The Curious Brow

My Spring Fever

2010-03-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 4 months since my last post? Well, I've had a mighty busy Winter. My man got his teeth majorly worked on, in a series of painful appointments, we flew to California on Christmas day for a 10-day visit with beloved family and a few cherished friends. Christmas morning before we left, my husband's 17 year old kitty passed away from old age. Almost two weeks ago we took a road trip to the east side of Washington to visit with family and do a little shopping at Ikea, Daiso and Trader Joe's. Someday we'll hopefully see a TJ's open up here on the west side.

My Darlings at Ikea Seattle

Our fun Daiso loot!

Yesterday afternoon, we went to a local park to take advantage of the lovely kite-flying weather and test out our daughter's new Tinkerbell kite. When it's in flight, it really looks like Tink herself is zipping through the sky. I couldn't pass it up for only $12 at Costco. It was still very cold out there, with the sun dipping low and the swift breeze, but the days are much warmer now, and we are anxious for the real Spring fun to begin.

My first Spring pleasure is the colors. Green comes back in patches, then waves. The buds are all forming on the trees and shrubs. There are leaves of bulbs emerging and standing tall, just waiting for the right time to send up the Tulips, Hyacinth and Narcissus. The red shoots of new Peony growth are pushing up from the bark in my garden and tease my vases for the bounty of blooms to come. The blue in the sky is so soothing and hopeful. We had such a dark and cloudy winter, without much white to sparkle. It was truly GRAY. I hang on the pinks, yellows and purples to come. I watch the buds on my Maples swell with each warming day, and think of the emerald stain-glass silhouettes they will soon lay across my hearth windows. I love my Maples. They even find themselves in my dreams quite often.

My second Spring pleasure is the renewing that is so instinctive for us all. Whether it's finally putting into play those New Year's resolutions, or emerging from the shell of our winter clothing layers, we are all cocooned in some way. Now is the time for breaking out and spreading wings, for making good on our hopes for the year. I have rooms to paint, rooms to re-wall and then paint, a neglected garden to salvage, an Etsy site to launch, and two bottles of deep purple hair dye, all calling my name in whispers, songs, nags and bellowing screams. Spring is always the fresh start and the second chance. Or 27th chance. But really... Who's counting?

My last Spring pleasure is the crafting. I get to sew new curtains, happy skirts and even re-work old linens. I make things for my home and for my business. My mother's birthday treat is folded in pieces waiting to be stitched together. Yes, yes. I know most crafters craft all year round, but I get my maker-bug in the Spring and Fall. I have a sunroof in my craft room. And it's cold up there in the Winter and too hot in the Summer. So when the Spring rolls in with it's warmer days and sunny glow, there is no place I would rather be creative than in my craft room. Plus, I love taking embroidery to the park while Simone gets to play. It's been far too long since we've done that.

Count The Days

2009-11-19T00:50:00.000-08:00

The above headstone reads:

"Almira C. Ricker, Died Aug 27th 1905, Aged 71 yrs 5 mo 10 days, Asleep in Jesus".

I do not know this person, but while on a walk in a local cemetery, this is one of many headstones I came across which listed the age down to days. Some people were my age, some were merely children and others lived long lives like Almira Ricker. But one thing was evident... Every day was counted.

I am 12,789 days old (Or 35 years and 14 days). How many days have you had?

Good or bad, every day taught me *something*. Every day had some sort of blessing, some sort of pain and meant something in the scheme of my lifetime.

In an age where we round up, scale down, sum up and take all we can, I want to be one of the people who counts every day. This life is so short. Yes, that's cliche but true. People even 100 years ago had a tough time of it, but they held fast to every day of life. Every single one of those days mattered so much that they were carved in stone, by hand and chisel, as a testament to the preciousness of life itself.

I will count my days proudly, value them and give thanks for them, regardless of the successes or failures within them.

Give me days of joy or sorrow, but give me days abundant!

Pictures From The Vintage Finds & Handmade Treasures Market

2009-11-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

Baby vases are truly an obsession of mine. I think because I have only come across a few duplicates in all my searching. My mom was sweet to take pictures of my booth, but I don't have any other pics from the show. It was a sweet day, with lots of chatting it up, warm cocoa and vintage love.

Thank you Unexpected Necessities for such a charming weekend!

Come see Kitschy!

2009-11-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hello! Long time no blog, huh?

Well, now that life has slowed as the weather has cooled, I will be back to bloggy goodness.

The first order of business is the Vintage Finds & Handmade Treasures Market this weekend!

