February 29th!

I just had to write a quick post so I could see the date!  February 29th doesn't roll around that often, you know.  I've added a few little trinkets to my shop.

Thought I would give you a taste.  Actually, I just wanted to include pictures in my post because I know how much I love to see everyone else's work.

These little sachets are LILAC scented.  Yummm!!
Added some of my old buttons and jewelry to the flowers...
Okay, one last thought.  Now I'm all worried that I may have offended some of you who may possess finer sensibilities than I, with my cornstarch nonsense.....  at least I embarrassed my husband, for some reason.  Probably because he's much more private (and couth) than I am, and he would DIE before he would make a joke like that!  Anyway, if I did, please forgive me.

I'll try to be good.  I'll try to be good.  I'll try to be good.  I'll try to be good.  I'll try........

Whoopee!

A new apron, because two of them just flew the coop....

I just opened my Etsy Shoppe yesterday and today I shipped off my first orders to California and Tokyo, Japan.  Is that cool, or what?  When four of the six things I had for sale went bye-bye, I got so nervous, I ran upstairs and made another little girls apron!  I kinda wish my little girl was still little, so she could wear it.  Now that she's 14, she'd laugh herself silly.

With all the vertical seams from piecing fabrics together, I like to line it so it will look nice and neat.  I might have to make myself a big-girl apron, but somehow I don't think it would look quite as sweet on me...  this is the reverse side.  I guess you could wear it both ways, if your daughter doesn't mind fishing around underneath for the pocket!?
I'm out the door with daughter for Parents' Night at the high school--orientation for incoming freshmen!  How'd she get that old??

One last thing-- dear husband, the prude, thinks my #7 revelation about myself in my tag post was "a little too revealing!"  He should read what some of YOU write!

I've Been Tagged By the Chick Who Lives in My Periwinkle Palace

Okay, Darly from daisyslittlecottage has tagged me and I'm finally getting around to doing it. Here are the rules:  

1.  When tagged, place the "tag-er" URL and name on your blog.

2.  Post rules on your blog.

3.  Post 7 different things about yourself.

4.  Name 7 of your favorite blogs.

5.  E-mail or leave a comment for those 7 people so they know they've been tagged.

Here goes:

1.  I can be very poised and polished when the situation calls for it, i.e. singing, speaking, teaching.  But I can turn on a dime and let my hair down with my bawdy sense of humor and leave people speechless.  Which is most of the time.

2. I love to read, and can't wait to get upstairs to bed so I can get back to my latest suspense thriller.

3.  I find it very hard to resist buying trashy rag sheets at the checkout stand in stores, even though I know they are fake, stupid, and perpetuate society's freaky obsession with celebrities.

4.  I love to hook rugs, and I taught myself a few years ago after a friend showed me the basics.  I have designed & hooked some of my own patterns.

5.  Singing is my all-time passion, and I have been a performer since I was a teenager.  And that's why I have to take a little break now to go watch American Idol.  Be back later.

6.  Okay, I'm back.  And those judges are idiots.  Ummm, let's see.... I seem to have the classic melancholy, artistic personality-- I'm a real recluse.  When I'm on-stage or in public, I'm a total extrovert and love to be the center of attention.  The rest of the time, I love to hide out, alone, and all my friends know better than to ever drop in on me, uninvited.  I'll run and hide.

7.  And this is a real confession to put out for all the world to see, but I have a bizarre fascination with white, powdery corn starch, and one of my strangest fantasies is to roll around in a great big vat of the stuff.  I know.  That's probably more than you ever wanted to know.  

There ya have it.  Now it's my turn to torture 7 other people, and I tried to mix up some old favs and some newer-to-me  bloggers.

Nerm and Kitty

Hollyhocks

Blossom Hill Cottons

Every Little Thing

Miss Rhea's

A Thing For Roses

Oops, that's only 6.  Oh well.  I'll go find another one.  Enjoy!

This Is So Random

Talk about completely out of nowhere-- I cleaned out my cache of pics on the computer, and this pic of my dining room cupboard is about the only house pic I have left.  Need to take some more.  I love old, mis-matched dishes and platters, cups and saucers, whatever strikes my fancy.  And this is my fav shade of blue.  I found all the blue cups at Value Village, but not a single matching saucer.  Waaaa!!  I went back repeatedly, but no-go.  Oh, well.

This shelf sits on top of a base with two cupboards and four drawers.  I painted the whole thing blue, and then applied tinted paste wax for an antique, hand-rubbed effect.  I love it.

I just spent the entire morning putting a few items up for sale in my Etsy Shoppe.  Everything is trial and error at this point, but I'm getting the hang of it.  I'm excited to list more things.  I'm even thinking of picking up a few things from the Boutique and bringing them home to add to my Etsy.  Maybe I'll trade out a few things, replace some, subtract some, just to freshen it up a bit.  Can't have the Boutique looking the same every time someone goes in for a peek!

Daughter came home early from school today, sick.  At the moment I'm not too sure how I feel, myself.  You know that "oh-no-am-I-feeling-nauseous-please-don't-let-me-barf" feeling???

And husband just left for a two-day conference in the big city, so we're on our own.  I think I feel a nap coming on...gotta be ready for the girls on American Idol tonight!

