
I'd like to invite you to visit my new blog: Simple Joys, no more, no less...
This will not have my ramblings posted, but will be a place for me to simply share photos and verse that inspire, comfort, remind, bless, touch, encourage, and more.


I found time a week or so ago to do more painting. When painting several pieces, I tend to have a theme going, whether it be color or subject. This time it was both. I hand mixed brown, celery green, and shades of aqua to paint whimsical baskets of flowers. The watercolors, pictured above, are inspired by the frakturs of the late 1700s and early 1800s. They are available for purchase here.













I have been working feverishly to get all my handmade items ready for the online markets of which I am a member, and to list everything and then some on my website and in my etsy shop.
The first photo is of my offerings at TDIPT Mercantile. The theme is "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and everyone made at least one item in shades of white, ivory, or cream. The wreath and cones have already sold and all that remain in this set are the silk ribbon embroidered Snowdrop pillows.
The next photo is of my offering at The Primitive Gathering. I chose to do a Victorian Christmas theme there. I made another paper wreath, this time from vintage Christmas sheet music, sheet music cones, and Victorian stockings made from vintage fabric. 
The last Christmas set is at Simply Primitives and is an Americana Christmas theme. I have made 2 sets of ticking stockings, embellished with wool pennies and antique buttons, and an Americana Belsnickel. The Belsnickel sold last night.


Next, is Aged Ironstone. We live where an old homeplace was situated in the 1930s and every time it rains or we plow the garden, we find more glass and pottery shards. 



Have a blessed day!
Lana



I wonder how many hands these have passed through. Have they held pins while a mother sewed her child's clothing? Or maybe a wife worked tirelessly by lamplight, patching her husband's farm clothes, time after time, taking a pin from the ball now and then to hold a patch of fabric as she stitched...
Such little joys to collect, but not so simple at first glance! There's a necklace and matching bracelet:
When I was taking pics outside, my batteries died. Snowflake (who is never snow white because she is always digging holes in the dirt), was watching me. I pointed at the birdhouse and jewelry and told her, "don't you dare bother this while I go get fresh batteries". She loves to scavenge lost and misplaced items and hoard them in her doghouse... shoes, gloves, turkey feathers that I have picked up and placed on the swing till I get ready to go inside, small hand gardening tools, a bouquet of flowers that I picked and put in the swing for just a couple of minutes, etc. I ran in the house, grabbed my batteries, and when I came back out, there she sat, guarding the jewelry, lol! She sat there till I took her photo and then she went back to lay down on the warm leaves in the sun. She's a good little girl... sometimes!
Now that I'm hooked on making my own chains and doing all the wire wrapping, I hope to make some unique pieces using many of the trinkets I've collected over the years while junking.
Stay tuned....