A little bit of Christmas...

in my kitchen....




Well actually, its a dining nook ;-). But never-the-less....

I love lots of warm and happy colors. Most of the ornaments sourced from thrift and antique shops.






Happy Christmas everyone!

Santa's Flight

Santa's Flight, a photo by thepolkadotpixie on Flickr.

I'm still here!

Been busy getting ready for the Spooky Time Jingles Soiree in New Hope, PA on Sept 10. Like me, this Santa is flying out with all kinds of goodness to share! :-)

More updates coming soon :-D

18 years!

Today marks my husband's and mine 18th wedding anniversary. We married young and we were completely broke, but very much in love.

I have really good memories of our wedding day. Since money was scarce, we relied upon friends and family to supply the setting, much of the food and even the entertainment.

My dress was a 1920's drop waisted gown that I found at an antique store ( along with the pearl choker) and my veil (which I fell in love with) was found at a second hand bridal shop.

My aunt had a huge backyard that she generously welcomed us to use for the setting. The fare was simple... my mom and I went to a local, mom and pop owned Italian deli and purchased trays of meats and cheeses. A talented friend made the wedding cake.

With over 100 guests we were grateful to have 3 D.J's in the family which provided plenty of music for dancing.

I have always been a bit of a romantic. I think that is why so

many of my clay characters are shown happy, lovey-dovey settings like the guys below.

I hope you have happy plans for Valentines Day tomorrow. To celebrate, I modified the image below for you to you use as you please in your Valentine's day tag or card making. Feel free to download and resize as needed . To download, left click the image and choose "save as" (note that this image is for personal use only).

Happy Valentine Day!

Storybook inspiration

As I have oft mentioned, I absolutely adore vintage children's illustrations. Some of my favorite Rose Bowl flea market finds included the lovely books below...

These books have already found a happy home snuggled between the stacks of volumes in my cozy studio.

Every now and then, when looking for inspiration, I'll pour over these illustrations whilst sipping on a cuppa something good, warm and sweet.

Little Miss Muffet pictured below was in my head for more than a year (thanks to the brilliant mind of old school animator Ray Harryhausen) before I finally took the time to render her in clay.

I created the tree and "tuffet" (what is that anyway???) out of newspaper which was wrapped in masking tape and covered with handmade paper mache. I then formed the little five petal flowers out of paper clay (using a gum-paste cutter and a paintbrush) and attached them all over the greenery.

Little Miss and her charming spider friend were sculpted from paper clay over foam, wire and wood. The little spoon was made with floral wire covered in paper tape.

Foregoing the usual box, I chose a wooden tray (found at the Goodwill) to paint and polka dot to arrange the scene. I am so happy with the way these guys turned out. I hope you like them too! If you would like to purchase them they'll be on offer at midnight tonight over at PFATT marketplace.

I'll be back on Sunday with a free Valentine's Day card/tag image for your printing pleasure!

More Fleamarketing adventures

I am grateful to be on the other side of what was a long and stressful week. Having found a few early morning moments to pour through my favorite blogs while listening to Pandora, I thought I should do a little posting of my own and share some photos from my last trip to the Rose Bowl Flea :-)....

While famous, I have to say the Rose Bowl Flea Market is probably my least favorite, due to the overwhelming size and scope of it. It also seems a bit pricier than other flea markets. However, on this last trip I was able to find (an even purchase) some really wonderful stuff. So much for my resolution to cut down on the clutter...

Rows and Rows of Vintage dresses... I cannot resist spending a good 20 minutes in booths like these.

This stained glass wasn't vintage, but it was lovely the way it caught the dim sunlight on that cold January morning in Pasadena...

Not even a single stem from this box of millinery was in my price range, but I liked it all so much that I needed a photo!

This=cuteness

It wouldn't be beyond me to wallpaper an entire room with vintage valentines... the graphics always reel me in... also, I've liked the word "swell" ever since watching Dobie Gillis reruns on Nick at Night when I was a kid...

Seeing all these aprons in one p;ace just made me happy...

More kitschy cuteness....

I love the glamorous figurine in the middle of this collection

Always lots of pretty painted furniture at the Flea... none would fit in the hatchback of my Nissan Versa though

And at last... this was the dress of regret.....

I contemplated purchasing this sweetheart of a dress for a good 15 minutes before the practical half of my brain won out. The Romantic in me fell in love with color, the polka dots (of course!) the drop waist, the pockets, and the lace trim, while Miss Practical reminded me of it's stains, unfix-able threadbare patches and of the 1/2 dozen other vintage dresses in my closet that I NEVER wear. So, I contented myself with of photo and a promise to don one of the old dresses that already have residence in my closet before purchasing another one.

I'll be back in a few to show you what did manage to come home with me (despite Miss Practical's protestations) and an update on some upcoming classes. Happy weekend everyone!

Laughter and Lemondrops

I wanted to pop in to share the beautiful web page and work of my new friend Carrie Sherman. Her website, entitled Laughter and Lemondrops ( I just love that name!) has some magically beautiful jewelry offerings. Below is sample of her whimsical work.

I'll be back in a couple of days to share the spoils of my recent flea market adventure as well as with some updated news about classes :-). Happy weekend everyone!

Whirlwind weekend

What a wonderful day of teaching at Whimzy in beautiful Tustin, California. And the group of wonderful women that took the class did an excellent job at creating their lovely bluebird boxes (pictures coming soon!). After a fun day of teaching and long night of catching up on overdue sleep, I got up early to spend the day doing a little flea market shopping at the world famous Rose Bowl Market.

When I go flea marketing, I am always on the prowl for old books (my inner librarian must have her way). Amongst the many delightful finds, I came across this coincidentally cute book created in 1914 by Thorton Burgess: Jerry Muskrat Wins Respect.

I say coincidently, because just a few days before, I put the finishing touches on this friendly frog fellow.... (based upon the old folk tale, a Frog He Would a Wooing Go). Do you see a sort of resemblance? I think these guys look related (even down to the red shoes)!

Mr. Froggy was listed on PFATT earlier this month and soon will be happily hopping his way across the country to live with a lovely customer. But in honor of day, I will have two other Valentine's inspired creations, beginning January 13th on Spookytime Jingles.

Dish and Spoon in Love

Spooky Love

I'll be back in a couple of days and have lots more to share about my classes, my flea market frenzy as well as some recent favorite finds :-)

Classes coming up!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a good ending to 2010 and excellent start to 2011. Despite the freezing icy weather here in Flagstaff, AZ, I actually find much to enjoy about the prospect of a fresh new year "with no mistakes in it" ala Anne of Green Gables.

So have you made any resolutions? I am proud to say that I actually kept a few of my goals last year by starting a new jogging and healthy eating regime that helped me to drop about 30 pounds and quite a few dress sizes. I'd like to maintain that goal this year and increase my endurance and speed on the ole' treadmill. I also kept my resolution to return to school, and I am happy to say I am at a 4.0 so far in my grad program. It's been slow going though and I wound up only taking 2 classes last Spring and one in the Fall. Hopefully they will still be hiring librarians by the time I am finished with my program :-)

Another thing I did a lot of in 2010 was teach. And I am actively developing more classes for the new year. Coming up next weekend (in honors of Valentine's Day, which will be here before you know it) is my Lovebirds Class at Whimzy in Tustin California. I have taught this class in New Jersey and Mesa and I am excited to be bringing in to Southern California. At last check there were a few more spots open, so if you are in the area and would like to take a class, click on this link for more info.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!