in the garden

I'm having such a hard time lately coming up with subjects to blog about. Business in general hasn't been that great so I don't have spare cash to shop with and I haven't been doing much visiting of flea markets and yard sales as a result. I'll hopefully still have great finds to show you once the season officially starts but maybe not as much as in past years.

I have been working a lot outdoors. Well, except for yesterday when it was 90 degrees! I spent yesterday embroidering on my screened porch with the ceiling fan going full blast and a cold glass of iced tea on the table beside me. It helped to move as little as possible.

It's going to be just as hot today so I went out early with my camera and snapped a few shady garden pictures. Maybe looking at them will make us all feel cool!



This is my new favorite flower—lupines. We planted a bunch of seeds last year but they don't flower until the second year so I'm just getting to see what they look like. And I love them! And want to plant lots more because they look so perfect at the edge of our woods.



And this is the walkway on the right side of our driveway, the one that leads up to the front yard and the kitchen porch. The stonework is gorgeous but I can't take credit for that—it's been here forever. There's a big cedar tree and rhododendrons, and a row of big hostas on either side of the walkway. This may be my favorite place in the garden. Maybe because it's complete and doesn't need a thing except maintenance.



Stay cool out there. And if you have any blog post ideas let me know!

Vintage Alphabet Party - G and H

G is for Grapes. Appliqued and embroidered ones that is. I don't collect grapes but seem to have lots of fruit-themed needlework and fabrics and I couldn't think of anything else for G!

And H is for Handkerchiefs, of course. I have tons of pretty ones and I've posted several on my Flickr page (click on any of the photos shown here to get there and to access larger versions of these pictures so you can see all the great detail) and you can find still more in past blog posts. This recent purchase has an unusual design that I really love.

Join us for more Vintage Alphabet Party posts here.

another shop update

Please excuse my lack of blogging lately. I've been so busy with gardening and outdoor stuff (weeding...lots of weeding), cleaning my screened porch to get it ready for summer, and working, of course.



The pot holders are finally listed on the website and don't worry if you fall in love with the citrus one that's already sold. I have more of all the fabrics I used so can make another set, or possibly two. The upcoming ones all have embroidered fruits and I have yet to do that embroidery so it may be a while.



Also up is a brand new batch of eyelet sachets. They've been redesigned to be smaller and cuter (more buttons!) than their previous design. And they're less expensive than their handkerchief cousins. I wish I could offer them at an even lower price but they do use vintage eyelet and buttons, which are getting more expensive. Must be the popularity of vintage!

shop update

I spent most of yesterday going through the plastic buttons on my website. I hate to remove buttons, even if they've been listed for a while, because someone always comes along to buy them eventually. But, I now have such a backlog of buttons that are photographed and ready to go that I really had to make space for them. So, I removed some of the ordinary ones (black, white, shirt-type) and added a bunch of colorful, fun, and unusual buttons. Think flower shapes, pierced designs, swirls and twists, and bright colors. You'll find new buttons on page 4 in the plastic buttons section.



Hopefully this will drum up some interest because business has been pretty slow this month :(

A note for my international readers—shipping buttons overseas can be quite reasonable as long as you're not in a hurry for them. First-class international in a small padded envelope (which can hold several button cards) usually costs just a few dollars; the only problem is that the post office won't give an arrival date and it could take several weeks. In my experience though (recently to Norway, England, and Japan) it often takes just a week, especially if you live in a larger city. You can always email me before ordering if you want an exact shipping cost.

I've also been working on a new batch of pot holders for the site. I have a dozen almost done but ran out of the felt that I use for the insides. A trip to the fabric store today will take care of that! Hopefully I'll have them listed by the end of this week.

Happy Mother's Day!

Marion Crawford Lipp Moir (1931-1998) with my father and me! I think this may have been taken when I was christened in the spring of 1958 not on Mother's Day but it's a sweet photo to mark the day today.

Happy Mother's Day!

those pot holders, finally!

I'm driving to West Reading tomorrow to deliver a carload of products to Hello Bluebird. Lots of pillows, small accessories, and the new pot holders that I've been hinting about for the past few weeks. In spite of sewing machine problems due to the thickness and issues with the materials I used, I finally got them done and am happy with the results. See for yourself...



They're a great way to use up some of the small scraps of fabrics and linens I've been saving (this particular one has a section of linen towel, a piece from a vintage tablecloth, and scraps from a 1940s quilt that I took apart). The back is the same modern strawberry print as the bottom right corner.



Alex will be a vendor at Art Star Craft Bazaar next weekend and will be taking some of my things with her to the show, including (I think) these pot holders.



In case you've never heard of it, the Art Star Craft Bazaar is an outdoor retail art/craft show that is juried by Philadelphia's Art Star Gallery & Boutique. More than a hundred artists have been chosen as vendors and they'll be setting up booths along the Delaware River waterfront at Penn's Landing (Great Plaza on Columbus Blvd. between Walnut and Chestnut Streets).

Expect to find high-quality handmade goods that are unique and a little bit quirky (kind of like Art Star itself) including housewares, paper goods, dolls, paintings and art prints, clothing and accessories, sculpture, and other one-of-a-kind goodies. The show is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, May 15th-16th from 11-6.

So, stop in to the Hello Bluebird booth and say hi to Alex. And I won't complain if you buy some of my things :)

Of course, this leaves me with no pot holders for my website. But, never fear, I'll be starting on a new batch next week. Look for them on my web site soon!