sweet jessie

show and tell

2008-05-15T19:25:00.003-05:00

I told you I cut up the wallpaper book:

And I spent a couple of days laying out the pieces on a huge plywood board (measuring approximately 4 x 8 feet)....

And then I got out some PVA adhesive (available here) and got to pasting. I even took out the window squeegee and felt all professional wallpaper-er-like smoothing it down.

And I am so, so pleased with the results (not quite this, but still...).

I really wanted to wait until it was hung in my dining room to show it to you, but given it's unique hanging requirements, that could be a while. And I just couldn't help myself.

Isn't it just the bees knees?

xoxo

sit still, Henrietta

2008-05-13T19:25:00.005-05:00

This very active little owlet is on her way to Australia - where I'm sure Pip will take very good care of her until she can be auctioned off for the Mirabel Foundation.

Now sit still, Henrietta.

good owl.

xoxo

ps: Henrietta was made from a free pattern that I found here, via Meet Me at Mik es.

old school

2008-05-12T06:47:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that I was chosen to participate in "Old School" - an exhibition at Uppercase Gallery in Calgary.

"The 'Old School' theme will celebrate the aesthetics of twentieth century education through an art exhibition and companion book, as well as curated objects. It is inspired by vintage flash cards, old desks, biology class, science fairs, crayons, card catalogs, textbooks, class photos, teachers, yearbooks, lunchboxes, gym class, maps, lockers, report cards, film strips, recess, spelling, chalk... and the list goes on!"

Playing with this theme is SO up my alley. I thought it would be really fun to create some mixed media pieces for the show. But this morning, I saw that the list of participants was up on the Uppercase Gallery website. ohshit ohshit ohshit. I am so honored and excited and terrified to be keeping company with the likes of Lisa Congdon and Jennifer Judd-McGee and Renee Garner "(and the list goes on...)". They are, like, real artists whereas I just like to make stuff. oh shit oh shit oh shit.

I need a pep talk.

xoxo

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T10:38:00.005-05:00

Collecting ephemera is not a new thing for me. I've long been the keeper of old family treasures and keepsakes. This card was written by my dad's dad to his mom in 1939. His handwritten note on the back of the card is hysterical:

"Having a swell time in Eau Claire. Almost got cracked by some drunken (BLEEP) and we're laying over right now repairing a blow-out. Send a card later. Wally"

Well if that isn't a fine mother's day sentiment, then I don't know what is.

Have a lovely day.

xoxo

Pattern

2008-05-09T13:56:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd share a few more of the vintage wallpaper samples from the "Mod Impressions by Michel" book today:

"happening" on vinyl

"nicole" - flocked

"flowerland" on vinyl

I cut up the sample book. I've been staring at it for months, trying to figure out what to do with it. I'd like to hang a bunch of the pieces in my house. Should I make a huge collage? Frame them? Just pin them up on the wall? The pieces are about 11x17 each and I love a lot of them.

As much as I'd really, really love to do a wall like this (how amazing is that?!?), my husband would kill me. So it's can't be as permanent as actual wallpapering. What do you think?

xoxo

Stitchy Woman

2008-05-08T06:36:00.003-05:00

Hiya, lovelies!
I'm over at Feeling Stitchy today sharing my interview with Claudia Marchan of Stitchado. Pop on over to say hello and check out some of Claudia's bea-you-teeee-ful work.

(photo courtesy of Claudia Marchan)

xoxo

Vogart 240

2008-05-06T09:06:00.004-05:00

Well good morning, lovelies! I didn't realize how long it's been since I've shared a transfer pattern with you. But don't fret, for I have one to share today:

Vogart 240 - Adorable Kittens and Puppies for Every Use

I always love the descriptions on the back of the packages:

"Colors: Use bright gay colors for children's wear. Follow the color suggestions as illustrated on the beautiful 4 color printed cover."

