Friday Freebie

Yet another Friday Freebie...
It is such a hard decision for me to make, what do you want to see?

Years ago I inherited an extensive postcard collection. My mom collected postcards just for fun, because she thought the images were pretty, unique or kitschy. Lots of them are kitschy! She used them as correspondence and received many of them from friends or her brothers who searched flea markets, antique sales and yard sales to find the most unique, unusual postcards to send her.
I am fascinated by them! I love this forum by which I can share them with you.

What should I choose for today?
Since Spring is peeking it's head here in Colorado, I am in a springy mood. My trees are starting to bud, I have seen a few tulip bulbs poking through the soil, and I even saw some bees buzzing today (isn't it too early for bees?) This all gets me thinking about warmer weather...

Badminton anyone?

(today's image is a vintage postcard printed in Great Britain)

A Functional Project & Practical Tip

Practical Tip:

Line one cupboard or pantry door with cork. You can use a roll of cork, or cork tiles that are easily found at stores like Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabric. Use this newly corked door as a place to hang things that are important to keep at hand. It becomes a mini-office in the heart of the kitchen. We hang the school lunch menu, coupons and our take-out menu pocket. It is even a handy place to hang art work that comes home in the kids' backpacks.

Sometimes I am bound by a need to make things functional, not just pretty. I think this is an mental battle I wage: can art or craft just be for art's sake, or does it also have to be functional. It is nice to make some of our functional objects also artful.

My project for the day is a Take Out Pocket. This is where I keep all those Take-Out Menus and Coupons so that we can find them when I have the urge to order instead of cook.

The process is quite simple. I used a plain manila folder. I folded additional paper and glued it in place to close the sides of the folder and create a pocket. Then, I collaged the folder with varoius papers, letters, vintage stickers and stamps. Of course, I used a food motif. I "aged" the paper with a brown ink pad. I sealed the whole thing with a few layers of
Mod Podge. Sealing it with Mod Podge will both protect the collage, and strengthen the pocket since it may be used frequently.

Back to the idea of form versus function. Should the items in our home be only functional? Can we also improve their form with our artistic touches?


What everyday items have you put in your home that share interesting or artistic form and useful functionality?

Oh Lord! What a find!

I must first confess before going any further with this post, Rachel and I went to the store that I refer to as "The devil's playground." I can't even say the name because I am so ashamed, but I'll give you a hint - they have great prices on fabric and every town has one. Enough said. We decided to go down the Easter aisle to see what goodies they might have for the kids. We made an amazing discovery, Mary and Jesus right there on the shelf! They were Barbie and Ken size and spoke words from the Bible! We grabbed them right away and put them in the cart. There was no price on Jesus and Mary but then again how can you put a price on the Lord. We made the mistake of pushing Mary's talk button and then she wouldn't shut up. She went on for at least 10 minutes! Who knew Mary was such a talker?
Later on we found out they were $14.99! Too rich for our blood, so back to the shelf for Mary and Jesus. Maybe some other lucky shopper will find them and they can join Barbie and Ken in the Dream House for cocktails.

BEHOLD

Little Bowls

So, I need some advice.... On a recent trip to LA, I went to one of my favorite stores that we do not have in Colorado, IKEA. I have never bought furniture there but I love the little marketplace section of the store. They have all sorts of kitchen pieces and decorative, fun items.
I saw these little tiny bowls there and couldn't resist. They came in a set of 4 and were such a bargain. I bought a set for myself and Rachel. I should mention that we both have a penchant for serving pieces both large and small. Little individual bowls for fruit and dipping sauces can look great in a place setting. It adds a formal touch to a meal and when you go to the trouble to place these on your table, people feel you have gone the extra step for them.
Now back to my tiny bowls, they are about 2 inches tall and two inches across. As much as I love them, I don't know what to put in them. They are too small for dipping. They are too small to hold my sewing supplies. They would work for beads but then they would have to leave my house and go to the studio. What is a girl to do with cute little bowls from IKEA? HELP!

comtemplation

I spend a lot of time making combinations.... thinking about color...

thinking about pattern...

thinking about texture...

What will all of these combinations become?

Pet Peeve and PSA

So one of my pet peeves is about public restrooms. Have you ever seen the signs that say:

This is all well and good. Of course we want people to wash their hands before returning to work, especially our waiters and waitresses, our doctors and nurses, our teachers and anyone else who may come in contact with lots of people throughout their daily course of work.

But, what about the rest of us? Don't we all need to wash our hands before returning to our daily business. How many adult have you seen walk out of a stall and straight out the door of the restroom? Some studies show only 65% of women wash their hands and only 35% of men. Even my first grader is taught (at school) to be a "cootie catcher" and wash her hands after using the bathroom, blowing her nose or sneezing. She is also taught (at home) to wash her hands before eating and after playing on the playground.

With the rampant spread of viruses, like the flu. We all need to be more cognisant of what they are teaching school children and listen to the lesson: Wash Your Hands! If you look a little further (ie. read the daily news) you may have heard that this flu season is reaching almost epidemic proportions. Unfortunately the flu vaccine that was widely advertised and given last fall didn't include the strain of flu that is most prevalent this season.

The flu has reached many work places and schools across the country. According to the Center for Disease Control website, "The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza was above the epidemic threshold for the sixth consecutive week." Shockingly, the CDC doesn't track the number of school closures due to illness, however you may read about closures in your local papers. The CDC does, however, track flu fatalities. This year is among the worst in recent history. I won't cite the statistics here, but you may read about it on their website.

Even the flu has even hit the reality TV circuit. It was reported that the flu devastated the American Idol contestants before last week's show. I couldn't believe how many news articles were devoted to their illness.

I am not a pessimist by nature, nor am I a germaphob, and don't care to spread panic. I also know that hand washing won't stop all the spread of germs and viruses. But, if we all do our part we may be able to stop the spread of germs, even just a little bit. So, don't forget to:

You may even want to print this one out and hang it in your bathroom:

Friday Freebie

Another Friday Freebie. Right click the image to save it to your computer. The cloudy nature of this image is part of the postcard, I assume from age. This one is a postcard that was mailed in 1913 with a 1 cent stamp. It was sent to and from Worcester, Massachusetts.

These old photos always make me wonder about the people in them. Who were they? What did they do? Unfortunately the text on the back of the card doesn't give any information. What do you think?

This image would be great in a black & white project or reprinted as an invitation. Speaking of invitations, feel free to join us for coffee any Friday morning. We'd love to share our studio with you!