Monthly Archives: February 2009

???PAINTS???

I have been slowly but surely painting away. Here’s some work in progress from a painting from weeks ago. Getting all the details down…work in progress still.

I added some golden harp-inspired embroidery on her hat.

And remember the feathers that my father found from this post? Initially, I thought that they were from the American Goldfinch (which has such a pretty song!) so I added them to the painting (birds still need to be tweaked, but have a peek).

It turns out (with the help of my awesome readers) that the feathers are from, almost definitely, the Northern Yellow Shafted Flicker.

So the story is slowly unfolding in paint. I hope to finish this tonight, and as soon as it is dry it will be offered as a print in my shop.

???TREASURES???

I was quite sick the last couple of weeks, but I managed to find some amazing treasures. Attempting to de-clutter has put most thrifting efforts to a halt, but sometimes it’s a real mood-lifter.

Vintage maryjanes, broaches, a silver locket on a chain (for me this time), little hair combs and white gloves with red polka dotted trim, and a sweet embroidered bag perfect for springtime.

Of all my treasures from last week, the most inspiring was a bag of faded, multicolored, wide silk ribbons, all hand embroidered with women’s names. We can’t figure out what they were used for. The embroidery also includes their home town and state after their name. Here’s one, which I pressed and put on display. I’ll show the others later.

???BOOKS???

I love the cover of this book, from 1905, which is a real treasure too!

More books…I have a giant, deckle-edged watercolor album that has been capturing my treasures as of late. I make these pages for myself to use as reference, for inspiration, to record my findings, and as a catch-all for all the little things I find. Otherwise, the boxes and baggies pile up and are impossible to sift through! So I guess it’s a process journal of sorts. I watercolor-wash it’s pages with subtle color and glue in little fragments of things I find on my travels and treasure-hunts. I don’t put too much care into the pages…I love to keep them loose and free as I don’t want to attempt to make this an an end product. Just a journey, recorded. The only rule I have for myself is everything has to be genuine and found either on the ground or in a thrift or antique shop, given to me, etc. Today was so nice and sunny I decided to snap a few pictures and share (along with my personal collection of vintgagey necklaces). Private inspiring things…why not?

The little chick-a-dee necklace above is from Found and Made.

Absolutely in love with this lace collar. I have two. Sometimes it’s hard to paste things down so it helps when there are duplicates.

I found a roll of old wallpaper on a rainy day walk. Thank goodness for my umbrella! I just love the pale yellow roses on the grey polka-dotted background.

Little notes on pretty blue scraps.

And finally, has anyone read this book? I have been meaning to read it for a long time. I read “The Lady and the Unicorn” by the same author which was interesting. Anything Historical fiction floats my boat. Last week I found a copy in the thrift shop and I couldn’t resist. I didn’t see the movie due to the fact that I wanted to read the book first:)

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway! There’s still time! It ends Monday at 8:00 pm eastern time.