Oh, by the way-- stop in at my new Shoppe, and I guarantee, there will be lots more stuff in the near future.  I'm waiting for PayPal to e-mail me their verification that I'm not a low-life, cheating, thieving scammer bent on taking all you guys to the bank.  So just know that PayPal should be operational any minute now.  Don't give up!  And enjoy!  I know, I'm LOVING the whole process!!

Bits and Pieces

"Anonymous" asked me if these were Ralph Lauren curtains.  The answer is no, they say Springs on the tag.  I got them at the Goodwill, three  of them for my three backporch windows.  Jackpot!!  I strung clothesline rope from hooks and added the old-fashioned clothespins just for fun.

Had to share this pic of my handsome son and his gorgeous girlfriend, holding their darling puppy.  They had just returned from dinner out, and were here to pick up the puppy after we babysat.  It's my only grandchild.  And I'd like to put a diaper on it.
And here is the door to my backyard shop, "Periwinkle, Too."  Just waiting to be filled back up for spring.  We want to add a little porch to the front, and a window where the window frame is hanging, pretending to BE a window.  Then I want pots of ivy to grow up and around everything.  I also want to paint the door periwinkle blue, which my husband said he didn't care as long as it would go with the color scheme of the house and garage.  Hmmm...  OF COURSE it won't go, but I think it would really POP, so I told him it would go great!  Sly, aren't I???
Here's a sad little shot of the inside, stripped bare after Christmas when I took all my stuff down to the Crafters' Boutique.  I've got to get my lazy you-know-what in gear and fill this back up.  Then I can have a spring invitation event!  I've actually never done that before, but I want to.  I love this little room attached to our garage, but I would REALLY love it if we could knock the wall out another six feet or so.  Then I could include a table and chairs for girlie crafting nights!
Well, as the post title implies, this was just a collection of whatever, and now I'm done.  See ya.

Cheryl

Saturday!!!!

Oh, how I love Saturday!  The sun is shining, our daughter is away on a church youth retreat in Oregon, we had a lovely dinner last night with our dear, dear friend, Judy, and we're working on the yard today. My husband is operating the leaf blower, and I scrubbed the winter muck off the front porch.  I threw the pillows and seat covers in the wash from our porch furniture that never seems to get put away.  I'm sure the cats will appreciate a new, clean sleeping spot.

I've finished a few new flower baskets, and they're making me happy.  I've got a bunch of them in the workroom, waiting to be brought to life.

Pink stripes.....
Blue stripes.....
And yellow stripes...  hope this shows up on a pink background.
And time to say bye-bye to a few valentines for another year.  I made this little snowman a couple years ago, and he just seems like a good valentine-guy, with his flowers and his heart in his hands.  I guess I'll keep him!

I'll be back with more later, I think.  Gotta go out to lunch with my sweet husband right now!  I LOVE Saturday!!!!

A Few More House Pics

Hello, dear ones!  I promised a pic of my potholder tree, which I leave up all year round.  Unfortunately, since this little table is right next to the back door, it becomes a dumping ground very quickly for everybody's junk, so the potholder tree is usually buried.  But I dug it out, just for you!

My backporch has become a place for me to add a few of my cutesy things, but it also has to accommodate a freezer, washer & dryer, laundry hampers and dog food container.  And thanks to Jack (the interloper, my husband calls him, since he sort of just moved in with us), there's also an occasional pile of dog poop.  Jack just isn't learning...

This little shelf hangs above our freezer, and I've stashed some of my old children's collectibles here.  I made the Humpty Dumpty a long time ago.  I used to have a doll-making business back in the 80's called Ragg Baggs.  It was very successful, and I had all kinds of offers from reps and buyers and it scared the crap out of me.  I wanted to keep making them myself, but this would have required me to hire outside help.  My "fear of success" sent me running for the hills.  I'll have to scan and share the pic of my Wizard of Oz dolls that were featured in a Pacific Northwest Magazine article on the creations of several artists.  I'm kinda proud of that...

Here's our kitchen, with a little eat-in area.  I love old, chippy shelves and cupboards so I was thrilled to find these.  When I soaked all the old paint off the two doorknobs and discovered green glass, I had to scream!  You know how it is.  Such wonderful serendipity!

I love old kitchen collectibles with green handles, I love Fire King jadeite which I keep on the back porch, I love Peach Lustre Fire King (the mugs), and just about any other collectible glassware you can name.  My friend, Mary, once exclaimed that I must have so much dusting to do!  I said, "Dusting???...."

Once again, you know how it is...

One day I got a wild hair and removed all the kitchen cupboard doors, then sanded and re-painted everything.  I would love to be able to keep each shelf perfectly organized with just the right colors and objects.  I remember when I first did it, my husband said, "Okay, so those shelves are just for decoration now?..."  He's so sweet.  He didn't complain.  It does explain, however, why all of our horizontal surfaces seem to be stacked with things 

that no longer have a home.  Again, you know how it is...

When I wrote this post, my text lined up so nicely with each picture.  Then when I hit "publish," everything formatted in a totally unrelated way.  Oh, well, you get the idea!  Enjoy!