"Suggested Materials: Give the custom look to ready made garments with these "adorables." Sacques, Kimonas, Rompers, Play Suits, Creepers, can all be given that handmade individual look with a few moments of happy stitchery - for this purpose, this selections of motifs is ideal."

Please let me know if you use these patterns to made a "Sacque" for someone you adore, as I would love to see it!

xoxo

This is....

2008-05-04T19:58:00.004-05:00

This is the pair of shoes that I could sleep in if I could.... (this week's theme chosen by Hip Hop and Banana Bread - and how GREAT is that name?!?!)

I bought these (yes, pink!) leather shoes at a shop called Penelope's (also a FANTASTIC name, if you ask me) on Division in Chicago a couple of years ago. They feel like a cobbler made them just for my feet. And they're so, so soft - like buttah! So I guess they are the shoes I would sleep in if I could.

And I would wear them here, in the comfiest bed in the world, my own:

Although sleeping in these shoes would certainly not please the Mister.

xoxo

color week: blue

2008-05-02T08:37:00.002-05:00

I have a thing for vintage globes:

...and blankies

... and old schoolhouse maps!

My mom is on her way in, so I'm off to the airport to pick her up. Today is a warm, gray, drizzly, beautiful day here in Chicago. A good day to curl up on the couch with a soft blankie and a cup of tea and read a good book. I hope your day is just as beautiful.

xoxo

color week: pink

2008-05-01T11:24:00.002-05:00

I sure love me some pink. I have a pink bike, a pink camera, and pink shoes. I haven't worn pink lipstick since fifth grade, but I believe my color of choice back then was called "Silver City Pink".

Yet even after this very long love affair with the color, I have very little pink around my house.

Truth be told, today's colors were actually supposed to be pink and red. And I know that for good feng shui, you're supposed to have a bit of red in every room, but I couldn't really find any red at all in the house. That probably explains a lot.

xoxo

color week: orange

2008-04-30T09:45:00.003-05:00

Knock, Knock
Who's there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad it's still color week?

The knock knock jokes have resurfaced at our house again, this time coming from my kindergartener. But they make much less sense than my very sophisticated orange joke.
They go something like this:

Jack: Knock Knock
me: Who's there?
Jack: Zebra
me: Zebra who?
Jack: Ummmm..... Zebra.... Banana!
me: Yes, Jack, that's very funny.

xoxo

Color Week: Yellow

2008-04-29T09:57:00.005-05:00

vintage buttons

address file from Lovely Design

comfy chair

gumball machine with stale m&m's

a print from Pressure Letterpress on Etsy

albuterol

xoxo

Green

2008-04-28T13:57:00.007-05:00

Leya from Curious Bird is hosting Color Me Pretty: A Week of Color, and I'm playing along. Today's color is green:

vintage thread

little things on my dresser

delicates hanging in the laundry room

an old stadium seat

Leaves of Grass

Vintage Sheets

Spring Blooms

Kids books. Yes, they were sorted by color BEFORE I knew about color week!

teapot from the flea market

Do you have a favorite color?
xoxo

Feeling Stitchy

2008-04-27T08:58:00.003-05:00

I just found out that my Feeling Stitchy interview with Doe-C-Doe was picked up by the Craft blog yesterday. How fun! Yay, Gina!!

Now back to my regularly scheduled weekending....

xoxo

eye candy

2008-04-25T14:35:00.004-05:00

I told you I found the prettiest candy ever.

the packaging reminds me of this vintage wallpaper in my stash:

I found a huge wallpaper sample book at the flea market last summer. I think this piece is my favorite. The collection is called Mod Impressions by Michel, circa 1970. I have many, many plans for all of the lovely pages in the book.

