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Life on St Martin's Hill - Spring 2010
It's summer! For new Life on St. Martin's Hill, Click on Summer 2010! Over there! To the left!
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8 June 2010
Swap Quest Goes West, Yes, Yes, and Yes
I cast aside the groceries as fast as I could, and excitedly opened my goodie swap box from the lovely Miss Rebecca. Boy, did I ever! Did I know that I was in for a treat right then and there? Was I breathlessly unwrapping things with anticipation? Was I awed by all the thoughtful work? Yes. Yes. And yes!
The mouth was agape when I unwrapped this beauty of an apron. Oh my, did she really make this? And embroider it, too? And actually sent it to me, rather than keeping it for herself? Yes. Yes. And yes!
And everybody knows that cross stitch has got to be the most time-consuming craft of all. But Rebecca made this pincushion for me! Isn't it the cutest thing ever? Don't you just love the colors that she used? And isn't it awesome that it's also functional? Yes. Yes. And yes!
And do I love Vintage Findings? Shell buttons? Tiny buttons? Vintage graphics and packaging? Yes. Yes. And yes!
And then I saw these pins that Rebecca found on ebay for me. Did she really give them away, to me? Did I shriek out loud with awe when I saw the enameled pony? Don't I just love all this?
Yes. Yes. And yes!
What an awesome, awesome swap! Thank you to Miss Rebecca for such a lovely and thoughtful goodie box! I'd trade again in a minute! xoxoxoxo~ Aimee Suzanne
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1 June 2010
Swap Quest Goes West
The Swap: Vintage Cowgirl Pin-Up The Hostess: Sweet Goodness Swaps The Theme: Vintage Cowgirl My Partner: Lovely Miss Rebecca from Thrifty Goodness
Right from the get-go, I knew that this particular theme would be challenging. First off, I am totally not into anything Southwest, or Ranch, or Farming, or bandanas, or cowboy boots or cowboy hats, or bales of hay, or dusty trails, or fields of charging cattle, or gun-slinging of any type.
And I thought twice before I clicked the button Sign Me Up For the Swap! It was like taking a deep breath right before the ice-cold water plunge, that feeling that you might be just a little crazy because you have absolutely no knowledge of the theme, but then you realize that there is nothing to lose, so you might as well go for it. Swaps, by their very nature, are meant to exchange items between two partners with both parties coming to an agreement on value. Each individual hopes to walk away the richer, gaining some sort of enrichment that has personal use or meaning, while off-loading something that is less useful. Everybody wins.
Art and craft swaps are somewhat different. There are no such 'exchanges' in the traditional sense; there's no Hey come over to my blog and see what I have, and I'll trade you six of these for six of yours, and I bought that giant sparkling, crystal-encrusted Ferris Wheel pin in 1955 from some old lady that was so sweet and her name was Marion, and she also did china painting and refrigerator magnets , so trade all that for your lavender and gold chocolate pot. . . . .
No, it's not that way at all. What it is, is this: trying to get to know a complete stranger via their blog, trying to come up with a goodie box that will, or might, be something that they'll receive and love, and thinking for weeks and weeks about the theme, and all the while trying to find elements during your thrift-runs that will spark your imagination so that you can make something worthy of a photo and some on-line fame. It's harder than it sounds.
And after taking the long way home in thinking, and working 'till the eleventh hour on your project, you ship your box off and hope for the best, but you already know that you are very excited to get your own goodie-filled swap box, and you're excited for your partner to receive hers, too.
And then you come home three days later from the grocery store, and your box is sitting on the porch under the giant petunias, and you can hardly put the ice cream away fast enough in order to get to the real goodies at hand. Then there's all the oohing and aahing, and numerous emails of exclamation, the oh my gosh, the oh my god, the did you really make that, and the explanations of all the things you sent and where you found them.
And then, ever so slowly, comes this realization: That swaps are not really swaps. That challenging themes are the most satisfying. That you come away with more knowledge than before, a little more brilliant, and a little more confident. That what you made was really a reflection of yourself, a glimpse of your own discipline, and desire to create and share beauty. And that it doesn't really matter if you get anything in return, because you got it before you ever received your own package.
And that is what makes all the difference.
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*Photos above are of my own completed projects sent to my swap partner, the Lovely Miss Rebecca for the Sweet Goodness Swap. Next post will display her wonderfully awesome package to me!
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24 May 2010
Jewels: Indoors & Out
With the last of snow around mid-May, every day looking out the windows brings on new surprises. Every flower is making its attempt toward the heavens; purples, gold, pinks and blues. The lawn has become a field of baby-blue forget-me-nots, and pansy-faced violets.
