Is is just me...

or does it look like she's trying to play the salad tongs like a flute?

All ya need is love?

Looks like she needs an SOS pad even more than love.

I simply had no clue...

It simply never, ever occurred to me to knit while having my hair electrocuted in a beauty shoppe.

It likewise never occurred to me to wear tights so shiny I could see my reflection.

And speaking of tights...does anyone know where I can score a pair of these striped beauties?  As soon as I do I will stare dreamily into space as I sip what surely must be absinthe.

And fringe epaulettes and wrist cuffs...is there a single outfit in my closet that would NOT be improved by their bold addition?

Having seen this inspiring photo I am on a hunt for my doppleganger because ONE of me in this outfit would simply not be enough for the world:

Again with the birds!

Yes, I know....I am obsessed. Obsessed with birds. I can't help it. And truth be told, I don't want to help it.

This is a favorite of mine I made recently. I cut up an old, stained tablecloth, sewed on a bird silhouette (silk from an old pair of pajamas!) and then covered it with a snippet of wonderful vintage lace. The cool embroidery stitch was WAY easy and WAY fast (double yay!)

Isabel DePew, who were you?

I came across this wonderful vintage high school history book, especially printed for the state of Kansas in 1922. It obviously belonged to one Isabel DePew in Howard, Kansas. It's so perfect that despite the admonition in large letters "NOTICE: PLEASE DON'T MARK IN THIS BOOK PLEASE" our dear Isabel did just that. Perhaps she started the "altered book" trend that is going strong all these years later?

The penalties for various classroom infractions are noted on the last page:

Forgetting assignment - 10
Chewing gum - 5
Turning around - 10
Whispering - 10
Speaking without hands - 15
Tardy - 5
Rudeness - 10
Disagreements - ??

Thinking back to my own high school days, I fear I would have gotten a "perfect 100" on many a day...

On page 301, Isabel and a friend had this written conversation:

Isabel: "I am out of luck know. I guess tennis will blow up now with me."

Friend: "No I don't think so there is always some one. Bill is not through yet you can't tell he may."

There are sketches of the first floor of "my future home" as well as the somewhat resigned, "I don't care a darn but...". The best is a rough sketch of "you" with an obvious black eye!

One small scrap of fragile writing paper tucked between stained pages read:

"He said he had been saving his money for several years expecting to leave my native country that I loved so long, my friend, my home and my relative all but my wife and three children. We finally got enough money to take us across the water."

You can't help but wonder who Isabel was writing about...

Anyway, I did a quick internet search and found that there was indeed an Isabel DePew Jones who graduated from Howard High School in 1930. So I emailed the local historical society, explaining how I had Isabel's old text and offered to send it to them or Isabel's descendents if they were interested. No response yet, but I'll keep everyone posted if I hear back.

Ta-Dum...The Great Basement Remodel of 2009

I cannot even BEGIN to tell you what a relief it was to get rid of the vile carpeting and boring white walls with thousands of nail holes in my daylight basement. It took about a month of hard work, many trips to Home Depot, and my entire renovation budget for the year. But here are the results...which I am absolutely thrilled with! The hallway is a soft, mossy green and the stairwell and bathroom are both robin's egg blue.

Rather than replace the transparent but otherwise perfectly good window in the bathroom, I made a trip to the local home salvage warehouse, bought a bunch of chipped glass blocks in all sorts of sizes and patterns and created a little vignette to give me privacy and a focal point for the wall. The bathroom is actually the same blue as the stairwell, but you'd never know it by MY camera settings...

I refer to this as my "Shabby Chic" wall. I created a faux linen look using golden glaze and a stiff wallpaper brush, making horizontal and then vertical stripes. I took the glass out of this rescued window and hung old pearl necklaces, pages from botanical books, skeleton keys and a wreath I made out of odd little fake roses. I used a very old pale peach lace scarf as a backdrop.

The 5 boxes came from a little chest of drawers I picked up at the Mother of all Goodwills (MOAG) near downtown Seattle. Some child had scribbled all over the front with crayons, so I turned them around, screwed them together and created this fun little storage/wall display thingie. The starfish on the front are actually big push-pins so I just pressed them right into the backs (which are now the fronts) of the drawers. All of the treasures inside are found objects. The framed prints are actually more pages from a botanical book placed inside matching white wooden frames I also found at the MOAG.

Pearl Necklaces and Approved Stationers

This is a closeup of a necklace I made from repurposed baubles. I love the "Approved Commercial File"...good thing I wasn't trying to use a "rogue" or "unapproved" prop.