Frogs, Toads, and Pool Covers

I like frogs and toads. I like the sounds they make. I like the way they look when they "talk". I like to find toads in my garden. They are fun surprises  to suddenly spy when they hop out from under a bushy flower clump or when they think they are hiding away well enough out of sight by a damp shady corner of the foundation after the rain. 

Yes, I have even been known to talk to toads who decide to join me and keep me company for a few minutes in my weed pulling tasks, before they grow quite bored of my philosophical conversation topic and hop away. I haven't seen near as many frogs in the neighborhood as there once were, at least since the creek in the woods was diverted to storm water drainage culverts (I like nature and natural, and drainage tiles installed by humans is not the same as a fun creek winding through the shade of the tree canopies and mossy paths of the shadowy woods!)

I admit I like the way frogs and toads feel when I pick them up and gently hold them for a bit and look at them as they look back at me. I guess I never grew up in a lot of aspects when it comes to nature and its creatures since I still get a little giddy and giggly when I touch and hold some of nature's population. It is a sensory thing to interact with fuzzy brown and black caterpillars, ladybugs, earthworms, fireflies, even daddy long leg spiders. Yep, even those. I was a big hit being with my 6 nephews as an aunt and a mom to 3 since I wasn't/am not squeamish!!

Once, a long time ago, there was a huge bullfrog from the woods creek who stopped by after a thunderstorm for a visit, appearing in the driveway, he just wanted to say "Hello!". He let me pick him up and and then I set him back down to leap away, off to adventures and new places to explore, better places than the driveway. He was so big he looked like a misplaced toy sitting in the driveway.

The frogs still make their harmonious songs at night in the pool covers of the neighborhood in the late springtime each year as they tend to their pool cover nursery of tadpoles. I love that sound! Tadpoles are like magic to watch the way they transform so quickly from wiggly little specks... to swift swimming morphing beings of both tails and legs... to land and water dwellers with little strong arms and legs, in short order nearly in the blink of an eye. Thus a new season's batch of nature friends leaves the pool covers before they are drained of the murky water and leaves and removed for the human swimming season to commence.

Then we hope the toads and frogs don't jump in the pools only to find they cant get back out.

I remember specific little things certain teachers in elementary school taught me that are still retained inside my memory. Things like the difference between desert and dessert. "Dessert has more of the letter 's' than desert because everyone wants more sweet treats than hot sand!" ...and "All toads are frogs but not all frogs are toads." 

I liked learning that and let it absorb into my brain for a few minutes when she said it the day we had the overhead projector shining the images of amphibians against the wall of the darkened classroom. (It was so cool to be chosen by the teacher to be the one to pull the cord to either make the long span of heavy window drapes close or open to darken and brighten the classroom. Simple pleasures! Even more of an honor than to be chosen to flip off or flip back on the ceiling lights with all the light switches located between the wall mounted pencil sharpener and the classroom doorway.) No computers in those days. We had the very high tech forerunner of an educational website --the overhead projector, the one that probably blinds you like looking at an eclipsed sun if you look into the light bulb compartment and burns your hand as fast as Grandma's hot clothes iron if you get too close!

I have been having fun listing interesting things I am decluttering to offer to other owners through the Etsy shop. I sometimes will key in a word to the search box in my shop and see what comes up as a theme since not all items of one theme are always found inside of one specific shop section category shown as a table of contents for my shop. This time, tonight, I typed in "frog" and was amazed I had this much variety in the frog theme spanning different categories. I was spurred on to recall memories and to reminisce. Frogs and toads and pool covers (and school rooms, too!)

Etsy link is in the right margin of my blog page.

(Shown: rubber stamps, quilt pattern/instructions, 3-D stickers, cellphone case/tiny wristlet purse sewing pattern, cut/sew/stuff cloth frog toy)

Paper Posies

I have been listening to documentaries and minimalist organization inspiration videos on the internet. Yep, I am filling my ears with knowledge on a variety of subjects (because we are to never stop learning!) and motivation (through other people with a whole lot of great ideas and even more energy levels!) as I sort through in effort of downsizing my craft supplies that I will never live long enough to use. Anyone planning to live 110 years like me to get everything done? On the list: letting my craft containers breath a little more with more empty space, which involves weeding out my one of a kind Paper Posie creations. 

