Cups and Saucers!

As I was browsing through the tableware at Goodwill  I almost screamed with delight when I saw this tableware. It is the same as my grandmother’s tableware! I love it. The minute that I laid eyes on it I felt as if I were back in her kitchen.

Her small, pink kitchen with the light grayish/green table and green chairs very similar to the one below. I loved it but I didn’t get it when she passed away.

Photo from Kitchenchairs on Bogspot.com

I can almost taste the hot chocolate she made for me in those cups. She made it with milk that she warmed on the stove top. My grandmother never had Nestle Quick; she used unsweetened Hershey Baking Powder and added sugar. This unusual and different mixture was soft and silky, warm and filling.

It filled me with more than warmth and nourishment. It filled me with memories. Memories of a grandmother who loved me and loved to cook. To her, cooking was a way to show love. She made everything from scratch because she was brought up on a farm. When my grandmother was older and my grandfather had passed away, my mom would often drive the hour to her house to stay with her for a few days as needed. My mom took a microwave and left it at my grandmother’s house but she never used it. She continued to use her  beloved stove, pots and pans to cook with. My grandmother was born in 1914 and passed away when she was ninety-two. I will cherish these cups and saucers and pass them along to my daughter.

I’m Feeling a Little Blue

I think this piece is from The Welsh Beaker Company but I am not sure. If anyone knows anything about it please let me know. From the very little that I was able to discover on the internet The Welsh Beaker Company is no longer in business. There is no stamp or signature of any kind on the bottom of this piece and the only thing similar that I could find on e-bay were four mugs also with a ship called Wanderer on them. I do have this for sale on e-bay. There is not a chip on it which is amazing. If it doesn’t sell I will be very happy to keep it for myself.

This beautiful blue plate is Churchill made in Staffordshire England. I met a wonderful woman in the thrift store who wanted to tell me all about the pottery, dinnerware etc. Fabulous! I listened and followed her around as she told about anything we saw there that was worth talking about. I think she said she had worked in several antique stores plus she was on the older side. She said this particular brand was a notch down from Blue Willow. Oh I would love to have some Blue Willow. I would love to have my grandmother’s Blue Willow but I have no idea where that is. I’m not normally a huge fan of the color blue unless I am wearing it but this piece is so quite cheery against my yellow walls so it stays with me.

I also really like these two little white and blue, Blue Heritage (made in England) saucers and they will go on the wall with other as soon as I get some more plate hangers. The cute little Eskimo plate is a collectible from Royal Copenhagen for Mother’s Day. It is on e-bay as well.

These next two pieces are made by a company called Salmon Falls, the top piece is the Blue Vine pattern and the bottom piece is the Berry Vine pattern.

I think these little blue cups may be by Corel not sure. I like their delicateness.

Last but not least in the blue mood is this beautiful earthen mug. I could not read the stamp on the bottom so I have no idea if it is from a set or handcrafted by someone. I just love it’s luster. I love that you can see the smooth earthy clay but it’s shiny at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds, rustic and not. There is just something about it. It is also on e-bay but I will be glad to keep this one as well. If anyone knows anything about let me know!

Carl Larsson – Swedish Artist – 1853-1919

I was surprised to discover that Carl Larsson had a sad, harsh life spent in poverty during his early years. One would never guess that by looking at his beautiful, serene paintings of his life after marriage.

He painted with oils without much public success before marriage. After marrying his wife Karin and switching to watercolors he found more fame as a painter. His eight children and family life in beautiful Sundborn in a little cottage by the river made for unending, lovely subject matter.

I found this reproduction print a few months ago and even though it has scratches on it as if it had been stuck to another piece of glass at one time I still love it. All of his work has a special softness to it.

This print is called Papa’s Room. I’m especially drawn to it because as a child I always wanted a big, bed with curtains in the middle of the room like a fort. A private little fort to hide away and read all day in secret. I love the bookshelves in the painting. I could certainly use bookshelves that go all the way around my room. As a matter of fact my granddaughter does have that in her room, custom built by her father and I think Carl Larsson himself would approve of the soft happy colors her room is painted in.

I read that Carl and his wife did not share a bedroom as most married people do. His wife slept with the children (most of the time, obviously not always) and Carl had a room to himself. I am a huge fan of that myself. Just think of all the snuggling with babies and toddlers. All of the goodnight stories and books. Plus he probably snored like most men do!

Other works of Carl Larsson that I like are:
In the Carpenter Shop
Brita in The Drawing Room
The Skier
The Verandah
Bridge In Grez
Flowers on the Windowsill
Breakfast under The Big Birch
and both paintings of his studio, left and right.