Yes, I swore off vending this year, so I could get my ducks in a row and focus on family, but family is trying to pack up and streamline a house scattered full of Kitschy boxes. A clean-out is long overdue. Plus, it helps that the gals putting on this show are so incredibly sweet and really on top of their game. Oh, and did I mention it's going to help the kids at Nine Mile Falls Elementary School? I'm proud to be on board. Here's the details:

Vintage Finds & Handmade Treasures Market

(Sponsored by Nine Mile Falls Elementary PTG)

Saturday November 7th, 2009 9am-4pm

@ Nine Mile Falls Elementary School

10102 W. Charles Rd. Nine Mile Falls

$1.00 Admission, 12 & under are free!

Live music from Haylee Law, and scrumptious White Box Pies will be there!!!

In the spirit of a true clean-out, I have discounted nearly all of my stock. I'll also have all vintage children's books at $2.00 each and all single bagged baby cards (both announcements and gift enclosures) will be only $1.00 each! My vintage scrap pillows make great gifts and are now a STEAL! Plus, limited edition, numbered ephemera packs filled with at least 30 peices of vintage joy to help you stock your stash for the holiday crafting season! Each pack is ALL vintage and has at least 2 photos, 2 Christmas tags, a valentine, several sheets of wallpaper and wrapping paper, a 1950's mini envelope, salvaged book pages, music pages, 1940's playing cards, 1920's paper ephemera & ads and much more! It's a crafters treasure chest! I've purchased many collage packs and such at sales and nearly always been disappointed, so I built these packs to truly please.

Come and see! I can't wait to shop all the hand-crafted loveliness!

Walking in Manito

2009-06-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

After the fun hike with our Girl Scout troop for our last meeting of the school year, I felt so invigorated and alive! In an effort to improve my health and enjoy the outdoors here in my beautiful area of the Northwest, my mom and I decided to commit to doing more nature walks and hikes. My goal for now is to go trekking every other day.

Our first walk after the G.S. meeting was at Manito Park. It's lovely and huge park with so many different gardens. We parked at the bottom, near the pond and walked a sort of amoeba-shaped route that has us back at the car with just enough of a nice workout. The different hills and terrain made it nicely effective. Above is a picture of a lovely stone bridge in the park, my mom and daughter underneath it. Below is a whimsical stretch of walkway, which I photographed because I would love to re-create this in my own yard someday.

These clever archways below are in the Duncan Garden, I believe it's called. There is a row of these arches on both sides of the garden. Can you tell I just love symmetry in garden designs?

We walked through these arches, around the outer rim of the park to get to the Japanese garden, where we cooled off a bit before our last stretch to the car. It was a lovely afternoon, which we followed with a BBQ at mom's house.

On Saturday, we hiked around the river at the Idaho state line. I forgot to take pictures, but Jeremy taught Simone how to skip rocks on the very calm river and she noticed these grey "clouds" above ll the trees and bushes, but it turned out to be swarms of some flying insect. I caught a handful of them from above a shorter bush so we could observe them closer and I am not sure what they are. I'll have to look it up. Of course I let them go. On the way home we were spotting those swarmy clouds swirling and floating above all the trees along the river, all the way home.

Farm Chicks Day 2

2009-06-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hi honey! He looks good in brown and pink!

While I was in a sensory overload shopping daze, my hunny-guy and my 8 year old daughter took some pics at the photo op.

I handed Jeremy the camera and asked him to get some cool booth pictures. I ended up with two. Oh well, these are still very impressive set-ups!

The one below is "All That Glitter"

And now the totally amazing display signage of Lisa Souers.

I should say that I am biased and think ALL Lisas rock. You know, being a Lisa myself and all.
From her booth, my mom bought me this necklace, which I could not seem to get a non-fuzzy picture of, no matter what I did with my camera.

Here's my loot from day 2, and the Little Bo Peep Fridge from day 1 that I forgot to include in the photo last time. Oops! I know a lot of people bought furniture and bigger things, but my whole life I have loved the little stuff. My house is filled with built-ins and all the furniture I can fit in it, so I never really look for it at shows. I tend toward all the ephemera and little doo-dads that make me smile. Oh, and stuff I know I can use, for either crafts, decor accents or homeschooling.

