I love a good vintage fabric find! This mushroom bag is made from fabric I found at a yard sale. I use the term vintage for 60's-70's fabrics like these because they are special, I'll never see it again, can't find it anywhere else, and we don't make anything like it now. ETSY defines Vintage as anything over 20 years old. But it's not really the correct term.
The term vinage originates in the wine industry, refering to the year a wine was bottled. It was later used by the car industry to mean cars over 50 years old. Now, fabric and clothing sellers use the term rather loosely, and banter over proper use.
Antique is generally to mean anything over 100 years old. So for clothing and fabric, anything pre- 1920s is antique.
And Vintage covers the space between 1920's and 1960's.
Retro is supposed to be used to talk about 60's and 70's...... so I suppose these are RETRO 70's mushroom fabric bags! ANd to that we should add 80's. Retro 80's? Oh yea, baby!
Repro is a great word in the clothing/costuming industry to refer to period type clothing that is reproduced to fit modern bodies, and be usable (like washable, and wearable for re-enactments, etc).
Quotes about "Vintage":
“Everything I buy is vintage and smells funny. Maybe that's why I don't have a boyfriend.”
Lucy Liu quotes (American Actress, b.1968
This wee educational moment brought to you by AlyTheRed! Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject.
Here is a really really fun crafting how-to site! Check out Whip Up for all the inspiration and projects you may need. I believe it's based in Australia, with lots of etsy contributers. The latest tutorial is knitted toadstool baby rattles in really HOT colors! Check it out!
I'm celebrating the 300's. Be sale #333 in my etsy store, mention this give-away, and get a free coffee cozy of your choosing (any regular cozy). 
(check out that sky, will ya? Looks like I photoshopped it..... only wish I were that clever..)
Friday, I put on my lucky shamrock underwear (I have two pair in case I'm in need for good luck, and one is in laundry, but don't fret, I only wear one at a time), took a before photo, and then took my bob to a real salon and let the stylist do her magic.
I had my glasses off most the time. I'm really blind, so when I put them back on, and saw a full head of curls. And I mean curls on TOP too, I was shocked. Was that ME? THEN I had to wonder how much upkeep this would take.... a busy artist mama wants to look cool and all, but she's got kids and animals and garden to care for, outdoorsie stuff and art to make.... she can't be sitting around fretting about how to form curls.
I was instructed never to brush or comb my hair and I would need curling CREAM. This does encourage your hair to form individual curls instead of frizz and it's weightless and soft. But hey, that does not mean you should go around running your fingers through my hair. OK? I'm working hard to get "air" in these curls. I've always had waves but curls??? I've been instructed to make curls and twists that you can see through! Back off the touching! Ok, whew..... after that, i think it's ok to show you a few early photos.
I had to include this one with Long Leggs making such a cute adoring face at me in the mirror! I was showing the kids how to take self portraits this way.... they both had some early attempts, but they are too blurry to show ya. Maybe lesson #2. They are darn cute though.
Who knew I had a whole head of curly curls waiting to be weightless?
Saturday Block Party and Mural Painting!
I love our neighborhood! Here we are starting off our summer party by repainting the mural. We are the only neighborhood in Eugene to have a street mural. It's officially called an "Intersection Repair" because of it's uses:- a traffic calming device
- beautification of the neighborhood
- a natural gathering place for friends and neighbors-turning a street into a public square
- sharing local flava and culture
We also have a small kiosk, brick work and bench seating area. It's not uncommon to find people bringing their dinner out to the benches, see a guitarist playing there, and kids riding bikes together, while people walking their dogs say hi. Care to see an ariel photo?
That's me in the tan pants and brown zipp up. It was early in the morning and quite cool. We all thought it would be good for the paint to dry slowly. I'm working with Tracy to do the fine lines while she did the fill in.
We did a second coat later in the day, while a band played. Everyone enjoyed donated coffee and make your own sodas, and pizza as well as potluck food. These people, with our big gardens know how to cook!
One of the highlights was our neighbor Shane's bike that converts into a smoothie making operation! Why didn't I think of getting a photo of that?!
Another neighbor, Ev, is a Tango instructor. We gathered for tango on the square at 5pm when it was safely dry but traffic barricades were still up. My second tango experience and quite fun!!
I couldn't quite get the hang of photographing myself while I did a happy dance and jumped for joy, so I submit this photo from our last family water balloon fight.
My etsy
sales meter hit 300 today. Yey
!!!!!! I am hosting a give away for number 333. Stay tuned.
AND today, Lark books invited me to design for an upcoming book of woolen goods. I'm happy to be asked! I've designed for two of their books, which will be out next spring. As you know, I love designing, and the whole experience was fun (except for cutting the shipping date a little close). I envision my future to hold exciting new design projects, being published, writing for magazines, and teaching. And creating. Always creating!
It's a nice burst of fresh air after a few difficult weeks. It's not fun to talk about while IN the trenches, but I can now say my kids are getting over whooping cough. Son #1 caught it at the end of school and it went undiagnosed, then misdiagnosed for quite some time. Poor guy! Son #2 caught it, and we were all run down from sleepless nights and way too much coughing and worrying.
Then there was the quarantine weeks and cabin fever. The kids have been more cranky and quarrelsome than usual. My typical solution is to take them on a hike or bike ride! But... when the child coughs till they throw up at the slightest exertion, that's not an option. =Cabin FEVER! We are not big tv
watchers and have a video game -free house. Luckily we have lots of fun card and board games, and as you know, lots of cute animals to occupy us. It's not been a terribly "fun" summer so far however. Looking forward to the rest!
The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it.
::: Gustave Courbet :::
There have been some requests for kitty update photos so here goes:
Sage: Three months old now. He's more than doubled in size. We recently discovered that he's a rare breed SnowShoe Siamese. They are characterized by the white feet, dark point markings, and inverted "V" starting at the nose. They are not sleek cats, but more of a sturdy build and med fur.
He continues to like the other cats, but not be very friendly to us humans who love him. We cuddle him and pet him very respectfully. Occasionally he purrs. This look on his face is typical. Does anyone with Siamese experience have any suggestions? 
Sage made a nest of the kitty bed. What a handsome boy!
Saffron attack!!!!! And I have the scratches to prove it. The kittens have been sweet little cuddlers at night, but last week they discovered the joys of racing across sleeping humans! Down the hall, up the hall, up and over the bed, down the hall........ !!!!!!
Saffron is the cutest, most lovey, perfect kitten one could ever want. Fuzzy orange boys are well known for this quality. He purrs when you just look at him. He greets us at the door with cute little mews, and loves being held and played with...... and.......
... can you see what's happening here? He's slowly become comfortable with the puppy! They play! Toli LOVES Saffron and is a little obsessed with finding him in the house and chewing on him. He especially likes Saffron's back end..... sorry....
... but they are very funny together.
I love a good vintage fabric find! This mushroom bag is made from fabric I found at a yard sale. I use the term vintage for 60's-70's fabrics like these because they are special, I'll never see it again, can't find it anywhere else, and we don't make anything like it now. ETSY defines Vintage as anything over 20 years old. But it's not really the correct term.
