Saturday Sundries

sundries: miscellaneous small articles, details, or items

Here we go... another Saturday Sundries post!

I have been saving these bits and pieces of vintage cobalt blue glass for some time. I plan on using them in assemblage necklaces like these and these whenever I find the time to work on them.

There's an Evening in Paris Eau de Toilette bottle and a couple of Evening in Paris perfume vials...

... and a really pretty partial strand of glass beads ...

 

... and now I have some flow blue china pieces to solder and use along with them...

I don't normally collect dark cobalt blue items, but these were just too pretty to pass up!
Do you collect colored glass? What's your favorite color?


Thanks for stopping by ~
Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

Book Sale! ~ updated

UPDATE ~ over half the books have been sold ~ thank you!

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Happy Friday!

After high winds, rain, hail, and downed trees and power lines yesterday morning, our electricity was out from about 5 am to 4 pm. Since I couldn't run my sewing machine as planned, I took advantage of that time and moved a book case from one room to another, reorganized books in 3 book cases, and pulled some craft and reference books to sell.

I had only planned on looking for a few books, then one thing led to another and it became a several hour task. I found duplicates of books, books I had forgotten about, and books that I no longer was interested in the particular subject... or possibly I knew I'd never find the time to pursue all of the crafts that they described!

{bird theme painting collages by my friend Suzanne; the doll is the first hand-sculpted paper clay doll I made}

On a side note, I thought I had just about lost my passion for dollmaking, but when I picked up this doll and looked at her more closely, seeing all my mistakes but loving her imperfections, I decided that I'm not through with that craft. When I have more time to make dolls and enjoy the process, I'll dive back into it!

Now, back to the books --- For now, most of my book cases are the cheap ones from Walmart. Hopefully, at some point, I'll have good, sturdy, solid wood book cases. Yesterday I pretty much just cleaned off the shelves, sorted through the books, and put everything back on the shelves. I'll rearrange the books and knick-knacks a little better when I have time.
 

The books that I'm selling are now listed on the vintage page of my website. If you don't see them here, just refresh your page a time or two, or clear your recent browsing history. Some of the subjects included are historical costumes, doll houses and miniatures, craft business, pincushions, early American decor, and folk art. If your order consists of only books and magazines, I can ship them via media mail which is usually a cheaper rate. Sorry, no international shipping this time.

I've got so much to do over the weekend... I don't know if I'll get it finished or not! Guess I'll do as much as possible till late tonight and then start bright and early in the morning and work all day and evening tomorrow, too. Even so, I hope all of you have a wonderful, fun, relaxing weekend!

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

it's the little things...

I received this text today from my sweet daughter, most likely in reference to a conversation we had on the back porch yesterday evening:

Hello just wanted to remind you today that you are significant, loved, and beautiful just the way you are inside and out. :)

I think I'll print it out and hang it here in my workroom. :)

Maybe there's someone just waiting for you to brighten their day with a little note. Think about it.

Have a blessed day, everyone!
Lana
~*~

Window Shopping

{from Etsy seller yippeevintage}

 Happy Monday!

Just thought I'd share a few Etsy treasuries I put together recently.
This first one is made up of all Cottage Style Street Team members. I love the red and aqua combination! Just click here to see the actual treasury page.

If you like pinks and purples, this one's definitely got it!

And getting back to the soft colors that I like, I put together this collection of Etsy items:

Ok, window shopping is over for me. I have a few May Dew Gathering Baskets to finish and get in the mail tomorrow and then I have to get busy with a project for a magazine... can't tell what or which one yet, but I'll let you know when it's published! ;)

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

Saturday Sundries

sundries: miscellaneous small articles, details, or items

Today I thought I'd share photos of some old, gilt wood medallions I found in a junk store years ago.

They look like they had been glued and nailed on something, but thankfully, at some point someone deemed them worthy of saving.

The backs of most of them are stamped Made in Italy.

For now, I have them sitting on an old cupboard shelf, just waiting for a special project... if it ever comes.

If I never use them on anything, I will still enjoy their old, worn beauty.
 

 To me, they have just the right amount of age to look perfect.
 

 Do any of you know what they could have been attached to in the past? I'm sure it must have been lovely, whatever it was!

That's it for my Saturday Sundries post. If you want to read more of them, just click here.

Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

We Are Not Planting a Garden

...or so we say.

Each year, for the last several years, my husband and I have had the same conversation come garden planting time.

Husband: "I don't think I'll plant a garden this year."
Me: "Are you sure?"

Husband: "Yeah, I'm so tired by the time I get home from work in the evenings and it's either too dry or too wet in the summer and we have to keep watering everything or hope it doesn't rot in the ground."
Me: "Well, if you are sure. You know you say that every year and we end up planting a garden."

Husband: "I know, but this time we won't do it."
Me: "That's okay. It's probably cheaper to buy everything at the store by the time we count our time and labor and cost for all the plants and the fertilizer."

Husband: "It does taste better than what's at the store though..."
Me: "Yeah, I really don't mind canning and freezing if it just doesn't all get ripe at the same time..."