Again, a rough left-to-right run down of my treats:

-Pressed board tray from Sarah Smith Antiques in space 16

-Tally cards and little napkin holders from Barbara Schriber & Melissa Neufeld's space 73

-Wallpaper scrap pack from Tickled Pink in space 89

-Assorted labels from Elle's Studio in space 116

-Fabric from Poor Pitiful Pam in space 35

-Little Bo Peep toy fridge from Vain & Vintage in space 99

-A little scrappy kids craft idea book (great homeschooling resource!) from Salvage Studio in space 8

-A darling ship Bridge tally card from Barbara Schriber & Melissa Neufeld's booth in space 73

-Aqua velvet ribbon from Tickled Pink in space 89

And I forgot to credit my quirky winking eye necklace from the other day to Emery & Moran in space 30!

Here's a close-up of the wallpaper scrap pack. Let's take a peek inside!

Ooh! I love surprises! I can just imagine all the fun I will have with these little remnants!

Day two was a very late start for us. We were sleepy, slow going and didn't roll up to the fairgrounds until close to 1pm Sunday. I went straight for the Bridge tallies and was happy to buy the ones I liked. You know, I have had my eyes on auctions and bridge tallies on my birthday wish list, believe it or not. I am one happy girl! They will be artfully framed, some will be made into basket tags for my closet, craft room and living room. Oh the fun!

I cam home recharged about Kitschy Kitschy Coo, and made a lot of lists and sketches for next year. I can't wait to get started!

Wanna know a secret? I'm still wearing my re-entry wristband. Yup. It's seen 4 showers since Saturday evening, and it's wearing pretty well. Every time I look down I am reminded of the bliss of it all and the hopes I have for next year.

Farm Chicks Day 1!

2009-06-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Look here! There's lots to see!

The happy bannered silo @ the Spokane fairgrounds.

I apologize for the blurry pic of my mom, but I am excited to show you the new photo op just inside the entrance this year. With a backdrop of some cool vintage shower curtains, a suspended frame and some of the provided super cute pennants, you can have a great DIY photo souvenir! We'll have to take a better picture tomorrow, when our group is bigger.

This confectionery cutie pie below is the main cookie behind Candywinkel. She sells amazing gifts of candles candy & soaps packaged in the cutest vintage containers! This gal has a such a creative eye and inventiveness about her. She was wearing a candy necklace adorned with her mother's brooch. Sweet! Her prices are amazing, and her wares are so tempting! In one of the loot photos later on you can see the little chocolate covered sunflower seed packet that I picked up for Simone. She stitched up little glassine bags and put floral seed images on them and displayed them in planting troughs! I love another lady with an eye for details! I also purchased for Simone a sweet vintage ice cream bowl filled with gummy sours, a candy stick and topped off with a vintage toy fan. It really doesn't get sweeter than this!

Tune in for tomorrow's recap with more vendor & show decor photos!

NOW IT'S LOOT TIME!!!

Listed roughly from left to right:

-Paper ephemera packs from Hudson's Holidays in space 4

-Cute green vintage fabric remnant from Lisa Richart in space 54

-My Farm Chicks In The Kitchen book (I've had it for a while, but got it signed today!)

-An empty box to fill w/ my candle holder rosettes! From Happy Endings in space 103

-Oodles of deco Bridge tally cards from Melissa Neufeld and Barbara Schriber's space 73

-A darling deco-decorated vintage bottle from Unexpected Necessities in space 67

-A tiny jar of buttons my mom got for Simone (My daughter) at This Old House in space 58

-Fabulous clock-face pillow from Maison Douce in space 89 (my mom got her dress form bust!)

-Teeny tiny old corked glass tubes & the leaf shaped booklet from Fun Junk in space 87

-Fisher price crib (long story) from Unexpected Necessities in space 67

-Cocoa Butter & Banana soap and Glacier Clay facial soap from Cedar House Soaps in space 88

-2 cigarette cards (nurse & satellite) & grab bag of watch parts also from Fun Junk in space 87

-Farm Chicks label pack and tiny matchbook notepad from The Farm Chicks booth

-Tiny set of circular calendar tags for 2010 from Elle's Studio in space 116

-Seed Packet treat and "sundae" gift from Candywinkel in space 28

-Floppy kitty pattern and blue vintage fabric from Lisa Richart in space 54

-Farm Chicks show poster and tractor logo necklace from The Farm Chicks booth

Whew! That was quite a mouthful!

Here's a closeup of some goodies...

And some more!

And my new insta-collection of Bridge tally cards! I am seriously giddy about this and will most likely buy whatever is left tomorrow! *crosses fingers*

To sum up... this event TRULY raises the bar for display at shows, many of the vendors' prices are so incredibly approachable and even downright bargains at times! It amazes me how the Farm Chicks can have their event completely multiply in size and popularity, and yet manage to maintain the charm and integrity that makes the show so incredibly whimsical.

