{Red....then Blue}

This weekend started out all about red.  I'm not sure why.  They say red is the color of power, of passion, of love.  I'm not sure which one of these I was feeling, maybe a combination, but every single thing I purchased at my favorite antique mall had some element of red to it.  But it wasn't just me.

{To Be Determined} Plaid Full Mini Skirt

My picking companion did the same.  I didn't notice this until we

placed all of our treasures on the counter together.  Simpatico. 

 

{Dovie Moon} Butter Dish Set



I also noticed that there were bar codes on all of the tags but the man never used them.  As the line built up behind us, we watched as he very slowly.....and meticulously.....peeled each sticker off, carefully lined them up on the counter, then hunt-and-pecked the keys for each item, one by one, commenting here and there about how the seller spelled a word wrong, spouting out little tidbits of information on what we bought. 

{Vintage Jewels And More} Mushroom Trays, Red and Blue

I had to catch my impatient self and try not to be annoyed. 

I had nowhere to be. 

No rush.  

It was a lovely day and I was happy. 

Ten or so minutes later we were out the door with all of our red goodies. 

{Kitch Cafe} Two Briard Tumblers

 Later that night we saw a painting.  It was very blue.  Blue is calm.  Blue is restful, wise, and loyal.  Yet, a simple line of red....just one quick stroke of the hand....rested at the bottom.  It drew the eye.  I moved in to get a closer look.  Then back again.  The entire painting seemed to move from left to right...it was like reading a story.  It stuck in the mind of my companion so stronlgy that even a dinner menu was hard to concentrate on.  The artist told us that it was so new that he hadn't even named it yet.  When he wrote up the receipt...he said, "Blue."       



{Al Lachman (b. 1936)} Although this is not the painting "Blue"
I spoke of above, it has always been one of my personal favorites. 
Visit his gallery at Peddler's Villiage in Lahaska, PA and if you don't fall in love
with the art, you'll fall in love with the warmth and kindness.



Featured Artist...Mara May!

I'll have to admit that I'm not an avid blogger, like my sister. Months will pass without a post on my poor neglected blog. However, I do love the opportunity to post when there's really something great to write about. I was recently scanning my sold items in my Etsy shop, One Cozy Nest, and came across a vintage set of Crazy 8s cards with colorful circus-themed pictures and numbers.
When I visited the buyer's Etsy shop, Mara May, I discovered that she had used one of the cards in a wonderfully whimsical party hat! I just love knowing that one of my vintage items passed through the creative hands of an Etsy artist. Just look at how adorable this thing is! See the cute little elephant card down towards the bottom? I just love all of the colors, textures, and little details Mara May put into this fun hat. You can see the hat, handmade scrapbooking kits & embellishments, and lots of other georgous goodies by Mara May right here in her shop. Enjoy, and happy crafting!

{Hey There Shorty}

Yeah, I'm talking to you. I called you short. Okay, let me be PC...vertically challenged. Are you walking around wearing jeans or pants that you hemmed yourself? And are you embarassed that you can tell they're hemmed? I know I am. I'm 5'3" and the "short" length jeans are about 2 inches too short and the "average" jeans are way too long. Not that anyone really looks down towards my shoes on a regular basis (guys usually stop at my boobs, haha), but it bothers me when I spend $60 bucks or so on a pair of jeans (gasp!) and I have to chop them up and they end up looking like a home-ec project. One time I even used gold thread that was made for jeans. It looked okay, but that nice worn look to the bottom edge of the jeans was missing. Enter Fig and Plum. They posted a tutorial about hemming jeans like a pro. It's so stinkin' easy that I'm ashamed I didn't think of it myself. Here is a link to the tutorial that you can download and save to your computer. Here is a modified version from Dacia Ray that tells you how to deal with flared jeans. Why not let these adorable vintage hem clips help you do the job? You can find them in my Etsy shop, called One Cozy Nest.

{Welcome Fall}

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since Memorial Day! That goes to show you that I've been kind of busy the past few months. I went back to work at the end of June so ever since then, I've had about 45 hours less a week to do the things I really love to do. My spare time seems to be filled with laundry and other unpleasant chores.

This is a photo of Cooper with his big cousins, Alex (left) and Jake (right). Summer's officially over but we sure had a great one. Check out my other blog at http://www.babybolis.com/. People ask me how it is going back after having a year off with Cooper. Well, it kinda sucks but it kinda doesn't at the same time. It still feels wrong to me to pay someone to raise my child and I wish I could stay home with him every day. Trish gets to spend more time with him than I do and I'm jealous! :) But lucky for us, she's great with him and she genuinely cares about the kids. Coop loves her and gets all excited when Jeff pulls up to the house. A lot of times he doesn't even look back at Jeff to say goodbye, he just make a bee line for the toys. Trish's job as a childcare provider is highly admirable and I don't know how she does it. I'm not sure I'd be able to pull it off. This is where it's nice to go to work in the morning....to relax and to enjoy the quiet. I like what I do and enjoy being around other adults and having a purpose other than wiping butts and sticky faces. But when it comes down to it, I think I could do a better job and feel much more rewarded as a stay-at-home mom. So that is it in a nutshell!

Now, onto more exciting things...my new venture, One Cozy Nest, has been pretty successful in the last couple months. I've been able to sneak away on a couple Sunday mornings to go flea marketing, one of my favorite things to do. I look for interesting things like old books, flash cards, vintage games, and paper ephemera, etc. Then I sell them to other creative people like artists, crafters, and collectors on Etsy.com. I made the decision to put handbag making on the back burner for now. Maybe I'll go back to it or maybe one day I'll haul off and sell all my supplies, I'm not sure right now. But what I do know is that I'm bored and competition is tremendous. So I'm shifting gears to focus on One Cozy Nest and on making things for myself, friends, and loved ones.

Speaking of...my sister and I were recently talking about my handbag boredom. She asked me if I had any interest in making dolls. I hadn't even thought about it for a second until that day but I figured I'd give it a try. So, I came up with a couple sketches and made a doll in the shape of a bird. Her body is made from linen, her wing and breast are vintage fabric, her hair is yarn, and her face is hand embroidered. The wing moves on the vintage button that I attached it with. I added a nice detail of a vintage pearl pendant for her necklace and styled her hair in a pony tail in the back with a twisted section on each side. Right now she sits on my red couch with my handmade pillows and growing art collection in the background. Here are some pics:

Then, for my second doll, I made a black folk doll named Celie and gave her to my sister, who loves The Color Purple. Last year I bought her tickets to see The Color Purple on Broadway and Celie is the main character. If you've ever seen the movie, she's the character played by Whoopie Goldberg. Her body is eco-friendly felt made from recycled plastic bottles and her hair is black 100% wool yarn. Her face is hand embroidered and her dress is made out of vintage fabric in the color purple, of course! Here she is, sitting in my sister's back yard getting some fresh air:

I'm working on a third doll right now but I'm not sure what or who she'll be.