Spring Embroidery

There you go.
Embroidery done.
Framed.

I had intended to make this 4 inch embroidery from MollieMakes Magazine into a card or incorporate it into a small frame purse. When I walked into my sewing room, this vintage Hawaiian Textiles print jumped up off the lower shelf and told me I had to make this into hoop art.

The colors and shapes of the leaves and flowers are uncanny in their similarities.

I backed the hoop with some felt from stash, the hoop also came from stash, and it's already packaged and into the mailstream to the person I was thinking about when I was stitching this.

Pruning canadian hemlocks. Vacant bird condo was relocated to a special spot near the front door.

  After our cold, snowy winter, we are enjoying daily deluges of rain, making the ground pretty soggy.

Too soggy to weed.

When a neighbor cut down some trees, I jumped at the free chip mulch. I spread it right over that Artillery Weed - super thick. Now I don't see the weeds but these glorious red tulips.

I call this ecological recycling as the chip mulch didn't have to travel far, thus saving our planet for another day. lol

These happen to be my favorite tulips that survived our gale force windstorm yesterday. I hurried out to take a photo before the storm hit but these are protected a bit by the lilac tree bushes.

Music box on my dash of my car.

My super garage sale find of the week. A treadle sewing machine music box. Still trying to identify the tune - we've all heard it before -- sounds so familiar....

I need to dust it off and spruce it up a bit. The treadle portion goes up and down while the music plays. It's about 6 inches high.


Need more photos of artillery weed? When it goes to seed, the seeds pop off and get in your eyeballs?

My Friend In Kyoto Is Having A Sale

I met my friend in Kyoto via the SewMamaSew Blog.
We have so much in common with her growing up near where I live now. Her family lives in Oregon but she met and married a Japanese dude man over 25 years ago.

She has lived in Tokyo as well as other cities in Japan. She now makes her home in Kyoto which I visited a year ago in March of 2015.

She is in the process of building a house in Kyoto which is seriously different than building a house in Oregon. She blogs about it occasionally - the frustration of wanting a bathroom counter at "high" american standards instead of the lower japanese standard.

We both like to sew. And any other handcraft, for that matter. We love nature. When she travels back to the states to see her family, they make a beeline to camp out at Detroit Lake and make a family reunion of it.

She's having a sale in her etsy store this August of 20% off. Which is a really good deal.

Featuring many items made of Japanese fabrics, she can make you anything. She's that amazing. She usually adds something special to the package and will add Japanese stamps (better variety than in the states) to reflect your interests. I often see airplane stamps on my envelopes.  Packaging is definitely an awesome superpower of hers.

The sale code is AUGUST20. Her store is called CraftyTokyoMama on etsy.

One item she makes is well-made shopping totes - Tight 'n Tidy Totes. I have two and they have lasted quite well. I keep one rolled up in my purse for amazing garage sale luck. Some of the people running sales are so amazed at my tote bag filled with goodies that they start offering me discounts right and left. lol


I notice her store is at 883 sales today. I had a goal of 1000 sales by Christmas last year and reached it in January 2016. I am passing this goal along to her.




Janine makes and sews Japanese Notebooks, book covers, shopping totes, handbags, etc.
She also knits and crochets.



I bought this adorable hedgehog fabric from her.
She also sells some of the amazing japanese fabrics she finds.

 Here is my garage sale bag I keep rolled up in my purse.
It easily unfolds to a large size tote.
I get the best deals when I use this bag.

Even if you can't make up your mind what to buy, could you show Janine some etsy "Heart" love? Just hover over the heart on each photo in her etsy shop and tap on it. This "hearting" really helps move things up the queue in the etsy algorythms. (thanks!)

CraftyTokyoMama on etsy. Use Coupon code AUGUST20 throughout the month of August to get 20% off your purchase.

I would like to see her get to  1000 sales too.

Random Notes On A Sunday

I found Lance. Fifty cents worth of make-me-smile.

I went to a church rummage sale Friday morning and found treasures!

Wooden thread spools, Cath Kidston pencil pouch, Star Wars fabric, quilt batting.
Patterns, fabric, trims. A Bear with an airplane.

I've had great success separating the wooden spools by color and selling them as a grouping.