And the perfect end to a wonderfully perfect day of shopping and basking in the magic? How about having two of the most inspirational women I know signing my copy of their cookbook so sweetly. I admire them so deeply, and cannot wait to come back next year all re-charged and re-invented. I couldn't ask for a better life than this right now. Amidst the chaos and grind, I have such wonderful opportunities and sweet blessings. Today was a brilliant reminder of where I belong.

Thank you Teri & Serena!

2 more days till Farm Chicks!!!!

2009-06-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

So while we count down the days/hours... Here's my Farm Chicks Show shopping list!
-The new poster
-One of their necklaces (I always get one!)
-Some mermaid Kitsch for my bathroom
-Velvet ribbon & various trims
-Fabric bits from Lisa Richart (she always has fun fabrics & INCREDIBLE prices!
-An Art Deco cottage print
-Embossed cardboard decorations
-Some honey!
-Wallpaper to be crafty with!
-Wrapping paper too
-Gummed seals (the more deco, the better!)
-Something for my soon-to-be Snow White "kitschen"!
-Luscious soaps
-Some goodies from Teresa Sheeley
-A new handbag, vintage or crafted, it's sort of my Farm Chicks' tradition
-A goodie for my daughter, who is NOT tagging along this year. Yay!!! Momma gets to shop without distraction!!! That NEVER happens!

But guess what? Momma needs some extra spending dough for the Farm Chick's show!

Only two more days and ticking! It only seemed logical to throw together some vintage booty to sell on Craigslist. There's Vintage hats...10 of them!

A pin-up Nurse print!

5 sewing patterns from the 1960's, all wearable sizes!

3 vintage handbags...and more!

It would just be so nice to splurge a little MORE at the show, instead of fretting or guilt-tripping myself over how much I spend. Late, yes, but also resourceful! I know pics aren't pretty, but I was originally just going to post them in the ads.

Whee! Now to go check on my peonies and see if they are open. It would be lovely to sport one in my hair at the show!

The look for less...really!

2009-05-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my house!
This is one of the built-ins in the living room of my 1922 home. It was the first house we drove by when we were home shopping up here, and boy did we keep on driving. It's super ugly outside, but when we were running out of options and the price on this one was right, we called our agent to get us inside. We fell in love and made an offer that day.
This built-in is on one side of the archway to the dining room. The other built-in is identical, but is very narrow, like for plates, because behind it is a hidden secretary desk. Love! When we moved in, I only had the pottery that now fills the bottom shelf (it was all made by my husband and his mother a very long time ago). I knew what I wanted in there eventually, but I am a very frugal gal living on one small income and scraping to get by. Patience would be my friend, and less than 4 years later, I have all this.
Let's open the doors & take a closer look:

Value Village has been my buddy. As have men's workbenches at estate sales (I'll get to that later). The most expensive piece in the shelf is the Roseville reproduction (second from the left on the top shelf) that my husband got for me from Victorian Trading Co. , at about $35. Nothing else cost over $10, and most was only between $2-$8. The entire contents of this built-in cost about $125, and that includes the old books and the pressed board trays. How did I do that? I cracked up, quite literally.

On the left of the picture above, is a McCoy vase. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's blue glazed over cream with the brown details. This is where the men's workbenches come in. At estate sales, the men typically run over to the garage and the women tend to stay in the house to shop and look at the garage last. Well, a lot of times the garage has little gems like this tucked under the workbench because they needed to be, or had been, glued. The vase above is completely shattered in the back and glued back together (rather poorly). The cashier at the estate sale asked me if I really wanted it and was surprised to see it didn't make it into the dumpster yet. Yikes! I paid her two dollars. Woot!

Below are two deer vases *swoon*. I love old deer motifs! The one on the right had been decapitated and poorly glued, but it looks fine in my cabinet, yes? $2 for that one also.

For me, the dream of having my little vintage home and that Arts & Crafts era feeling was very important, so I kept at my hunt. I think it paid off nicely. I don't need a $150 McCoy vase, when I can have $2 cast-offs that look charming on one side. Nearly everything in that shelf is considered worthless for one reason or another. However, to me they all come together so charmingly and allow me to have my dream bungalow at a price even I can afford.

My tips for cabinet filling fun:

-Thrift stores, estate sales & yard sales, 'nuff said!

-Embrace the repaired! Someone cared enough about that item to at least attempt to fix it. If my deer had a really bad seam on it's neck that i couldn't mask at any angle, I would have tied a small bit of vintage ribbon around it as a bow. If something has a nasty chip out of the base, you can display something smaller in front of it, like a book, a dish or a floral pick.

