she wanted to show me. She'd rediscovered an old tiny toy princess suitcase and repurposed it.

    She told me she'd made it into her emergency chocolate container. I had a hard time keeping a straight face. She was dead serious about this.

  Just the perfect size for two Reese's cups and three bite size Milky Way bars.

She is her mother's daughter. And what should I expect from the child who's first word (apart from Mama and Daddy) was chocolate! Seriously. One morning she ran her little diaper-bottomed self into the kitchen, yelling, "Schocot!" "Shocot!" She proceeded to bang away at the child-locked cupboard, looking kinda deranged, until I opened it. She promptly grabbed a bag of opened chocolate chips, sat on the floor, ate a handful, and fully regained her composure. Chocolate attack cured.

As for me, I will not be disclosing where my emergency  chocolate stash is. It's not in a cute pink princess box, I can tell you that much. But oh yes, I have one. Do you?

Lots of love,

xoxoKelly

primroses and party treats

   I spotted the sign at Joe's greenhouse yesterday. Primroses 4 for $5.00. I thought about making a u-turn right then and there, but I was on my way to pick up my kids from school and didn't want to be late. I made a beeline back to Joe's this morning. Last year they sold out before I got any. But this morning flats and flats of vibrant color awaited. Sheer gorgeousness.

Before the crocus come out in Utah, the primroses are in the nurseries. It's my first sign of spring.

Today was good. I made french vanilla strawberry cupcakes for Sophey's birthday party tomorrow. The house smelled wonderful and felt peaceful, even though it was filled with neighborhood kids. So good, so average, so normal. My universe has been upside down for the past couple of weeks. So much going on, good and bad... And I've been feeling like I did on that sailing ship last weekend- trying and trying to find my balance. 

So I'll take the green and happy primroses for a good sign today: hope, spring, and new life always eventually return. And I know the universe is in balance even if my own universe doesn't seem to be at the moment. I do know this...I just need to keep reminding myself.

Tomorrow we're heading to a bouncy castle place with a carload of eight year old girls :0 I've been putting treat bags together this afternoon. I'm running behind... I wish I could just get caught up and on top of things around here and back to creating, but Sophey was sick this week and I spent my one other free afternoon this week taking care of my Mom. My Mike is in Lithuania. Yes, Lithuania. On a business trip. *sigh* My studio is looking neglected at the moment... but first things first. And I'm not running off for any more weekend trips, so I hope to be back to an even keel soon.

Anyways, if you happen to need cute springy green goodie bags for any reason at all, or no reason at all-- well, here's an idea for you.

   Essential party supplies for eight year old girl birthdays. How cute are those paper plates and napkins? Girls are so much fun.

    Cut top of goodie bags with scalloped-edge scrapbook scissors. Fold bag down. Cut slits in bag. Add about twelve inches of pretty  ribbons.

   Tie a fat bow.

   Slip in a spring bouquet and add a pinwheel for good measure ;-)  Don't forget to fill the sack with pixie sticks, bit o' honeys and anything else that makes you feel eight and spring time happy again ;-)

Well, gotta go finish those pink cupcakes.

Happy weekend to you!

Love,

Kelly

creativity past

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it." Martha Graham 

 I'm still here... working through winter. Looking for inspiration and bright colors. A few blogs I've read lately tell of how inspired they are this time of year to work in soft colors- greys, blues, winter whites, pastels. Not me. Today I'm heading to my favorite fabric/quilting store on the hunt for bright, bold, saturated. I want to make more fabric collage art.

 Lots of ideas running around my head today- just needing the perfect fabrics and the creative boost I'll get looking at all the needlework ideas at Lavender Thyme quilt store. Not that I'm a quilter, mind you. I don't have that much patience!  But I appreciate the art form... and someone else's patience;-)

I found this old handmade purse last year in an antique shop. Completely hand stitched in a quilted pattern.  Faded, old gold fabric with perfectly even, meticulous stitches. I bought it just to display and admire in my studio. Love the mysteries of pieces like this purse. Who made it? When? Why? Where did she wear it to- a wedding, a prom? What inspired her design?

