Hometown Girl

artwork & inspiration

I have admired so many mixed media artist's work over the years. I thought I'd try to put together a piece myself. My style tends to lean toward the clean & simple so to add layers and layers, it's a challenge for me. 

My inspiration came from the peonies just about ready to bloom that grow aside my beautiful old barn/garage.  I love the way the raindrops are settled so sweetly on the tightly closed blossoms. Even closed they are stunning.

 

Here is the finished piece. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I used vintage wallpaper, sheet music, lace, trim, ribbon & a millinery flower that was taken from an old hat. I used a little walnut ink on the edges of the sheet music to add some depth.

  

 

Where do you find inspiration? I'd love to know. Have a wonderful weekend & thanks for stopping by.

it's a grey kind of day

my inspiration must have come from the kind of day it's been here today!

~new charcoal grey sash with oversized organza flower with vintage earring & buckle.

~pretty smoky grey bobbies

~hand dyed vintage slip in grey

 

We had a really nice weekend with our family. Hope you did too! Thanks for visiting.

finds, frames & a dream

A week for me is just not complete without at least one estate sale. Usually, I have a look at the paper and on-line to map out my destinations for the sales each week. I had an order I was working on along with keeping up with the house, shop & the rest of my life so it wasn't really on the radar at all. I've been trying to use what I have & sell some of my vintage treasures. Mid-week I received an e-mail from my friend, Kriss about a sale. I took one look at the pictures, tons of sewing items. The only problem would be convincing everyone to take a ride out to the country!  We ended up having a really great time, despite the fact that the entire town smelled of manure. Yes, you read that correctly :) The rolling hills, the farms with the old barns, it was a really beautiful ride.

My finds (I'm trying to be more selective in my purchases only buying what I love and will use). I cannot wait to use these beautiful laces, trims & mother of pearl buttons. I probably left behind another two dozen of the spools with trims!

 

I was lucky enough to get some new papers from my friend Donna yesterday and I could not wait to use them.  I've got some new things in mind for my other papers so be sure to check in on the shop.

 

Seeing all those beautiful barns I got to dreaming about a studio in one. All fixed up with a place for everything. I actually went looking at the new ones. I'm thinking maybe I'll start saving up for one I could put in our yard, so it may take a few years!  Picture this painted a rich taupe color with black accents, french doors, flower boxes, shutters, a little stone walkway, topiaries flanking the doors, a vintage chandelier & all my goodies in one place....... a girl's gotta have a dream, right?

 

Hope this finds you well, dreaming & enjoying your long weekend. Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks for visiting.

~Susan

finding my style again

Often, I see women who are beautifully put together, not a hair out of place.I wonder how they do it. I'll tell you, I'm not one of these women. It's likely you'll find me on any given day sporting a ponytail, my favorite jeans, a turtleneck or t-shirt (depending on season) & a pair of flats. I wonder if I actually had somewhere to go other than school or the grocery store, what would I wear?  Let me say I do get out once & awhile,  just not often enough. It seems since I''ve been home with the kids I don't really have a  style anymore. I've always loved the classics, I'm not really a trendy girl. Maybe in a top but I tend to like the preppy / classics. I love neutrals too, my husband thinks I have too much black and he's probably right. I'd like to find my style again, get my groove back. No secret I love Etsy so I perused some of my favorite Etsy shops for an outfit that reflects my style (& I'd like to have, hun if you're reading this, hint!) So out with the grocercies and in with style :)

I love everything about this dress from Lirola. The color, the timeless style & simplicty of it.

 

I found this great pair of earrings from Urban Legend. I love the little flower detail on them.

I thought this amazing knitted wrap by Fringe in a warm brown would compliment this classic dress. I love the combination of grey & brown.  

I do know what I like when it comes to shoes. These vintage peep toe pumps from Vintage Fashion Addict  are adorable!

 

How did I do?

It's a Sign

Around the house. I like signs.

Mud room.

Kitchen.

Porch.

 

Family Room.

Foyer.

  

Kid's Rooms

 

 

Have a great weekend!

Domestic Bliss

I love those days when the cleaning bug hits and you feel like superwoman! The days (not nearly enough of them) when you tackle all those things around the house you've been avoiding like putting away the laundry. It's nice to know through conversations I've had with my friends, I'm not the only one with this problem.  I'm proud to share my empty baskets with you.

