Etsy Sellers

Like much of the rest of the country, we're having a frigid, well-below-zero temperature weekend this weekend -- and into next week. They were creative, and the items decorating the outsides of their houses and outhouses gives you an idea of their taste!I was happy to learn that their family would stay in the home; and enjoyed looking through the jumble of oddities that were for sale there!It was the last day of the sale, and I had missed out on much of the good stuff, but I couldn't leave behind this sled, even though it was missing Santa and the reindeer had lost their antlers! A tiny candle on a itsy bitsy metal base -- it's adorable!An apron with the prettiest, lace edged ties!

Not wanting to begin collecting a lot of supplies, though, I never took the plunge but then last week at a thrift shop, what should I find but these small "beginner" needlefelting kits! Materials: 3/4" round wooden balls blue felt like-sized small wooden stars flesh-colored acrylic paint yellow acrylic paint black permanent marker small button as star decor Next, glue the wooden ball onto the top of the body roll of felt; if you wish, you can also cut a small wedge of felt to glue over like a little swaddled hood on the baby's head, but I think it looks cute without it as well. I was matched up with a veteran Bella in the Big Sister/Little Sister program for Silver Bella newbies!

Materials: 3/4" round wooden balls blue felt like-sized small wooden stars flesh-colored acrylic paint yellow acrylic paint black permanent marker small button as star decor Meanwhile, cut small pieces of felt and make little rolls to represent the baby's body; tie with a tiny piece of raffia. Next, glue the wooden ball onto the top of the body roll of felt; if you wish, you can also cut a small wedge of felt to glue over like a little swaddled hood on the baby's head, but I think it looks cute without it as well. I brought a bunch of my old, broken vintage jewelry, some velvet, glue,  old frames, and we sat in her dining room and made a forest of little trees!

Materials: 3/4" round wooden balls blue felt like-sized small wooden stars flesh-colored acrylic paint yellow acrylic paint black permanent marker small button as star decor Meanwhile, cut small pieces of felt and make little rolls to represent the baby's body; tie with a tiny piece of raffia. Next, glue the wooden ball onto the top of the body roll of felt; if you wish, you can also cut a small wedge of felt to glue over like a little swaddled hood on the baby's head, but I think it looks cute without it as well. I brought a bunch of my old, broken vintage jewelry, some velvet, glue,  old frames, and we sat in her dining room and made a forest of little trees!

I'm passionate about pretty things and find beauty in shabby and well-loved stuff. I've never met an antique or thrift store I didn't like. And I love to rescue the old and forgotten and make it useful again. Come along and see what I've found and created!

That was the bad news; the good news is that I can work both of my jobs from home, and that my main part time job is letting me work many extra hours from now until the end of the year. I'm hoping to hit 1000 sales in my Etsy shop before the end of the year -- as of today, I have 24 to go to hit the mark! Somehow, the busier I am, the more I seem to be able to get projects done; like organizing all my Christmas ephemera into categories to store in a large container. I'm always looking for things like this -- vintage rub on transfers, which add a silvery charm to...this tiny ephemera globe I collaged a while back.

Next favorite are the ones I made by piecing different vintage fabrics together, like this: Lastly, two little pumpkins made from newer pieced blocks that I rescued from the thrift store; they have such a bright punch of green that I decided to embellish them with new purple ribbon. Here's more of that same fabric in another pumpkin; this time I tied a piece of crochet lace around the stem...and decorated the front lavishly with colored seam binding that was a gift from a swap partner! I had a lot of fun matching the muted pinks and greens with embellishments!A doily decorates the patchwork pumpkin; the fabric is newer but probably still vintage if you consider 20+ years vintage, as some do. After sewing it into a round and stuffing it, I tied this fabulous, wispy antique crochet lace around it tightly to create the pumpkin shape.

My visits to estate sales are few and far between since social distancing, but I visited one last week at a quiet time of the day I have a lot of sheet music, but I got this because my college song from St. Mary-of-the-Woods was written to the tune of this one. , I still really loved this cat book with its drawings and color illustrations!Here is something I really can't wait to get into: it's a journal written by a woman in 1953. She filled the pages with notes of her daily life... and didn't miss a single day all year!

Today on a walk I was listening to music and a song by Paul Simon came on, Kodachrome. When I heard those words, it struck me how the singer/songwriter Paul Simon managed to pack so much meaning into that sentence, and since the very first time I ever heard the song -- before I myself had even been to high school -- I felt something. And so now when I hear Kodachrome, along with everything else I've always felt, I also feel the piercing sorrow of losing Paul Simon the cat. I feel drawn to walk by the place on the street, around the corner from our house, where Paul's body was found, just to be close to him for a moment, and to remember.

Rather than go straight back home, we decided to try a nearby restaurant that is well-known as a great spot, but one that we'd never made it to before! Things are most definitely nowhere near back to normal, and while cities like Colorado Springs struggle to recover, we are doing our best to help. Rather than go straight back home, we decided to try a nearby restaurant that is well-known as a great spot, but one that we'd never made it to before! Alas, there were not a lot of pieces to evoke 1985.The art walk takes place at various locations; we were at the Cottonwood Center, which is a building full of studios where local artists make and sell their art -- everything from stained glass to fiber art to photography.