little lady

A scrap given to me by a friend.
I wanted to share it.

owl

Darn it all. Why does Nick grab lined notebook paper to make spur of the moment creations of art like this owl? Doesn't he know his Mother wants to frame everything because they are true masterpieces?? He has a sketch book with plain pages that he also draws in, but he usually grabs whatever is handy at the time. Maybe I should strap his sketch book to him.
Please send all letters/complaints of child abuse to:

Me

The most terrible,

shallow mother of the year.

I should get over it and love the lines on the paper too, right??

orange

We do not buy oranges on a regular basis at our house. I love oranges, I crave oranges.
It's because, here in northern most Ohio, we do not always have such great prices for oranges. I just refuse to pay big dollars for a couple smallish size oranges--and try to feed a family of five on said oranges and have happy results. I know, you're saying, "Back in "Little Women" times they got an orange (yes that's 1 orange) for the year, given as a Christmas gift, and they were happy as larks. Oh this blog post is now sounding like we are spoiled rich brats, right about now.
*sigh*
Let me continue.
When we do have oranges available at a price that doesn't make one think, "Ok we can get oranges AND have electricity this week." (somewhat slight exaggeration for effect), they are usually a disappointment in flavor or texture.There. That's my rant for today.

At those times I bring to mind the saying, You get what you pay for, and wonder if those expensive oranges would at least reward us with better taste/texture .
All you blog readers in orange areas of the country snickering quietly with your hand over your mouth.... It's ok. I know you're doing it... you can take your hand away and snicker right out in the open. When you live near The Great Lakes, like us, you get all the Lake Perch and Walleye you want but no oranges.


My sweet William came home one day with a bag of oranges. A bag, I tell ya! I about died thinking how much THOSE must have cost. As I opened my mouth he spoke first and told me how much they cost. What? Are you kidding? That's great! There must have been a line out the door and around the store, with people threatening bodily harm to one another at the
bag- of- oranges- at- a- great- price display area!!
Wait!
Hold the phone! (Does anyone ever say that any more? Maybe now it's, hold the Iphone, or hold the Bluetooth.)
Ohhhh, I get it now....these are going to be the kind of oranges that look yummy and tempting and make you feel like you got the deal of the century but you cut into them, taste them and have buyer regret, no matter how cheap (sorry) inexpensive they were.

I'm here to tell ya, THEY WERE SOME OF THE BEST TASTING, JUICY ORANGES
I have had in a long while.

Nick had been begging to make homemade squeezed orange juice with his great grandma's low tech kitchen gadget.

I let him.

He used all but 2 of those fab oranges.

Guess what? He put the juice away in the fridge... and promptly dumped it all over the floor the next time he opened the fridge door, and before anyone could drink any. We were both in the kitchen when it happened as if in slow motion, like some great movie special effect.
The whole time we were cleaning up the sticky mess, I was thinking, "I wish I was the kind of housekeeper--you know the kind--- where you could eat off the floor!"

who can resist...

All these collage sheets are new in the shop....

And all these collage sheets are back in stock at the shop.....

Digitally scanned from my vintage Valentine collection from the 1940s- 1960's.

Watch for more new arrivals in the next few days!!! I have so many more CUTE Valentines!!!

Who could resist?

award

♥ Happy 101 Blog Award ♥

I received this very sweet blog award from my friend Mary at Isabella's Closet.

Here is how it works:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. List 10 things that make you happy.
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know!

10 Things That Make Me Happy
(in no particular order)
1. holding hands
2. a good smelling candle
3. birds outside my window
4. music
5. snowflakes (real and paper)
6. Autumn color
7. laughing with friends
8. old family photos
9. Greek food
10. rearranging furniture

I am passing this award on to these sweet people:
Betty at She's Sew Pretty
Shelley at Shelley's Vintage Variety
Jeri at An Artful Gathering

All fun places to visit, and when you do, please tell them Amy from Abundant Curiosities sent you!

You can tell Jeri, "Congratulations!" on her new grandson!!

inflation, geez!