 I admit I have also done some watching (or listening mostly)  of favorite Twilight Zone episodes and other things that make you fall down the rabbit hole of TV nostalgia on the Nflix arena.

The cheery flowers are in the Etsy shop (click over in the side margin where you see them to get to the listings). I have so many to group into fun lots and then photograph their unique character close up, and write listings so that they can go to nice new lovely owners! Each flower reveals its one of a kind traits. They bloom into my hands and no two repeat exactly, just like when nature blooms the color and shape into a garden.

Girl Scouts of the mid century

What a fun time Girl Scout meetings were in the 1970s, at least for me. I liked feeling official in my green dress and sash and wool beret. Over the years my lovingly saved beret has been found by moths, since it didn't get stored in the cedar chest or in those horrible stinky mothballs. I remember excitedly going to JC Penney's to have mom buy my latest earned merit badge to be lovingly sewn to the growing collection on my sash. 

I felt very grown up when I attended one awards ceremony when instead of knee socks to wear that evening, Mom had bought for me and presented to me a pair of suntan color pantyhose. Pantyhose!! I was very grown up, so I thought. And suntan color too, even better and more grown up! I actually thought for some reason that I would look grown up like Marsha (on that show with 3 sisters and 3 brothers, you know the one). What? What a silly me.  Now thinking back, I don't remember seeing her in a Girl Scout uniform on the show. Maybe a legal issue with the name so they had a different generic name when she was part of a club in that script. Nonetheless, in my preteen brain, I was grown up like Marsha because she wore pantyhose with her short 1970s dresses and she had long straight hair like mine, so....I could pretend, right? 

 I was never an excelling Scout at cookie selling however. I was a bit introverted when it came to door to door salesmanship, and even at a young age I guess I picked up on that I did not want to be known as "that" relative at family gatherings begging to make cookie sales from aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. On the other hand, if people came to me for their favorite cookie purchase once a year, that was fine by me.

 I learned a lot of new things in Girl Scouts. One of the best memories was when a mom of a girl in our troop volunteered to come to one of our meetings and taught us how to do basic crochet. I was hooked (haha, bad pun) from the very start. I was crocheting my heart out and was so thrilled with the yarn possibilities of things to make that were absolutely necessary to basic life. A bright red pouch for Mom to put her keys into inside her purse. Huh?, doesn't every mom need one? Many different colored Barbie doll blankets. Because Barbies get cold you know! Scarves for myself with squiggled uneven edges that I wore proudly whether or not the color coordinated with my coat or not. I was a fashion plate for sure!! Over the years I have made better quality, more useful items from yarn and a crochet hook. I even believe I have invented a lot of the crochet stitches as I have experimented with creativity, but maybe not. Maybe I unwittingly have stumbled upon real ways of doing crochet and told myself I have been the first to do it. Oh well, the thrill is still there when I hold a crochet hook in my hand, and reminisce preteen days.

I came across this vintage Girl Scouts crest needlepoint kit that was unopened and figured someone would have great memories attached to the image of this design. The design was retired or discontinued in 1976 according to the all-knowing internet. This kit will bring to someone a happy bit of nostalgia. Maybe they were the top cookie seller, maybe they grew up to be a sweater designer with crochet, maybe they kept their wool beret safe from the hungry moths over many decades of storage. Maybe they just like to have fun retro needlepoint projects to undertake.

Find my Etsy shop by clicking in over in the right hand margin of the blog page for a look around at all sorts of curiosities. You will find fun things in the sewing/craft patterns and kits section in the shop. Or just click HERE to go directly to this item. Update: This fun item has sold. Thank you!

Vintage photos are intriguing

Do you have a fascination with photos from times long gone by, before everything was instant gratification when it comes to a camera? I do. I study old photographs with the intensity of a chemist who seeks the answer to an elusive formula, like a botanist who located the rare flora surrounding him that no one knew grew where he now stood. You get the picture, yep, pun intended!!

