Happy New Year!

Kathleen and Madeline at my sister's house for Christmas:

Me playing with Photoshop:

Winter has arrived:

Here's wishing you all a Happy New Year!

I'm looking forward to bigger and better things in 2011!

Ho Ho Ho!

Hello all! Long time no blog! My apologies. Not only have I been busy, but I really haven't felt much like blogging of late. Now that winter is settling in, though, I'll probably hop back on the blog train. Don't hold your breath though.

December 5th was this year's Christmas by the River event in Coxsackie, and I had a great time preparing for it this year. I did lots of crafting, which is one of my favorite things to do! I've seen these vintage book page wreaths all over blog land, so I decided to try my hand at them, and this is how mine came out:

The big one was over 24" in diameter, and the small one below was about 12" in diameter. They were a big hit. Everyone kept saying "Oh, how clever! I should try that!" Which, of course, is what I always say when I see a craft that I could TOTALLY do, so I won't pay someone else for it...lol. Between a trunk show I had last weekend, and Christmas by the River, though, I sold two big wreaths, and four small ones. I could have sold more small ones, so next year I'll probably make more of those.

I was in a new space this year--the Town Offices building, and I really liked it. The brick walls and wainscoting were great and fit in with my aesthetic. If all goes as planned, I'll be in the same spot next year.

I made up a bunch of linen pillows, which I am in love with--which is a good thing, because I only sold one of them! BF told me I should have made them in matching pairs. I just think that this was the wrong venue for pillows. So...live and learn. The good news is, they all look great in MY house, so LUCKY ME! Hee!

I made up some felted wool flower necklaces, which I thought were adorable. I sold a few of those, but they were not as popular as I thought they might be. A lot of people liked them, but not many were willing to wear them. C'est la vie. Another lesson learned!

Aren't they cute though?:

I also had some fun with Photoshop and vintage pages from an encyclopedia. I only sold one of these. Again, I think I just need to know my audience, and only the young ladies appreciated these. I think they're awesome, and of course they will look fantastic in my house! Ha!

The stockings and the burlap pillows are gone, as well as all of the felted wool candy canes there in the glass basket. Those sold very well. I wish I had gotten a better picture of them.

Again, me and my crafty self, cutting up old books and turning them into chair art. Me likey!

There's the lovely Kathleen, helping me out for the day. ♥ Oh, and check out my little needle felted santas in with the pillows on the tower. I sold all of those. They were too cute! (Click the pics to view them larger.)

I didn't make much in the way of new jewelry this year, because I was too busy crafting all the other stuff! Next year I think I'm going to head in a different direction with the jewelry--a little more dainty, with more silver chain involved. What I had, did sell well though, so I'm happy.

The vintage lace on this pillow was given to me more than ten years ago by my friend Kelly in a big box of vintage trims. Isn't it pretty?

As you can see, I have once again updated my blog background. I wanted it to be wintery. Of course, now that I see it all up and in my face, it looks kind of dreary, so it may change yet again soon! Thanks for stopping by after my hiatus. I'll try not to stay away so long next time.

If you're local, come to Proctor's this weekend for the Melodies of Christmas. All of the net proceeds benefit the Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center. My darling daughter will be singing in the Empire State Youth Chorale. If you can't come to the show, they play it on TV (CBS) on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well. Look for her smiling face!

John Derian

Damn he's cute, isn't he? I don't think he's batting for my team, though. Shame, that.

Have you all seen John Derian's decoupage work? I'm in love!
(Click below to enlarge the pics.)

Imagine my surprise when I came across this page on his website. He's selling TREE FUNGUS for anywhere from $140-$350!! The "artist's" name is Mark St. Clair, and the tree fungi are "kiln dried and mounted for easy hanging." I had to laugh, because ONLY someone who lives in a city and has never taken a drive through the woods would possibly BUY one of these things, would they?! I mean, I just drove by a tree with four of them on it the other day! It just kills me, the stuff people will pay money for.

Of course, this IS a post about little pieces of paper glued to the back of glass plates, so I'm one to talk. Heh. I'm thinking that instead of breaking the bank and actually buying one of these things, I should try my hand at it myself. What do you think? Good craft idea?
I love this hosta:

And I'm *swooning* at this cloche:

....and this compote:

...and this one:

...and this one:

And it all started, once again, from an email in my inbox, with a photo of a linen chair. What's up with the marketing ploys? Is someone out there reading my mind? I had no idea John Derian sold furniture. (You can get it at the Hammertown Barn if you're in upstate NY. That's who sent me the email.) So that's what prompted me to head to his website and rip off all the pics for my blog post today. :)

Can you stand it? I love the lines of that stuff!!
So THEN, when I was looking at what was new in my blog list to the right, Catherine Nolin had posted another painting, and it was a gorgeous chair! I love chairs. And her paintings are bright, happy, and lovely:

See how one thing just leads to another in my world? I need to stop surfing so much! I just keep seeing more things I WANT. I guess the good news is, I've always been good at window shopping, and resisting the urge to spend money I don't have. Well, for the most part anyway.

Cool Autumn in NY

Tess wasn't up for posing, but Kathleen was! :)

She's really an indoor cat, but both Kathleen and BF insist on bringing her out for little outings, which on this day, involved Tess running under the neighbor's porch, and Kathleen looking at ME like I was supposed to do something! I said "Go GET her!" Geez. Don't look at me with that stuff. I told them both to keep the darn cat INSIDE. Whatever.
Nobody listens to me around here.

I love this shot I got of Kathleen standing in a bunch of cattails. I thought it was cool that her hair matched the grasses, and the way she looked right at the camera--perfect!

....and then she ran away...hee!

The other morning, there was frost on the field as the sun was coming up and hitting the tips of the trees. I love the ever-changing landscape around here. Just a few weeks ago, the field wasn't mowed, and the grasses and wildflowers were tall and glowing at sunset.

I am going to try to work with purpose this week, and see if I can pull myself out of my funk.
Wish me luck!

Gorgeous Grasscloth

Ok, since my last post about linen got everyone all excited, and the one I did yesterday about how fall depresses me got NOBODY excited, I thought I'd go back to my decor musings.

I'm dying to do grasscloth wallpaper somewhere in my house. The dining room seems like the most logical place.

Nobody really sees my hallway to the upstairs except me and Kathleen, so that's probably out...

...although this little landing looks an AWFUL lot like my stair well...hmmmm....maybe just on that one wall?

I think the little settee and the wood cabinet got me more excited about this photo than the actual wallpaper did:

Do I have a nook? I need a nook!

I like the idea of popping it with color....so perhaps grasscloth in the DR with my red bamboo chairs in there instead of in the kitchen?

Another nook!

Hmmmm....I COULD put it in my bedroom...would look great with what I already have going on in there, don't you think?

Although I would never have the guts to do this myself, I'm loving this Phillip Jeffries
green grasscloth:

Hey Sally...when you send me my other four bamboo chairs (hee!) I could paint them all white and it would look like this!:

If I had lots of money and a way bigger DR, I'd love upholstered chairs. But that's never happening. That chandelier, however, is sort of what I want to do with my existing POS brass chandelier. My plan is to buy the parts for a drum shade, wrap it in linen, and install it over the brass chandelier--having painted the brass chandelier a fun color first, of course:

It's on my list. My never-ending list. *sigh*