A Holiday to Portland and Astoria Oregon

September 30, 2009

In the morning my family and I leave for Portland Oregon.
We have an exciting holiday planned. No cell phones. No computers.




As I've mentioned I live in a small home. Creative storage solutions are a must. Fortunately I love vintage luggage. I do limit the colors I collect (blue, white, brown).
I love old luggage so much I want to use it on holiday!
Chris says that is ridiculous. I can't take it.
My argument is that that is the luggage people travelled with before someone invented the wheel.
After a week of debating we have come to a compromise.
I can take my vintage luggage but Chris will not move it an inch.
Not one.
Also, I am still responsible for the stroller, my purse and a satchel.
Modern luggage sounds great to me!

Ummm, I don't know how to fix that weird yellow stuff so I'm just leaving it.

A Wishbone and A Patch For Oliver

September 28, 2009.

Oliver and Freya wished on the wishbones from the chickens we ate for dinner last night.
The both got a wish.




Oliver got new Levis today.



I'm going to sew this patch on them to 'fancy' them up a bit. There is not much cool boy clothing out there and I won't even try to sew boy clothing.
Patches are fun to embellish with. The best part is Oliver likes to pick up patches when we travel and likes me to sew them on to his pants.

Chris Cooked a Delicious Chicken For Dinner.

Sunday September 27 2009

Chris roasted and served a whole chicken and baked potatoes this evening. It was very, very yummy.
I love Sunday dinners.



The recipe Chris used to cook the chicken is here: www.allrecipes.com/recipe/Roast-Sticky-Chicken-Rotisserie-Style/Detail.aspx

In the morning I will welcome Monday with a big 'Hello new week'!

Timeout: Making Steve and Eating Cupcakes

September 27, 2009


Yesterday was Saturday.

Saturday in our home means no working and no chores (Well no big chores anyway).

Today we all played!




This morning I made 'Steve". Steve is awesome fun to make and there are so many different ways to change and embellish him. Steve took five hours to make. Five very pleasantly spent hours sewing, listening to KRCL , talking with Chris , you know life going on around you.









The pattern for 'Steve' is in this brilliant book by Denyse Schmidt.

If you haven't heard of her do so now. http://www.dsquilts.com/

If you don't own her book, Denyse Schmidt Quilts, it should be the next craft/sewing book you buy. That is how much I love this book. I gave it a shout out. www.amazon.com/Denyse-Schmidt-Quilts-Colorful-Patchwork/dp/0811844420

AAArrrgh! I forgot to rotate the photo of finished 'Steve'. Oh well, tilt your heads.


Saturday evening we went to a family party.

My niece Teah (2.4 years) is potty trained. My sister had a very special party and we celebrated Teah!

Cousins!

Cupcakes. Pink cupcakes!

Wow! Thanks everyone who entered the giveaway. I can feel the blog love. I love meeting you fellow repurposers. The inspiration and knowledge I receive from you is brilliant. Vintage Swap is evolving!
Congratulations to Rosamund and renee~heirloomseaon. Please e-mail me your addresses and I get your fabric to you this week.
Thank you everyone for your kind comments. They made my weekend happy.

Camille

A Good Vintage Day + A Giveaway

September 25, 2009

A Good Vintage Day + A Giveaway

I had a wonderful day yesterday. It started with a trip with Freya to the thrift store.
Freya and I both found goodies!



Camille's finds:
Vintage nightgown with cape in light turquoise. If I were to wear this to bed Chris would laugh himself silly!







I picked this picture up for the frame but I think I leave the cardboard print in it and hang it in my sewing space until I find a project for the frame.



My favorite! Vintage patterns complete! I've made quite a few clothes from vintage patterns lately. While I was flipping through a lot of patterns Freya was behind me looking at books.

Freya's finds:
Freya asked if she could have these books. I saw the price (50 cents) and Hello Kitty (I like Hello Kitty) and said yes. Only when we got home and sat down to read them did I notice the full title and subject of the Hello Kitty Activity Books. How great is it that one of them is a Stitch and Sew Activity Book!

I know autumn if officially here when Chris starts making soup for supper.

Last night he tried a new one. Greek Lemon Chicken Soup, It was delicious and pretty.

Chris found the recipe here: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Greek-Lemon-Chicken-Soup/Detail.aspx

It was such a great day yesterday that I'd like to have a giveaway.

I've been cleaning out my sewing space. It was a mess + and it is taking a lot of time to finish(there is a whole post about this project coming soon).

There are two plump piles of fabric, so two giveaways.

