Yard sales, and sewing machines, and fabric. Oh my!

Salutations! We have had an awesome and very busy weekend. We've spent most of it playing outside: running around, chasing after balls, playing soccer, throwing a frisbee, making sure the kitten doesn't escape from the house, and practicing going up and down the back steps ;)

Yesterday morning I casually mentioned to my husband that yard saling sounded like fun (hehe :) There were some good-sounding advertisements in the paper, so we jumped in the car and took off in search of second hand treasures. I have been looking for a sturdy sewing machine ever since my inexpensive one from a mass-retailer-who-shall-not-be-named wore out in less than two years. I should have known better than to buy one there (not to mention that particular model), but it was a bit of a late-night, pre-baby impulse buy ;) Anyway, I've had my heart set on getting a vintage sewing machine, but every single one I've seen has either been out of my price range or there were essential bits missing. Well, yesterday I was finally able to satisfy my heart's desire :)

I found this White sewing machine (model 940) at the garage sale of an elderly lady who bought it brand new in 1973 from a sewing shop here in town. It is in immaculate condition and came with several attachments and other sewing accessories, as well as the rolls of fabric in the picture. It runs like a dream and I can't wait to get a project going (summer break, please hurry up!). I'm not a very experienced seamstress, but I realized that part of the problem was not having much confidence in my machine. That shouldn't be a problem now :)

The rolls of fabric I got are thick and mainly vintage-y plaids, with one tweedish piece and a wool-like grey. I'm trying to decide what to make out of them. If you have any ideas, let me know below. I'm curious to hear them!

This is a view I can definitely get used to :)

Whimsical Wednesday: the sweet serenity of books

 

A good book and a cup of tea from Thesmokingcat

The love of learning,
the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I love to read. Love love love love love to read. I'm obsessed, smitten, can't stop thinking about what I'm going to read as soon as summer break gets here. One. more. month. and then I will be freeee to read whatever my heart desires!

Reading has always been an all-consuming activity for me. I tend to entirely zone out and be completely absorbed into the story, as if there were actually an alternate reality contained in the pages. Ahh, now what to read first after I have been liberated from this semester's oppression? (Yes, I'm in a rather melodramatic mood.) I'm always open to suggestions, though I already have quite a list going haha. A couple of books already on my rather lengthy list are...

The Crack in the Lens by Darlene Cypser. Last evening Odessa from the blog Book Eater featured this new novel, a prequel about Sherlock Holmes, and it sounds really good. She wrote a great review about it (without any spoilers!) that you can see here. It was very quickly added to my To-Read List :)

The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence. I looove D.H. Lawrence, and a couple summers back I started a tradition of reading one of his novels every summer break. I've been meaning to read The Rainbow for ages and I am bound and determined that this year it will finally happen. There's something about his writing that appeals to me; it's probing and powerful and I find his thought-processes intriguing.

There are a ton of books I'd like to somehow squeeze in this summer, including re-reading at least two Jane Austen novels, Pride and Prejudice being one of them. What should the other be?

To celebrate this love for the written word, I have found a collection of whimsical items (it is Whimsical Wednesday after all :) for your perusal. I'd love to hear about some of your favorite books as well as who your favorite authors are. I know my To-Read List is about three miles long, but I'm always willing to expand my literary horizons just a little more :)


Paris, 1959 - Patrice Reads Obsessively, Sometimes To Her Own Detriment
from Purrr

 

Little Sailor Bookplates from thelittlefox

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it."  Oscar Wilde



I Read Banned Books Bracelet from CobwebCorner



Book Geek Necklace from bookgeekery



Pipino IV from holli

                                      Read to me riddles and read to me rhymes

                                      Read to me stories of magical times

                                      Read to me tales about castles and kings

                                      Read to me stories of fabulous things

                                      Read to me pirates and read to me knights

                                      Read to me dragons and dragon-book fights

                                      Read to me spaceships and cowboys and then

                                      When you are finished- please read them again.