Here are two more sites about Carl Larsson that you might enjoy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Larsson?uselang=pt
http://www.carllarsson.se/enstart.aspx

You can also find a lot of his work, reprints on canvas and notecards and such on Ebay.

Old Treasure – McCall’s Needlework & Crafts 1963-64

These old magazines are so much fun to look through. Some things like the crazy tiger stripe dress the lady is wearing on the cover of this one is certainly funny but many good treasures can be found inside if only ones that are memories.

I may post more photos from the magazine in a day or two. If anyone is interested in purchasing this copy let me know. It will of course be first come, first serve.

Best Blog Ever!

I am so in love with Marisa Lynch’s blog, New Dress A Day.  Marisa buys the most out of style sometimes hideous dresses from thrift stores and works magic on them. I have never seen anything like this before. This is the ultimate in creativeness and recycling.

I did a post on this about a year ago but she now has a book out so I thought it was time for another post and I am re-energized to re-create some things for myself. I do hate to sew though so this will really be a challenge.  I will push past that because of how darn useful this stuff is. You just can’t beat the cost, creativeness and fun of these re-dos.

I started last night with a light wool type jacket that my daughter in law gave me last winter. I absolutely could not wear it with that collar sticking up as it was. It was itchy and sticking me in the neck. So I took it off. Luckily this only required hand sewing, not that I enjoy that any better. I only had to sew from the beginning edge of the collar to the point where it met the lining and where there was a loop in the middle for hanging the jacket. I will have to go back and iron the lining down as it sticks up a little where the new hem line is. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.  So here are the pics.

And yes it was very difficult to see the stitching on this pattern. I just pulled the seems as tight as I could and went very slowly so as not to cut the jacket itself.

Goodwill Treasure

I came across this beautifully framed Jennie Brownscombe after etching by Jas. S. King.  Sunday Morning in Sleepy Hollow in Goodwill a few weeks ago for only $30.00!   The print alone is worth that much. My parents already have The Berry Pickers so this will make a nice addition to their home.  Now I think I might have the collecting bug. I know that I have seen these at Goodwill before so I will be on the lookout for them. I would love to find The First Thanksgiving. Jennie’s work is reminiscent of Normal Rockwell. Below you will find a link to Wayne County Historical Society in Honesdale PA with more information about her.

http://www.waynehistorypa.org/exhibits/brownscombe.php

If you google Jennie Brownscombe and click on images you can see many more of her beautiful paintings. It’s a style that I would have never thought of owning but now after it has been sitting in my house waiting to go to my parents I have become quite attached to it.

Gray Leaves

Close up of a saucer in the Monika, description is Gray Leaves.

Pattern – Monika (Platinum trim)
From the town of Mitterteich, Bavaria, Germany.

This backstamp means that it was made between 1920 and 1945. The Mitterteich Company existed from 1917 to 2006.

Peacock Inspired Shirt From Goodwill Best Thrift Ever

I love it! I consider this to be my best Goodwill find ever. It is 100 % silk although I am sure if it’s Peta approved to wear silk anymore. Do they really make those little worms work like slaves and steal their silk? I didn’t go looking for silk, I just came upon it. I certainly wasn’t going to pass the shirt up I found it. So I am very sorry to the worms who made this shirt. You did a beautiful job. My photo does not do it proper justice.

Quick And Easy Window Dressing

I made this quick and easy window dressing for the larger window in my kitchen. My house is most definitely not formal at all. Some things are even put up temporarily, just to see what I think about them.

I like bright colors and whimsy.  I’m not at all above decorating using kids toys. Who doesn’t like toys?!  Why do we have to hide our inner children? I can play too. Or at least look at fun things that make me smile.

So here is a curtain that I made and threw up in a jiffy. My kind of timeframe.  I used iron- on hemming tape, probably the wrong way but it worked for the purpose, a babies teething ring and super glue.  Yes I have moved on from staples and duct tape to super glue. Works great when you don’t get it on your fingers or in your eye!

I had this really long piece of material that my daughter left here many years ago and I just rediscovered it in a drawer.

I super glued the curtain to the window frame (a tiny bit) because I couldn’t find a little tiny nail.  You can do things like that when you have an old crappy house.  Then I super glued the teething ring to the bottom of the window sill and to the curtain behind it to keep it in place.  If I decide in a few months that I want to replace it I will just take it down and paint over the chipped paint.  See I told you, quick and easy window dressing. And fun! Makes me smile anyway.

I call it my Happy Curtain.  Go ahead let your imagination go. Look for something you can use in an unusual, creative and unexpected way, something that will make you smile.

Old Post Card

I just discovered this in one of my piles of “stuff”. I think I purchased about twenty years ago. It has a date of 1908 on it. I can not however read all of the writing on the back.