What's the Buzz?

In the field to the south of my home there has been bee hives kept. I was sorry to see that they had been removed. I had wondered with the mild temps this winter if the wrapped hives meant that the bees were in hibernation or was a method to keep rogue bees out.

holy saturday! clean out the refrigerator night

When there's absolutely nothing on hand, there's always something to scrounge for supper.
The night before this Easter, I found and made a passable saute.

here's the scoop:
2 cups of torn and wilted red chard steamed for 5 minutes
1 heel of ham
3 questionable slices of jarred, roasted red pepper
a splash of soy sauce
a squeeze of lemon
1 tablespoon of pickled ginger
1/2 of a super ripe avocado

The salty, tangy was modified by the mellow avocado... really quite tasty!
What is your best/worst emergency recipe?

Thrift Score

I hadn't planned to shop this past weekend.  But, on a whim I visited one of my favorite haunts and did a happy dance.  I found and bought:
a mid century coral chair with a bouncer/rocker base, a pair of  brass pine cone candlesticks,  a vintage Godinger silverplate deer, two large, bullet shaped glass cloches a traveling cocktail bar, a cute little three legged
triangle table topped with avocado green vinyl, a cheerywood nautical wall hanging with brass plaque: "China Clipper, Sea Witch, 1846" a minimal design wooden nativity set and old wire shoe rack, and a wooden skirt marker.

come see!

The back piece of the wood is a solid 12" x 36" board, there is a little pressure crack, and there are pencil markings in script on the back...hang by two nails! 

Two of the three plastic leg caps need replacing on the little table... leads?

The chair's cover is almost pristine!  And it is super comfortable.  The lining underneath has been torn away, and the wooden base is quite scratched.  I haven't found a manufacturer's tag.  I won't touch the metal other than clean it, but I am considering adding back some coordinating retro fabric underneath and refinishing the wood base.  What do you suggest?

Minnesota is the new Missouri

We have had unprecedented high temps in Minnesota this season.  I can remember just a couple of nights in February that the temps dipped below zero.  Green tube tops were being worn outside O'Gara's on St. Patty's day.  The ice is out on Minnetonka.

My forsythia bushes are in wild bloom a good six weeks before schedule and a large bouquet on the kitchen table is already starting to leaf out.  But I recalled a photo taken, November of 2009, when 80 degree days confused the forsythia into a false bloom.

Even though my back has been grateful for the lack of snow shoveling, and my housebound potted plants are enjoying a refreshing shower on the deck, this balmy weather trend will come with a price.  There is a substantial lack of ground moisture and planned burns are being started around the county.  There is a burning restriction in Minnesota State Parks which is unheard of in the spring.  Climate change is here. 

And on that note, here's a pretty etsy treasury:

handmade vintage button necklaces by ione

It's no secret that my mother, Ione has been my source of creative inspiration and resourcefulness.  Several months ago, she started a project of crocheting a bib necklace and embellishing it with beautiful, vintage buttons.  She made a couple more.  She sold a few to family and friends.  I offered a little design input and the project grew to include more than a dozen.  We are debuting her gorgeous work here!  The one-of-a-kind necklaces will be available for sale soon at ionesAttic website.

Ione prefers designing with the natural colors of stone, ash, metallics and mother of pearl.  But she has played with color.  The blue denim crocheted bib was achieved with many hand dips in bluing before adding the buttons.  Working with black crochet thread created a more elegant base for black, crystal and silver buttons.

      dare I say, she named this  Red Hat Lady

Martha of opendoorstudio took this photo of mom and me at a yard sale last autumn.

For those of you who are familiar with my etsy store, you will recognize my avitar in this picture.  This photo was taken at Ione's 90th birthday party, at the same site she had tended bar nearly fifty five years earlier.  We're adding this autographed photo with every necklace order.

In store March 15th!

minneapolis meet up

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of lunching and meeting with Renee of NostalgicSummer at the Longfellow Grill.  Renee grabbed a table and in no time we were involved in talk about our craft, shops, networking, and personal stories.  Renee comes from a background in merchandising and print buyer and I from graphic design.  She was encouraged to start making and SELLING some the beautiful jewelry that she repurposes from vintage bits and pieces, religious icons and local tokens.

I love these earrings made with bus tokens!

Renee also makes

unique pendants using the images from her father's antique matchbook collection.

By the time we ordered lunch, we had covered a lot of territory!  Not surprisingly, both of our shop avitars or banners feature a photo of our mothers.  Renee's mom, Gertie and my mom Ione are still going strong...both in their nineties.  We decided that their enduring positive attitudes were even more inspiring to us than their creative talents.
We also discovered that our client base is mainly, east coast, west coat, Texas and Australia!

We then got down to the business of signing our Vestiesteam traveling atlas that houses the team trophy.  Word has it that it is scheduled to be sent to Florida, then Tahoe and maybe the UK!

Renee presented me with a handmade bookmark, and I gave her a little vintage mirror that she was happy to have to use in her boutique sales.  She has been experiencing some great success at local shows.  And she was able to give me some great feedback on a handmade vintage item that I will be introducing in my shop soon...teaser...

Longfellow Grill on the Mississippi

the last time I saw Paris

I curated this treasury last week to honor some vestiesteam members' shops.
There is an item in this treasury that is part of a bigger team promotion.  See if you can find the little bit of Paris you can win!

My daughter, Caroline and I had our first and only visit to Paris in May of 2006.  The weather, the fourth floor flat that we rented for one week near the Bastille and La Marais did not disappoint.  The city and the people were enchanting.

 

It seems like a dream...

I wanted to use several of CabArtVintage's authentic French treasures in my treasury.

The trinket tray I will have for my own!

gorgeous 1920's french bride magazine cover

tour eifflel tray by CabArtVintage