I love this old receipt I found in one of the vintage pattern envelopes I acquired the other day. The form shows "195_" as the place for the year to be filled in, but on the line in front of it the year "1962" is filled in, written in ink, by the store clerk.
Here's the part that makes you think: Some lucky woman bought 6 yards of fabric and a pattern for a grand total of $5.46. Well, I guess she didn't know she was lucky back then because she didn't have a crystal ball to know how much those same things would cost 48 years in the future!
I also enjoy that one of the fabrics she purchased was "dotted Swiss". I had lots of childhood dresses made of dotted Swiss.
Did you?

Have fun using this image for your scrapbooking or art.
click to enlarge, then right click and save.

pattern mania

"Earth tones" "That new baby powder smell"

"Half view"

"Sweet beauty"

"Pretty profiles"

"A happy childhood"

"Aprons"

These collage sheets, along with many others too, are available (here) for $2.00, and shipping is free because they are digitally sent by email to be printed out on paper, or fabric, by you!

They include scans of lots of different types of paper ephemera from my collection. Most are from vintage pattern envelopes. So now you know why I was excited the other day to get my hands on this.........

A trip to the museum- Chapter 6, a building inside a building and under appreciated craftsmen

So, here we are, back at the museum for another peek. This time, to see what was at the bottom of the spiral staircase ( shown in the previous post) with smooth wrought iron railing and spindles, worn stone steps, bottle glass windows and the promise of something wonderful to discover when coming out of the bottom archway.
So here it is....

It is a building inside a building. We are standing in a courtyard, of sorts, surrounded by this. You can hardly believe your eyes that it is so massive and tall and detailed...and the more you spin yourself around the more your eyes find to study. This area is in the middle of the museum and is used as a courtyard cafe. 20 or so round tables are scattered for your enjoyment, at which to sit and relax or have a coffee, tea or dessert. Yummy soups and muffins were also available.

I adore architecture so this was so much eye candy I was bordering on being abandoned by my VERY embarrassed children as I stood there looking a fool, and uttering silly rambling comments as I spun on my heels to take it all in between gasps.

Yes, I had been there before, years ago. Yes, I knew this was at the bottom of the spiraling stairs. It was just that it was just so much.....well...MORE than I had remembered. I know you must think I am ready for a padded room and a fashionable jacket which ties tightly in back. I can't help my enthusiasm for old architecture. These photos don't begin to show the immenseness and detail in the stone trim and windows... and everything. I can appreciate in other countries there are many structures that are considered "new"at 300 years old or more, but here in the USA we do not have so much opportunity to experience wonder in old buildings. I am so hungry for architectural beauty that, in my travels, I have even photographed old warehouse buildings that have the most incredible gargoyles and brackets and window trim detail. That's how they used to build warehouses. Warehouses! Sometimes it seems that throughout the decades the move has been to get rid of "old".

Instead, boring, white bread architecture seems to rule. To top it off it, the newer buildings are so often put up so quickly they are not built to last nor are they meant to last, because surely some newer way will come along and we will tear down that "old" and make something even "newer" in it's place. And so it goes.

BEWARE: SLIGHTLY OFF THE MAIN SUBJECT RANT AHEAD!

Case in point, our school system is tearing down all the buildings that are 85 years old or more to build new ones. There was nothing wrong with them. They all are beautiful, large and sturdy (for gosh sakes they all had fallout shelter signs on them still displayed from the cold war era. "Duck and cover!"). The problem, they say, is the heating is antiquated and the retrofitting for the 21st century technology is too difficult.

Some new schools that have been built already in the past 5 years are experiencing leaky roofs and holes in plaster walls, plumbing issues, worn out flooring, etc, etc. But that's ok, "cuz we'll just tear those down and build something in 3 months (or less) time, nondescript in detail and sub quality.

Why not just spend the money to make the old schools work for today's heating and computers? I mean these old schools have lovely details outside and inside. Heavy REAL wooden doors and detailed REAL wood framework around chalk boards, windows, doors etc (oh yeah, remember chalk boards? --Soon to be a thing of the past. Even white wipe off dry erase boards are becoming passe.)I will probably get bad comments on my opinions about all this.

Ok, back to the museum!!

Before this gets too long- and remember I promised these museum chapters wouldn't be as long as a Harry Potter book- I should tell you about one more thing.