                                              Read to me ~ Jane Yolen

 

A book is like a garden from matouenpeluche

 

My Greatest Adventures from TheLightFantastic





Our Book Club notecards from trafalgarssquare

Books to the ceiling

Books to the sky

My piles of books are a mile high

How I love them

How I need them

I'll have a long beard by the time I read them

Books to the ceiling ~ Arnold Lobel



Shakespeare and Company Book Store, Paris, France from metroline6

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.” Christopher Morley

true love & lasting joy

I just read a wonderful article (here!) by Georgia from Pseudooctopus and thought I'd pass it along to you. It concerns good relationships, finding love, and especially taking your time and going easy on yourself. It is so poignant and definitely worth reading even if you've already found The One.

Joy from thewheatfield

Georgia's article got me thinking about love -- true love -- and what a complex thing it is. It requires constant tending and effort from both parties in order for it to survive and grow. It is hard, harder than I ever imagined, requiring faith and trust, and it conjures up a multitude of emotions I didn't even know were possible to feel in such quick succession. But it is also the most rewarding, satisfying and inspiring thing I know of and have ever experienced.

I also didn't fully understand the concept of Joy until I fell in love with and married my husband and then had our son. For me, Joy is recognizing and experiencing happiness in spite of pain and difficult life situations; it is identifying the wonderful blessings in our lives and feeling an unexplainable elation because of them, even though at the same time we may have many doubts about the future. I know I am on the right track in my life when I feel Joy, and the wonderful thing about it is that everything doesn't have to be "perfect" in order for it to be present. Money, status and power don't matter; Joy isn't dependent upon those things. What matters is what is going on inside of us, how hard we're trying to maintain and cultivate the love and joy we already have, and how willing we are to go through the bad along with the good for those we love.

I think my favorite part of Georgia's article is when she stresses the importance of falling in love with someone who you're willing to face the everyday and not-so-spectacular with. Sometimes we all need reminded that it's not always going to be sunshine and daffodils :) It also reminded me of a wonderful snippet from the 1968 version of Yours, Mine and Ours in which Frank (Henry Fonda) talks with the eldest daughter about what true love really is. Watch it here.

I truly hope you'll check out Georgia's article; it's definitely worth reading and she has a fantastic blog. I also hope that whatever life situations you are in, love and joy are ever-present and lasting. Have a wonderful night ~ Mary

Frabjous Friday: A marvelous menagerie

Happy Frabjous Friday, everyone! I have had animals on the brain pretty much all the time lately because, well, for one thing I love animals, but also because the Etsy team I started, I {heart} Rescues, has really taken off. It has been up and running for one week and almost 50 people have joined! It's been so much fun reading everyone's stories about their pets- it has also been pretty motivating.


What are you waiting for from MeganRene

I decided that if I am going to actively promote the rescue and adoption of animals, responsible pet ownership, etc. I'd darn well better take a bit more action and not just be a talker ;) So, from now on 10% of every sale from my shop will be donated to my local animal shelter, the Southeast Kansas (SEK) Humane Society. They are a great group of people with quality care of the animals as their first priority. Unfortunately, like at a lot of animal shelters, funding tends to be sporadic, so there is always a need for good pet food, towels, dogwalkers, kitten cuddlers, and just about anything else a person is willing to help with. I'm not able to do too much right now between classes (and the inevitable pile of homework) and a rather strict household budget, but I am happy if my small gifts here and there are able to help improve even one or two animals' lives just a little bit.

Due to this preoccupation with our friends of the small and furry type, I decided to put together a collection of vintage items for your consideration & enjoyment with the theme being (surprise! :) cute little critters.

