Mlle Magpie

Aging is a Good Thing

 

I love flowers and think that one can never have enough of them. I had bought this book of Redoute reproductions when it was on super sale at a bookstore near my workplace a couple of years ago. 

 

 

 

There are about 30 or so floral images inside the book and I had always planned on ripping out my favourites to either frame or just hang up on a wall. Especially in the winter time when fresh flowers are very expensive, I thought hanging up a grouping of these would be a wonderful idea. However, the pages inside the book were all a bright white and just didn't seem right to me. 

 

 

 

 

Nothing a little distress ink couldn't fix, though.

 

 

 

 

So I gathered all my favourite images and away I went to give these new images the vintage look and feel that I though they should have. 

 

 

 

 

Such a fast and easy improvement and now they just look right to me.

 

 

 

 

Mlle Magpie

Planning for a Potting Bench

 

 

 

While waiting for spring to arrive up here, I have of course been dreaming of gardening. One of the specific things that I have been dreaming about is having a potting bench in our city garden.

 

 

 

 

 

Being the vintage-loving gal that I am, I initially I thought of using a vintage table as in the above photos. But I'm planning on putting the potting bench on the side of our house in a completely unsheltered area and we do get quite a bit of rain here. Alas, for practical reasons I decided that it would be best if the potting bench was made out of cedar, which is naturally weather-proof. Also thought it would be a nice idea for a Father and Son project. So we've been looking at ideas for the design of this potting bench...

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, I think it will look a lot like this one as the space where I want to put it is not too large. Just thinking about the idea of my own potting bench makes me very happy and is helping me get through these cold and very un-spring-like days. I can't wait to have it made so that I can organize all of my pots, soil and gardening tools and start gardening!

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. sorry, lost sources of photos except for last one, from Canadian Gardening magazine

 

Old Quilt Salvage

 

 

This was husband's beloved late grandmother Ruth's old quilt. Unfortunately it was almost completely tattered and worn out but of course I could not just throw it out. This past frigid weekend was the perfect time to pay some attention to it and try to recover what bits and pieces of it that I could. By the way, it was -20 F here last night and is still very cold today. I hope everyone is keeping warm out there.

 

The first thing I did was cut out a trio of different-sized heart templates out of cardboard.

 

I then started tracing out the heart shapes in the undamaged areas and cut them out.

 

 

After several hours, I had piles of pretty hearts.

 

 

Some of these I will use to make little Valentines and Valentine's cards. My son thought they would also make nice pin cushions. Definitely lots of possibilities there... Other little areas of the quilts that were undamaged were cut out in little pieces and put in a basket for use in other potential projects. Originally I had thought there would be an undamaged area large enough for making a pillow cushion, but the quilt was so damaged that it wasn't a possibility. Nonetheless, it was nice to be able to salvage at least parts of it.

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. all of this work was done on dear Grandma Ruth's dining room table - I think she would be happy to know that     

 

Crafting at the Farmhouse

 

While husband did most of the cooking and all the baking at the farmhouse, the other family members did a little crafting over the holidays.

 

 

My son made a stack of envelopes using various vintage papers.

 

 

 

My oldest daughter worked on a pillow project using an old Amy Butler fabric from my stash.

 

 

 

My six year old got the idea for her project from the sewing book I gave her for Christmas. She is also using an Amy Butler fabric from my stash.

 

 

 

I gave all three of my children sewing/crafting books for Christmas. I find the instructions in the children's sewing books to be particularly good so they're also great for a sewing novice like myself. I will definitely be trying out some of the neat little projects in these books.

 

As for myself, I didn't do very much in the way of crafting over the holidays as I pretty much ran out of gas by the time Christmas came and needed a lot of rest to recover. I did get a new Martha Stewart bird craft punch from Walmart which made me very happy.

 

All I have to show for the holidays is a jar of vintage French paper birds. But making them made me very happy. Very Mlle Magpie.

 

 

Really, it's the simple things in life, isn't it...?

 

Mlle Magpie

Saturday at Silver Bella

 

Saturday was the last full day of Silver Bella. First class of the morning only started at 8:30 and mine was with the delightful, warm and gracious Charlotte Lyons. The project we worked on was called "The Chatelaine Necklace" and here is the model we worked from (photographed by Charlotte).

 

 

We received these incredible scissors for the project from one of the sponsors, Fiskars. I haven't finished my project yet but have all the bits and pieces chosen for the embellishment part which is all that I have left to do for mine. I was so thrilled to finally learn how to make that strawberry pin cushion and it was my first time beading as well. This was such a laid-back class, with an old-time quilting bee vibe - just lovely. Of course I was thrilled to finally meet lovely Charlotte whose work I have admired for a long time.

 

This is a pin cushion house that I had bought from Charlotte's etsy shoppe a year ago - I simply adore it!