I have to keep the post short and sweet today because I have much to do! Weekend plans include: dinner tonight with six girlfriends and their husbands - we're going out for tapas and we keep calling it our topless dinner because we are hilarious. Tomorrow, I'm going downtown for Artropolis, then out to dinner and then we have tickets to see Margaret Cho at the Chicago Theatre. Sunday is the flea market at 7 am, followed by a matinee performance of Grease at the local high school - four of us girls are bringing two kids each. Whew. I should need a break by Monday morning. Hope your weekend is lovely!

xoxo

Thursday-ing

2008-04-24T06:47:00.005-05:00

Well, hello there! I was so surprised to find this yesterday afternoon:

And since there are so many new visitors here this week (Seriously, say hi!), I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Jessie (sweet, sweet Jessie!), and this here is where I share my misadventures in Craft, Thrifting, Motherhood, and Life. Thanks for popping in. May I interest you in a butterscotch candy?

----

I used my free time wisely yesterday and actually got a couple of tablecloth grocery totes finished. This one is already in the shop. More coming soon!

And I guess I better put together a few of those hoop corkboards for those of you without a drywall saw!

So I better be on my way. There's a rummage sale I have to get to this morning. Nothing thrills me like a good rummage sale. Have a great day, lovelies!

xoxo

ps: I'm over at Feeling Stitchy today. Come over and keep me company.

pps: I'm not kidding about the butterscotch. I got the coolest package of candy EVER the other day. If you play nice I'll show it to you tomorrow.

all buttoned up

2008-04-23T08:57:00.003-05:00

I've been waiting a long time for a day like today: no appointments, no volunteering, no grocery shopping, no dance class, no piano lesson. Just a free day. So I'm going to sit home and sort buttons and sew.

I have exactly four hours before I have to pick up the boy from Kindy-garten.
Ready, Set, Go!

xoxo

ps: A warm welcome to all of you who are visiting from Decor8. Thanks for popping in (and thanks to you, Holly!). Please don't be shy - say hello!

pps: I've gotten a few emails about the grocery totes. I will be making some for the Etsy shop. Hold tight and I'll let you know when they're ready. Thanks for your interest!

ppss: Don't miss my Stitchy Woman interview tomorrow over at Feeling Stitchy. This week, I'm interviewing the lovely G from Doe-C-Doe.

Now I'm done. Really.

Bad, Bad, Eco-Mom

2008-04-22T09:02:00.005-05:00

We do not collect gray water, or have a compost pile in the yard (though we're thinking about it). We do not have a worm bin in the kitchen or have low-flow toilets. There is not a Whole Foods within 25 miles of my house, and as much as I love my pink bike, we still drive everywhere. And not in a hybrid, either, but a minivan.

Welcome to the suburbs.

We do, however: recycle with fervor, use energy efficient lightbulbs, use "green" cleaning products, and possess a good amount of spending power. Which is why Big Green Purse is on my reading list this month.

Because I'm not the eco-mom of the year. But at least I'm doing something. Happy Earth Day.

xoxo

Since Then

2008-04-21T11:13:00.004-05:00

Whew. Since we last spoke, I have:

co-chaired a large arts showcase at my kids' school
eaten ice cream on four separate occasions
attended a wedding
ridden a roller coaster
consumed a glass of carrot beet juice
crashed the wireless network that allowed me to scan things on one computer and email them to myself on this computer.
taken this baby on its maiden voyage to the grocery store:

(Introducing my new recycled tablecloth grocery totes. More coming soon!)

I hope your weekend was just as eventful.

xoxo

technical difficulties

2008-04-20T16:54:00.002-05:00

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by.

Oops, I got lost!

2008-04-16T14:04:00.003-05:00

I wanted to post this a couple of days ago, but I got lost. Meaning: In the last week, I have watched 12 episodes of Lost. Oh, it's good.

I knew I wanted to start watching the series, but I've never seen it before, and I knew I needed to start from the beginning. So I got myself a Netflix account and added every single episode to my queue.

I think you can watch it directly from the abc website, but then you'd have to watch commercials and it would take FOR.EV.ER - which is why my heart now belongs to Netflix.

Each season comes on something like 6 discs, with 4 episodes per disc. So obviously I have some serious work to do.