I give out stickers to kids at work and made a super deal of a giant handful of sticker sheets for two bucks. I may have whined.

Trivia cards about Oregon.
Various sewing trims. Embroidery cloth.

I threw this into the wash and it came out like new. All the pencil dust washed out.
Twenty five cents. Cute retro alarm clocks

Adjacent to the church is a cemetery and this headstone stopped my car.
I may re-think my cremation plans. Love this memorial. The beads around the base are from University of Oregon Ducks.

It was such a gorgeous morning. As I drove to the sale, I passed new lambs gamboling in the green fields and a beautifully clear Mt. Hood in the distance. I thought about stopping to take photos but I know my phone camera isn't up to far-away shots.

Last week, I pruned my grapes and raspberries. These are ever-bearing raspberries. I get the first crop on last years canes in July and another crop on the new canes in September.

Very easy to start canes. If you live close by, I'd be happy to dig you some. These make awesome raspberry jelly.

The burn pile in the background where my garden 'gnome' hustles the detritus over when burning is allowed. The old canes magically disappear....

This morning, I captured Mr. Hummingbird.
These are my best photos so far.
Inside, at the kitchen window.

If I go outside, they will only buzz me and make angry chirpy noises telling me to go back inside and make more sugar juice.

(btw: 1:4 ratio of sugar to water. or. 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water. Boil. Let cool)

My front door. Spring blooming primroses.

I sent my first birthday cake.
Cupcakes to be honest.

Unfrosted.

Everything to frost them was inside as well.

It arrived intact and much appreciated by the birthday boy.

Bad Ass Pinking Shears

These are the far out pinking shears I found last Saturday at an estate sale.
My estate sale 'runner' usually hangs out in the Woodburn area so it was a surprise to see her in the Portland Gateway area.
Which, oddly enough, is near my favorite fabric store, Fabric Depot.

Her sale advertised the usual estate stuff plus YARN. Yes there was boat loads of yarn and just a wee bit of sewing notions.
These are still sharp and I love the blades. They give off that "we mean business" vibe.
$5.00.

 Also found, biggest covered buttons ever.
$2 ziploc -selling the rest of the notions.
I have a purpose for these if I can find the darn tutorial again.

And I just asked my creative friend if she had any jump rings on her.
hah - I find everything at garage sales.

Look at these cool tweezers. One can never have enough tweezers in life. . . or is that sewing machines. . . or is that scissors. . . patterns. . .fabric. . .

Garage Sale Stuff

A customer told me about some books she was sending her mother. A whole series called Annie's Attic Mysteries.


All written by different authors. Combining mysteries with crafting. How cool is that?
This is a list of the books in chronological order.
Doing my research at the library website, one of the authors has written other books, including this one by Sharon Dunn.

It was about garage sale treasures and the mysteries they hold.


Some of my latest garage sale finds:
A whole slew of quilting books.
Almost all are now listed on Amazon.
Don't worry - I kept a few.





I am a garage sale addict.

The first rule of getting over any addiction is to own it and acknowledge it.
My only other rule is my habit needs to support itself.



Garage Sale Millionaire
What's It Worth




Garage Sale Guru
How to set up a garage sale.






Urban Diggers
--This is how Suzi and I do it.
Tag team. Garage Sale Buddies. Both of us looking for stuff.

I look for many reasons but primarily to sell online. Suzi is stocking her Retro Revival store in Oregon City.
We  both look for vintage crap treasures as they are made better and won't break like new stuff.




Urban Diggers 2013 - better video.

Cake Plates

 Haven't you always wanted a  cake stand?
With the lid?
I mentioned this to my friend last month and she gave me hers. The reality is no one hauls cake stands out anymore. No one bakes anymore. I only bake one cake a year around here. I can't eat them. It's easier to buy a few slices from the bakery when the hubby gets a hankering.
I still  wanted one.

The one she gave me looks very much like this one. A little taller on the pedestal. Small pressed glass rosebuds decorating the stand.
Last week when I was headed out to a sale advertised in the paper - which turned out to be a dud, I stumbled across an amazing estate sale.
Imagine my surprise when I found the stand - almost identical to the one my friend gave me. I asked the gals if there was a cover and they went back inside and found it. They hadn't been sure it went with this stand or another that one of the gals had.  We all laughingly decided it went with mine. The stand was two bucks but the cover made it three.