 

One of the things that I noticed at Silver Bella during the classes was how stylishly women stored their vintage supplies. Most of my supplies were organized in zip-loc bags and stashed in a big tote, which was best for someone flying and limited space but was not always very practical when I was looking for things during a class. I'm one of those out-of-sight out-of-mind, visual types of people. 

 

 

I definitely got a lot of stylish storage ideas at SB and may have to rethink things for next year...

 

My last class was with Kaari Meng of "French General". Her class was called "Bonaparte's Gift" and we learned how to make a necklace like this one.

 

 

I'm happy to report that I finished my necklace when I got home and have been happily wearing mine to work for the last couple of days. (I know a lot of people worry that if they don't finish their projects during class that they will never finish them at home, but luckily that has not been the case for me - I've been finishing up all of my projects, one by one...)

I was very happy to finally learn how to properly make jewelry from the ever patient Kaari. I also bought more vintage supplies from her during the class for future projects. The funny thing is that my husband has been to Kaari's shop several times over the past few years. When he's on a business trip to L.A. and has the time, I ask him to get me some things from "French General". I told Kaari about this and she laughed saying "I know him, he's the one that comes with a list, isn't he?!!" 

 

Finally had some free time in the afternoon before the Farewell Dinner so I went over to Second Chance Antiques.

 

(photo courtesy of Teresa McFayden)

 

What a fabulous place to go hunting for vintage treasures. My first reaction when I got there - overwhelmed. I managed to spend an hour walking around in there and found several lovely old photos, cards and an old pair of baby shoes. If I had not been so tired, I would have gladly spent much more time there, especially in the incredible vintage clothes section in the basement. However, there is always a next time...

 

The day ended with the Farewell Dinner and guest speaker Jenny Doh of "Crescendoh", formerly of the incredible Somerset/Stampington magazines. Jenny was very inspirational and it was the perfect way to end an incredible art retreat. All I can say is that I can't wait to go back next year!

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. to all of my American blogger friends, wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with friends, family, good food and much to be thankful for in our lives...

Friday at Silver Bella

 

The day started bright and early with my first class at 8 a.m. - it was Canadian artist, Colette Copeland's "Project Runway". Colette was simply delightful and this was the perfect, laid-back class to start Silver Bella off with.

 

 

Sewing, embellishing, embroidery and glueing...  

 

 

The view across the table from where I was sitting (notice my big coffee to the right?). It can get pretty messy on the table with everyone's supplies all spread out. After cutting out the dresses and sewing them up, I really had fun sitting there arranging and rearranging pretty bits and pieces on my three dresses. 

 

 

A better shot from table. You can see Danielle Mueller and Amy Powers happily working away.

 

 

Aren't Danielle's three dresses just so pretty and chic?!! Although I didn't quite finish my project by the end of the class, it's been safely stored safe in the cool paper folder that wonderful Colette sewed for all of us, just waiting form me to finish up...

 

After a mere half hour break, my next class was Kerry Lynn Yeary's "Gilded Cage".

 

I thought this was quite the fabulous project. But I must confess that the wire bird cage gave me a hard time. With my jet-lag and serious fatigue, I just couldn't wrap my brain around Kerry's instructions and got a bit frustrated (believe me, poor sweet and patient Kerry tried her best with me, many times :). Then I figured it out and ran out of wire! No worries, I happily worked on the rest of the elements for the project, sometimes with help from my very helpful and talented table mates. And I'm happy to report that after getting home I completed the bird cage without a problem and am now ready to add embellishing touches to my project. In fact, I have a second gilded cage project on the go as well.

 

My third and last class of the day was Lisa Kaus' "The Joy Within".

 

Lisa was a great teacher (btw, they ALL were) and I learned a lot by working on this project. At the beginning I sat there feeling out of my element but slowly I got more comfortable and things started to come together for my board. It was very helpful that Lisa shared a lot of her art supplies with us so that we could experiment with them. This was the only project that I ended up completing by the end of the class.

 

Here is my project, now hanging up on the wall of my little room off the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

So after three amazing classes I was even more exhausted than the foggy tiredness that I started the day off with. But it was vendor faire/Silver Bella Market time at 6 p.m. and hats were on parade for it.

So happy to finally meet one of the Queens of Crafting, Karla of Karla's Cottage. Does she not have the most amazing, over-the-top crown/birdcage hat?!!

 

And I even got her to keep her eyes open for the photo :)

 

Here's a photo of the two of us waiting for the doors to Bella Market to open. In case you didn't notice, that' me on the left with the, ah, rather plain straw hat. I'm wearing a vintage floral dress from the 60's, kind of going for the English Garden look :) 

 

 

Bella Market was an amazing affair. Once I entered the ballroom where all of the vendor's booths were set up, I felt pretty overwhelmed. There was SO much to entice yet limited funds, and the fatigue from the day was setting in. How does one choose what to buy? I managed to stay for about an hour and half (it went on for four hours) and bought some very nice creations from various artists as well as supplies for future projects. There was a lot of gorgeous jewelry pieces but I just couldn't choose. In retrospect, I wish I had brought more money for this and taken advantage of the wonderful things available at the Market. I will definitely know for next year...