 I have marveled over the faces of people never met. Often hundreds of years separate their life from my own. I wish their images could speak to me and tell the story of their name, what they did for happiness, where they lived and worked, their talents and interests, things they survived when they felt fearful, and all their successes. What is unknown to us today behind their moment in time that the camera shutter captured their life so that it could be a time-stand-still-for-eternity treasure.
Old photos are artifacts of society. Proof of existing. Endless fascination for me.

 I have been a seamstress since a young age, thanks to my grandma on my mom's side of the family tree teaching me and inspiring the fabric bug to spread its wings inside of my curiosity. She was the queen of mend and make do and save everything that can upcycle into new greater items. She was a creative homemaker before her time and would have been a social media sensation with her reinventing one ready to toss thing into another far better keeper, had she not lived in an orphanage as a child and on a farm as an adult and learned her ways and skills from the trenches of the depression era.

My other grandmother was from more privilege and opportunity and was busy from college age thru retirement birthing babies as a nurse, hundreds of them. She had two of her very own, one of them turned out to be my dad. She did some sewing in her busy life. In fact, I own a childhood photo of my dad and his older brother wearing corduroy fabric suits with knicker pants or knee britches (like what the mystery boy in the pictures below is wearing) and matching jackets. It must have been expensive fabric for the era and I am sure they were not allowed to play and be rough and tumble in the outfits. I am also sure by looking at the photo that the fabric was not easy to sew upon.

 When I look at these photos on this post I study the clothing and the people. I know what it took to make the design details on the dresses. Many of today's fashions have retained the same elements and we incorporate them into our modern day attire. Some sewing techniques are ageless. I find the patches on the girl's dress skirt to be interesting since they look to be not of the mended type patches, but instead a true accent which is unusual for the time period. The footwear, especially high button style shoes, are a source of interest to me as well but I would not want to be struggling in a hurry to get them on to be out the door for an appointment time deadline or other schedule necessity...yes, modern day friends, flip-flops are a person's salvation when in a hurry to 'hit the road'. I doubt people were in such a rush a hundred years ago to join the hamster wheel non-stop days' schedule like we have. Though, life of factory working before child labor laws and working a family farm for your livelihood came with its own pressures and deadlines.

 I'll bet this family was well to do as their clothing seems to give clue. Don't you often think about body language as well, with studying old photos? I do. This woman and young man seem to hold themselves with an air of confidence. The studio photographer was skilled at posing people but the people in front of the camera lens still give us clues as to how they felt being put into poses. Some people seem at ease and others seem out of their element and extremely uncomfortable. That comes through with body language and expressions on faces, whether photo developing was done in black and white, sepia, or color, regardless of the time period from which we observe the people.

 This vintage photo below is very tiny (as the wooden ruler shows for a comparison) and has foreign writing stamped on the backside. I believe it is German, though the writing is cut off a bit. I am not sure what their clothing indicates. Is it a religious order, a regional or cultural standard of dress, teachers, nurses? I am sure the standard uniform type repetition means something, without any doubt.

I continue to find photos that peak my curiosity and make me ponder many aspects of my own life and of theirs in comparing so much about the world and how each of us make a mark upon those around us. I wonder how this digital, password protected era will affect generations ahead of us when it comes to moments of ordinary days in pictures kept and pictures lost.

All of these photos are listed in my Etsy shop and you can visit them by clicking the photo Etsy area in the right margin of this blog.

Full bloom

The summer time heat is in full swing. The humidity is thick. The rain has been plentiful. We have not used the hose so far this season for anything growing related. No need. 

The vegetables are thriving. Baby sized tomatoes, green peppers, and zucchini on the vine so far.  The gourds and the watermelon doing their thing and loving the rainy weather. The weeds are doing their best to show their motivation for growth also. 