  

Feeling the domestic goddess in me was alive and well yesterday, I set out to make a nice family dinner. I cook often but I almost never iron the napkins :) I pulled out some cute vintage red & white ones from my stash to go with my vintage dishes that my mom got me. They just make me happy! I made a family favorite, lasagna with meat sauce (homemade) and garlic toasts.

It dawned on me later that I'd forgotten to photograph the best part of our meal, dessert! We had the little individual yellow cake cups filled with fresh strawberries & whipped cream. I HAD to recreate it the best I could this afternoon so I had something to show you.

 

Here is to finding the domestic goddess in all of us, even if she only shows up once in a blue moom. Hope this finds you well, see you soon.

Sharing my Treasures

You know how every now & then you get in that need to declutter, clean out, giveaway mode? Well, I'm in it! I've got some new ~ old things that I listed in the shop. I have so many wonderful treasures, I can't possibly enjoy them all. I hoping some of these lovelies will find a good home. Speaking of giveaway I'm in the "meet & greet" on Lola B's Boutique blog, Kasey was kind enough to do a mention on each of her sponsors! I made a special necklace for the giveaway, so stop by and enter, lots of  great prizes! Here are my new/old listings.

Pretty felt hat.

Sweet beaded bag.

Fun vinyl wicker purse.

 

I added this to the shop today too, my sweet friend bought it. It's just so pretty had to post the picture.

Keeping with the cleanout theme mode, did I mention my May Flowers Sale? 20% off everything in the shop until May 17th! All fabric purchases over $25.00 free Domestic shipping! Told you I was cleaning out! I also wanted to say thank you to Sam at Inklore for doing a feature on my little shop. Thanks Sam!

happy mother's day

I hope all you marvelous moms have a wonderful day with your families. I got these goodies!

 

flowers, chocolate & a pink monkey,

 

what more could i want?

I'm part of a giveaway next week so stop back for details!

Scents & Sights

Little did I know I had a few lilacs peeking open. The bushes are on the far side of our garage and I didn't notice until I was out in the yard playing with the kids. They smell wonderful!

 

 

I found this sparkly beauty of a necklace at the "garage sale" at the antique co-op this weekend. I won't tell you what I paid for this gorgeous vintage rhinestone necklace because you probably won't believe me! It looks lovely on my dress form with two of my other necklaces, I've been admiring it for the last two days. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to part with this one.

 

I hope you week is going well! See you soon.

p.s. The apron might be listed in the shop at some point. I've got quite the vintage apron collection going. It might be time to destash a bit!

Porch Makeover

In need of some love our back porch was functional but lacked the homey feel that I love. The walls are white siding and the floor is painted black.  I'm a big color person so the white was too stark for me. I asked my sweet dad to keep an eye out for some shutters we (I really meant he) could paint black. I thought it would add a little architectural interest & another layer to an otherwise  bland wall. I should have done the before & after but here is the after.

We had the wicker furniture that we bought a few years back when we added the porch onto the house. So the black and faux brown leather cushions were staying. I made pillow covers from my vintage fabric stash that had all the colors I needed to make the room feel cohesive. It's bright & cheerful! I added white pillows made from a vintage bedspread to balance out the really bright print on the larger pillows. The loveseat also got one of my grandma's crocheted blankets.

 

Last summer I picked up an old painted table at an estate sale perfect for our dinners on the porch. It was an aqua/teal blue and all chippy. I loved it and didn't change it a bit! I really wanted a little cabinet to house some dishes, napkins, etc. to make mealtime a bit easier. I once again went to super dad and told him what I wanted and that I wanted to keep the improvements to  a small budget. He made me this beautiful cabinet from two old kitchen cabinets & a dresser he took from the curb. The paint & glass knobs cost me $28. Pretty great, isn't it?

 

 

I bought my sign and tray from Etsy and my mom gave me a whole set of milk glass to use! I really wanted flowers in the vase but my lilacs & peonies are quite ready yet. I'm still on the prowl for a fixture to hang above the dining table and a few little finishing touches. All in all, I'm really happy with it. Got a project you are working on? I'd love to hear about it!