 

Mlle Magpie

 

Back From Silver Bella

 

 

I made it back home safely from Silver Bella. However, I am exhausted from all the traveling and of course, this amazing event. Let me rest up a bit and I'll be back to share with you about my first time at Silver Bella.

 

Also, I will be having an announcement to make very soon. Here is a little sneak peek...

 

Mlle Magpie

Natasha' Revamp It - Part Two

 

I loved participating in Natasha Burn's first "Revamp it..." party last year (which was also featured in an issue of "Artful Blogging"), so of course I didn't hesitate to join in again this time.

 

As for my project, I have not been feeling very ambitious lately or very original, but that's OK. Here is my super easy project:

 

An old and shabby lampshade. Boring, and unusable as is.

 

 

Plus nice thrifted lamp base.

 

 

And now, the special element that will bring this all together very nicely...

 

A pink tulle baby skirt from Old Navy that was purchased on sale quite a while ago and has just been sitting around waiting for me to do this project. (While paying for the skirt, the salesgirl at the store asked me how old my baby girl was and when I told her it's not for a baby, it's for a project, she just looked at me like I was half crazy :)

 

 

The skirt is so pretty that I didn't think I needed to do too much else. 

 

 

I just quickly sewed on a seam binding bow and a millinery carnation flower to the top of the skirt, placed the skirt over the lampshade et voila...

 

 

I have a tutu lampshade to grace my little glass lamp! I plan on putting it in my new craft room/studio in my basement to add some pretty light to that dark room.

 

If you would like to get inspired by other Revamped Projects, do stop by Natasha's blog to check out participating bloggers' links.

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. thanks so much for hosting this fun party again, Natasha!

A Room of One's Own - Part 1

Last fall I had started the big job of trying to organize a crafting area/studio space for myself in half of the playroom in the basement. Then I became ill with H1N1 and a post-viral syndrome...a pipe in that room started to leak and needed to be replaced...and that room has been quite the disaster ever since. Major re-evaluation, discussion and negotiations with husband have now resulted in a re-thinking of our living space in the basement. It has been determined that I will take over my husband's office/guest room in the basement to turn it into a crafting room/studio space for myself. Hence, I will have a room all to myself for all of my stuff.  Indeed, BIG and exciting news. The downside is that there is practically speaking no natural light to speak of in that room whereas the playroom had very nice light in the afternoon. But let's remember that the upside is that I will have a completely private space to myself where I can just close the door and not bother anyone with the bountiful side of my personality :)

We had not yet gotten around to painting this room since we moved in five years ago, so the walls are still a light blue and the plywood floors a royal blue.

There is a small window but since it is North-facing, the room is quite dark. I had been looking at various Benjamin Moore paint chips to choose a shade of white but upon looking around in the basement I found left over white Farrow and Ball paint from when we painted our kitchen so we'll just use that and save money instead. The "All White" paint will make the room as bright as possible and we will paint the floor white as well. I've always wanted white floors, so here is my chance to finally have them in at least one room.

Oh, there was an ugly fluorescent light panel mounted in the ceiling. So happy to have that finally gone. Husband will put up a ceiling medallion as we have them throughout the house, and I think I have an old glass light fixture somewhere that we can install there. Yes, going with the "use what you have" theme...

Although jet-lagged from being in England and Germany on a business trip for a week, as you can sww we have already cleared everything out of this room. Husband has also already installed three new pot lights in part of the ceiling.

I have made all kinds of plans for this room of mine. Next -- painting! Now my father, who is 85 years old, and I have always done all of the painting in all of our homes over the years. However, since I'm still convalescing and not in great shape, husband will assist my father this week to do all of the painting in the mornings before leaving for work.

I will keep you updated, as this story is definitely to be continued...

Mlle Magpie

A Little Bit of Glueing

Besides a bit of stitching, I've added glueing to my repertoire. I made this from a Journal Kit that I got from Angela Harris here. I added the little "WISH" ticket because I thought it went perfectly with the glittered star. Doesn't everyone need a little "wish" book? Definitely good for keeping track of your dreams...

Since one of my wishes is to get more organized in life/at home, I embellished this glass vase to make a pretty receptacle for say, knitting needles. Now I just have to find the rest of my knitting needles...

The collage project below isn't finished but at least it's started. The little girl in the photo looks like me when I was a little girl. I printed it off of Dawn's blog, The Feathered Nest - she is always sharing wonderful images that she has found.

Mlle Magpie