The flowers are making the hummingbirds, dragonflies, bees, and butterflies very happy. So fun to see them visit daily. Marigolds, purple Cone Flower, Tickseed, and wild orange Tiger Lilies are in full bloom. The Bleeding Hearts are still blooming though they are usually done by this far into the summertime. Their plants have become as big as bushes, I have not ever seen them be so exuberant in their size. The blooms were amazing and the abundant quantity of beautiful delicate little hearts were memorable for about 8 weeks' time span.

                                                            (Simple bright cheerfulness)

 This is an item I painted for relaxation therapy and have enjoyed owning, but I need to move things out to someone else to enjoy. I am downsizing a lot of my vintage treasures and things I have painted over the years. The paint brush has returned to my hand and the art supplies have come out of hiding. Far too long without doing fun creative things for relaxing me time, that have long been ideas tumbling through my brain. If you are an artist of any sort you will know this hurdle- that ideas are only half of the urge and to make them come to life is the other half. Inspiration cannot be forced, it has to just flow. Starting out with one or two projects and following them through to completion is like oiling the far too long resting Tin Man. It feels good! It feels alive and new.

                                                         inspiring vintage botanical book pages 

I have found some really great things to let go of in the downsizing quest. So much variety. Living in a three generational home there is always more to let go of to allow it to find a new loving home!! Great vintage stationery, unused vintage greeting cards and used vintage greeting cards so very beautiful and whimsical for display or as creative supplies, unique old postage stamps, crafting and art supplies, vintage book page papers to frame, sewing and yarn work patterns, some vintage decor pretties.  I am filling the photography store also. So much fun to offer both original photos and vintage photography too to go from my home to yours and let my foundation lift a bit from decluttering the treasures.



What have I been up to?
1. Being creative every chance I can.
2. Being motivated to not just start but to finish.
3. Enjoying the air-conditioning whenever I can!

What do I want to do?
1. Go on a day trip as an escape.
2. Explore a place that is all new to me.
3. Discover wonderful places far enough away from the same old pot hole roads I encounter each day!

What do I need to do?
1. This week's knee surgery so both knees are healthier for adventures.
2. Clean the three seasons room. Where does that stuff come from that everyone sets down in there?
3. Drop off the box of donation items, and then start filling another box.

altered vintage book pages

I have a love affair with vintage books and if they are falling apart I still love them. What to do with a great book that is not whole anymore? Alter the pages! This page is from a vintage French book and it needed a smashing fashion image print to make it live on, reinvented, to be loved for years to come. What caught my eye was how she is clutching her gloves. I always clutch my fashion gloves like that when I am rushing into the grocery for a gallon of milk--- well, don't you?



These next few pages are from a vintage Honey Bunch book. Have you ever read Honey Bunch? The covers of these books usually are simply adorable themselves. The text on this page is about how Honey Bunch is in a department store with her mother and aunt where there are beautiful fur scarves and muffs. The print turned out better than I expected as the word muff is just under the image of the muff. So cool.


This book page talks about a sweet little dress and describes it in detail. This dress print is not identical to the one described but is sweet none the less, yes?

This page talks about a rag doll...thus I used a Raggedy Andy print. These altered book pages were so fun to make and they are one of a kind due to the fact that they are the original book pages and not copies. I had them in frames displayed and now it is time to change things out from my own decor and pass them on in my effort to downsize the household.

On the page below, the story tells about snow and a snow plow "running up and down the trolley tracks". A very precious red snow suit fits this page well. Don't you love the bonnet style hat and the spats style leggings?

Here we have a story line about a baby carriage and it matched an image with that theme in my ephemera scraps.

Then I got this idea to print some of my original colored pencil bird art on some vintage French grammaire book pages. They are actually antique pages as they are 100 years old! So fun to have these displayed in frames at my place, enjoying them for years, but alas they will be happy finding new homes where they will be loved.

These are avaiable in my Etsy and you can enter though my right sidebar link to the shop. Happy Browsing!