Husband: "Well... maybe you should pick up just a few plants at the store when you go to town... just enough to eat during the summer.We won't bother with canning anything."
Me: "Like what?"

Husband: "Tomatoes... we can eat them all summer long... and maybe a couple of squash plants. I like fried squash. Cucumbers would be nice, too. Oh, and cabbage...
Me: going to the kitchen to get a piece of paper and a pen...

Husband: "Carrots, don't forget carrot seed.... and okra seed! Okra's really good in your homemade vegetable soup. Peas, too... and onions..."
Me: scribbling down everything he names...

Husband: "But we won't have to buy any beans or corn because I have some leftover from last year that we can plant..."
Me: making a note to stock up on more freezer bags and canning lids since I know what this is turning into...

{...and some basil for the back porch herb pots!}

So... I went to town yesterday and bought plants and seed. When I got home, he had already been tilling more of the garden space that we weren't going to use this year.

And day before yesterday when he came home from work, he had seed potatoes to plant that someone had given to him that they had leftover from planting their garden. He said he was only planting one row and we could dig them as we needed them rather than digging them at the end of the season and storing through the winter. When he came back inside he had planted two rows! I knew it would end up like this... it always does!

This old, rusty tiller looks like it's ready for the scrap yard, but it runs better and digs deeper than the newer one we have.

I hope all of you have a great weekend. If the weather cooperates, Jessica (my daughter) and I are going to some garage sales Saturday.

Take care and God bless!
Lana
~*~

Good Day, Sunshine!

How about starting your day with a sunshine-y Etsy treasury? I doubt anything could be as cheery as thse bright, happy yellow items. Click here to leave a comment on the treasury page if you wish.




Have a blessed day! Lana
~*~

Let's Go Shopping!

Found in FlourishCafe's Etsy shop ~ I love, love, love this!

I thought I would make it through late winter and early spring without getting my usual allergy/sinus/cough thing.... but it just came late this time. After spending all day outside at my sister's garage sale Saturday before last, I felt it coming on... and then it just got worse as the days passed and is still with me. I'm taking over-the-counter meds, trying to put off going to the doctor. Wish me luck!

So..... when you feel under the weather, what better way to spend your time than curled up with your laptop and a hot cup of tea, and spend some time window shopping on Etsy? I've put together a shopping list of some of my favorites for you to enjoy with links to each shop in case you want to make a purchase! ;-)

Found in corid's Etsy shop ~ I love her whimsical style!

Found in dressgreen's Etsy shop ~ clean, fresh, handmade soap... love!!!

Found in tinahdee's Etsy shop ~ beeeutiful!!!

Found in mudstuffing's Etsy shop ~ this is so charming!

Found in briole's Etsy shop ~ I'd love this on my wall!

Found in bugunderglass's Etsy shop ~ I love anything nature, especially in these colors!

Found in popalicioustoo's Etsy shop ~ I love Pop's pins, and she's a wonderful person to boot! :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Take care and God bless,
Lana
~*~

Saturday Sundries

sundries: miscellaneous small articles, details, or items

Today, for the Saturday Sundries post, I planned on sharing a little antique silver napkin ring pincushion I made, but I decided to share the other items in the background as well. The napkin ring had such pretty engraving... a monogram and the paisley design... that I snatched it up when I found it at a junk store years ago! The pincushion is simply a piece of old velvet gathered and stuffed and then pushed down in the napkin ring. If you looked underneath, you'd see the raw edge of the gathered fabric. I didn't even finish it off on the bottom since it was for my own decorative use.

This week I took a load of items to a Habitat For Humanity Restore and when I walked back out, this delicate little egg shell was right beside my car in the gravels! I looked for more but this was the only one I could find.

The last miscellaneous items are a dried leaf from the yard (it just looked pretty and I thought I'd practice sketching it sometime) and a little apothecary bottle filled with pretty chunks of aqua glass. A friend of mine brought a large ziploc bag of this glass back from her home in Florida. She said she and her husband were close to home one day when she saw something sparkling beside the road. She made him stop the car and they got out and she started gathering these bits of --------- broken windshield!!! Her husband got out and helped her pick up what they could. I couldn't help but laugh to think of him helping her gather what anyone else would see as trash for her crafty friend!

I'm sure most people would certainly see my decor as very eclectic, but nearly every thing in my home has a story and that is why I collect it.

Thanks for stopping by ~
Take care and God bless!
Lana
~*~

For You

While going through more things in my workroom, I found my stash of antique photographs, many of which were purchased at the World's Longest Yard Sale a few years back. In between doing everything else that I'm trying to get done here at home, I started scanning the photographs and listing them in my Etsy shop. They are great to use in mixed media collage art, jewelry, note cards, scrapbooking, etc. I have many, many more to scan, edit, and list, but you may see a few of them here. I'll work on adding more as time permits.

However, I have uploaded two old baby photographs for you for free! Just click this link, then click on the photo you want, then click "download" and save it to your computer. Feel free to use them in your artwork and crafts, but please don't sell / redistribute the digital photographs. :)

Come back later today for my Saturday Sundries post!

God bless,
Lana
~*~