So that explains my whereabouts, but I still wanted to show you this:

It's the tote bag that Candace sent me as part of a little swap we did. Isn't it the cutest thing ever? I love it.
She also sent me some great vintage embroidery pieces from Amway (this great mushroom and an adorable owlie) and a couple of back issues of some great magazines. Even her little hang tags are cute. If you want to go get some of your own Sparkle Power goodness, go check out Candace's etsy shop.

xoxo

Project Little Lambs

2008-04-15T11:16:00.005-05:00

A few months ago, I went went thrifting way way way up north and found all of these great wool sweaters. I thought I would felt them and make a baby blanket out of them for my shop.

Then I thought, I don't need to make any more random stuff to sell (truth be told, no one really buys my handmade stuff anyway!). I'll make myself a picnic blanket. Did you know wool naturally repels moisture? It would make a great picnic blanket.

But then I didn't do that, either. And the sweaters sat in a drawer in my studio.

And sometimes something happens and you know that it was meant to happen and that's why you waited for it, even though you didn't know you were waiting for anything.

Because my mom called and told me about this organization she's working with. It's a Minnesota foundation called Cornerstone, and it serves to 1) prevent and 2) support those affected by domestic abuse. My mom is working on a fundraiser with them right now called Project Little Lambs, and they are trying to collect 200 handmade afghans for children who are living in Cornerstone's protective housing; Children who may have left their homes in the middle of the night wearing only their jammies and could really use something to snuggle with. It breaks my heart.

And so even though I don't knit, I can make a soft handmade blanket to donate to a really good cause.

If you are interested in participating, you can download instructions on how to proceed here, or click on the little lamb icon in my sidebar. Thank you for even considering it.

xoxo

This is...

2008-04-13T20:26:00.002-05:00

... My perfect dinner party guest list (this weeks theme selected by Lily and Agathe):

Hmmm... This was much harder than I expected. I mulled it over for a bit today, and then asked my husband who he would invite to his perfect dinner party (limit of six guests, not including himself or ME!!!). Jack immediately came up with his list: Teddy Roosevelt, Al Pacino, Colonel Patton, Robin Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and John Adams.

My husband and I have very different interests.

But this is MY PARTY and this is who I'VE come up with:
Dorothy Parker, Ira Glass , David Sedaris, those two guys from Flight of the Conchords (thank you miss Three Buttons for the idea), and Annie Leibowitz.

I would also really love to invite Gertrude Stein, Diane Arbus, Peggy Guggenheim and Sylvia Plath (What?!? I could always set up the card table!!!).

We would laugh and chat and drink too many cocktails (maybe Absinthe if some of those ladies had their way) and end up ordering a pizza because I would ruin the dinner. Unless I had it catered in which case we would have my usual catered fare:
ensalata alla francesca, bruschetta, spinach ravioli, and tiramisu (all from here).

I would probably play the soundtracks from Amelie and Chocolat as background music (unless someone - not me- could play my piano), and I would have very pretty flowers in the center of the table. And there would be placecards (obviously), and lovely little favors at each place setting (because one does what one has to do). And after dessert Annie would take our pictures for the cover of Vogue.

And that would be my perfect little dinner party.

xoxo

little pretties

2008-04-11T14:34:00.002-05:00

available in my etsy shop.

Stitchy Woman!

2008-04-10T09:23:00.004-05:00

Good morning, lovelies!

I'm so very excited to announce that my first ever interview is up over on Feeling Stitchy! Go check it out.

xoxo

Confidential to Candace in Ohio (I've always wanted to do that, just like Dear Abby used to do) - these are the tea towels I made for our little swap - I hope you like them! I mailed them out on Monday.

PS:
Heather (from today's Stitchy Woman interview) was concerned that since I'm hosting the interviews, that I'd never get to answer my own questions. So she turned the tables on me, and posted my interview on her blog this afternoon. Just in case you're interested...