I think teaching opportunities present themselves each and every day if you pay attention. I discussed with the kids the fact that the wonderful art paintings all have frames. Frames that were built with talent, great care, attention to detail and a lot hard work and long hours. Think of it, back in the days when power tools were not yet imagined. First you had to have a place with enough space to build a frame- though rarely simple in craftsmanship, some of them were simply massive in size, and take up a whole wall in the museum. Then you had to be able to get it out of the building after it was built. Oh yeah, and you had to transport the frame. It is, unfortunately, easy to look at an art painting and under appreciate the frame and the person that made the frame. Even if these frames are not your personal style, it is still worth the effort to stop and think about it...."The big picture", to use a (very bad) pun.

For the next chapter, we will look at some of the paintings held within the frames that were made by someone that was no doubt under appreciated for their skill... and underpaid, I am sure.

I will try to be a good blogging girl and stay on subject and not head off on a rant. Cross your fingers on that one!

A trip to the museum- Chapter 5, sculpture and spiral stairway

Magical, mysterious spiralling stairways and breathtaking sculpture ...Yet another chapter of our trip to the Detroit Institutes of Art (DIA). I have broken the story down into chapter chunks to feature things and not make it all seem so long and overwhelming...and something you would look at and say, "That's wayyyy too much to read today, I'll just skip it." I want you to really see things. That's the way a museum should be seen. I think so, anyway.

There are many sculptures of every shape, size and type throughout the massive museum in Detroit.

We (my 3 kids, Elise's friend and me) even had conversation about how so many old and ancient statues and sculptures loose their heads and hands. We were tempted to keep a tally of how many heads were missing and which hand was most frequently absent, left or right. But back to this sculpture, which I think is my favorite of them all.

Please, PLEASE! click on the pictures to see more detail.

I was memorized by this one, such exquisite attention to details to the point that you wished you could touch it to see if it really felt like the texture your brain was conveying to you.

(Don't touch though, this is a museum, remember!)

How could something so hard, and so hard to carve really make you "think" tendrils of hair, creases of skin, folds of draped fabric, supple fur and wood of a chair? I stood (probably much too long) pondering this beautiful art . Do you ever see a piece of art and it just speaks to you yet you can't put into words why?

I am blessed that my kids think it is FUN going to museums. I began taking them as new babies so it was just always a part of their lives. At our own museum, closer to home, I have been taking my kids throughout their whole lives to see their favorite painting/art item that "speaks" to them. They are respectful of giving each other time to simply stand and ponder the wonder of their own favorite piece. Each of my 3 kids has their own absolute favorites.

I think I may have to find this sculpture again when ever we return to Detroit.

So now on to another area. This is the top of a spiral stairway. I like the iron work of the railing worn by many years of hands gliding along the surface. (You may remember another post from one of our many frequent trips to Ann Arbor, and the photos of another majestic railing stairway which holds fascination for me.)

Spiral stairways just "do it" for me in general. It is something about the mystery of what lies beyond the visual scope. The anticipation. See the bottle glass window barely discernible at the right of this photo (below)? There were several on the way twirling downward. Look at the one in the next photo after this one....

The bottle glass window is like magic with the warm light glowing through it. The one above the archway doesn't hope to have the same effect on your senses. Am I right?

Now you will have to wait 'till the next chapter and I will show you what is beyond the archway at the bottom of this spiral stairway!

Magnificent.

Oh MY GOSH! PINK snow flakes...

Look at these! I had an email from a sweet lady in Canada who asked if I could cut some special HOT PINK and PALE PINK snowflakes for her.
Wow!
I had never had such a request.
So I took the challenge.


Wow!
I can not say enough how beautiful these are in person!!
My scanner does them no justice.
In person they are absolutely breathtaking!
I think she may have started something with her request. What a perfect thing for all the PINK decorating/crafting ladies out there in great abundance in blog-land and Etsy-land!!

These are pale pink and are very delicate looking in person. It was hard to get a real color quality on my scanner. Not to mention I had not pressed them yet and they look rather wrinkly!! I was in a HURRY 'cuz I was so excited!!

So what do you think? How about pale blue? Let me know what your opinion is or what your personal snowflake wish would be!

hello

Have fun with this one any way you wish.
Click to enlarge then right click and save.
Would make an adorable tag!

new digital collage sheets

Nighty Night, found here.

A Penny in her Purse, found here.

Another Penny in her Purse, found here.

1901 art supplies

one hundred and nine years old

236 pages

$2.00

click (HERE!)