January Rain Day

     Today started out foggy and wet. For nearly an hour there was unusual January thunder and lightning. I happened to be inside a tall building with big windows during that time and was treated to a wonderful view of the lightning show against the late morning storm-darkened sky. A lightning show is fabulous to watch as long as you are safely inside. Being dry instead of rain-soaked is also a nice feature, and today that was a challenge! The rain poured for hours and even blew sideways a bit. I couldn't help dreaming of some fun pink puddle duck boots and a cute pink paisley umbrella.  I managed to accomplish all my errands and attend all appointments for the day, then the rain stopped after I was done.

     Tomorrow A. has her 21st birthday. She has no classes but is on the schedule at work. I will assemble a decorated birthday table for her to come home to. Instead of a cake, this year the sweet treat will include her favorite tiramisu and cannoli desserts.

What have I done?

• The 2 Etsy shops are filling back up with curiosities, and lots more on stand-by to be listed soon. Stop in and peek around a bit. You can find the links in the right margin.
• Managed to shred lots of computer desk/file cabinet paperwork for January clean-out. Feels freeing!
• My fingers and toes are nicely polished red. Would be nice to have a sports car that same shade of red!

What do I need to do?

• Do some last minute birthday prep and wrapping.
• Continue purging unnecessary paperwork.
• Tackle my closet and organize it the way I have it in my mind.

What do I want to do?

• Have my camera in my hand more frequently so I can capture more every day magic.
• Play among the fabric in my sewing room.
• Frame some favorite family snapshots.

Fun Ideas

Do you have things all over your refrigerator? You know what I mean by things, right? Just ...things!

I have a calendar the size of Texas on mine to try to have the space to fit in all the stuff I need to do each day with three busy kids. I solved the problem of having too many other things on my fridge by doing something with those things somewhere else. it happened with an antique frame, some chicken wire, and some spray paint.

I didn't have to take out the glass from the frame 'cuz someone had already done that chore before I found it abandoned. Abandoned, I say. Who would do that to a frame with so much carved wood detail and so much potential left in it? This frame is big I tell ya, about 4 feet high and 2 feet across. The wood is about 8 inches wide! Anyway, I staple gunned some chicken wire to the back side and then spray painted the heck out of it all, the chicken wire and including the frame, and now it is in an awkward corner of my kitchen that I never quite knew what to do with anyway. It holds my photos, notes, recipes, reminders, and whatever else seems to find its way into our life and needs a place to be seen. I hold them on to the chicken wire with old wooden clothes pins. Mine are naturally weathered as I use them on an actual clothesline and treat myself to a fresh batch from the dollar store each spring. Lucky me!

These very vintage Valentines you see above are available in the shop as a collage sheet you print, and would be fun to tuck on your own chicken wire frame or on a fridge in your house...or you could craft with them if you have the time. Time. That is something which seems to escape me these days. Extra time anyway. How 'bout you?

That's why I am doing my crafting by virtual idea sharing so you can do what I wish I had time to do. *sigh*

These are sweet little 1920's images which my mom saved. She saved everything. Some things I am glad of, others, well we won't waste time on all that. They are now a collage sheet too and couldn't you picture the little heart shaped ones cut out and glued to some dollar store paper doilies and then added to a wide ribbon to hang vertically? That would be sweet indeed.

I have lots of themed collage sheets and cowboys and cowgirls is just one of them. How fun to throw a themed party and have these as decor and table extras!! You could make them into place cards or napkin wraps. Shrink their size to make cupcake toppers by cutting them out in small squares and glueing back to back on toothpicks, wah--lah, instant Martha whatever her name is!! Or play tricks on your printer by making some in a mirror image, cut them out right along the edges of the images and then glue them back to back on cord, ribbon or fish line and make a kind of mobile to hang at all different levels to twist and turn. Super fun!

Circus is just one more of the many collage sheet themes, besides fire fighters, policemen, and space-- just to name a few. I could really imagine a bunch of different circus images cut out and glued along a sheer ribbon, or bias tape ribbon, or that super duper great twisty kinda striped baker's/butcher's twine stuff...and then hang it all along a wall or in an archway like a banner bunting. And look at these-- you could play with the image and then add your little one's name to the hearts to make an adorable nursery bunting...or use them for a shower party set up!!