All fabrics are a white color. Fabrics included are; flour sack, muslin, light weight canvas, brocade and 1/3 + of vintage chenille.

If you want one of these piles of scrap fabric just leave a comment on this post. Oliver will draw two names on Sunday and I will post the giveaway recipients on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. MST.

Have a great weekend crafternooners.

Vintage Tins and Cigar Boxes

I really love my small home but alas it has very little storage space. I don't view this as a problem though. Some of the best creative ideas are born out of necessity.
Continuing with my winter nesting I organized and cleaned out my brown chest of drawers which resides in my living room and houses some of my favorite and most often used sewing paraphernalia.



Two of my favorite loves marry nicely, vintage tins and cigar boxes and sewing notions.




These tins once housed sewing machine accessories, pencils, benzine for watermark detection and pipe tobacco.



On Main Street in Jackson Wyoming there is a cigar shop. Inside their door they stack the empty cigar boxes that are free just for the asking.




My favorite cigar boxes are the King Edward brand for sentimental reasons.
My Grandpa Johansen drove a UTA bus for 25 years. He had a bus rider who smoked a lot of King Edward cigars. When the gentleman finished a box, he would give them to my Grandpa. After 25 years of UTA service, Grandpa had stacks of them. Over the years, Grandpa would give us boxes to take home with candy or coins inside. The stack of boxes ran out long ago and I don't have any of the boxes he gave me. When I come across one in an antique store, no matter the condition, I buy it. This is a happy memory for me.



Antique brown chest of drawers that houses sewing notions.

Opening a drawer and seeing all my sewing delights me.

Happy Wednesday, crafternooners.

Nickelcade: Fist full of nickels

Yesterday we had a fun day at the Nickelcade.



Freya playing 'Ribbit Racing'.



I really like these martians.




Vintage, fun house style games.




With most of the games you win prize tickets which you then trade for candy and trinkets.
I have to give Oliver and Freya a time limit for deciding or they will ponder the possibilities of what they could get with their tickets for hours.





Anyone for a horsey ride?
I like that there is something for every age at the Nickelcade.




Oliver and Chris playing.

Freya is the master of this claw candy game.

I spent an entire hour playing Mrs. Pac Man. I'm not a fan of video games but I really love playing arcade games especially the classics. I have a new appreciation for arcade games and the people who love to play them after watching the movie King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters. It gets high reviews from this arcade girl. www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/

Chandelier Giveaway

My first giveaway, yes there will be more, is this darling light green chandelier.
It measures 12 inches long.
The ceiling plate is a a brushed brass and silver color.
To enter, simply leave a comment in this post. Comments will be closed, and the winner announced by 1:00 p.m MST on Sunday.

Good luck and happy weekend.
P.S. Oliver will randomly select a winner.

Judy's home

First up, Freya is wearing a homemade tunic blouse. The pattern is the 2 + 2 blouse by Oliver + S @ http://www.oliverands.com/. The fabric for the blouse is from superbuzzy @ http://www.superbuzzy.com/.



Luckily Freya is proud of her handmade clothes. For now.

(A close up of the center patch). The pattern on the fabric depicts a Japanese allegory though I forget the story.

And as promised, my wonderful friend Judy's incredible home and garden nestled in Alpine, Utah.

Most of the furniture and decor accessories in Judy's home are vintage or antique.

Judy's home was not decorated over night. She has spent many years collecting, refining and editing what comes into her home.

I love the simple yet beautiful mirror that hangs over her slip covered sofa.

The dining room is used every Sunday morning for family breakfast.
Occasionally Judy redecorates this space popping in a pink Victorian settee.

It is a lovely place to sip coffee and marvel at the amazing Wasatch Mountains.

The foyer. The chandelier above is one of the only new lighting fixtures in Judy's home.

This is another area that Judy changes up quite frequently.

In fact every time I visit Judy's home she has rearrange the furniture.

The garden with the majestic Wasatch Mountains dominating the back ground.

This is Judy's second year of planting a family garden.

A pumpkin hidden within the grape tomato plant.

Another pumpkin hiding in the tomatoes.

A crafternoon lunch.

All of the vegetables were freshly picked from Judy's garden.

There is nothing better than vine ripened tomatoes except vine ripened tomatoes still warm from the sun.

Thank you Judy for sharing your home, garden and time with me and the crafternooners.
(To glimpse more of Judy's home and life visit her at www.myhappychic.blogspot.com).

For tomorrows blog I am having a super awesome give away. Should I tell you what it is? I'll give you a hint. It is a reilednahc. ( It my help to use a mirror to read the clue). Check in at 1:00 p.m for details.

Happy crafting crafternooners.