Vintage Woolikin Plush Dog from ivorybird

Vintage Children's Book Tubby Turtle from elizabethwrenvintage

Vintage Hunny Bunny Sweater from kyssa

"Animals are such agreeable friends- they ask no questions,

they pass no criticisms." ~George Eliot

Vintage Rabbit Wind Up Toy from vintagefiftyfour

Four Vintage Creatures from HendricksandDaughter

Vintage Pottery Stacking Hedgehogs from AustriaBrass

"Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul

remains unawakened." ~Anatole France



Vintage Marcasite Salamander Brooch from NevermoreVintage



Vintage red kitten figurine from spacejam



Deer / fawn bookends from serendipitychild

"God made all the creatures and gave them our love and our fear,
To give sign, we and they are His children, one family here."

~Robert Browning

Whimsical Wednesday: "I would be a mermaid fair..."



Mermaid from rochelle31



 "I would be a mermaid fair;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;
And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,
'Who is it loves me? who loves not me?'"

~from Alfred Lord Tennyson's

"The Mermaid" 

The other day a friend of mine happened to mention how much she loved mermaids when she was little. It made me start thinking about my own mermaid-loving days and how I always pretended to be a pretty fish-tailed girl when I was at the pool. Of course, no one understood that being a mermaid meant I didn't have to go up for air as often, and I hadn't really bumped my head, or gotten stuck, or been pushed under, or any of the other million and one things the silly adults were always worrying about. And I wasn't about to tell them. That three- to eight-foot-deep space under the surface was my own whimsical sea where anything was possible. The diving rings transformed into coral bracelets and the little weighted eggs we dove for during swimming lessons magically turned into pearl-laden oysters. They were lovely evenings, and I think the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen were those filtering through the water above me. I dreaded having to climb out of the pool onto the hard, chilly concrete. In the water I was wrapped in perfect peace, it was a place where time stood still and gravity didn't apply, overflowing with rich imagination and pure bliss.

Mermaid Seafoam Comb from TreasuredDetails



These beautiful moments are harder to create as adults; it's much more difficult to abandon all our cares and for a bit be whoever we want to be and see the world in any way we want to see it. Lately, though, I have been focusing on enjoying these small moments as they come, being grateful for the lovely memories they create, accepting the unpleasantnesses and moving on, and viewing the world through the most aqua-colored glasses I can muster.



Mermaid Tags from jaxg12

  

Sea Maiden Necklace from BeadCoutureBySteph

"Souls of Poets dead and gone,

What Elysium have ye known,

Happy field or mossy cavern,

Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?"

~ from John Keats' "Lines on the Mermaid Tavern"

  

Sweet Mermaid Dish from notengomiedo



Siren Song from clairelafaye

"Thou rememberest since
Once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin's back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid's music?"

~from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream"



Mermaid Dream from shopvintageme

 

Vintage Mermaid Salt & Pepper Shakers from fadedvioletvintage

 "Here all is pleasant as a dream;
The wind scarce shaketh down the dew,
The green grass floweth like a stream

Into the ocean's blue..."

~from James Russell Lowell's "The Sirens"

oh rats! & Rescues!



oh rats, i forgot... from dutchdoor

 "I've a grand memory for forgetting." Thank you, Robert Louis Stevenson, for this great quote! And it's just what I was searching for becaauuse...

I forgot yesterday was Frabjous Friday! *gasp* I have been so busy this week, and then my mom, my son and I went out of town, that I just remembered. Good grief. However, there is other news.

I started an Etsy Team earlier this week and would love for you to check it out-

I {heart} Rescues

I'm really excited about it :) The purpose of the team is to bring together people who have adopted a pet through the humane society or rescue organization -or- those who have independently rescued and adopted an animal in need. Any kind of animal. Furry, spiny, feathered, it doesn't matter :) I hope the team will be able to raise awareness about animals in need of loving and caring homes as well as responsible pet ownership.

I put together the following collection of items, the proceeds of each item being either partially or entirely donated to a charity or organization dedicated to helping animals in need.