Click here to check them out.

vintage dishware birds

Franciscan Bird n Hand pattern is a great, timeless pattern in striking black and white crisp graphics. Made in the late 1960's, it is a discontinued pattern of dishware and now sometimes, other than plates, the specialty serving pieces are a rare find.
Whether you use the creamer for cream when company is invited over for an evening of conversation and coffee,


or maybe for pouring your favorite warmed syrup at a bright early morning breakfast of blueberry pancakes,

or even just display on a shelf to admire, this is a classic item to bring joy to the owner.


Find it at a special price in the Etsy shop.

Myrtle Must Dream

I have launched, after lots of thought and many nights of staring at the ceiling in the dark (which is where I do some of my best thinking), a new adventure which I hope will bring joy to collectors and artists alike. A place to showcase all my old, vintage, retro and antique photos.

Myrtle Must Dream is a place to search for images that speak to you.

A place to find just the right image to fill the thrifty frame you found last week with a sweet baby's first photograph done in a gorgeous pin-tucked long christening gown.

A place to discover a relative you wish was in your family tree like the man with the spectacular pocket watch and watch fob.

A place to fill that ephemera crafting supply need with maybe a portrait featuring a marvelous milliner's fashion. Or maybe you need a virtual uncle who traveled to the tombs of the Pharaohs to complete your altered art travel journal.

You always dreamed of filling your long hallway with mismatched frames showing off vintage bridal fashions?

This is the place to look, and bring a cup of tea along, you may be there awhile once I get going with listing all my photos I wish to share!!
I am just getting started, with the first 2 photos being found by clicking here. They are
Gertrude Amelia = along the path to Grandmother's house
and
Elmer Dean = frog in my pocket

Many treasured moments found in ordinary daily lives were preserved by many types of cameras over the years, and none of them had a delete button.
Think of the stuff we delete because it is not "perfect".
A shame. Especially for those that come after us 100 years from now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paper Posies for Springtime

This is a project I completed with some of the hand made, one of a kind, Paper Posies I made. It is a canvas covered, magnet backed photo frame. I laid out and glued down a free form pattern of randomly squiggled lines of vintage cotton rick-rack and clustered a grouping of blue shades of Paper Posie flowers in the bottom corner and flowing outward. A very fun project.

Here I took a sweet little tossed aside vintage oil painting and rescued it out of a very ugly frame by adding twisty wire and a vintage ribbon tied in a bow. Paper Posies were added to the painted flowers to give it a 3-D effect. You could do this with just about any picture, painting or card for a bit of "pop"!

This was a past project that I sold but I have also done this same thing to keep for myself. It is fun to glue Paper Posies onto vintage (or new) rick-rack. It can be used as a garland (you could even glue the Posies back to back so they show no matter how the garland twists!) or to attach onto a lamp shade for trim (you don't even have to glue it on permanently--just wrap it around and glue the ends together... if you are like me and you like to change things often!) or to dress up a boring or thrifted/painted up photo frame or to drape over the top of a mirror in a powder room or maybe over a little girl's vanity. It would also be great to add to a wreath! I'm sure there are oodles of other ideas if you let you imagination run free.

I used some to make a cute little last minute tag for a gift and also a birthday card that you can see and read about HERE.

You can see some projects done by my friends using my Paper Posies HERE on an ATC and HERE on a faux cupcake, of all things. Really, you have to see how cute!!

I once had an order for 100 custom made Paper Posies flowers for a shop owner to use in her glass display cases as props. That was hard work, but fun!! I took them "on the road" as a work in progress while my car was getting "road worthy"...a very funny story indeed. You can see them HERE, and WOW!! they look pretty cool photographed all in a big group!!

The below photo shows examples of my bouquets of one of a kind Paper Posies.

I hope I have provided some inspiration. These flowers work great for crafting of all sorts- altered art, collage, ATCs, card making, scrapbooking, etc...
As well as for decorating- add them to lampshades, photo frames, mirrors, window shade hems, baskets...the possibilities are only limited by your imagination!!

very vintage

Digital scans for your crafting enjoyment-

You'll find them when you click here