Yes, I do love a good little mystey. Like the dining room table under my purse.    The antique dealer said it came out of a convent in upstate New York. I loved the table, but that info sealed the deal. Another antique mystery... after we bought  the table, I noticed tiny, indented lines all over the top of the table. I knew those lines from sewing as a child. Tracing wheel lines-- someone used this table for cutting out patterns. Nuns cutting out their habit patterns? Who knows. But I like the image... homey and holy work...

it makes me feel warm and cozy in my winter time world.

Lots of love to you,

xoxoxo Kelly

castoff treasures

    Today I spotted a new/old consignment shop on the way to taking my Mom to her Thursday hair appt.  It's always fun to find a new place like this-- you never know what quirky things you'll discover... and the goods seem to change pretty often.

So here are a few shop shots... not the best photos, I was trying to hurry a little.

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

I like old tins.  I started collecting them as a child.

 

I really wonder about the stories behind the pieces...

 

Who made them and why. Were they a wedding gift, a hopechest treasure?  And I'm always a little sad to see how some of the pieces seem so unused.  Even sadder to see a wedding dress in an antique shop-- used once, don't get me in that marriage/thing again they seem to say..

 

I'll bet these two items could tell some real tales...

 

 

I walked out of the store with a jar of buttons-- yes, like I really need more. I'm like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter, sheesh.

 

And this doorstop.  He looks just like our dog, Winston.

 

He's already found his home on the mantel, right in front of an antique needlepoint tea tray I bought in England, years ago. 

 

I think these two pieces will have lots of stories to tell each other...

Take care xo,

Kelly

in a row

    

 I wish I could say I have my ducks in a row... I don't at the moment.  Only here in the kids bathroom.  I've spent every day this week helping at my parents' house.  Dr. and more Dr. appts. It's rough.  Yesterday a neurologist appt. was made, right now it's looking like my Mom also has Parkinson's disease.

So this artsy blog looks a little artless lately-- sorry.  Eventually I'll get more time again for better quality blog material.

  We spent last summer in a wonderful beach house right on the shore at Galveston Island.  I doubt that it's even still there.  Swept away by Ike's fury, I'm betting.  It seems like such a long time ago now.  Things can change so fast, so fast.  I heard on the radio yesterday that the American Red Cross is in desperate need of money donations.  The organization has been hit very hard by the hurricane season this year. 

 

I think an American Red Cross fundraiser for our Brownie Girl Scout troop this month will be in order. And I want to teach the girls a little about the founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton.  Clara's biography is at the ARC site also, if you're interested in learning more about her remarkable life. She was definitely a woman of courage, confidence, and character-- Just like the Girl Scout motto.

Lots of love xo

Kelly

rit dye 101

  My second title choice was: she's just dyeing to get a life.  My to do list for the weekend was not about fun.  But if you're like me, you might know that sometimes procrastinating on getting a life can have it's own rewards...like finding a great color in a box of dye while you're at the grocery store again because you're procrastinating doing the big shopping trip and cleaning those closets on that to do list. Ahem. Still with me here?

Okay, so anyway, back in my B.C. era--that's before children, and no I haven't been carbon dated yet...I used to have time to make things like this doily.  Not so much needing to be procrastinated back then, I guess.  Twenty years + on now and the doilies are growing "vintage" like me. And unlike me-- hopefully, I've been finding them really boring... So boring in fact, they've been gathering dust in my closet for years. 

   Well, boring no more.  New teal doilies for my bedroom. We're  redoing it in aquas, pinky reds and we actually painted the walls metallic gold-- Ralph Lauren's line.  How's that for not boring by the way?

If you do already have a life and you've never dyed anything before; it's super easy--hot water, 1 C. of salt, and 1 Tbsp. laundry detergent.  I use my stainless steel sink to dye stuff in and then scrub it after with Comet cleanser.

 

I turned some pale wools into saturated brights while I was at it.

   

 

And you thought you had an exciting weekend...