  

Cat Burglar Postcard from TwoStrayCats

 

The New Puppy Necklace from OneEyeCatDesigns

 

Boston Terrier Screen Printed T-shirt from littlebluefeather 

 

Classic Cameo Earrings from walkonthemoon

  

Mary Lou Photo Print from uberjoi 

 

Keyhole Screenprint from AlisaBobzien



 I truly hope you'll stop by the team's cozy little corner of Etsy, and maybe check out an item or two that could help change the life of a critter in need :) Make sure to leave your thoughts below & bye for now! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Honoring {the Life & Reign of} Gloriana

On this day 408 years ago - Thursday, March 24th, 1603 - what I consider to be one of the greatest reigns of all time ended: that of Queen Elizabeth I of England. She was a truly amazing woman and queen, with talent, and skill, and the confidence to use them to her advantage. I've always admired the fortitude and intelligence she demonstrated throughout her reign, as well as the ideals regarding gender that she stood for.

"Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind." Queen Elizabeth I

I am aware of her all-too-human faults, but she led an undeniably amazing life and is so fascinating to study. If you're interested in learning more about her, one book I would definitely suggest you read is Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey (a fantastic historian & author) who in this particular work narrates Elizabeth's life from birth to her accession to the throne in 1558.

In case you're interested, I put together a treasury in honor of Queen Elizabeth's life and reign:




"My care is like my shadow in the sun- Follows me flying - flies when I pursue it." Gloriana

Queen Elizabeth had such a rich personality and extremely varied interests. She is definitely a person I would love to have met :)

A whimsical day to go for a ride (& and a few other tidbits)



Keep Calm and Pedal On
from CantonBoxCompany

Greetings! Wow, what a week! It's supposed to be spring break here but I honestly think this has been the busiest week of the semester yet! It has been crazy. And between all of the homework, my Etsy shop, and trying to spend as much time with my family as possible, my kitten, Keats, has been sick. I took him to the vet today and the poor little guy has epilepsy. Thank goodness it is a very manageable condition, though, and all we have to do is give him one little pill a day. *Phew* I can't even express how relieved I am that he's going to be okay :)

The weather has been gorgeous and it occurred to me (after Queen's Bicycle Race popped into my head :D ) that it is the perfect day for a bike ride! If only we had bicycles. Rats. BUT, a lack of actual bikes doesn't mean we can't enjoy these wonderfully whimsical bicycle themed lovelies I found in honor of Whimsical Wednesday! I have always thought of bicycles as having a certain whimsicality all their own. Each one has its own distinct personality, and it seems to always directly reflect the personality of its owner. I particularly love vintage bicycles. They have so much spunk and spirit. I hope you get the chance to go on a bicycle ride soon with someone special, but in the meantime, enjoy these fun & whimsical finds!

 

Le Petit Bike Necklace
from luckyduct



Vintage bicycle coptic stitch journal
from SteelPetalPress



"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." H.G. Wells

The Duke Of NY riding his bike.
from matteart

 

Vintage Button and Bicycle Ring
from SelmaMae

Paper Couple on Bikes
from papercutsbyjoe

"The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets." Christopher Morley 

BIKE tshirt
from boygirlparty

Let's Ride
from NanLawson

A Sunshiny Day



Salutations! Today was lovely. We opened up all of the windows and my son ran around the yard like a wild man. Then he brought me some flowers :) It really is the little things that make a day wonderful, you know?

I just listed a couple more little items in my shop and now I'm watching Lover Come Back, an old Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie. Ahh, just the right amount of cheesiness. I really want to watch That Touch of Mink soon (I looove Cary Grant) and Daddy Long Legs (I also have a soft spot in my heart for Fred Astaire). Who are some of your favorite old movie stars?

 <<<The bea-yoo-tiful flowers Gabriel

        picked for me earlier :)

And now for a couple sunny favorites: 



Daisy Poms from PartyPoms



Bright Sunshiny Day from farouche



Sunshine Yellow Owl and Flower Hairpins
from WhitePicketFences



"Good Day, Sunshine" baby quilt
from moonspiritstudios