VALENTINE collages

It has been so fun to sell this collage over and over again to people to use for decorating and crafts. These are some family Valentines that my mom had saved from years ago. Some of the Valentines she saved are from all the way back to the 1930s! I thought others would have fun with these images so I decided to sell them as digital collage sheets that way I could still enjoy the originals. It is curious why this one seems to be the best seller of them all.

I do have more to list and must get my butt in gear with that task.

Check out the other Valentine collages and Valentine items (here) .

unusual box, recycle

I thought I would try to make boxes out of record album covers. I love kitschy vintage record albums a lot. I separated the front from the back of an album cover, then I used a ruler to make lines on the back side to mark the folds for the sides of the box. At first I just folded on the lines and the cardboard had a random tear kind of effect on the top folded edge, kind of sloppy. Then I used the ruler and an exacto knife to lightly slice along the line. This was tricky because in some spots I cut too deep. It did help that ragged look though. I used some wide clear packing tape to run along the edges and at the fold edged. It still looks kind of sloppy and tacky. I think, anyway.
I made the bottom of the box the same way from the back side of the record album cover - making it slightly smaller of course.

I was hoping to make some as gift boxes for a fun surprise, but I am not satisfied with the look of them. It's all about presentation, right? So, in the mean time, until I figure out a way to perfect this fun recycling craft idea, I will use the boxes I make to store some of my paper ephemera that seems to be abundant!!

This album cover was from the 1950's and says Tea and Trumpets.

isn't it for the kids?

I have a short rant. Nicholas has been working on his Pinewood Derby car for Cub Scouts. This is his first year to do all this scouting stuff. He is so very excited and has been working hard. He is so proud. Isn't that what it is supposed to be about? I took him to a practice run with his car yesterday with the other Cub Scouts... and guess what?...Most of the cars looked like they could never have been done by a boy of this age group. You know why? Because they weren't!! The Dads did them. I am so disgusted. Maybe the boys did a little bit here or there along the whole process but they were obviously 99% completed by someone over the age of 12!!!!
I hate this whole thing-- because Nicholas, in his naivety, feels less talented nor even remotely able to do that kind of work. I tried to explain that those cars were not really done totally by a boy. How do you tell your son that some grown ups "suck"??

a dish of art

My ATCs (artistic trading cards) I have made, in a glass vintage 1920's powder dish, with vintage dictionaries in the background.

priceless nostalgia

Hop in the ol' station wagon, kids! We're goin' to Arby's! This ad doesn't have a station wagon but that's how the Brady Bunch would have got there, and my family too. Did you ever sit in the rear facing seat without any seat belts and hang out the back window?? Yep, I did.

Did you have one of these dolls?.. or maybe your daughter did. Remember that new plastic doll smell?

The old trusty electric skillet served up many-a-yummy family meal. Remember the taste of licking all those S&H green stamps?

Man that dog looks huge next to that sweet little girl. Ken L Ration dog food burger looked just like people food burger.

From the days when you were attached by a cord.

Levi's are timeless, but my 1970's Levi's were worn in wonderful memorable days. Which decade of wearing Levi's was your favorite?

The days when your TV was actually a piece of furniture.

Groovy, man. Groovy!

Gaines Burgers,YUM! for your cute puppy. Back when the dog food manufacturers were begining to really be in to making the food look like stuff we would eat ourselves

Cough into your elbow.... We never even thought of that back then.

Vintage menu marvels, or so the ad says!! Love the colors of the old food ads.

What a man!!!!! Vintage handsome hair.

London? My Mom never called it that. It was Ohio pot pies for us! Once again, the colors of these old food ads are just different and wonderful.

Mr. Sexy, himself, servin' up Mother's Day goodness!

I swear this could be a close relative of Elizabeth Hasselbeck from The View.

What a groovy modern stove!

More Ken L Ration. Remember the jingle? Sing along....My dog's faster than your dog, my dog's bigger than yours. My dog's better 'cuz he gets Ken L Ration, my dog's better than yours.

(I'm wondering if that would fly today as being politically correct? All dogs are equals aren't they?)

One a day vitamins used to come in those way cool glass bottles that every crafter is seeking these days!!

All these print ads are found (here) for $1.25, plus shipping. Get yourself some nostalgia for an altered art project, scrapbook or to frame for a bit of flash back conversation starter.