-Include other items from the era, such as books, sheet music, postcards, framed photos and other ephemera that can round out the display, help you fill vacant areas and still keep your goal look, while you continue building your collection.

-Place brighter/lighter/whiter objects further in the corners and bring darker items to the front & center. This will optimize the light-play in the shelf, especially if it's not electrically lighted, drawing your eyes all the way in, so all your treasures will be visible.
-Draw attention to the shelves with seasonal changes. I add simple ornaments and evergreen floral picks during the holidays (as well as fanciful things hanging on the knobs), and silk Autumn leaves, pumpkins and twigs in the Fall. In the Spring my displays go a little neglected, honestly, but found feathers, fake robins eggs and Forsythia sprigs would really brighten it up.

While I pine for my little green, zero-energy home in the countryside, I will always think fondly of my quirky little bungalow here in the city. And most of all I will miss the character of these older homes. I keep reminding myself that aesthetics can be achieved on any palette, and wherever I call home next will be a wonderful new adventure in decorating and frugal nesting.

Goodbye, my lovely black tulips!

2009-05-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Say hello and then goodbye to one of my glorious black tulips. They turn the most amazing toasted eggplant color when they begin to wane.

The photo below is of some of the black and purple tulips I have in my front yard, on the other side of my walkway. Yes, you can see the quite un-groomed chaos that spans behind it, but that was taken care of last weekend. This cell-phone pic is from a few weeks ago, when the tulips were in their full glory. I've never been disappointed with bulbs, I tell ya. They come up nice and early, they look amazing and keep me feeling like I might actually know what I am doing in the garden. Nothing like a little mind-trickery to fool my "black thumb" into thinking green, eh?

My Favorite source for quality bulbs that never fail, is John Scheepers

When we first bought this house I ordered a sampling of some pretty Tulips, Hydrangea & Asiatic Lilies. It's now 5 years later and the bulbs are still as lovely as ever. The Tulips are naturalizing (I got a pale pink peony-flowering tulip) and I get more blooms out of the single planting every year! The hyacinth get bigger, fragrant and more majestic each bloom time, and the Lilies have spread out into the most impressive, abundant summer displays. I often pick one to wear in my hair. That's just what I planted the first year. Our new & improved front garden is getting a plethora of exotic colored bulbs this year and the color scheme above is a small preview of the scene to come. No red & yellow tulips for me!

The focus is changing

2009-05-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Last year at this time, I was rushing like a mad-woman getting everything ready for the Farm Chicks Show, making props for my booth (some of which I ended up selling the first day and had to make more Saturday night to patch the holes), and beginning to doubt my vintage mojo. I had overbooked myself in shows and ended up backing out of a few, just too pooped to party. I saw my priorities shifting to my daughter's Girl Scout troop, her very intense homeschooling, the unsupervised girls on my street who could really use a mom-figure, the idea of maybe selling our home, moving to the countryside and building a new one and of course, normal family chaos. Over the summer, it became clear to me that I would take a year off from vending my retro-candy to focus on my family and home.

What a wonderful choice! So much direction has surfaced now that I am not immersed in estate sales, a living room full of things to price and weeks of feeding my family inconsistent & less than satisfying meals while I prep my goods. We now have a clearer picture of where our lives should truly go.

Kitschy Kitschy Coo is so much fun! But I see it reaching it's end, as far as booth sales go. It's time to re-invent, or at least re-vamp. I want to do more children's room decor, not just baby. I want to capture the essence of those darling Golden Books, and package it in a way that inspires mothers to surround their young children in a magical and sweet childhood, for as long as possible. The ideas for booth props and display are a mess of storks and wagons all a-buzz in my creative subconsious, waiting to be categorized and presented to the public. I'll get there.

In the meantime, there is an Etsy site in the planning stages, one more Girl Scout meeting , the troop camping trip, many family road trips this Summer and lots of reading practice with my daughter. The house is getting a makeover and should be on the market next year.

Now, when the evenings come and I am relaxing with my thoughts (and lists), my business has taken a far back seat, behind my family. And I like it that way.

So for now, I go back to being a swept-away-with-excitement shopper at The Farm Chicks' show next week. It feels so good to be back in that sort of wallflower position, just observing it all and soaking it up. I hope to see you there!

A new blog is born!

2009-03-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'll be feathering up my little blog nest soon.

There is much to come, including crafty madness, vintage joys and lots of eye candy!

Keep checking in!