Patty Rose Design

Bracelet Swap

I have a group of friends who get together periodically to visit and talk beads and jewelry making.  Our last challenge was to make a bracelet using memory wire.  A co-worker recently sported a beautiful bracelet made from memory wire fashioned quite differently than I had seen it used in the past so I decided to give the design a try.  I was very pleased with the way it turned out and I think my swap partner was quite pleased to receive it.  Albeit I forgot to include the matching earrings.  They're on the way, I promise!

This is my co-worker's bracelet which gave me the inspiration.

And here's my take on the design.  I'll be making a few more of these for the holidays. 

Settling In for the Season

The sights of Autumn are all around us here in Ohio. The leaves are mostly gone now, Halloween is behind us and the mornings have required a real coat, instead of long sleeves or just a jacket. We're beginning the yearly routine of settling in and preparing for the winter months. My mind has turned to crocheted scarves, fall recipes, cleaning out closets and the holidays. I always look forward to the slight reprieve that winter seems to grant once the holidays are past. Shorter days equals shorter to do lists and errand runs. Time spent relaxing with a book or yarn in hand by the fireplace feels more right this time of year. I'm looking forward to scaled back holiday celebrations, time with family and friends and a stack of freshly crocheted hats and scarves. Think I'll also experiment with a few new recipes or take a cooking class or two. Winter is welcome in my nest.

Vintage Remake

I’ve been collecting vintage jewelry bits and pieces forever in hopes of turning them into something different someday.  I’ve purchased all the books about vintage repurposing for instruction and inspiration.  Inspired by one little bracelet, I’ve finally created a piece that I’m extremely happy with.  Of course, the vintage AB (abbreviation for aurora borealis, a coating that is put on crystals so that they reflect a rainbow of colors) crystals make the piece sparkle.  I took a vintage bracelet that I have had for years and attached it to pieces of a broken necklace.  The crystal focal piece is one half of a pair of vintage earrings that I removed the clip from.  The dangling piece on the bottom is also from a pair of vintage crystal earrings with lovely patina on the metals.  I added the drop pearls on both sides of the crystal focal piece to tie in the pearls from the bracelet and give the necklace a bit more detail.   I wore it to work today and got lots of ooohs and aaahs, the perfect compliment.    Next on the list is a vintage, linked choker with large AB crystals that I have been contemplating changing because it has way too much bling and is a little too small for this midlife neck.  New possibilities await….

Canning Classes

I spent Tuesday night in the company of fellow foodies and canning enthusiasts.  We were instructed on the technical and safety aspects of canning and enjoyed making a batch of incredible strawberry jam.  Our instructor, The Jam and Jelly Lady herself, Sonya Staffan, delivered the first half of our beginner's class in lecture form with humor, warmth and vast canning knowledge and experience.  Sonya conducts the classes in her custom built cannery, right on her property.  We were welcomed with her secret recipe strawberry lemonade and we enjoyed some of the fresh made jam over Brie, on a baguette.  Part two of our beginner's class is tonight and I can hardly wait!  We are making glazed carrots, which I love.  I’m excited that she is teaching us something a little more sophisticated than just the basic tomato or green bean canning.  Finally, after spending many summer evenings reading Ball's classic book on canning, I now feel like I have the knowledge and the confidence to give it a try.  Just follow the safety instructions, use tried and true canning recipes and some common sense.  Don’t cut corners or safety precautions and use quality equipment.  I’m very excited about filling my pantry with home canned goodies.  Sauerkraut and more glazed carrots are on the agenda for this fall.

The strawberries cooking prior to being put in the canning jars.

 

The pots of strawberry jam on the stove.

And the completed jam ready to take home!

 

 

 

Mosaic Install

I'm a very happy girl this evening.  All the hard work and time spent on the mosaic idea finally came to fruition.  I was busy in my ball cap, sweats and up to my ears in the office clean out project when I heard a knock at the door.  Thank goodness Mr. Rose is composed and clean.  I heard him answer the door and then disappear.  He came back in a few minutes later to tell me that several of our neighbors we here and ready to put up the mosaic.  I quickly ran to the bedroom to find some semblance of composure suitable for public viewing.  It hardly took a few minutes to wash my face, throw my hair in a ponytail and add a little touch of lip gloss (I know, but it's just who I am!).  I ran out the front door with my camera in hand pausing just for a second to say a fast prayer that no one would get hurt putting it up there and that I didn't hate it when I got around the corner.  By the time I made it, was already over.  It was finally installed!  It took just a few seconds to take it all in and conclude that I love it!  On the ground it seemed so much bigger, I thought it might be too big, but it turns out it's just right.  

Thanks Mom

On my last visit to Kentucky, my mom gave me a stack of quilts that she had been working on for me.  One for the master bedroom, one for the guest room and a few more to put up for use later.  I love quilts because they are colorful, comfortable, easy to care for and radiate with the spirit of the ones who made them.  Bundling up with a quilt is like a big, warm hug from the person who made it.  The kind she makes are simple, homespun quilts, from 100% cotton gathered at every possible opportunity.   She uses old mattress pads and sheets, reusing and recycling at its best.  I don't get to see my mom every day so having the quilts are like having a little bit of her with me all the time.  I cherish those quilts and the homespun touch and easy comfort they add to my home.  Thanks Mom!   

