fall garden pictures

I am loving the fall garden- which is surprising since I have hardly spent any time nurturing it this summer and it’s been very dry. The garden is mature enough to survive some neglect. It is the fall light that is so beautiful.

The front along the sidewalk-

front of garden

fall crocus-

fall crocus

blackberry lily-

blackberry lily

hydrandea-

hydrangea

morning glories climbing up the side of the house-

morning glories

late roses-

pink rose

yellow rose

more stuff

I found the buckle I wanted and finished up my bag. So far, so good- it is working very well.

bag

I am back from a few more days at my parents house, recovering from an overdose of cleaning, sorting and organizing… I ought to be doing that at my own house. This time I brought home some of the the Japanese dolls that my parents recieved as gifts over the years. They are beautifully made and I’ve been looking forward to having them for years!

They need a little cleaning and grooming. I will have to be very careful not to damage them. The fabrics are a bit faded but they are somewhere between 25 to 40 years old and considering that, they are in good shape. These other dolls are washi dolls- they are made of paper.

washi

I also brought home some of my pottery that I’d made and given to my Mom years ago.

pottery 1

pottery 2

On the drive home I stopped for a little retail cheer-up therapy at The Wrights Factory Outlet. These are the ribbons I bought-

ribbon 1

I love these ribbons with words. My favorites are ? and !

ribbon 2

random fabulous blogginess

From The Frankie Files, this great patent drawing of a doll pattern and another of a sewn cat.

Marianna is doing some amazing dolls- here and here. All her artwork knocks my socks off, so when I saw that she had turned her talent to dolls- WoW!

Rosa posted a link to Ryoko Ishii’s site. Wonderful painted dolls. I need to go back and spend an hour looking at everything.

I can’t remember where I found this link about painting your shoes, but this may be in my future.

stuff and nostalgia

This was my wallpaper from when I was a little kid-

wallpaper

this is an image I remember very clearly. This fox always looked like a keyhole to me. It must have been right at eye-level when I lay in bed.

fox

this kitty is my favorite now-

cat

I needed to bring this old tea crate home and will keep it for a while at least- it says Tanganyika on it!

tea crate

this sticker is on the other side-

sticker

I found this box of buttons. There were lots more when I opened the box but many just crumbled away when I touched them. Too many years in the attic. I remember playing with the sombreros when I was small.

buttons

and here is an actual sombrero that my Dad brought to one of my brothers in the early 60’s-

mex hat

I found lots of my Mom’s UFO’s (unfinished objects)… let that be a lesson to me!

ufo

I found a box of miscellaneous vintage table textiles. There were the usual unmatched napkins and assorted doilies. There were a few odd things though, like these embroidered “bottom of your wine glass” cozies or whatever they are!

roosters

and a cross-stitch dish towel (?) map of Taiwan-

map

some silly fellows that I couldn’t bear to leave behind-

silly stuff

and Eleanor, here is that suitcase I was telling you about- isn’t it great! The box says it is a shoe and hat suitcase.

suitcase

back for a minute

The couples are hanging out in the dining room these days.

dolls

I am helping my family clean out my parents house; the one I grew up in. They have lived there for almost 50 years. So much stuff. So much personal history. I am driving 2 1/2 hours each way, with car fulls of stuff.

Fabric and sewing stuff, a collection of silk ties…

bed pile

tons of vintage clothing… there are 26 hat boxes here. Each box has several hats in it and although they are all labeled, the label almost never matches what is in it! I am meeting with a vintage clothing dealer on Monday.

hats

I got lots of things that I like… I’ll post pictures. Here is the first-

shoe

I will be back and forth for the next few weeks and so there won’t be much doll-making.

atc and new bag

annafloor

I have been so behind on so many things. I got these 2 wonderful atc’s a few weeks ago, before the trip to North Carolina (windy world). These traveled from Holland and are the work of Anne-Floor. There are lots of photos of her work at her flickr account.

My project this week has been this messenger-type bag-

bag

I have been thinking about trying to make one all summer. I wanted something smaller then what I am currently dragging around, but I wanted it big enough to hold my sketch book. It still needs a buckle or something to finish the strap but otherwise is done. I copied the design from an old bag I already had (I made it slightly smaller)- a danish school bag it was called. Once I find the right closure, I will have to test it out and see how I like it.

I will be leaving again today. Heading down to Connecticut until late Wednesday.

cute couples

couple 1

Here is the chosen couple that will be going to North Carolina with me tomorrow. I had a hard time chosing which pair to give to my neice- I am really pleased with all of them.

Here are the other two couples-

couple 2

couple 3

I will post more pictures when I get back. As usual, I am in a complete tizzy before leaving. I am not an relaxed traveler.