A weird coincidental deal.

 And the deals kept coming.

These Christmas pieces: made in Germany, with their boxes. The tree has that Swedish feel - not sure where it was made. Besides - those girls running the sale were loving me.

CD's at 25 cents a piece. Vintage John Denver. If you admit you like his songs - great on the piano- then I'll have to like you back. Christmas - country singers: Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, etc.

Kitchen gadgets.
I will sell the pampered chef teaspoon/tablespoon measure.
Give the whisk to my sis in St. Paul.

  Gadget box with Holland blueware miniatures. 

This goes to creative friend for her shop.

Saturday, I did some garage saling in an area that is hit or miss. I was headed in that direction for AT&T and Best Buy to get Smart.
I didn't find much but one garage sale had some sheet music out on the table that I was looking through. I found a couple of pieces but my eyes lit up when I saw the music for The Happy Wanderer. My mom & I share a love for kitchy songs, campfire songs, piano music.

I thought I would learn it and then play it for my mom, maybe give it to her.

Best part was these people were obviously not liking the whole garage sale thing. So he said,"Do you play the piano?"
I answered, "Yes".
"Why don't you take it all then."

I felt somewhat guilty at my 'score' and gave him a  dollar. It was probably the only dollar they made all day.

Val-De-Re...Val-De-Ray....hm,hm hee,,hm, hm, hay.. . . . my knapsack on my back.

The Happy Wanderer

 

I love to go a-wandering,
Along the mountain track,
And as I go, I love to sing,
My knapsack on my back. Chorus:
Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back.
I love to wander by the stream
That dances in the sun,
So joyously it calls to me,
"Come! Join my happy song!"
I wave my hat to all I meet,
And they wave back to me,
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet
From ev'ry green wood tree.
High overhead, the skylarks wing,
They never rest at home
But just like me, they love to sing,
As o'er the world we roam.
Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die!
Oh, may I always laugh and sing,
Beneath God's clear blue sky!




I found the Muppets performing this song on YouTube.
In another odd coincidence, this is from episode 401 where john Denver stars.

***Dec 2014 update - sorry, the video apparently 'died'.

It Became A Really Good Day.

Friday.
The day of the garage sales. Work too - but we don't count that as part of really good.
This morning after finishing my am shift, I headed over to the next town to do a little garage saling. Along the way, I passed the field with the little lambs out frolicking - but as usual - no camera with me.
At the sale, I found 3 painted dressers that would be perfect for Lavender Hill Cottage , my creative friend's shop. Frantic texting back & forth - neither one of us owns a smart phone yet - produced an offer which was accepted. Before I even saw the dressers, I found a metal bathroom shelf which when queried, was only a dollar. Good vibes. No prices on anything but the prices continued to be fantastic.
My car would only hold two of the dressers so I will have to come back this afternoon to pick up the third dresser prior to going back to work.
What did I buy? A leather valise in great condition - perfect for storing some of my fabric - one of the smaller collections. I also got as a bonus, fabrics in the lower two drawers of one of the dressers which I split with creative friend.
Feeling smug about my good deal, I dropped off the dressers and headed home to bake a gluten-free white cake that bakery girl dreamed up. That's for my daughter's birthday cake.
I had time to check my etsy order page and pack up an order when I noticed an email from Best buy.
GIVING me a $125 coupon towards anything. Which means I am getting the IPAD for my birthday. Apparently part of my laptop deal from last fall.
Skip around the house. giggle.
I starting laying out the ingredients for the cake when I heard the unmistakable rumble of trucks outside. Running out to see  -- this--.

And this.

{{the shack}} wing parts

And this.

more wing parts

I picked up dog poop so no one would step in any but someone still managed to do so while pushing the fuselage back towards the hangar.
Then I ran back into the house to get that cake going so it would have time to cool and get it out of the pans before I needed to leave.

Meanwhile the guys unloaded all this.

Someday, it will turn out to look something like this.

One final pic.
Wait - I want you to know, bakery girl - your gluten-free cake recipe turned out stunning.
Out of the oven and it smells de-lish.
I'll post the recipe another time cause this day ain't over yet.

I get dibs on being PAT.