For the guest room-purples, blues and greens in a basic brick pattern.

For the master bedroom-cabbages roses in purple and green with Jacobean leaves in a dark olive green along with a black and white gingham for a little bit of the unexpected.

One for the future with robin's egg blue, green and pink.

And a spare for the master bedroom - my favorite, with butterflies made of all different colors on a cream background. 

Thanks again Mom for all your hard work on these quilts.  You know how special they are to me and how much I love you for spending hours turning them from a bunch of fabric scraps into a pile of homespun love.  You're the best!  I'll be down soon!

Blogging for Bliss

I finally got my hands on my very own copy of "Blogging for Bliss" by Tara Frey  What a fabulous book. Finally! Someone has combined the technical and the creative of the subject matter. Plus, it is in easy to read and follow format, written for the artful, not necessarily technical types like myself. My head is spinning with ideas. First off, a new camera. I've been putting it off for 5 years. It's time to take the plunge and splurge on a digital SLR camera. Second, I'm going to post more often (no, really, I am!!). And last but not least, lots of new photos including more frequent banner changes. I love my blog. I love sharing my creative musings even if no one else but my imagined audience is reading them.  If you read my blog, could you leave a comment sometime and let me know how I'm doing?  All of this creative madness has to go somewhere, it cannot possibly stay in my head, my head would explode. New banners, new photos, more musings. Thank you Tara for the inspiration and the instructions! Did I mention how much I love my little blog?  

Reignited Affair

I've been denying it for long enough. My passions have been raging inside and I've tried to keep them buried. My heart was broken by business several years ago and I tried to bury the pain in a sea of denial. Thank goodness for girlfriends. They keep you honest. It started with one little, innocent overture. "Let's meet early and go to some yard sales." That's all it took to reignite the affair. For the last few years, I denied myself the joy of the hunt. Burned out by conducting tag sales and processing large amounts of castoffs for others by hire, I stopped going. Stopped hunting. Stopped refurbishing. Stopped collecting.

Well the day of yard sales was quickly followed by a visit to the local antique show which was quickly followed by charting out the remaining shows of the year! Why have I denied myself? I love this so much. I love the tables and booths full of vintage items and time-worn goodies. I love the crisp, early mornings with a cup of hot coffee, followed by my market cart. I love the conversations with the vendors, the stories and the characters. I love the uniqueness and the so-anti-national-chainess of this type of shopping. I love re-purposing, reusing and refurbishing the finds.

My creative passions have reinvented themselves so many times that I have lost count. Each time I try and then change direction again, I gain more wisdom about what I am truly passionate about. I do love collecting, refurbishing and all things nesting. I can't promise I will stay on this side of the booth because the entrepreneurial flame is always alight. However, I am promising myself lots of hunting, collecting and refurbishing and enjoyment of the things I love. If I do ever veer again toward the other side of the booth, I'll take it slower this time, and be true to myself. 

Flea Market Finding

Strolling through the flea market, I am always attracted to old books.  You can usually get them for just a few dollars.  Today as we were walking through, I noticed a stack of old books with the covers beautifully tattered and worn.  I found twelve books with old colored engravings and tissue pages between.  The books are from 1901 and are the Edition De La Pacification, The Works of Voltaire, A Contemporary Version.  Surely the gentleman selling them was going to ask too much.  I wasn't even going to ask but my bolder mother saw how smitten I was with them and piped up.  Thank goodness! I am the proud new owner after surrendering just one $5 bill.  What a find!  Although the outside covers might be a little tired by collector's standards, I find the books wonderfully charming.  Not sure what fabulous project they will end up in, but you know I'll think of something.  I might send one to one of my favorite artists, Rebecca Sower.  I know she would appreciate them as much as I do!  I asked the gentleman who sold them to me where they might have come from.  He said that they came from an old farm in Simpsonville, Kentucky.  He had them in a storage unit.  Poor things...someone didn't love them for so many years.  I can imagine them sitting in an old farmhouse parlor, neatly on the bookshelves, surely a cherished possession to someone long ago.  Once again they will be cherished....

 

Bluegrass Country

I don't think the heart ever really leaves home.  I'm in the countryside, south of Louisville, in a little town appropriately called Shepherdsville this weekend visiting my mom.  I just love Kentucky.  I have wonderful memories of a country grandmother who made quilts, canned, and cooked good country food.  Although her home was in the suburbs, she was still from the country.  She had a large lot with a cute little white Cape Cod house surrounded by flowers.  We enjoyed grapes from the grape arbors in the back yard, plum trees, a really big clothes line full of fresh white sheets, a wonderful old wooden swing, fresh cut grass that smelled like onions and a very large family garden.  I loved her house, it was always full of love and family.  Many evenings after dinner we would sit outside on the lawn sipping sweet tea, making tiaras from clover flowers and talking with anyone who stopped by, until the fireflies starting sparking.  Good memories, I'm so thankful for them.  Everything has changed now of course, but I still think of those days whenever I'm here.  Mom and I spent the day roaming the countryside for flea markets, tag sales, produce stands and anything else that caught our fancy.  We spent the evening sprawled on the couch looking at scrapbooks and sharing digital photos.  Who says you can't go back?

A horse farm just down the street from mom's house....

A quilt barn we found on the way....

And another quilt barn at dusk...