P.S. I also cleaned closets and did massive loads of laundry--ta da!  But I did get around to making some cool stuff with all the yummy dyed wool last weekend.  Not a total procrastinator after all... I'll show and tell on it hopefully tomorrow--barring any unforseen procrastination ;-)  See you soon!

Have a good Monday xoxo.

Kelly

 

 

 

fresh picked for you

    Well now, I am looking and feeling better today than I did last Friday. Got my beauty rest, got my makeup on, got my eyes pointing in the same direction...  I don't have flowers sprouting out of my hat yet, but I have a few creative thoughts in my head again, so that's good!

 I need a little more time still to open my Etsy shop--next Monday(?) hopefully.  And I will have that how-to on fabric flowers and leaves for sure tomorrow.

 I received a blog award by sweet Deb over at  posted-from-home last Friday, and so I wanted to post this first.  Thanks so much Deb! The rules are to pass it along to at least seven lovely blogs. So I've picked seven out of oodles I enjoy.

     

So here we go:

*AT A GLANCE*

*KayEllen*

*every little thing*

*that silly lil' doe*

*bailiwick designs*

*the polka dot pixie*

*under the red roof*

I'm finishing up those felty sundaes and a few more goodies/orders for my friend Brenda's shop here in my town @ www.justabedofroses.com and I'll show and tell on those creations too this week--pinky promise on that one! Gotta get back to work.

Take care.  See you soon!

Love,

Kelly

 

 

 

 

 

seeing red: part 2

Remember the song "a few of my favorite things" from The Sound of Music?  Well, that tune was running around and around my head this morning, while I took pictures for "I saw red".  Sadieolive's call for red continues...

Here are a few of my favorite things around the house...in shades of red.

   My whistling red teakettle starts my day.  I love the homey sound of it whistling at me.  Or maybe it's just that something is still whistling at me these days? Past the big 4-0 now...

   Twinings red tagged English Breakfast tea in a red cup.  Every morning.  Several.  Then it's on to making ice tea for the day.  I think tea must run through my veins...but I love it.

   My other favorite kitchen appliance. Sleek, sexy, several cruising speeds, big motor, built to last... A burly, Harley riding friend of ours came to dinner a while ago; he asked me what this was.  I told him it was the Harley Davidson status symbol for housewives.  He laughed.  Oprah even gave away red Kitchenaid mixers on her Big Giveaway show this year.  Now I know I'm cool...

  Favorite thrift store red wooden bowl.

  Favorite thrifted red cookie jar.  Kinda weird that it's a Campbell's soup can for a cookie jar, but I still love it.

  Favorite antique store red baking powder tin.  I've never heard of Royal baking powder have you?

  Favoite new English WW11 reproduction poster.  King George commissioned several different slogans/posters to be posted around during London's bombing.  But this one was never distributed, and the original only recently found.  I'm seeing it all over blogland now, so I'm not so original anymore, but I think it's fabulous.  I read it several times a day, and tell myself  just "keep calm and carry on"...

   Favorite new display of red kid art.  My kids made the heart flowers with pipe cleaners, painted wooden hearts, and painted old string-along beads for the base.  How clever is that?

   Another new favorite piece of kid art.  Painted-spotty-red-yogurt-container-turned-petunia-planter.  How clever is that?

   Favorite new red Mary Janes' on my vintage (sounds so much nicer than antique, now doesn't it?) feet.  How do they smell Winston?

   Same favorite red-collared dog with his faithful sidekick, red-collared Miss Greta, on husband's favorite red Lazy Boy.

   Favorite new red sewing project.  Found several yards of this fabric at an antique store yard sale.  But it's been sitting around a couple of years, while I've tried to figure out what to do with it.  I decided to cut out the teapots, cups, plates, sugar bowls, and use them as appliques for tea towels.  Whadya think? Any more ideas, anyone?

   And last, my favorite homemade red silk poppy notebook, for all my project ideas. With a favorite quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."  I love it.  On that note, I'll leave you... See you tomorrow, with one more day of red.

Take care,

Kelly