By day, a robin sits on her nest high in the honeysuckle tree, while the White Dog watches and wonders if she'll ever come to play with him on his side of the fence. And Husband hangs the laundry out on the line, quietly battling the flapping of bath towels and pajama bottoms while a neighbor's chain saw cuts up a fallen tree.
At night, heavy duty tulips and lilacs make their most fragrant entrance, when the air is heaviest with moisture from the bay, and the wind blows from west, then eastward. The perfumed air is fleeting, yet alluring, offering only glimpses that must be captured quickly before caught by the ghostly mist.
The bedside lamps are on with the occasional rustle of grasses, the turning of pages in an old book, and the quiet clicking of knitting needles along side the humming of the fan are only noises of calm. Exhausted from the purity of his life, the White Dog sleeps.
And once in awhile, the knitting is set aside for the jewelry trade. A plate, a box, a counter, all filled with doo-dads and crystals collected and hoarded to the point of over-flow, and the giddy greediness of a six year old with too much candy.
Sharp things, sparkling things, special things, secret things, most quietly aged and hallmarked with a single word meant to precede reflection and imagination.
Then there's the gilded, the pearled, the palette of Art Deco, the rusty bits and pieces of a past life all along side tokens of faith that have their own secrets.
Some things never change.
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20 May 2010
This is My Family, and I Want Him Now
Man, oh man, I just can't stand it.
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17 May 2010
There's Art to be Learned
Green Paper Packages Online Class
http://www.e-junkie.com/greenpaperpackages/product/363715.php#YOUR+VINTAGE+GLUEBOOK+ONLINE+CLASS
13 May 2010
Some New Offerings
Edging Spring (Sold, Thank You!).
Caribe (Sold, Thank You)
Both available on eBay. Also, have 50% off on other goodies!
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10 May 2010
We Interrupt This Program To Bring You Mother's Day
Thinking back to the Mother's Days of my childhood, the sun always seemed to be awake on Mother's Day morning. Knowing that us kids had an important mission, we'd run barefoot around our yard looking for anything that would resemble a Mother's Day gift. Like the new sunglasses made from pine cones.
When lilacs were in full bloom, us kids would pull down the branches, stripping them clean of blossoms. We offered them up in drinking glasses filled with water. We would, most certainly, use every single drinking glass we could find, and fill them full of flowers!
Or the twisted twigs that were bundled together, It's a necklace, Mom! Looked way more like a mini Sasquatch, wow.
Then there were pet rocks, a piece of bubble gum left over from Christmas, and if any new kittens were around, we'd usually wrap one of those up for good measure.
Ah, the days of coloring book greeting cards, smelling of glue and dripping glitter all over the house. The styrofoam bird with feathers sticking out every-which-a-way with those silly googlie-eyes.
The ice cream dish pincushion, the macaroni noodle nameplate for Mom's Kitchen, and dusty old bottles of Avon long relinquished to the recesses of the basement.
Then there were the hand-made coupons-for-mom; you know, those hand-written pieces of paper that your mom could cash in to get various chores done around the house. Chores that you were supposed to be doing any way. Like giving Mom a coupon Good for Raking the Yard, when you should have already had it done. But you'd give her the coupon anyway, and hope like crazy that she'd lose it, and then you'd never have to rake the yard.
Surely, with a fresh blanket of snow (as there was yesterday), all the Free Raking the Yard coupons would be null and void.
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7 May 2010
The Need to Needle
The house needs to be vacuumed, the bedding needs to be washed and hung out on the line, and we're fast approaching the segment of life where we use paper plates. Think of all the water we'll save from not having to wash dishes. Anything to get through this time is viewed as a virtue, because I have got to knit. I have no choice, you see.
Another project completed in record time; a knitted cuff bracelet for birthday gift to Andrew's auntie. Super easy, and quick.
I simply cast on about 14 stitches, and knitted in stockinette stitch until the cuff was about 6" long. Using three different yarns at the same time, there's a lovely mix of color going here.
I am completely obsessed with knitting multiple yarns together. There is such a depth of color that just makes me happy, plus the finished knit feels substantial in the hand.
Fibers used: Gold Metallic by Aunt Lydia, white Angora (a leftover from a different project), and a high-end Japanese yarn. The cuff is backed with a remnant of old feed sack, while silk ribbon, lace, beads and such embellish the front. Boy-oh-boy, I just can't stand it.
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